Viva Las Vegas !

[kortopates]

So, Paul, you are actually flight instructing?

Yes Don, since the week before Memorial Day. Following the precautions of course and although some people have been apprehensive about using a mask in the cockpit with the mike and potential fogging it really has turned out a non issue with the air vent on you.
Hope fully it doesn’t get much worse here - our rolling average rate is just over 3% . We had one day at 7% - luckily it wasn’t a trend.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kortopates]

2 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

So, I actually got the COVID. I hope you are all happy!

It was the biggest nothing burger of all time. Other than the over the top hassle everyone caused me because of it.

The day after my last fever I skated 12 miles, the last 3 were a chore, but I'm back up to speed now.

If any Mooneyspacers want my plasma, let me know, I'm here for you.

Rich, I am so glad to hear you were one of the lucky ones! I wouldn't wish that on anyone. A fellow flight instructor here got it and was literally fighting for his life in a medically induced comma on a ventilator for weeks. You could say he too was one of the lucky ones since only 20% survive the ventilator.  

[MooneyMitch]

9 hours ago, kortopates said:

Rich, I am so glad to hear you were one of the lucky ones! I wouldn't wish that on anyone. A fellow flight instructor here got it and was literally fighting for his life in a medically induced comma on a ventilator for weeks. You could say he too was one of the lucky ones since only 20% survive the ventilator.  

Paul, we’ve heard so much information on the virus, one aspect has been folks with underlying conditions.  

Are you aware of such with your fellow instructor you’ve mentioned?

[MooneyMitch]

Just now, donkaye said:

As disappointing as it is for me, for now, no matter the possible precautions (I've developed a checklist that I require a student to sign before training), I cannot in good conscience, and with my SO having an underlying condition (RA) flight instruct at this time.

Of course, I completely respect your decision.

I was just curious, as we all try to discover, if the person Paul mentions was one with underlying conditions which might, or might not have affected his critical level of reaction to the virus. 

 

[neilpilot]

1 hour ago, MooneyMitch said:

I was just curious, as we all try to discover, if the person Paul mentions was one with underlying conditions which might, or might not have affected his critical level of reaction to the virus. 

Do you consider age above 60 yo as an underlying condition?

[EricJ]

12 hours ago, Skates97 said:

Glad you are well. 

An FYI for anyone, I got a call from the Red Cross looking for blood. If you go in they automatically (not surprised) test your blood for antibodies and let you know the results. I was going to go today but all the places near work were booked up (a good thing). I'm going to get in next week, I still think I had the bug back in Jan-Feb, but we'll see. 

One of my classmates thinks he had it in Jan-Feb as well, so I suggested donating blood as a way to get tested.

Remember, though, that the tests aren't 100% accurate, and it still isn't known completely how long the immunity lasts or reinfection susceptibility.   So, by my understanding, even if you did have it in Jan-Feb, and even if the tests were 100% accurate, it's possible you could still test negative.

Given how sick some people get when this is around, though, I find it unlikely that very many people had it back then, but who knows.   Getting the test done certainly won't hurt, though, and might be a useful data point.

I have several friends in the healthcare profession here in the Phoenix area, multiple of whom are working on the front lines, either in ERs or directly in covid-19 wards.   An anesthesiologist friend that runs a pain clinic here contracted it during volunteer work in NYC.  If you get it and it's not bad consider yourself extremely fortunate.   

Masks go a long ways toward mitigating this, as well as hand washing and social distancing.    Be safe out there.

[MooneyMitch]

56 minutes ago, neilpilot said:

Do you consider age above 60 yo as an underlying condition?

That’s a valid question indeed.  

There are so many questions resulting from this uncharted territory.

There has been, and is, such a wide variety and varied amount of information presented, it seems difficult to determine correct answers.

 

 

 

[carusoam]

data is getting better by the day...

Test quality is improving...

Test quantity is improving...

Drug development is making progress...

Companies are getting better with including social distancing...

People are getting better regarding how to follow social distancing...

age is helpful... but kind of like being a 46year old guy having a heart attack instead of a 64 year old guy...

Hospitals are getting better at handling things...

More is known about medications to help with recovery...

Businesses are finding ways to keep things improving...  economy and health are both important...

This takes getting used to...

Getting everybody on board...

distance

masks

hand washing

Not touching sensitive areas

Everything takes practice... helps to share experience...

Late June Summary... From the Easy Coast...

-a-

[MooneyMitch]

6 hours ago, carusoam said:

data is getting better by the day...

Test quality is improving...

Test quantity is improving...

Drug development is making progress...

Companies are getting better with including social distancing...

People are getting better regarding how to follow social distancing...

age is helpful... but kind of like being a 46year old guy having a heart attack instead of a 64 year old guy...

Hospitals are getting better at handling things...

More is known about medications to help with recovery...

Businesses are finding ways to keep things improving...  economy and health are both important...

This takes getting used to...

