11/16/2020

Area counts seem to be increasing but slowly. I should have new information on Tues. We still have some ICU beds in our Trauma Area G.  There were 64 new Covid cases in Gregg County and 139 in Smith County on Saturday. 

Until listening to NPR this morning, I had not considered  that our nursing homes are currently full all over the US. Where will discharged Covid patients go? There will be a bottleneck that will keep Covid patients in the hospitals longer than necessary. Where are those patients who need rehabilitation and/ or more care at the time of hospital discharge from ICU and the wards. If recovering patients are too weak or unable to be cared for at  home, where will they go — to some makeshift temporary space in a gymnasium or under a large tent? Behind a large rock? 

How about utilizing a nearly empty 5  story (6 floors) hospital that is not being used at this time. Of course, I mean Kahn/Memorial/Good Shepherd/Christus Good Shepherd Marshall Hospital.These newly discharged patients should not be contagious and might even have immunity. They will be well enough to leave a general hospital but too sick or weak to go home. The medical environment should be safer for the level of medical care and rehabilitation that the facility would provide. In a short time, such a facility should provide many new jobs for area people that are medically safe and worthwhile — as well as filling a medical vacuum and utilizing a very large hospital building that seems to be in good condition. 

J. Harris

Staying sane in our new COVID-19 world

(J.Harris: Some explanations and recaps but some comfort and suggestions. Very readable.)

 “… during the pandemic there is also renewed purpose, hope, and community emerging. Scientists have responded with focus to their work and to developing appropriate guidance, treatments, or vaccines. Meanwhile, many citizens have taken on roles in their communities running welfare groups, delivering groceries to elderly neighbours, or working on communal gardens. Early on in the pandemic, health-care workers showed up on COVID-19 wards without appropriate personal protective equipment committed to their vocation of serving others. As we compare our pre and post COVID-19 selves, perhaps we should emphasise how the pandemic has shown who each of us really is…

“…Some governments, such as in the UK, initially turned to experts to become the oracles and predict the future—first to mathematical modellers and behavioural scientists, then to vaccinologists, and, finally, to public health experts and economists. And when these experts are not always able to provide the answers that appease the need for concrete predictions with dates, a backlash followed against experts with their balanced and contextualised statements. This gap was exploited by social media pseudo-scientist celebrities predicting the future and offering comforting lies on easy solutions.

“…One of these comforting lies being told is that we can have our pre-COVID-19 life back for the “acceptable” loss of some old and vulnerable people. Terms like “herd immunity” have been the ammunition of those who would see it as the perfect cover for lifting all restrictions and letting a dangerous virus spread through the population, starting with the young and fit.”

Suggested by Hopkins:

1. CHINA Shanghai, China, reported a locally acquired case of COVID-19 on November 10. While many countries around the world are battling a surge in COVID-19 incidence, this marks the first locally acquired infection in Shanghai in several months. According to local officials in China, the individual worked at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, and at least 25 close contacts have been quarantined. While SARS-CoV-2 emerged in China, China has largely contained its epidemic. In fact, the vast majority of cases over the past several months have been among arriving travelers. In an effort to maintain this level of epidemic control, the Chinese government is reportedly taking new steps to limit the possibility of importing COVID-19. One aspect of these efforts involves disinfecting packaging and transport vehicles carrying imported frozen food, after China identified contaminated food products as the source of several SARS-CoV-2 infections among cargo handlers and port workers.

Lessons From Europe, Where Cases Are Rising But Schools Are Open (NPR) Across Europe, schools and child care centers are staying open even as much of the continent reports rising coronavirus cases, and even as many businesses and gathering places are shut or restricted. Countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy appear to be following the emerging evidence that schools have not been major centers of transmission of the virus, especially for young children. And experts say these nations are also demonstrating a commitment to avoiding the worst impacts of the pandemic on children.

***********************************

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK.  CLICK ON “COMMENT” TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK or use one of the alternative methods for providing feedback.

Click here to submit feedback.  Let us know what you think.

click here to CLOSE THIS PAGE

All-over-the-place

By George Smith — 11/05/2020

All-over-the-place thoughts on day-after with no definitive winner for president::

— A majority of Trump voters voted FOR him; a majority of Biden voters voted AGAINST Trump.

— Biden is on the cusp of victory for the simple fact he is not Donald Trump.

— President Trump was his own albatross; he simply could not shut up about how great he had handled the COVID pandemic, and voter fraud by traditional Democrat Party bloc voters and those same voters came out with a vengeance.

— Polls, except to give jobs to pollsters and candidates talking points at political rallies, are useless.

— Trump was, after all NOT the Chosen One.

— Six lawsuits, at deadline, filed by Trump’s campaign against local election laws…all kicked to the curb.

— Trump, if defeated, will start  caterwauling and issue a executive order juggernaut that will rattle the nation’s political structure to its core. The question will be: Will Republicans be string enough and ready to deal with an out-of-control whining loser who is destroying the party.

— Both parties have to change in order to be relevant in the future. Democrats have to stop flirting with the outer edges of socialism  surrealism and sell the idea that this nation is already a democratic socialist republic. And , there’s nothing wrong with that. The Republicans have to stop flirting with the outer edges of systemic racism, Qanon weirdness and alt-right claptrap and sell the idea that this nation is already a democratic socialist republic. And , there’s nothing wrong with that.

— The Electoral College must go.

— Congressional term limits must become a law.

— The fact this presidential race and a host of legislative races garnered record millions of dollars from special donors cries out for political finance reform.

— State election laws must be reviewed and changed as needed to ensure every legal vote cast is counted in a timely manner.

— The Postal Service should never, ever be a part of a political scheme to suppress votes.

— No political party should do anything to suggest that suppression of votes is acceptable; they should rearrange their platforms and priorities to attract the most voters.

— it’s time, past time, actually, for the Dems and GOPers to stop this childish one-up bickering and agree to work together to: Smother COVID, pass a stimulus bill, raise taxes on folks making more than $400,000 a year and raise top tax rate on big companies; create a punitive penalty import tax for any company moving jobs out of the country; get serious about election and campaign security;cut 8-10 percent of nonessential services out of the federal budget; pass a comprehensive infrastructure bill, and; (whew) use a common sense approach to create a system that encourages salons from different parties to … just get along and substitute bickering and name-calling for cooperative efforts on behalf of all residents.

Let’s git ‘r’ done!

***********************************

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK.  CLICK ON “COMMENT” TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK or use one of the alternative methods for providing feedback.

Click here to submit feedback.  Let us know what you think.

click here to CLOSE THIS PAGE

October 16, 2020

(TOMORROW, ONLY ONE GREAT ARTICLE )
Friday Harrison County had 3 new Covid cases; Gregg had 16 and Smith 18. 

White House Outbreak Is Not a Failure of Testing
But rapid tests have an important limitation. They can accurately detect Covid-19 once a person has symptoms and is highly infectious, but unlike PCR tests, they are not sensitive enough to detect most infections earlier on, when a person has a relatively small amount of the virus, or does not have symptoms but could be infectious.

In short: Rapid tests produce a high rate of false negatives….“Testing will never stop somebody from getting the virus…To stop yourself from getting the virus, you need to not come in contact with the virus or you need to protect yourself through wearing a mask… Testing does not substitute for avoiding crowded indoor spaces, washing hands, or wearing a mask when you can’t physically distance,” Adm. Brett Giroir, the official at the Department of Health and Human Services who is in charge of the administration’s testing effort, said in a September 28 statement. “Further, a negative test today does not mean that you won’t be positive tomorrow.”

