Covid-19: Is The Worst Behind Us?

News & Current Events Public News & Current Events
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This article in arstechnica pretty well lays out the case that there are only 2 options to figure out why the US has the worst SC2 record.
Option #1 The US government is grossly incompetent. The HHS budget is larger than the Pentagon budget. With all the resources at their disposal the CDC was not able to produce a decent test for well over a month. The complete lack of a sufficient supply of PPE .This set back efforts at containing the virus. This left us with one strategy, mitigation. We know how that turned out.
Corrective; Heads should roll. Fauci, Redfield, Trump, Pence and the rest of the political apparatchiks should be thrown under numerous buses. Clearly they lack the competence necessary to do their jobs.
Option #2 There was an intentional mishandling of the SC2 virus situation. This is one for conspiracy theories. Big Pharma stands to make the windfall of the century. Lending credence to this is the full court press to develop a vaccine rather than cost effective treatments. This position is buttressed by media coverage of poorly designed studies. The complete dismissal of any positive results for drugs such as HCQ and the scare mongering of the dangers of HCQ. The absolute lying , admitted to by Fauci in regards to masks. The intentional obfuscation on what went wrong with the tests. The possible intention of “culling” the herd of the weakest most dependent. This list is quite extensive and has been elucidated on these pages in great detail.
Corrective; See corrective above. Also add any measures as suitable punishment one might fantasize about.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/cdcs-failed-coronavirus-tests-were-tainted-with-coronavirus-feds-confirm/
Addendum; It just occurred to me there might be an option 2a. The strategy may have been to let it run through the population and burn itself out. It could be the appearance of mishandling was devised to hide the fact that the real strategy was one espoused by Boris Johnson and carried out in Sweden, allow herd immunity to develop.
 

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I wonder how you know what I factored in?

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Option one has far less impact.
The misinformation deliberately to protect the dollars is a much bigger issue.

