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alisondentaldesign · 8 months ago

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Welcome to Ethicare Dental: Your Comprehensive Guide for New Patients

Welcome to Ethicare Dental, where your smile is our top priority! We understand that choosing a dental practice can be a daunting task, but we're here to make your experience as seamless and enjoyable as possible. Located in the heart of Putney, our team of dedicated professionals is committed to providing exceptional dental care in a warm and welcoming environment. Whether you're due for a routine check-up or seeking advanced treatment options, Ethicare Dental has you covered.

Why Choose Ethicare Dental?

At Ethicare Dental, we pride ourselves on offering comprehensive dental services tailored to meet the unique needs of each patient. Here's why you should consider joining our dental family:

1. Experienced Professionals: Our team consists of highly skilled dentists, hygienists, and support staff who are passionate about delivering top-notch dental care. With years of experience and ongoing training, we stay abreast of the latest advancements in dentistry to ensure that you receive the best possible treatment.

2. State-of-the-Art Facilities: We've equipped our practice with the latest technology and amenities to enhance your comfort and convenience. From digital X-rays to intraoral cameras, we utilize cutting-edge tools to provide accurate diagnoses and effective treatments.

3. Personalized Care: Your oral health needs are unique, which is why we take the time to listen to your concerns and tailor our approach accordingly. Whether you require preventive care, cosmetic dentistry, or restorative treatments, we'll develop a personalized treatment plan that suits your goals and budget.

4. Focus on Education: We believe that patient education is key to maintaining optimal oral health. Our team will empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to make informed decisions about your dental care. From proper brushing techniques to dietary recommendations, we're here to support you every step of the way.

Your First Visit:

If you're ready to experience the Ethicare Dental difference, scheduling your first appointment is easy! Here's what you can expect during your initial visit:

1. Comprehensive Examination: Your journey with us begins with a thorough dental examination, during which we'll assess your oral health and discuss any concerns you may have. We'll take the time to answer your questions and address any anxieties you may be experiencing.

2. Personalized Treatment Plan: Based on our findings, we'll develop a customized treatment plan tailored to your unique needs and goals. Whether you require a routine cleaning, dental fillings, or more extensive procedures, we'll work with you to prioritize your oral health needs.

3. Comfort and Convenience: At Ethicare Dental, your comfort is our priority. We offer a range of amenities to help you relax during your visit, including complimentary refreshments and entertainment options. If you have any special requests or accommodations, please don't hesitate to let us know.

4. Ongoing Support: Our relationship with you doesn't end after your first visit. We'll provide ongoing support and guidance to help you maintain a healthy and beautiful smile for years to come. Whether you need advice on oral hygiene practices or follow-up appointments, we're here to help.

Join Ethicare Dental Today:

Ready to take the first step toward a healthier smile? Join the Ethicare Dental family today and experience the difference for yourself! To schedule your appointment or learn more about our services, please contact us. We look forward to welcoming you to our practice and helping you achieve the smile of your dreams.

Ethicare Dental

Website: https://www.ethicaredental.co.uk/

Phone: 020 8870 5059

Address: Ethicare Dental Practice, 68 West Hill, Wandsworth, London, SW18 1RU

Email: [email protected]

#Putney dentist #teeth whitening Putney #composite bonding Putney #Dentist Putney #New Patients Putney

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cathygeha · 5 years ago

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REVIEW

Once A Spy by Mary Jo Putney

The Rogues Redeemed #4

This historical romance is one that is definitely fiction. If you are willing to suspend reality and read about a time when Napoleon and Wellington were about to battle at Waterloo then this book might be for you. That said, the beginning was rather slow and dealt with the mundane world of two people marrying for convenience and companionship and getting to know one another over a period of time. Everything was very cerebral and open and dull with some social engagements, a lot of talking and nothing to really engage the mind. I almost gave up but plodded on

Suzanne and Colonel Duval first met when she married his cousin. In the years apart he has been a soldier and she ended up in a Turkish harem. Both are a bit tired and jaded. The fact that they married was strange enough if perhaps believable. The idea that they would not have sex was also believable after hearing all that she had endured. And yet, after hearing a bit about her life in the harem it made me question much of what she was willing to do at various points in the story. Simon was very patient and caring and eventually the two did fall in love but it was a rather torturous process and took a long time...and a lot of words.

When they ended up going to France the story became even more iffy in my mind. A long lost relative is found, war occurs, a near rape takes place, another illegitimate relative is found and helped, inheritances are sorted, some spying takes place, famous men are encountered and miraculous healing occurs that will make the HEA of Simon and Suzanne even better than a marriage of convenience would have done.

Did I enjoy this book? Not so much

Would I read more in this series? No (although I did enjoy the first book)

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Zebra for the ARC – This is my honest revieww.

2-3 Stars

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43406165-once-a-spy

BLURB

Renowned for her unique blend of adventure, wit and sweeping romance, New York Times bestselling author Mary Jo Putney matches a dashing spy with a woman whose past will bear no scrutiny in Napoleonic era London. Love and survival in the shadow of Waterloo... Wearied by his years as a British intelligence officer, Simon Duval resigns his commission after Napoleon’s abdication. Hoping to find new meaning in his life, he returns to England, where he discovers his cousin’s widow, Suzanne Duval, the Comtesse de Chambron. Working as a seamstress, living in reduced circumstances, Suzanne has had a life as complicated as Simon’s. While both believe they are beyond love, their sympathetic bond leads him to propose a marriage of companionship, and Suzanne accepts. She didn't want or expect a true marriage, but as Suzanne joins Simon in a search for his long missing foster brother, warmth and caring begin to heal both their scars—and a powerful passion sparks between them. Then news from France threatens to disrupt their happiness. Napoleon has escaped from Elba and Wellington personally asks Simon to help prevent another devastating war. Only this time, Simon does not go into danger alone. He and Suzanne will face deadly peril together, and pray that love will carry them through...

#Mary Jo Putney #NetGalley #Kensington-Zebra #The Rogues Redeemed 4 #Historical Romance #Waterloo

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locolondonsalsa · 3 years ago

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Events to Organize for Making New Friends in London This Summer

You need to be patient when making new pals. Friendships don't simply spring up in a single day however broaden over the years as you get to spend extra time with humans and get to recognize them higher. Sometimes, however, you want to offer friendship a supporting hand. Opportunities to socialise will now not always crop up easily, unless you arise and arrange some thing yourself. Thankfully, if you live in London, you've got limitless opportunities to arrange social sports for making new buddies out of humans you to date realize only a little.

Whatever your hobbies, London gives you many locations in which you may go along with a set of humans you have got delivered together to have some amusing. Perhaps you may positioned up a be aware for your body of workers or college noticeboard, marketing a few social gatherings you have got organized. Getting people collectively on this manner is a gorgeous way of making new friends.

However, you may want a few idea for matters happening in and around London that you may advocate as social activities. Here is just a small selection of things you can do over the next couple of months in London so you can see the myriad of possibilities that London offers you for making new friends:

1. An organized walk

London has so much history, structure and natural beauty that we just do not get to see in the regular route of our busy lives while we typically travel by way of car or public shipping. Organizing a walk between landmarks or certain factors of interest around London and opening it up to others to come back along is any other top manner of making new friends. You ought to even make it a sponsored stroll in case you want to, and gain salsa in london charity in the process, however that isn't always essential just for making new pals. What subjects is taking some time out in London to take within the surroundings and the facilities. There are such a lot of walks you may soak up and round London that it's miles difficult to recognize wherein to begin however right here are only some recommendations for you: when you have an interest in crime or history and feature an interest in making new pals with like-minded people, you can move on a Jack the Ripper taking walks tour. If you want some thing greater patriotic, mainly as we've got simply celebrated a Royal Wedding, how about a stroll around Royal residences? Alternatively, you could stroll the Thames from Hammersmith Bridge to Putney Bridge, to revel in the waterside scenery. If road markets are extra your component, why now not recommend a walk among Little Venice and Camden Market, or for lifestyle vultures, you could recommend a troll around Covent Garden, taking in a pleasant café or coffee shop as you move

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healthcarenewsme · 3 years ago

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Hospitals at breaking point as virus ravages Dougherty County - Georgia Health News

Hospitals at breaking point as virus ravages Dougherty County – Georgia Health News

As a mobile morgue was scheduled to roll into the city on Monday, officials outlined this week a hospital system that is stretched to the limit with a record number of COVID-19 patients. “Today we had more patients in our hospital than we have had since the beginning of the pandemic,” Dr. Kathy Hudson, chief medical officer at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, said as she began her remarks during…

