COVID-19 2nd wave - Texas only - Stats and such

[Hate 20149]

Anecdotally of course and take it for what it is worth, but I was talking with a guy today whose wife is a nurse in Conroe. He reported the hospitals aren’t as full as they have been, but the staff has been decimated by Covid. He said they were missing as much as 30% of their staff daily. Maybe these new guidelines from the CDC will help with that.

[Buzzrock 14950]

If you need a break and some Covid laughs, the new Gaffigan special on Netflix has what you need.

[Larry T. Spider 1747]

Tested positive 5 days ago. Tested again today and I’m still positive. The thing is, I had already made it through the worst of it when I got the first positive test. It’s probably close to 10 days now.

[Pablo 495]

1 minute ago, Larry T. Spider said:

Tested positive 5 days ago. Tested again today and I’m still positive. The thing is, I had already made it through the worst of it when I got the first positive test. It’s probably close to 10 days now.

Damn, Spider.  That sucks, but at least you got through the worst of it. 

My symptoms haven't been to bad, but started coughing tonight.  I should get PCR results tomorrow but it seems like my rapid positive test was correct.

[Larry T. Spider 1747]

5 minutes ago, Pablo said:

Damn, Spider.  That sucks, but at least you got through the worst of it. 

My symptoms haven't been to bad, but started coughing tonight.  I should get PCR results tomorrow but it seems like my rapid positive test was correct.

It was only really bad for a few days. The others have been like a mild hangover. I’m just ready for it to be gone.

[Harrison Bergeron 1798]

11 hours ago, Skipper said:

I mean except for the fact that pretty much everyone knows and sees people regularly they care about in all of the above categories.  I'm not concerned with my individual COVID risk.  But it makes me a little more self aware about who we come into contact with.    It would also be nice if our kids Pre-K classroom isn't immediately shut down after Christmas break with COVID cases.   And even with what we hope is a milder variant hospitalizations will inevitably rise along with case count which isn't good for anyone otherwise needing medical care.  So I pretty much disagree the number of cases is irrelevant.  

Exactly. My worry about covid personally does not change with case counts nor does my behavior around vaccinated people. The school stuff has to drive you crazy ... I mean a kid in Pre-K has a greater risk of getting struck by lightening than dying of covid-19.

[Harrison Bergeron 1798]

12 hours ago, LCHorn said:

Cases still matter in as much as they result in behavior changes.  A lot of our friend group is back in qualified self-isolation and social events scheduled in the next couple of months are getting canceled.  

Might I suggest https://www.vaccines.gov/

[South Austin 52635]

Ex-wife tested positive. Not an issue for me and my kids since I’ve had them for winter break since Dec. 18. But they were supposed to go to her house today through next week, and looks like I’m keeping them for another 5 days or so.

Edit: Would it be so bad if my kids were exposed to their mom now? I think it’s going to be a shitshow when the kids go back to school next week. Would it be better for my kids to get COVID now rather than in a couple weeks and have to miss school?

Edited December 28, 2021 by South Austin

[Snake Diggity 4628]

16 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

Here's another question to add...

Are a bunch of the folks testing positive right now in the group that has done everything possible not to catch the virus and, as many have acknowledged many times in this thread, don't understand the true statistics of the issue and go to the hospital for treatment when they really don't need treatment?  i.e.  I got COVID and I'm gonna die!  I did everything to not get it now I have it!  I have to go to the hospital!  Or some such.   They get there and have a slight fever and some congestion.  They're still a COVID hospitalization at that point.  

Saw some data points in Vermont (will try to find) that showed many of their current "hospitalizations" are folks showing few to no symptoms, but came in after they tested positive.  Fear is a powerful drug.  

I am calling bullshit on this.  No hospital is going to admit an otherwise healthy patient with a low grade fever and mild congestion.  There may be scared/poor people prematurely/unnecessarily going into ERs but they aren’t being admitted.

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

16 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

Saw some data points in Vermont (will try to find) that showed many of their current "hospitalizations" are folks showing few to no symptoms, but came in after they tested positive.  Fear is a powerful drug.  

Some weird folks if they are that afraid of Covid but not afraid to go to the hospital.  My wife is probably more afraid of Covid that she should be due to my immunocompromised MIL who lives with us.  But I don't think she'd go to the hospital right now if she lost a leg.

