# More than 73% of my patients have covid now **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [October 13, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839 "2020-10-13T01:23:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/41 "2020-10-15T02:44:04Z")
I like [this site](https://www.acronymfinder.com) when I need to sort out an unfamiliar acronym. It worked perfectly in this case - choose the “science and medicine” tab and Upper Respiratory Infection comes up as the first candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/42 "2020-10-15T12:35:07Z")
Didn’t read the whole thread. Sorry if my question was already covered. I’ve seen several articles lately which raise alarms concerning lingering effects of the Covid-19 virus. Here is the latest one: [https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/10/15/long-covid-may-affect-multiple-parts-of-body-and-mind-doctors-say/24651271/](https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/10/15/long-covid-may-affect-multiple-parts-of-body-and-mind-doctors-say/24651271/) My reading tells me that anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of Covid-19 cases result in long-term complications. What has been **Qadgop** ’s experience? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/43 "2020-10-15T13:10:38Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > What has been **Qadgop** ’s experience? Evolving. I’ve got guys who are 3-4 weeks out, still complaining of significant fatigue, pain, shortness of breath. But I’m busy differentiating who’s still sick but stable and who’s got complications needing treatment. Frontline stuff, no time to sit back and analyze the bigger picture. I only have time to chime in here because patient movement is episodic and slow, boom or bust, due to covid precautions. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/44 "2020-10-16T17:16:08Z")
[Rural Jails Reel as U.S. Coronavirus Cases Surpass 8 Million](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/us/rural-jails-coronavirus-mountain-west.html) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/45 "2020-10-16T21:44:45Z")
QtM, From the current vantage is there anything you wish had been done differently and of those wishes any that were realistic? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/46 "2020-10-16T22:59:47Z")
**DSeid** I wish our Republican state legislature and conservative state supreme court had not blocked all the efforts of our Democratic governor to restrict numbers of people allowed at public gatherings, restaurants, bars, and overturned his efforts to require people to wear face masks in public and in places of public accommodation. Common sense measures many of the blue states adapted which seemed to have helped some, until folks got complacent. I wish the rural areas where we draw most of our prison officers from were not filled with folks so quick to reject science and defy good orderly direction from those authorities in their scientific fields, hence bringing the virus into the prisons. So: Realistic, probably not. But I wish ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/47 "2020-10-16T23:23:35Z")
Any policies or practices within your specific institution that you, in retrospective analysis, would prefer a do-over on? Is it impossible to enforce compliance with workplace rules by prison employees even if they disagree with the rules? FWIW prison outbreaks have occurred in Blue states too. Riker’s Island, Cook County jail … and those before complacency. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/48 "2020-10-16T23:36:57Z")
1. Not really. We kept covid out for 6 months before it all fell apart, due to pretty aggressive isolation (and lots of luck!) But the CDC just finished their evaluation of our situation, so we’ll see what their report says. Prelim info stated that they recommended “patient education about covid precautions they should take, in addition to the measures already taken” or similar. Ignoring the fact that we had MASSIVE education by nursing and others in person with patients, about masks, hand washing, social distance, complete with CDC guidelines posted EVERYWHERE on their units, which got ignored. 1. We can (and did) enforce workplace rules at the workplace, but we can’t keep Corrections Officer Bob out of the local Friday Fish Fry on his off hours if he wants to go there. 2. Yeah, I have seen and followed those from the start. Virus is gonna go viral, honestly. That’s what they do. Which it did. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/49 "2020-10-17T00:37:18Z")
Thank you for the in the trench perspective and appreciation for the care you give. ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/50 "2020-10-17T02:32:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > - We can (and did) enforce workplace rules at the workplace, but we can’t keep Corrections Officer Bob out of the local Friday Fish Fry on his off hours if he wants to go there. > - Yeah, I have seen and followed those from the start. Virus is gonna go viral, honestly. That’s what they do. Which it did. Do you mean for points 2 and 3 to reconcile? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/51 "2020-10-17T13:32:31Z")
