COVID-19 UPDATE for Monday, May 11
News out of South Korea, where the opening of a small number of night clubs in the Itaewon district on Friday was followed by 35 new cases by Monday morning. Similar spikes have been seen in Seattle as the warm weather brought crowds to beaches and parks, and I think we’ll see that nationwide.
Without a nationwide testing strategy – or the possibility of administering these tests and getting results in a timely (within 24 hours) manner, it seems obvious that a major course change has to be made.
1. It is now impossible to contain the virus. As more and more cities and states “open,” stay-at-home orders will quickly become meaningless.
2. The fall-back strategy needs to focus on those at the highest risk: the elderly, immune compromised and those with diabetes, heart and lung disease. Because people with no symptoms can transmit the virus, contact with high-risk individuals should be limited to essential care-givers.
3. At the same time, a massive effort must be made to communicate known ways to improve immunity and reduce risk. This includes supplementing with Vitamin D3, zinc, quercetin, vitamin A, DHEA and medicinal mushroom concentrates. Individuals who do not eat fish should add fish oil or a vegan source of omega-3 fatty acids.
4. Drug development efforts should focus on early treatment. Since hydroxychloroquine studies have stalled (enrollment failure due to adverse effect fears) remdesivir is showing the best outcomes in early testing. Alternative therapies, including nebulizer treatment with H202 should be explored with progress evaluated by accepted symptom biomarkers.
Onward