THIS PAGE IS A “FACT SHEET,” WITH LINKS. It will give you either direct information about the pandemic, or it will give you links to go to in the future to get updated information. IT WILL NOT be updated with “case numbers,” as it changes too frequently to be accurate. We will post separate weekly articles when there are drastic changes in numbers or warnings or successes.
DON’T LET THE SECOND WAVE KNOCK YOU DOWN; BE INFORMED!
- ➜ DIRECTORY
- ==COVID-19 SYMPTOMS: COVID Symptoms; FLU and COLD Symptoms;
- ==HOSPITILZATION & RECOVERY FACTS
- ==VACCINE RESEARCH; SELF-PROTECTION
- ==TESTING (Types; Lyons)
- ==MASKS
- ==STATE OF COLORADO==
- CO DASHBOARD Definitions / FREE TESTING / ADD YOUR PHONE / OUTBREAK REPORTS & MAPS
- ==EUROPE’S 2nd WAVE and LOCKDOWNS
COVID-19 SYMPTOMS vs FLU & COLD
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE COVID SYMPTOMS:
If you experience a medical emergency such as trouble breathing, call 911 and let the operator know you may have COVID-19.
LONG TERM SYMPTOMS
According to the CDD:
The most commonly reported long-term symptoms include:
Fatigue == Shortness of breath ==Cough ==Joint pain ==Chest pain
Other reported long-term symptoms include:
Difficulty with thinking and concentration (sometimes referred to as “brain fog”)
==Depression ==Muscle pain ==Headache ==Intermittent fever ==
==Fast-beating or pounding heart (also known as heart palpitations); a degree of cardiovascular abnormalities.
More serious long-term complications appear to be less common but have been reported. These have been noted to affect different organ systems in the body. These include:
- Cardiovascular: inflammation of the heart muscle
- Respiratory: lung function abnormalities
- Renal: acute kidney injury
- Dermatologic: rash, hair loss
- Neurological: smell and taste problems, sleep issues, difficulty with concentration, memory problems
- Psychiatric: depression, anxiety, changes in mood
The University of Oxford found that one in five patients later are diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety and insomnia. The long-term significance of these effects is not yet known.
“COVID-LongHaulers” can go on for months: Coughing · Ongoing, sometimes debilitating, fatigue · Body aches · Joint pain · Shortness of breath. One person, who had been in peak physical condition prior to the virus, experienced 100 degree fever for a nine months; and hospitals conducted numerous scans and did blood work and were unable to diagnosis or cure it. Some researchers have found that many COVID-19 long haulers are health care workers who had massive exposure to the virus early in the pandemic. Here is an article about Colorado patients by Modern Health Care.
FLU SYMPTOMS: Most people who get flu will recover in a few days to less than two weeks, but some people will develop complications (such as pneumonia) as a result of flu, some of which can be life-threatening and result in death. In general, flu is worse than the common cold, it comes on abruptly, and symptoms are more intense. Colds are usually milder. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose, and not the rest of the following symptoms.
- fever* or feeling feverish/chills =cough =sore throat =runny or stuffy nose =muscle or body aches =headaches =fatigue (tiredness) =some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults (*not everyone gets a fever)
HOSPITILZATION & RECOVERY FACTS
ADVANCES IN MEDICAL CARE (as of late October)
Doctors now know more about WHAT to do EARLY, instead of watching to see where it goes. ==People with mild symptoms are able to recover at home. ==More people are managed on the floor now, rather than in the ICU. ==In October 2020, the FDA approved the antiviral drug remdesivir to treat COVID–19. It may be used to treat adults and children ages 12 and older and weighing at least 88 pounds, who have been hospitalized for COVID–19. Clinical trials suggest that in these patients, remdesivir may modestly speed up recovery time. It is not a cure. == November 9, 2020: The FDA issued emergency authorization for Eli Lilly’s investigational monoclonal antibody therapy Bamlanivimab for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adult and pediatric patients.==There are five other late-stage experimental therapies being conducted, including Convalescent Plasma Therapy. There are seven early-stage experiments going on, which include recognizable names: Regeneron, and Hydroxychloroquine. In the meantime, the FDA has extended the period of “enforcement discretion” of “convalescent plasma” through the end of February 2021.