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@JoyOnMaui As we have gone along, I have not been able to brush aside the vague notion that my life, my well-being is now dubiously being held hostage for the benefit of those who have clearly, knowingly or not, compromised their immune system due to their lifestyle choices.
Absolutely, and so many people don't notice/realize this. If we at least had decent people in charge, the totalitarian advances could be reversed, but in most places this is not the case (not even Trump is necessarily an exception as the MSM/DNC/DS still have a lot of control, as do pro-rioting Democrat cities and states).
I am so happy that you mentioned the nutrient deficient vegan types in particular, I have long felt that they likely lack the proteins (you speak of essential building blocks within the metaphor of constructing a house) necessary to fight a disease such as this one, and here I am, now suffering constraints on my personal liberty just because there are those with an insatiable need to virtue-signal themselves to be better humans because they abstain from eating animal protein. Never mind that they are seriously jeoparizing public health and shunning thousands of generations of elders who knew better, evolving this species to where we are today due to recognizing the benefit animal protein provides to the human organism. Some of the most unhealthy people I know take great pride in their being "vegan".
Yep, they tend to think it's only B12 they need to supplement with, but that's just in the short-term. Absorbable protein, saturated fat, and fat-soluble vitamins (A, E, K) are severely lacking in a vegan diet, as one can witness for oneself by observing the many vegan Youtubers who eventually got so sick they felt they truly had no choice but to try animal foods, and they all get better within a single day, even at the cost of losing much of their audience/subscribers. People feel great when adopting a vegan diet, if switching from a terrible diet like the SAD or even the average Western diet, but it only lasts for so long, as it's more like a prolonged fasting than a sustainable diet, for most humans still as of today. A few spiritually-advanced people are able to pull it off, as you start nourishing yourself less with external energy and more with prana and an increased ability to recycle your own energy (when very advanced this is known as breatharianism).  
@Base12 The evidence is mounting for Vitamin D deficiency being large causative factor in severity of Covid infections. Tbp, have you seen any of the studies this person refers to? https://orthomolecular.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&chash=b73ce398c39f506af761d2277d853a92.164&s=fefd45c21bc3a55252a9c7a67da2b16e
Oh yes, it seems the levels of 25-HO-D in blood directly correlate to disease severity, approximately like this: <20 ng/ml = likely death 20-30 ng/ml = severe, long-term damage 30-40 ng/ml = significant to somewhat severe symptoms, maybe months-long damage / slow recovery of such aspects as sense of smell and taste 40-60 ng/ml = asymptomatic (esp. if young) or near-asymptomatic 60-80 ng/ml = virus? what virus? edit: The highest level that study even contemplates is 100 nmol/L which is only 40 ng/ml, when the actual updated science says 60-80 ng/ml (150-200 nmol/L) is the optimal disease-fighting vitamin D level. And to reach these levels you need lots of sunshine on a daily basis, or 10000-40000 IU daily when correcting an existing deficiency (but 40000+ for weeks requires magnesium sufficiency otherwise you may get calcification effects). Taking only 5000 IU can take you months to reach healthy levels. Taking the RDA of 400-1000 IU (I think it is, depending on your local "health authorities") is hardly a maintenance dose, and does nothing to correct an existing deficiency.  
@Mohammed Mast Option #2 There was an intentional mishandling of the SC2 virus situation. This is one for conspiracy theories. Big Pharma stands to make the windfall of the century. Lending credence to this is the full court press to develop a vaccine rather than cost effective treatments. This position is buttressed by media coverage of poorly designed studies. The complete dismissal of any positive results for drugs such as HCQ and the scare mongering of the dangers of HCQ. The absolute lying , admitted to by Fauci in regards to masks. The intentional obfuscation on what went wrong with the tests. The possible intention of "culling" the herd of the weakest most dependent. This list is quite extensive and has been elucidated on these pages in great detail.
Everything, any idea you disagree with, can be labeled a conspiracy theory, and that's what criminals and NPCs do, ever since the CIA invented the term to discredit JFK assassination investigators. Trump is guilty of ignorance at the least. He should've done the research to known not to trust Fauci and Redfield. As Robert F. Kennedy Jr explains, the CDC is literally a vaccine company -- which seems to benefit/profit from a pandemic. As researcher Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai points out in this interview with Dr. Mercola, having 7 billion people on a vaccine schedule, at one thousand bucks per person, is 7 trillion dollars of recurring revenue, "a relatively good return on investment".  
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSB5Npa9Wck

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Well, the word is out on Vitamin D purportedly effecting Covid-19 severity. Several years ago, Life Extention, a supplement and testing company out of Florida, specializing in healthy aging, reported many seniors to have very low levels of vitamin D, many around 20 ng/ml.
Today, an email, contained a warning that in recent LE lab tests, many were showing up with too high levels of 25 hydroxy vitamin D, many 100-140 ng/ml.

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As of July 1, Wednesday, all Oregonians inside public places must wear masks. Governor Kate has tried to lead with a gentle hand. Not being a medical person, she has listened too closely to the confusing, flawed recommendations of the authorities. She has tried to appeal to the good sense and kindness of most people. Unfortunately, there are a lot of the other kinds of folks that need to be bopped upside the head with a 2X4. There is going to be kicking and screaming from my red side of the state. We are going into BOOM!! if this is not stopped, now. A church that refused to follow gathering restrictions is responsible for a cluster of nearly 250 cases in a small county, also food processors and large family gatherings.
We were lucky early on. Luck runs out. I think there was something in The New Testament, Satan vs Christ, “thou shall not tempt the Lord thy G*d.”
#patriotswearmasks
 
 
 

