Is Anchorage headed towards another lockdown?

Joined
Apr 22, 2012
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Chugiak, Alaska
Looks like starting on Monday there will be no more dinning or drinking in for at least a month. We (my family), aren't big on eating out anyway, but by the looks of it, this whole thing is starting to head back in the wrong direction and the near future isn't looking too good either.
 

AKBorn

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Aug 14, 2018
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Tennessee
Best of luck Trout...both of my sisters live in Anchorage, I know they are worried about things. Sure glad I didn't have a hunting trip planned this fall, altho I did miss out on a vacation trip up there in June with my girlfriend. Stay safe and enjoy the less crowded mountains this fall!
 

5MilesBack

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Locally here they keep talking about how bad it is, and how much our numbers are increasing, and that our variances may have to be pulled to combat the increase.........yet we only have a 0.57% confirmed infection rate including all cases back to February. Their hysteria, their actions, and their fear mongering certainly don't line up with the numbers.
 

4rcgoat

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wyoming
Locally here they keep talking about how bad it is, and how much our numbers are increasing, and that our variances may have to be pulled to combat the increase.........yet we only have a 0.57% confirmed infection rate including all cases back to February. Their hysteria, their actions, and their fear mongering certainly don't line up with the numbers.
I would also like to know what happened in S.Dakota,in a state that imposed no restrictions,held a big rally,and yet there seems to be no talk of any big flareups there.
 

EastMT

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Looks like starting on Monday there will be no more dinning or drinking in for at least a month. We (my family), aren't big on eating out anyway, but by the looks of it, this whole thing is starting to head back in the wrong direction and the near future isn't looking too good either.

I recently moved south and am in the hotspot of the country. I did the math, on an avg year we lose 832 per 100,000 residents. The entire 3 county area I’m in has about 1 million people and we’ve lost less than 1,000 to CV19. So on an avg year we should lose about 8320 for the year total. How many of those in the 75-90 age bracket wouldn’t have made the year? I don’t know but it seems a bit over blown to me.

I do believe we should take precautions, wear masks, do what we can to protect the weak. But locking down, losing income, losing houses, cars, etc.

I’ll make a prediction, after the election if trump loses the media will start investigating the death counts and miraculously find that a lot of the deaths attributed to CV19 were near death already, not CV19.

Is it serious for the weak, sick, old? Absolutely! Do we need to enter a depression over it? No, the people with high risk such as my wife with severe asthma have to isolate to reduce risk. She stays home, orders curbside groceries, etc. I am amazed at the number of people in stores that are using walkers, 80 years old and look weak.

A friend of ours went to visit her 75 year old sister on her deathbed from another disease. After her death found out she had CV19, now her and her husband are very sick 75 year olds and in rough shape due to hugging and spending time with her. Oh yeah, she was marked as CV19 death on cert, and the family is mad about it.
 
Joined
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Becker Ridge, Alaska
The greatest percentage of COVID-19 cases in Alaska has been in the cohort of youngsters in their 20s and the thinking is irresponsible behavior such as congregating at bars with no social distancing, no masks, etc.

We rarely eat out, but are trying to support the local restaurants by ordering takeout at least once a week whenever we head to town.
 
Joined
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Shenandoah Valley
I don't have much to add except please try to support your local restaurants if you can. My girlfriend has a large restaurant that is well established and has been in the community for 20 years. It's been difficult. The town it's in also has over 1000 confirmed cases in a population of 50k. So better than 1/50 are confirmed to have it/had it. Take out helps, and be patient as these are trying and difficult times for many of these home town restaurants.
 

Marbles

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OP, the infection rate is also moving in the wrong direct. One can look to numerous other geographic areas and learn that once an area gets far behind the curve it takes an uncomfortable length of time to catch back up. I believe the goal (as most cases are traced back to bars and such) is to limit that avenue of spread and hopefully not get to the point where a full lock-down is needed. I work with someone who also works at a bar and she talks about how hard it is to get people to maintain basic precautions such as mask, distance, and hand washing. Unfortunately how people choose to behave has effects the rest of us have to deal with.

Some of this has to due with resource availability, not just number of cases. We ran out of the regent to run COVID tests at my facility last weekend. Contact tracing resources are spread thin. Hospital staffing is low because of staff members in quarantine due to COVID exposure and hospitals are also full from other causes. We are holding ICU patients in our ED for hours before they can be moved upstairs, even longer for med surge patients. This leaves the ED full and at times we are literally moving patients who have been stabilized out of rooms and into hallways to open up rooms for unstable patient who could die in minuets without treatment. This kind of stuff happens occasionally anyway, but COVID has added a strain to an already stretched system. When this happens it is not just COVID patients who pay, but every person who gets sick or injured. In places that have been hit hard, I can guaranty there were patients who died because of the SARS-COV-2 virus even though they never had COVID 19 simply because there where not resources available that normally would have been.

To some of the other posters:

How COVID 19 deaths are being handled is no different than flue, pneumonia, pyelonephritis, Etc. deaths when it comes to the death certificates.

If someone who is on deaths door falls in the hospital and sustains an injury that a normal person would survive, but they don't because their system cannot compensate, that injury would be listed as a cause of death (and the hospital has to notify the Joint Commission of a Sentinel Event).

There is a point to the idea that we should not consume the future of the young to preserve the lives of the old. However, when anyone has to support their position by denying facts and weaving conspiracy theories it undermines whatever validity may be contained in what they are saying.

To believe what some of you are claiming, one would have to believe that multiple other countries are also inflating their COVID 19 numbers even as it hurts their governments and citizens.

Many people who die from COVID 19 have complicating conditions, but they would have survived for many more years if they did not get infected. Or, are you arguing that HTN, DM, CHF and age over 60 are imminently terminal conditions?

Thankfully the percentage of people who die from COVID 19 is and will continue to decline as we (the medical community) figure out how to treat it. As an example, there is evidence from other corona viruses and viral illnesses (SARS, MERS, influenza) that dexamethasone does not help and possibly makes things worse. As such, dexamethazone was avoided in the treatment of COVID 19. Thanks to a study in the UK, we now know that it improves survival in COVID 19 patients. Thus, treatment recommendations have been changed. There are other drugs that we tried early on and now know are absolutely worthless, and in some causes worse than worthless as they increased mortality. The same goes for other interventions, such as early intubation. I'm sure we will continue to learn so long as we approach what we believe we know with humility and recognize that topics that where once insignificant for us may now be important. Such as steroid-related strongyloides hyperinfection, something I had not heard of until recently. Or Kawasaki Syndrom in children, something that before COVID was incredibly rare, but is now occurring at dramatically increased rates.

But hey, don't let me interfere with anyone's Dunning-Kruger effect derived expertise.

Hopefully a mod will lock this thread. Other posters pushed this thread off topic quickly, and I have let myself join in. I would say I'm a fool; "He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own Is like one who takes a dog by the ears." Proverbs 26:17. However, we are all in this together, so this one belongs to all of us whether we like it or not.
 

EastMT

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Looks like starting on Monday there will be no more dinning or drinking in for at least a month. We (my family), aren't big on eating out anyway, but by the looks of it, this whole thing is starting to head back in the wrong direction and the near future isn't looking too good either.

Also after our discussion a few months ago, don’t leave AK. Just don’t! Haha I’ll be back in 24 months and I’ll be whining, complaining, possibly crying uncontrollably until then. Man it’s rough feeling free anywhere else after being there for so long.
 

Broomd

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Alaska airliines just opened all of their airport lounges. Crazy how everything doesn't jive....hard to keep up with the different actions.
 

307

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If someone who is on deaths door falls in the hospital and sustains an injury that a normal person would survive, but they don't because their system cannot compensate, that injury would be listed as a cause of death (and the hospital has to notify the Joint Commission of a Sentinel Event).

Just wanted to clarify the above statement. In your scenario, would the normally non lethal fall be listed as the cause of death, or the condition which caused the usually non lethal incident to be lethal?

I'm guessing it's the second, but I don't know for sure and your comment seemed to be slightly confusing (at least to me.)

And thanks for chiming in, as a person who actually knows what they're talking about when it comes to covid, its refreshing to read.
 

lif

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Nov 7, 2012
Messages
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OP, the infection rate is also moving in the wrong direct. One can look to numerous other geographic areas and learn that once an area gets far behind the curve it takes an uncomfortable length of time to catch back up. I believe the goal (as most cases are traced back to bars and such) is to limit that avenue of spread and hopefully not get to the point where a full lock-down is needed. I work with someone who also works at a bar and she talks about how hard it is to get people to maintain basic precautions such as mask, distance, and hand washing. Unfortunately how people choose to behave has effects the rest of us have to deal with.