Edited December 28, 2021 by Liquor and Poker
my MIL, not hers thank God

[Nice Guy Eddie 13528]

In terms of “over-reporting of numbers” there is an element that if you’re already hospitalized (or in the process of being admitted) for something else and you’re tested positive for covid, I assume that you will be reported as a Covid patient. But you’re usually admitted for something serious and I would assume there is a decent and unknown element when Covid is added to the mix. Not to mention that you’re most likely placed in an area meant for Covid positive patients AND you’re there for something else as well. You basically become one of the toughest and vulnerable patients, so I don’t see how anyone should complain if the hospital reports that as a Covid positive patient. 

[Immaculate Vibes 114]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

In terms of “over-reporting of numbers” there is an element that if you’re already hospitalized (or in the process of being admitted) for something else and you’re tested positive for covid, I assume that you will be reported as a Covid patient. But you’re usually admitted for something serious and I would assume there is a decent and unknown element when Covid is added to the mix. Not to mention that you’re most likely placed in an area meant for Covid positive patients AND you’re there for something else as well. You basically become one of the toughest and vulnerable patients, so I don’t see how anyone should complain if the hospital reports that as a Covid positive patient. 

 

[Harrison Bergeron 1798]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

In terms of “over-reporting of numbers” there is an element that if you’re already hospitalized (or in the process of being admitted) for something else and you’re tested positive for covid, I assume that you will be reported as a Covid patient. But you’re usually admitted for something serious and I would assume there is a decent and unknown element when Covid is added to the mix. Not to mention that you’re most likely placed in an area meant for Covid positive patients AND you’re there for something else as well. You basically become one of the toughest and vulnerable patients, so I don’t see how anyone should complain if the hospital reports that as a Covid positive patient. 

I agree, but there is nuance, and unfortunately in today's 'murica our professional and amateur screamers are incapable of having a detailed, nuanced discussion of data and facts. You're never going to hear a talking head on TV or someone screaming on twatter make that point.

As noted above, hospitalization data is based on claims not reasons for admittance. Practically, if a person comes to the hospital with chest pains, there is no way to capture that only what the hospital treats (i.e., bills) in ICD-10. That's why we always will see a lot of patients hospitalized for gunshot wounds, car wrecks, etc., who happen to have covid-19 and therefore will be reported as a covid hospitalization. Now some places have tried to do some audits and get a finer POV, but medical claims data is notoriously tough to deal with for myriad reasons. Same goes with deaths. We'll probably never have a truly accurate count on either regard.

[Don Johnson 4757]

3 hours ago, South Austin said:

Edit: Would it be so bad if my kids were exposed to their mom now? I think it’s going to be a shitshow when the kids go back to school next week. Would it be better for my kids to get COVID now rather than in a couple weeks and have to miss school?

 

[bschoolprof 6273]

2 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

In terms of “over-reporting of numbers” there is an element that if you’re already hospitalized (or in the process of being admitted) for something else and you’re tested positive for covid, I assume that you will be reported as a Covid patient. But you’re usually admitted for something serious and I would assume there is a decent and unknown element when Covid is added to the mix. Not to mention that you’re most likely placed in an area meant for Covid positive patients AND you’re there for something else as well. You basically become one of the toughest and vulnerable patients, so I don’t see how anyone should complain if the hospital reports that as a Covid positive patient. 

From the article above:

Quote

Jackson Health System, Miami-Dade’s public hospital network, reported 212 inpatients with COVID-19 on Monday — about a 150% increase over the 83 inpatients reported on Dec. 19. But the share of Jackson Health inpatients diagnosed with the disease after being admitted for an unrelated medical reason outweighed those whose primary reason for hospitalization was COVID-19. Of the 212 inpatients with COVID-19 reported at Jackson Health, 127 or 60% were diagnosed after being admitted for another reason, according to the hospital system’s internal tracking report.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article256878197.html#storylink=cpy

I'm not really complaining that the hospital is classifying these people as covid positive; I'm complaining that the simple internal tracking they are doing (e.g., what's the primary reason for admission?) is not required to be made public.  It's critical for public health officials, politicians, the media, and the citizenry at large to know this information when weighing the impact of covid as a disease on the healthcare system.  

[Ghost of LL 15545]

14 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

From the article above:

I'm not really complaining that the hospital is classifying these people as covid positive; I'm complaining that the simple internal tracking they are doing (e.g., what's the primary reason for admission?) is not required to be made public.  It's critical for public health officials, politicians, the media, and the citizenry at large to know this information when weighing the impact of covid as a disease on the healthcare system.  

