COVID-19 Never Left - Issue #14
COVID-19 Never Left - Issue #14
Covid-19 Is Back Because It Never Left
The hip-hop artist Swoope eloquently rapped these lyrics:
I told the homies get dressed/It's go time, let the cameras roll
What did you expect?/I'm back like I never left
Yup, yup, yup, yup/I'm back like I never left
Yup, yup, yup, yup/I'm back like I never left
I am reminded of these lyrics as I think about the pandemic and its staying power. The pandemic has never left us, and this week we're reminded of this reality.
In issue 13, the last newsletter, I ended it with some valuable information about the Omicron variant, and why the global health community is also concerned about this variant. More specifically, their concerns revolve around how fast the virus spreads. This week's news has only substantiated those concerns. And yes, in case you're wondering, the Delta variant is still a problem and people are still being hospitalized because of it.
After weeks of The Maryland Department of Health Covid-19 data website being offline, it was finally somewhat restored due to a cyberattack, according to officials. Current data revealed what Marylanders had known to be true. The Covid-19 infection rate had increased and that hospital beds are filling up. Prior to MDH's website crashing, health officials had already noted there were at least three known cases of the new variant in Maryland. See the last newsletter.
In The News
Important Note: People will have to apply for those test kits in order to receive them, according to The Verge.
Biden said today that Americans will soon be able to order free COVID tests from a government-run website, which is not yet available. “We’ll have websites where you can get them delivered to your home,” he said of the 500 million at-home tests the government is purchasing to combat the Omicron surge.
Details on this website are murky, however. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said today that “We will have more information as it is available including what the website looks like,” she said, adding, “We will make the website available as soon as these tests are available.“
The Virus in Prince George's County
The virus has continued to spread in Prince George's County, especially in the school system. Parents were receiving weekly letters detailing outbreaks in schools. Even though Prince George's County Health Department had no recent data on the county's infection rate, CEO of The Prince George's County Public School Dr. Monica Goldson gave residents a hint that the county may be dealing with a COVID-19 surge when she decided to move in-person learning to virtual learning.
In a recent press conference, Dr. Goldson defended her decision against Gov. Larry Hogan's misleading, and uninformed remarks that what she did was for the safety of the children, parents, and Prince George's community.
"I just want to reiterate that it is my job to make decisions on what is best for Prince George's County Public school students, staff, and families we serve," Goldson said. " Over the past week, however, we saw a rapid increase in positive COVID-19 cases in our schools. In just one week, we had 994 students and 261 teachers test positive, which resulted in us placing 16, 778 students and 492 staff members in quarantine. The large number of students and staff quarantined, along with COVID-19 cases, compounded by ongoing staff shortages, began to significantly impact learning and became disruptive to our school environment. This led to the decision I made last Friday to temporarily shift to virtual learning. While our goal is to always continue in-person learning, whenever possible, there are criteria outlined by The Maryland Department of Health for temporary suspension of in-person learning. Those criteria include evidence of substantial uncontrolled in-school transmission, additional time needed to identify, notify and exclude close contacts, logistical or safety concerns arising from a number of cases in close contacts, and the recommendations of local public health and medical professionals. When we made the decision to suspend in-person last week - each of these criteria was in play."
Goldson, again, went on to emphasize that virtual learning in P.G. County is temporary and not permanent. It's not clear yet what will happen if another COVID-19 spike shall break out in the schools.
PGCPS is not the only system that has switched to virtual learning. Schools in Baltimore, and Anne Arundel County seem to be preparing to go virtual because of current outbreaks in their schools.
However, attempting to stay in line with the White House's agenda to keep children in school for in-person learning, the Maryland State Department of Education, reported by Maryland Matters, emphasized the need to try to keep children in buildings for in-person learning, despite the surge of the recent variant, and the continual spread of the Delta variant.
The state department will support a transition to virtual learning “only on a case-by-case basis under the most exigent of circumstances and in close consultation with State and local health departments,” the statement read. Local school systems that do transition to virtual learning “will need to immediately and aggressively work to bring students back to in-person normal attendance and learning,” the statement continued.
Where Can You Get Tested?
Link: https://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/3472/COVID-19-Testing
Monday through Friday
*OPEN December 24 & 31 from 9:00am - 2:00pm
9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
First United Methodist Church of Hyattsville Monday, Thursday, Saturday
*CLOSED
Thursday 12-23-2021
Saturday 2-25-2021
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.Roseu Medical Center | Book testing appointments online or call 301-604-8000Monday through Friday
*CLOSED Friday 12-24-21
*Appointment Required State Testing Facilities in Prince George’s County.
Prince George's County Memorial Library until recently was giving out take-home tests to county residents. But, now all branches are out of rapid tests. Nicholas Brown, COO for Communication and Outreach at PGCMLS, said, "kits go extremely fast, no matter how many we receive from the health department." PGCMLS staff has distributed 8,208 kits to P.G. County residents. Mr. Brown said kits will be available to pick after Jan. 4.
The library received rapid antigen self-test kits biweekly. Each kit entails two tests. Mr. Brown said the Maryland Department of Health provides a certain amount of tests to the Prince George's County Health Department.
"Our local health department determines how many test kits we will receive from the overall supply for the county. They provide self-test kits to several other organizations in the county for use and distribution," Brown explained. The number of kits the county (and the library) receives varies from shipment to shipment, depending on the allocation from the state, which originally purchased 500,000."
After Jan. 4, call the library at (240) 455-5451 to know if kits are available for pickup.