PublicSource | News for a better Pittsburgh (https://www.publicsource.org/category/covid-19/page/2/)
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], homemade masks are not considered PPE and they should only be used as a last resort when caring for COVID-19 patients, as their protective ability is unknown.
By necessity, I have to pay very close attention to what is going on in the world of infectious disease as the parent of a medically complex child. In the weeks leading up to COVID-19 reaching pandemic status, I began to circle the wagons, knowing that despite whatever measures were taken, we were going to have to go back into isolation.
UPMC has been testing two different sets of patients concurrently, for different reasons and that is leading to some confusion about what the rate of positive tests for coronavirus is in Pittsburgh.
A second person has died of coronavirus in Allegheny County according to a press release. But the statement says this person was not aware that they had the disease.
"We could have all just said: this is getting really tough. We're just going to close our doors. Everybody's on unemployment. Company's closed. We chose to rise to the challenge. And my employees chose to do that. They chose to continue on with the company taking pay cuts."
Coronavirus has been in the news since January, but it wasn’t until March 11 — the day the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic — that some UPMC employees say they got their first official guidance on how the 40-hospital health system was preparing for the disease’s spread.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections [DOC] said it will stop accepting new male prisoners for “several days” as it sets up a new centralized system for bringing new men into the prison system in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The new policy only applies to men; women will still be accepted at two separate facilities and the state didn’t respond to immediate requests for comment on why there is a discrepancy.
The author urges people to accept the deep feelings of panic, worry and sadness amid this disruption and use this time for strengthening human connections.
As novel coronavirus cases are reported in the Pittsburgh area, PublicSource has compiled information on how local leaders and institutions are responding as public health experts urge residents to practice “social distancing” and avoid large gatherings.
A look at the lives of those most affected by the spread of illness.