Some of this has to due with resource availability, not just number of cases. We ran out of the regent to run COVID tests at my facility last weekend. Contact tracing resources are spread thin. Hospital staffing is low because of staff members in quarantine due to COVID exposure and hospitals are also full from other causes. We are holding ICU patients in our ED for hours before they can be moved upstairs, even longer for med surge patients. This leaves the ED full and at times we are literally moving patients who have been stabilized out of rooms and into hallways to open up rooms for unstable patient who could die in minuets without treatment. This kind of stuff happens occasionally anyway, but COVID has added a strain to an already stretched system. When this happens it is not just COVID patients who pay, but every person who gets sick or injured. In places that have been hit hard, I can guaranty there were patients who died because of the SARS-COV-2 virus even though they never had COVID 19 simply because there where not resources available that normally would have been.

To some of the other posters:

How COVID 19 deaths are being handled is no different than flue, pneumonia, pyelonephritis, Etc. deaths when it comes to the death certificates.

If someone who is on deaths door falls in the hospital and sustains an injury that a normal person would survive, but they don't because their system cannot compensate, that injury would be listed as a cause of death (and the hospital has to notify the Joint Commission of a Sentinel Event).

There is a point to the idea that we should not consume the future of the young to preserve the lives of the old. However, when anyone has to support their position by denying facts and weaving conspiracy theories it undermines whatever validity may be contained in what they are saying.

To believe what some of you are claiming, one would have to believe that multiple other countries are also inflating their COVID 19 numbers even as it hurts their governments and citizens.

Many people who die from COVID 19 have complicating conditions, but they would have survived for many more years if they did not get infected. Or, are you arguing that HTN, DM, CHF and age over 60 are imminently terminal conditions?

Thankfully the percentage of people who die from COVID 19 is and will continue to decline as we (the medical community) figure out how to treat it. As an example, there is evidence from other corona viruses and viral illnesses (SARS, MERS, influenza) that dexamethasone does not help and possibly makes things worse. As such, dexamethazone was avoided in the treatment of COVID 19. Thanks to a study in the UK, we now know that it improves survival in COVID 19 patients. Thus, treatment recommendations have been changed. There are other drugs that we tried early on and now know are absolutely worthless, and in some causes worse than worthless as they increased mortality. The same goes for other interventions, such as early intubation. I'm sure we will continue to learn so long as we approach what we believe we know with humility and recognize that topics that where once insignificant for us may now be important. Such as steroid-related strongyloides hyperinfection, something I had not heard of until recently. Or Kawasaki Syndrom in children, something that before COVID was incredibly rare, but is now occurring at dramatically increased rates.

But hey, don't let me interfere with anyone's Dunning-Kruger effect derived expertise.

Hopefully a mod will lock this thread. Other posters pushed this thread off topic quickly, and I have let myself join in. I would say I'm a fool; "He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own Is like one who takes a dog by the ears." Proverbs 26:17. However, we are all in this together, so this one belongs to all of us whether we like it or not.
Unfortunately you’re not the only one who works in the medical field. You may be in a bad spot for some cases, but lots of other hospitals and medical workers are having far different experiences. My wife is a nurse in a hospital that has seen a small amount of cases in a community that refuses to wear masks. In the minimal amount of cases she’s seen all deaths have been 75 years old or older. Two different patients she had, died of massive heart failures after the age of 80. Both were tested for Covid after and were positive. Both listed as death by Covid on death certificates. She will testify in court that they did not die of Covid. Not to mention many incorrect tests results. Including a nurse who was called by the county health department with her test results for a test she never took. And our hospital, nurses and doctors are not the only hospital reporting these things.
 

sndmn11

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Morrison, Colorado
It seems like "flatten the curve" was somehow interpreted as "stop the curve" and folks think there should be no new cases. People are still going to get infected; some will never know, some will get sick, and some will need hospitalization. The three humans in my household had it, and we all had far worse flus over the last winter.
 

netman

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I know this is a little off topic but I just spoke to one of my good friends in Houston Texas. He just got over Covid. His wife and four children all had Covid. I asked how he got it. He said from his daughter who is positive that she got it while working out at the gym.
He said he was down for three weeks straight. His son who is 17 yoa was down for three days. His three daughters and wife were down for about ten days.
I know of no one here in Indiana that’s had it. I’ve been very negative about wearing a mask and stores being shut down. Once I spoke to my buddy I’ve tightened up a little.
 

