State update:
The vaccine aside, our state is really progressing with a downward trend in cases every single day for the last three weeks, with the exception of our death rate still holding steady for the geriatric graphic. We actually have one made hub where C/19 patients are extradited to, and even that floor is no longer at full capacity. As matter fact, we had one city north of me 20 minutes that was averaging 650 cases a day with a population of 175,000 people around late October, and now they’re down to maybe 18 cases on a daily basis. We are now opening more vaccination sites to prepare for larger swaths of people to inoculate, even Walgreens and CVS have launched their programs.
I think a large part of why were seeing a downward trend isn’t necessarily that C/19 is ‘making its rounds’, I suspect the colder temperatures have forced people who reside together to stay indoors, and there’s no real major public events diringthat would allow crowding with the exception of bars, I’m seeing more masking all the time, which I think people are finally absorbing the functionality of why the importance of masking is necessary and of course, with the enforcement of employers/businesses requiring it.
What’s even more interesting, In the midst of the pandemic in my region, cold/respiratory illnesses are hardly existent at all, which this time last year, we had local news media articles talking about upward trends.
Aside from that, I really don’t think it’s just about the masking, even though I think it’s a crucial piece. It’s about the frequency of washing hands, keeping your hands away from your face, don’t touch your food unless you washed your hands first, the most simplest of things that we learned in middle school (Which most adults still can’t grasp), I think people are applying these practices into their life and passing those along to their other family members. It really is a trendsetter that I see employees sanitizing high touch points for doorhandles, the importance of wiping down grocery cart handles prior to handling your groceries, there’s even some restaurants that actually wipe down your debit card for you after they use it, those are the things that make a difference.
And as an investor into the restaurant industry, all employees have to mask from when they start their shift until they end their shift. And by doing that, I think the restaurant industry is a major contributor to keeping pathogens from being spread, being how often people -dine in and order out-.
The one thing I would like to still see practiced I think that’s losing some of its significance is social distancing. In the beginning, a lot of restaurants were doing a great job of making sure that 6 foot rule was really applied, and now that our cases are down, I think some of these restaurants are becoming lax where social distancing doesn’t apply, because that means more capacity equals more money, and that’s why I don’t want to see these owners become complacent. The reason I’m harping so much on restaurants, is because it’s so easy for them to spread C/19 into our communities, especially where I live, we have over 350 restaurants, so for example, if you take a third of those restaurants that aren’t applying the necessary techniques to combat C/19, you can see the damage it can do very quickly. [And that includes bars.]
Looking ahead to what’s planned, our state has a lot of major functions that will be happening this spring/summer that were initially canceled last year, but with a totally set bar of ground rules that have to be followed due to the pandemic, and some events are extenuated into late summer to allow the vaccination to continue to make its course.
That’s great that the vaccination is here and it’s becoming more widespread every day, but that’s still not the answer. We still need a collaborative effort by everybody to keep our cases down through all the things Have been harped on to us for the last 10 months, and I don’t know about anybody else, but I want to enjoy my summer for 2021 (Yup, I have travel plans, car rally’s & shows, ect) and that’s only going to happen if we set the example moving forward, and then when 2022 arrives, we can look back and say ‘We did it’.
Press on.
as I don’t normally work in a general hospital, but yes MRSA patients are isolated and PPE is required and a big red sign gets put on the door, though N95’s wouldn’t be commonly worn. I suppose if there was a risk of MRSA aerosols (MRSA staph pneumonia, though this isn’t particularly common) an N95 might be warranted. Otherwise it seems a bit wasteful to use N95’s generally for other types of infections. 