RE-ADMISSION STATISTICS:
November 13, from CDC: Among the 106,543 patients discharged from the “index admission,” 9,504 (9%) were readmitted, including 1,667 (1.6%) who were readmitted more than once. The median interval from discharge to first readmission was 8 days.== 60% were discharged to home or self-care (to home without any additional professional services provided such as home nursing health care), 15% to a SNF, 10% to home with assistance from a home health organization, 4% to hospice, 4% to ongoing care, and 5% to other locations ==The odds of admission and readmission increased with the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease.
VACCINE RESEARCH, SELF-PROTECTION
VACCINE RESEARCH
While vaccines have taken as long as 10 years to develop, all the major pharmaceutical companies across the world are joining together to share research, with teams scrutinizing results, and complete the normal three-step public testing process.
November 16: THREE VACCINES 90+% effective
A second COVID-19 vaccine now also appears highly effective in preventing illness following exposure to the virus that causes the disease. The biotech company Moderna Inc. said Monday, November 16, that its experimental vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing disease, according to an analysis of its clinical trial. It has low side effects. The news comes a week after Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine was more than 90% effective. The Pfizer vaccine has to be kept approximately 100 degrees BELOW freezing (various reports give different degrees). So the Moderna one will probably be used in more rural settings where it will be harder to maintain the low storage temperatures. The results for both vaccines come from interim analyses of large clinical studies, including Stage 3 trials. SEE NPR article for full details.
It will be given first to health care workers, including nursing home and care givers, first responders, essential workers (including teachers), high risk (health) individuals, and tentatively those 65 and older. As of November 25, the federal government plans to ship the vaccines based on population count, and they are leaving it up to the local governments to develop a distribution plan, with help from the CDC guidlines.
HOW DO I PROTECT MYSELF (CDC LIST)
Wash hands; avoid close contact; cover your mouth and nose with a 2-layer mask when outside your home or when having someone in your home who is not a member of your daily household; use tissue for coughs and sneezes, and throw it away immediately and wash your hands; clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces; monitor your health if you go out in the public, such as taking your temperature. (per CDC)
TESTING
*FREE* COVID-19 testing began in Lyons Friday, October 30, 1:30 to 3 p.m. and continue through December 18. You do not need a doctor’s orders, nor have symptoms. The site may close due to inclement weather. It is not open Thanksgiving and Christmas week. Results are expected within two to three days. If you are not called, then call the number on the form to get your medical record. The Town would like you to know: In order for Boulder County Public Health to have the most accurate location data for cases in Lyons please use both your physical address and PO Box (if you have one) on the form. Thanks to the Town of Lyons Board of Trustees’ encouragement for this to be done, and to Peak to Peak Housing and Human Services Alliance; to Boulder County Public Health, in partnership with Boulder Community Health and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
AT HOME TESTING: November 17: The FDA has granted emergency authorization to a Covid-19 test that can be taken at home and will quickly provide the results, the agency said. A second test is up for approval. Both will need a prescription and out-of-pocket payment ($50 to $100).
RISE IN COVID CONFIRMED VS. RISE IN TESTING
The rise in testing does not account for the hospitalization peaks being experienced. The same people would be sick whether they were tested or not. The tests allow sick people to know sooner that they have it (or let asymptomatic people know they have it), and they can get medical help sooner, for better results, and are less likely to spread it to others.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF COVID TESTS = Five types of tests are being used. PCR is considered the best. Antigen is fastest; and should be confirmed with a PCR test if concerns.
MASKS
CDC recommends wearing masks to slow the spread of COVID-19. Everyone should wear a mask covering unless they are under 2 years of age, have breathing problems, or are unconscious or incapacitated and would need assistance removing a mask (CDC November 12). It should cover your mouth and nose at all times (when away from your household), except while eating or drinking.