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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Albany agencies offer hope for those struggling with addiction during COVID-19 pandemic ALBANY — Disruptive events such as a natural disaster or loss of a job can affect individuals, as well as their families, even when the circumstances are short in duration. In the midst of a global pandemic that has disrupted the lives of nearly everyone in myriad ways — from being shut off from loved ones to long periods spent in isolation — and has lasted for a year the impact has been massive. For many, the stress and depression brought about by this unprecedented event has led to them turning to the use of substances, from the legal such as alcohol to street drugs such as methamphetamine and in particular opioids. Students, faculty and staff at Albany State University gathered on Thursday, February 25, 2021 for a retirement celebration for Dr. Stephanie R. Harris-Jolly, director of Counseling and Student Accessibility Services. Click for more. During the period of May 2019 to May 2020 the number of opioid overdose deaths were the greatest in the nation for any 12-month period, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in December. While the number of deaths was climbing prior to the emergence of COVID-19, it seems to have accelerated during the pandemic. In June 2020, a survey revealed that 13.3 percent of U.S. adults had either started or increased use of substances to deal with stress or emotions related to COVID-19. That trend has been seen locally as well, said Sandra Dailey, coordinator of the Medically Assisted Treatment/Recovery is Everything (MATT/RISE) program. MATT/RISE operates under Aspire Behavioral Health & Developmental Disability Services in Albany. “As far as the RISE program is concerned and what I’ve seen and heard talking with other agencies, the answer is yes,” Dailey said of increased substance use. “I was talking with a state health official; she said there has been a tremendous increase in drug overdoses in the state as well.” In 2020, Dougherty County Emergency Medical Services responded to 263 suspected opioid overdose cases, several of which were fatal. The service has noticed a sharp increase in overdose cases, many involving fentanyl, EMS Director Sam Harrell said. During one 12-hour shift in December paramedics responded to four overdose calls, more cases than the service once handled over an entire month. Through a grant last year from the Morehouse School of Medicine, secured through the Phoebe Putney Health System’s Network of Trust, Dougherty EMS was able to purchase naloxone — also known by the brand Narcan — to help revive patients who have overdosed on an opioid. Paramedics carry the nasal spray in their bags and can administer it much more quickly than when they had to return to the ambulance to get intravenous doses for patients. In those situations time is critical for patients, Allen said. “They literally stop breathing,” he said. “In four to six minutes you start losing brain cells if you’re not breathing. In four to six minutes you’re dying.” The pandemic’s role in turning individuals to seek relief in substance use is obvious, Dailey said. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. “In talking with individuals we serve it affected them emotionally,” she said. “I’ve seen an increase in anxiety and depression as a result of the pandemic. Due to the stresses that come with COVID I’m seeing more anxiety, generalized anxiety and depression.” In addition to opioids, people have been turning to methamphetamine, cocaine and the old standby — alcohol. And many have problems with two or more substances. MATT/RISE has remained open nearly throughout the entire pandemic. It provides help through early intervention for high-risk individuals. It also offers educational prevention “The RISE program includes a collaborative care model that relies on a team consisting of licensed mental health professionals, certified addiction recovery entities and specialists and medical providers,” Dailey said. “We’re here and we’re here to help.” Assisting those who are entering long-term recovery is another ASPIRE program, the Change Center. The peer-led addiction recovery support center staffed by others who are in recovery provides a variety of activities in a non-clinical setting designed for individuals and their families working through recovery. The center, which celebrated its two-year anniversary on Feb. 12, offers individualized paths that include everything from regular meetings and bonding to yoga. “Our programs complement one another,” said Katyryn Newcomb, program director at the Change Center. “Our main goal (here) is to help people after that first year. It’s based on peer support and implementing the tools that are taught in other programs. We’re really treating the whole person.” During 2020, the center provided nearly 20,000 support services. “(That’s) anything from support of employment to transportation to appointments and screenings, natural support, check-in and educational support,” Newcomb said. She also has seen the effects of the pandemic over the past year. Alcohol deaths are even greater than deaths from opioid overdoses over the past year, and cocaine use increased by 26 percent across the country. “The isolation has caused people to either start this process or continue the unhealthy coping mechanisms,” Newcomb said. “I think people who were healthy, who didn’t have any mental health problems before COVID, are having difficulties now. If you look at people who had problems before, that has been exacerbated.” Heading into its third year, the Change Center will continue its work to provide activities focused on the whole person, she said. “Hope happens and recovery happens,” Newcomb said. “We reduce the stigma and (establish) a mindset that this is possible. Residents can contact MATT/RISE by calling (229) 854-4333 or Dailey at [email protected]. The Change Center can be reached at (229) 299-9678 and also has a Facebook page. Source link Orbem News #addiction #Agencies #Albany #changecenter #coronavirus #Covid19 #depression #Hope #hospital #kathrynnewcomb #Medicine #Offer #Opioid #overdose #Pandemic #pharmacology #physiology #Psychology #recovery #sandradailey #struggling

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realcleargoodtimes · 5 years ago

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Coronavirus patients are faring worse in rural Georgia than almost anywhere else in America, according to researchers at Emory University in Atlanta.

