year1buick

Thanks! That doesn’t surprise me. A lot of offices are staying open for emergencies only but those procedures still have the risk of exposure. No one can agree on what’s safe or what we should all do. Considering the fact that we’re in such a vulnerable position (regardless of screening processes in place or PPE), part of me is almost grateful I will have a break before starting again.

So, I managed to get a good job offer- yay!- but, due to COVID-19, I won’t be able to start until the end of April/beginning of May. Still, you take your good with the bad and I’m definitely thankful. Now I just have to figure out the house closing and move. (And not getting sick, I hope.)

There’s no such thing as error proof replication with viruses. It will definitely mutate. (They’ve already identified what appears to be two separate strains.) But that doesn’t mean that the variants will be any worse or unaffected by previously engineered vaccines. I think it’s a little too soon to be declaring this as a one and done. We probably won’t have a decent idea until we see how things play out next Fall. Hopefully the vaccine will be in place by then. And DCI can plan for a 2021 season.

We’re supposed to close on our house next month. (We just did the walk thru with the builder this morning.) I’m trying to finalize my job situation in the next week or so— still not knowing if it’s safe to do my job. Or if potential employers are going to be open in two weeks. But we have to be out of our current house mid May. I’m about to lose my ####### mind right now.

Right there with ya.

Yikes. Hate to hear this. Hope all turns out ok.

My daughter (who is a senior) was going to originally have to miss prom because it coincided with the Texas Color Guard Circuit state finals. Which were then canceled. The prom cancellation soon followed. Her graduation isn’t until May 31 but there’s obviously a big question mark hanging over that right now. Serious bummer. We’re supposed to be closing on a house next month, to be followed by a move to Ft. Worth. So I’ve been interviewing all over DFW the past week. One working interview that was supposed to happen yesterday was cancelled because the owner doc decided to temporarily shut the doors due to the virus. This hasn’t been the norm (I still have meetings scheduled for this coming week) but I fear it may become more common. I’ve already seen posts from other docs who’ve said hygienists and assistants are calling in. And the guidelines for dental offices have been a little inconsistent from state to state, organization to organization. Uncertainty abounds. (You should see the arguments in the dental FB groups...) Job hunting, closing on a house, moving and planning a graduation were already stressing me out, but now this? Only thing to do is just keep swimming, I suppose ... As to drum corps? Week before last I’d just been about to pull the trigger on tickets to the Denton show, but decided to hold off. Had a feeling. Sadly, that might’ve been the right call. So it’s the Regiment watching party for the moment. (It was fun to pick up my iPad earlier and see myself on the feed.)

That 60 million figure is based on a year’s worth of time. We’re about a month and a half in, here in the U.S. Go back to the CDC page that lists the H1N1 2009 stats and look up the estimate of how many of those 60 million cases required hospitalization. Now compare that percentage to the covid-19 infections that require hospitalization. There’s the answer to your previous question.

If we tell you why, will that satisfy you?

It’s been a while (over 12 years) since I took a virology course so I won’t pretend to know what the specific implications are in differences between surface proteins, etc. But it’s all the little details like that that affect how different viruses, and virus classes, behave, are inactivated, etc. The devil is in the details. While there may be similarities, covid-19 and the flu aren’t the same thing, which is partly why governments, medical agencies, etc aren’t treating them the such. Even so, I’ve seen colleagues go out of their way to seemingly do just that, if not necessarily in deeds but certainly words. (You should see the arguing on some of the dentist FB pages...) I wasn’t scolding with my correction but truly just trying to keep as much information here as accurate as possible. Lord knows, there are people here more knowledgeable about than me and I also hope they would correct me as well. (Happens often enough, LOL...)

No, it’s not.

I know a few.

So far, we’re all staying the course. But I’m wondering how it’s going to play out in the long run. It’s a little concerning not fully knowing the transmission characteristics while also hoping that masks and such protect us while working inside people’s mouths. I have colleague friends who are really playing it down. But I’m not so sure about that.

And ... there goes the Texas Color Guard Circuit, so no state contest for my daughter’s senior year. Bummer. Luckily I got to see her a couple times at earlier shows.

To be clear, that’s not for a vaccine. Remdesivir is an antiviral that they’re hoping can have some efficacy against Covid-19. (The studies plan to give it intravenously to already infected patients.)

I’m a little concerned as well. Sure, I wear the proper PPE, but when you hear so much talk about how ineffective the masks are against filtering the viral particles, and that they still aren’t sure as to whether asymptomatic carriers can transmit it AND you spend all day with your face in other people’s faces, as you run a drill, with water spray, that is constantly creating an invisible aerosol of water and saliva all around you and... yeah... I think about it.

Man, that really sucks. Sorry to hear that.

This reminds of the “aftermath” of hurricane Harvey in San Antonio in 2017. Though we barely got anything more than a light breeze and some sprinkles (the original forecast called for potentially damaging winds), rumors somehow got started that there was going to be a gas shortage. So, naturally, people started stockpiling gas. And... you guessed it... the city ran out of gas. Everywhere. I had to drive to Bulverde to fill up my car— and it was still all Road Warrior, with lines, angry people and a poor gas attendant trying to direct traffic. (It was a “lovely day.”) It was about two weeks before things returned to normal. “A person is smart. People are dumb.” — Agent K

I just saw that SXSW has been cancelled. Wow. (I’d wager a bigger deal for Austin than DCI is for Indy. Could be wrong, though.) I had been cautiously optimistic that DCI might still skate by this summer but now, I wonder...I haven’t even heard of cases being reported in Austin.

Yeah, I wish people would calm down about the masks. Some of us really do need to use them for work.

They showed us a video in dental school called “If saliva were red.” I still try not to think about it.

I didn’t know, until I saw the video you posted, that there was a potential connection to ACE2 expression sites and coronavirus cell entry. Makes you wander if some of the younger (seemingly healthy, Immunocompetent) deaths were associated with a genetic predisposition to be more susceptible. (I just glanced at a couple of articles but it’s an interesting consideration.)

We’re going to need a bigger thread.

But it also said this, just below your quote: “However, it’s important to note that current global circumstances suggest it is likely that this virus will cause a pandemic. In that case, the risk assessment would be different.” Which gets us back to we just don’t know yet. There’s no reason to think this is turning into Captain Trips but, considering the disruption happening in other corners of the world, it would still be smart, IMO, for DCI to have some initial discussions about possible repercussions for the activity this coming summer.

https://www.dci.org/news/tight-knit-regiment-embracing-transition-with-2020-on-the-horizon