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Hi Chris,
I live in a suburb of outer Melbourne, Australia and work in community health. Melbourne and its wider suburban area has a population of just under 5 million, comparable in size to the greater Phoenix, Boston or San Francisco areas.
After enjoying a stable period of very few new daily cases and a gradual easing of strict lockdowns, our state of Victoria has experienced a rising rate of COVID-19 cases into double digits over the last couple of weeks. Many of these cases originate among those staying in hotel quarantine as well as some arising from large family/friend groups and cross contacts during the easing window.
Today, our Premier Daniel Andrews (US Governor equivalent) announced that targeted suburbs in ten (10) postcodes (zip codes) around Melbourne will be subject to a new four week lockdown period starting tomorrow, Weds 1 July. Most are in the western parts of the suburbs and many, though certainly not all, experience significant socio-economic disadvantage. Enforcement seems to be limited to fines rather than more draconian measures and Andrews does not plan to barricade these suburbs with police. Residents will still be able to leave their area for healthcare, essential needs like groceries, caregiving duties or if they are essential workers themselves. Schools have just started their usual two week holidays and will not be affected for the time being. Melbourne International Airport will close for two weeks.
I'm also a Texan ex-pat, having lived in Australia for more than half my life. I find it both fascinating and bewildering at times comparing the differences in approach between the two locales. For instance, Victoria does not require masks to be worn in public. We experienced a tightening of PPE availability in the early days of the crisis but except for N95 masks, no prolonged or dire scarcity. The N95 masks first became scarce in Dec/Jan, when bushfires tore through the landscape and when many people needed them in the disaster and recovery stages. Later, N95 masks were diverted to health workers and public dental clinics as a priority but are currently much more freely available. You can now find masks in many hardware stores and we have no difficulty sourcing them for my work at a public health agency. Most people do not wear masks in public here, although more wear them when using public transport (trams/trains/busses). I suspect that home-made fabric masks will become the norm here eventually, especially after repeat lockdown periods, but I can't imagine a politicisation of mask wearing like trumpeted in the US media.
Another difference that bears noting is the use of defence force personnel in assisting with crisis management. Premier Andrews has just confirmed that an additional 200 medical professionals he has arranged to work during this new lockdown will most likely come from the Australian Defence Force (ADF). He specifically noted that ADF personnel do not have law enforcement authority and will limit their work to door knock testing, contact tracing and relief at pop-up testing clinics.
Widespread COVID-19 testing and availability is available in Melbourne. My workplace, a community health agency, offers a wide variety of public dental, non-acute and allied health services but no GP or medical services. I live and work adjacent to a lockdown area but many of our patients live in a target zone. We were approached by the State government in April, to open a Respiratory Assessment Clinic (RAC). The clinic was set up within a week in late April as part of a state-wide testing blitz, one of dozens of similar sites. This RAC clinic is staffed by local hospital professionals, with the State government picking up the tab for testing and wages (paid straight to the hospital) and use of premises and logistics (paid to my agency). It averages 75 - 150 tests per day, is free to the public and immediately available to symptomatic people (including those with the slightest cold-like signs), those with exposure to a known/suspected case and essential workers. The worried well are encouraged to seek a free test from the hospital itself.
In the economic space, the Australian government has gone some way in supporting the general population to mitigate financial ruin through its JobKeeper and JobSeeker schemes, subsidising businesses to keep people employed and paying citizens while they search for work if they couldn't stay at their former job. These payments don't cover everyone and further work remains to fill the gaps. However, I'm pleased to see the government's general tendency towards pork barrelling and foolish waste has been kept to a minimum and some real relief is getting to people who need it the most.
Australia is very like the States in many ways; the people are amazing, the landscape is beautiful and there's a feeling of genuine community in many areas. And just like the States, the economy is taking a battering. Businesses are going under. People are losing jobs. Family violence is on the increase. Everyone is feeling stressed, isolated, lonely or fed-up.
Despite cynical tendencies towards politicians, I can recommend watching Premier Dan Andrews' latest announcement of the targeted lockdowns. He's not only a manager, he does some actual leading. SBS TV News Announcement and Statement from the Premier.
Like me, you're probably thinking that limiting lockdown restrictions to very specific geographic areas is just asking for non-compliance by a segment of the population. I think this may be an excellent chance to see a social experiment in action. How will this play out through the lens of social expectation and peer pressure, social and mainstream media, economic stress, feelings of injustice or boredom among residents? Will health authorities and society see a real or rapid decrease in cases? How difficult will it be to enforce? What does four weeks of restriction really accomplish if adjoining areas aren't locked down as well? How do you measure success or apply targeted lockdown to another population? We'll see in four weeks.
Good luck to my kindred PP'ers out there and thanks, Chris and Adam, for all you do. You truly make a difference.
Mr Pool
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https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020/06/29/China-approves-COVID-19-vaccine-for-military-use-as-it-enters-clinical-trials/9371593440563/