Getting everybody on board...

distance

masks

hand washing

Not touching sensitive areas

Everything takes practice... helps to share experience...

Late June Summary... From the Easy Coast...

-a-

I’m wondering what news channel you are watching?  

[carusoam]

14 minutes ago, MooneyMitch said:

I’m wondering what news channel you are watching?  

Comparing notes with my socially distant friends....  

We are going to celebrate big time when this is over.

Who wants to be first to take the vaccine, when available?

Best regards,

-a-

[MooneyMitch]

10 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Comparing notes with my socially distant friends....  

We are going to celebrate big time when this is over.

Who wants to be first to take the vaccine, when available?

Best regards,

-a-

I was just being silly....... such positive news you posted!  Thank you.

[MooneyMitch]

What the heck.........

[carusoam]

Way to go Mitch!

Living on the edge...

Best regards,

-a-

[MooneyMitch]

Just now, carusoam said:

Way to go Mitch!

Living on the edge...

Best regards,

-a-

Hey...... what the heck anyway....... after all, I am a Mooney pilot! 

[Eight8Victor]

Interesting read for those with an open mind: I’m not interested in hearing why this is wrong so don’t bother rebutting. Not participating in the fear mongering.

Letter to the Editor: Why Increasing Number of Cases of COVID-19 is NOT Bad News

JUN 27, 2020 AT 11:22 AM BY PJ

 

---

By JOHN T. LITTELL, MD

 

Several times a day, on every possible news outlet, we are bombarded with updates as to the new number of “cases” of COVID-19 in the U.S. and elsewhere.  News analysts then use these numbers to justify criticisms of those who dare to reject the CDC’s recommendations with regards to mask wearing and social distancing.   It is imperative that all Americans  - and especially those in the medical profession - understand the actual definition of a “case” of COVID -19 so as to make informed decisions as to how to live our lives.

Older Americans remember all too well the dread they experienced when a family member was diagnosed with a “case” of scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough (pertussis), or polio.  During my career in family medicine, including several years as an Army physician, I have cared for patients with chickenpox, shingles, Lyme disease as well as measles, tuberculosis, malaria, and AIDS.   The “case definition” established for all of these diseases by the CDC requires the presence of signs and symptoms of that disease.  In other words, each case involved a SICK patient.  Laboratory studies may be performed to “confirm” a diagnosis, but are not sufficient in the absence of clinical symptoms.

Having now been privileged to care for sick patients with COVID-19, both in and out of the hospital setting, I am happy to see the number of these sick patients dwindle almost to zero in my community – while the “case numbers” for COVID-19 continue to go up.  Why is that?

In marked contrast to measles, shingles, and other infectious disease, “cases” of COVID-19 do NOT require the presence of ANY symptoms whatsoever.   Health departments are encouraging everyone and anyone to come in for testing, and each positive test is reported as yet another “new” case of COVID-19!

On April 5, 2020, a small number of state epidemiologists (Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) Technical Supplement: Interim-20-ID-01) came up with a “surveillance” case definition for COVID-19.  At the time, there was uncertainty as to whether or not completely asymptomatic persons could transmit COVID-19 sufficiently enough to infect and cause disease in others. (This notion has never been proven and, in fact,  has recently been discounted – cfr “ A Study on the Infectivity of Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Carriers,  Ming Fao et al, Respir Med, 2020 Aug – available online through PubMed 2020 May 13, as well as recent reports from the WHO itself).   The CSTF thereby justified the unconventional case definition for COVID-19, adding  “CSTE realizes that field investigations will involve evaluations of persons with no symptoms and these individuals will need to be counted as cases.”

Hence, anyone who has a positive PCR test (the nasal swab, PCR test for COVID Antigen or Nucleic Acid) or serological test (blood test for antibodies –IgG and/or IgM) would be classified as a “case” – even in the absence of symptoms.   In our hospitals at this time, there are hundreds of former nursing home residents sitting in “COVID” units who are in their usual state of good health, banned from returning to their former nursing home residences simply because they have TESTED Positive for COVID-19 during mass testing programs in the nursing homes.

The presence of a positive lab test for COVID-19 in a person who has never been sick is actually GOOD news for that person and for the rest of us.  The positive test indicates that this person has likely mounted an adequate immune response to a small dose of COVID-19 to whom he or she was exposed – naturally (hence, no need for a vaccine vs. COVID-19).

It is important as well to understand that the presence of lab testing is not the ONLY criterion that the  the CDC uses to established a diagnosis of COVID-19.  The presence of only 1 or 2 flu-like symptoms (fever,chills, cough, sore throat,  shortness of breath)  - in the absence of another proven cause (e.g., influenza, bacterial pneumonia) is SUFFICIENT to give a diagnosis of COVID-19 – as long as the patient also meets certain “epidemiological linkage” criteria as follows:

“In a person with clinically compatible symptoms,   [a “case” will be reported if that person had] one or more of the following exposures in the 14 days before onset of symptoms: travel to or residence in an area with sustained, ongoing community transmission of SARS-CoV-2; close contact (10 minutes or longer, within a 6 foot distance) with a person diagnosed with COVID-19; or member of a risk cohort as defined by public health authorities during an outbreak.”  Note that the definition of a “risk cohort” includes age > 70 or living in a nursing home or similar facility.

