Today I got a COVID-19 test. No, I am not sick, but this is the new normal if you are having any surgical procedures. I have one coming up, so COVID-19 test day it was.
My hospital system is Penn, so I went to Penn Medicine in Radnor and lined up for my test. This is a drive thru test site, BUT it is by appointment. You have to register ahead of time. I will admit that people showing up without appointments gummed up the works a bit. Different testing sites have different rules, so make sure you know the rules when you chose your site.
My test was a throat swab. Yes, you can get an alternative to brain excavation via your nostrils IF the location has the other kits to do so. Penn offered it to me when I called to schedule because I get nose bleeds. I get them a fair amount. I have since I was a kid. I get that from my mother. I knew going there today that IF they had the other test I could get it, but otherwise it was up the nose and I got tissues. I was lucky. So I did gag because they go deep into your throat but I did not get a nose bleed.
When you get there and they check us in and check I.D. Then you just move up the line until it is your turn. Penn made it very simple. I have not received the results back yet, but should have them shortly because I have a surgical procedure coming up, so it gets categorized differently and processed accordingly. My nurse was Candace and she was awesome!
What amazes me however, is an article I saw this afternoon. Much to my amazement, Pennsylvania is lagging in testing and does less than almost every other state. I mean talk about WTF right?
Philadelphia Inquirer: Pennsylvania does less coronavirus testing than almost every other state
by Tom Avril, Posted: 28 minutes ago
Testing for the coronravirus is seen as a key strategy for preventing a surge in new cases, yet as with so many other aspects of the response to COVID-19, some states are doing a lot, others not.
Pennsylvania falls into the latter category, based on the number of tests performed per capita, according to an analysis by Johns Hopkins University. Through Tuesday, labs in the state had done 5,215 tests per 100,000 people — fewer than all but seven states, counting Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
New Jersey was third-best, at 14,227 tests per 100,000, after Rhode Island and New York, while Delaware was not far behind, at 11th.
If not for Philadelphia, where testing is relatively widespread, Pennsylvania’s rate would be even lower — roughly 4,800 tests per 100,000 people, ahead of only Wyoming, Idaho, and Puerto Rico.
So. Yeah. And our Embarrassment In Chief who made some typically stupid comments about Coronavirus at his Oklahoma campaign rally. We’ll start with the derogatory racist nicknames for the virus. (He has this really disturbing way of moving his mouth while he is attempting enunciation. It almost can make your skin crawl.)
And as a lot of states are seeing surges in cases of Coronavirus, today it was announced that our lovely Trumperal Government will end federal funding to community testing sites, mostly in Texas.
This global pandemic by the numbers as per the Inquirer:
There have been about 9.32 million confirmed cases and 479,300 deaths globally. In the United States, there have been about 2.36 million confirmed cases and 121,700 deaths.
Alrighty then. That is reality. We need to pay attention. I see people bitching back and forth on social media about having to wear masks. I saw someone today whom I know to be immunocompromised and who also has a child who definitely is. To them I say you’re a long time dead.
I will close with an excerpt from an Op Ed column from the New York Times and a photo at the very end of my awesome Penn nurse today.
Opinion
The Pandemic Is Still Raging. The President Pretends Otherwise.
Downplaying the seriousness of the coronavirus has not stopped it from spreading in parts of the U.S.
By The Editorial Board
The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.
June 23, 2020
News Update: On Tuesday, the United States recorded the highest single-day total of new coronavirus cases since April, according to a New York Times database.
More than 100 days into the coronavirus pandemic, here’s where things stand in the United States: 2.3 million people have been infected, and some 120,000 people — more than in any other country — have died. Early epicenters like New York and New Jersey appear to have gotten their outbreaks under control, but several new hot spots have emerged, including in Florida, Texas and Arizona, where daily case counts are higher than ever. Over all, the number of new cases a day is rising, and the rest of the world is taking note: The European Union is mulling travel restrictions that would prohibit Americans from entering any nation in the bloc because the United States has failed to contain the pandemic.
None of these developments have put an end to the denialism that has prevailed at the White House from the start. In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal last week, Vice President Mike Pence argued that reports of a coming second wave of infections were exaggerated. That argument was seconded by Larry Kudlow, the administration’s top economic adviser. Scientists do not agree: On Tuesday Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, told a House panel that the country has yet to clear the first wave of the pandemic and that a second wave of outbreaks is possible. “We’re still in the middle of a serious outbreak,” he said. “There is no doubt about that.”….President Trump noted at a rally in Tulsa, Okla., that the nation’s case counts would not rise quite so egregiously if the U.S. stopped testing so many people for the virus. “When you do testing to that extent, you’re gonna find more people, you’re gonna find more cases,” he told the crowd. “So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.’” …But it would still be better if the nation’s leaders worked to prevent as many people as possible from contracting the virus in the first place — and to do that, they’ll have to start by acknowledging that the threat is real. On Tuesday, Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the pandemic “the greatest public health crisis our nation and world have confronted in a century.” It’s past time for the rest of the administration to start taking it that seriously.