More than a quarter of people in Terrell County live in poverty, the local hospital shuttered decades ago, and businesses have been closing for years, sending many young and able fleeing for cities. Those left behind are sicker and more vulnerable; even before the virus arrived, the life expectancy for men here was six years shorter than the American average.Rural people, African Americans and the poor are more likely to work in jobs not conducive to social distancing, like the food processing plant in nearby Mitchell County where four employees died of COVID-19. They have less access to health care and so more often delay treatment for chronic conditions; in southwest Georgia, the diabetes rate of 16 percent is twice as high as in Atlanta. Transportation alone can be a challenge, so that by the time they make it to the hospital, they’re harder to save.At least 21 people have died from COVID-19 in this county, and dozens more in the neighboring rural communities. For weeks, Weston’s phone would not stop ringing: another person in the hospital, another person dead. An hour before this funeral, Weston’s phone rang again, and this time it was news that another had succumbed to the virus—his own first cousin, as close to him as a brother.Some here had thought that their isolation might spare them, but instead it made the pandemic particularly cruel. In Terrell County, population 8,500, everyone knows everyone and every death is personal. As the mourners arrived at the cemetery, just the handful allowed, each knew others suffering and dying.The couple’s son, Desmond Tolbert, sat stunned. After caring for his parents, he’d also rushed his aunt, his mother’s sister, to a hospital an hour away, and there she remained on a ventilator. Her daughter, Latasha Taylor, wept thinking that if her mother survived, she would have to find a way to tell her that her sister was dead and buried.“It’s just gone haywire, I mean haywire,” thought Eddie Keith, a 65-year-old funeral home attendant standing in the back who was familiar with all the faces on the funeral programs piling up. “People dying left and right.”Usually, on hard days like this, he would call his friend of 30 years, who was a pastor at a country church and could always convince him that God would not give more than he could endure.But a couple weeks earlier, that pastor had started coughing, too.___As Georgia and other states rush to reopen, some out-of-the way places might believe that the virus won’t find them. Many here thought that, too. But it arrived, quietly at first then with breathtaking savagery.The cemetery on the edge of town staggered graveside services, one an hour, all day. The county coroner typically works between 38 and 50 deaths a year; they reached No. 41 by mid-April. They ordered an emergency morgue.Of the 10 counties with the highest death rate per capita in America, half are in rural southwest Georgia, where there are no packed skyscraper apartment buildings or subways. Ambulances rush along country roads, just fields and farms in either direction, carrying COVID-19 patients to the nearest hospital, for some an hour away. The small county seats are mostly quiet, the storefronts shuttered, some long ago because of the struggling economy, and some only now because owners are too afraid to reopen.These counties circle the city of Albany, which is where authorities believe the outbreak began at a pair of funerals in February. Albany is also home to the main hospital in the region, Phoebe Putney Memorial, which serves an area of 800,000 people spanning more than 50 miles in every direction, many of them with little other access to care.The hospital saw its first known coronavirus patient on March 10; within a few days, it had 60 and the ICU was full. Two weeks later, patients began flooding in from farther-flung rural communities. Helicopters buzzed from the top of the parking garage, flying patients to other hospitals that still had room to take them. They burned through six months of masks and gowns in six days, said Phoebe Putney president Scott Steiner. Then they were competing for supplies against wealthier, more politically powerful places; they paid $1 each for surgical masks that typically cost a nickel and were losing about $1 million each day.The patients were very sick. Some died within hours. Some died on the way, in the back of ambulances. The region is predominantly black, but still African Americans died disproportionately, Steiner said. African Americans accounted for about 80% of the hospital’s deaths.Black people have been dying at alarming rates across the country: the latest Associated Press analysis of available data shows that African Americans represent about 14% of the population in the areas covered but nearly one-third of those who have died.By nearly every measure, coronavirus patients are faring worse in rural Georgia than almost anywhere else in America, according to researchers at Emory University in Atlanta. Although New York City had thousands more deaths, the per capita death rate in these Georgia counties is just as high.“They are vulnerable people living in vulnerable places, people who are marginalized on a variety of measures, whether we’re talking about race, whether we’re talking about education or employment, in places that have fewer resources,” said Shivani Patel, an epidemiologist at Emory. Then COVID-19 arrived: “It’s like our worst nightmare coming true.”Dr. James Black, the medical director of emergency services at Phoebe Putney, was born in this hospital, grew up in this region and is proud of how they’ve managed with the odds stacked against them. He hasn’t had a day off in two months. The question now, he believes, is whether society decides, in the wake of the virus, to continue neglecting its most vulnerable people and places.“I think that history is going to judge us not only on how well we prepared, it’s not going to just judge us on how well we responded,” he said, “but what we learned from it, and what we change.”Georgia has lost seven rural hospitals in the last decade. Nine counties in rural Georgia don’t even have a doctor, according to the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals; 18 have no family practitioner, 60 have no pediatrician, 77 without a psychiatrist.Ezekiel Holley, the longtime leader of Terrell County’s NAACP, said health care is what has left him “banging his head against a wall.”At first Holley thought a virus would be one thing that did not discriminate. He opened the newspaper, scanned the faces in the obituaries and knew every one of them.“Then I thought, why are low income people and people of color dying more than anyone else? This is the richest nation in the world, why doesn’t it have a level playing field?” he said. “Tell me that.”___At first, Benjamin Tolbert just felt a malaise; he had no appetite. Within a couple days, he could barely stand.His son, Desmond, took him to the hospital in Albany. By then it was full, and he was sent to another hospital an hour south. Benjamin’s wife, Nellie Mae, who everyone called Pollye Ann, got sick the next day. She was routed from the Albany hospital to another an hour north.Everyone in town knew Benjamin, 58, as a hard worker. He had worked for 28 years at a Tyson Foods plant, and yet he always found more work to do, washing his car, tending the lawn. He and his wife had been together 30 years. He was mild-mannered, but she found a joke in everything. She was a minister, she played the organ, sang gospel and danced, wildly, joyfully.“Oh my goodness, she was a dancer, and the dances were so hilarious, you would just fall out laughing watching her dance and laugh at herself,” said their niece, Latasha Taylor, whom they loved like a daughter. Benjamin would hang back, but Pollye Ann would pull him up and he’d dance along with her.Both were diabetic, Pollye Ann had had heart valve surgery, Benjamin had been on dialysis. Pollye Ann’s sister, Katherine Taylor Peters, often got dialysis treatments with him. They were a close-knit family: Peters lived just blocks away.Shortly after the Tolberts got sick, Peters called her daughter and said she too had an incessant cough and was struggling to breathe. Latasha was working hours away, so she called her cousin, Desmond, and asked him to check on her.He put her in his car and drove her to another hospital an hour from home. They soon sedated her and put her on a ventilator.Much of the rest is a blur for Desmond and Latasha: calls from doctors and nurses, driving hours among three hospitals, begging to see their parents but being told it was far too dangerous.“I couldn’t see them, I couldn’t talk to them,” said Desmond, 29, who had lived with his parents all this life. Suddenly he was alone.And all around them, neighbors were getting sick.“So many people, it’s a feeling you can’t even explain. It’s like a churning in your stomach,” said Taylor. “People you’re normally waving at, speaking to in passing, at the pharmacy, you’re never going to see them again.”Desmond was on the phone with a nurse as his mother took her last breath. Two days later, the call came from his father’s caregivers. Benjamin never knew that his wife got sick. She didn’t know her husband was on his death bed. They were apart, far from home, without their son at their sides.The only solace he can find is imagining them meeting again on the other side, and that neither had to live without the other one.___Eddie Keith had known this couple all his life, he knew their phone number by heart, where they lived, where they worked, their mothers and fathers.“They knew me real well,” he said, “as well as I knew them.”He has worked for the funeral home for 35 years, and part of his job is to pick up the bodies. He got a call about Pollye Ann’s passing, and when a hometown person dies someplace else, he considers it his duty to bring them home to Dawson.Sometimes he talks to them as he drives, sometimes he sings.When the second call came about her husband, two days later, he wondered if what was happening in his city might be too much to bear. He’s used to death. But now people were dying one right after the next, too quickly to reckon with each in real time.Keith is a deacon at a country church down a dirt road just outside of town. His pastor, Rev. Alfred Starling, always told him that God doesn’t make mistakes, and Keith wanted to be reminded of that now, because Dawson’s people kept dying, and Keith kept retrieving them. But the next morning he was picking up a body in Tallahassee when the pastor’s wife called. He’d gone to the hospital with a bad cough, and he hadn’t made it.They’d known each other 30 years. Once, years ago, he’d complimented his pastor’s necktie. After that, every time the pastor bought himself a tie, he bought Keith one too. It became a symbol of their love for each other. “He would always look out for me,” he said.Keith pulled off the road and sat there a half an hour.“Why God? Why God? Why God?” he thought, and he caught himself. He was always taught not to question God, so he asked for forgiveness.There were three funerals the next day, and he left just after to pick up his pastor’s body.He talked to him: “I didn’t think you’d leave me so early; I thought we were going to grow old together.”He thought of his pastor’s favorite spiritual. “Good news, good news,” the pastor would sing and walk from behind the pulpit, a little strut in his step. “I’m going to lay down my burden, store up my cross. And I’m going home to live with Jesus, ain’t that good news.”He sang it to his pastor as he drove him home.___By time the Tolberts’ funeral arrived, so many had been lost to COVID-19 that Rev. Willard Weston had gotten used to delivering his eulogies through a mask. Gloves. Hand sanitizer. Don’t touch, don’t embrace, no matter how much you want to.“At this pace, you don’t get a chance to really take a deep breath from the previous death, and then you’re getting a call about another,” he said. He’d found himself on his knees in his bathroom, trying to scream out the sadness so he could keep going.He put on his suit and tie.He walked outside, looked up to the sky and pleaded with God to find the strength to deliver a double funeral.“Lord, how can I go and do this?”In normal times, the Tolbert family’s funeral would have drawn a packed house. Pollye Ann was a minister at Weston’s church. She could deliver testimony like no one he’d ever seen: she was like a freight train, he recalled, slow at first then faster, faster, faster. People were drawn to her.Instead it was just him and a handful of mourners in the cemetery, staring at the two caskets. He read from scripture and told their son, Desmond, that he’d never walk alone.He worried his instinct to comfort with an embrace would overtake his knowledge that he couldn’t, so he walked away and got in his car. He felt guilty. He prayed for God to take that guilt away. Because there was more to do. The next Saturday, he would have three funerals, back to back.A couple weeks later, on a Friday afternoon, he was preparing to leave his empty church and head home for the weekend without a single funeral planned for the first time in weeks. It felt hopeful. Then his phone rang again.“Man, no. Oh, wow,” he said, and his shoulders slumped.“Some more bad news. Somebody else has passed.”___There was some good news too.Pollye Ann Tolbert’s sister survived weeks on a ventilator. She still tested positive for coronavirus and remained in isolation, so her daughter Latasha could only talk to her by phone.The first thing she asked when she woke was how her sister and brother-in-law were doing. Latasha paused. Her mother repeated the question. It felt unreal. Mail still arrived in the mailbox for them. Their house was just as it was the day they left for the hospital. She and her cousin had washed the linens and wiped the surfaces to rid it of virus, but were otherwise too paralyzed to move a thing.“I had to tell her that while she was sleeping, her sister and brother-in-law left us forever,” Latasha said. “They’re already buried, they’re in the ground.”Peters told her daughter that the last thing she remembered was a doctor on the phone, telling her that her sister wasn’t going to make it. She thought she would die too, if not from COVID-19, then from grief.She had hoped it was all a bad dream.Then she woke up.___AP writer Katrease Stafford and data editor Meghan Hoyer contributed.View reactions (461) Sign in to post a message.

#Covid 19 #rural America #Emory University #Georgia #Polle Ann tobler #"I hadto tell her that while she was sleeping #her sisternad brother in law left us forvever'#'the next Satuday #he had three funeral back to cak'

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brandonimhotep · 5 years ago

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An elderly Albany woman has left the hospital after recovering from coronavirus just months away from her 100th birthday, according to several news reports. #MaudeBurke is the oldest person to survive #COVID-19 at Phoebe Putney Health System in #Albany, New York. She left the facility on Thursday and is now resting at home. Burke was hospitalized for 17 days, WKRC Local 12 reported. Nurses and medical staff lined the halls and cheered for the 99-year-old as she was wheeled out in a hospital bed. “We continue to celebrate with our #COVID-19 patients when they get well enough to go home from our hospitals," the post read. “This celebration was extra special. Maude Burke is ... is the oldest COVID-19 patient we’ve been able to discharge. Her strength and determination are amazing, and we wish her well as she continues to recover. Thank you for being an inspiration, Ms. Maude!” There have been many other reports of elderly people surviving the virus despite being in the age group that is the most vulnerable. According to the CDC, adults 65 and older are at higher risk for developing more serious complications from COVID-19 illness, and account for eight out of 10 deaths reported in the #unitedstates States. https://www.ajc.com/news/albany-woman-recovers-from-virus-months-away-from-100th-birthday/ltySQCTMl6XaUVVAFwG8WO/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B_jyEzRALh3/?igshid=e11zkchne5j8

#maudeburke #covid #albany #unitedstates

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paulbenedictblog · 5 years ago

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%news%

New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

Cnn news Amid shortage, Pence says millions of masks available 'now' for hospitals to buy

Cnn news

Cnn news The CDC says bandanas shall be susceptible as a 'final resort."

March 20, 2020, 1: 59 AM

6 min read

Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday acknowledged there has been an monumental lengthen within the availability of clinical face masks, despite complaints that properly being care companies at screen lack enough the largest protective equipment to take care of a surge of unusual coronavirus patients.

"Honeywell by myself is repurposing a manufacturing facility that used to be destined for Mexico to invent one other 120 million masks per year. 3M is increasing output to 420 million masks per year. We in fact -- we personal put a priority, on the president's route, on making determined these which could well be providing properly being care products and services to The usa personal the protection to capture themselves and their families precise," Pence acknowledged.

When requested when the masks could well be ready, Pence acknowledged, "3M is increasing their output to 420 million a year. At production in January, they made 35 million month-to-month at that facility."

"And we're prioritizing the distribution of these, however the rather a lot of thing -- and we are going to emphasize this with governors this afternoon -- is we're working with governors to be jog that that properly being care companies, the hospitals, and the clinics of their bid are inserting orders now that this huge lengthen in offer, seriously with industrial masks, is now readily available," he added.

Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC Data Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special protection of the radical coronavirus with the fleshy ABC Data team, including the most contemporary files, context and diagnosis.

