Since working as a clinical laboratory scientist for more than 30 years, we always imagined we were prepared for moments like today with Covid19. It was constantly ingrained in us to wear our personal protective equipment. I can recall receiving some bad news that my coworker and myself was exposed to a specimen with Tuberculosis and were required to get tested. Can you imagine the stress or anxiety those words caused? We were fortunate that we were wearing our personal protective equipment. Over the last few month, many people were required to stay home, and businesses were shut down because of COVID19. After being home, many cannot pay utilities, rent, mortgage, and more. It is frightening because a person must think about feeding their families especially with the rise of cost of groceries. Of course, many are on the edge and are ready to mingle and work. However, the coronavirus is still out there lurking ready to infect someone. Currently, I reside in Texas.
Texas Hotspots
Date : 27.08.2020
As I scroll down the social media feeds, all I see are conspiracy theories and people saying they are not going to wear a mask. investigating the accessible datasets on July 11, 2020, the total cumulative positive cases were over 240,000 with 4.8% increase from the previous day.
Date : 27.08.2020
There are some disturbing disclosures of tremendous development of positive cases in Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tarrant, Travis, EL Paso Hidalgo, Galveston, and more counties in Texas.
Date : 27.08.2020
As more testing became available there has been an increase in positive cases. Around May, there was a mandatory stay at home was issued by the governor of the state of Texas. There was a slow growth because less people were moving around. After June, there is a major increase in positive cases. What happened to cause this shift? In June 2020, there were around 50,000 positive cases and over 200,000 around July 11,2020.
Date : 27.08.2020
In the figure, the death rate as of July was around 3037 and that is a 3.5% increase from the previous day.
Date : 27.08.2020
In the graph, there is an alarming increase in the death rate, but it too a dip in June. This graph shows a continuous increase unless some corrective action is put in place to fight the virus.
Date : 27.08.2020
There are numerous individuals including the clerk, medical assistant, nurse assistant, nurse, doctor, Xray technologist, phlebotomist, respiratory technologist, clinical laboratory scientists, housekeeping and a lot more people who are involved in the caretaking of the Covid patients that are risking their lives. Just yesterday while watching the news, I saw a Nurse who got infected with Covid and she was pregnant. She coded due lack of oxygen and she went into heart failure. They were able to spare her child, yet she is presently in recovery from a cerebrum injury because of the lack of oxygen that she experienced. When hearing about this story, this ought to be sufficient to make an individual wear a cover while in the public and wear it correctly without the nose hanging over the mask. So, let us come together to get our life back. Are you ready? Wear a mask. After all it can save a life including yours.