Conservative Senator, This Citizen and San Angelo Mayor Concerned about Coronavirus

The Republican Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said the following on February 27th in a meeting with supporters:

"There's one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history.  It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic."

The United States is about ten days behind Italy where coronavirus cases have overwhelmed hospitals and taken out healthcare professionals.  I had elective cancer surgery Monday at Shannon Medical Center.  Had I been in Washington state or New York City my procedure would've been cancelled.

The evening of my surgery Shannon reduced visitation to one family member.  They set up visitor screening at the front door, asking visitors to complete a COVID-19 screening.

While there I kept the door to hall closed.  Outside my room I could hear people coughing and wondered if that was a yet to be diagnosed person, patient or staff.  I needed to walk as part of my recovery and decided loops at my end of the hall would provide the best protection.

My goal was to get home as soon as possible and needed to complete a checklist to do so.  One of those was coughing.

During my two day hospital stay the world changed dramatically. Mayor Gunther and City Council went from addressing the potential outbreak in public comment on 3-17-20 to a full blown press conference on 3-19-20.   The City has links to substantial resources on its website.

The City is following CDC guidelines and recommendations.  Yes, that's the same CDC that botched testing, one of many key strategies required to control a pandemic.

San Angelo Live reported:

At the end of Friday, March 20, the City of San Angelo Heath Department reported:

• 108 total tests taken
• 16 negative tests
• 92 tests are pending, awaiting the results from the lab

Today, a Shannon Medical Center spokeswoman said the labs are turning around the tests in about seven days.

On February 23rd, (nearly a month ago)

South Korea has raised its coronavirus alert to the "highest level" as confirmed case numbers keep rising.

President Moon Jae-in said the country faced "a grave turning point", and the next few days would be crucial in the battle to contain the outbreak. 

South Korea chose mass testing.  Our current seven day turnaround with 85% of test results not back falls well short of what is needed/required.

That means everyone has to do their part to protect themselves and their loved ones until the threat abates.  Listening to the call to help others during this time is encouraged.  Just do it safely.

May God's peace and love be upon you and remain with you.  In Christ's name we pray.  Amen