Celebrating Thanksgiving During a Pandemic
Planning Your Holidays During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Celebrating holidays alone or with your immediate household members can sound rather dreary. After all, who wants to roast and carve a turkey for just a few people? But, if you look at it another way, the pandemic does offer opportunities to make this holiday a season to remember in new and different ways. Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. (@NIHDirector), NIH Director, offers a couple of ideas to consider.
7 things doctors wish patients knew about holiday gatherings this year
With the COVID-19 case counts again surging across the nation, this year’s family holiday gatherings are going to look a lot different than usual. There will be tough choices ahead regarding how to safely celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and other winter fall and winter holidays. AMA (@AmerMedicalAssn) consults an infectious diseases expert about some key considerations that patients should keep in mind.
Celebrating Thanksgiving
As cases continue to increase rapidly across the United States, the safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with. Gatherings with family and friends who do not live with you can increase the chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 or the flu. CDC (@CDCgov) offers the latest tips and information concerning Thanksgiving travel and gatherings.
How to Reduce (but Not Eliminate) Covid Risk at Holiday Gatherings
Wired (@wired) reports it’s becoming an increasingly common question as the winter months approach: How do you safely handle the holidays during the pandemic? And it’s becoming increasingly more urgent as states experience a marked increase in cases.
Five Online Tools for Evaluating Covid-19 Risk Ahead of the Holidays
Smithsonian Magazine (@SmithsonianMag) reports that to help people figure out ways to reduce the risks of gatherings, researchers around the country have developed free online tools that visualize different facets of the pandemic’s dangers.
AMA, AHA, ANA issue open letter urging public to scale back holiday gatherings to stop further COVID-19 spread
In an open letter leading U.S. medical and health organizations call on the American people to celebrate safely this holiday season by scaling back traditional gatherings to help prevent further spread of COVID-19 to friends and loved ones.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta: I won’t be visiting with family this Thanksgiving. You shouldn’t either.
According to CNN, the sad truth is, we are in an even worse position than we were this summer: Prior to the earlier holidays, the trajectory of the pandemic was declining in at least some states. Currently, infection rates are rising in 44 states.
Products and Technology
TVM.Bio® Introduces New Tool to Fight COVID Pandemic and Potentially Stop Lockdowns: Smart COVID Card™ Helps Individual Users Verify Negative Disease Status, Keeping Communities, Businesses and Employers Safe Through Data Sharing
TVM.Bio® (@tvmbio) officially announced the release of its patent-pending Smart COVID Card™ to help businesses and local governments battle the spread of the ongoing global pandemic. The Smart COVID Card™ is a piece of modern technology that uses USB and Near Field Communication (NFC) to securely encode, store and access confidential medical information like COVID-19 test results through a secured HIPAA portal.
Vocera Smartbadge Named to TIME’s List of the 100 Best Inventions of 2020
Vocera Communications, Inc. (@voceracomm), a recognized leader in clinical communication and workflow solutions, announced that the wearable Vocera Smartbadge has been named to TIME’s list of the 100 Best Inventions of 2020. Today, TIME revealed its annual list of the 100 Best Inventions that are making the world better, smarter, and even a bit more fun. The award-winning Vocera Smartbadge enables hands-free communication and can be worn under personal protective equipment (PPE), minimizing the risk of contamination and helping preserve valuable PPE.
News and Noted
States plead for more federal help as virus outbreak worsens
With more shutdowns looming and a vaccine months away from wide distribution, governors across the U.S. are pleading for more help from Washington ahead of what is shaping up to be a bleak winter.
In the lab, St. Jude scientists identify possible COVID-19 treatment
Immunologists have determined the process driving life-threatening inflammation, lung damage and organ failure in patients with COVID-19, sepsis and other inflammatory disorders suggesting possible treatment using existing drugs.
Surveys and Reports
Patient Experience Tops Hospitals’ 2021 Priorities, According to New Lumeon Research
Lumeon (@lumeon_), a digital health company, announced the findings of its 2020-2021 U.S. Patient Access Leadership Report. The research uncovers the biggest challenges encountered by patient access leaders during COVID-19 – among them, the fragmentation of the patient experience, processes, and technology. The research also reveals how the pandemic is impacting patient access leaders’ priorities for 2021.
To Listen
We have compiled a playlist from all our shows and podcasts on our network that discuss the current COVID-19 pandemic.
To Read
AMA Announces Vaccine-Specific CPT Codes for Coronavirus Immunizations by The American Medical Association (@AmerMedicalAssn) – The American Medical Association published an update to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code set that includes new vaccine-specific codes to report immunizations for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
Hospitals Can’t Go On Like This from The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) – Last week, the United States broke its record from April for the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, blowing past 60,000 all the way to 73,000, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic.
Events
Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers (PRI)
What: COVID-19 Physician Peer Support
When: Tuesdays & Thursdays 5:30 – 6:30 pm ET
Register for Tuesday & Thursday Groups
Twitter: @EmPRO_Insurance
COVID-19 Physician Peer Support – PRI has multiple weekly complimentary Virtual Support Groups on Coping with COVID-19 which your fellow physicians have been utilizing and finding great comfort and support from.
COVID-19 Resources
HealthcareNOW Radio rounded up some health IT resources being offered by companies to help healthcare professionals, American citizens and all of those affected in the fight against the coronavirus.
COVID-19 Pharma News
HealthcareNOW Radio rounded up some of the latest news and announcements pertaining to the coronavirus and the pharmaceutical industry.
Latest COVID-19 News from CDC
CDC is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services. CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the US. CDC increases the health security of our nation. As the nation’s health protection agency, CDC saves lives and protects people from health threats.
The CDC is the front line for our safety and information on the Coronavirus. Keep informed about COVID-19. Sign up to get emails or text alerts from the CDC.
Health Center COVID-19 Testing
Updated weekly using data from the Health Center COVID-19 Survey, the Health Center COVID-19 Testing Dashboard provides a high-level view of total COVID-19 tests conducted and the distribution of positive COVID-19 tests by race and ethnicity.