Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Scientists are learning a lot more about COVID-19. Here are some recent surprises: It can last for several months: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/06/covid-19-coronavirus-longterm-symptoms-months/612679/ It could cause a wave of brain damage <https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/08/health/coronavirus-brain-damage-study-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html>: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/08/health/coronavirus-brain-damage-study-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html It damages not only the lungs, but the kidneys, liver, heart, brain and nervous system, skin and gastrointestinal tract: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/10/health/coronavirus-entire-body-effects-columbia/index.html Autopsies revealed blood clots in "almost every organ": https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/10/health/what-coronavirus-autopsies-reveal/ Transmission rates are up to 20 times higher in indoor dining compared to outdoor dining: From a doctor interviewed on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on July 7th. Increased numbers of confirmed cases are not due to increased testing. As testing increases, you’d expect the positive tests to decrease. But Arizona’s positivity rate has risen from 5% positive to 27% positive since early May: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/desperate-measures-in-arizona-as-covid-19-overwhelms-hospitals-87259717998 Floriday’s Miami-Dade County reported a 33.5% positivity rate yesterday: https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-07-10-20-intl/h_b9b1699e07df04a026c9ff9bf5b9ff00 These increases also indicate there are not enough tests. Doctors are learning how to save more lives. From a doctor interviewed on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on July 7th: "In March I didn't know how to save the patient's life on a ventilator with COVID-19 as well as I do now, as well as my colleagues do now. I know now that if you're young, if you're old, then you come in and you need a vent, you probably need to be on a blood thinner. I probably need to give you steroids now at high doses. I didn't know that even a few months ago. And then you also need to be put on your belly—we call it "prone positioning"—if you're on life support, on a ventilator needing assistance to breathe. These are interventions that have allowed us to save more lives amongst those that are critically ill. So yes, treatments are better." I wish you lasting good health!
