Cozumel COVID-19 updates

[ggunn]

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I don't know what the point of this is, except maybe to try to characterize COVID-19 as no big deal. The death count in and of itself is not a good absolute measure of comparison of severity; there are many different characteristics of these pandemics as well as different results. HIV, for example, killed a lot of people, but it was around for a long time killing people before anyone knew what it was, and keeping yourself from getting it, now that it is understood, is fairly easy. Another thing is that the total death toll for COVID-19 will not be known for a long time, possibly years from now; it could ultimately be much higher.

But the dangerous thing about this comparison, IMO, is that it could encourage people to ignore the anti-contagion measures presently in place, which could very well result in a ballooning of the death count and make the comparison itself incorrect.

 

[ReefHound]

The individual risk of dying from COVID-19 may be very low for the young and healthy, but the risk of spreading it to those in higher risk demographics if the young and healthy just go about their business as usual is extremely high.

Not if the higher risk demographics isolate themselves.

 

[ggunn]

Not if the higher risk demographics isolate themselves.

Right. Everyone under 60 goes out and has fun while the rest of us stay under house arrest for the rest of our lives. I've gotta say I don't much like the sound of that. Also, if the virus were to be given free reign isolation would be much harder to achieve.

Frankly, it is for me, personally, a nightmare scenario - much worse than what we have now.

 

[BRT]

Right. Everyone under 60 goes out and has fun while the rest of us stay under house arrest for the rest of our lives. I've gotta say I don't much like the sound of that.

If we get the infections down by "social distancing" how soon will you be free to go out and have fun?

On the other hand if we get 60% of the people go have it and be immune to it how soon can you go out and have fun?

 

[ggunn]

If we get the infections down by "social distancing" how soon will you be free to go out and have fun?

On the other hand if we get 60% of the people go have it and be immune to it how soon can you go out and have fun?

You may be onto something. How about this - immediate mandatory exposure to the virus for everyone under, say, 50 years old, while the rest of us hunker down and wait for it to pass? Give us all a month or two of supplies so we can stay completely isolated from the rest of you until it's blown over. Problem solved.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Has Sweden Found the Right Solution to the Coronavirus?
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/...economic-ruin/

 

[ReefHound]

Right. Everyone under 60 goes out and has fun while the rest of us stay under house arrest for the rest of our lives. I've gotta say I don't much like the sound of that. Also, if the virus were to be given free reign isolation would be much harder to achieve.

As opposed to everyone at every age stay under house arrest for the rest of our lives? Oh wait, there is work on treatments and vaccines. So no, it wouldn't be any longer for the over 60 than it will be anyway. And as the under 60 develop herd immunity, there would shortly be fewer carriers to expose the over 60.

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

Wow. You guys are just all over the place on this post.
I thought this was a Cozumel forum - so just went through 9 pages of stuff to see the same as any Facebook page with people arguing theories of treatment of COVID19 and various facts and assumptions. I thought the idea was to stay on topic to COVID19 as it relates to Cozumel and Quintana Roo.

As far as any updates I've seen here on this thread, IMHO Riviera Maya News is a really poor source. After living in Cozumel for almost 8 years (my anniversary coming in May), I can tell you that I almost always discount the news from this "source", or at the very least, I read it knowing full well that the full news and corrections will come from other news sources.
Cozumel Sun gives a good reader's digest version, she gets her news from the same places we do and is a good source of info since she's bi-lingual and a long time resident.

Through Facebook and WhatsApp we are getting regular daily updates from Pedro Joaquin D, (Pedro Joaquin Delbouis - Presidente Municipal de Cozumel.

Also, updates through the Secretaria de Salud de Quintana Roo (Secretary of Health for our state). Daily updates are listed through WhatsApp and Facebook.

In addition, you can go to the Secretaria de Salud de Quintana Roo website for up-to-date information on COVID-19.

Keep in mind that one of the news sources that everyone always jumps to is Por Esto! and as previously mentioned, Riviera Maya News. Although we get a few newsworthy articles, we pretty much always joke that "I read it in Por Esto so it must be true." Meaning we can usually count on the fact that there will be mistakes and inaccurate accounts. So do keep that in mind. Almost all news sources for us, especially coming in at this time, should be coming from the state health department and what are local physicians and nurses here in Cozumel are telling us first hand. It's way too easy right now to share inaccurate information and gossip.