Scott Steiner, the CEO of Phoebe Putney Health Plan in Georgia, previously suggested ABC Data that they ran by plan of six months worth of protective equipment, or PPE, in seven days. And on Monday, the National Nurses United Govt Director Bonnie Castillo, acknowledged in an announcement that at screen, the amount of deepest protective equipment for properly being care workers is "very much short of what is the largest to stem the hazard of becoming infected and exposing patients, relatives, and quite a lot of properly being care workers."

"As a replacement of rolling again standards, because the Centers for Illness Adjust and the American Sanatorium Association are proposing, we personal to substantially lengthen the availability of the ideal fashioned of protective equipment. That entails powered air purifying respirators, N95 respirators, and quite a lot of preferrred protective clothing and equipment," Castillo acknowledged.

Pence reiterated that the face masks are at screen within the market, "we are going to invent it certain to governors, as we made it certain to properly being care companies on conference calls the day before at present, that these belongings are now there," he acknowledged.

Pence and President Donald Trump had been additionally requested about steering issued by the Centers for Illness Adjust and Prevention for properly being care workers on easy methods to take care of the small offer readily available.

The CDC steering "affords a sequence of methods or alternatives to optimize affords of face masks in healthcare settings when there could be small offer."

It states that "as a final resort," in scenarios the put there aren't any face masks readily available, properly being care workers "also can use selfmade masks (e.g., bandana, scarf) for care of patients with COVID-19."

"Nonetheless, selfmade masks have to now not regarded as PPE (deepest protective equipment), since their functionality to present protection to HCP is unknown," the CDC steering acknowledged, including that "warning wants to be exercised when involving about this probability."

"Home made masks could well mute ideally be susceptible along with a face protect that covers the final front (that extends to the chin or under) and aspects of the face," per the steering.

When particularly requested about the steering issued by the CDC, Trump acknowledged he hadn't considered it.

"We personal vastly increased the availability of clinical masks, and we are going to continue to put a priority on making determined that we're calling on exchange at every stage, calling on predominant suppliers that the president met with this week, to be jog that these deepest protective equipment are there," Pence later acknowledged.

ABC Data' Matt Gutman contributed to this document

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and easy methods to present protection to your self: coronavirus explained

What to invent when you'll want to well personal signs: coronavirus signs

Monitoring the unfold within the US and Worldwide: coronavirus blueprint

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gentledentalputneyuk-blog · 6 years ago

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3 vital signs that shows you require dental veneers

Dental veneers are relatively new procedures in cosmetic dentistry with the aim of helping patients achieve a beautiful smile. Traditionally dental crowns were used for a better-looking set of teeth. The advent of veneers, however, has bought several benefits to patients with cosmetic dental problems. As compared to dental crowns, veneers are easy, affordable and durable at the same time.

The NHS certified dentist in Putney is specialised in performing dental veneers in an effortless way. If you are suffering from damaged tooth veneers can help you get your confidence back in no time. Here are a few signs that you may need dental veneers:

Stained Teeth Local tooth whitening products may help you temporarily but they are never a permanent solution. In case you have stained teeth or suffering from discolouration, then you need to visit your dentist at once for dental veneers. They are more effective as compared to other local products.

Chipped tooth Veneers are the perfect solution for those dealing with chipped teeth. Your dentist can fill in the gap by filling the crack by placing veneers on them. Putney dental clinic has been helping their patients for years with the damaged or chipped tooth.

A Confident Smile Every person wishes for a beautiful set of teeth to smile confidently however this isn’t always possible. But veneers help you gain your original smile back by eliminating all your dental problems and providing you with a healthy mouth.

0 notes

veryfineday · 4 years ago

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Sunday 12 February 1832

8 55/..

Rain in the night and very recently - Fahrenheit 55 1/2º. now at 9 in my room and 38 1/2º at 9 3/4 in the balcony - raining again soon after 9 - I doubt if it has been quite fair, at all, since 8 55/.. - down to breakfast at 10 1/4 - both of us at church at 11 - mr. west, the affected, slightly impedimented man, preached 36 minutes from John vi. 20.

came upstairs at 2 - miss H-[Hobart] soon came to shew me some suspicious greenish darK indurated phlegm such as she spits up occasionally - looKing not very unliKe the dryish beard of an oyster - tooK this opportunity of observing, I did not wish to persuade her she was ill, but that a couple of years care would be necessary and she ought to attend to the recommendations of those most understanding her case and those most interested for herself - She never before tooK this so patiently -

From 2 25/.. to 4 35/.. (a long while looKing in vain looKing over the catalogue of my booKs in Paris to see how many nos.[numbers] of the history of YorKshire were left there) wrote 3 pp.[pages] and ends and under seal to my aunt - nothing very particular - ‘never mind if it does happen rather often, that you have something not quite agreeable to tell - Depend upon it, we are not much worse off than our neighbours - It was not intended that everything should run smoothly in this world’ ....

did not expect to get rid of Benjamin (Bottomley) without both trouble and expense - conclude the coals are not yet measured off - as another annoyance there is no chance that messers Hinchcliff, Oates, and co. will turn the willy hill pit road bacK again into land - there was no written agreement -

Sorry about the larches in the new stable having got the dry rot - fearing that John is not liKely to be mistaKen in this - they had better be used up for the railing required - John to tell mosey to speaK to mr. Briggs (Charles Howarth not good for much at railing does not 1/2 set his posts) ‘unless mr. B-[Briggs] Knows someone he thinks would do the job cheaper and as well - or george Robinson might get the thing well and cheaply done; and this would be best plan, if Briggs paid the bill - you Know I always liKe to be quite certain that things are paid for; and, after what you told me in your last, I should rather trust the one than the other in payments - Do give my best love to my father, and tell him, I do not liKe to trouble him unnecessarily, but that, amongst you, I trust all jobs will get properly done’ - the rest chit chat - mentioned our little excursion to Eastbourne etc. and my walKing to Battle and winchelsea a fortnight or 3 weeKs ago which did me a great deal of good - ‘not so bilious as I was and very well now’ - at 5 tooK down for the post my letter to my aunt ‘mrs. Lister Shibden hall Halifax YorKshire’ -

stood talKing 1/2 hour to miss H-Hobart then came Francesco Bado, the Italian courier - a genoese - answered all my questions satisfactorily - will do anything go behind the carriage - clean my shoes and boots - do house worK - cooK if I liKe - will ride or drive - go to any part of the world, let me have my own way, and never make difficulties - shewed me an excellent written character from the honourable Leicester Stanhope with whom he has lived 7 years - will come to me for £9 a month - I said I would not give more at first - and, if I turn him off, agreed that I am to pay his expense bacK to London - he asKed for a fortnight’s notice before coming to me - having promised to pay his expense down here and bacK, he said thay would be not much less than £3, so gave him that - promised to write to mr. L. Stanhope about him, and let him Bado Know my determination as soon as I could -

as soon as the man was gone wrote that miss Lister would be much obliged to mr. Leicester Stanhope to confirm the following certificate of character shewn to me by Francesco Bado and dated 21 December 1831. ‘this is to certify that Francesco Bado of Genoa lived with me above seven years in the capacity of courier - valet de chambre and butter - He is honest - sober - of a good disposition - He understands all the business connected with the employments above mentioned - has some Knowledge of cooKery - confectionary and the maKing of Ices - He can also ride and drive and has a Knowledge of stable business - He is of repectable family and has a small estate in Italy - His wife is a very good woman - Francisco Bado lived fourteen years with count Alton a gentleman of the court of Louis the 16th with these qualification I recommend Francesco Bado to any person requiring a useful servant Leicester Stanhope’ - ‘miss Lister will be particularly obliged to mr. Leicester Stanhope if he will be so good as say whether he really considers Francesco Bado perfectly trustworthy steady and attentive’ - dated ‘Hastings 12 February 1832.’ -

sent off the above to the ‘Honourable Leicester Stanhope, Cedars, Putney, Surrey’ at 7 35/.. - dinner at 7 10/.. - sat talKing - Bado is very little speaKs English very unintelligently to me, and French not well, but miss H-Hobart and I liKe him well enough altogether - his maKing no difficulties is rather tempting - to direct to the man under cover to the ‘Earl of Harrington, Harrington house, white hall gardens, London' or there is on his paper another direction ‘the honourable H. Stanhope, 23 Spring gardens, Charing Cross, London’

Miss H[obart] and I sat talking very good friends §vide line 25 this page - no music - coffee at 8 1/2 - she copying out music for Miss Wilbraham I wrote the last 27 lines of today - came upstairs at 11 25/.. five minutes in her room

Rainy morn[in]g and raining a little and sunshining when we went to church afterwards fair but coldish not agreeable day - Fahrenheit 56º. now at 11 40/.. in my room and 40º. at 12 1/2 in the balcony tonight -

#anne lister code breaker #1832 #vere hobart #aunt anne

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southwestgeorgianetwork · 5 years ago

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Podcast: COVID-19 Update April 17, 2020

The death toll in Dougherty County is now over 90, two more patients die at Phoebe, plus some good news in the fight against the coronavirus. Click the play button on the embedded player below to listen to Friday’s installment of the Southwest Georgia Network News.

More Information:

COVID-19 Update from the Georgia Department of Public Health

Friday’s Update from Phoebe Putney…

View On WordPress

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kristablogs · 5 years ago

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Make your own face mask—no sewing machine required

Polypropylene bags can do more than carry groceries—they can also be turned into face masks. (Alden Wicker/)

Follow all of PopSci’s COVID-19 coverage here, including how to make your own hand sanitizer, how to work from home, and the latest findings on the virus itself. For global updates, see here.

