The Biden administration’s answers on when life will get back to normal nationwide with COVID-19 are frustrating and ridiculous. This week, press secretary Jen Psaki, Vice President Kamala Harris, and even President Joe Biden made statements that conflict with one another or confuse the issues. Most of them had to do with when schools would reopen. The corporate media and these politicians don’t tell you that at least 65% of schools nationwide are open for in-person and hybrid learning.
President Biden had a rare moment of honesty in his recent town hall when he told a little girl who was scared of COVID-19 that children rarely get sick and almost never transmit the virus to adults. These facts are accurate and they present reason enough for every child to be back in school tomorrow, especially considering global and national data. The only obstacle is the teachers’ unions, which also happen to be large Democrat donors.
In other news, #DeathSantis is trending again on Twitter for no reason. Florida continues to perform well on COVID-19 statistics and economic indicators. New cases have fallen about 60% from the peak in early January. We are 12 days post-Super Bowl, which was certain to be a super-spreader event according to the media’s squawking and the endless pictures of maskless fans.
Unfortunately for the doomsayers, average daily cases in the county where the Super Bowl took place have fallen in the last seven days. The average symptom onset with COVID-19 is five days, and almost all patients experience symptoms by day 12. Day 14 is an outlier. Without a significant surge in the last seven days in and around Tampa, it will be tough to tie new cases to the football game.
There is also good news on an inexpensive and effective medication out of Japan. At the end of January, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced that it would begin a clinical trial on the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin in COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms. This study will add to the 41 studies to date globally that strongly indicate ivermectin is effective when used early and outpatient.
In the meantime, the Tokyo Medical Association has petitioned the government to approve the use of ivermectin and the steroid dexamethasone for use in early COVID-19. According to Chairman Haruo Ozaki, these drugs can be administered by a primary care doctor and carry few side effects. He cited the studies conducted in other nations as evidence that the drugs effectively prevent the progression of symptoms in COVID-19 and he said doctors should have permission to use them on an emergency-use basis. It would be great if our CDC and FDA did the same. However, the decision has to go through the NIH first, and it looks like that agency blew off Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R–Wisc.) inquiry.
The Mayo Clinic is reporting that there may be a link between COVID-19 and new-onset diabetes:
Preliminary studies found that more than 14% of patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19 and recovered also were newly diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. It’s something that medical experts are watching closely.
Researchers are evaluating whether COVID-19 hastens the development of Type 2 diabetes in those predisposed to it. Type 1 diabetes development is theorized to be an autoimmune response that may occur as a result of an overreaction of the immune system, called a cytokine storm. Dr. Yogish Kudva, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist whose clinical focus is diabetes, says that current diabetics should work diligently to control blood sugar and weight during the pandemic and quickly seek care if they feel ill. Early treatment may help prevent the progression to a more severe illness that is more common in diabetic patients.
Monoclonal antibody treatment is demonstrating good results and has been authorized by the FDA for patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last ten days, so long as they are 12 years of age or older and are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization. This also includes people who are 65 years of age or older or who have certain chronic medical conditions. To get detailed information about qualifications for treatment you can visit the HHS website. The HHS is also providing a locator where you may enter your zip code to find the nearest infusion center. Medical personnel must give this treatment intravenously.
