Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #29

[Henry2326]

Trump signs into law coronavirus aid bill to ensure paid sick leave https://t.co/y1Jhi5BKhn

 

[Kensie]

I just read an article - did not link because I was not sure it is allowed - but a place in Las Vegas is going to have drive thru 'peep' shows.

Not sure what to think of this except that it will probably bring in a lot of customers. Geez.

 

[pocketaccent]

Yippie! Amazon Fresh just delivered. Received only about 50% of what I ordered last week. Love them still. Love those frozen water bottles they put in the bags to keep my stuff cool. Got 8 free bottles. Yay!!!

Just tried to place another order with Amazon Fresh. There's no delivery slot available through April 14.

Tried Costco instacart- It doesn't even let me choose delivery date. It just says try again tomorrow.

 

[PommyMommy]

RHODE ISLAND

GoLocalProv | News | 10 New RI Coronavirus Cases, Total Now 33: Raimondo Announces 2 Weeks Remote Learning for Schools
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced Wednesday that there were ten additional cases of coronavirus confirmed in the state overnight, bringing the total to 33 — and that she is instructing remote learning for two weeks for public schools following this week's break.

“After a great deal of consideration and collaboration with teachers, superintendents, we have made a decision,” said Raimondo. “March 23 thorough Friday April 3 will be distance learning.”

“After 2 weeks we will evaluate how it’s going and will determine what we will do for remainder of school year,” said Raimondo of the directive to K-12 public schools.

Raimondo said that while multiple states have canceled school for the remainder of the year, she was not ready to take that step.

[...]

 

[Henry2326]

ATLANTA

Atlanta man assembles portable hand washing stations for homeless Atlanta man assembles portable hand washing station for homeless

 

[margarita25]

I was just looking at the Public Transportation situation in Denver and here are some website notes from RTD. Wanted to bring over for reference:

Public Transportation - Denver Busses

Covid-19:
Stay Healthy Tips

“As the threat of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States increases, we want to remind you how you can protect yourself when riding RTD services. While our vehicles are cleaned every day, there are measures you can take to further protect yourself from getting sick. Check out these facts and tips and continue to check back for updates.”

——

“RTD services are currently operating as scheduled. To promote social distancing, riders are asked to limit time spent in RTD stations to 10 minutes. RTD administrative buildings, including 1660 Blake St, are closed to all visitors.”

View RTD updates related to COVID-19

—-

“WHAT WE'RE DOING

• RTD has an updated pandemic plan that will be implemented as necessary as the pandemic situation evolves.
• Bus and rail vehicles are cleaned daily, including wiping down handrails and other high-touch surfaces with an industrial-strength disinfectant/antibacterial cleaner.
• RTD is purchasing additional sanitation products and disinfectants, including electrostatic cleaning devices.
• We are encouraging staff not to come to work if they develop respiratory symptoms accompanied by a fever.
• Employees can expect to be asked a series of questions regarding their illness to better ascertain the extent of illness to ensure the wellbeing of all employees.
• Employees are encouraged to keep their work stations/areas clean by wiping down surfaces, phones, keyboards, headsets, handles, steering wheels, etc. with disinfectant or sanitizing wipes (Clorox, Lysol, etc.).
• RTD is working with transit agency peers to share lessons learned and best practices.
• We are closely following updates from the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Denver Office of Emergency Management to ensure an appropriate response to the coronavirus.
• Effective March 12: Transit Security Officers (TSOs) will be conducting visual fare inspections until the spread of COVID-19 becomes controlled. If TSOs encounter individuals without proper visual fare, fare evasion enforcement will take place.
• Effective March 16: Out of an abundance of caution, we are implementing a No Visitor policy at our RTD facilities. This is being done to ensure we are following CDC recommendations for social distancing and mitigating the spread of the virus.
• Effective March 19: Access-a-Ride will suspend 5-day advanced bookings, allowing customers to book next day trips only. All standing orders from Friday, March 20, will be canceled. Customers can call 303-292-6560 to book trips if still required. This change will remain in place until Governor Polis lifts the State of Emergency.
• We continue to evaluate our service needs as the coronavirus pandemic evolves. We have seen a drop in ridership – no official figures yet – but we are committed to providing service to our customers, many of whom are transit-dependent.
• It is also important to continue service for those who must get to work at hospitals, clinics, and other health care facilities. Ironically, RTD was thrust into the dilemma of adjusting to lower service levels over the past several months due to our operator shortage, so what we’re experiencing due to this pandemic is an extension of that.

