On Aug 17, 2020, at 2:13 PM, Neil Edwards <Neil.Edwards**At_Symbol_Here**LIU.EDU> wrote:

Just to add a bit to the Covid-19 testing discussion, I would like to share my personal experience. After working from home for about five weeks, during the last week of April  I had a sleepless night of almost non-stop coughing. The next morning I went to a local Urgent Care facility, where I was examined. Temp normal. Chest X-ray normal. I requested a Covid-19 test, which I was told was not necessary based on what they had seen of me. I insisted, and the next day received a phone call with a positive result. What followed was almost two weeks of fluctuating temps throughout each day, from 98 to 102, frequent coughing, extreme difficulty breathing at times, and blood oxygen saturation levels mostly between 91 and 95%. I managed to stay out of the hospital by getting supplemental oxygen at home both night and day, being monitored by almost daily "telehealth" visits with my pulmonologist, and lots of TLC from my family. The diagnosis was Covid-19 pneumonia.

I was symptom-free after two weeks (and remain so today) and was able to go back to online teaching in time for the summer session to begin in mid May. On June 4th, I went for an in-person visit to the pulmonologist, where I had an exam, chest x-ray, and comprehensive pulmonary function testing. I was pronounced Covid-free with no apparent residual effects.

Two separate antibody tests, one in late May and the second in June, both showed no detectable antibodies in my blood. It was not until my third antibody test, on July 16th, that I got a different result, which was now strongly positive for antibodies against the virus. This was a full two months after I no longer had symptoms, and at least ten weeks after I first tested positive for the virus.

I have spoken with several physicians, and the consensus appears to be that it can take some time, even months, for detectable levels of antibodies to be present in the blood, and also that those antibody levels will most likely remain for a long time without diminishing. That makes me feel much more comfortable about return to live teaching in about three weeks, especially with all of the precautions that will be in place, particularly in terms of masking and distancing, including reducing the number of students that attend live in each class to no more than half of previous levels. Of course, we will see how all of that works. It is possible that within a short time we will have to return to full time Zoom sessions. Let's hope that doesn't happen. The progress we have made here in New York is impressive up to now.

Neil Edwards, Laboratory Manager

Adjunct Assoc. Professor

Dep. of Chemistry, Math & Physics

LIU Post, Brookville, NY

Phone: 516-299-2017

Email: nedwards**At_Symbol_Here**liu.edu

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From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> on behalf of James Keating <james.k.keating**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2020 2:20 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Masks and Covid-19 transmission

 

WARNING: This email originated from outside of Long Island University. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. - LIU Information Technology

I have been monitoring the medical and sociopolitical aspects of reporting regarding this epidemic. 

I firmly believe that when all the data is finally and fairly analyzed it will reveal an inflated "body count" resulting from peculiar and substantial financial rewards to hospitals for reporting patient fatalities as Covid 19 caused merely if symptoms are similar to that diease even when post mortality test reveal the opposite. 

However, the Covid 19 reported fatalities for nursing home residents are vastly under reported. New York and New Jersey failed to report those fatalities of residents who were transported to hospitals with Covid 19 and subsequently died in that hospital. Some estimates for these nursing home residents are more than double the 7,000 for New York State. 

After this pandemic is past we need a thorough and impartial investigation. 

Know that truth and the truth will set you free. 

Jim Keating 

On Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 2:01 PM Yaritza Brinker <YBrinker**At_Symbol_Here**fele.com> wrote:

The primary issue I see with trying to draw conclusions from state data, is the policies behind the reporting itself. Which is really a shame given all we could learn if the data were "clean". It would be interesting to know if the OH state data reporting guidelines are better than the IN state ones. Let me explain.

 

About 1-1/2 weeks into the IN state-wide shutdown my daughter was presenting some symptoms of respiratory illness. Within 7 days, my daughter went from a sore throat to pneumonia. At that point she was Presumed Covid Positive. She was not tested due to bureaucratic rules. Regardless, her diagnosis was reported to the state. A few weeks later, the antibody blood test was made available. Her pediatrician looked into the test and determined that my daughter was a good candidate. Her antibody test came back negative. She never had it!!! Yet she is still in the IN state tally as a positive case.

 

This is not unique. Just 1 month ago, a friend of mine was also presumed positive. No test either. She has 6 kids under 18yrs old. Nobody else in her household developed symptoms, not even her husband who continued to sleep in the same room. Just like it happened at my house (I have 9 kids under 18yrs old). So, likely my friend never had it either. Yet she is still reported as a positive case in the state tally.

 

Here is another piece of interesting information. IN has several Self-Administered Drive-Through testing sites using the nasal swabs. A relative who is currently at Cleveland Clinic was given a nasal test. He cried from the pain!!! The nurse apologized and told him that the sampling, when administered as intended, is painful. I doubt any those people self-administering the test really pushed that swab up their nose, where it really hurts, and gathered a good sample.

 

Thank you,

 

Yaritza Brinker

260.827.5402

 

From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> On Behalf Of Ernest Lippert
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2020 11:38 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Masks and Covid-19 transmission

 

** External Email **

 

There has been much discussion about the effectiveness of simple masks worn by the public in slowing the transmission of Covid-19. Many agree that masks are effective in preventing the spread of the virus to others but there are several theories and measurements that try to disprove this effectiveness. I have been monitoring, among other data, the number of cases and deaths reported in Ohio. A plot of the data ending 15-Aug-2020 is available. It shows a significant decrease in New Cases Reported after the state-wide Mask Mandate was issued on 23-July. This behavior is also seen in the data for  Lucas and Wood counties, two of the 88 in Ohio. Does this not strongly support the hypothesis that wearing masks leads to a reduction in cases of Covid-19? Request the plot from ernielippert**At_Symbol_Here**toast.net.
Ernest L. Lippert, Ph.D.

 

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