Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #68

[musicaljoke]

Strict Rules Apply, But Visitors Will Be Allowed Back In New York Nursing Homes

The change comes after the state — one of those hardest-hit by the virus — has seen thousands of deaths in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

According to the revised rules issued Friday by the New York State Department of Health, visitors will be allowed if a nursing home or adult-care facility hasn't had any coronavirus cases for 28 days.

However, even then, the rules are quite restrictive.

They dictate that only two visitors — at least one of whom must be at least 18 years old — are allowed per resident, and only 10% of residents may receive visitors at the same time. The visitors themselves must submit to temperature checks, wear a mask and remain socially distanced.

"With the knowledge we now have about how COVID-19 came into nursing homes – mainly through asymptomatic staff and visitors through no fault of their own – it is critical that as we resume visitations to these facilities we do it in a smart and cautious way to ensure the health and safety of residents and staff," State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said in a statement.

I don't think this is good enough. Visitors should have a recent, negative CoVid test to be allowed inside, otherwise visits should be socially distanced, outside.

 

[CharlestonGal]

The US Marine who was diagnosed as positive when he landed in Australia for a turnover of staff has been hospitalised now. The US commander wants to know how we are treating him.
Well, not with any of the remdesivir that the US bought up so no-one else could have any. (My words not anyone else's)


Remdesivir will not be available to Australians unless they are severely unwell, requiring oxygen or high level support to breathe, and in hospital care.
Australia's first COVID treatment approved

Thank you for taking care of our marine.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

I've seen billboard PSAs in NY about wearing masks...I had to travel into Brooklyn the other day and there was a big traffic sign..
"Outside with no mask? Fuhgeddaboutit"

We have PSAs in my area on local stations about face coverings, hand washing and more recently I’ve been seeing mental health announcements.

We also get text alerts from the governor about twice a week. My last was “Wearing a mask or face-c0vering in public is the neighborly thing to do. It’s an easy way to keep Louisiana healthy and safe.”
I like the soft sell, I think it reaches more people. IMO

 

[tabitha111]

This doctor and his family got the coronavirus when they relaxed rules along with Florida's reopening - CNN

“Dr. Andrew Pastewski, the ICU medical director at Florida's Jackson South Medical Center, has been treating coronavirus patients at his hospital since the pandemic began. But when Florida started to loosen its stay-at-home orders and reopen, he did what a lot of Floridians did.

"We opened up," he said. "We allowed family to come over and visit."
Soon, coronavirus cases started appearing in his family. A cousin, a brother, then his own wife and kids, and finally Pastewski himself contracted the virus.

"I had a mom and grandmother drive themselves into my hospital, and only one drove home," he said.”
——-
Oh wow, ICU Medical Director.
Did what everyone else is doing.
A mom and a grandmother.

So familiar. My family (except for a few who have remained consistent in their no masks, believe its a hoax anyway) have rationalized their recent behaviours with "I want to live in the moment" "XX had a negative test a week ago! so stop with the lectures" "I am very fit, if I get it I will probably not die (she is in her late 50's though)"
all of these remarks as my family travels, flies on planes, crowds into living and dining rooms eating together, goes on boat rides together (I guess that is okay, since its outside? shrugs shoulders) mingles with college age nephews and their girlfriends (who have been on protest marches, out here and there, coming and going, driving to see friends, etc) goes into the hospital to visit my father, hangs there for hours (yes, I do think he needed visitors, but its an added risk), stays over at my parents home (who are NOT careful in the least bit) and then mingles with everyone again...
to me its disturbing...because the bigger picture is- they were all so careful (minus the ones I spoke about) before, very careful....now its me that's the spoilsport and no fun. I see that this virus will NEVER go away unless we get a vaccine, because if they are acting like this..what's the rest of the US acting like?

 

[SouthAussie]

We have PSAs in my area on local stations about face coverings, hand washing and more recently I’ve been seeing mental health announcements.

We also get text alerts from the governor about twice a week. My last was “Wearing a mask or face-c0vering in public is the neighborly thing to do. It’s an easy way to keep Louisiana healthy and safe.”
I like the soft sell, I think it reaches more people. IMO

Perhaps different messages reach people in different areas better? A local culture thing.

