Coronavirus

We're in an awkward stage of the Covid pandemic. Things are getting better fast, yet Covid cases, deaths, and hospitalizations are still quite high in Oregon.  This is part of the Oregon Health Authority report that was emailed to me today. Oregon Health Authority’s  COVID-19 Weekly Report, released today, shows decreases in daily cases and increases in hospitalizations and deaths from the previous week.  -- OHA reported 4,108 new daily cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, May 10, through Sunday, May 16. That represents a 16% decrease from the previous week.  -- New COVID-19 related hospitalizations rose to…

If you thought it was OK to relax with the mask wearing and social distancing, think again. Oregon Covid cases are increasing at the highest rate in the nation, 58% in the past two weeks. The next closest state is Alabama with a 37% increase. When Alabama is kicking our butt on public health, that's reason to be worried. Here's a chart of how badly Oregon has been doing recently. Remember how freaked out everybody was in the spring of 2020 when Covid was a new thing to worry about? The 7-day average of cases in Oregon back then was…

It's been clear for a long time that Donald Trump caused many thousands of Americans to die needlessly because of his astoundingly inept response to the COVID-19 pandemic. What's been in question is how many.  Thanks to Andrew Akteson, a UCLA professor, we now have an answer: nearly 400,000 deaths could have been avoided if the United States had done things differently and better. That's an astoundingly tragic number.  Not all of those unnecessary deaths are Trump's direct responsibility. But most are, since he oversaw our country's Covid response when strong public health actions could have markedly reduced the death…

There's little debate about who should get the first doses of Covid vaccines allocated to Oregon: health care workers and long-term-care residents/staff. These groups are at high risk of being infected by the virus. Plus, the older someone is, the more likely they will die after falling ill with COVID-19. Those 65 and older account for the vast majority of Covid deaths, with people 85+ accounting for about a third. So it makes sense that both the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and Oregon health officials agree on who should be immunized initially with the Pfizer and Moderna…

I'll be blunt. If you're wearing a mask every time you're in a public place, are physically distancing, wash your hands regularly, and aren't socializing often with strangers or with large numbers of people you know -- good for you!  But if you're not doing some or all of these things -- shame on you!  You are either clueless about the skyrocketing Covid cases and hospitalizations both in Oregon and the United States as a whole, or you're so selfish, you don't care if you're helping prolong the suffering of this pandemic. Here's a chart of the depressing reality here…

Fall is here. Leaves are falling. COVID-19 isn't. Infections are rising in Marion County, in Oregon, in the United States. Not good. In fact, horrible. People have become complacent about wearing masks and physical distancing. It doesn't matter if you're inside a grocery store or the home of someone who is having a social gathering.  Wear a damn mask!  In the name of freedom. Yes, freedom. Too many people have the crazy idea that going maskless shows you're a freedom lover. Actually, it shows that you have no idea what freedom means.  If you don't believe me, read this opinion…

A few months ago, when the COVID virus was really taking off in the United States, like a lot of people I spent quite a bit of time searching for N95-quality masks. My wife, Laurel, and I are 71. Laurel has asthma. So we're in a high-risk category when it comes to COVID. The more we can lower our risk by physical distancing, hand washing, and wearing a mask, the better. Back in 2011, when some Fukushima nuclear plant radiation was making its way across the Pacific, my wife and I had gotten a box of medical N95 masks. We…

When I was young, I was really eager to have school start in September. I wanted to see my classmates. I was bored with summer vacation. I looked forward to being in a class one year farther along. Even though I'm far past my school days, I do have a granddaughter about to start eighth grade. Evelyn, like most students, had to do her learning online in the spring after the Covid crisis hit the United States.  That must have been difficult. So even though I disagree with Trump on almost everything, his call for elementary and high schools to…

I don't want to die. I do want to see friends in person, not just on a Zoom screen. That's my basic dilemma, finding the right balance between safety and socializing. Being 71, rather than 17, makes the question of To gather or not to gather more consequential, since I'm in a high risk Covid group because of my age.  And my wife is in the same situation, with the added complication of having asthma. Still, both of us have been edging into the To gather side of the question. After honing our Covid prevention skills by going to grocery stores and…

Dear young people of Oregon, and elsewhere also, I'm writing to you even though I know you aren't big on reading blog posts, or Facebook, where I'll be sharing this message. I just feel the need to reach out across a generational divide (I'm 71) and talk to you about the coronavirus crisis. Things aren't going very well at the moment. After states started re-opening, new cases have skyrocketed. Today they surpassed 40,000 nationally, a record since the crisis began. This afternoon Vice-President Pence said it's good news that now young people are accounting for a larger share of cases,…

This evening I became part of an exclusive group of Oregonians, if "exclusive" is taken to mean 100,000 adults chosen at random for the Key to Oregon study. Here's how the study is described in a FAQ page. The study will test, track and map the COVID-19 symptoms, and new infections, of up to 100,000 Oregonians in real time. OHSU is leading the study in partnership with the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and in collaboration with the Oregon Health Authority. Data from the study will guide state and local leaders in easing stay-home orders while protecting against new outbreaks.…

Being retired, I'm used to having a pretty relaxed schedule. But before the coronavirus arrived to mess up our lives, frequently I'd set off in my car with a bunch of to-do's and manage to get them all done. Bank. Pharmacy. Grocery store. Hardware store. That sort of thing. Now, I feel I should get a trophy if I just get one errand accomplished, because these days most things aren't nearly as easy to do. Here's today's example.  Yesterday I decided to paw through a wicker storage basket that contained quite a few pairs of shoes that I wasn't regularly wearing…

Yesterday Andy Slavitt, a high-ranking health official in the Obama administration, presented a brilliant thread on Twitter about the danger of relaxing social distancing rules in May. Below I've copied in screenshots of what Slavitt said. It's a well-reasoned, and also disturbing, counterpoint to the small number of strident demonstrators against stay-at-home orders in Oregon and elsewhere who are getting way more attention from the media than they deserve. l'll also take this opportunity to mention something that deserves more attention from public health authorities here in Oregon. Why the heck does the county where I live, Marion County, have…