Borrowed from “Americans Against Republicans” on-line. Check it out!
Three more deaths of senior citizens in Maine were reported at todays daily press briefing – bringing the total number of deaths up to 39. The total number of confirmed cases are 907 with 455 patients recovered since yesterday. Importantly, 222 of the 907 cases are health care workers.
Todays deaths included two women in their 70s and a man in his 80s.
The outbreak at nursing homes and long-term care facilities continues to be of particular concern said Dr. Nirav Shah, Director of the Maine CDC. One hundred and twenty-three residents of long-term care facilities and sixty-seven staff members are among the total number of confirmed cases. When outbreaks at these facilities become known, MaineCDC ships PPE to that setting in partnership with MaineDOT. Since March 8th, 600,000 pieces of PPE – as Dr. Shah said today: “PPE delivered to Maine people and for Maine people.”
When asked for his response to Dr. Robert Redfield’s recent comment, Dr. Shah said: “I don’t disagree with his comment about a second wave coming in December. I am concerned it could happen this summer.” The doctor said when questioned that additional funding that might be coming from the federal government would be used for anti-body testing, to hire more staff with technical expertise and to purchase more chemicals necessary for testing. Dr. Shah has reported in the past that two to three times more testing is required before the country should be reopened.
Not only are the elderly themselves vulnerable to COVID-19, but nursing homes are as well according to an article in today’s The New York Times. The article, “Crisis Pushes Elder Homes to the Brink,” reported that “some nursing homes, which often run on razor-thin profit margins, may be unable to pay their rent and other bills without government help.” The article quoted Charlene Harrington, a professor emerita of nursing at the University of California, San Francisco. “It is possible that many nursing home chains could go bankrupt with the virus.” The cost of providing PPE for staff members and related expenses are prohibitive for some chains already in financial trouble as some are.