As COVID-19 spreads across the United States, hospitals are struggling to keep fully functional while running through their limited supplies of face masks, gowns, and other protective equipment.

The Phoebe Putney hospital in Georgia went through six months of supplies in less than a week, Stanford Hospital in California has asked sustainable t-shirt startup For Days to make cotton terry cloth N95 mask covers, and even high-end fashion designers like Christian Siriano have begun making medical-grade masks and gowns.

“No one before would have thought of fashion designers or anybody helping with DIY masks,” says Katie Kozel, a medical supply chain consultant in Colorado. “But no one before would have thought of trying to use rain ponchos as isolation gowns either, which we're seeing happen now.”

Tutorials for DIY masks have proliferated across social media and the internet as news of the dire conditions in hospitals across the country hit the news, and people want to pitch in. But the value of such a mask may not lie so much in helping medical professionals, but in helping to protect yourself and the people around you.

The difference between N95 and surgical masks

N95 respirators are stiff masks with a filter that blocks 95 percent of particles larger than 0.3 microns, and are fit-tested to each healthcare worker to ensure they create a sealed barrier. Like most personal protective equipment (PPE), N95 masks are meant to be discarded after each use. But as a result of the shortage, the CDC has recommended healthcare workers store their used N95 masks in paper bags between uses, which raises the risk of disease transmission between healthcare workers and patients.

In contrast, surgical masks are loose-fitting coverings made of pleated melt-blown fabric: a fine mesh of synthetic polymer fibers that allows the wearer to breathe while blocking tiny particles that could carry the virus. However, they don’t fit as tightly as N95 respirators, so they don’t provide the same protection against airborne coronavirus particles (which may persist in the air for up to three hours).

Surgical masks aren’t meant to shield the wearer from infection, but to protect others by corralling any infectious droplets that may come out of your mouth or nose—whether you’re symptomatic or not. That’s why authorities have insisted only people presenting symptoms or suspected of having COVID-19 should wear them.

However, healthcare professionals now have no choice but to wear surgical masks around COVID-19-infected patients, donning the safer, scarcer N95 respirators only when performing risky procedures like intubation. And even surgical masks are running low.

Cloth masks as an alternative to medical masks

Cloth masks aren't impenetrable, but some research suggests they may be better than nothing. (Pavel Anoshin/Unsplash/)

Researchers at the University of New South Wales who studied the use of reusable cloth masks several years ago found that doctors who wore them had a significantly higher chance of respiratory infection. Almost 97 percent of particles got through the cloth masks used in the study, compared with the 44 percent that penetrated synthetic medical masks. The cloth’s ability to retain moisture, plus the fact that the masks were reused, might have also contributed to their inefficiency.

No wonder that the World Health Organization says cloth masks are “not recommended under any circumstances” in healthcare settings during the COVID-19 outbreak.

As the pandemic advances, however, experts are starting to question whether cloth masks could help the general public. That’s because it’s still unclear how wearing a cloth mask compares to wearing no mask. A 2006 study by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh pointed out there’s no easy way to prove the effectiveness of homemade masks. On the other hand, researchers in a 2013 study by Public Health England concluded that while "a homemade mask should only be considered as a last resort,” it might be better than nothing at all.

How to make a face mask

Let’s make this clear: masks, no matter how effective, are not guaranteed to protect you from COVID-19.

“A mask is only ever as good as the wearer, and isn’t a replacement for social distancing and good hand hygiene,” says Anna Davies, one of the researchers in the Public Health England study.

In a perfect world, everyone would have their own masks to wear in public to help prevent the virus from quietly spreading, and the CDC is reportedly considering recommending that everyone wear masks in public, not just those with symptoms.

Unfortunately, masks are a bit hard to come by right now, and buying masks reduces the supply for healthcare workers who need them. Even if the CDC doesn’t make a new recommendation, anyone taking care of a sick loved one should probably have at least two, so they can sterilize one while wearing the other.

Our tutorial is a simple project for people who don’t have a sewing machine, adapted from MakerMask by Helpful Engineering, a global open-source COVID-19 project. While many projects call for cotton, Davies says there’s no indication it is better or worse than other fabrics—it’s just comfortable and something people tend to have on hand. Because of researchers’ hypotheses about cotton masks’ hydrophilic (water-loving) qualities contributing to higher rates of respiratory infection, we’ve stayed with MakerMask’s suggestion to use a hydrophobic synthetic material similar (but not identical) to the material used in surgical masks. And many people have it right in their own home.

Stats

Time: 90 minutes if sewn by hand

Estimated materials cost: less than $5

Difficulty: medium

Tools

Needle and thread

Scissors

Ruler

<a href="https://amzn.to/2JutH9A" target=_blank>Clothing iron</a>

Sewing or safety pins

Permanent marker

(Optional) Seam ripper

Materials

1 medium non-woven polypropylene reusable grocery bag

2 <a href="https://amzn.to/2JAgnR0" target=_blank>pipe cleaners</a> (or <a href="https://amzn.to/2UZgtap" target=_blank>plastic-coated twist ties</a>)

(Optional) 60 inches of <a href="https://amzn.to/3aO0TVP" target=_blank>ribbon, between ½ and 1 inch wide</a>

Instructions

You most likely have everything you need to make one of this at home. (Alden Wicker/)

1. Wash the reusable grocery bag.

Caution: We specifically recommend a reusable grocery bag <a href="https://ift.tt/342AkJT" target=_blank>made of non-woven polypropylene</a> (NWPP for short), not a disposable plastic one. It may sound obvious, but you’ll need to be able to breathe through the mask. Stay away from insulated bags (these usually have some foil material on the inside) or waterproof bags lined with plastic, too.

Note: If you can, choose the bag with the longest handles you can find. This project will be easier if you can use them as straps for the mask. If the handles aren’t long enough, we’ll explain how to make straps out of ribbon.

2. Cut the sides off the grocery bag so the material lays flat. Don’t cut off the handles.

3. Cut the material into two sheets. If your bag has a seam at the bottom, cut it like you did the side seams. You’ll get two clean sheets of NWPP, each with its own handle.

Your mask will have two layers of fabric. (Alden Wicker/)

4. Measure and cut one sheet. Using your ruler, measure the edge with the handle to find the center. Mark it with your permanent marker. Using that as a starting point, measure back toward the handles 4 ½ inches and mark again. From each mark, measure down 9 inches and draw parallel vertical cutting lines. Connect the lines at the bottom. You should have a 9-by-9-inch square with a finished (sewn) edge at the top with the handle.

Note: If your handle is spaced too widely to fit inside the square you measured, the simplest solution is to skip over Step 8 and use ribbon instead (Step 9).

5. Repeat Step 4 on the other sheet of material.

6. Fold over the edge opposite from each handle. Place one sheet with the wrong side (the bag’s former interior) up, and fold half an inch of material in from that edge. Iron the fold on low heat to set it. Then, sew it a quarter inch from the edge. Place the other sheet with the right side (the bag’s former exterior) up, and like the other sheet, fold it in a half-inch, iron it, and sew it a quarter-inch in from the edge.

Caution: Polypropylene is a type of plastic. Using a high heat setting will melt it, ruining your project and, most likely, your iron. If there’s no “poly” setting, try the lowest one (usually silk) and increase it slightly if the fold doesn’t set.

Set each fold with an iron, but be aware of using it at the right temperature. (Alden Wicker/)

7. Place the sheets together. Your mask will have two layers of fabric. Place one of the sheets on your work surface with the handle facing to the left. Place the other one on top of it with the handle facing to the right. Pin in place.

Note: We recommend that the printed side of the sheets face the same direction, so the back of the mask is a different color than the front. Davies says this will help ensure you don’t accidentally put the mask on the wrong way, with the contaminated side against your mouth and nose.

Pin the fabric sheets together. It'll make sewing them together that much easier. (Alden Wicker/)

8. Make the head ties. Fold the handles in half and cut them at the center. Hold the mask centered over your face with the handles coming out of the sides, and make sure the handles are long enough to reach the back of your head with at least 4 inches to spare.

9. (Optional) Make straps out of ribbon. If the handles of your bag are not long enough to become straps, you’ll need to make your own. Cut the handles off your NWPP sheets or use a seam ripper to take them out. Hold the mask in the center of your face and use your measuring tape to figure out the length of each strap—they should each be long enough to go from the edge of your fa to the back of your head and comfortably tie behind it. Cut the ribbons and pin them where the handles used to be. Check the fit by putting your mask on. If the length of the ribbons is right, double your thread and sew the pieces into place on the wrong side of the sheets.

10. Sew the sheets together. Double your thread and sew around all the edges.

11. Finish the bottom edge. Like you did in Step 6, make a half-inch fold at the bottom and iron it. Sew it closed a quarter-inch from the edge.

12. Make the adjustable noseband. Again, fold half an inch of the top edge over and iron it. Twist the pipe cleaners or twist ties together and cut them to the same width as the mask. Fold in their ends to blunt them. Tuck the metal ties inside the fold and pin the fold over them. Then, sew the fold below and on the sides of the ties to hold them in place.

Those twist ties you accumulate every time you buy a loaf of bread can make the perfect noseband. (Alden Wicker/)

12. Make three folds to pleat the mask for expansion. Pleats should be approximately 1 ½ inches wide on the outside, a half-inch wide on the inside, and be parallel to the nose band. If it helps, mark lines on your fabric, fold them, and then iron them in place. Stitch these in place by sewing both sides a quarter-inch in from the edge. This time, double back your stitch to make sure the pleat seam is strong.