N95 masks are used by health care workers. Consumer are warned that the K-95 equivalent has often been found to be fake. Check for obvious problems like misspelled words and a tag that says FDA approved. N95 masks can be rotated every 3–4 days, heated for 60 minutes, steamed or boiled for 5 minutes, and then air-dried (per NIH).
You should wear a mask made out of two-layers. It can be made out of material. Thick, densely woven cotton fabrics are best, such as quilting cotton or cotton sheets. Stretchy knits are not ideal. They should be washed with soap and water. If 95 percent of people wear cloth masks when within six feet of other people in public, it will reduce COVID-19 transmission by at least 30 percent.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF COVID TESTS = https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/coronavirus-testing-basics
=======COLORADO========
STATE OF COLORADO – COVID “DASHBOARD” – LINKS – TESTING
To see if your county, or one that you plan to visit is in a danger zone, check out this State of Colorado COVID-19 DASHBOARD DATA Page. == On November 20, a new Dashboard went into effect which now makes the previous “RED level” (STAY AT HOME) into a “PURPLE level.”
As of November 20, 2020: Boulder County – “Safer at Home” Level RED
As of November 24, 2020: Larimer County – “Safer at Home” Level RED
DASHBOARD LEVELS:
Level GREEN “PROTECT OUR NEIGHBORS“
“SAFER AT HOME:”
Level 1 BLUE, is “cautious”;
Level 2 YELLOW, is “concern”
Level 3 ORANGE, is “high risk.”
Level 4 RED, is “severe risk”
Level 5 PURPLE is “extreme risk” = “STAY AT HOME“
Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment @CDPHE
October 28, 2020: Colorado surpassed 100,000 COVID-19 cases.== November 23: 200,000 cases.
“Safer at Home” fast facts.
Critical businesses are still open.
Non-critical businesses are open with restrictions.
Stay at home as much as possible; try to only interact with family members who you live with.
Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands frequently and don’t touch your face.
Wear a face covering or mask when you leave your home.
Connect with neighbors and loved ones virtually.
LINKS TO GOVERNMENT COVID-19 INFO:
The State of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has everything you could possibly want to know about COVID-19 in the state on one page. The Outbreak Data page has many links on it, including the maps.
Boulder County’s COVID-19 web page has information and links that pertain to this county.
Larimer County’s COVID-19 web page, pertains to this county.
STATE OF COLORADO = OUTBREAK REPORTS & MAPS
Be in the know — are you going to eat or shop in Longmont and want to know if the place is safe? You can check this page for outbreaks. Just be sure to read the whole notice, as the map shows both “active” and “inactive” (taken care of) outbreaks.
You can see both the Resolved and Current “Outbreaks” of COVID-19 in Colorado by clicking on this page. This map displays the location of all confirmed outbreaks reported to CDPHE. It is updated each Wednesday after the weekly outbreak surveillance report is published. Locations of active outbreaks are displayed using symbology based on the outbreak setting. Resolved outbreaks are shown using a gray marker. In limited circumstances, if the location of an outbreak is a home address or a shelter, or if the address information submitted is incomplete, a close approximation of the true address may be used. For more outbreak data visit CDPHE’s Outbreak data page.
ADD YOUR PHONE TO THE OUTBREAK DATA APP
You can get information through your phone as to whether you have been in close contact with someone who got the virus. Contact Tracing has finally been started in Colorado.==CO Exposure Notifications, launched on Oct. 25, 2020 in partnership with Google and Apple, complements existing statewide health safety protocols without compromising the privacy of Coloradans. As adoption increases in Colorado, impact will increase.==
More than 587,615 people have activated the CO Exposure Notifications service as of Oct. 28. Apple and Android users make up 81% of Colorado’s population, and 14.9% of those users have activated the service==CDPHE noted the percentage is a preliminary, minimum estimate and could actually be 1-2% higher as numbers are coming in rapidly.
visit addyourphone.com and opt in to protect the health of yourself and your loved ones.
