Thanks to Sue P: The following is a quote today from the usually staid New York Times which gave me a good chuckle. It was part of an article about hard-to-get items.
Wipes alternatives
Use a spray bottle with water to clean babies at diaper changes, and pat their bottom dry with tissues or a clean rag. Parents and caregivers can also dunk the baby in a bathtub full of water and air the child out before re-diapering. A rag or tissue dunked in baby shampoo can also be used.
We’re having an “open” Fitness and Wellness subcommittee meeting Thursday April 2nd at 11 AM. Of course all meetings are open, but everyone who wants to can crowd into this one because it will be held using the app Zoom which you can download for free on your device (tablet, phone or computer). There are a number of tutorials on YouTube.
You are all invited to this updated virtual meeting. You can join the meeting by first downloading the Zoom app on to your computer or tablet (or even phone); then you can join the meeting my clicking on the link below. NO PASSWORD is required for this meeting. All of Skyline is invited. This free version of Zoom will allow up to 100 participants and up to 40 minutes of meeting time. Zoom can work for you in other meetings and gatherings. Skyline residents are having virtual meals with friends and families, zooming to friends in Europe, and attending professional and religious meetings. I hope you can all learn to Zoom. See the CareMerge Portal to sign up for special help on April 6th from staff to learn more about Zoom in your own apartment.
You can control your own video and audio at the bottom of the Zoom meeting screen. So if you’re in your pajamas you can still join. Please consider muting your audio unless you are speaking to the group—otherwise we get a lot of background noise. I’d suggest logging in about 10:50 AM on Thursday.
Topic: Fitness and Wellness Zoom Meeting
Time: Apr 2, 2020 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/521459270?status=success
Meeting ID: 521 459 270
Thanks to Magarete B for the smiles! We need them in times like this.
Thanks Mary Jane for letting us know.
To help keep you informed and engaged during this stay-at-home time, Seattle CityClub is partnering with Town Hall Seattle to present Civic Cocktail as a free, live, digital event!
Grab a beverage, a bite, and a comfy seat in your own home as journalist Joni Balter interviews Tom Douglas, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and Patty Hayes, Director of Public Health – Seattle & King County, on April 1 from 6 to 7 p.m. (chat access opens at 5:30). Click here to register for free through Town Hall Seattle.
SEE THE LINK WHICH HAS A REGISTRATION ‘BUTTON’ ON IT
Douglas, the legendary
Seattle restaurateur, steps up to discuss becoming one of Seattle’s first
entrepreneurs to shut down business operations — 12 eateries employing around
800 people — in response to the spread of the coronavirus.
Douglas is joined by
King County Executive Dow Constantine, the highest elected official
representing the County government, and Patty Hayes, Director of Public
Health – Seattle & King County. Constantine and Hayes have been the public
leaders of the County’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak and can offer an
inside look at the major decisions their teams face when navigating the current
health crisis.
Don’t miss out; register
for free through Town Hall Seattle!
Ed note: It’s a bit unusual for this blog to have a full article from a medical journal, but this one published today is of special interest. It raises several questions for the elderly concerning their outlook if they are unfortunate enough to become critically ill with COVID-19. The death rate in the ICU was 12 of 24 with some patients still in the hospital. The main symptom was cough and severe shortness of breath. Only 50% had an elevated temperature.
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Ed note: Smart people seem to disagree. I think using handwashing, keeping hands away from the face, washing fruits and vegetables, etc. is a common sense approach.
Even if you’re following advice to stay home as much as you can, we all have to get food somehow, which means regular grocery trips or deliveries. If the idea of letting packages of food from The Outside into your home is nerve-wracking, it’s important to remember that while the risk of picking up the coronavirus from the exterior surfaces of your groceries is not zero, it is very low.
If you want to be especially safe, there are some steps you can take to ameliorate the risk. But some folks out there going a bit overboard, including in one viral video in which a doctor sanitizes his groceries with extreme prejudice. Here to correct these misconceptions is Donald Schaffner, a faculty member in Rutgers University’s Department of Food Science.
Schaffner’s advice for us is drawn from his experience as a food microbiologist.
First and foremost, that terrifying report from the CDC that indicates the virus remained detectable on surfaces for as long as 17 days is based on finding viral RNA—not exactly the same as finding an infectious viral particle. The presence of fragments of a virus isn’t necessarily the same as an intact viral particle capable of infecting a person. Beyond that, the CDC does not provide the methods used to arrive at this 17 day figure, but instead cites personal communication—the scientific equivalent of passing off gossip as fact. Maybe it’s right, maybe it’s wrong, but you won’t know until you’ve gotten the full details from the original source.
When it comes to making sure your groceries are safe, then, it’s not necessary to keep them on the porch or in the garage for three days. For perishable items like milk or ice cream, that’s actually a good way to end up with spoiled or rotting food, which is its safety issue. It’s also a really bad idea to wash fruits and veggies with soap, as ingesting soap can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. And we don’t need anything else to worry about right now, do we?
