Coronavirus Update
- Kin Gee
- Apr 16, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 17, 2020
Editorial note – Please share and cross post this to family, friends and neighbors. See https://betterholmdel.wixsite.com/home for past postings. If you wish to receive this as an email directly, please send an email to betterholmdel@yahoo.com.]
Coronavirus Updates
As we continue to adjust and adapt to these trying times, there continues to be heartwarming stories of generosity and efforts that really show case the good side of humanity.
Holmdel’s drive for personal protective equipment (“PPE”) have been very successful. The equipment was distributed to Holmdel first responders as well as to the Bayshore Medical Center. In addition, we are seeing efforts from both sides of the aisle. NJ State Senator Vin Gopal (D-LD11), through his Vin Gopal Civic Association, has raised funds to buy PPE and has distributed gloves, sanitizer and N95 masks to more than 75 agencies in Monmouth County, including police departments in Hazlet, Holmdel and Middletown as well as Holmdel First Aid Squad. A small group of Hong Kong human rights advocates that have worked with Congressman Chris Smith (R-CD4) have donated more than 4,000 masks to CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township.
Meanwhile, there has been tremendous efforts to provide meals to our frontline workers. Bell Works teamed up with Bell Markets to provide and deliver meals to first responders that work in Holmdel. Other community groups such as Front Line Appreciation Group (“FLAG”) which has many local NJ chapters including the greater Holmdel-area, have simultaneously supported local business and ensure first responders are well-nourished.
In case you missed it, on April 14th, more than 200 first responders (police officers, firefighters and EMTs) gathered and formed a line on both sides of the entrance to Bayshore Medical Center and gave a “clap out” to doctors and nurses as they walked in for the overnight shift at the hospital. See link below for pictures and videos in the PATCH article.
Coronavirus Crisis Financial Assistance
Many small businesses are affected by the pandemic crisis and many individuals are either layoff or furloughed. The New Jersey official COVID 19 website list information and programs that could provide financial assistances including unemployment benefits and housing/rental assistance. See link below.
“ALL CLEAR” Signal Not Yet Sounded
Right now, the most effective plan we have against the coronavirus is social distancing and shelter in place. Understandably, this been very difficult for many people. Unfortunately, according to a recent Political.com article, many medical school labs and teaching hospitals are having trouble getting enough swabs, personal protective equipment and other supplies needed to collect and analyze patient samples. We also know that according to the American Clinical Laboratory Association (“ACLA”), coronavirus tests analyzed by commercial labs have plummeted by more than 30% over the past week.
Keep in mind that, at the moment, only individuals with symptoms were allowed to be tested. There is a very a startling report/letter sent to the New England Journal of Medicine that, based on a small universal testing sample of at a New York City hospital, more than 1 in 8 tested positive even though the patients were asymptomatic (i.e., show no symptoms). The use of universal testing was for all pregnant patients presenting for delivery was intended to guide hospital isolation practices and bed assignments, inform neonatal care, and guide the use of personal protective equipment. See link below for the New England Journal of Medicine report.
This is a very small sample, over a small window of time and for a unique set of patients. However, if the results can be extrapolated to the general population, and we recognize that this is a very big IF, this could imply that there might be as many as 1 million people in New York City alone are infected without showing symptoms and can continue to spread the virus!
If you follow the science and the best global practices, it appears that there must be a lot more testing so that data can be collected to really know the status and trend of the pandemic crisis. According to a Science.com article, South Korea, which has given the world hope in greatly slowing down its coronavirus epidemic, tested more 5,200 people per one million inhabitants. The United States? Less than 74 tests per one million inhabitants as of mid-March. Hopefully, this is something that will be considered by elected officials and healthcare experts in determining whether cities and states should be “re-open”. At the moment, it is believed that there is insufficient data to really know what’s happening. See also the following CNBC.com article.
Science.com article: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/coronavirus-cases-have-dropped-sharply-south-korea-whats-secret-its-success
CNBC.com article: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/16/coronavirus-testing-needs-to-be-widely-done-before-economy-reopens.html
There are some good signs. In some of the areas hit hard and where elected officials took actions early, it appears that reported cases may have peaked or plateaued. They may not be “out of the woods” yet but the problem is not getting worse. Until such time as treatments and vaccines are commercially available on a large scale or very clear signs that the virus has abated, social distancing and shelter in place is the only effective plan we have against the coronavirus pandemic and should be practice out of an abundance of caution.
Stay safe!
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