COVID-19 Megathread 4: Grandma Got Run Over by the Dow Jones

[RI]

The American Academy of Family Physicians estimates that as many as 58k family physicians might be out of business or forced into retirement as a result of COVID-19 closures.

I'm admittedly not going to take the time to read this article because it's pretty dense, but offhand I'm rather surprised considering one would think Physicians are the one area of business that would be booming now ( assuming they can stay healthy and not catch coronavirus in the process)

In most places outside NYC/NJ, hospital/ER intakes have actually been down compared to before the beginning of the pandemic.  People are either deferring non-essential checkups and procedures or too afraid to go in due to the virus.   A 511-bed Hospital in Oklahoma City is temporarily closing due to a lack of patients.  I imagine private practice GPs are getting hit even harder.  

It's the same thing back in Pullman. Zero cases of COVID requiring hospitalization, but their hospital has been forced to cancel elective procedures and increase staff to fight the pandemic despite admissions plummeting while everyone stays home and the students are out of town. Their finances are in the toilet now, and they're having to rely on donations to stay afloat.

[RI]

https://twitter.com/PoliticsReid/status/1248253101255114752

Great time to fly if you have to.

[RI]

Apple and Google are building a coronavirus tracking system into iOS and Android

[RI]

https://twitter.com/kellyswails/status/1248606674195230720

Here's the thing, though: it could be either case (or somewhere in between), and we won't know with any degree of certainty until well after this is all over, which is a terrible position for a policymaker to be in.

[RI]

The stock market is exploding after hours on rumors that Gilead has basically found a cure.

[RI]

Boeing will resume airplane manufacturing in Washington next week.

[RI]

We knew about Remdesivir for months. Even here on Atlas, posters spoke about it as early as the first few days of February. The problem is, it had to be proven effective which takes months. Even if it is proven effective (it likely will be) it will take months to mass produce. This is a great thing, don’t get me wrong, but the actual production of Remdesivir will not be enough for at least this Spring and Summer. This is good news, but don’t get your hopes up too much.

Remdesivir is also a harsh drug to use — this study from the New England Journal of Medicine last week noted that 23% of patients in their sample suffered serious adverse effects (including multiple organ dysfunction syndrome & septic shock) and 8% had to stop using the drug because of those side effects. Also worth noting there's no control group in either the NEJM study or the more recent trial group at UofC Med. It's great if it works, but it's not a magical cure.

It would only be used in highly advanced COVID cases where death was far more of a risk than potential kidney damage from a medication.