More than 7,400 patients likely caught the coronavirus while seeking care for other conditions in U.S. hospitals between mid-May and mid-July, data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided The Wall Street Journal shows.The data, reported by half of U.S. hospitals to the CDC...
news.yahoo.com
I knew it!
Risk of not seeking care is larger than risk of coronavirus in early infections when you don't have flare ups (such as NYC/NJ in the spring, Texas/Florida in early summer). Texas during lock down had a larger percentage of chronic disease deaths (ACS/DM2, etc) as a share of excess deaths than coronavirus. But that doesn't hold true during flare ups like NYC and then Texas in the summer.
In Texas, to reopen elective procedures, Governor had hospitals sign agreements stating they had so much PPE and protocols on hand that they will not request government help. This in response to the large PPE shortages. This is obviously a bad incentive. Hospitals can just say yes, get opened for elective, and then let it ride. You can't stay closed, but there was no support or apparatus from government assistance for [from your article]:
control viral spread with the right tactics like testing every patient on arrival and requiring everyone who is able to wear masks to do so
Just one more buck passing to the lowest level. And as you know, what does the hospital admin do? Blame the agency nurse if she/he gets sick. Must have not worn your PPE well enough. All while reusing gowns and eye protection, etc.
Every single plan comes back to data and need for larger more consistent testing to isolate the infected. And here we are going into flu season just as bad as we were in May.