COVID-19 blindsided the world. It may have started out in China but has spread like wildfire all over the world. Since our immune systems have never faced off against such a strain before, herd immunity is rendered helpless.
The US, which only had a handful of cases starting March, now leads the world’s death toll with 18,700+ dead and counting. 226 of these deaths have been linked to Texas. As one of the hardest hit states in the US, more than 11,000 people in Texas have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, with new numbers coming in every week.
Health officials are scrambling to add more beds, ventilators, masks, gloves, and advanced PPE equipment. Meanwhile state leaders are pleading Texans to quarantine themselves in their homes. To bolster efforts for social distancing, schools across the state have been closed until May 4.
While medical professionals are conducting thousands of tests every day, it often takes longer than a week for Texans to get their results.
Beyond the ghastly death tolls and eerily empty streets, COVID-19 has turned the economy upside down. Hundreds of thousands of Texans are now without work and have filed for unemployment claims. Officials are dealing with an extreme overload because applications have flooded in. It could take weeks before applicants can get help.
For now, the Texas Department of State Health Services has outlined the following recommendations:
- Your doctor will help decide if you should get tested for COVID-19
- Individuals without health insurance can still get tested for COVID-19 if they get a doctor’s recommendation
- To get information about testing, simply reach out to your doctor or healthcare provider like you normally would. If you don’t have a doctor or medical care, call 2-1-1 and they will direct you to no-cost or cheap providers near you.
Number of Tests Being Performed in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott announced on March 16 that Texas can test around 10,000 people weekly. The state is receiving regular shipments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Furthermore, the Trump Administration announced that almost 2 million tests will be made available to some 2,000 commercial labs throughout the USA.
How Doctors are Coping
With potential vaccines having a projected timeline of at least 18 months from now, doctors in Texas are resorting to makeshift techniques to help patients recover from COVID-19. One such technique involves injecting plasma, rich in antibody, from patients who have made recoveries from the novel coronavirus into patients with more severe cases of COVID-19.
Doctors are analyzing the effectiveness of convalescent plasma because it has shown effectiveness with past epidemics and is fairly low risk. That being said, the jury is still out on whether this technique will prove effective against COVID-19. There are a few small scale studies in China which demonstrate the effectiveness of convalescent plasma transfusions.
If you require further advice on getting help, we suggest you book an appointment with a physician at Health One Family Medicine. Telemedicine appointments are also available.
Visit https://www.healthonemedicine.com or call 469-208-9770 for more information.