Fatcamp

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Sodak
Cared for a man today with an absolute tragic story. Do not doubt that this is very real and is causing much harm to many.
 

lif

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I know this is a little off topic but I just spoke to one of my good friends in Houston Texas. He just got over Covid. His wife and four children all had Covid. I asked how he got it. He said from his daughter who is positive that she got it while working out at the gym.
He said he was down for three weeks straight. His son who is 17 yoa was down for three days. His three daughters and wife were down for about ten days.
I know of no one here in Indiana that’s had it. I’ve been very negative about wearing a mask and stores being shut down. Once I spoke to my buddy I’ve tightened up a little.
This is a fair comment. I think everyone should have the right to react however their instincts lead them. If the over all numbers said this was super dangerous to most people I would do whatever it takes to keep safe. But the numbers still haven’t met the numbers of other pandemics in the last 100 years that we took no precautions on. I support folks staying safe and being careful. And I support folks taking their own fate in their hands by continuing to live freely. And I also have much sympathy for those who have been effected by this in the worst of ways.
 

MattB

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This is a fair comment. I think everyone should have the right to react however their instincts lead them. If the over all numbers said this was super dangerous to most people I would do whatever it takes to keep safe. But the numbers still haven’t met the numbers of other pandemics in the last 100 years that we took no precautions on. I support folks staying safe and being careful. And I support folks taking their own fate in their hands by continuing to live freely. And I also have much sympathy for those who have been effected by this in the worst of ways.

From a US-centric perspective, which pandemic in the last 100 years was worse from a numbers perspective?
 

Marbles

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Just wanted to clarify the above statement. In your scenario, would the normally non lethal fall be listed as the cause of death, or the condition which caused the usually non lethal incident to be lethal?

I'm guessing it's the second, but I don't know for sure and your comment seemed to be slightly confusing (at least to me.)

And thanks for chiming in, as a person who actually knows what they're talking about when it comes to covid, its refreshing to read.

The fall itself should be listed, as well as the injury and conditions leading to the injury. Starting at the last two paragraphs of page 12 of the PDF (page 5 of the handbook) linked https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/hb_cod.pdf

The cause of death would not include things that did not contribute to the death. This can get a little tricky and is based on judgement. For example, someone with diabetes (DM) who dies from traumatic injuries in a motor vehicle accident would not normally have DM listed as a cause of death. However, if they where in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) at the time of the accident and they where the driver, DM could reasonably be listed on the death certificate as DKA can lead to impaired cognitive function. The same applies to COVID 19 and are the instructions being given out by the CDC and WHO. Now, miss understanding on the part of individual physicians is possible, and bad directions from administrators could have lead to individual cases where groups of physicians have been given bad instructions.

Unfortunately you’re not the only one who works in the medical field. You may be in a bad spot for some cases, but lots of other hospitals and medical workers are having far different experiences. My wife is a nurse in a hospital that has seen a small amount of cases in a community that refuses to wear masks. In the minimal amount of cases she’s seen all deaths have been 75 years old or older. Two different patients she had, died of massive heart failures after the age of 80. Both were tested for Covid after and were positive. Both listed as death by Covid on death certificates. She will testify in court that they did not die of Covid. Not to mention many incorrect tests results. Including a nurse who was called by the county health department with her test results for a test she never took. And our hospital, nurses and doctors are not the only hospital reporting these things.

There is nothing unfortunate about me not being the only one who works in the medical field, in fact I consider it quite fortunate that I am not the only one. Even non-medical people are capable of looking up things I have said and challenging them, hopefully based off of credible sources. I am not an expert, and even experts can be wrong, so I certainly can. I shared my personal experience because it directly relates to Anchorage and why certain decisions may have been made by local governments.

A doctor at your hospital is the one who filled out the death certificate and believes COVID 19 contributed to the death (this is in relation to your final sentence). Can you have your wife do a pathophysiology write up on how COVID 19 cannot exacerbate heart failure? I would like to know the science behind that position.
 
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