Make three folds on your mask and set them with an iron. (Alden Wicker/)

13. Sterilize your mask. Before using it for the first time, submerge your mask in boiling water for 10 minutes. Repeat this step between uses.

It’s important to remember a face mask by itself is not enough. Make sure you also wear glasses or goggles to protect your eyes, and never touch the part that covers your mouth. When you’re done using it, sterilize it, let it dry completely (in the sun if you have access) to stave off any bacteria growth, and then store the mask in a clean, plastic, resealable container.

This DIY mask is not meant to be donated to a hospital, but kept for yourself, your family, and your community. In a time of mask shortages, it’s a “better than nothing” precaution if you need to move through a crowded or public space, or take care of someone who is sick. Please follow instructions from your local authorities and remember that social distancing, washing your hands thoroughly, and staying home are still the best ways to protect yourself and your family from COVID-19.

0 notes

scootoaster · 5 years ago

Text

Make your own face mask—no sewing machine required

Polypropylene bags can do more than carry groceries—they can also be turned into face masks. (Alden Wicker/)

As COVID-19 spreads across the United States, hospitals are struggling to keep fully functional while running through their limited supplies of face masks, gowns, and other protective equipment.

The difference between N95 and surgical masks

Cloth masks as an alternative to medical masks

Cloth masks aren't impenetrable, but some research suggests they may be better than nothing. (Pavel Anoshin/Unsplash/)

No wonder that the World Health Organization says cloth masks are “not recommended under any circumstances” in healthcare settings during the COVID-19 outbreak.

How to make a face mask

Let’s make this clear: masks, no matter how effective, are not guaranteed to protect you from COVID-19.

“A mask is only ever as good as the wearer, and isn’t a replacement for social distancing and good hand hygiene,” says Anna Davies, one of the researchers in the Public Health England study.

Stats

Time: 90 minutes if sewn by hand

Estimated materials cost: less than $5

Difficulty: medium

Tools

Needle and thread

Scissors

Ruler

<a href="https://amzn.to/2JutH9A" target=_blank>Clothing iron</a>

Sewing or safety pins

Permanent marker

(Optional) Seam ripper

Materials

1 medium non-woven polypropylene reusable grocery bag

2 <a href="https://amzn.to/2JAgnR0" target=_blank>pipe cleaners</a> (or <a href="https://amzn.to/2UZgtap" target=_blank>plastic-coated twist ties</a>)

(Optional) 60 inches of <a href="https://amzn.to/3aO0TVP" target=_blank>ribbon, between ½ and 1 inch wide</a>

Instructions

You most likely have everything you need to make one of this at home. (Alden Wicker/)

1. Wash the reusable grocery bag.

2. Cut the sides off the grocery bag so the material lays flat. Don’t cut off the handles.

3. Cut the material into two sheets. If your bag has a seam at the bottom, cut it like you did the side seams. You’ll get two clean sheets of NWPP, each with its own handle.

Your mask will have two layers of fabric. (Alden Wicker/)

Note: If your handle is spaced too widely to fit inside the square you measured, the simplest solution is to skip over Step 8 and use ribbon instead (Step 9).

5. Repeat Step 4 on the other sheet of material.

Set each fold with an iron, but be aware of using it at the right temperature. (Alden Wicker/)

Pin the fabric sheets together. It'll make sewing them together that much easier. (Alden Wicker/)

10. Sew the sheets together. Double your thread and sew around all the edges.

11. Finish the bottom edge. Like you did in Step 6, make a half-inch fold at the bottom and iron it. Sew it closed a quarter-inch from the edge.

Those twist ties you accumulate every time you buy a loaf of bread can make the perfect noseband. (Alden Wicker/)

Make three folds on your mask and set them with an iron. (Alden Wicker/)

13. Sterilize your mask. Before using it for the first time, submerge your mask in boiling water for 10 minutes. Repeat this step between uses.

0 notes

ravishankarsivasubramaniam · 5 years ago

Text

NPR News: Hundreds Of COVID-19 Cases Inundate Georgia Hospital

Hundreds Of COVID-19 Cases Inundate Georgia Hospital NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Scott Steiner, CEO of Phoebe Putney Health System in Albany, Ga., about how the hospital is handling a surge in coronavirus patients. Read more on NPR

#NPR #Morning Edition #Ravishankar Sivasubramaniam #morning

0 notes

gcww · 5 years ago

Text

GOVERNOR KEMPS SPEECH

5:00pm "Today I am saddened to announce that we have lost twenty-five Georgians to COVID-19. As we mourn, I ask my fellow Georgians to lift up their loved ones in prayer. Please keep them in your hearts and minds.

"Over the past few days, the number of COVID-19 cases has dramatically increased. Currently, we have 772 cases in sixty-seven counties. We are starting to see the impact of coronavirus on medically fragile populations in long-term care facilities. State health and emergency management officials are working tirelessly to conduct testing, bolster capacity in our healthcare infrastructure, and prepare as we address the challenge before us.

"The Department of Public Health’s state lab has now conducted 1,245 COVID-19 tests, and commercial labs have conducted 3,824 COVID-19 tests. (Q - What goes to DPH, what goes commercial. Backlog difference for both?) We now have twenty-three test sites for specific populations at the following locations: Cartersville, Rome, Dalton, Woodstock, Gainesville, Marietta, Atlanta, Morrow, Lawrenceville, Stone Mountain, Newnan, Dublin, Warner Robins, Augusta, Columbus, Valdosta, Tifton, Albany, Douglas, Statesboro, Brunswick, Savannah, and Athens. To be tested at one of these locations, you must have a referral from a medical provider. Tests are limited to elderly Georgians, members of the law enforcement community, first responders, long-term care facility residents and staff, and healthcare workers. (Note - this is part of DPH strategy to utilize limited testing supplies in the most effective way) We must protect those who are protecting us, and that is why we have these new testing sites in strategic locations statewide.

"In many areas of our state, Georgians are heeding the advice of President Trump, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Georgia Department of Public Health. I am deeply thankful to the hardworking Georgians who have incorporated social distancing into their everyday lives and protected the elderly and medically fragile from unnecessary exposure. To all of the local leaders, the faith community, and others who embraced this call to action, thank you. Your leadership and hard work are flattening the curve and keeping people out of harm’s way. (Note - highlighting volunteer strategy, local level action)

Note - past measures: "Up until this point, I have implemented several targeted measures to slow the spread of coronavirus and protect vulnerable populations. Through March 31, elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools remain closed. Where feasible, some school systems have moved to online learning, and I applaud local leaders for finding ways to keep students engaged. Also, I want to thank the nutritionists, bus drivers, and volunteers who are packing and delivering school lunches to students across our state.

"On March 12, I directed state agencies to implement teleworking policies. Aside from the most critical government services, most state employees are working from home. I have also restricted visitation at certain state-run health facilities, correctional facilities, and juvenile justice centers except in end-of-life circumstances.

"On March 14, 2020, I declared a public health state of emergency to deploy additional resources and give the Department of Public Health authority to direct specific healthcare action in our fight against the spread of COVID-19. As part of this state of emergency, I have authorized new processes for temporary licensure of out-of-state doctors and nurses, and I have authorized the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to coordinate with the Georgia National Guard to call up as many as 2,000 troops to assist in emergency response.(Q - What are current plans of use, testing?)

"Last Friday, I signed two additional executive orders: one authorizing nearly $20 million in emergency funding to pay for necessary medical supplies, and the other reducing regulations - especially in the healthcare context - to address COVID-19. All licensed Georgia pharmacists are now permitted to dispense a ninety-day supply of a prescription drug if a patient has no remaining refills and the pharmacist cannot get in contact with the prescribing provider. Pharmacists may also dispense early refills for prescription drugs. However, these authorizations do not apply to Schedule II controlled substances.

"In addition, the Georgia Board of Pharmacy is now empowered to grant temporary licenses to out-of-state pharmacists, and I have lifted certain restrictions on the expansion of healthcare facilities, new services, and expenditures. (Q - Statement of need modifications?) These measures will positively impact our healthcare infrastructure by removing regulatory red tape as we expedite projects to address patient needs.

"Among other provisions, the order lifts requirements for in-person corporate shareholder meetings, allows Georgians to utilize private providers to comply with state minimum standard codes for building inspections or similar structures, and allows the Department of Community Health to waive regulations which would otherwise hinder our capabilities in responding to this crisis. (N - follow up on what these are)

"Through the Department of Revenue, I have decided to extend Georgia’s tax filing deadline to July 15, 2020 in accordance with the new federal tax filing deadline. We will issue more guidance on this change in the days ahead.

"On March 12, 2020, the Department of Public Health notified cooperating agencies within the state about the activation of our Strategic National Stockpile plan. Accordingly, the Department submitted a request for strategic national resources to federal officials to support the state’s COVID-19 response.

"On March 13, 2020, our state multi-agency task force – comprised of officials from Public Health, Emergency Management and Homeland Security, the Forestry Commission, Georgia State Patrol, Natural Resources, the Department of Defense, the Technical College System of Georgia, the University System of Georgia, and local supporting agencies - stood up our strategic national stockpile warehouse of personal protective equipment. The task force started distributing eighteen packages of state-owned PPE to each of our state’s eighteen public health districts to support local healthcare providers and county health departments. Over the weekend, we distributed 268,200 N95 surgical masks to all 142 hospitals within Georgia. (Q - How are these and future supplies being allocated, pop, need, anticipated need?) Earlier today, we also distributed thirty ventilators to two of our hardest-hit counties: Dougherty and Floyd.