I'm going to complain, because Austin Public Health is using "Covid hospitalizations" as the basis for its entire staging regime.  So at least here in Austin, we're going to pop up to Stage 5 based on a bunch of people with heart arrhythmias testing positive for Covid after they get to the hospital.

 

Oh, and T&Ps to @DDD Dad on the damage done to his wine collection.

[DDD Dad 14358]

I'm going to complain, because Austin Public Health is using "Covid hospitalizations" as the basis for its entire staging regime.  So at least here in Austin, we're going to pop up to Stage 5 based on a bunch of people with heart arrhythmias testing positive for Covid after they get to the hospital.
 
Oh, and T&Ps to [mention=121]DDD Dad[/mention] on the damage done to his wine collection.

As a family we’ve been doing quite a bit of damage to it over the holidays.

[Ghost of LL 15545]

4 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

As a family we’ve been doing quite a bit of damage to it over the holidays.

One sympathizes.

[Anastasis 23489]

8 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

I'm going to complain, because Austin Public Health is using "Covid hospitalizations" as the basis for its entire staging regime.  So at least here in Austin, we're going to pop up to Stage 5 based on a bunch of people with heart arrhythmias testing positive for Covid after they get to the hospital.

Well, they've also layered in community transmission rate and positivity, so they'll have multiple flawed metrics to be able to point and and justify moving to Stage 5.  

[workswithseed 2123]

It burned through work, and got the fiancee's parents. If I had it, it was barely a sniffle.

[DDD Dad 14358]

One sympathizes.

I’m not complaining.

[cactusflinthead 27608]

19 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

Here's another question to add...

Are a bunch of the folks testing positive right now in the group that has done everything possible not to catch the virus and, as many have acknowledged many times in this thread, don't understand the true statistics of the issue and go to the hospital for treatment when they really don't need treatment?  i.e.  I got COVID and I'm gonna die!  I did everything to not get it now I have it!  I have to go to the hospital!  Or some such.   They get there and have a slight fever and some congestion.  They're still a COVID hospitalization at that point.  

Saw some data points in Vermont (will try to find) that showed many of their current "hospitalizations" are folks showing few to no symptoms, but came in after they tested positive.  Fear is a powerful drug.  

Works both ways.

Cape Girardeau County in Missouri; Hinds and Rankin counties in Mississippi; and Lafayette Parish in Louisiana are four of the 10 counties with the greatest spike in deaths not attributed to COVID-19. In those communities, official COVID-19 deaths account for just half of the increase in deaths in 2020. 

If official figures are to be believed, in Lafayette Parish deaths at home from heart disease increased by 20% from 2019 to 2020. Deaths from hypertensive heart disease, or heart ailments due to high blood pressure, doubled and are on track to remain that high in 2021. 

https://missouriindependent.com/2021/12/22/uncounted-inaccurate-death-certificates-across-the-country-hide-the-true-toll-of-covid-19/

[Nice Guy Eddie 13528]

1 minute ago, cactusflinthead said:

Works both ways.

Cape Girardeau County in Missouri; Hinds and Rankin counties in Mississippi; and Lafayette Parish in Louisiana are four of the 10 counties with the greatest spike in deaths not attributed to COVID-19. In those communities, official COVID-19 deaths account for just half of the increase in deaths in 2020. 

If official figures are to be believed, in Lafayette Parish deaths at home from heart disease increased by 20% from 2019 to 2020. Deaths from hypertensive heart disease, or heart ailments due to high blood pressure, doubled and are on track to remain that high in 2021. 

https://missouriindependent.com/2021/12/22/uncounted-inaccurate-death-certificates-across-the-country-hide-the-true-toll-of-covid-19/

I'm too lazy to search for it, but wasn't there an increase in the overall 2020 death rate that on the surface wasn't the deaths attributed to COVID? Some of it could be people that put off seeking treatment for other causes because they were afraid of COVID but that could easily be viewed as an indirect COVID death.

[LCHorn 2632]

10 hours ago, Harrison Bergeron said:

Might I suggest https://www.vaccines.gov/

We (my circle) are all UT grads with a shared “don’t fuck around with science” understanding of the value of vaccines.  My point is behavior is still being altered.  There isn’t a vaccine for the fear you’ll get sick, or that my two year old might be one of the rare exceptions and contracts a terminal case, or that someone’s parent gets it from us.  

[Trey3216 15378]

7 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

Works both ways.

