The news is worse out of Tilton, NH. After months of no cases, the seal has been broken and they have over 40, with 13 dead. Most of these guys are pretty old (Joe Bennett, who we visited until recently is 101), but not all. There are disabled vets in their 60s and even 50s there. Staff have tested positive as well, which means others have to work overtime or otherwise cover for those not there. The cumulative effect of that is enormous. People can get energised by a short-term emergency and rise to the occasion. It's source of pride and accomplishment. I may have stayed at my job so many years because it was a series of daily emergency, which are a rush to fix. I never liked covering on the longer-term units where the emergencies just silently an softly clubbed you day after day, nothing getting fixed. Long-term staffing shortages, where no one really cares to hear about it anymore, and you just show up and put your shoulder to the wheel every morning without thanks take a different type of courage.
So spare a prayer for all concerned when you get a moment.
I can't tell if you mean to say that your 101 year old friend recently died, or if you merely stopped visiting him but that he is still alive. I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties they're having.
ReplyDeleteMy mother tells me (by phone, of course) that my aunt Esta died of COVID in her assisted-living facility. She is the first person I know to have succumbed to it. She was 91. I remember her as a very sweet lady who came to family gatherings as often as she was allowed, although the family matriarch ruled that she talked too much and didn't always permit her to come. I remember her father, too, who was a skilled carpenter. He built a really wonderful mountain cabin for them up near Gatlinburg, where she lived until recently.
I've been reading about findings indicating that rectal emissions (farts and poop) may be the best transmitters of infection, which would be why the nursing homes are so likely to have victims. Also, given the hygiene of college students, might help explain the outbreaks in that group.
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