 

[Trino]

List of stores at link.

Employees at 17 Publix stores in Polk County have tested positive for COVID-19 | WFLA

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Publix says workers at 17 of its stores in Polk County have tested positive for COVID-19.

News Channel 8 obtained a list of stores Thursday.

Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said associates working at the Southgate Shopping Center, 2515 Florida Ave South in Lakeland, and the Lake Gibson site on U.S. Highway 98 had previously tested positive for the virus, but not within the past 14 days.

Brous said 17 of the stores in Polk County have had employees test positive for the virus since the outbreak began. Publix has 19 stores in Polk County.

And, I wonder how many more grocery employees are symptomatic - not just at Publix but nationwide. We have to go to the grocery store so what are we to do?

 

[Spider92]

COVID-19 lingers in the air for hours, UTMB researcher says

GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) -- We're months into the pandemic now and our understanding of how the coronavirus behaves is still changing.

Doctors and our own immune systems have never seen this virus before this year. A new study is showing why it may be even more contagious than we thought.

"Aerosol droplets are so small that they can remain suspended in the air, especially in a stagnant indoor airspace for many hours," Dr. Scott Weaver with UTMB said.

Weaver is the Scientific Director of the Galveston National Lab and Director of the UTMB Institute for Human Infections & Immunity. He explained a new study that shows just how long the virus can stay in the air.

"(It) turns out the longest time point we measured -- 16 hours, the virus was still alive in aerosols created experimentally in a laboratory environment," Weaver said.

COVID-19 is understood to be a droplet-transmitted virus. A group of scientists not associated with this study are actually trying to get the virus re-classified as airborne transmitted.

up to 16 hours....that's really scary.

 

[CharlestonGal]

BBM.

Florida COVID-19 cases top a quarter million

Cases of COVID-19 in Florida pushed past a quarter million Saturday, as the state reported 10,383 additional people with the disease.

The state posted 95 additional deaths. A state summary released Saturday morning listed 188 additional deaths, but that appears to have been a miscalculation.

Neither total is a record, but both reflect the worsening trends of the past two weeks. The record for deaths was set Thursday, ith 120.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose aggressive push to reopen Florida has proved controversial, has called a news conference for Saturday at 12:45 p.m. in Bradenton to discuss COVID-19.

 

[Reasonable & Just]

I don't think this is good enough. Visitors should have a recent, negative CoVid test to be allowed inside, otherwise visits should be socially distanced, outside.

I'm worried, because I think we in NY are getting complacent. I see it in myself, when I was ready to travel to now-closed Atlanta, and feeling good about my airline choice.

I've seen 3 separate articles in the last 24 hours about people carrying/spreading it in upstate NY: through daycare, through travel (from Atlanta and on the same airline), and now in my hometown, due to travel as well as a party. It felt safe(r) these last couple of weeks, which is probably the most dangerous time of all We have to be vigilant.

 

[10ofRods]

I was talking to a friend last night who was tested at a drive through testing centre this week. Interesting to hear how it was all done with no contact, and encouraging to know she got the result by text message exactly 15 hours & 10 minutes after her appointment.

I do not understand why it’s taking days and days in the US. Surely this can’t be helping contain the spread.

Testing overload. We had the same thing in California toward the beginning. Several universities retrofitted PCR machines to handle much larger capacity at a time. We had to hire more workers, as well.

It doesn't take "days and days" in all of the US - there are lots of states who are able to get a 24 hour or less turn-around time (although I should also say that to some degree it's county by county).

In the SF Bay Area, the counties formed a coalition and pooled capacity (East Bay was not as seriously hit s it is being now - meanwhile SF Peninsula Counties got their numbers really low...but everything is rising now of course).

This took coordination among public health officers and the Governor's office. I'd say it took about 2 weeks to get testing to go smoothly on the Peninsula. SF, with it own medical school, was able to tackle the problem immediately - and SF's rates to this day still show how important that was.

