Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

I keep looking at that picture and 100s of people, albeit outside yet still not distancing, unmasked.

In the big scheme of things, certainly invited guests to this event were in some way believed to be Trump supporters. That's why the got invited. Because masking has become virtue signaling in support of wearing masks and Trump, from the beginning, doesn't think they are necessary, attendees in the picture are showing their support for this bufoonery by not wearing masks.

Hate it that those reportedly infected during one of the nominating events will suffer various consequences of becoming infected. But if this remarkable turn of events has even a little bit of impact on people who previously didn't wear masks to wear them, it's a net positive.

....... and to be clear, masks are considered to be necessary in all the places that officials say they should be worn in South Florida. I had to say that because FL and particularly Governor Desantis gets pummeled by the media for never mandating them. Mayors and commissioners in all three S. FL counties mandated them in accordance with the Governor's office authority to do so.

FL citizens and visitors are uniformly depicted in the news as wildly irresponsible. It's that alternate reality of complete irresponsibility and disregard for SARS-CoV-2 in S. FL that is so wrongly presented to people who live elsewhere and think FL is hot-spot for COVID-19. It's not. FL is among the many US states that for the last 2 months has had an R(t) value of 1.0 or less.

It's been reported that quite a few of those people showed up wearing masks but the White House told them they were safe to take them off once through security because no one testing positive would be let in. Unfortunately I believe they are still using that Abbott Labs test that isn't terribly reliable. Peer pressure is a powerful thing.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Chris Christie now positive. That’s most of Trump’s debate prep team.

Dems are telling people the Senate won’t be back until Oct 19. Too many Republicans will be in quarantine or have covid to form a quorum and return the 12th like planned. If true It seems impossible that Barrett will be confirmed before the election. But we’ll see

[Mike]

They could still confirm during the lame duck session and I think they will. Mitch won’t pass up this opportunity. BUT, if this Covid outbreak somehow derails the whole thing... well... that’s a lesson in karma.

[Dr. Strangelove]

It’s becoming more clear that Trump’s known he was infected longer than we’ve been told. One of his doctors just said he is 72 hours into his diagnosis. As far as the public knows it should only be about 36. Another doctor said he received the antibody treatment about 48 hours ago. We were told it was yesterday morning

[Dr. Strangelove]

Doctor was asked "when was Trump's last negative test?". Doctor refused to say.

Doctor was asked how high Trump's fever got. Doctor said he wasn't going to get into details like that.

Doctor was asked if Trump has been on oxygen at any point and the doctor said "not this morning".

They are being extremely evasive and basically admitted that Trump was diagnosed as having covid some time in the first half of Wednesday, not early Friday morning like we've been told. If true that means he attended multiple public events knowing he was likely sick and contagious.

That would certainly make more sense than the 24 hour timetable we've been given of testing positive, feeling great, then suddenly in the hospital.

And now the media has an 'anonymous source" saying the President's vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Right after the Doctor's press conference ended and before the "Anonymous Source" statement went out, Mark Meadows was caught on the live feed asking a group of reporters to follow him to where he can be "off the record". So seems highly likely he's the anonymous source that told them the truth, that Trump's vitals had people alarmed over the past 24 hours and the next 48 will be crucial

[Jeff Buchanan]

DSL, I assume they tested everyone admitted to these Barrett nomination events, right?

I'm aware of two Abbot COVID testing products already approved by the FDA for us. They are the ID-19 - the one you've seen Trump hold up and brag about and the newest, having just received FDA approval, the Abbot BinaxNOW. This one is a true rapid POC credit card sized cassette with a 15 minute development time. Cali, FL and NY lead all state buyers in terms terms of quantities.

The ID-19 rapid testing device has had known problems since May. If the WH is using this POS to screen for COVID, it's no wonder people working close to the president and moving about the facility have it and are spreading it around. Another example of the ineptitude of this administration when it comes to testing. I have no doubt that attempts to tell Trump the ID-19 is not great lets try something else have been dismissed.

https://www.medicaldevice-network.com/comment/abbott-id-now-covid-test/

BinaxNow has demonstrated 97% accuracy.

https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/articles/news/policy-and-regulation/abbott-rides-rescue-5-covid-19-test

I've said the before but all testing devices still have to be used by licensed providers (pharmacists are licensed). There are good reasons for this that revolve around proper administration and reporting. There are in-home tests available but their distribution and use are limited to places like nursing homes or home health agencies where use and reporting can be controlled.

