Cases in the US continue to climb as do the deaths. What is good about therapy for COVID-19 is clarity. Not that we have it completely, but we are getting through the first haze. For the vast majority of outpatient infections, you don’t need to do anything. Hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug that causes nightmares, is unnecessary. Antibiotics, such as azithromycin which can cause subtle changes in cardiac rhythm is not better than placebo. So good to know. If one gets infected: lay low, take some Tylenol or Ibuprofen, and chillax for 2 weeks.

If one is sick enough to warrant hospitalization, it is of extreme comfort to know that there is evidenced-based data for some of the treatment. Biologic therapy which targets immune response molecules Remdesivir might be effective. The idea is that when a person gets so sick to warrant intubation and mechanical ventilation, it might not be an overwhelming viral infection, but rather an exuberant human immune response to the infection that it is the culprit of such dire pulmonary compromise. So by mitigating the immune response, we may be able to save lives. That would be really cool.

Again due to the immune response, steroids may be helpful. What we’ve learned is that they are but if they are timed appropriately. You don’t hit everyone at the door with the welcome mat and a dose of steroids. You wait. And if they progress, then you hit ’em with the roids! Learning the timing in this short period of time is genius.

Thirdly, we are learning how to use blood thinners. Some patients who are sick enough to be admitted to the hospital with the virus are also prone to forming blood clots in the calf (deep venous thrombosis) which can dislodge and go to the lungs (which we need to breathe) and cause death (pulmonary embolus).

Finally, we are learning that convalescent serum from patients recovered from the virus has shown benefit in small trials and it is warranted to study this form of therapy further.

So from mid-March when this thing hit us full on in the face here in Austin until mid-July to learn this information with some degree of believability is a testament to our resilience. How we are going to overcome this thing. The death rate percentages which may be improving may not be solely due to younger people being infected who have less mortality rate, but it may be due to the front line doctors and health care providers who are busting their kaboodies to make sure they translate these findings to the bedside and allow our loved ones to survive.

But we HAVE to do our part. We need to wear masks in public areas, we need to be vigilant about handwashing, we should keep physical distance from people who’s exposure risk is unknown to you.

Let’s do this! Together!