Story 1: USA now leads the world in infections.

Story 2: woefully short on ventilators.

Story 3: mayor of Chicago sees people running along the lakeshore trails and people were seen using Chicago’s green spaces. Trail and all green spaces closed.

Story 4: for good mental health, get outside, exercise, and don’t listen to to repeated stories about the corona virus.

Wtf? We are supposed to rely on the media and gubmiint?

MAJOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS:

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1. The French infectious disease researcher who did the initial small-scale hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin tests that showed a 100% cure rate with those 2 drugs combined has now completed a larger study. Details:

Preprint just released, will be published over the weekend.

Again no control group (likely again due to time pressure).

80 patients, all hospitalized with COVID-19.

79 of the 80 survived, a result considered quite remarkable.

Within 8 days, 93% of the patients had no detectable virus in their bodies.

Results fit with anecdotal cure reports coming in from doctors and patients in the field.

Better studies are underway now.

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2. Anecdotal reports from rheumatologists about hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19. Details:

A number of rheumatologists (who routinely prescribe hydroxychloroquine for their patients for other conditions like arthritis) are reporting apparent significant antiviral effects of hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19.

No further details or studies at this time.

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3. Safety study on use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin together. Details:

Uncontrolled.

Found no incremental (additional) risk of using the two drugs together.

Results fit with anecdotal reports from doctors in the field indicating no major problems using these 2 drugs together.

Better studies to follow soon.

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4. Convalescent plasma study. Details:

Published in JAMA.

Recovered patients' plasma was given to current COVID-19 patients to transfer antibodies.

Small-scale study with 5 patients, all "morbidly ill" with COVID-19.

All had lungs heavily affected, were in the ICU and were intubated (on ventilators).

All 5 patients survived.

Of the 5, 3 went home, the other 2 are doing okay.

Perfect recovery rate of 5/5 is considered remarkable at that advanced level of seriousness.

Larger proper clinical trials starting in NY now.

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5. FDA just approved a new COVID-19 test. Details:

Compact, can be done in a doctor's office, no hospital needed.

Provides positive results in 5 minutes.

Provides negative results in 13 minutes.

Will facilitate much easier and widespread mass testing.

Intention is to test millions of people in April.

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Now we have 2 positive tests at the jail and waiting on results for a handful more.

I did hear something about a miracle wiping out the corona, but racked it up as #19,584.

My wife and I hit Wal-Mart when they opened this morning (7 am). We had to wait outside in line, 6' apart. They would let 3 or 4 people in every few minutes. I think I need to go punch some paper.

Costco - Tuesday & Thursday, 8 am to 9 am.

Sam's Club - M thru Sa, 8am to 9 am. Sunday, 9 am to 10am.

Aldi - Tuesday & Thursday, 8:30 am to 9 am.

Wal-Mart - Tuesday only, 1 hour early. Check your local store's normal operating hours and you can go in 1 hour early on Tuesday. For our stores it would be 6 am to 7 am.

David

Some further info:

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The 1 person who didn't survive was over 86 years old and was way "too far gone" by the time the study started, with "irreversible" damage.

That means 79 out of 79 "save-able" patients were saved.

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A doctor Smith who runs a NY infectious disease group said his group is giving hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to all suitable COVID-19 patients, currently 53 patients, and of the ones who required intubation (I believe it was 10 of them), it was ALWAYS before Day 3 of the treatment. ZERO patients needed it after Day 3, which he said is remarkable.

Dr. Smith also said that of all the doctors in his organization, when asked their opinions about hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin based on what they were seeing administering it to COVID-19 patients, one said he was undecided, but the all the others said they strongly believed it was helping a lot.

I have no further info, but I hope Dr. Smith is going to publish this somewhere.

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A doctor whose name begins with Z, but but I can't remember the full name, indicated that he treated 669 COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin and only 5 required hospitalization and only 2 were intubated, which is again considered a remarkable result.

Again I have no further info, but again I hope Dr. Z is going to publish this somewhere.

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This is moving fast and I'm just passing along what I'm seeing from many and varied news reports and live interviews with the doctors and researchers themselves, I often forget the specific sources of each.

Many are published or soon-to-be-published as indicated however, so just go read them. The other stuff is probably Google-able, or will be soon. Some of this you may have to wait awhile as it's so new that it's not Google-able yet.

Here's what I can recall about the sources:

1. As indicated, to be published imminently (over the weekend or Monday), go read it when published. Is in pre-print form now.

2. Live interview last night with Dr. Marc Siegel, associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, commenting on what several of his rheumatologist colleagues have been telling him.

3. Cable news report, study is either published or to-be-published soon, go read it.

4. Published in JAMA as indicated, go read it.

5. Cable news report, Google for details should work.

Dr. Smith's comments are from a live cable news interview with him last night.

The "Dr. Z" information was relayed by a non-physician third party being interviewed on cable news last night, so take with a grain of salt, but it's likely the overall "gist" of it is correct. Unknown if this will be published or when. I have no further details.

There ya go, hope it helps.

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