‘Post-Covid syndrome’ is raising concern among health experts

Millions of travelers ignore CDC’s guidance

Miami International Airport was busy Sunday, three days after the CDC pleaded for Americans to not travel for Thanksgiving.

“What is at stake is the increased chance of one of your loved ones becoming sick and then being hospitalized and dying around the holidays,” said Dr. Henry Walke, Covid-19 incident manager for the CDC.

Yet more than 1 million travelers passed through security at America’s airports on Sunday, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

That’s the second day since Friday that more than 1 million passengers traveled through airports.

“These people are infecting each other, and they’re going to infect the people that they’re having Thanksgiving with. And there will be consequences in terms of disease and death as a result of what you’re seeing today.”

Testing can be very helpful for finding positive cases, so the infected person knows to stay home and isolate.

People who recover still have ‘post-Covid syndrome,’ Fauci says

A percentage of people who recover from Covid-19 experience a set of symptoms — a post-Covid syndrome — that is raising concern, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Fauci was especially concerned for those who got seriously ill and were admitted into an ICU, even if it wasn’t for Covid-19.

“Anyone that goes through that is not going to feel perfectly normal for a considerable period of time,” Fauci said during a live video interview with The Washington Post national political reporter Robert Costa on Monday.

Health experts are finding anywhere from 20% to 30% of people who have had symptomatic disease “have what’s called a post-Covid syndrome,” Fauci said. The exact percentage isn’t known yet, but a larger cohort study is being done, he said.

“Namely, they no longer have virus in them, they can’t infect anybody, but it takes them anywhere from weeks to months — and maybe even beyond — to feel perfectly normal,” he said. “They have a constellation of symptoms and signs that seem to be consistent when you talk to different people.”

These symptoms can include extreme fatigue, shortness of breath — even among people who are athletes — temperature control problems, sleep disturbances and sometimes what is described as brain fog, or difficulty focusing or concentrating.

Fauci also told the Post he doesn’t necessarily agree with states like New York and California reviewing Covid-19 vaccine data separately for themselves.

“I can understand, though I don’t agree with they’re doing that,” Fauci told the Post. “I would hope that if they do that, they do it in an expeditious manner that doesn’t delay anything.”

States crack down after nationwide surge

Unlike previous surges that pummeled certain hot spots in the US, “Covid-19 is everywhere” now, emergency medicine physician Dr. Leana Wen said.

“It’s out of control. It’s running rampant in communities around the country,” she said Monday.

And the rate of new infections has consistently outpaced the rate of new testing, according to data from the Covid Tracking Project.

In Nevada, cases are rising at “wildfire level,” Gov. Steve Sisolak said. He announced new restrictions that will begin Tuesday, including a mask mandate indoors and outdoors, limiting private gatherings to 10 people or less and requiring restaurants seat no more than four people at each table.

In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper tightened mask requirements as the state adds 10 more counties to its “critical” list for Covid-19 spread, according to a news release from Cooper’s office. The new requirements make it clear that everyone needs to wear a mask whenever they are with someone who is not from the same household, the release said.

The new requirements will also add the mask requirement to several additional settings including any public indoor space even when maintaining 6 feet of distance, gyms even when exercising, all schools public and private and all public or private transportation when taveling with people outside of the household.

The new guidelines in North Carolina will go into effect Wednesday, and remain in place until December 11.

Brooklyn pier stores hundreds of dead bodies of Covid-19 victims

Many of the bodies are those whose families have not been located, or whose families cannot afford to pay for burial or funeral services, according to the WSJ article. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s office in New York confirmed the details of the Journal report to CNN.

“Supporting families and helping facilitate respectful final arrangements for individuals who passed at the height of the pandemic reflects the core mission of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner,” Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson said in a statement to CNN.

WSJ, citing the New York State Funeral Directors Association, reported that the average cost of funeral arrangements in New York is between $6,500 and $9,000. New York City only provides $1,700 in burial assistance to residents, an increase of $800 since May.

“Those who we lost, their families are still trying to determine the best way to provide services for them, and just have been struggling because of the pandemic challenges,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday. “We’re trying to work with each and every family of those we lost during that situation to make sure that they can have the kind of services they want at the right time.”

More good news on the vaccine front

Doctors say Americans won’t need to hunker down forever — just for the coming months, until vaccines help the country get closer to normal.

The US Food and Drug Administration set a December 10 meeting for the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee to discuss possible emergency use authorization, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn tweeted on Sunday.

“Measures that include wearing masks, frequent hand washing, maintaining physical distance and restricting the size of gatherings will remain crucial,” the Infectious Diseases Society of America said.

Reiner said he normally celebrates Thanksgiving with people from different households, but “we’re not doing that this year.”

“It’s just my family, hunkered down, because the stakes are simply too high,” he said.

With promising news about vaccines, “there is a bright light coming,” he said.

“But for now, we need to get to that point. So let’s stay safe. Let’s try and push the curve down a little bit. Protect our health care workers and protect each other, so that we can really have a great celebration next year.”