The NH Veteran's Home In Tilton has been blessedly free of C19, staff and residents, since February. That all exploded last week when they went from 3 cases among the vets to 11 and 6 staff and now 21 vets and 12 staff in about eight days. Two vets have died, with the honors they provide for those lads there. We know one resident well, have connection to a second, plus two staff, one of whom I mentioned a few times over the years, as he is the physical therapist at my hospital as well as Tilton. The other is a woman we knew throughout her childhood who went through school with my second son. AFAIK, they are not among the infected, but it's a small facility and as you can see, things can turn around quickly.
The pattern seems to be that there is nothing, nothing, nothing, and then all hell breaks loose and everyone scrambles, with some dying.
At my work, our site has had administrators congratulating our 'community' for being so good at obedience-to-the-rules that we've had only cases that seem to be 'from outside' (people who did personal travel out-of-area and brought COVID back with them) without any significant community spread within our ranks.
ReplyDeleteMy view is that, just as with New Zealand, one can't be certain that it hasn't just been good fortune -- it doesn't matter much if we flagrantly violate the rules if there is no COVID to spread, and no-COVID-to-spread been our situation pretty much from the start, so the lack of community spread can't be taken as a proof of our effectiveness at masking-and-social-distancing.
I can see now that in spite of the greatly increased local risk ('cases' & hospitalization & ICU use much higher than the spring peak in my area) people are really 'done' with isolation and closures, and have started having family gatherings and shopping as usual. The supermarkets that had one-way aisles have gone back to normal. Presence of a ceremonial mask or bandana (whether effectively worn or not) is sufficient to gain entry to any retail establishment.
Care homes are a place where the staff can't avoid getting close to the patients, and each one deals with many patients -- and that's why such places have always been prone to influenza outbreaks etc. I was convinced from early spring that the majority of severe cases and deaths from COVID were nosocomial, and I've not seen anything to change my view (not that I've gone looking, mind you.)
A disjointed comment, so make of it what you will.
I had to look up "nosocomial." Thanks for the word. I think you are correct in that estimation. Those are the easiest spreads and the most compromised individuals, so it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteIf you think of ping-pong balls bouncing around in a box, with only a limited opening to get into a smaller box, the fewer balls on the outside, the fewer will make it through that slot. The interior box seems safe, until it suddenly isn't. But which balls get in at which time has an unpredictable quality.