COVID-19

What does “Shelter in Place” mean?

/ SupremeCmdr / 3 Comments

The following advice is from from the OKC government website.

What does “Shelter in Place” mean?

The “Shelter in Place” emergency order is effective from 11:59 p.m. Saturday, March 28 through April 16.

In general, it’s simple:

Stay home. Exceptions are below on this list.

  • You can shop for groceries, medicine, gas, repairs, and other essential goods and services. “Shelter in Place” emergency order is effective from 11:59 p.m. Saturday, March 28 through April 16.
  • You can go to a restaurant for takeout or drive-thru service.
  • You can go to the doctor and take care of other essential needs.
  • You can exercise outside, including on sidewalks, trails and in public parks. You can enjoy outdoor activities like long walks, bike rides and fishing. Green spaces in parks are open. But all playgrounds are closed. City-owned golf courses, fitness courts, dog parks, recreation center and sport courts (basketball, tennis, volleyball, etc.) are closed.
  • You can go to work in an essential job. You can also do business with someone working in an essential job. Those jobs are defined by the State of Oklahoma, using a federal list and one provided by the Governor. Find out more at okcommerce.gov/covid19.
  • You can drive, bike, walk and take transit. You don’t need special ID or a permit. Police aren’t asking people to prove why they’re outside their home.
  • You can work from home if you work in a job defined by the State as non-essential. You can also work with someone doing a non-essential job from home. Even if it’s an essential job, employers are encouraged to allow employees to work from home if possible.
  • Staff are allowed on site even at closed non-essential businesses for basic tasks like maintenance and security.
  • You can check on someone in need.
  • You can donate at blood drives, volunteer at food banks and participate in other disaster response activities.
  • Staff can be at faith-based sites to record or broadcast services.
  • Stay 6 feet away from others, for your safety and theirs.
  • Wash your hands before you leave your house, and as soon as you get home.
  • You can call 911 if you have specific information about someone violating the order. Police may investigate. Officers will ask for voluntary compliance, but may use discretion to issue citations if necessary.

A violation of the City proclamation’s terms would be a class “b” misdemeanor under City Code, punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a fine of up to $750.

Visit covid19.okc.gov for the latest local news, updates and guidance on COVID-19.

Remember that all of this IS NOT ABOUT YOU!  Please stay at home except for essential trips as defined above.  And if you are a #Covidiot the least you can do is stay off of social media with your uninformed opinions and conspiracy theories.

This is real.

Covid-19 — STAT 03.25.20

/ SupremeCmdr / 3 Comments

I get this newsletter by email every morning.  Fascinating reporting.

‘We didn’t follow through’ on lessons learned from Ebola

Former Pentagon aide Christopher Kirchhoff wrote a 2016 report about lessons from the Ebola epidemic. He talked with STAT’s Andrew Joseph about the Covid-19 response:

  • On why governments aren’t more prepared: “We made some initial investments to grow the capacity of the system but we didn’t follow through.”
  • On outbreaks worse than Ebola: “Those of us in the Ebola response knew we got lucky, not only because the pathogen wasn’t airborne, but because the outbreak happened where it did.”
  • On testing: “It’s hard to express in words how our inability to test early and to contact trace has set us back. It’s honestly launched us into a new reality that none of us have clear or clever ideas about what to do.”

 

Deluged by Covid-19 patients, hospitals turn to remote monitoring to deliver care at home

Desperate to free up beds for only the sickest Covid-19 patients, hospitals nationwide are considering the use of an emerging generation of technologies to monitor patients from their homes. They want to avoid the fate of Bergamo, Italy, where centralized care in hospitals appears to have contributed to a sharp rise in the infection rate and death toll, leaving health care workers overwhelmed. Doctors in that city issued an urgent plea to counterparts across the globe to care for more patients outside hospitals. That means ramping up digital tools, making sure doctors and patients are adequately trained to use them, and integrating them with other parts of a hospital’s technology infrastructure, including electronic record keeping systems. STAT’s Casey Ross explains what’s involved.

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Update –

A reader reported the STAT link above did not work.  Try the link below:

https://www.statnews.com/

 

Alcohol Delivery Sales Surge Amidst Social Distancing — VinePair

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Americans are spending more time than ever at home right now, with trips outdoors limited to only the absolutely necessary. While alcohol businesses, including wine and liquor stores, wineries, breweries, and distilleries, have been deemed “essential” in states where work restrictions are in effect, U.S. drinkers are increasingly making their alcohol purchases online. Over the…

via Alcohol Delivery Sales Surge Amidst Social Distancing — VinePair

Triple. Digit. Growth.

As an EM doc said in a prior post Coronavirus made simple by your friendly neighborhood emergency physician when you fall don’t go to the ER.

Coronavirus made simple by your friendly neighborhood emergency physician

/ SupremeCmdr / 16 Comments

When should I go to my doctor? The simple answer is when you can’t breathe or can’t hold down fluids. If you are having mild symptoms (fever, body aches, dry cough), stay home, and self-isolate. By going to the doctor, you risk spreading the virus to others, including us. If you go to the ER, we will see you but, if you are only having mild symptoms, you will likely be sent home with no COVID-19 test, no treatment, and a hospital bill.

Lastly, a personal plea. Many people are stuck at home with nothing to do. While alcohol is a disinfectant of sorts, it is not going to treat COVID-19! If you are drinking, have fun, but please wear a helmet and shoulder pads so that when you fall and hit your head, you do not have to come in and see me in the ER. We already see too many alcohol-associated visits in the emergency department. In a related note, drugs will make you feel strange. If you choose to use edibles or try new things because you are idle, please don’t do drugs and come in because you feel weird. I can’t fix that. As I told a patient this week, “You are high. If you don’t like this feeling, then don’t do drugs.”

Coronavirus made simple by your friendly neighborhood emergency physician

Amen.  Entire article is at the link above.