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Recall prior videos about the novel furin cleavege site on SARS Cov-2. Cathepsin-L is a protease that is involved in cleaving the viral S protein, one of the steps in viral infection of the cell.
CRISPER analysisby a grop of researchers (Yale and other insittutions) identified certain host genes in cultured African green monkey kidney cells that are involved in regulating SARS COv-2 infection. The researchers concluded that certain small molecule inhibitors of Cathepsin-L inhibited infection in cell culture (I’m not clear on what kind of cells were used here).
https://www.immunology.ox.ac.uk/covid-19/covid-19-immunology-literature-reviews/genome-wide-crispr-screen-reveals-host-genes-that-regulate-sars-cov-2-infection
A review by investigators at Brigham and Women’s in Boston suggests that FDA approved drugs that block Cathepsin-L may be useful as treatment. I think this is just based on their mechanisms of action, not clinical data.
They mention several drug classes including chloroquin (I think they mean to include its chemical relatives, like HCQ, as well), some antimicrobials, and interestingly, the red pigment, Astaxanthin, which is an antioxidant like Vitamin C.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163725820301157

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They are giving the vaccine to the military as they ENTER phase 3 trials. It almost sounds as though the dosing of the military personnel IS the phase 3 trial. It wouldn’t be the first time military recruits were used as guinea pigs (I mean test subjects). I feel badly for them but I hope it works!

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This week I was one of the COVID doctors in the hospital. Before I went on service, I had planned to share my experiences when I got home after my last shift. That didn’t happen because I was mentally and emotionally exhausted after being at the hospital for 15+ hours.