> [@SayTwo](#): > > Do you mean for points 2 and 3 to reconcile? Definitely NOT. Our goal has always been to slow the rate of infection down so our health care system would not be overburdened like it is now by so very many getting it at the same time. Local hospitals are overloaded, vents are in short supply, other critical equipment is too. Staff is burnt out beyond belief. The experts knew from the start that flatting the curve’s peak was truly the best we could hope for, and that’s been our goal from the start. We thought we were working miracles when we seemed to keep the virus out completely for so long, but that was just a bit of luck. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/52 "2020-10-17T13:44:47Z")
BTW, now over 75% of my patients have, or have had covid. We’ll be retesting the remaining 24+% next week. Hopefully we can succeed keeping the infection out of the remainder, especially the high risk remainder. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/53 "2020-10-17T14:09:12Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > - We can (and did) enforce workplace rules at the workplace, but we can’t keep Corrections Officer Bob out of the local Friday Fish Fry on his off hours if he wants to go there. > - Yeah, I have seen and followed those from the start. Virus is gonna go viral, honestly. That’s what they do. Which it did. So by keeping it out for 6 months, you didn’t flatten the curve, you just delayed the inevitable. State DOC should do like my employer, you get Covid but not from a workplace spread and you don’t get paid. I am quarantined now for 2 weeks on my dime for visiting with my father several hours before he died of Covid. OK one week is bereavement but the next will be unpaid. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/54 "2020-10-17T14:21:00Z")
> [@PoppaSan](#): > > So by keeping it out for 6 months, you didn’t flatten the curve, you just delayed the inevitable. That’s kinda the definition of flattening the curve. The area under the curve is the same, but the peak is flattened, spreading things out so that medical services aren’t overwhelmed, IIUIC. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/55 "2020-10-17T14:27:16Z")
God, this sounds horrible **Qadgop**. Best wishes to you and good thoughts for your efforts to protect your patients and coworkers. I hope you will see success from your efforts and that this wave of COVID will burn out soon. Stay safe and keep at it; I’m glad your patients have someone so dedicated and capable helping them out. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/56 "2020-10-17T18:11:07Z")
> [@PoppaSan](#): > > should do like my employer, you get Covid but not from a workplace spread and you don’t get paid. That sounds like an excellent way to incentivize folks coming to work sick. Which is really the wrong thing to do it the employer is trying to minimize the disruption to their operation. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/57 "2020-10-17T22:46:24Z")
> [@PoppaSan](#): > > State DOC should do like my employer, you get Covid but not from a workplace spread and you don’t get paid. A big problem with that is _ **how do you prove where you were infected?** _ In many states, you are automatically assumed to have been infected away from work, so if nurses, EMTs, police officers, and other front line workers need worker’s compensation or other benefits due to COVID-19, even _ **they** _ may have to hire an attorney and try to prove how they were infected in order to sue for their benefits. > **[Some workers sickened by COVID-19 face an extra challenge: Proving where they...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/some-workers-sickened-covid-19-face-extra-challenge-proving-where-n1235452)** > > Across the United States, workers face wildly varying rules about whether COVID-19 is covered as a workplace injury. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/58 "2020-10-18T10:54:56Z")
It also sure encourages people with mild exposure not to get tested. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/59 "2020-10-18T11:29:53Z")
Yeah. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is the _ideal_ way to handle infections during a pandemic. Not! What a friggin shit-show our country has turned into. At my employer, showing up sick or feverish is a get-sent-home offense. And expect to get a stern talking to from the Boss. It helps that everybody has full-bore company-paid health care, adequate company-paid sick leave and the company is smart enough to understand that once they get workplace spread going, it’ll snowball into a shutdown they can’t afford. Prevention people! It only takes an ounce. Sadly that seems too hard for many (most?) of us. Both “us” as citizens and “us” as governments. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839/60 "2020-10-18T11:47:34Z")
My employer rolled out a new “reason to take time off”, for quarantine or treatment of covid, that doesn’t count against your regular sick leave and other time off. That was before they sent everyone home. We are now 99.5% wfh. Yeah, the goal is that sick employees not infect other employees. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-73-of-my-patients-have-covid-now/922839.md?page=4)