Category: Health Care
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COVID-19 Update: Yup, the Virus Has Plateaued
One hundred and ninety-nine COVID-19 patients were discharged from Virginia hospitals yesterday, exceeding the 66 patients admitted, according to the latest data from the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA). The excess of discharges over admissions represents a major milestone in the fight against the deadly disease. Perhaps it…
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The U.S., and Virginia, Soon Will have COVID-19 Testing Out the Wazoo
by James C. Sherlock The Washington press corps has aggressively questioned President Trump about the need for aggressive nationwide testing before reversing social distancing measures and opening up the economy. Many have pointed to public health experts and other advisors who say the U.S. needs more testing first. The media gave considerable attention, for example,…
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COVID-19 Testing at Urgent Care Clinics
by James C. Sherlock This information on Urgent Care Clinic testing in Virginia is a follow-up to yesterday’s information on testing in general. It was developed by web searches in about two hours. It is representative, but not necessarily complete. The Governor can direct his staff to provide compete information updated daily on a virginia.gov…
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COVID-19 Update: The Curve Has Flattened
Sure looks to me like the curve is bending in Virginia, just as it appears to be around the world. The latest data from the Virginia Department of Health indicates 329 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, less than the number eleven days ago. That’s consistent with what the Johns Hopkins University data is showing…
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A COVID-19 Testing Update
by James C. Sherlock I provide this update to bring our readers up to speed on the always complex and sometimes confusing subject of COVID-19 testing. High and medium throughput laboratory testing There are multiple laboratory platforms widely distributed for which FDA-authorized COVID-19 tests are available[1]. Among these are: the Roche 8800 high-throughput machine. It…
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Biocomplexity Institute Unveils COVID-19 Model
by James A. Bacon John Butcher and I have been cautiously optimistic that the COVID-19 epidemic is near its peak in Virginia, and that Virginia hospitals seem to be in little danger of being overwhelmed. Now comes the University of Virginia’s Biocomplexity Institute, which has developed a sophisticated, Virginia-specific epidemiological model. The Institute agrees that…
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COVID-19, Social Distancing and Risk
by James A. Bacon Among the useful new data sets published by the Virginia Department of Health on its COVID-19 dashboard is a map of “outbreaks” around the state. The dashboard does not define an “outbreak” but it appears to entail cases in which multiple infections are traced to a particular location. To no one’s…
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COVID-19 Update: Are We Leveling Off?
The latest data from the Virginia Department of Health, reported this morning, is consistent with the notion that the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Virginia is nearing a peak. The graph above, produced by John Butcher, does a much better job of showing the trend than any of the graphics I’ve been creating. So,…
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Limits on Liberty: Where’s the Outrage?
by Kerry Dougherty Remember the hordes of angry people – women mostly – who took to the streets after Trump was elected? They were so worried that his judicial appointments would interfere with their right to abortions that they wore pink vagina hats and called themselves “The Resistance.” Remember all of the lefties who took…
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Wonks Rejoice: More COVID-19 Data on Display!
by James A. Bacon I have to tip my hat to the anonymous state employees who are maintaining the Virginia Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard. They are publishing more data, and they’re spiffing it up with some pretty decent displays. For example: The graph above, snipped from the VDH dashboard, show the number of confirmed…
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No More Sand Castles
by Kerry Dougherty Two weeks ago, when Gov. Ralph Northam issued his over-reaching stay-at-home order that closed Virginia beaches to anyone not exercising or fishing until June 10, a young father politely emailed the Norfolk police for guidance. I’ve deleted his full name and email address for privacy reasons. I have seen the emails. I…
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COVID-19 Update: Are We Reaching Peak Epidemic?
I don’t want to fan the flames of false hope, but the latest data from the Virginia Department of Health is consistent with the idea that Virginia at long last, is flattening the curve. We may not have reached peak virus spread, but we could be close to it, as seen in John Butcher’s graph…
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Commonwealth Pays $150,000 for Medical Supply Chain Expertise
by James A. Bacon The Commonwealth of Virginia will pay $150,000 to global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company to help procure more personal protective equipment and testing supplies for COVID-19, the Virginia Mercury reported Friday. “Given the really free-for-all in obtaining [personal protective equipment], we’ve gotten hundreds and hundreds of offers, some of which…
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COVID-19 Update: The Data Takes a Nap
It’s the weekend, and the Virginia Department of Health’s compilation of COVID-19 statistics is subject to reporting delays, so the number of new confirmed cases and hospitalizations is likely incomplete. So, be not deceived by the low numbers. As occurred with last weekend’s data, we’ll see a huge rebound Tuesday. Even I, as eager as…
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COVID-19 Update: A Perplexing Discrepancy in the Data
by James A. Bacon Make sense of this, if you can. Testing confirmed another 568 cases of COVID-19 in Virginia yesterday, according to Virginia Department of Health data published this morning. That was the biggest daily increase in new cases by far, bringing the total number of known cases to 5,077. Yet the number of…