Cape Girardeau County in Missouri; Hinds and Rankin counties in Mississippi; and Lafayette Parish in Louisiana are four of the 10 counties with the greatest spike in deaths not attributed to COVID-19. In those communities, official COVID-19 deaths account for just half of the increase in deaths in 2020. 

If official figures are to be believed, in Lafayette Parish deaths at home from heart disease increased by 20% from 2019 to 2020. Deaths from hypertensive heart disease, or heart ailments due to high blood pressure, doubled and are on track to remain that high in 2021. 

https://missouriindependent.com/2021/12/22/uncounted-inaccurate-death-certificates-across-the-country-hide-the-true-toll-of-covid-19/

More Americans from 18-45 died in 2020 from Fentanyl overdoses than from COVID  

[cactusflinthead 27608]

1 minute ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I'm too lazy to search for it, but wasn't there an increase in the overall 2020 death rate that on the surface wasn't the deaths attributed to COVID? Some of it could be people that put off seeking treatment for other causes because they were afraid of COVID but that could easily be viewed as an indirect COVID death.

Well, when everything shuts down and your heart gives out because you had covid then yeah. But, there's no one to tell you because your dead. The survivors might not want to admit that their dad walked out against medical advice because he wasn't getting horse dewormer. It certainly wasn't covid. Oh hell no.

[cactusflinthead 27608]

3 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

More Americans from 18-45 died in 2020 from Fentanyl overdoses than from COVID  

[Trey3216 15378]

Just now, cactusflinthead said:

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2021/12/28/fact-check-how-many-people-died-fentanyl-overdoes-2020/9027045002/

 

Read the article motherfucker...the entire article.

 

[atomheartbevo 89846]

https://www.kxan.com/news/coronavirus/texas-antibody-infusion-centers-run-out-of-treatment-shown-to-fight-omicron/

Quote

 Five regional infusion centers in Texas have run out of a monoclonal antibody that has shown to be effective against the omicron variant of COVID-19, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Monday.

DSHS said the centers in Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio and The Woodlands have depleted their supplies of the monoclonal antibody called sotrovimab, because of a “national shortage from the federal government.”

Quote

DSHS points out while two new antiviral pill options to treat COVID-19 will be available soon, the federal government will also control their shipments. Initial supplies are expected to be limited. 

Those drugs were authorized last week by the Food and Drug Administration. One pill comes from Pfizer, and the other from Merck. 

KXAN found, according to the federal government’s public health emergency page, the first shipments for both pills are scheduled to go out by the end of December. Texas is slated to get 4,240 courses of Pfizer’s pill and nearly 19,800 of Merck’s pills.

Can't imagine what the next few weeks look like.

[DDD Dad 14358]

18 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2021/12/28/fact-check-how-many-people-died-fentanyl-overdoes-2020/9027045002/

 

Read the article motherfucker...the entire article.

 

What's your point?

According to the article, COVID killed roughly the same number of people in that age group as...automobile accidents, and...suicide, and more than cancer.  Fentanyl is extremely dangerous, and its use (whether prescribed or laced by drug dealers) presents a serious health risk.  Minimizing COVID by citing to the single greatest cause of death to that age group looks more like COVID denial than reasonable dialog.

[Trey3216 15378]

4 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

What's your point?

According to the article, COVID killed roughly the same number of people in that age group as...automobile accidents, and...suicide, and more than cancer.  Fentanyl is extremely dangerous, and its use (whether prescribed or laced by drug dealers) presents a serious health risk.  Minimizing COVID by citing to the single greatest cause of death to that age group looks more like COVID denial than reasonable dialog.

I'm not minimizing COVID, i'm saying Fentanyl overdoses killed damn near double the amount of people in that age group as COVID did.  That's it.  It's not minimizing COVID, it's putting it into perspective.  Perspective has been the topic of conversation the last several pages.  

[XYZ 2154]

32 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

Why is that funny? Covid deaths, fentanyl deaths, none is too funny to me.

[Trey3216 15378]

2 minutes ago, XYZ said:

Why is that funny? Covid deaths, fentanyl deaths, none is too funny to me.

He thought he caught me in a lie.  

[Immaculate Vibes 114]

 

[Fondren & Main 6743]

38 minutes ago, XYZ said:

Why is that funny? Covid deaths, fentanyl deaths, none is too funny to me.

There are a lot of dumbasses on this site.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

1 hour ago, Trey3216 said:

I'm not minimizing COVID, i'm saying Fentanyl overdoses killed damn near double the amount of people in that age group as COVID did.  That's it.  It's not minimizing COVID, it's putting it into perspective.  Perspective has been the topic of conversation the last several pages.  

