As new infections from COVID-19 hit record highs across the United States – totaling more than 140,000 in just one day on November 11, 2020, and deaths due to COVID exceeding 165,000, according to the John Hopkins University – hospitals are reaching their capacities.
According to the report of the Commonwealth Fund, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected Americans and, in particular, Blacks and Latinos, concluding:
Contributing to these poorer outcomes is the far greater likelihood Black and Latino Americans live in poverty and reside in neighborhoods with overcrowded households, air pollution, and inadequate access to health care. Beyond its toll on physical health, the pandemic has pushed the U.S. into an economic recession, which typically impacts already disadvantaged people more severely than the rest of society.
If you or a loved one contracts COVID, the CDC has found that 15% will die (or 3 in 20 patients). Of the 85% who survive (17 out of 20 patients) and are discharged from hospital, the journey to full recovery may only be just starting. In a recent study researchers at Trinity College Dublin found that more than half of recovering patients reported lingering fatigue and concluded:
A lengthy post-infection fatigue burden will impair quality of life and will have significant impact on individuals, employers and healthcare systems.
As Hallie Christine Prescott MD, MSC (Associate Professor, Michigan Medicine) cautions:
“With the virus itself causing severe illness, combined with the challenges of delivering healthcare [for these patients] means that issues after severe COVID-19 may be multiplied, and the time to recovery longer.”
Moreover, the CDC has found that among the 85% who are initially discharged, about one in ten (9%) will be readmitted to the same hospital within 2 months, with readmissions most likely to occur among patients discharged to a skilled nursing facility (15%) or those needing home health care (12%) than among patients discharged to home or self-care (7%).
Unfortunately, for patients with COVID-19, being discharged from the hospital may just be the beginning.
Hello everyone. Thanks for keeping us posted. I want to add a few words from myself. Guys, Please don’t be foolish. It is a fact the number of about 1200 people dying in the USA a day. The only way to overcome this situation is to keep a social distance and wearing a mask. If you maintain this condition, even if it is only for a month, all Americans together, the number will decrease surely. It is time for the US citizens’ spirit for the public. So let’s be prudent and don’t make things worse so let’s be prudent and don’t make things worse