If you’re concerned about virus contamination on your groceries, Schaffner recommends the following:
What we need to remember is that getting sick from touching your groceries would require two things: First, that the groceries were contaminated with infectious viral particles at all; and second, that simply touching the package will get you sick. This cycle can be broken in a number of ways, most easily by washing your hands after you handle packages and before you eat—which is good advice even when we’re not in the middle of a pandemic.
Rachel Fairbank is a freelance science writer based in Texas. When she is not writing, she can be found spending time with her family, or at her local boxing gym.
Thanks to Steve L. for forwarding this. It makes me wonder whether we should stop reusing the meal delivery bags which could be a source of spread.
Ed note: The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) launches with the goal of providing an impartial, evidence-based picture of global health trends to inform the work of policymakers, researchers, and funders. Main supporters are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the state of Washington. Check out their website for updates state by state.
SEATTLE – In a forecast based on new data analyses, researchers find demand for ventilators and beds in US hospital intensive care units (ICUs) will far exceed capacity for COVID-19 patients as early as the second week of April. Deaths related to the current wave of COVID-19 in the US are likely to persist into July, even assuming people protect themselves and their communities by strongly adhering to social distancing measures and by taking other precautions advised by public health officials.
“Our estimated trajectory of COVID-19 deaths assumes continued and uninterrupted vigilance by the general public, hospital and health workers, and government agencies,” said Dr. Christopher Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine. “The trajectory of the pandemic will change – and dramatically for the worse – if people ease up on social distancing or relax with other precautions. We encourage everyone to adhere to those precautions to help save lives.”
IHME’s analysis, based on observed death rates, estimates that over the next four months in the US, approximately 81,000 people will die from the virus. Estimates range between 38,000 and 162,000 US deaths.
The analysis was developed in response to requests from the University of Washington School of Medicine and other US hospital systems and state governments working to determine when COVID-19 would overwhelm their ability to care for patients. The state-by-state data analysis projects demand for hospital services, including the availability of ventilators, beds, and general hospital beds.
The forecast predicts that 41 states will need more ICU beds than they currently have available and that 11 states may need to increase their ICU beds by 50% or more to meet patient needs before the current wave of the pandemic ends. (The end is defined as fewer than 10 deaths per day nationwide.)
IHME will update the analysis routinely as a source of “real-time” information for hospital system administrators and local, state, and federal health policymakers. The analysis is based on an extensive range of information and data sources, including:
IHME released a paper today that includes the in-depth analysis and a description of methods. The study discusses how health systems can help address excess need by:
“We hope these forecasts will help leaders of medical systems figure out innovative ways to deliver high-quality care to those who will need their services in the coming weeks,” Murray said.
Media contacts
Dean R. Owen, +1-206-434-5630 (mobile); dean1227@uw.edu
Amelia Apfel, +1-206-359-5111 (mobile); arapfel@uw.edu
Kelly Bienhoff, +1-913-302-3817 (mobile); kbien@uw.edu
NOTE: Hospital administrators, government officials, and others not associated with the news media may contact COVID19@healthdata.org.
Thanks to Joan Conlon for letting us know, and smile.
Frank and I were walking through the neighborhood recently, and as we passed Vito’s, a young man came running after us, calling, “Madam, Madam.” We turned to look at him as he handed me a large box of Clorox wipes. He just said, “This is for you.” Random act of kindness. No explanation was given!!!
While with the Dodgers, Gibson was named the National LeagueMVP in 1988. During his career, he hit two dramatic home runs in the World Series, off of two eventual Hall of Fame relief pitchers. With the Tigers, he clinched the 1984 World Series with a three-run homer off Goose Gossage, who had refused to walk him with a base open. In Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, Gibson faced closer Dennis Eckersley and hit a pinch-hit walk-off home run—often described as one of the most exciting moments in World Series history.[1] He was named to the All-Star team twice, in 1985 and 1988, but declined the invitation both times. He announced his retirement from baseball in August 1995.
Thanks to Mary Montgomery who’s prowling the local streets uncovering artistic gems
We have some’Artistes de Rue’ in Seattle, too. As a community art project my niece, Lisa Cach, designed the dragonfly and obtained the grant for money, mainly for the cost of the paint, from the city’s neighborhood art fund. They used street paint that will last and repaint it periodically so it still a good neighborhood community project. For those who might want to know, the dragonfly is Washington states official insect. Rhoda
On this Sunday we cannot help but contemplate why bad things are happening to good people. Here is one link to a Christian church and its teachings. Just click here, then on the colorful window to enjoy the music, prayers and sermon from this historic cathedral in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (where this writer was married to his lovely wife almost 56 years ago). Today the cathedral was “empty” except for the organist, the priest, and a choir of 4 talented singers. The beauty of this house of worship is well captured for the scores of worshipers on-line in this strange and unhappy time of social distancing.
Please feel free to send along Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim or other thoughts you may have about why bad things happen to good people or why evil even exists. I think it’s time for me to break out my C.S. Lewis collection.
Make sure you scroll down to enjoy the street art
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Thanks to Ann Milam. Here’s the corrected link.