Paratransit Service

• Paratransit vehicles are being cleaned and disinfected daily in accordance with RTD’s Pandemic Plan.
• We continue to work through plans to assure our customers, drivers and support staff remain safe during this difficult period.
• No service reductions to paratransit services have occurred at present; however, the number of trips has continually dropped as facilities who are primary consumers for paratransit services have closed.
• All paratransit service trip speeds have been slowed to retain drivers for available capacity, to provide increased social distancing during trip delivery and to allow greater standby driver capacity in anticipation of driver call-offs as more employees need to care for their families.
• Customers can normally book appeals to their eligibility determination should they disagree with the outcome of their functional assessment. Due to the closure of Blake Street to non-employees, we are not able to have in-person appeals and are providing these customers with Unconditional Presumptive Eligibility until normal operations resume.

Bus Maintenance/Cleaning Procedures

• Using a proper concentration mix of disinfectant, the following is cleaned daily on RTD buses:
  • Floors
  • Stanchions
  • Hand railings and hand straps
  • Doors and handles
  • Backs of doors
  • Step wells
  • Walls
  • Ceilings
  • Lights and fixtures
  • All glass is cleaned with glass cleaner
  • Operator’s cab (including steering wheel and operator controls)
• If the disinfectant supply runs low, all facilities have chlorine bleach available to make a solution as guided by the CDC to disinfect buses.
• RTD’s Bus Maintenance cleaning team consists of 65 employees with eight vacancies. Employees are spread out over three operating divisions (Boulder, East Metro & Platte) and District Shops, and cover three shifts.
• The Boulder operating division is closed on Sundays, our District Shops location is closed on the weekends and both Platte and East Metro operating divisions operate 24/7.

Light Rail Maintenance/Cleaning Procedures

• Using a proper concentration mix of disinfectant, the following is cleaned daily on RTD light rail vehicles:
  • Mop floors
  • Step wells
  • ADA ramp
  • Stanchions
  • Hand Railings
  • Hand straps
  • Doors and handles
  • Backs of doors
  • Walls, side walls, bulkhead walls
  • Ceilings
  • Lights and fixtures
  • Articulating section
  • Overhead panels
  • Cab door
  • Operator’s cab
  • All glass is cleaned with glass cleaner
  • Seats are vacuumed and cleaned as necessary
• If the disinfectant supply runs low, all facilities have chlorine bleach available to make a solution as guided by the CDC to disinfect light rail vehicles.
• RTD’s Light Rail Maintenance cleaning team consists of 35 employees divided into three shifts.

Denver Transit Operators (Commuter Rail)

• The safety of the traveling public remains a priority for DTO.
• Currently, DTO is performing daily vehicle cleanings, including disinfecting high-touch surfaces, which is part of a regularly scheduled maintenance component.
• DTO is deploying an electrostatic sprayer to clean and sterilize trains during after-hours servicing. They only have one at this time; however, additional sprayers are expected to arrive around March 18.
• DTO staff is working closely with suppliers, fabricators and subcontractors to ensure that the operations of the A, B and G lines are not impacted. However, the state of Colorado can enforce a change in service at any time, should they deem it necessary.
• DTO is continually monitoring the situation and is prepared to partner with community agencies as requested.

Facility Closures

• Patrons inside Civic Center Station and the Union Station bus concourse should board the first available bus to their destination and limit the time they spend to no more than 10 minutes prior to the departure of their bus.
• This is a temporary modification to the existing code of conduct that allows passengers to wait up to two hours for their bus.
• This change is being made in the interest of public health and safety, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations on social distancing and public gatherings.
• The agency is also restricting public access to other RTD buildings, including its headquarters, according to public health guidelines.
• RTD customers in need of new or replacement special discount cards can download an application and follow instructions provided through this webpage, which details all discounted fare programs. For questions about special discounts, please call 303-299-2667.

