How a health issue became political.

Let's look at the beginning and problems:

If you listen to one of the protest groups then you hear a lot of statements concerning the Constitutionality of Governor's Inslees stay at home orders. When you start look at the history of our country then you see that pandemics are nothing new. While George Washington Battled the British, he was also battling smallpox, not only did he use quarantines, he also used mandated vaccines. George Washington wrote a letter to the President of Congress in 1787, concerning the necessary central authority to "provide for the Interest and Safety of all"states. 

Covid 19 didn't disappear in a miracle nor did it weaken "when we get into April" as Trump was early to downplay the pandemic. There are multiple accounts of the federal government taking needed supplies from states. 1. 2.  3. 4.  while sending them to foreign countries like China. A whistleblower stepped forward with charges of cronyism behind a Covid 19 drug. We have Senators investigated for trading stock after closed Covid 19 meetings. With mixed messages from the top, it is creating the problems on the state and ground level. 

With earlier relief packages, we have experienced failure to relieve. The Paycheck Protection Program had billions going to large businesses instead of small business. Thousands of churches received PPP loans instead of main street. Weeks after the stimulus bills were signed into law, million of people are still waiting for them to show up. These problems are creating economic pressures to prematurely open. 

Protests of wearing masks is nothing new. During the Spanish Flu of 1918, "Three shot in Struggle with Mask Slacker" really describes the level that mask orders can be enforced. Doctors have spoken out about the importance of masks in preventing the spread. Despite the CDC recommend wearing masks, Trump and Pence have difficulty wearing them. How did Hong Kong keep their infection rate low despite having a high population density? 

Meanwhile in Washington State

In Washington State, we have a population of 7.5 million. We have only tested  0.03% of the population and only 6.7% tested received a positive test. As we approach 1000 deaths, the confirmed death percentage is 5.6%. It is also starting to spike in Eastern Washington. Yakima County has the highest Covid 19 cases by population density in Washington State. There have been protesters at packing sheds  for hazard pay and assurances of a safe working environment. We are also seeing continued increases in the Tri-Cities. Wenatchee is the apple capital of the world, what will happen at our packing sheds as the fruit starts coming off the trees?

The Governor who reduced the spread early with Stay at home orders has been feeling the political crunch. Washington state put together emergency response including opening up the Health Exchange for a Special Enrollment. He has put together a Safe Start Program to ease the state open. There has been protest groups that want the state's businesses open faster.  Cities like Selah (deep in Yakima County)  question the Governor's plan. A gym in Arlington opens contrary to Governor's order and require members to sign waivers. If we hit the second wave then we are faced with a second round of closures with little federal support.

Second wave and lifelong injury

Since this is a numbers games, we have to look towards New York as what could happen here in Washington State if we get a large surge. They have had elementary school age kids with no underlying health issues die. Symptoms have included prolonged high fever, racing hearts, rash, and severe abdominal pain. Dr. David Reich, president of Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, said the five cases his hospital treated started with gastrointestinal issues and progressed to very low blood pressure, expanded blood pressure, and in some cases, heart failure. "We were all thinking this is a disease that kills old people, not kids," he told The Washington Post. Cuomo made a similar point. So they are seeing large cases with kids than Washington state.

How do we prevent a second wave?

The big issue is that they have to work through a cytokine storm. That is where the immune system goes into overdrive, harming more than helping.  Immune cells flood and attack the lungs they should be protecting. Blood vessels leak; the blood itself clots. Blood pressure plummets and organs start to fail. This is not the first time a cytokine storm has been linked to a pandemic. Scientists suspect that cytokine storms caused many of the fatalities in the 1918 flu pandemic and the 2003 outbreak of SARS, a virus related to the one that causes Covid 19.
They are finding about 5% that are infected by Covid 19 have a serious fight on their hands. A 25 March paper in JAMA Cardiology documented heart damage in nearly 20% of patients out of 416 hospitalized for Covid 19 in Wuhan, China. In another Wuhan study, 44% of 36 patients admitted to the ICU had arrhythmias. People as young as 30 are experiencing strokes, even when their symptoms were mild.

Resolution

For the first time in our nation's history we have seen Doctors with out Borders dispatched inside the United States to fill the Medical need in the Navajo Nation. There are members on the White House going into Quarantine. The House of Representatives is voting on a 5th round of Covid relief to keep the nation from slipping into a Hoover like depression. 

We do insurance so we pay attention to the numbers. Underplaying the infections of the children and permanent injuries are examples of the political games that are being played today. With all of the political games, we wanted to take a closer look at the deaths per month. There is nothing more final than a body bag.  Covid 19 was the winner killing 58,760 Americans in the month of April. So what is the worse that can happen if the games keep going?

For more insight feel free to check out our Facebook or Podcast.