Wow, it’s getting really scary in Texas - and everywhere else!

[audreyh1]

I see Abbott stopped any additional re-opening, and hard hit counties have elective medical procedures suspended again.

Hard hit counties are starting to run out of hospital capacity. Major hospital in Houston is 97% full.*

Numbers flying up. Was it Fauci who indicated that so many young people being hospitalized indicates the spread is far wider than you might think since a smaller percentage of young folks run into severe symptoms?

And today I saw on their Facebook page that my doctor’s office has announced telemedicine appointments only, and closed until further notice due to COVID as of June 22nd. Throws a wrench in my plans.

*

HOUSTON — As the number of patients hospitalized with the coronavirus has reached record highs 12 days in a row, there are warning signs that Houston hospitals are nearing a tipping point.
At the Texas Medical Center in Houston, 97 percent of ICU beds were occupied on Tuesday. Twenty-seven percent of those ICU patients have COVID-19.
The normal base occupancy rate at the world's largest medical center is 70 to 80 percent.
The hospitals have contingency plans to add additional ICU beds for temporary surges. But if the number of COVID cases continues at the current rate, the TWC could fill up all of those beds in the next two weeks.
"Sustainable surge capacity" is a federal requirement that hospitals must be able to repurpose general beds into ICU beds, adding ventilators, monitoring equipment, and trained staff.
The Medical Center sent a letter Wednesday that warned Houstonians 'If this trend continues, our hospital system capacity will become overwhelmed."

https://www.khou.com/article/news/h...read/285-aad0788d-256e-4454-8e3f-87f9c7956680

 

[ivinsfan]

Are you just staying hunkered down at the farm for now? It's crazy how fast these numbers change.

Evidently COVID isn't done messing with us yet...

Our state is doing so well, it's not fun waiting for the other shoe to drop..

 

[Teacher Terry]

That’s so sad.

 

[RobbieB]

Young folks like to party and feel invincible and think they'll live forever. Let's hit the beach, let's hit the bar.

Surf's up dude!

 

[audreyh1]

Are you just staying hunkered down at the farm for now? It's crazy how fast these numbers change.

Evidently COVID isn't done messing with us yet...

Our state is doing so well, it's not fun waiting for the other shoe to drop..

Unfortunately we have plans for a quick trip to TX to take care of things at home that absolutely must be dealt with.

We were planning on minimal contact anyway. But I expected to be able to get a couple of routine blood tests done.

 

[ivinsfan]

Unfortunately we have plans for a quick trip to TX to take care of things at home that absolutely must be dealt with.

On dear, sorry you need to travel when things are so stressful in TX..

 

[gattara]

Yeah - Texas, Florida, Arizona - I keep seeing scary headlines for these states. Not good.

 

[Dtail]

Yeah - Texas, Florida, Arizona - I keep seeing scary headlines for these states. Not good.

Well on a slightly positive note, now there is mandatory masks by us for indoor facilities and it appears to be close to 100% compliance in the grocery stores.

 

[Ronstar]

Yeah - Texas, Florida, Arizona - I keep seeing scary headlines for these states. Not good.

Texas, Florida, Arizona - all quite hot this time of year.
Didn’t the experts claim some time ago that the virus doesn’t spread as much in the heat?

 

[ivinsfan]

Texas, Florida, Arizona - all quite hot this time of year.
Didn’t the experts claim some time ago that the virus doesn’t spread as much in the heat?

Wouldn't people in these states be spending a lot more time indoors with the AC running...? I've heard fresh air and sun are as important as warm, but who knows...

 

[audreyh1]

Texas, Florida, Arizona - all quite hot this time of year.
Didn’t the experts claim some time ago that the virus doesn’t spread as much in the heat?

Perhaps it doesn’t spread as much, but it clearly spreads enough such that any such a distinction doesn’t matter.

 

[Dtail]

Texas, Florida, Arizona - all quite hot this time of year.
Didn’t the experts claim some time ago that the virus doesn’t spread as much in the heat?

Just not true as it turns out. Many young folks hanging out in large crowds indoors and out with no social distancing rules.

 

[Aerides]

Wouldn't people in these states be spending a lot more time indoors with the AC running...? I've heard fresh air and sun are as important as warm, but who knows...

Nah, not driven indoors just yet. Especially when most of these new cases are a few days old (by the time tests come in and get reported), and are probably from infections that started up to 14 days prior to that. I think we're still seeing a lot of stuff "enter the system" that can be traced back 3 or 4 weeks.

