All of us have probably become news-junkies by now. I KNOW the Replay player-base will skew toward the older end just from chatting with others, so all of us oldsters have to be a little more careful than “the kids,” and are therefore paying much more attention to current events than we normally would. Here’s what’s happening in central Massachusetts at the present:
Current Cases of COVID-19
In Massachusetts, there is a total of 1,838 cases of COVID-19 as of today, March 25th. 15 people have died and 103 are hospitalized. 19,794 people have been tested state-wide. You can get more on the daily update of cases and how many cases by county here COVID-19 Response Reporting
Personally being one of those “higher risk” individuals, I’m sticking pretty close to home. Other than bringing in the mail, I haven’t walked outside my door in a week. Yesterday, I was wondering if I should try to reschedule my annual physical exam by my PCP for late April. I was literally sitting down to email her to ask for advice on that when I got an email from her telling me not to come; we’d reschedule at a future time. The good news is she was ahead of me. The bad news is she must be expecting this situation to continue for a minimum of another four or five weeks or she wouldn’t have taken this step. Being affiliated with the UMass health group, she has access to their latest info and expectations, certainly better than my own resources, and possibly better than what is being given out publicly. So, the doctors aren’t anticipating this going away quickly.
I copied the following tips from an internet article:
If you feel sick, stay home, and if you have sick children, keep them at home.
Identify and isolate those who are sick and undertake quick evaluation measures like non-invasive temperature readings for entry into public venues, including transportation systems.
If someone in your household has tested positive for the virus causing CV19 disease, keep your family home.
If you’re an older person or have other conditions that put you at higher risk of fatality from CV19 disease, stay home.
Maintain the best enhanced hygiene practices.
Maintain the “social distancing” guidelines outside of work environments, which in terms of group size may still temporarily limit gathering venues such as places of worship, public events, restaurants and bars, etc., but establish a rolling open strategy for those venues.
Where businesses can function near full capacity remotely, maintain that distancing for a prescribed amount of time.
Allow those who are at much lower risk for CV19 fatality to go back to work.
Evaluate these measures constantly and adjust accordingly.