"On March 16, 2020, the federal government’s first delivery of PPE began arriving at the state’s warehouse. To date, we have executed three scheduled re-supplies to our 142 hospitals, eighteen public health districts, affected long-term care facilities, and emergency medical services in all 159 counties.

"We have shipped out 532,170 N95 masks, 65,640 face shields, 640,600 surgical masks, 46,740 surgical gowns, 635,000 gloves, and 64 pallets of general hospital supplies. (Q - what is the current deficit of supply v need in ga, in region?) According to U.S. Health and Human Services, Georgia will receive a second delivery of PPE within the next five days. GEMA has placed an order for respirators, which are scheduled to be delivered to the state’s warehouse this Friday (Q - timeline for delivery to hospitals, amounts). GEMA continues to place orders for supplies and resources to support frontline healthcare providers and first responders.

"Right now, one of our biggest challenges is healthcare capacity in hotspots across the state. For example, in Dougherty County, we currently have sixty-four cases with six deaths from COVID-19, and capacity is becoming an acute problem for Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital.

"Several hospitals are facing potential bed space shortages and supply issues. To address these problems, we have identified multiple options to bolster capacity. For example, in Dougherty County, emergency management officials are working to reopen Phoebe North, which is currently closed but will offer at least twenty-six rooms for patients once we get it back up and running (Note - Possible planned use for former Folkston Hospital if needed?). In Albany, we have identified an additional facility with capacity for roughly sixty medical and isolation beds if needed. In addition, we have asked federal officials to allow us to keep the temporary medical facility at Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Once cruise ship passengers depart, we are hopeful that we will have this location in the metro-area for patient diversion. It will offer roughly 200 patient beds if needed.

"At the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, we have completed construction of an isolation zone to hold as many as twenty emergency housing units, and the campus offers as many as 242 dorm rooms to use for patient surge. Earlier today, Vice President Pence called on governors to inventory all of our outpatient surgical centers to determine potential bed space. This process has already been underway through the Department of Community Health, and we will report back to our federal counterparts once we finalize the numbers.

"As part of this initiative, we urge healthcare providers to consider canceling elective procedures to preserve medical supplies and free up resources, including workers and treatment space. So far, we have identified nearly 600 additional beds beyond what our hospitals currently offer, but our work is far from over.

"Right now, the state is exploring projects with the Army Corps of Engineers for arena space and large buildings, and we are considering the conversion of vacant and underutilized properties of all types for hospital space. The Georgia National Guard is standing up teams to support regional coordinating hospitals, and the first team will embed for training with Grady Health System in the next forty-eight hours. In addition, the Georgia Department of Defense is working with the Georgia Medical Reserve Corps to administratively attach to the State Defense Force, which is comprised of volunteer workers to assist in emergencies. To bolster our responsiveness, Georgia has also signed a statewide contract with Healthcare Workforce Logistics to deploy clinical staff during any patient surge.

"To support Georgians’ ability to receive timely, effective care, on March 9th, Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King issued a directive to insurance companies to ensure telemedicine and telehealth options be covered at the same rate as regular, in-person care.

"Over the past few weeks, we have seen a large increase in the number of applications submitted for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Last week alone, the Division of Family and Children Services received nearly 12,000 online applications - up from 6,400 online applications two weeks ago. Those numbers do not include paper applications. Requests for medical assistance, such as Peachcare for Kids and Medicaid, have also increased. Last week, applications for medical assistance increased by 50 percent. Without question, families are facing hardship in this time of need. (N - Possible regional breakdown)

"State officials are working on plans to support the nutritional needs of its most vulnerable residents, allowing families who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to access the maximum benefit amount for their household in March and April. Right now, the average monthly SNAP benefit per Georgia household is $225. About $200 million in SNAP benefits is distributed to Georgians every month.

"This supplement will allow them to get the maximum benefit amount for their household size, which is $194 for a household of one, in March and April. In March and April, approximately one million Georgians who receive SNAP will get an additional $100 in nutrition benefits.

"This change could be a major support to senior citizens in our state, who typically receive about $15 in SNAP benefits each month. This supplement will allow them to get the maximum benefit amount for their household size, which is $194 for a household of one, in March and April. State officials are also working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue the increased supplement for March as soon as possible. March benefits have already been issued, so the supplement will come in the form of a second allotment at the end of the month. The supplement will be included as part of the regular monthly benefit in April.

"To assist in other areas, the state is reassigning staff and working with federal partners to address the sudden increase in requests for public assistance as quickly as possible. We will continue to provide updates as we identify solutions for our constituents.

"Today I will issue an executive order requiring the Department of Public Health to require certain individuals with an increased risk of complications from COVID-19 to isolate, quarantine, or shelter in place.

"At minimum, this order for isolation, quarantine, or shelter in place covers those who live in a long-term care facility, have chronic lung disease, are undergoing cancer treatment, have a positive COVID-19 test, are suspected to have COVID-19 because of their symptoms and exposure, or have been exposed to someone who has COVID-19.

"The Department of Public Health will promulgate rules and regulations to implement this order and define how these individuals can access essential services, travel, and receive visitors in end-of-life circumstances. (Q - when will these rules be executed?)

"This order will close all bars and nightclubs, and it will ban all gatherings of ten or more people unless you can maintain at least six feet between people at all times. The Department of Public Health will be empowered to close any business, establishment, non-profit, or organization for noncompliance. These measures were developed using guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Georgia Department of Public Health. This order will go into effect at noon tomorrow and expire at noon on Monday, April 6, 2020.

"These measures are intended to ensure the health and safety of Georgians across our state, and I ask for everyone’s cooperation over the next two weeks. They will protect the medically fragile, mitigate potential exposure in public venues, and allow the state to ramp up emergency preparedness efforts as cases increase in each region.

"Additionally, I will sign an executive order today suspending restrictions against the practice of medicine by individuals whose licenses became inactive or lapsed within the past five years. Graduate nursing students who have yet to take their nursing exams will also be allowed to seek temporary licensure through the Georgia Board of Nursing. These measures will directly address critical healthcare needs in the weeks ahead.

"Today I - along with twenty-one governors - signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to request new block grant funding for states to fight COVID-19. Governors across the country are on the front lines of this fight, and many of us are spending heavily at the end of the budget year, facing a significant decline in economic activity in this crisis. We desperately need these resources, and I look forward to working with our federal counterparts in the days and weeks ahead.

"This fight is far from over, but we are in this together. Look out for your fellow Georgians and pray for the continued safety of our first responders, healthcare workforce, elderly, and medically fragile.

"Please continue to follow the guidance of healthcare professionals by using best practices: regular hand-washing, social distancing, and disinfecting frequently used areas to prevent infection.

"While we have taken strategic, direct action today, I am calling on my fellow citizens to fight this virus with everything you’ve got. We are all part of this solution. If your friends, neighbors, or local organizations are not complying, call them out, or report them to us. If an establishment isn’t following these directives, take your business elsewhere.

"We cannot let this virus defeat us. We are stronger than this crisis, and we will weather the storm. Thank you, may God bless you, and may God bless the great State of Georgia."

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realcleargoodtimes · 5 years ago

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Coronavirus patients are faring worse in rural Georgia than almost anywhere else in America, according to researchers at Emory University in Atlanta.

Rural people, African Americans and the poor are more likely to work in jobs not conducive to social distancing, like the food processing plant in nearby Mitchell County where four employees died of COVID-19. They have less access to health care and so more often delay treatment for chronic conditions; in southwest Georgia, the diabetes rate of 16 percent is twice as high as in Atlanta. Transportation alone can be a challenge, so that by the time they make it to the hospital, they’re harder to save.

At least 21 people have died from COVID-19 in this county, and dozens more in the neighboring rural communities. For weeks, Weston’s phone would not stop ringing: another person in the hospital, another person dead. An hour before this funeral, Weston’s phone rang again, and this time it was news that another had succumbed to the virus—his own first cousin, as close to him as a brother.

Some here had thought that their isolation might spare them, but instead it made the pandemic particularly cruel. In Terrell County, population 8,500, everyone knows everyone and every death is personal. As the mourners arrived at the cemetery, just the handful allowed, each knew others suffering and dying.

The couple’s son, Desmond Tolbert, sat stunned. After caring for his parents, he’d also rushed his aunt, his mother’s sister, to a hospital an hour away, and there she remained on a ventilator. Her daughter, Latasha Taylor, wept thinking that if her mother survived, she would have to find a way to tell her that her sister was dead and buried.

“It’s just gone haywire, I mean haywire,” thought Eddie Keith, a 65-year-old funeral home attendant standing in the back who was familiar with all the faces on the funeral programs piling up. “People dying left and right.”

Usually, on hard days like this, he would call his friend of 30 years, who was a pastor at a country church and could always convince him that God would not give more than he could endure.

But a couple weeks earlier, that pastor had started coughing, too.

___

As Georgia and other states rush to reopen, some out-of-the way places might believe that the virus won’t find them. Many here thought that, too. But it arrived, quietly at first then with breathtaking savagery.

The cemetery on the edge of town staggered graveside services, one an hour, all day. The county coroner typically works between 38 and 50 deaths a year; they reached No. 41 by mid-April. They ordered an emergency morgue.

Of the 10 counties with the highest death rate per capita in America, half are in rural southwest Georgia, where there are no packed skyscraper apartment buildings or subways. Ambulances rush along country roads, just fields and farms in either direction, carrying COVID-19 patients to the nearest hospital, for some an hour away. The small county seats are mostly quiet, the storefronts shuttered, some long ago because of the struggling economy, and some only now because owners are too afraid to reopen.