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Quite a tribute! Thanks to Gordon G.
As Italy is in quarantine, the Italian Air Force flies a single jet, representing the virus, to meet other jets that stream the colors of the Italian flag while Pavarotti’s Nessus Dorma plays with the lyrics “we shall overcome”.
The U.S. may end up with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the industrialized world. This is how it’s going to play out.
From The Atlantic by Ed Young
Three months ago, no one knew that SARS-CoV-2 existed. Now the virus has spread to almost every country, infecting at least 446,000 people whom we know about, and many more whom we do not. It has crashed economies and broken health-care systems, filled hospitals and emptied public spaces. It has separated people from their workplaces and their friends. It has disrupted modern society on a scale that most living people have never witnessed. Soon, most everyone in the United States will know someone who has been infected. Like World War II or the 9/11 attacks, this pandemic has already imprinted itself upon the nation’s psyche.
A global pandemic of this scale was inevitable. In recent years, hundreds of health experts have written books, white papers, and op-eds warning of the possibility. Bill Gates has been telling anyone who would listen, including the 18 million viewers of his TED Talk. In 2018, I wrote a story for The Atlantic arguing that America was not ready for the pandemic that would eventually come. In October, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security war-gamed what might happen if a new coronavirus swept the globe. And then one did. Hypotheticals became reality. “What if?” became “Now what?”
So, now what? In the late hours of last Wednesday, which now feels like the distant past, I was talking about the pandemic with a pregnant friend who was days away from her due date. We realized that her child might be one of the first of a new cohort who are born into a society profoundly altered by COVID-19. We decided to call them Generation C.
Thanks to Mary Montgomery!
Thanks to Sandy J. for this alert
Thanks to Sandy J. for this alert!
Thanks to Pam P. for letting us know what we’re missing 🙂
A National Public Radio station has tuned out President Donald Trump. Seattle’s KUOW said fact-checking the president’s falsehoods and exaggeration became a challenge during the live broadcast.
KUOW in Seattle announced this week it would no longer air the president’s coronavirus briefings live because its journalists could not correct Trump’s “false information” and “exaggeration” fast enough.
“It is imperative that they are fact-checked, which is a challenge during a live broadcast,” the station said in a statement, denying that the decision was “politically based.”
The NPR affiliate explained that allowing Trump to use its platform failed to serve listeners and may have risked the community’s health and safety. Reporters would continue to cover the briefings and report on them “in the format most useful to our listeners,” the station said.
“After airing the White House briefings live for two weeks, a pattern of false information and exaggeration increasingly had many at KUOW questioning whether these briefings were in the best service of our mission ― to create and serve a more informed public,” the station said. “Of even greater concern was the potential impact of false information on the health and safety of our community.”
KUOW cited three recent examples of falsehoods from the president: Trump declaring that no one knew a pandemic of this “proportion” was coming despite warnings from the intelligence community; Trump claiming there were few empty shelves in stores despite local reports of many being out of supplies; and Trump’s announcement that the drug chloroquine would be “available almost immediately” to treat the virus.
“The president claimed, incorrectly, that the FDA had fast-tracked approval of its use to treat COVID-19,” the station noted. “There isn’t current medical evidence of the efficacy of that drug in treating COVID-19.”
KUOW said it will review its decision daily and “will continue to treat all opportunities for live preemption on a case-by-case basis weighing for importance, news value and immediacy of need-to-know.”
MSNBC and CNN cut away from Trump’s news conference earlier this week, angering the White House, The Washington Post noted. Major broadcast networks also have cut away to their nightly news shows.
Thanks to Diane S!
Thanks to Donna McK — something to sing about!
Ed note: This is an abstract from an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine. We are fortunate to have followed good precautions here at Skyline.
BACKGROUND
Long-term care facilities are high-risk settings for severe outcomes from outbreaks of Covid-19, owing to both the advanced age and frequent chronic underlying health conditions of the residents and the movement of health care personnel among facilities in a region.
After identification on February 28, 2020, of a confirmed case of Covid-19 in a skilled nursing facility in King County, Washington, Public Health–Seattle and King County, aided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, launched a case investigation, contact tracing, quarantine of exposed persons, isolation of confirmed and suspected cases, and on-site enhancement of infection prevention and control.
As of March 18, a total of 167 confirmed cases of Covid-19 affecting 101 residents, 50 health care personnel, and 16 visitors were found to be epidemiologically linked to the facility. Most cases among residents included respiratory illness consistent with Covid-19; however, in 7 residents no symptoms were documented. Hospitalization rates for facility residents, visitors, and staff were 54.5%, 50.0%, and 6.0%, respectively. The case fatality rate for residents was 33.7% (34 of 101). As of March 18, a total of 30 long-term care facilities with at least one confirmed case of Covid-19 had been identified in King County.
In the context of rapidly escalating Covid-19 outbreaks, proactive steps by long-term care facilities to identify and exclude potentially infected staff and visitors, actively monitor for potentially infected patients, and implement appropriate infection prevention and control measures are needed to prevent the introduction of Covid-19.
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