I'd like to see wider distribution for public use of the 15 minute cassette testing products, e.g., a cruise ship, sporting event, movie theater ...... can't come in unless you test negative. They are cheap and reportedly very accurate. But there are recognized problems with that approach. Cruise lines will probably obtain and use them if the CDC ever lifts the no-sail order just extended through October but will likely end October 31st much to the disappointment of the CDC. Administration of these tests will be done by licensed HC personnel that are part of the ship's company.

Great resource for understanding COVID testing:

https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/testing/index.html

[Dr. Strangelove]

Chris Christie, we should note, got no alert or notification from the White House that two people he'd just spent a bunch of time with had tested positive. None. He found out about Hope Hicks from the news. To date he has said he has never been contacted by the WH notifying him on what he should do. He went out and got tested and was positive.

Hell, maybe Trump knew he had it even before the Debate but didn't want to cancel...who knows. But it seems pretty clear the official WH timeline is falling apart. And given the apparent severity of his symptoms, it would make sense that he's further along than Day 2

[Jeff Buchanan]

I don't think it is unusual nor unwarranted to not release health information of a US president. The problem here is the clown car of high-level staff that trump has surrounded himself with. All they need to say is what I just said then shut the fuck up. LOL ..... not going to happen.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I don't think it is unusual nor unwarranted to not release health information of a US president. The problem here is the clown car of high-level staff that trump has surrounded himself with. All they need to say is what I just said then shut the fuck up. LOL ..... not going to happen.

FDR and JFK hid their medical issues from the public for years. LBJ, by contrast was an over-sharer lol. Definitely nothing new about Presidents lying to the public about their own health.

So given that Trump is the most habitual liar we've ever had as President, there's no reason to assume what they're releasing as the "official record" is in any way true. We still have no clue why he made an unscheduled, sudden trip to Walter Reed last November.

[Dr. Strangelove]

[lineygoblue]

So given that Trump is the most habitual liar we've ever had as President

Have you EVER heard of Bill Clinton? Or, maybe even Richard Nixon?

Please.

[Mike]

They aren’t even in the same ballpark as Trump. He’s pathological.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Here's my totally speculative view of how the course of Trump's COVID-19 case will go.

• It will progress much like Boris Johnson's - except Trump has already received Regeneron's Anti-body infusion. Remember this, I'll talk about it later.
• Like Johnson, Trump will experience some level of respiratory failure. Sounds dreadful - just a medical term.
• Ignore announcements that Trump is in ICU, like Johnson was. Probably already receiving that level of care. It's consistent with what presidents will receive anyway if admitted.
• His oxygen levels will decrease to something below 90% if they haven't already. While it's not nothing, it is a common occurrence in patient's admitted with COVID. Ignore fretting
• This happens because the lungs fill with fluid as part of the immune system's inflammatory response to the virus.
• Doctors treat the inflammation in the lungs with drugs to prevent the end point of respiratory failure: organ failure. That is usually the cause of the patient's demise.
• Prednisone is standard of care but at the doses it is administered, blood markers have to be monitored to prevent adverse events (hypertension, thromboembolism).
• Trump will be on novel blood thinners to prevent embolic events, a recognized sequalae of COVID-19 now pretty uncommon with early and appropriate care. A killer before now.
• The goal of care is to prevent organ failure secondary to respiratory failure from occurring. That gives the body's immune system enough time to mount it's own defense v. the virus.
• Mechanical ventilation is a last resort these days and not particularly effective if not harmful.
• The preferred respiratory therapy modality is a combo of continuous positive pressure O2 or Bi-PAP and "Proning" - placing patient on stomach or side. Gravity clears lung fields.
• Regeneron's Anti-body therapy give's Trump a leg up in his recovery ..... hopefully. It doesn't work in everyone but how well it works can be measured with blood samples.

Given the current state of COVID patient care knowledge and therapeutics, Trump has an excellent chance for full recovery. What we can't know is how healthy he was before becoming infected or how effective his immune system response to SARS-CoV-2 will be. You won't hear any of that kind of detail from the press but it's key. Given that, a bad outcome is possible but the risk of that has declined substantially in his age group.

I wish him well.


.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Trump was supposed to hold multiple rallies in Wisconsin today, capping off with a rally in Green Bay.

The state has reported today a record number of cases and that northeast portion of the state around Green Bay and Appleton is experiencing very high positivity rates