As a Floridian who's spent plenty of time in AZ, in both locations, locals aren't driven inside really until July - that's when outside becomes unfit for man nor beast. And having only just gotten parks and beaches opened in the past month or so, probably more folks outside than before taking full advantage.

 

[ivinsfan]

Nah, not driven indoors just yet. Especially when most of these new cases are a few days old (by the time tests come in and get reported), and are probably from infections that started up to 14 days prior to that. I think we're still seeing a lot of stuff "enter the system" that can be traced back 3 or 4 weeks.

As a Floridian who's spent plenty of time in AZ, in both locations, locals aren't driven inside really until July - that's when outside becomes unfit for man nor beast. And having only just gotten parks and beaches opened in the past month or so, probably more folks outside than before taking full advantage.

That's what happens when you live in the frozen tundra anything over 80 feels hotter then hot. Well so much for that idea..

 

[MissMolly]

Texas, Florida, Arizona - all quite hot this time of year.
Didn’t the experts claim some time ago that the virus doesn’t spread as much in the heat?

I don't recall ever reading or hearing any experts claiming it would die down in the summer. What I heard is that they hoped it would behave like the flu and die down, but that didn't they know since it is a brand new virus. Now we all know.

 

[brewer12345]

Elsewhere will be treading the same path, it seems. Colorado was late to reopen relative to many of the affected states, but our numbers have started climbing in the last week or so and no doubt we will be in the muck again soon. Hope we get it under control again by the time flu season starts.

 

[cathy63]

Texas, Florida, Arizona - all quite hot this time of year.
Didn’t the experts claim some time ago that the virus doesn’t spread as much in the heat?

I seem to recall some non-experts projecting that "if Covid-19 behaves like flu, things will be better when it gets hot" and all the experts saying "no reason to think that a Coronavirus will behave like flu, just look at Australia, Ecuador, etc."

I am also worried about California. We seem to be only a week or so behind Arizona and Texas. Our cases are climbing, though hospitalization and death rates are still declining.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Texas, Florida, Arizona - all quite hot this time of year.
Didn’t the experts claim some time ago that the virus doesn’t spread as much in the heat?

It doesn't. Somewhere in the past I posted a study showing the variability due to temperature. However, temperature is only a minor factor in terms of spread.

 

[brewer12345]

I seem to recall some non-experts projecting that "if Covid-19 behaves like flu, things will be better when it gets hot" and all the experts saying "no reason to think that a Coronavirus will behave like flu, just look at Australia, Ecuador, etc."

I am also worried about California. We seem to be only a week or so behind Arizona and Texas. Our cases are climbing, though hospitalization and death rates are still declining.

California is so far flung with so many population centers it would be more helpful to understand what metro areas are seeing a spike in cases rather than state wide numbers.

 

[gattara]

Well on a slightly positive note, now there is mandatory masks by us for indoor facilities and it appears to be close to 100% compliance in the grocery stores.

Good! Is this for all of FL?

 

[Aerides]

California is so far flung with so many population centers it would be more helpful to understand what metro areas are seeing a spike in cases rather than state wide numbers.

This is by county, very telling as SF (ie the 6 bay area counties in the steady line at the bottom) was I think the first major area to do SAH orders?

(i do not know about the validity, just struck me when I saw this in my feed on twitter... "woah if true" as the kids say)

 

[Dtail]

Good! Is this for all of FL?

Unfortunately no. County by county choice.

 

[Poopycat]

It isn’t just the young folks running around. I have friends there who are in their 40’s and 50’s - some who are in higher-risk populations - and they are running around like there is no virus too.

 

[audreyh1]

This is by county, very telling as SF (ie the 6 bay area counties in the steady line at the bottom) was I think the first major area to do SAH orders?

(i do not know about the validity, just struck me when I saw this in my feed on twitter... "woah if true" as the kids say)

Wow!!!!

 

[cathy63]

California is so far flung with so many population centers it would be more helpful to understand what metro areas are seeing a spike in cases rather than state wide numbers.

It was like a giant game of whack-a-mole, with outbreaks moving from county to county. But, now we have this chart where you can see outbreaks all over the state. Three weeks ago, there were 3 or 4 blue lines and the rest were green. Source: https://www.latimes.com/projects/california-coronavirus-cases-tracking-outbreak/