Coronavirus at Yale Hospitals

A story inside the April 22 edition of the CT Post bore the following headline: "More than 600 Yale New Haven Hospital workers have virus." The story quoted a senior vice president for public affairs who “said that about 1000 employees, at a peak time, were out of work because of the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic, with 603 having tested positive.” Yale New Haven Hospital has about 27000 employees. 

So far about 1000 coronavirus cases have been treated at the five hospitals that make up the Yale system. The majority have gotten well enough to be sent home or to another facility. A total of 185 have died. However, the story failed to mention if any of the 603 staff members who tested positive have died. 

Since the story did not mention it, I assume that none of the 603 staff members have died. Apparently, the great majority had symptoms and just stayed at home until they got better and returned to work. Although the news story did not mention what happened to these staffers, I guess when they returned to work, they would no longer have been able to infect anyone. 

Why not follow Yale’s example? The hospital was as contagious a work place as can be imagined and 603 staffers became infected, but none died. Isn’t it time to let other workers return to jobs where there is much less risk of infection?

What good will more testing do? By the time most people get the results of the tests, they will already have recovered from the symptoms. A Yale official stated that they are testing less because there are fewer people with symptoms. All five of their hospitals now have beds available.

Of course, we know that Senior citizens and those with high risk conditions like hypertension, diabetes and immune system disorders are particularly vulnerable in the same way that they are to the flu. I am age 80 and although in reasonably good health, I can understand the need for people like me to stay at home and avoid unnecessary contact. 

For the others, the young and the healthy, it is time to let them go and resume their normal lives. Doctors have pointed out that the have found ways to mitigate the effects of the Coronavirus. For most people staying in bed for a couple of days and letting their immune system do its job will be enough. For more severe cases, doctors in the field have been using the combination of Plaquinil and Z-Pac and it seems to be working. Some doctors even take it themselves as a precaution. Another article in the Ct Post indicated that it is now the protocol in Bridgeport Hospital.

Governor Lamont, let your people go! Let them go back to work. Let them go back to school. Let them go back to church. Let them go to the barber shop and beauty salon. Let them go the parks and beaches and get the much needed sunlight that not only strengthens their immune system, but also creates a very hostile environment for the coronavirus itself. 

Speaking of sunlight, The Weekly Bystander reported on its importance a month ago. Back then my scientific advisor claimed that as the days grew longer, elements in sunlight would impede the spread of the virus.* Just last week Bill Bryan, an official with the Homeland Security Agency, made a presentation at President Trump’s press conference that offered startling proof. The study indicated that the combination of sunlight, increased temperatures, and higher humidity would be lethal to the virus. He argued that it was vitally important for people to take their activities outside. Here is a link to these very important findings, or just view the short video below.**

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* In the last seven days the percentage increase in the number of cases and deaths has declined dramatically in the USA. In the week ending on March 31, the number of cases increased by 198% and deaths by 305%. In the week ending April 28, the number of cases increased by 20%, and deaths by 25%.

** I think that President Trump in his immediate remarks failed to properly address the main points of Mr. Bryan's presentation, and that his ill-conceived questions created an unnecessary furor that should not detract from the findings of the Homeland Security study.

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