The COVID-19 virus

I have not posted here for quite a while for various reasons, but I have come out of my self imposed exile (for lack of a better word) to relay some important information regarding the COVID-19 testing debacle. This will likely not come as a surprise to any of you, but it is a good example of how badly this is being managed thus far.

I live in Arizona, and this popped up in my news feed today under the headline — TELL MEL: Pima County patients turned away from COVID-19 testing? :

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - As concerns over the coronavirus spread through Southern Arizona, so are rumors and questions on social media. KOLD News 13 has received several phone calls and emails from viewers about COVID-19 testing. One caller claimed a patient walked out of an area hospital without getting tested. In an email, a viewer claimed information came from nurses. “According to nurses at a local hospital, PCHD is refusing to test hospitalized patients referred for COVID-19 testing.” KOLD News 13 reached out to the Pima County Health Department Friday for more information on the county’s testing protocol and to see if there was any confirmation to concerns. x New This Afternoon: #Tucson-area hospitals & medical providers share joint statement with @pchd in regards to #COVID-19. #AlertNotAnxious pic.twitter.com/36rgUpwV36 Ã¢ÂÂ Melissa Egan (@_MelissaEgan) March 6, 2020 A spokesperson for the health department said hospitals and healthcare providers are using a standardized screening tool to identify when testing is indicated, as are other health departments across the state.

According to this reporting from KOLD’s Melissa Egan, she was sent information from PCHD via e-mail that included the following chart, the “screening tool” mentioned above. It outlines the criteria they are using state wide to determine who is tested, and who isn’t.

My interpretation of this chart is, unless you are symptomatic after travel to an affected area (everywhere?), symptomatic after contact with someone who has actually tested positive, or you are in immediate danger of dying from COVID-19 symptoms from presumed community exposure, you will not be tested. I would also like to point out that the criteria chart on the Pima County COVID-19 web page does not provide the level of detail that the above chart does. The spokesperson from PCHD who sent the chart and statement to KOLD advised they do not have enough kits to process “widespread testing” and need to conserve what they have. They stated the shortage was due to the CDC expanding the test criteria while not providing additional test kits. They are hoping that private labs like Lab Corp and Quest Diagnostics will be able to fill the gap soon, but do not have an estimated date for when that may happen. “As early as next week” seems rather vague.

As of Saturday, 3/7/2020, Arizona has 2 confirmed positive cases, 3 presumed positive cases, and 7 tests are pending results. Only a total of 56 people in the state have been tested according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. At this point, it is worth noting that the first COVID-19 patient from Washington state was a 35 year old man, who was doing well up until day 9 of his illness when he took a “turn for the worse” and had to be hospitalized according to the chief clinical officer at the hospital where he was treated. It is unclear to me when he was initially tested, but presumably it was after he began showing symptoms as he had recently returned from Wuhan, China. Meanwhile, at least 75 other people in Washington state became sick enough through various methods of exposure to warrant testing. We know that one infected person means an exponential number of others who are infected as well, there are multiple news reports on this.

The State of Arizona is known about as well as the Trump administration for lack of transparency. I am fairly sure county health departments including PCHD, hospitals, and other healthcare providers are being pressured by Governor Ducey to toe the Republican line on this. ADHS and PCHD are also referring people to the CDC website for “up to date” information on COVID-19 which is laughable at best given the information lock down being perpetrated by this administration. As a result of all the obfuscation that is happening on multiple levels, I am inclined to believe these nurses who feel the need to speak out.

I am not in panic mode, but when nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals on the front lines in hospitals are expressing concerns to the press that people are not being tested who should be, we should all be paying attention. I know I am preaching to the choir, but do feel it is necessary for us to report on what is happening at a local level so we can better prepare and protect ourselves. This is going to touch all of us at some point due to lack of appropriate information and gross incompetence.