I am going to try to break things down so that the general public can understand, because I want everyone, not just my fellow healthcare workers, to be as scared as I am. This is going to be long, but hopefully will be worth the read for someone. For references purposes, I am a Hospitalist, which is sort of like your primary care doctor when you're in the hospital. We manage your chronic medical conditions and most of your acute issues in the hospital and consult specialists when we need additional help with complex decision making or a specialized procedure to be performed. We are also the primary point of contact for your nurse on most issues. I live in Arizona, the current COVID-19 hot spot. Arizona never really closed. Any level of closure that we obtained was the result of petitions with thousands of signatures from physicians. Despite pretty much being able to do anything you wanted to do except get your hair/nails done or eat out at a restaurant (carry out stayed open), people protested the state being closed. The state reopened immediately when criteria were put out to guide how and when states should reopen. To be clear, Arizona did not meet a single criteria for reopening. In addition, masks were not mandated. Governor Ducey avoided mandating masks and made it the responsibility of city Mayors to make any mandates. Mandatory masks were just implemented a few days ago. As you have almost certainly seen in the news, the rapid reopening without mandated masks has been catastrophic. In a couple of weeks we have gone from a few hundred cases per day to around 3,500 cases per day. A few weeks ago, I was working at the COVID-free hospital designated to be the primary elective surgery campus within the network. The past few days, our recently reopened COVID Unit has been near or completely full. I shared the patient's on the unit with one other hospitalist. Before I went on service this week, I read anything and everything I could to prepare myself to be the COVID doc. I was up to date on all of the latest recommendations. I was a little nervous, but felt like I was armed with the information that would allow me to help my patients. I quickly learned that there is no possible way to prepare for how to treat a COVID patient. There is no rhyme, reason, or pattern. There is no possible way to predict what will happen with your patient. In my sign out to the doc taking over for me today, I prefaced the individual patient sign outs with, "one slightly improving, one with less oxygen requirements but possible new liver failure developing, everyone else getting worse." I have never seen anything like this. None of us have. We have no idea what we are doing. We are sharing evidence from small studies that could help and utilizing treatments that we think and hope are helpful. Of course, we also thought hydroxychloroquine was helpful a couple of months ago. So, we're hopefully helping people, maybe hurting them, and trying our best. We are flipping people on their stomachs while wide awake on a machine pushing oxygen into their lungs to try and help; this is called the prone position, and it works, but you're stuck in that position for as long as we can keep you there. The longer the better. Anyone on supplemental oxygen is receiving dexamethasone based on the European study that came out last week. We were using Remdesivir, but a patient I admitted two days ago is the last one that will receive it from our current stockpile. Convalescent plasma from patients that had COVID, recovered, and donated plasma is being administered, but studies suggest that antibody concentration diminishes by up to 90% within 2-3 months, so who knows if that's even doing anything. I realized in the past two days that oxygen saturation numbers that you see on the machines are completely worthless in many COVID patients. So, the one thing we thought we knew, that COVID causes profound hypoxia, was true, but it's actually much worse than we thought. In order to figure out if you are hypoxic (low blood oxygen levels), a needle is stuck into an artery in your wrist as often as is needed. It hurts. A lot. I will have a needle stuck into your artery as often as I need to. I'm sorry, I know it hurts, but it's for your own good. In any other time, most of my patients would already be intubated on a ventilator. We are managing so many critically ill patients on regular hospital floors. If we sent everyone to the ICU that would normally be there based on their current status and put them all on ventilators, all resources would be depleted in a day. The patients I cared for the past few days were the most miserable, uncomfortable, terrified patients I have seen in the past four years. I sat with them while they cried because they are scared that they will get worse and get intubated and die without ever seeing their loved ones again. I can't comfort them by saying they'll get better soon, because I don't know that they will. All I can tell them is that we're doing everything we can and I really hope they improve. I held a patients hand while she cried and screamed, "oh my god, I'm going to die, aren't I? I'm dying" when I told her we couldn't give her more oxygen without intubating her and putting her on life support. I then tried to comfort her children over the phone after I informed them they were not allowed to come in to the hospital to be with her. They asked if someone could be there to comfort her if she is going to die. Many of my patients were young. Many have no underlying conditions that predispose them to a bad outcome, yet are one bad blood oxygen reading away from needing to be intubated. COVID does not care who you are. I am scared and you should be, too. All of that is to send the following message: Please, please, stay home if you can. If you need to go out, WEAR A MASK! Do not touch your face. Wash your hands and sanitize often. I can't promise you won't end up in the hospital with COVID even if you do all of these things, but I promise it's the best shot you've got. P.S. THANK YOU to all the amazing RNs, RTs, PCTs, Pharmacists, Pharmacy techs, lab techs, physical, occupational & speech therapists, social workers, case managers, environmental service workers, and everyone else that makes it possible to care for these patients in the best way we know how. You don't get enough credit. You all are the real MVPs. ______________________________________ ADDENDUM: To be clear, COVID-19 is caused by a virus. This is a PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS. It is not, never has been, and never will be a political issue. Politics have played a huge role in getting us into this mess, and it's time to cut them out. COVID doesn't discriminate, and it definitely doesn't care who you're going to vote for. When you see/hear/read anything related to COVID-19, pay attention to who is posting the information. If it is not coming from a medical professional, question your source. ______________________________________ ADDENDUM-2: I am so incredibly shocked at how widely this has been shared. Thank you all! Please continue to share! Since people are reading this, I would like to use this platform to ask you to PLEASE talk with your loved ones about your wishes. If you have an advance directive, please bring it with you if you are unfortunately in need of hospitalization. If you do not have an advance directive, it's time to get one. If we do not know what you would like to be done, we assume that the answer is everything. If your loved one or listed MPOA is unaware of your wishes, they will likely also err on the side of doing everything. Help them to make those very difficult decisions by making your wishes known. Do not wait until you are in the hospital, because it may be too late. Please look up what it means to be "full code" vs "DNR/DNI." Know what you would want done to you.
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By the time you get to the hospital it is too late for HCQ. It appears this doctor is unaware that HCQ and all antivirals need to be given early or they are useless. He either slept through that part of med school or believes the deeply flawed studies the media is blasting everywhere.
Basically either doctors are guilty of malpractice or are being forced into malpractice by the government. If you show up at a doctors office, urgent care, or ER with Covid symptoms you get tested and wait 24 hours. If it comes back positive you get sent home told to quarantine and if it gets worse you get into a hospital. This is standard of care mandated by the government. There is clinical evidence that HCQ works when administered early along with zinc.
An ECG should be administered to determine QTc interval. If it is 460 or below give HCQ. If it is between 460 and 500 give it but monitor it. If it is over 500 do not give HCQ.
I am not a doctor so how come I know this?
BECAUSE I AM ON MY FUCKING OWN