These counties circle the city of Albany, which is where authorities believe the outbreak began at a pair of funerals in February. Albany is also home to the main hospital in the region, Phoebe Putney Memorial, which serves an area of 800,000 people spanning more than 50 miles in every direction, many of them with little other access to care.

The hospital saw its first known coronavirus patient on March 10; within a few days, it had 60 and the ICU was full. Two weeks later, patients began flooding in from farther-flung rural communities. Helicopters buzzed from the top of the parking garage, flying patients to other hospitals that still had room to take them. They burned through six months of masks and gowns in six days, said Phoebe Putney president Scott Steiner. Then they were competing for supplies against wealthier, more politically powerful places; they paid $1 each for surgical masks that typically cost a nickel and were losing about $1 million each day.

The patients were very sick. Some died within hours. Some died on the way, in the back of ambulances. The region is predominantly black, but still African Americans died disproportionately, Steiner said. African Americans accounted for about 80% of the hospital’s deaths.

Black people have been dying at alarming rates across the country: the latest Associated Press analysis of available data shows that African Americans represent about 14% of the population in the areas covered but nearly one-third of those who have died.

By nearly every measure, coronavirus patients are faring worse in rural Georgia than almost anywhere else in America, according to researchers at Emory University in Atlanta. Although New York City had thousands more deaths, the per capita death rate in these Georgia counties is just as high.

“They are vulnerable people living in vulnerable places, people who are marginalized on a variety of measures, whether we’re talking about race, whether we’re talking about education or employment, in places that have fewer resources,” said Shivani Patel, an epidemiologist at Emory. Then COVID-19 arrived: “It’s like our worst nightmare coming true.”

Dr. James Black, the medical director of emergency services at Phoebe Putney, was born in this hospital, grew up in this region and is proud of how they’ve managed with the odds stacked against them. He hasn’t had a day off in two months. The question now, he believes, is whether society decides, in the wake of the virus, to continue neglecting its most vulnerable people and places.

“I think that history is going to judge us not only on how well we prepared, it’s not going to just judge us on how well we responded,” he said, “but what we learned from it, and what we change.”

Georgia has lost seven rural hospitals in the last decade. Nine counties in rural Georgia don’t even have a doctor, according to the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals; 18 have no family practitioner, 60 have no pediatrician, 77 without a psychiatrist.

Ezekiel Holley, the longtime leader of Terrell County’s NAACP, said health care is what has left him “banging his head against a wall.”

At first Holley thought a virus would be one thing that did not discriminate. He opened the newspaper, scanned the faces in the obituaries and knew every one of them.

“Then I thought, why are low income people and people of color dying more than anyone else? This is the richest nation in the world, why doesn’t it have a level playing field?” he said. “Tell me that.”

___

At first, Benjamin Tolbert just felt a malaise; he had no appetite. Within a couple days, he could barely stand.

His son, Desmond, took him to the hospital in Albany. By then it was full, and he was sent to another hospital an hour south. Benjamin’s wife, Nellie Mae, who everyone called Pollye Ann, got sick the next day. She was routed from the Albany hospital to another an hour north.

Everyone in town knew Benjamin, 58, as a hard worker. He had worked for 28 years at a Tyson Foods plant, and yet he always found more work to do, washing his car, tending the lawn. He and his wife had been together 30 years. He was mild-mannered, but she found a joke in everything. She was a minister, she played the organ, sang gospel and danced, wildly, joyfully.

“Oh my goodness, she was a dancer, and the dances were so hilarious, you would just fall out laughing watching her dance and laugh at herself,” said their niece, Latasha Taylor, whom they loved like a daughter. Benjamin would hang back, but Pollye Ann would pull him up and he’d dance along with her.

Both were diabetic, Pollye Ann had had heart valve surgery, Benjamin had been on dialysis. Pollye Ann’s sister, Katherine Taylor Peters, often got dialysis treatments with him. They were a close-knit family: Peters lived just blocks away.

Shortly after the Tolberts got sick, Peters called her daughter and said she too had an incessant cough and was struggling to breathe. Latasha was working hours away, so she called her cousin, Desmond, and asked him to check on her.

He put her in his car and drove her to another hospital an hour from home. They soon sedated her and put her on a ventilator.

Much of the rest is a blur for Desmond and Latasha: calls from doctors and nurses, driving hours among three hospitals, begging to see their parents but being told it was far too dangerous.

“I couldn’t see them, I couldn’t talk to them,” said Desmond, 29, who had lived with his parents all this life. Suddenly he was alone.

And all around them, neighbors were getting sick.

“So many people, it’s a feeling you can’t even explain. It’s like a churning in your stomach,” said Taylor. “People you’re normally waving at, speaking to in passing, at the pharmacy, you’re never going to see them again.”

Desmond was on the phone with a nurse as his mother took her last breath. Two days later, the call came from his father’s caregivers. Benjamin never knew that his wife got sick. She didn’t know her husband was on his death bed. They were apart, far from home, without their son at their sides.

The only solace he can find is imagining them meeting again on the other side, and that neither had to live without the other one.

___

Eddie Keith had known this couple all his life, he knew their phone number by heart, where they lived, where they worked, their mothers and fathers.

“They knew me real well,” he said, “as well as I knew them.”

He has worked for the funeral home for 35 years, and part of his job is to pick up the bodies. He got a call about Pollye Ann’s passing, and when a hometown person dies someplace else, he considers it his duty to bring them home to Dawson.

Sometimes he talks to them as he drives, sometimes he sings.

When the second call came about her husband, two days later, he wondered if what was happening in his city might be too much to bear. He’s used to death. But now people were dying one right after the next, too quickly to reckon with each in real time.

Keith is a deacon at a country church down a dirt road just outside of town. His pastor, Rev. Alfred Starling, always told him that God doesn’t make mistakes, and Keith wanted to be reminded of that now, because Dawson’s people kept dying, and Keith kept retrieving them. But the next morning he was picking up a body in Tallahassee when the pastor’s wife called. He’d gone to the hospital with a bad cough, and he hadn’t made it.

They’d known each other 30 years. Once, years ago, he’d complimented his pastor’s necktie. After that, every time the pastor bought himself a tie, he bought Keith one too. It became a symbol of their love for each other. “He would always look out for me,” he said.

Keith pulled off the road and sat there a half an hour.

“Why God? Why God? Why God?” he thought, and he caught himself. He was always taught not to question God, so he asked for forgiveness.

There were three funerals the next day, and he left just after to pick up his pastor’s body.

He talked to him: “I didn’t think you’d leave me so early; I thought we were going to grow old together.”

He thought of his pastor’s favorite spiritual. “Good news, good news,” the pastor would sing and walk from behind the pulpit, a little strut in his step. “I’m going to lay down my burden, store up my cross. And I’m going home to live with Jesus, ain’t that good news.”

He sang it to his pastor as he drove him home.

___

By time the Tolberts’ funeral arrived, so many had been lost to COVID-19 that Rev. Willard Weston had gotten used to delivering his eulogies through a mask. Gloves. Hand sanitizer. Don’t touch, don’t embrace, no matter how much you want to.

“At this pace, you don’t get a chance to really take a deep breath from the previous death, and then you’re getting a call about another,” he said. He’d found himself on his knees in his bathroom, trying to scream out the sadness so he could keep going.

He put on his suit and tie.

He walked outside, looked up to the sky and pleaded with God to find the strength to deliver a double funeral.

“Lord, how can I go and do this?”

In normal times, the Tolbert family’s funeral would have drawn a packed house. Pollye Ann was a minister at Weston’s church. She could deliver testimony like no one he’d ever seen: she was like a freight train, he recalled, slow at first then faster, faster, faster. People were drawn to her.

Instead it was just him and a handful of mourners in the cemetery, staring at the two caskets. He read from scripture and told their son, Desmond, that he’d never walk alone.

He worried his instinct to comfort with an embrace would overtake his knowledge that he couldn’t, so he walked away and got in his car. He felt guilty. He prayed for God to take that guilt away. Because there was more to do. The next Saturday, he would have three funerals, back to back.

A couple weeks later, on a Friday afternoon, he was preparing to leave his empty church and head home for the weekend without a single funeral planned for the first time in weeks. It felt hopeful. Then his phone rang again.

“Man, no. Oh, wow,” he said, and his shoulders slumped.

“Some more bad news. Somebody else has passed.”

___

There was some good news too.

Pollye Ann Tolbert’s sister survived weeks on a ventilator. She still tested positive for coronavirus and remained in isolation, so her daughter Latasha could only talk to her by phone.

The first thing she asked when she woke was how her sister and brother-in-law were doing. Latasha paused. Her mother repeated the question. It felt unreal. Mail still arrived in the mailbox for them. Their house was just as it was the day they left for the hospital. She and her cousin had washed the linens and wiped the surfaces to rid it of virus, but were otherwise too paralyzed to move a thing.

“I had to tell her that while she was sleeping, her sister and brother-in-law left us forever,” Latasha said. “They’re already buried, they’re in the ground.”

Peters told her daughter that the last thing she remembered was a doctor on the phone, telling her that her sister wasn’t going to make it. She thought she would die too, if not from COVID-19, then from grief.

She had hoped it was all a bad dream.

Then she woke up.

___

AP writer Katrease Stafford and data editor Meghan Hoyer contributed.

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