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I just got off the phone with a PA who works in an urgent care clinic here in Clark County. The short of it — she's seeing a lot of folks with COVID-19 symptoms who are testing negative for everything else, but there aren't enough tests to go around to test them for COVID-19. 1/?
The first patient she screened positive for COVID-19 (meaning they have symptoms + travel history/known contact) was last Sunday. At that point, the protocol was to test for everything else, then transfer to local hospital by ambulance to get COVID-19 test done. 2/?
The patient didn't want to be transferred by ambulance, because of the cost associated. But the patient did get to the hospital and get tested. She said it's been seven days and the patient's COVID-19 test is still pending. He's been in quarantine the whole time waiting. 3/?
On her next shift, she starts seeing more and more patients screening positive. The protocol before was to call the health department for guidance, but she can't get through and leaves a voicemail. By Wednesday, they're not accepting voicemails even. 4/?
She says there's no way now urgent cares can transfer these patients by ambulance to hospitals, and her clinic is only getting 10 tests. They're also out of N95 masks. They're doing their best with surgical masks, gloves and hand washing. 5/?
"Now I'm looking back, I've had these patients for weeks, and I know that's what it is based on how sick they were," she said. "It's already here. It's been here for weeks. It's spreading like wildfire." 6/?
She knows she can't prove these patients are positive for COVID-19 — no one can without tests — but they're testing negative for everything else and are displaying the symptoms we know are consistent with COVID-19. 7/?
The group that she's seen that has been the hardest hit is men in their 40s to 60s. She says they seem fine one day and ten come down with pneumonia in a day or two. 8/?
Final thought on this from her: "At this point, we're not going to be able to stop it, but we need to slow down the spread." She's also written an open letter, if you want to read it. 9/9
One more thought on this: The response to this should not be alarm. As health experts have been saying, the response should be to limit how much we're moving around as a society. If you want to know why that's so important, check out this simulator. washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/…
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