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Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on pulmonary function in early convalescence phase

More than half of the patients experienced a decrease in respiratory muscle strength. Approximately 29.8% of patients in our study were severe or critical, who had hypoxemia during hospitalization, requiring supplemental oxygen and bed rest, and prolonged bed rest might lead to muscle disorders. In addition, systemic use of corticosteroids might cause steroid myopathy. But when grouped by the administration of steroid, no statistical significance was found in respiratory muscle strength between the glucocorticoid group and the regular group. This result indicated that corticosteroid was not the main cause of respiratory muscle weakness. In fact, there was no difference on declining respiratory muscle strength between severe and non-severe groups. However, the direct effect of virus on respiratory muscles needs further research. In conclusion, impaired diffusing-capacity, respiratory muscle strength decrease, and lung imaging abnormalities were detected in more than half of the COVID-19 patients in early convalescence phase. Compared with non-severe cases, severe patients had a higher incidence of DLCO impairment and encountered more TLC decrease and 6MWD decline. Longer follow-up studies in COVID-19 patients should be performed to investigate the clinical outcome of recovered COVID-19 patients. https://respiratory-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12931-020-01429-6
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I have never seen anything like this. None of us have. We have no idea what we are doing. We are sharing evidence from small studies that could help and utilizing treatments that we think and hope are helpful. Of course, we also thought hydroxychloroquine was helpful a couple of months ago.
The fact that this Doc does not know HCQ does in fact work if given early enough is evidence of a crime against humanity. There exists an entity that literally wants what we hear being described in this post to happen... we need to rally against this enemy. You may not like Donald Trump.. I always kind of nod my head when people call him an asshole, or a narcissist... but you must realize that when it comes to this pandemic, and the potential role of Hydroxychloroquine, The enemy of Donald Trump is the enemy of you, and me, and especially our elderly parents. Let that sink in. Please.
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Hey Jim H,
Remember that msnrochny is a hospitalist who does not begin to see patient until they are admitted to the hospital–generally when their oxygenation is so bad that they must have supplemental O2 just to keep a SaO2 above 90% - 92%. They are middle to late stage when HCQ has diminishing returns.

As James Todaro posts:

(Though there was some benefit from later stage COVID treatment in hospitalized patients from HCQ when combined with Zinc in the NY Langone Hospital study…)

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This Doc should be pissed as hell that people are dying in the hospital when they could have a very strong chance of never getting there if they had the Zelenko cocktail early… that’s all I am saying. That he doesn’t know this, and in fact parrot’s the MSM propaganda, is very, very sad.

