Coronavirus in DFW - News & Discussion (Dallas, Fort Worth: apartment, statistics)

[CDContribuitor]

Just talked to Dallas County Health and Human Services Coronavirus Hotline. Following is what I was told for anybody showing symptoms to do (Disclaimer: I do not know if this guidance below is a standard guidance. It may very well be a different guidance, if somebody else calls. I would request somebody else to call to validate guidance below that I received):


- Call your Primary Care Physician and explain your symptoms -- Fever higher than 100.4, cold, cough or shortness of breath. Your PCP will guide you as to where you can go and get tested.


- If you do not have health care coverage, you need to call Emergency care department of a hospital and explain your symptoms and ask for guidance on where to go. People who need help finding doctors can call 2-1-1 to find low- or no-cost providers in their area.


The below article "what we know about Coronavirus testing in Texas' is a little dated. (2 days ago seems like a month ago):
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/03...testing-Texas/

[Angie682]

Originally Posted by MovingtoDFW

Maybe this has been covered already but how does one get tested for Covid in DFW if there is concern about symptoms? Heard about Parkland drive-in but on their website they say it is only for existing Parkland patients! All DFW hospitals have a lot of info on their web-pages about symptoms, social distancing, etc but none about something as basic as how to get tested at their hospitals

If anyone is aware of how this works, would appreciate details. TIA!

Let us know how it goes? My understanding is getting tested is extremely difficult in Texas unless you are showing extreme symptoms and require hospitalization. The State is conserving those tests for those that are critical, first responders, etc.

I have an elderly family member who has had symptoms for a week and is immunosuppressed and can't get a test.

[NDGRAD07]

Originally Posted by MovingtoDFW

Maybe this has been covered already but how does one get tested for Covid in DFW if there is concern about symptoms? Heard about Parkland drive-in but on their website they say it is only for existing Parkland patients! All DFW hospitals have a lot of info on their web-pages about symptoms, social distancing, etc but none about something as basic as how to get tested at their hospitals

If anyone is aware of how this works, would appreciate details. TIA!

The Baylor Scott and White urgent care on lovers also has drive up testing but I believe you have to have a Baylor doctor order the test - and even then, you may not get tested. The Parkland one is only for Parkland patients or first responders/healthcare workers. They are hoping to set up another drive thru testing site at the AA center but I don’t know when that will be open.

[PriscillaVanilla]

If there are 323 confirmed cases of Corona in Texas so far, how many actual cases are there? Three times that many? Or even more than three times? Because not everyone can get tested yet. So I wonder just how prevalent the virus is right now.

[Angie682]

Originally Posted by PriscillaVanilla

If there are 323 confirmed cases of Corona in Texas so far, how many actual cases are there? Three times that many? Or even more than three times? Because not everyone can get tested yet. So I wonder just how prevalent the virus is right now.

Personally I think Texas is going to be hit very hard by this. We have one of the highest rates of uninsured people in the country, lack of testing,, people not taking it seriously.

They have not even tested all of the people at the retirement home where the man died in Arlington -- not even his wife.

We'll find out in a month or so if this was just a panic.

[platon20]

Originally Posted by Angie682

Let us know how it goes? My understanding is getting tested is extremely difficult in Texas unless you are showing extreme symptoms and require hospitalization. The State is conserving those tests for those that are critical, first responders, etc.

I have an elderly family member who has had symptoms for a week and is immunosuppressed and can't get a test.

It's getting slightly better but still a lot of obstacles out there.

Magnolia and Diatherix are private labs in the DFW area that now offer COVID testing.

There's 3 catches:

1. Cost for private insurance is around $300
2. Results of tests may take up to 7-10 days to get back
3. You have to get it done at a clinic and have them send the swab to the lab

Trump is going to sign a law mandating that private insurance pay for COVID testing. So there's a chance you will get reimbursed by your insurance company at some point, but that may be 6 months later. You would have to pay up front and hope that this new law goes thru.

[calgirlinnc]

Originally Posted by Angie682

Personally I think Texas is going to be hit very hard by this. We have one of the highest rates of uninsured people in the country, lack of testing,, people not taking it seriously.

They have not even tested all of the people at the retirement home where the man died in Arlingtin -- not even his wife.

We'll find out in a month or so if this was just a panic.

I hope this doesn't get deleted because it is "speculation." I have read in multiple places that the virus cannot survive at temperatures above 86 degrees F. We are days away from consistent temperatures above 86 during the day. I wonder if our hot weather might be our saving grace.

[tcualum]

Originally Posted by PriscillaVanilla

That's why some bosses & business owners refuse to go in to work, but force everyone else at the company to work.

My husband is struggling with this issue. He feels guilty about working from home but making others go into work to do the manufacturing but the fact is, if he and his business partner get too sick to work then the business is finished and they are all out of work. Currently, he and his partner are going in but I'm trying to convince them to stop. Right now they are taking as many precautions as they can. They are having whoever is able to work from home do so and taking extra precautions for those still in the office such as moving the work stations as far apart as possible, cleaning/disinfecting often and making everyone bring in their lunch instead of going out. They are also going to try to work out a staggered shift schedule. The fact is that they are within a rock and a hard place. They don't want to risk everyone's health but if they close down then they can't afford to pay wages for very long.

They're in O&G and, surprisingly enough, they're getting slammed for orders from China of all places.

[PriscillaVanilla]

Cases in Texas have jumped just over a few hours, up to 394. Earlier today was around 330.

[yjc281]

Let me get back to the original scope of DFW slightly but still cover the out of topic discussion a bit.

On DFW situation:

I found Collin County provides slightly more details than Dallas.
I'm not saying who is right or wrong just want to show the differences:
Also Dallas City and County present the data in different ways.

Collin County:
https://www.collincountytx.gov/healt...ages/news.aspx

Dallas County:
https://www.dallascounty.org/departm...oronavirus.php
(Less details, but they do attach a PDF file with statistics for more info)

Dallas City:
https://dallascityhall.com/Pages/Corona-Virus.aspx

Personally, I would like to see governments provide more details and do like what the Taiwan government is doing:

Provide daily Wu-virus updates 7 days a week. (seems to me the Fed is copying this one to some extent, but not anywhere close to the level of details) Report new cases daily, including source of infection, travel history, and number of people that might have been in contact with them and potentially impacted areas.

Track down the source of infection as much as possible and try to quarantine potentially infected for 14 days

Perform tests on all cases tested negative for flu but with flu-like symptoms, and do it retrospectively
(this may be hard to do due to HIPAA...)

There is no massive shutdown in Taiwan other than banning flights to/from certain affected regions.

Recommend everyone to wear a mask but only when going out to highly populated areas.
(This helps reduce the spreading, since no one can be 100% certain given the 2 weeks incubation)

So far the strategy seems to have been working for Taiwan though they start to have more imported cases due to people traveling or returning from international travels.

Nevertheless the Taiwan approach seems to have kept the situation under control and avoided complete shutdowns. The daily briefings also help calm down the panic to some extent and restore confidence.

I do not think the economy can survive if we keep the shutdown for more than 2 months. There has to be a balance between protecting the old and weak and protecting the economy. If the economy tanks deaths from other causes may go up....offsetting the benefit of lower number of mostly elderly deaths from the virus...