Category: Health Care
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Federal and State Responses to COVID-19
by James C. Sherlock The federal government’s relationships with state and local governments is defined by the U.S. Constitution. Presidential management of internal national crises is constrained by lack of command authority over the states. No governor works for the President. He cannot order them to do anything, even in wartime. He can take control…
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COVID-19 Update: Hospitalizations Surge
The Virginia Department of Health has updated its statistics to reflect yesterday’s numbers. The big movers: hospitalizations and deaths, both of which surged 26%. Total confirmed COVID-19 cases: 1,484, up 234 Total hospitalizations: 208, up 43 Total deaths: 34, up 7 Total tests: 15,344, up 1,943 Here are John Butcher’s latest calculations for the “doubling”…
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Wanted: Government Informants
by Kerry Dougherty Nosy neighbors and tattletales. They’ve been with us always. And they’ve always been despicable. When I was a kid a reclusive neighbor – we’ll call her Mrs. Murphy – spent all of her time peering out of her windows. If a kid so much as planted a bare toe on the Murphy…
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Another Call for Face Masks
Should people don face masks when they go out in public? The question has caromed around the Internet with many conflicting opinions. A previous contributor to Bacon’s Rebellion has argued that Virginians should wear them. Contributor Hans Bader agrees. — JAB by Hans Bader You should wear a mask when you leave the house. In…
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Backgrounder: Virginia’s Healthcare Emergency Management Program
by James C. Sherlock State emergency operations are personally meaningful to me. Preparation is key. Decisions have consequences. I want this one to go as well as possible. I spent about a year while under contract to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as director of operations for a program that offered advanced Department…
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Yes, Virginia Does Have a Plan to Fight the Pandemic
by James C. Sherlock I have reviewed the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan, HAZARD-SPECIFIC ANNEX #4 PANDEMIC INFLUENZA RESPONSE[1], August 2012. Such plans are required by FEMA as a predicate for federal funding, so every state and territory has one. Virginia’s operations plan, which follows the FEMA template, is excellent. The lead agency for…
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Ralph Northam’s Power Play: Part Two
by Kerry Dougherty This is getting to be a bad habit. For the second Monday in a row Governor Ralph Northam kicked off the week with a heavy-handed executive order. This one was a body blow to the Virginia Beach economy. Last week the governor prematurely closed all schools – public and private – for…
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COVID-19 Update: Edvard Munch Edition
The latest data from the Virginia Department of Health indicates that Monday saw the biggest single-day increase in the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases yet in Virginia – 239 cases, bringing the total to 1,250. The 29 new hospitalizations were the biggest one-day increase yet, bringing the total to 165. Total deaths increased by…
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Don’t Blame Northam for Virginia Medicine’s Structural Flaws
by James C. Sherlock I have to give Governor Ralph Northam a partial pass on a key issue. Much of the criticism directed at him is for actions or inactions that are based on incomplete data and, as a a consequence, incompletely informed staff assessments concerning the business of healthcare in this state. That is…
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Some Perspective
I have appended the number of COVID-19-related deaths to a ranking of the leading causes of mortality in Virginia, based on 2017 data, the most recently available from the Centers for Disease Control. The number of COVID-19 deaths will increase, of course. For purposes of comparison, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts that…
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Virginia Should Issue Immunity Certificates
Yesterday I argued that Virginia should allocate a chunk of its COVID-19 helicopter dollars from the federal government to conduct widespread testing for the presence of coronavirus antibodies. If the antibodies are present, the person presumably is immune to the sickness and should be free to re-enter society and the workforce. Turns out, the Germans…
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COVID-19: Up, Up, and Away
The latest data from the Virginia Department of Health: Total confirmed COVID-19 cases Sunday: 1,020, up 130 from Saturday. Total hospitalizations: 136, up 24 from the previous day. Total deaths: 25, up three. Total tests: 12,038, up 1,429. Doubling times: John Butcher has updated his calculations of how long it takes for these epidemic metrics…
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Beds, Ventilators, and Epidemiological Models
by James A. Bacon The Richmond Times-Dispatch is getting frustrated with the lack of hard information about the COVID-19 epidemic forthcoming from the Northam administration. Reporter Bridget Balch has been trying to track down data on the number of ventilators in the state to treat patients stricken with respiratory afflictions. Frustration with the Northam administration’s…
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The Solution Nobody Will Mention: DNR
By Steve Haner This is how we solve the coming hospital bed crisis. This is how we stretch our ventilators supply. No politician is going to say this, neither Donald Trump nor Andrew Cuomo, and doctors won’t start this conversation. Lester Holt won’t bring it up on Nightly News. It is called a “do not…
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COVID-19: Doubling Every Three Days
The latest numbers from the Virginia Department of Health, reflecting yesterday’s developments: Cases: 890, up 151 from previous day. Hospitalized: 112, up 13 from previous day. Deaths: 22, up 5 from the previous days. Tests: 10,609, up 1,443 from the previous day. Here’s John Butcher’s cheerful little calculation, based on the latest data, of the…