As of a couple weeks ago, COVID is up to 76,302 deaths in the 18-49 age group,  as opposed to the 21,335 number in 2020.  Just for perspective.

[South Austin 52635]

5 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

As of a couple weeks ago, COVID is up to 76,302 deaths in the 18-49 age group,  as opposed to the 21,335 number in 2020.  Just for perspective.

Interesting. We had less than a full year of a nationwide epidemic in 2020, but without the benefit of a vaccine.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

14 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Interesting. We had less than a full year of a nationwide epidemic in 2020, but without the benefit of a vaccine.

Actually my total was wrong.  I got numbers from here, but there was some overlap in data groups.  It should be less than that, 54,086 I think is the correct total.

 

https://data.cdc.gov/widgets/9bhg-hcku?mobile_redirect=true

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Judge Roybeanbag

[Skipper 6210]

My sister's family is dealing with "something".  They planned to go to a testing center but lines are absurd in Dallas and heard from a friend that waited 6 hours yesterday before they got a test (and once in line not easy to get out).  So they are most likely going to stay home and ride it out.  Clearly the big problem for everyone is that home rapid tests are now impossible to find.

[cactusflinthead 27608]

2 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2021/12/28/fact-check-how-many-people-died-fentanyl-overdoes-2020/9027045002/

 

Read the article motherfucker...the entire article.

 

18-45. That's not who's mostly dying of covid.

 

[InkaUtexas 26181]

32 minutes ago, Skipper said:

My sister's family is dealing with "something".  They planned to go to a testing center but lines are absurd in Dallas and heard from a friend that waited 6 hours yesterday before they got a test (and once in line not easy to get out).  So they are most likely going to stay home and ride it out.  Clearly the big problem for everyone is that home rapid tests are now impossible to find.

Buddy's wife tested positive today. He is just assuming he has it and they are going to hunker down for 10 days. Sucks since his house is our traditional 31st location. I may go and drop off a stew for them. Don't need to make a great one since they cannot taste anything. 

 

[DDD Dad 14358]

On 12/28/2021 at 2:17 PM, cactusflinthead said:

18-45. That's not who's mostly dying of covid.

 

And yet it ranked roughly equal to auto accidents as a cause of death in that age range.  Auto accidents.  

I mean, your chance of dying in general in that age range is pretty low.  But to think that statistically as many people died from COVID as auto accidents from April 2020-21 is just astounding.

Edited December 30, 2021 by DDD Dad

[Helobious 9467]

Fwiw… I last was hanging out with a fully vaxxed (non boosted) friend on the 23rd for about 5 hours, sat in the same car and went to a bunch of stores, neither of us put on a mask at any point. She’s been mildly sick the past couple days, started feeling better today, and tested positive for covid today. I still haven’t felt remotely sick at all. Maybe the booster shot I complained about so much helped me out. 

[Anastasis 23489]

 

[bschoolprof 6273]

Oh no, we've entered stage ___, using arbitrary goalposts that will be moved ex-post, and now we have more restrictions that can't be enforced and everyone will ignore anyway.   

[4th_and_18 687]

36% positivity rate on UT campus last 7 days (113/314) at UHS/UTHA clinic.

[Bookman 4642]

6 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

More Americans from 18-45 died in 2020 from Fentanyl overdoses than from COVID  

At least they didn't feel any pain.

[dcbc 14539]

On 12/27/2021 at 1:29 PM, South Austin said:

The numbers have adjusted some of my behavior, but I'm not sure how much it makes sense or will matter. 

Case in point:  I'm not attending any large New Year's Eve gatherings.  But my girlfriend and I are going out to dinner tomorrow night with one of our closest couple friends.  Is that significantly safer?  Probably not with this variant.  

Part of me wishes I would just catch COVID, because then I'd get it over with, and with the initial vaccine doses, my booster on Dec. 1, and infection antibodies, I'd be mega-vaxxed. 

Same, but there is a hide-and-seek champion aspect to having not gotten it yet.  I've started masking in the stores again, avoiding unnecessary large gatherings.  But I'd probably go to a restaurant that wasn't crazy packed if it was with a small group. 

[Trey3216 15378]

1 hour ago, Bookman said:

At least they didn't feel any pain.

Neither did a lot of car wreck victims, Covid victims, and murder victims.   

[Bookman 4642]

5 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

Neither did a lot of car wreck victims, Covid victims, and murder victims.   

Were they taking Fentanyl too?