The COVID-19 Fall Surge Is Here. We Can Stop It.
(J. Harris: Excellent, readable Covid update covering the US and Europe. They are using a statistic to which I haven’t previously  paid any attention, “Deaths/million residents for individual countries.)
MASKS DO WORK AND SHOULD BE WORN (U. of Washington)

“…Our model predicts that moderately efficacious masks will lower exposure viral load 10-fold among people who get infected despite masking, potentially limiting infection severity. Because peak viral load tends to occur pre-symptomatically, we also identify that antiviral therapy targeting symptomatic individuals is unlikely to impact transmission risk. Instead, antiviral therapy would only lower Re if dosed as post-exposure prophylaxis and if given to ~50% of newly infected people within 3 days of an exposure. These results highlight the primacy of masking relative to other biomedical interventions under consideration for limiting the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic prior to widespread implementation of a vaccine.”
(J. Harris: Despite all of the deficiencies with masks like discomfort, poor fit, unsightliness, sissy wear, they are are our first, most accessible, most affordable, and most practical defense against Covid).

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK.  CLICK ON “COMMENT” TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK or use one of the alternative methods for providing feedback.

click here to CLOSE THIS PAGE

Ever since President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s son, Rep. James Roosevelt, Sr., founded our organization to protect Social Security and Medicare in 1982, we have not endorsed presidential candidates, focusing instead on congressional races. Until now. For the first time in 38 years, we are throwing our weight behind Joe Biden for President of the United States. As an organization rooted in the social insurance policies of FDR’s New Deal — and after observing relentless attacks on lifeline programs like Social Security and Medicare — we could not in good conscience remain neutral this year. 

For us, the straw that broke the camel’s back was the president’s reckless payroll tax cut, which he unilaterally imposed in an executive order last month. Without hesitation, he interfered with the funding stream for Social Security, going so far as to pledge to “terminate” payroll taxes altogether in his second term. Social Security’s chief actuary estimates that if payroll taxes were to be terminated (without replacing the lost revenue), the program’s trust fund would run dry by 2023. A president who promises to cut off the revenue for one of our most cherished and successful social insurance programs should not be re-elected. 

“There’s a reason Social Security and Medicare have been around for 85 and 55 years. Americans value and depend on them,” says FDR’s grandson and vice-chair of our advisory board, James Roosevelt, Jr. “Joe Biden is the candidate who can be trusted to protect seniors’ earned benefits from any attempts to undermine or privatize them.” 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK.  CLICK ON “COMMENT” TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK or use one of the alternative methods for providing feedback.

click here to CLOSE THIS PAGE

October 4, 2020

Yesterday, Friday, Harrison County had 5 new cases, Gregg 8, and Smith 23.
Smith County schools see increase in COVID-19, most among staff, students in grades 7-12

DOES AZITHROMYCIN HELP COVID (Z-PACK)
J. Harris: As I understand this and other similar articles:1. No help in sever hospitalized cases with or without hydroxychloroquine2. Does it help if used very early in the disease? ‘UNKNOWN3. If I got sick and had a Z Pack, would I take it early even for mild symptoms? Probably.4. Would I panic if I got sick and didn’t have a Z Pack? No. But I’d talk to my doctor about it, especially since I am still fortunate enough to have a personal physician who I know and trust and who knows my medical history and who is associated with Christus.

HOW TO SIGN UP OF JOHNS HOPKINS MAILOUTS
(JHarris: Their free emails concerning COVID and medicine with several weekly publications and summaries in several categories are the best source of current information that I have found. I try and pick and choose and “translate” the information that I think is most pertinent for our local and area situation, but readers might want to read in more detail. Now,  as Hopkins continues to expand and improve, I less often dig around in the multitude of various journals for bits of truth. If you like charts, they have the best.)

FROM JOHNS HOPKINS:1. FOR THE LAST TIME, HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE PROPHYLAXIS DOES NOT WORK:Efficacy and Safety of Hydroxychloroquine vs Placebo for Pre-exposure SARS-CoV-2 Prophylaxis Among Health Care Workers (JAMA Network) Among hospital-based HCWs at high risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, hydroxychloroquine, 600 mg, daily, for 8 weeks did not reduce the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with placebo. Our findings are consistent with what is to our knowledge the only other randomized COVID-19 prophylaxis trial published to date.
Risk of COVID-19 During Air Travel

President Trump tests positive; Wisconsin sees record death increase — 5 COVID-19 updates

Regeneron’s REGN-COV2 Antibody Cocktail Reduced Viral Levels and Improved Symptoms in Non-Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

2. AUG 20: A promising new coronavirus cure just failed in its Phase 3 trial A potential coronavirus cure has failed to meet the primary goals of its Phase 3 trial despite the promise the drug has shown elsewhere.