So, in essence, any person with an influenza- like illness (ILI) could be considered a “case” of COVID-19,  even WITHOUT confirmatory lab testing.  The CDC has even advised to consider any deaths from pneumonia or ILI as “Covid-related” deaths – unless the physician or medical examiner establishes another infectious agent as the cause of illness.

Now perhaps you see why the increasing number of cases, and even deaths, due to COVID-19 is fraught with misinterpretation and is NOT in any way a measure of the ACTUAL morbidity and mortality FROM COVID-19.   My patients who insist upon wearing masks, gloves and social distancing are citing these misleading statistics as justification for their decisions (and, of course, that they are following the “CDC guidelines”).  I simply advise them, “COVID-19 is NOT in the atmosphere around us; it resides in the respiratory tracts of infected individuals and can only be transmitted to others by sick, infected persons after prolonged contact with others”.

So you may ask – why are we continuing to report increasing numbers of cases of COVID as though it were BAD news for America? Rather than as GOOD news, i.e, that the thousands of healthy Americans testing positive  (also known as  “asymptomatic”)  are indicative of the presence of herd immunity – protecting themselves and many of us from potential future assaults by variants of COVID?

Why did we as a society stop sending our children to schools and camps and sports activities?  Why did we stop going to work and church and public parks and beaches?  Why did we insist that healthy persons “stay at home” – rather than observing the evidence-based, medically prudent method of identifying those who were sick and isolating them from the rest of the population -   advising the sick to “stay at home” and allowing the rest of society to function normally?  And, while we witnessed the gatherings of protestors in recent days with little concerns for COVID-19 spread among these asymptomatic persons, most certainly many are hoping  that the increasing “case” numbers for COVID-19 will discourage folks from coming to any more rallies for certain candidates for political office.

Fear is a powerful weapon.  FDR famously broadcast to Americans in 1933 that “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself”.  I would argue that we have to fear those who would have us remain fearful and servile and willing to surrender basic freedoms without justification.

John Thomas Littell, MD, is a board-certified family physician. After earning his MD from George Washington University, he served in the US Army, receiving the Meritorious Service Medal for his work in quality improvement, and also served with the National Health Service Corps in Montana. During his eighteen years in Kissimmee, FL, Dr Littell has served on the faculty of the UCF School of Medicine, President of the County Medical Society, and Chief of Staff at the Florida Hospital. He currently resides with his wife, Kathleen, and family in Ocala, Florida, where he remains very active as a family physician with practices both in Kissimmee and Ocala. To learn more, visit johnlittellmd.com

 

[Andy95W]

59 minutes ago, Eight8Victor said:

I’m not interested in hearing why this is wrong so don’t bother rebutting.

Well, they do say that ignorance is bliss.

[aviatoreb]

9 hours ago, Eight8Victor said:

Interesting read for those with an open mind: I’m not interested in hearing why this is wrong so don’t bother rebutting. Not participating in the fear mongering.

Not speaking at all about the topic of this thread or the editorial you presented - A bit of irony built in to your presentation of the editorial.  I see you assert, the we should - have an open mind - so that we can read what you are telling us to read so that we can therefore agree with you and then see that you are right, and not to bother saying anything back to you because you don't want to bother to listen to anything that is counter to your open mind based conclusion. 

[gsxrpilot]

Hmmm... why is it always the other guy who should have the open mind?

[steingar]

I kept seeing morons saying that we loose tens of thousands to flu every year, how is COVID19 so different.  120,000 Americans dead so far, with us tanking the economy trying to stop the virus.  We never did a tenth as much for flu.  Wake up guys, this is a big hairy deal.  Mask up, stay distant, wash your hands.  

[Andy95W]

*Deleted post*

'cause I started getting sucked back in again!  

Back to happy thoughts and Mooney talk, for me.

[Hank]

And all of this has ZERO to do with our Mooneys, little Timmy!!

[Danb]

Point counter point, this is getting old, wear your mask and stay away from me, It doesn't matter what I believe,  something is going on  and I don't want it to find out if I'm strong or not.

[MooneyMitch]

As I’m always attempting to find humor in life, I’m still enjoying walking through stores shopping  (masked up of course ) and having folks get out of my way!

Never had this happen in my lifetime and I kinda like it! 

[Ross Taylor]

Masks are mandated here, now.  Have a good laugh...we all need one.

[MooneyMitch]

27 minutes ago, Ross Taylor said:

Masks are mandated here, now.  Have a good laugh...we all need one.

I love it! Always look on the brighter side of life..................... super chuckling here........