The Center for Public Integrity on Monday released State Guidance from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, dated Nov 22, sent to Texas political leaders detailing how Texas is in a “full resurgence” red-zone for new cases and test positivity rates with an “ever rising unsustainable increase in hospitalizations…statewide mitigation must increase”. It showed Texas with weekly increase of +27% deaths, +5% increase in PCR tests, and a +16% increase in cases from the previous week.
Upon receiving this information Gov. Goalposts presumably laughed as he grazed his hands over a golden Covid-19 molecule idol enshrined in his office before saying a heathen prayer in ancient Sumerian tongue, setting the report ablaze, and cutting the throat of a lamb over the ashes.
The Rundown
The report showed significant differences between TXDSHS reporting and Health and Human Services numbers, sourced from county level data. Their ‘new case graph’ shows Texas already surpassing the Summer peak by mid November.
The report also brought to light that many hospitals are running out of PPE.
25% of Texas Hospitals reported by Nov 20th that they had 0-3 days of PPE remaining.
The Task Force recommendations noted that U.S. states and European nations with aggressive mitigation were already seeing an impact and stabilization from their efforts despite cold weather.
The main driver of the spread of covid is said to be “silent community spread” and the only way to identify and interrupt this spread is for proactive and focused testing along with significant behavior changes such as masking at all times in public, significant capacity reduction indoors, and ensuring people understand the risk of meeting with someone outside the household unmasked.
Aggressive and weekly proactive rapid antigen testing was recommended for all members staying on Tribal lands, as well as weekly testing for teachers, community college students, county workers, all hospital personnel and long-term care facility staff. All of this asymptomatic proactive testing should occur simultaneously with symptomatic persons and contact tracing.
The report also recommended immediate planning so that all universities returning in the winter can move to mandatory weekly testing for all off and on campus students.
The Negligence
Surely everyone in the Governor’s office was surprised by the fact that absolutely nowhere in the report did it suggest serving food at bars so by loophole exploitation the bar can be recognized as a restaurant and continue normal operation.
Nor did the report suggest any elaborate death riddles for local health officials and judges to solve in order to have people wear masks.
The Governor declined to comment on the report from the Procurerbunker. His spokeswoman Renae Eze said, “the state is sending resources and medication to hard-hit areas and suggested local authorities need to do more to enforce occupancy limits and mask orders.“
This was politician speak for saying “go to hell, we aren’t going to protect anyone or slow the spread.” The “medication” she referenced isn’t so much medication but experimental new treatments like Regeneron™ given to severe cases and the dying.
“The cavalry is coming,”
Days before this report was sent to him Governor Goalposts went to Lubbock at his first news conference on the pandemic in months and declared that he’d never be locking down and that “The cavalry is coming,” - in reference to a treatment painfully named Bamlanivimab that was being distributed to areas with already overrun hospitals like El Paso and Lubbock.
He scoffed at local leaders and a petition by West Texas healthcare workers requesting help.
“Just getting more tools won’t mean anything. They need to be enforcing the protocols in place right now.”
Bamlanivimab, a monoclonal antibody produced by Eli Lilly & Co., was granted emergency use authorization by the Food & Drug Administration on Nov. 9.
Not every patient with a positive COVID-19 test will be eligible to receive the drug. Patients should be referred by their doctor, as it will only be given to those who are determined to be at high risk and are good candidates. People who are already hospitalized cannot receive the drug, as it has not been shown to benefit these patients. It is also not for children under the age of 12.
“The drug isn’t for people who are already hospitalized – it is used for people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and may be at risk for their case to become more severe because of other health factors such as age, diabetes or a compromised immune system,” Senior Director of Pharmacy Services TidalHealth John Jordan, PharmD, BCPS said.
Bamlanivimab should be administered as soon as possible after a positive COVID-19 test and within 10 days of symptom onset. It is administered via a single intravenous infusion. The treatment is a lab-created protein that mimics immune system antibodies that block viruses.
Wow, what an amazing miracle drug Governor Abbott has secured for our overrun hospitals. We can all rest easy now. Margaritas at the new burger shop everybody.
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