So it's not the whole United States. But the states that don't have capacity (many) are really struggling.

 

[Lilibet]

So familiar. My family (except for a few who have remained consistent in their no masks, believe its a hoax anyway) have rationalized their recent behaviours with "I want to live in the moment" "XX had a negative test a week ago! so stop with the lectures" "I am very fit, if I get it I will probably not die (she is in her late 50's though)"
all of these remarks as my family travels, flies on planes, crowds into living and dining rooms eating together, goes on boat rides together (I guess that is okay, since its outside? shrugs shoulders) mingles with college age nephews and their girlfriends (who have been on protest marches, out here and there, coming and going, driving to see friends, etc) goes into the hospital to visit my father, hangs there for hours (yes, I do think he needed visitors, but its an added risk), stays over at my parents home (who are NOT careful in the least bit) and then mingles with everyone again...
to me its disturbing...because the bigger picture is- they were all so careful (minus the ones I spoke about) before, very careful....now its me that's the spoilsport and no fun. I see that this virus will NEVER go away unless we get a vaccine, because if they are acting like this..what's the rest of the US acting like?

I’m really sorry @tabitha111. It sounds to me like you won’t be seeing your family for a long time. They’re going to do what they’re going to do no matter what you say, even if it means endangering your Dad. All you can do is stand firm for what you do and wait, hoping nothing awful happens. Hugs!

 

[10ofRods]

I'm worried, because I think we in NY are getting complacent. I see it in myself, when I was ready to travel to now-closed Atlanta, and feeling good about my airline choice.

I've seen 3 separate articles now about people carrying/spreading it: through daycare, through travel (from Atlanta and on the same airline), and now in my hometown, due to travel as well as a party. It felt safe(r) these last couple of weeks, which is probably the most dangerous time of all We have to be vigilant.

As hard as it is, yes, right now is the worst time so far. We now have a much more rapidly spreading pandemic (although...not in NY, NJ, CN, DE, RI, MA, ME and several other states). Florida had a very rapid rise, and now has so many cases, it's mind-boggling - but the rate of increase has slowed, which is good.

As predicted, case mortality rates are going down, since so many 65+ are still sheltering. But, the sad thing is that even with our new 4-5% case mortality rate, lots of people are dying. In many places, the elderly have not shielded themselves and are dying. The death rate among 24-44 is higher than it is in other nations (perhaps 1.5%? as opposed to .4% in Sweden...something like that). But that's because our overall health indices in the US are much lower than any other industrialized nation.

I guess the way we're going is that some states are going to let CoVId burn through the population, carry away the vulnerable (some of whom don't know they're vulnerable) and an as-yet-undetermined number of healthy people (perhaps .5% in the 24-44 group). That's 1 in 500. Hopefully the real rate of the healthy CoVid victims' deaths will eventually be lower. But even in Sweden, people with underlying conditions died, and some found out they had a condition (often high blood pressure) that they did not realize.

You're not alone, though, we got it into our heads that maybe we'd go camping this month (this was a month ago). But CoVid came to Inyo County and now they've shut all their campgrounds...and are quite hostile to outsiders, to say the least. They had no cases for the longest time, and of course, they think it was brought in through tourism (and it probably was).

We're staying put.

 

[SA55]

So familiar. My family (except for a few who have remained consistent in their no masks, believe its a hoax anyway) have rationalized their recent behaviours with "I want to live in the moment" "XX had a negative test a week ago! so stop with the lectures" "I am very fit, if I get it I will probably not die (she is in her late 50's though)"
all of these remarks as my family travels, flies on planes, crowds into living and dining rooms eating together, goes on boat rides together (I guess that is okay, since its outside? shrugs shoulders) mingles with college age nephews and their girlfriends (who have been on protest marches, out here and there, coming and going, driving to see friends, etc) goes into the hospital to visit my father, hangs there for hours (yes, I do think he needed visitors, but its an added risk), stays over at my parents home (who are NOT careful in the least bit) and then mingles with everyone again...
to me its disturbing...because the bigger picture is- they were all so careful (minus the ones I spoke about) before, very careful....now its me that's the spoilsport and no fun. I see that this virus will NEVER go away unless we get a vaccine, because if they are acting like this..what's the rest of the US acting like?