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in K :slight_smile:

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We’re fortunate to have many exceptionally gifted members and some that are probably indeterminate and well down the asymptote of the curve. If we’re going with Fahrenheit, well, it’s not looking good:

The average score on an IQ test is 100. These labels are often given for IQ scores:

  • 1 to 24: Profound mental disability
  • 25 to 39: Severe mental disability
  • 40 to 54: Moderate mental disability
  • 55 to 69: Mild mental disability
  • 70 to 84: Borderline mental disability
  • 85 to 114: Average intelligence
  • 115 to 129: Above average or bright
  • 130 to 144: Moderately gifted
  • 145 to 159: Highly gifted
  • 160 to 179: Exceptionally gifted
  • 180 and up: Profoundly gifted
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-genius-iq-score-2795585
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The View from the Second World
“Cuba nears total containment after 9 days without new diagnosed cases of CORVID19.”
Cuba’s experience with the pandemic is in total contrast with that of countries like the US where the response reflects its political disunity and a profit maximization medical system. With 30% more population than New York City, Cuba has had only 85 deaths from the disease, while New York has lost 17,000. Even if you contend that Cuban reporting is unreliable, the contrast is so stark that it cannot be ignored.
Cuba has several advantages in combating a pandemic: It is an island where it is relatively easy to close off all access (at the cost of loss of a major source of foreign currency, the tourist industry). It has a centralized command structure and the ability to mobilize or coerce its population. It has twice as many doctors per capita compared to any other country in the world. But most importantly, it has a well developed free public health care system refined by long experience combating hurricanes and viral tropical diseases.
When the US press happens to mention countries that are more successful in combating the pandemic (New Zealand) Cuba is never mentioned. After all Cuba is a Designated Enemy from which nothing good can ever arise.
From Reuters: June 8, 2020
HAVANA (Reuters) -" Reina Paula, a saleswoman at Havana’s La Epoca supermarket, said the same day that a worker tested positive for the coronavirus, local authorities sent the rest of the staff in a fleet of state vehicles to isolation facilities for testing.
Healthcare providers traced their relatives and sent them into quarantine, while state news outlets publicly appealed to anyone who had had close contact with them to come forward to prevent the virus from spreading.
“They followed the clinical steps like a Swiss clock,” said Paula, at home after recovering from the worst of COVID-19, the respiratory disease the novel coronavirus causes.
Those who tested positive were transferred to hospital, where they were given antivirals and immune system boosters, while the others were sent home to quarantine for two weeks.
Paula’s story illustrates the rigorous approach Cuba has taken to curb the coronavirus outbreak - helped by the Caribbean island nation’s preventive, universal and well-staffed healthcare system, centralization and use of coercion.
Doing so was politically vital for Cuba’s ruling Communist Party, which claims the country’s strong healthcare system as a key achievements, even as it has failed to deliver on the economy, partly due to a U.S. trade embargo.
New cases have dropped to less than 10 per day on average from a peak of around 50, and two thirds of the island is virus-free, according to official data.
Monday was the ninth consecutive day with no deaths from COVID-19, while the highly infectious disease continues to rage throughout the Americas.
“We could be shortly closing in on the tail end of the pandemic and entering the phase of recovery from COVID,” President Miguel Diaz-Canel said this weekend.
Like many countries, Cuba closed its borders and schools at the start of the outbreak and urged Cubans to practice social distancing, though that was complicated by large queues outside shops amid growing scarcity.
But Cuba swiftly made face masks obligatory and quarantined large numbers of people rather than just telling them to stay home.
Disobeying pandemic measures carried a fine or even a prison sentence. And the Cuban state has used its monopoly of traditional news media to broadcast trials for such offenses to set an example and educate citizens on the virus.
It has also sent tens of thousands of family doctors, nurses and medical students to homes nationwide daily to conduct screenings, underscoring a strength of the healthcare system, even as tight resources in recent decades have seen hospitals fall into disrepair and more frequent medicine shortages.
Cuba’s top epidemiologist, Francisco Duran, said early detection, hospitalization and the application of experimental treatments - many developed by the country’s own biotech sector - have helped reduce COVID-19’s fatality.
Cuba, with a population of 11 million, has reported 2,200 cases and 83 deaths. That translates to 0.73 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally, slightly above Costa Rica’s 0.20 per 100,000 but far below Brazil’s 17.4.
The success has won plaudits from citizens.
“Once more,” Havana resident Marina Rodriguez said, “our country has shown that despite its difficulties, it is always able to control an epidemic.”