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Dear Pandemic

4 Oct, 9 tweets, 3 min read

1/ Q: What do epidemiologists think about Joe Biden & Mike Pence (& other national leaders) testing negative for COVID on Friday?

A: A negative test result does NOT mean that Mr. Pence and Mr. Biden are COVID-free… even if that happens to be really inconvenient for them.

2/ Everyone who has been near the President in the last week (or who has been around anyone else with #COVID19 for that matter) should self-quarantine for 14 days following the last exposure. That means Joe Biden & Mike Pence should stay home.

@CDCgov

3/ This is the official guidance from the @CDCgov, @WHO, & leading institutions across medicine & public health.

It’s not politics, it’s just science.

4/ A negative test can arise from 4 different situations:
🆗 1. This person was not infected.
⏱️ 2. This person is infected, but it’s early in the course of their illness, so they don't have much viral material to detect yet. They may go on to have a + test later in the week

5/ 🦠 3. This person is infected, but the sample just happened to not pick up any viral material, perhaps because it was done as a throat swab/it didn’t get far enough up their nose. Or just bad luck.

6/ 🧪 4. This person is infected & the swab did have viral material on it, but the test failed to return a positive result anyway due to a problem with the test itself or how the sample was handled.

7/ Following exposure to the virus, we would expect some people to go on to have an infection & other people to escape infection. The reasons one person gets sick while another doesn’t aren’t totally clear at this point.

8/ We can't know in which group Joe Biden, Mike Pence, & others who were exposed to #COVID19 earlier this week will ultimately end up. Their negative test results could be because they aren’t infected (Situation 1 🆗 ), or could be false negatives (Situations 2-4 ⏱️🦠🧪 ).

@CDCgov

9/ And just in case it’s the latter, they should follow the guidance of the @CDCgov & self-quarantine until they are certain they are not infected. Self-quarantine means stay home, no visitors, & do not put yourself in situations where you could give COVID-19 to others.

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More from @DearPandemic

Dear Pandemic

@DearPandemic

6 Oct

1/ Q: Is it true that #Sweden has gotten to herd immunity without lockdown? Should we all be doing what they are doing?

A: No, Sweden has not reached herd immunity, nor have they fared well economically or with respect to COVID-19 mortality.

2/ While there has been a fascination with being Sweden during this pandemic, there are many misconceptions about their experience that are worth clearing up:

2/ *Myth 1*: Sweden didn’t place restrictions on activities due to #COVID19

*Reality*: While it’s true there was no nationwide mandatory lockdowns as in Spain, Italy, the UK & US, Sweden did have a “lockdown lite."

Read 14 tweets

Dear Pandemic

@DearPandemic

5 Oct

1/ Q. What's the update with COVID-19-sniffing dogs?

A. The Helsinki-Vantaa airport welcomed COVID-19-sniffing dogs to their staff last week, hoping to use their keen sense of smell to detect COVID-19 positive patients up to 5 days before symptoms appear. bit.ly/33t3Utg

2/ Here's how the airport testing works: Prospective passengers rub a wipe against their neck to pick up some sweat, & then drop the wipe in a cup. While inside an isolated booth, the trained pup takes a whiff of the cup & provides a positive or negative verdict.

3/ If the dog sniffs a positive, he creates an audible signal. Then, the passenger is informed & sent to the airport's health information area. This is much quicker & less invasive than a nasal swab.

Read 8 tweets

Dear Pandemic

@DearPandemic

24 Sep

1/ Q: When will we get to herd immunity?

A: When we get a vaccine & lots of people have received it; or else, a very long time from now.

2/ Even though we have well over 30 million confirmed cases & nearly a million deaths from #COVID19 worldwide, we’re not even close to reaching herd immunity. In fact, we're not even close to the lowest estimates for herd immunity in the places that were absolutely slammed early.

3/ Most scientists think that we need around 60-70% of people to be immune to #COVID19 in order to reach herd immunity. Herd immunity happens when a virus is starved of new hosts because susceptible people are so rare in the population.

Read 13 tweets

Dear Pandemic

@DearPandemic

23 Sep

1/ Q: So, I might want to vote by mail. What should I be planning for?

A: The very first step in ANY voting plan is checking your voter registration or registering to vote, & we’re ready to help you with that too!

2/ Voting by mail is a safe & secure way to make your voice heard in November, & if you think voting by mail is best for you, we have a few tips & tricks to share. If you’d rather vote in person, we’ll talk more about staying safe at the polls in a few weeks!

3/ First things first: you must be registered to vote to cast a ballot by mail OR in person. We recommend checking your state’s requirements at Vote.gov, which will link directly to information about the process in your state.

Read 13 tweets

Dear Pandemic

@DearPandemic

22 Sep

1/ Q: Are temperature checks an adequate screening tool for COVID-19?
A: Unfortunately, no. Being fever-free at the time of a temperature check is not a guarantee that a person doesn’t have #COVID19, nor that someone with #COVID19 won’t spread the infection to others.

2/ Why is that?
The period of infectiousness for someone with #Covid_19 (i.e., the window of time when someone can infect others) starts ~2 days BEFORE symptom onset, so individuals can have COVID-19 & spread the infection to others before developing a fever (or other symptoms).

3/ Also important to note-not all individuals with #COVID19 will have a fever. Last, even if someone with COVID-19 no longer has a fever, if <10 days has passed since their symptoms started, they are still considered infectious.

Read 8 tweets

Dear Pandemic

@DearPandemic

20 Sep

1/ Q: I wear glasses. How can I prevent them from fogging up when I wear my mask?
A: When warm air hits cool surfaces, there's condensation. When you are wearing 😷, your warm breath sneaks up through the top & hits the colder surface of your lenses, creating condensation.

2/ Here's tips to prevent/reduce this irritating fog:
1️⃣ TIGHTEN MASK FIT: If the seal across the top of your mask is not tight, your breath will more easily escape. Select a mask with a snug nose bridge. You can also use double-sided tape across your nose to secure the fit.

3/ 2️⃣ WASH YOUR GLASSES WITH SOAPY WATER/USE A DEFOGGING PRODUCT: After you wash your glasses with soapy water, let them air dry, or gently wipe them with a clean microfiber cloth. The remnant soap leaves a thin layer that serves as a fog barrier.

Read 9 tweets

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