When users enable the service, their smartphones share anonymous tokens with other users through the phones’ Bluetooth technology. If another user tests positive for COVID-19 within a 14-day period and chooses to upload their results, users at risk of infection will receive an alert of potential exposure. Tokens are not associated with any phone number, name, location or IP address, and they change every 15 minutes to add an extra layer of anonymity. CO Exposure Notifications also provides individuals who receive an exposure alert with instructions on recommended next steps, including information on quarantine and contacting their local public health agency.
EUROPE’S 2nd WAVE and LOCKDOWNS
On Friday, October 30, the US continued to be the #1 country with the most cases in the world, and the most deaths. It had its highest number of cases ever: 90,000 in one day, for 9 million total. Just a week later, November 7, it rose to 11 million cases, with 248,000 dead. As of November 25, USA: 12,662,851, the most of any country, and 261,000+ deaths. = India, with 9.2 million cases, and Brazil, with 6.1 million cases, had the next highest amounts of reported infections.
At the end of October, three countries, Great Britain, Germany and France, announced new total Lock Downs, for as long as a month. Italy joined in on November 11; it had the highest fatality rate in Europe, with 1 million cases, and worried that hospitals would soon reach capacity. And, on November 14, it had 41,902 new cases a day. (New reports think that it may have hit Italy as early as last September 2019.) The top 10 countries account for over two-thirds of all the global coronavirus cases.
England Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “In England, we are breaching the number of infections and hospital admissions in the Reasonable Worst Case planning scenario” for the winter.” Britain still has Europe’s highest death toll from Covid-19 with more than 46,000 fatalities.(over a million cases). Schools will not be closed, even though they say a big increase in secondary school cases. The complete lockdown of the UK, bans people from leaving their homes or meeting in groups of more than two people. (Ireland has 69,000 cases)
President of France, Emmanuel Macron, said “(France has been) overpowered by a second wave…We are having 40-50,000 new identified contamination cases each day.” (Approximately 1.5 million cases; 37,000+ deaths. On November 7, it had Europe’s largest number of cases at 1.86 million)
“We are really very close to a tsunami,” Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told broadcaster RTL in October. (11,625 deaths; with a population of 11.5 million; making it 101 deaths for every 100,000 people, which is higher than most any other European country.)
“The pandemic is spreading rapidly again, even faster than at the start of it more than half a year ago,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned. (544,000+ cases)
Switzerland is up 73 percent in cases. Eastern European countries up 45 to 55 percent.
THERE ARE SOME SUCCESSES. In New Zealand, which closed its borders and ordered people to stay home as a first wave hit in Spring, confirmed infections went down to zero for a time. As of November 18, they have 2,000 total cases. The government has ordered a six week nationwide shutdown.
South Korea (29,000), Japan and Taiwan have kept their outbreaks far smaller than those in other parts of the world, which some experts attribute to their early responses and sophisticated tracking and tracing. Many island countries have numbers in the hundreds. Africa is also low because they had in place procedures to fight pandemics.
The worry is that these reprieves may be temporary or, in some cases, just plain lucky. Some nations that avoided the first wave now see huge daily case numbers: The Czech Republic, where residents held a street party to say farewell to the coronavirus in June, had one of the worst outbreaks in the world just a few months later (November 18: 472,000+). Similar situations are playing out in countries in Latin America, South Asia and the Middle East. Argentina,
THE WORLD has 60,260,000 cases and 1,419,000 deaths, as of November 25, USA has 12,765,000+ cases, and 262,000+ deaths, and is #1. India is #2, with 9.2+ million cases, and 135,000+ deaths. Brazil is #3 with 6.1+ million, with 170,000+ deaths. Canada has 351,000+ and Mexico has 1.1 million+ France and Russia have approximately 2.2 million cases. Spain and UK are at 1.6 million; Italy 1.5 million. (per John Hopkins University & Medicine)
*******This information is being provided to you for your entertainment and education, and should not be used a medical advice. See your doctor for advice. If you experience a medical emergency such as trouble breathing, call 911 and let the operator know you may have COVID-19******.