I have also attached the reports from the State Department of Health as well as a copy of a previous report that I translated into English (in red) so you can understand what you are seeing and what municipalities are for which cities. For example, the municipal for Cancun is Benito Juárez. What's important here, is to keep in mind that the numbers only relate to only positive results for COVID-19. That means only those that were actually tested. There have been others that have been diagnosed with "atypical pneumonia" that were not tested for the coronavirus. At this point, people that are showing symptoms have a hotline to call (both state and local). They are asked not to go to the hospital unless their symptoms worsen and to self-quarantine and treat their symptoms accordingly. Of course, they have access to medical attention should their symptoms worsen. Even Costamed Hospital (CMC) has set up a call center and COVID-19 consultation area. They have also made this extremely affordable (about 300 pesos I was told).
Andrea Sekula is a RN nurse there and is also the International Patient Liason. She has been making regular updates in English and you can view them, as well. She has just put out a new update today.
You can go to their CostaMed's Facebook Page and see the video updates.
Costamed Grupo Médico

Hope this helps. I'll try to pop on here from time to time, but am keeping busy with updates locally and getting assistance out to some people that can't go to the pharmacy or get groceries. We have some personal runners that are volunteering their services.

If you have any questions about vetted charities on the island that you can help, feel free to send me a message and/or I can post here if that is permitted. I highly recommend helping out the food kitchen here Carita's, the Cozumel Humane Society (animal shelter), and Amigos de Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II (Cozumel's Nursing Home) which is a nonprofit, locally run home. Sadly, as with all emergencies and catastrophes, there are those that opportunistic and will take advantage of the situation here and we are already seeing that. Also, If you have a favorite dive maser or family you want to help support, there are very easy ways to send money directly to them through companies like Xoom. It's a flat $4.95 fee and you can send directly to them at Electra or even Oxxo. However, you MUST have their name spelled exactly as it appears on their voter ID. Very important or it will not reach them. My favorite is Electra who has BancoAzteca inside and it is open Monday-Sunday.

PS. As of yesterday, the mandatory curfew is now from 10pm until 5am. Liquor sales are now from 9am - 5pm.
Beaches are closed as well as all marine activities except the car and people ferries, which are running on minimal schedules at this point. Ultramar is only running 3x a day. WInjet is only running on odd-numbered days.
And STAY AT HOME repeatedly requested. Persons over the age of 60 are asked to stay at home. Some grocery stores are not allowing seniors to shop but will provide assistants to shop for you.
Upon entering both Chedraui and Mega/Sorianna, and other Sorianna locations they give you mandatory Antibacterial gel to enter. It is still amazing how many people are not wearing masks, but here, like everywhere, masks are not readily available. It's still very surprising to see the number of folks that are basically completely ignoring the requests from the health department and city officials. Screwing it up for everyone else. That seems to happen everywhere. ;-)

Muchas gracias!

 

[lexvil]

Sweden prepares for possible tighter coronavirus measures as deaths rise

 

[Saxonjd]

Isolating high risk individuals isn't practical. According to the CDC, the high risk groups are:

• Age 65+
• People with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma
• People who have serious heart conditions
• People who are immunocompromised
  • Many conditions can cause a person to be immunocompromised, including cancer treatment, smoking, bone marrow or organ transplantation, immune deficiencies, poorly controlled HIV or AIDS, and prolonged use of corticosteroids and other immune weakening medications
• People with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 40 or higher)
• People with diabetes
• People with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis
• People with liver disease

So what percent of the US population does this cover? According to the American Diabetes Association 10.5% of the US population has diabetes.

What if you look at chronic lung disease/serious heart conditions (lots of smokers and ex-smokers fall into this category) or those who are immunocompromised from cancer treatment? I think if we start to segment out what percent of the country would fit the high risk group (and some people will have more than one of the above), I'd guess we'd be looking at at least 25-30% of the US adult population?

So if we just isolate those people, then we'd also need to isolate those that live with them so those folks don't come home from work and infect them. I don't see how we can easily just isolate those in the high risk group only.

At the end of the day, and what we're seeing around the world, is the best tactic to slow the spread (flatten the curve) is social distancing, comprehensive testing, and patience. It's going to take time for the world to develop effective treatments and vaccines. I know this has been devastating on so many levels for so many folks, but there are no easy fixes for this.