Medina County Health Unit director warned that the county is adding about 30 known covid cases every day, now up to 166. The sharp spike in local cases began with Halloween activities and only got worse with Thanksgiving gatherings.
As Christmas approaches and we celebrate with our loved ones, please take into consideration the words of those families who are “living the reality of covid” with family members alone in the ICU or who have passed away. We are so happy to report on the amazing local doctor who has treated 1,000+ patients using high dose melatonin, and had such excellent results for so many community members, but the doctor himself will remind the community to keep wearing your masks and taking the necessary precautions:
“There is going to be a lot more virus in the droplets of a cough or sneeze than there is in the air, so any mask is going to help by filtering a lot of those droplets,” Dr. Neel said in a previous interview. “How well it works is going to depend on the number of layers and the weave of the cloth.”
That being said, “I would still recommend surgical masks over a cloth mask,” Dr. Neel said. “A surgical mask has a little piece of metal at the top that you can bend over the contour of your nose. If worn correctly, that also helps keep the mask in place instead of slipping around like most of the cloth masks do.”
“People don’t realize that a lot of how sick you get, depends on how much virus you get in your body—it’s called the ‘viral load.’ That’s why I always say—‘Not everyone at the picnic gets sick.’ Look at a loaf of moldy bread for example, some of the bread has more mold on it than other parts.”
At the current rate of infection, the phone calls are coming in faster than Neel and his staff can answer.
“I am certainly swamped with this third wave of Covid cases. My phone is nonstop, seems like 10 calls every minute on top of the patients sitting here waiting to be seen in the clinic. I just had four more positives this morning. I am still seeing more of the upper respiratory symptoms, and less GI issues with this wave,” Neel said. “I was talking to some SA area hospital doctors and they did tell me they were getting concerned about seeing more young people being hospitalized. We aren’t sure if that’s just because there has been a larger number of young people in their 20’s who are catching the virus or if it’s hitting them harder.”
“One other odd thing I am seeing is many people who have Covid, but they are not running fevers, while they are still having the other symptoms,” Dr. Neel said.
“I want to remind patients that the melatonin works much better if it’s taken in the beginning, rather than waiting several days for symptoms to progress first. I cannot tell you how many times covid patients have told me ‘I thought it was just allergies,'” Dr. Neel said. “Famous last words.”
“Some patients, especially the older patients are still having a hard time, taking longer to recover, especially those that started the melatonin late,” Dr. Neel adds.
Dr. Neel said he has started to see a few flu cases locally as well.
“We’ve just seen a few flu cases, which is normal for us this time of year. Historically, we see a majority of the flu cases later after Christmas. Of those I have seen mostly type B, whereas we normally see more type A.”
What does “recovered” really mean?
We also remind readers that the people in the RECOVERED category reported by counties, cities and states are not necessarily “recovered” in the common sense of the word. Every person is transferred into the Recovered category after 14 days unless a death has been noted, but sometimes even that takes weeks or months to update.
Trish Mechler, Medina County Health Unit Director, stated:
“After Halloween, cases started going up and before Thanksgiving holiday (from 11/20 to 11/23), the daily active case count doubled. Since 11/23, we have averaged about 30 new cases per day. As active cases are added, there are cases that are also recovered. This is reflected in our daily case report. The active case count may not increase significantly due to those recovering simultaneously. Active cases on the daily report are individuals tested within the last 14 days.”
“More awareness needs to be shared about wearing masks outside of your household, especially when distancing cannot be maintained. I have heard many say that masks are not effective. Store bought or homemade masks (preferably double lined) are made of many fibers that can catch droplets. If you are not wearing it properly or not wearing as recommended, then yes, it won’t be effective. With more known cases, there will be more unknown cases as well, including those with very mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. Just because a person doesn’t look sick, you may be led to think you are okay to be around them without wearing a mask. Now is the time to be extra cautious and limit your exposures. There is an expected increase in cases during the Christmas holiday, so be cautious and consider whether or not you want to attend the Christmas parties.”
Regarding Quarantine Options, Mechler added the following clarification:
“The CDC recently put out options regarding quarantine. It can be confusing. The options are not for those who have COVID 19 but are for close contacts. These are not changes to the recommendations which are still a 14 day quarantine being the best and safest thing to do. However, for those that cannot do a 14 day quarantine which carries a median transmission risk of 0.1%, there are options that pose a small but increased risk. There is a 10 day quarantine option (median risk 1.4%) with no test needed.
Additionally, there is a 7 day quarantine option (median risk between 4-5.5%) with a test required no sooner than day 5 after exposure. If the test is negative, then quarantine should continue through day 7 day for this option. With all options, those who are close contacts to someone with COVID 19 should monitor themselves for 14 days and wear masks even if they choose a shorter quarantine period. Happy Holidays and hope everyone stays safe and close to home. “