The situation with Covid-19 continues to evolve, from the dark days of early march when public concern rose to a fevered pitch and people in the USA realised they would get no help from the federal government and the federal response was non existent. People were making DIY masks and few plans were available online, doctors in hospitals never even had supportive therapies and only ventilators were of any use, of which there was expected at the time to be a critical shortage. Desperate measures were being taken in all quarters and PPE collected in community drives as people anticipated a horrific onslaught with hospitals overcrowded, fortunately lockdowns (NPIs) prevented a catastrophe, not just in America but everywhere. Information was hard to come by in the early days and not a lot was known by science or the media, both needed time to adapt.
Now the situation is much better on all fronts, especial the media one, there is lots of expert advice online from many reliable sources, unfortunately there are also those with other agendas than public safety and disinformation abounts too. There is confusion in epidemiological circles and flawed studies and tests, other scientists and lay people trying to understand are dismayed, but finally solid information is starting to emerge and be utilised. Likewise knowledge about airborne spread and the value of masks evolved over time, as the danger from fomites and surface contamination. We are learning unsafe places and practices, as well as safe ones, vulnerable areas and how to protect them.
Doctors have supportive therapies now, antivirals are beginning to appear and studies on more are ongoing. Convalescent plasma therapy is being used under compassionate use guidelines and being studied at the same time as other preparations are made. We await a quality study and expert consensus on the efficacy of convalescent plasma, if this becomes a fact, then I would expect the infrastructure for delivery to ramp up quickly to the largest extent practical. Remember, there are 38,000 blood transfusions a day currently, just as normal business, so the scale is there to treat a 1000 people who might otherwise die a day, even if you have to treat 5 or more for every one you save. This I believe will end up having an impact on things, if the studies prove efficacy and feasibility.
Because there is now so much quality information out there online and in responsible media and also because there is so much disinformation out there and politics has intruded heavily into the area, I'm just gonna post high quality studies on treatment topics. Pre print non peer reviewed articles are a recent thing in science, another impact of the internet and do much to contribute to to public confusion unfortunately. They are made for science fans and are pretty esoteric, both those in the field and outside of it in other fields, as well as others who are interested, usually it's pretty boring technical stuff, just for nerds. Only peer reviewed studies are likely to have an impact on public policy and with Trump incharge? I'm only going to post peer reviewed studies here from here on out, that and news stories from reliable "mainstream" public sources that follow journalistic practices and standards, as I've always done. Pre print studies are interesting correlation studies for the most part that spot anomalies and patterns in the data to see if it's worth looking at with a larger better quality study. They aren't much use in making major public policy decisions or even medical ones, though doctors sometimes use them in emergency situations, when there are no other options, sometimes times empirical data is sufficient for them when lives are on the line
Major studies will impact public policy regarding covid -19 the most, at least for any government that follows science. That includes NPI's and safe smart ways to open up, as much as we can, as safely as we can guided by expert advice and not by political considerations. Economic concerns and considerations are valid though, but smart people know they are linked to public health. We cannot reopen successfully without testing, contact tracing, case isolation, NPI's, personal distancing, banning mass events and wearing masks in public, while avoiding enclosed poorly ventilated places. These are FACTS, they are the most important facts right now and they will save more lives than any treatment option the might be available soon, including plasma transfusions. Put a vaccine out of your mind for the foreseeable future, it is not an option until after Donald is gone and then it might be awhile, if ever according to some, the experts will make the calls and they will be in agreement, or I'm gonna be skeptical and my end up choosing a "side" if the option is available, I doubt it though, take it or leave it.
Our focus should be to mitigate the damage done by Trump and his minions at all levels of this issue from, reopening too early, silencing scientists, touting drugs and household cleaners and promising vaccines by christmas. Donald has fucked up every aspect of the preparation and response to this pandemic in America and will cost the lives of hundreds of thousands and is trying to kill even more by opening churches, suppressing information, impeding the response, spreading disinformation and chaos. To try and save as many lives as we can and mitigate the harm is a formidable task, with all the reclaitrance on the republican side about masks, some good has come out of it too though, Donald's base appears to be split on lockdowns and mask wearing, he's losing it with seniors and bleeding white support among those who have brains and want to survive.
In America is will be a state by state fight with covid and Donald, In Canada I hope for better and testing is now improving quickly. America will not solve this problem until Trump is gone and if he is re-elected it will be herd immunity and overwhelmed or barely coping hospitals and a Darwinian solution of casting away the weak and frail along with a lot of other regular people. Surviving Donald until January 20th might be quite a challenge in of itself, surviving him for four more years might be impossible.
arstechnica.com