PERSONAL HYGIENE TIPS
Keep yourself safe and stop the spread of viruses while in public settings

• [...]

Resources

• A letter from RTD Interim GM and CEO Paul Ballard
• Colorado COVID-19 Website
• APTA's Public Transit Response to Coronavirus
• CDC Information
• CDPHE Information
• DDP, City of Denver and Denver Health Coronavirus Briefing - March 10, 2020
• Global Cases Map by CSSE at JHU
• World Health Organization

Proper Hand Washing”

[...]

 

[BeckyF]

Are their statistics anywhere showing if all infected people had recently been overseas or in contact with someone who had been overseas?

 

[Henry2326]

OHIO

We are asking businesses -- beginning immediately to take the temperature of every single employee every day before they come to work. We're asking them to be aggressive in regard to cleaning surfaces and having soap/hand sanitizer available. Send employees home who are sick.

The temperature check is not perfect but is one way to screen out employees who may be sick.

We're taking this one step at a time. If we find that we can't get employers to take temperatures, we'll have to go to the next stage and close everything down unless it's essential. #FlattenTheCurve #COVID19OhioReady #COVID19

We're not there yet. I just plead with employees, if you're sick stay home. Every employer should take the temperature of every single person every day. We have a finite period to slow #COVID19 down.

Businesses should do everything they can to monitor their workforce. We're dead serious about employers taking temperatures. We're expecting them to do this.

Governor Mike DeWine on Twitter

 

[gitana1]

So... need some thoughts/support. I work for a municipal community center that basically caters to the public and while my city refuses to shut down large groups - I told my supervisory today that if our person who works these events got sick - I would not work them (baby showers, bday parties, weddings, etc). I have a hubby who just recently had surgery and is fighting 2 infections and is high risk according to his home health nurse. He is also considered high risk due to his diabetes/heart issues...
I thought this was the best decision for me and my family. I have been doing what I need to do to limit exposure but yet my city employer is all about the numbers and refuses to cancel the events.
So, question to all because I feel like an a** for telling them I wouldn’t work a large event, what would you do?!? I have 2 kids under 6 and a hubby about to turn 50 - not quite in a hot spot but we have a jump in positive cases the last few days.

A friend of mine is now on mandatory lockdown because a co-worker chose to come into work last week, sick. They tested positive. They work with a vulnerable population. They had orders already last week not to come into work sick and they have paid leave.

Now everyone there is quarantined.

 

[momrids6]

In most areas is it fair to say these are about the only things left open: grocery, pharmacy, gas stations/convenient stores & a few places of employment that don’t provide face to face or intimate services (hair, massages, manis). If so, staying home should be relatively easy unless one wants to hang in a parking lot. Idk why anyone wants to be out if not absolutely vital.

I wish. Many of us are still under " business as usual". As @mickey2942 said, it is what it is. Stop calling customer service, and maybe that will change. As employees of a company over 500- paid sick and paid FMLA does not include us. I work from home, but the majority do not- and the majority have school age kids home due to the closures.

 

[musicaljoke]

When you have a fever and possibly gastro issues in addition to a dry cough, beware....

Gastro issues are rare with Covid-19.

It is most crucial to know the common symptoms: fever and a dry cough.

As the visualization (in the link below) shows, close to 90% of cases had a fever and two-thirds had a dry cough.

The third most common symptom was fatigue. Almost 40% of cases suffered from it.

‘Sputum production’ was experienced by every third person. Sputum is not saliva. It is a thick mucus which is coughed up from the lungs.

Of the 55,924 cases fewer than 1-in-5 (18.6%) experienced shortness of breath (‘dyspnoea’). An earlier study, reported that a much higher share (55%) of cases suffered from dyspnoea, but this was based on a much smaller number of cases (835 patients).

Many of the most common symptoms are shared with those of the common flu or cold. So it is also good to know which common symptoms of the common flu or the common cold are not symptoms of COVID-19. COVID-19 infection seems to rarely cause a runny nose.

