When I woke up Friday morning and checked my phone, there was a notification asking me to join Connecticut’s new COVID-19 contact tracking app.  I installed it right away.  The app tracks my proximity to other people using the app.  If I test positive, a contact tracer will ask if I will share my close […]

I am on my knees, wearing a yellow decontamination gown that has already torn at the right forearm and left wrist. I listen to rhonchi in the lungs of an obese febrile man, who likely aspirated on the brown emesis he threw up on himself. The apartment is dim, and smells heavily of cigarettes and […]

Our hospital has banned bandanas, gaiters and masks with exhalation valves from their universal masking requirements.    This includes all visitors to the hospital, who will be given a surgical mask on entry if their mask does not meet the new requirements.  Additionally staff can only wear homemade masks if they are covering surgical masks. […]

You can wear a mask and still get COVID.  The mask is not fool-proof, but masks can reduce the viral load you are exposed to.  With a smaller viral load, you may get COVID, but it is likely to be much milder than if you got a full blast of the virus. A new commentary […]

There was a spike in COVID cases a week ago in Danbury, a city in western Connecticut near the New York border.  The state and city responded by urging residents to stay home and avoid large gatherings.  The city also canceled all youth sports for the fall to not leave their homes.  They also limit […]

“Rebound!  Get under the boards!  Use your butt! And rebound!” I am next to the father of a girl on the team playing my daughter’s team.  He is wearing a mask, but it is under his chin and as he shouts at his poor daughter, I can see the spittle flying from his mouth.  The […]

I participated in a research project this week, testing a home COVID antibody test. I had to do it while being watched via a zoom link by a study monitor, as well as answering a series of questions about the test. Here’s how it went. The package came in the mail. After opening it, I […]

Connecticut continues to have low rates of COVID-19.  Our state only has 56 patients in the entire state hospitalized with COVID, we are averaging only 2.2 new cases of COVID per day per 100,000 people.  Our testing rate is 0.8 % positive for a rolling ten day average, 0.6% over the last three days.  Our […]

Every year on the 4th of July we have a big party at my house. My brother and his family come up from New Jersey. I grill steaks, ribs, burgers, fries, chicken, and also cook fish, scallops, shrimp and sometimes lobster, as well as corn, zucchini, and mashed potatoes. “The tribe,” as my wife calls […]

I just had my second COVID-19 test.  This was part of a study of health care workers at my hospital to see how many front line providers might be infected.  It comes a little late as infections are way down here in Connecticut.  Our positive testing rate (not infection rate) is less than 1% and […]