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Wisconsin Senator Jacque with COVID on ventilator
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| Wisconsin Sen. André Jacques |
MADISON, Wis. - A Republican state senator from Wisconsin who opposed mask and vaccine mandates and then developed pneumonia after testing positive for COVID-19 was in stable condition Wednesday after being placed on a ventilator, his spokesman said.
State Sen. Andre Jacque, 40, tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month and was hospitalized Aug. 16. He was placed on a ventilator Monday night, spokesman Matt Tompach said in providing the first update on his condition in a week.
"Sen. Jacque was intubated and placed on a ventilator Monday evening," Tompach said. "While his condition is currently stable, the days and weeks ahead will continue to be an incredibly stressful and difficult time for Sen. Jacque’s family."
He said that future updates would be provided as necessary.
Placing COVID-19 patients on a ventilator is often the last option of treatment when a patient is struggling to breathe. Some patients who are placed on ventilators do recover.
Jacque said Aug. 16 that he had tested positive the previous week after testifying at a packed committee hearing while not wearing a mask. Jacque opposed mask mandates and requirements for vaccinations. It wasn’t known whether Jacque was vaccinated.
Jacque, the father of six children including an infant, said members of his family also tested positive for the virus. Their conditions were not immediately known.
Republican state Rep. Shae Sortwell told his Facebook followers on Aug. 20 that Jacque "is in serious need of your prayers."
Jacque’s hospitalization comes amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin blamed on the more contagious delta variant. New cases and hospitalizations spiked in August to levels not seen since January. About 51% of Wisconsin’s total population, and about 61% of adults, have been fully vaccinated.
Jacque, of De Pere, was first elected to the state Assembly in 2010 and served four terms before being elected to the Senate in 2018.
Jacque sponsored bills that would have prohibited government officials or business owners from requiring vaccinations for COVID-19 or proof of vaccination in order to receive services. The Republican-controlled Legislature passed both bills, which Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed.
Jacque also opposed a statewide mask mandate that Evers put in effect but that was struck down in March by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
From: https://www.fox6now.com/news/wisconsin-senator-jacque-with-covid-on-ventilator
Sunday, August 22, 2021
Former bishop of La Crosse diocese, Cardinal Raymond Burke, has been released from the ICU following COVID-19 diagnosis
A high-ranking Catholic cardinal who was in serious condition earlier this week after contracting COVID-19 has been taken off a ventilator and released from the ICU, his La Crosse parish announced Saturday.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, a vaccine skeptic and a vocal critic of Pope Francis, announced his diagnosis Aug. 10. Four days later, his staff tweeted he was on a ventilator but more specific details about his condition remained unclear.
On Tuesday, officials at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which Burke founded in La Crosse, said in a statement Burke was in serious, but stable, condition at an undisclosed location and had been sedated.
About 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Our Lady of Guadalupe Executive Director the Rev. Paul N. Check said in a statement Burke had come off the ventilator and would return to his hospital room.
"His sister spoke with him on the phone this morning, and His Eminence expressed his deep gratitude for the many prayers offered on his behalf," Check said in the statement. "His family asks that we continue those prayers for his full and speedy recovery."
Burke, 73, holds a doctorate in canon law. He served as bishop in the Diocese of La Crosse before becoming archbishop in St. Louis. He left St. Louis in 2008 to oversee the Vatican’s supreme court, becoming the first American to hold that position.
Too bad . . .
Friday, August 6, 2021
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Stephen Harmon, Corona Man Who Tweeted About Refusing To Get Vaccinated, Dies From COVID-19
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A 34-year-old man who tweeted about refusing to get the vaccine died earlier this week from COVID, chronicling his hospital journey along the way.
Stephen Harmon’s last tweet from his now-protected Twitter account was written Wednesday, just before he was intubated.
It read:
“i’m choosing to go under intubation, i’ve fought this thing as hard as i can but unfortunately it’s reached a point of critical choice & as much as i hate having to do this i’d rather it be willingness than forced emergency procedure. don’t know when i’ll wake up, please pray.”
Just six weeks earlier, he tweeted, “If you’re having email problems, I feel back for you, son. I got 99 problems, but a vax ain’t one.”
“I can’t even emphasize how unbelievably demoralizing this is,” Dr. Oren Friedman said.
Friedman is on the frontline, treating COVID patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He said the hospital has seen a tenfold increase in COVID admissions.
“Virtually every single person that is getting sick enough to be admitted to the hospital has not been vaccinated,” he said.
On his now-private Instagram account, Harmon posted photos of himself from his hospital bed. He wrote that he had pneumonia and was at risk of brain damage due to his low oxygen levels.
“I can tell you that for the respiratory therapists and nurses and doctors that are having to go into rooms and take care of patients who are this sick at this stage — and to know that it’s preventable if people simply had taken the vaccine — it is an awful feeling of [post-traumatic stress disorder] and frustration,” Friedman said.
Harmon was a graduate of Hillson College and attended Hillsong Church in Los Angeles. In an Instagram post, Hillsong founder Brian Houston called Harmon one of the most generous people.
In a written statement provided to CBS Los Angeles, Houston said:
“The death of Stephen Harmon was a sad day for those who knew him and called him a friend. Any loss of life is a moment to mourn and offer support to those who are suffering and so our heartfelt prayers are with his family and those who loved him. As a church, our focus is on the spiritual well-being of the people in each of our local communities. On any medical issue, we strongly encourage those in our church to follow the guidance of their doctors. While many of our staff, leadership and congregation have already received the COVID-19 vaccine, we recognize this is a personal decision for each individual to make with the counsel of medical professionals.”
On Sunday, three days before his death, Harmon tweeted, “If you don’t have faith that God can heal me over your stupid ventilator then keep the Hell out of my ICU room, there’s no room in here for fear or lack of faith!”
“I had one patient who looked at me right before we had to place the breathing tube down, and he got very tearful and he shook his head and he said, ‘Oh my God, I think I’ve made a really, really terrible mistake,'” Friedman said.
Unlike at the start of the pandemic, Friedman said he has started seeing young and otherwise healthy people being hospitalized with COVID. He said the only breakthrough cases he has been treating are in those who already had compromised immune systems.
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