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) – Statistics and Research

 

[ZsaZsa]

So... need some thoughts/support. I work for a municipal community center that basically caters to the public and while my city refuses to shut down large groups - I told my supervisory today that if our person who works these events got sick - I would not work them (baby showers, bday parties, weddings, etc). I have a hubby who just recently had surgery and is fighting 2 infections and is high risk according to his home health nurse. He is also considered high risk due to his diabetes/heart issues...
I thought this was the best decision for me and my family. I have been doing what I need to do to limit exposure but yet my city employer is all about the numbers and refuses to cancel the events.
So, question to all because I feel like an a** for telling them I wouldn’t work a large event, what would you do?!? I have 2 kids under 6 and a hubby about to turn 50 - not quite in a hot spot but we have a jump in positive cases the last few days.

Are they not paying attention to the CDC or just about any expert that has been informing and updating us on press briefings every day that the only way to reduce our risk is by minimal contact and social distancing. I don't know what state you are in but I would call your city/county health dept so they are aware, and local TV news so they can feature this very irresponsible conduct.

 

[Tadpole12]

Coronation Street
Coronavirus

My 2 most popular 'C' search items on google.

Filming suspended on EastEnders, Coronation Street changes schedule due to coronavirus

Might have to reacquaint myself with some vintage Bet and Duckworths episodes if worse comes to worse.

 

[Henry2326]

GERMANY

“Take it seriously”, says Merkel of #covid19 and appeals to Germans’ sense of solidarity. “How many loved ones will we lose? To a large extent, it is in our hands.” DW News on Twitter

 

[zecats]

Yeah, so far, so good. And some days the cough is better. I think I"ll start with the humidifier again (got some medical disinfection stuff for it).

It's now been a full 6 days since I've been near anyone outside of immediate family. If I did have it, I would have transmitted it to at least a couple of people, I'd think. No way to get tested of course.

Taking our temperatures every day or so - seems weird.

I know some folks taking temp 4 times/day. I do at least once, especially because I have so many "imaginary" symptoms.

Have you seen a doctor? Been on an antibiotic or other treatment? Asking because I had a long-lasting cough back in November that finally needed medical intervention.

 

[Henry2326]

BRAZIL

BREAKING: Brazil reports 137 new cases of coronavirus and 1 new death, raising total to 509 cases and 4 dead Tracking coronavirus: Map, data and timeline

 

[Trudie]

Oh what is the disinfectant you use, do tell, please!
I was at my allergist in January, he sent me to a GP, he sent me back to allergist. I was advised to use humidifiers, the air was incredibly dry (Corona loves crisp, dry air) but I got no diagnosis, other than “we’ve had back & forth weather, ragweed’s exist, blah blah. Funny thing is I’ve been allergic to weeds my entire life, this was very dif’. I mean extremely different. I had the weirdest, most extreme headache that nothing could touch. My headache was very difficult to describe, I know my allergist was perplexed. The humidifier did help immediately. They are not fun to clean, but must be cleaned daily. I’d almost rather have a root canal, in fact.

Yeah, so far, so good. And some days the cough is better. I think I"ll start with the humidifier again (got some medical disinfection stuff for it).

It's now been a full 6 days since I've been near anyone outside of immediate family. If I did have it, I would have transmitted it to at least a couple of people, I'd think. No way to get tested of course.

Taking our temperatures every day or so - seems weird.

 

[Chelly]

This is a very complicated stat to analyze - but let's just say that so far, no Western nations have come close to what China did with Wuhan.

We may presume that about 90% of Wuhan is now positive for antibodies, or we can assume that as soon as they lift the lockdown, the numbers will bump up again.

At any rate, if you're following this story from the Asian side, we in the West are not likely to get the same kind of grip on the virus problem.

Whew! Well said

 

[Trudie]

I have so many "imaginary" symptoms.

Have you considered consulting with Dr. Zecats regarding your imaginary symptoms?

 

[gitana1]

Are their statistics anywhere showing if all infected people had recently been overseas or in contact with someone who had been overseas?

It’s WAY behind that now.