Yesterday, Kentucky completed its highest week ever for new #COVID19 cases.

The most recent weeks are concerning for the beginning of exponential growth.

I’ll share some stats and more reflective thoughts in this thread.

1/9
Kentucky’s incidence rate map (#COVID19 cases/100k persons) is very ‘hot.’

5 counties are around 50 cases/100k, double the level necessary to be red.

Sadly, people disregarding social distancing and mask use appears to be contributing to the problem.

2/x
Other democracies have done much better than USA.

New #COVID19 cases per million people (visual estimate of y-axis):

USA: 22k
Canada: 4.2k
Germany: 3.9k
New Zealand: 0.2k

It’s not the disease, it’s our choices as Americans.

3/9
Remarkably, some are numb to the magnitude of the body count.

USA Fatalities:
Flu in 2019-20: 22k
#COVID19 in 2020: 210k (that’s nearly 10x already)

#COVID19 is already 10x more fatal than last season's flu in USA.

cdc.gov/flu/about/burd…

4/9
#COVID-19 spread can be dramatically reduced. We could get back to many activities w/reasonable safety, if we:

Wear a mask. 😷

Stay >6 feet away. 📏

Wash their hands. 🤲

Stay home if sick. 🏡

Sadly, some associate public health guidance with personal identity.

5/9
Today, @CDCgov described a 13 y/o infecting 11/13 people in a house. 6 others socially distanced and did not get infected.

Lessons:

Kids spread #COVID19

Social distancing works

Testing alone is insufficient

Quarantine is important

Prolonged, close contact spread’s dz

6/9
This is sad, but predictable.

Humans have a long and established history of self-destructive behavior.

For those who will hear, follow the guidance.

It’s a risky time to disregard it.

7/9
Beware the pitfall of confirmation bias - interpreting new evidence to confirm existing beliefs.

Bad judgment that fortuitously produces good results is risky because it encourages reckless behavior.

More often, bad judgment produces bad results.

8/9
Most folks are good and want to treat others well.

It is common, though, to see the same world but reach different conclusions.

This is ok, if we treat each other with kindness and respect.

#COVID19 has shown #TeamKentucky is full of kind people.

Share your stories.

9/9

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More from @StevenStackMD

3 Oct
#COVID19 is like a casino. If you play long enough, when your luck runs out, the house always wins.

Folks, the USA and Kentucky are in for a world of hurt this autumn if we don’t pull ourselves together real fast.

1/10
The President of the United States has:
-the most powerful political office,
-the most secure house, helicopter, plane, etc., and
-some of the smartest scientists...

In the entire world.

The President of the United States is hospitalized with #COVID19.

2/10
The President of the United States and
-His wife,
-Many of his closest advisors,
-Multiple members of Congress, and
-Others...

Have all contracted #COVID19.

We are witnessing a #COVID19 cluster and possible super-spreading event unfold among our senior federal officials.

3/10
Read 10 tweets
29 Jul
I was asked yesterday at the press conference about hydroxychloroquine & chloroquine as treatments for #COVID19 At this time, medical research has not shown these medications to be meaningfully helpful for this disease. Here’s a short thread with just a handful of articles. /1
May 11: “...treatment with hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, or both, compared with neither treatment, was not significantly associated with differences in in-hospital mortality.” ja.ma/2X4JEKO @JAMANetwork /2
June 18: “..our findings do not support the use of hydroxychloroquine at present, outside randomized clinical trials testing its efficacy.” nejm.org/doi/full/10.10… @NEJM /3
Read 5 tweets
7 Jul
#TeamKentucky, here’s a review our #COVID19 pandemic journey from March until now.

To begin:
1)Socially Distance
2)Wear a Mask 😷
3)Clean your Hands
4)Stay Home if Sick & Get Tested

Why? Keep reading. /1
In March, NYC showed us how rapidly and dangerously #COVID19 spreads. Hospitals were overrun. As of July 7, >71,000 New Yorkers have died from COVID19 in <6 months. Kentucky flattened this first potential curve through #HealthyatHome. Graphic 91-divoc.com /2
.@UKGattonCollege demonstrated in April how #HealthyatHome kept Kentuckians safer by flattening the curve. /3
Read 9 tweets
2 Jul
It’s straightforward - Wear a mask, socially distance, wash your hands, & get tested if sick. It shouldn’t require mandates. Let’s take a look again at what happens when folks choose poorly. /1 Image
A little more detail on TX. /2 Image
When it gets real bad, the hospitals fill up, run out of space, and can run out of resources to maximally treat everyone who needs care. Let’s pray this doesn’t happen in Arizona (or anywhere else) /3 Image
Read 8 tweets
2 Jul
Folks, please take #COVIDー19 seriously. This is not a drill. A lot of people will get hurt if enough of us don’t wear masks, socially distance, and sanitize our hands. —>
L.A. County again closes restaurants amid coronavirus surge - Los Angeles Times latimes.com/california/sto…
Or maybe Texas is more your style. Image
Or perhaps Florida. Image
Read 8 tweets
21 Jun
I was asked if KY breaks down #COVID19 PCR vs. serology studies. Yes. For those interested in the data, govstatus.egov.com/kycovid19 presents top line data updated daily. Through that website, you can access a Desktop Dashboard that also enables you to explore county-specific data. Image
We present and break down various data on the website. Lab Confirmed positive requires a PCR + test result. Serology + tests and clinical diagnosis of #COVID19 via other means are reported as Probable positive. Image
CDC has case definitions that determine the criteria for assigning patients to various categories such as Lab Confirmed or Probable. You can view an example of a CDC #COVID19 case definition here: wwwn.cdc.gov/nndss/conditio…
Read 4 tweets

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