According to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, pigs in China are increasingly becoming infected with an influenza virus dubbed G4. The virus is said to be a hybrid of strains found in European and Asian birds: the H1N1 strain that caused the 2009 pandemic, and a North American H1N1 strain that has genes from …
There has been a lot of controversy over whether it is safe to fly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Granted, there are people who, due to work situations, family emergencies, etc., might not have a choice on whether they fly or not while others have chosen to stay on the ground, avoiding the risk of infection that may be spread in …
On a recent conference call with a group of providers, we discussed one of the challenges we continue to face during the pandemic, that of “being prepared”, having sufficient supplies of PPE and understanding the needs in our centers and predicting future utilization. To assist in alleviating the fear of “running out” of PPE, the CDC has provided us with …
Certain underlying medical conditions are associated with higher risks for severe morbidity and mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Prevalence of these underlying conditions among workers differs by industry and occupation. Many essential workers, who hold jobs critical to the continued function of infrastructure operations have high potential for exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 because their jobs …
The Kaiser Foundation recently published an article on the impact of coronavirus on long-term care facilities over time. The data shows that long-term care facilities make up 8% of all coronavirus cases however more than 40% of all COVID-19 deaths. The analysis evaluated trends of long-term care cases and deaths between April and August 2020 to determine where and when …
2020 has been a year! The COVID-19 Pandemic has touched pretty much every aspect of life as we knew it and has changed it forever! Yes, we will return to a “new normal” but in a sense, we have lost our innocence. We have learned a hard lesson, there is risk with everything we do. As we continue our journey, …
Today the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) received the final report from the independent Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes (Commission), which was facilitated by MITRE. The Commission’s findings align with the actions the Trump Administration and CMS have taken to contain the spread of the virus and to safeguard nursing home residents from the …
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DoD) today released two documents outlining the Trump Administration’s detailed strategy to deliver safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine doses to the American people as quickly and reliably as possible. The documents, developed by HHS in coordination with the DoD and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention …
