I’m not sure why August 1 seemed like a major landmark, but even The Texas Tribune thought so. Its article chronicling the last several months is valuable, if only as a cautionary reminder of how often we underestimated COVID-19 and did exactly the wrong thing–Here’s how the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded in Texas since March 7/31/20 https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/31/coronavirus-timeline-texas/
As more and more states are overrun with infection, whether for the first or the second time, the best take I have seen on an effective response is this proposal by the Association of American Medical Colleges–The Way Forward on COVID-19 7/29/20 https://www.aamc.org/covidroadmap/roadmap
Another great response is this July 22 open letter to national and state political leaders, signed by hundreds of health professionals-–https://uspirg.org/news/usp/top-healthcare-professionals-send-letter-us-leaders-saying-it%E2%80%99s-time-shut-back-down-start
As always, my Covid-19 page has links to articles added daily, on all aspects of the pandemic.
In the US
Putting the November election aside (as if anyone can do that….), the biggest issue now seems to be whether, when and how to re-open schools for in-person learning. To be sure, I don’t have school-age kids, but my view is that we just don’t know enough about COVID-19 to open schools in the immediate future. There is a reason that “novel” is part of the formal name of this virus–it is new and unknown. This virus has been a step ahead of even our best experts, surprising them time and time again, and always for the worse. We are now starting to understand that people who recover (even those who had a “light” case) often have long-term, possibly permanent, complications. Children DO get seriously ill and die from COVID-19. Plus, kids cannot be relied on to mask and social distance; they spread everything to the adults around them, and they will spread this virus to their families and to school support staff. Opening schools in areas with uncontrolled infection rates (5% or higher) would simply be an experiment, and experimenting on our kids and educational staff is wrong. Finally, opening schools will expose entire communities to possible (likely?) super-spreader events that could wreak havoc, starting with our medical resources. The best treatment of these issues I have seen is here—Why Is There No Consensus About Reopening Schools? 7/29/20 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/magazine/schools-reopening-covid.html
In Texas
The Texas Medical Association provided this chart, for those who have been exposed to COVID-19, have symptoms, and/or were tested and are waiting for results. It shows what to do and for how long. In Texas and across the country, otherwise functioning adults don’t seem to understand these basic concepts and are exposing others instead of isolating themselves.
In Lakeway
Council’s July 26 meeting included a big disappointment for those of us looking forward to robust selection of city officials at November elections, instead of the old guard controlling the results every May. It was announced the Charter change proposal that Council approved for this at the previous meeting was a no-go. After 3 months of deliberations, with the city attorney attending Council meetings and participating in the discussions, he announced that he was informed by his law partner that state law currently does not allow such a change. This was confirmed by consultation with Travis County Clerk and the Secretary of State’s office. How in the world did the city attorney not research this previously? It makes me wonder what else has slipped through the cracks.
Council meets Monday, Aug. 3, at 6:30pm. Another online meeting, this one is primarily dedicated to budget issues. (News flash—there’s not enough money.) Go here to see the Agenda and Meeting Packet for Aug. 3–https://www.lakeway-tx.gov/archive.aspx
If you want to make a public comment, you must arrange it before the meeting. To send written comments to Council and/or request to speak at the meeting, go here and create a Public Comment Form—https://lakeway-tx.civicweb.net/Portal/CitizenEngagement.aspx
Go here to watch the meeting online, live or after the fact—https://www.lakeway-tx.gov/1062/Videos—Meetings-Events
Back to me….
Last week, I made my monthly grocery run to HEB. Everyone I saw wore a mask and at least tried to social distance. The big excitement was finding Lysol disinfectant spray on the shelf, the first time I have seen that handy item stocked anywhere since February.
The photogenic deer I see on my early morning walks now are vying with my beloved cats as far as providing the highlights of each day for me. Enjoy!
Perspective is key…..
July really did a number on us.
In the US, there were 2,727,853 confirmed cases on June 30. By July 31, there were 4,705,045 confirmed cases. Last spring, the grim American daily death toll was over 2,000 (mostly from the New York tri-state area). Then, as the virus was brought under control in the northeast, American deaths dipped to less than 1,000 per day, then well under 500 per day by summer. In July, that changed, with deaths climbing, exceeding 1,000 per day the second half of the month, going as high as 1,865 on July 28.
In Texas, record daily confirmed case numbers started appearing back in June and continued most of July, with positive testing rates soaring as high as 18%. (2% is the recommended goal, and 5% or higher is dangerous.) In the entire country, only California, Florida and New York have more cases than Texas. Texas also had record hospitalization rates, with Houston, Dallas and especially the Rio Grand Valley facilities overwhelmed. As for daily death rates, Texas not only set records in July, it posted a triple digit total for the first time on July 9 (105 dead) and did the same 15 more days in July; the highest daily deaths figure was 322. As of June 30, 2,424 Texans had died from Covid-19. By July 31, 6,569 Texans had died.
Travis County had 9,527 confirmed cases as of June 30. By July 31, that had more than doubled to 20,745. Deaths more than doubled as well, going from 124 on June 30 to 274 on July 31.
Locally, Lakeway’s primary zip code of 78734 had 62 cumulative cases reported as of June 30. By July 31, the number was 202. (Local hospitalizations and deaths are not reported.)
Also, in what seemed an intentional insult but may have been a cover-up as well, the COVID-19 statistics available to the public and used by officials for planning purposes were tampered with. If we can’t trust the reported statistics on COVID-19, we are in even worse trouble. Here is one account–
How Many People in the U.S. Are Hospitalized With COVID-19? Who Knows? 7/31/20 The Trump administration told hospitals to stop reporting data to the CDC, and report it to HHS instead. Vice President Mike Pence said the information would continue to be released publicly. It hasn’t worked out as promised. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-many-people-in-the-us-are-hospitalized-with-covid-19-who-knows?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter&utm_content=feature
Let’s hope August is kinder to us all.