Hi SIS Tabitha We absolutely must be related - as my family is a carbon of yours. Who knew we'd find each other on this thread, small world!

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

Perhaps different messages reach people in different areas better? A local culture thing.

For me it has nothing to do with culture, it’s my personal preference.

 

[MimosaMornings]

And, I wonder how many more grocery employees are symptomatic - not just at Publix but nationwide. We have to go to the grocery store so what are we to do?

What about the ones who are asymptomatic working in the stores? The ones standing around talking to each other with the chin masks on?

The exercise group of 6 ladies standing at the entrance of the Harris Teeter with their newly purchased Starbucks blocking the entrance with no masks?

The nice Chick Fil A teenager who just got back from Myrtle Beach taking your order who has her mask dangling off one ear?

 

[tabitha111]

We do have "rapid" testing available in my area:
CVS is a drugstore chain here - much like Boots in the UK

 

[Sundog]

I was talking to a friend last night who was tested at a drive through testing centre this week. Interesting to hear how it was all done with no contact, and encouraging to know she got the result by text message exactly 15 hours & 10 minutes after her appointment.

I do not understand why it’s taking days and days in the US. Surely this can’t be helping contain the spread.

Testing turn-around time varies. In our state and county, we are getting results within 24 hours. And have been for months.

EBM I meant to say 24-48 hours.

 

[Victoria Chambers]

What I don't like about this, is putting some kid who makes minimum wage, as the "mask police". We have already seen numerous articles about how enraged some people get by the simple request to wear a mask.

Sorry, but it was 113 yesterday in Las Vegas. Who could wear a mask perfectly for 8 hours working in retail stores?

We can't keep making excuses for grown adults in this dire situation. These retail workers should have no choice on the matter. She is not wearing it to save herself from infection. She is wearing it because she could be Asymptomatic infectious and could infect you or your elderly parents! Doctors and Nurses wear them for 12+hrs straight in the same heat. This has gone beyond a joke now and, still, the attitudes of some people are as big a problem as the virus itself. Be a part of the solution instead of willingly partaking in the continuous spread of this virus.. Is My Message! (not you personally btw)
I seriously think that a huge amount of people would actually need to become infected for them to believe how real this is. It's ridiculous at this point X

 

[Lilibet]

COVID-19 lingers in the air for hours, UTMB researcher says

GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) -- We're months into the pandemic now and our understanding of how the coronavirus behaves is still changing.

Doctors and our own immune systems have never seen this virus before this year. A new study is showing why it may be even more contagious than we thought.

"Aerosol droplets are so small that they can remain suspended in the air, especially in a stagnant indoor airspace for many hours," Dr. Scott Weaver with UTMB said.

Weaver is the Scientific Director of the Galveston National Lab and Director of the UTMB Institute for Human Infections & Immunity. He explained a new study that shows just how long the virus can stay in the air.

"(It) turns out the longest time point we measured -- 16 hours, the virus was still alive in aerosols created experimentally in a laboratory environment," Weaver said.

COVID-19 is understood to be a droplet-transmitted virus. A group of scientists not associated with this study are actually trying to get the virus re-classified as airborne transmitted.

This is chilling! And it’s causing us to re-evaluate our risk and our precautions. For example, we need to insist that our Instacart shopper wear a mask when delivering our groceries to our apartment door. And my husband needs to wear his N95 mask when he brings them in. We have a housekeeper (a dear friend) every two weeks, and although we all are careful to keep our distance, we have not asked her to wear a mask. Now we will, and so will we. It’s those “little things” that end up causing people who “did everything right” to get Covid-19. Time to really batten down the hatches!

 

[MimosaMornings]

https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/services/covid-19-testing

I had checked Rite-Aid for testing and it’s only offered in 9 states, unfortunately not in NC, SC, GA, FL or TX.

COVID-19: Expanded testing locations | CVS Health

You must be tested in the state where you are a resident.