Tocilizumab did not improve the clinical status of COVID-19 patients and did not reduce patient mortality in Roche’s Phase 3 testing.
The drug still holds potential and will continue to be studied. Several other researchers have been working with tocilizumab and other interleukin-6 inhibitors in COVID-19 therapies, and have seen some success.

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK.  CLICK ON “COMMENT” TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK or use one of the alternative methods for providing feedback.

click here to CLOSE THIS PAGE

September 1, 2020 at 1:00 p.m.

As a component of our Mobilize Marshall plans to optimize communication with our citizens, the City of Marshall is delighted to unveil a new, interactive website today at www.marshalltexas.net.

“In January, one staff member representing every city department met to evaluate multiple companies who specialize in developing new government websites. This group was tasked to find the right company to work with our city. After reviewing eight companies for their credentials, previous website designs, and interviews with previous clients, our design team recommended CivicPlus begin a new website for the City of Marshall in April. On August 17, 2020, the system user training was completed. Our team of Anna Lane, Rachel Chapman, Nikki Smith, Eric Powell, and Stormy Nickerson completed the necessary revisions. Jimmie Rambo of our IT Department launched the new website today. I am grateful to all city staff who participated in this process to bring convenient, simple, transparent solutions and information to Marshall. Special mention needs to be made of the leadership and oversight displayed by Stormy Nickerson throughout the process,” shared City Manager Mark Rohr.

Founded in 1998, CivicPlus has 4,000 government clients, and over 250,000 million citizens engage with their municipal websites daily. This current technology will enable the City of Marshall to create efficiencies in all areas of our local government by delivering the tools needed by our employees and our residents.

•             CivicReady – Mass notification system for residents to receive texts or emails during emergency events (weather, boil water notices), press releases, and newsletters. See News & Announcements for this feature.

•             CP Pay – A single payment gateway for your water utility bill.

•             CivicService – Residents may report city needs. See RequestTracker for this feature.

•             CivicHR – Employment listings for the City of Marshall. See Jobs for this feature.

•             CivicClerk – Agendas and minutes for City Commission and Board meetings. See Agendas for this feature.

As there are thousands of servers updating with our domain’s new DNS information, this process can take as little as an hour, 24 hours, or up to 72 hours for all City of Marshall residents to view the new website.

For more information, please contact:

Stormy Nickerson

City of Marshall Communications Coordinator

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK.  CLICK ON “COMMENT” TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK or use one of the alternative methods for providing feedback.

click here to CLOSE THIS PAGE

The players say doctors use two scales — one for Black athletes, one for white — to determine eligibility for dementia claims.

• Aug. 25, 2020
• Note: Dr. Jim Harris provided this article. For several followed and contributed to the research related to head injuries resulting from football impact. The person that wrote3 the article is a friend of Jim.
• Two retired players have accused the N.F.L. of “explicitly and deliberately” discriminating against hundreds if not thousands of Black players who filed dementia-related claims in the landmark concussion settlement reached in 2013, making it harder for them to qualify for payouts worth as much as $3 million.

In two legal actions filed Tuesday in United States District Court in Philadelphia, the players asked that the judge stop the league from insisting that race-based benchmarks be used to evaluate players’ claims. They also asked that the scores on Black players’ neurocognitive exams be recalculated using “race-neutral” scales that would put them on an even footing with white players.

“In effect, the settlement, as it has been administered, has a white door and a Black door,” said Cyril Smith, a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder and the lead counsel for two players who are Black, Najeh Davenport, a former running back, and Kevin Henry, a longtime defensive end. “Although the neurocognitive tests behind each door are the same, the raw scores for Black and white former players are interpreted differently when they are converted” to scores that are used to determine whether a player is eligible for a payment.

To read the entire story click here

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK.  CLICK ON “COMMENT” TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK or use one of the alternative methods for providing feedback.

click here to CLOSE THIS PAGE