|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2020 16:37:59 GMT -5
New York gets green light to test for COVID-19 virus ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York received approval Saturday to conduct its own tests for the COVID-19 virus, a move officials said will significantly speed up turnaround times for results as the outbreak spreads. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the New York test has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and that testing will begin immediately at Wadsworth Lab near the state Capitol in Albany. New York City officials separately announced the FDA had approved their application to develop their own test and would soon begin COVID-19 tests in the city. “This approval will expedite wait time and improve New York’s ability to more effectively manage the coronavirus situation as it unfolds,” Cuomo said in a prepared release. There are no confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York state, though one person is under investigation in New York City. As state and city officials made their announcements, officials in Washington state said a person has died of COVID-19, the first such death in the United States. Since emerging in China in December, COVID-19 has sickened more than 85,000 people and killed more than 2,900 around the world. For more than month, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been running tests on samples taken from people in the U.S. suspected of being infected. The test takes four to six hours to run, once it’s in the lab. But the time needed to get a result can take longer the further it has to be shipped. The CDC developed a test kit that could be sent to state and big city public health labs, but most of the kits proved to be faulty, providing inconclusive results to test samples that should have tested positive. As state and big-city public health labs awaited a fix for faulty kits, New York City and the state sought permission this week to run their own version of the test. Mayor Bill de Blasio also said that the CDC has sent new kits that will allow the city to run the federal agency’s test locally. De Blasio said they will soon be able to get test results in hours, instead of days. It’s groundbreaking for state or city labs to try to get emergency approval for their own testing in such a situation, rather than simply getting an approved test via the CDC, said Scott Becker, the Association of Public Health Laboratories’ chief executive officer. “This will greatly enhance the city and state’s ability to test for potential cases of COVID-19 and to expand surveillance across the state,” Becker said in a prepared statement Saturday. __ Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York. apnews.com/2eacb3ac17c9bdd10f2a314515a2a3c1This is excellent news. |
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Mar 1, 2020 19:10:02 GMT -5
That is great news. We are fortunate here so far. There has only been one couple in the news that ended up quarantined. They have been quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan. The wife was just released to fly home today to Elizabethton Tn. (about 20 miles from here) The husband, a doctor, will be released soon. They have been quarantined on a cruise ship.
I can't imagine ending a pleasant vacation in quarantine on the opposite side of the globe not knowing when you will be released to come home and whether you will be quarantined again when you reach the United States. I was at Walgreen's today to pick up a few things that were on sale in their Sunday fliers. When I checked out the woman was spraying everything around the check out counter with Lysol. I guess some scuzzy looking person had checked out, sneezing in his hand and wiping his nose on the back of his hand, haha. She sprayed the credit card machine keyboard, the counter, the panel on the front of the counter, and the cart that he had used. I played into her hand a bit. When I checked out I took a squirt of Purell from a bottle on the counter, wiped it into my hands and rubbed my credit card with it while doing so. I carry a small bottle of Purell in the cup holder in my truck and use it whenever I have been pushing around a grocery cart or whenever I get back in the truck after shopping in a store. Today I saw a lady squirt hand sanitizer on a paper towel and wipe the gas nozzle before she pumped her gas. I think we are getting a bit paranoid. I am beginning to feel like Howie Mandell with my Purell bottle always at the ready. haha.
I have used enough of it some days to dry my hands out so that I have to use Vaseline Intensive Care hand lotion on my hands.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2020 19:48:53 GMT -5
I carry Purell with me also. If I am not wearing my gloves I wipe down the handle bar on the seat ahead of me and the rail bar on the seat. I tend to want to hold on to them when a driver makes a turn. Some drivers make a right or left turn so hard that it can throw a person out of there seat. Plus we have a few Bus drivers that like to what I call jerk the Bus. They keep hitting the brakes and accelerator so the Bus jerks forward. Enough to drive ya nuts.
Speaking of dying one's hands out that happened to me and my fingers would crack which was painful. Like a paper cut and I couldn't figure out how I was getting them. I use a moisturizer at night now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Mar 1, 2020 20:03:02 GMT -5
My hands used to crack when I lived up there. The best things I found to use were Corn Husker's Lotion and Vermont's Bag Balm. It is made to use on cow's udders when they get chapped and cracked. It heals in no time, and the Corn Huskers will keep your hands soft and smooth.
|
|
|
|
Post by BHU on Mar 2, 2020 18:33:40 GMT -5
What's the story with Purell? I think I heard something about the FDA issuing the company a warning about making false claims about their hand sanitizer.
|
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Mar 2, 2020 19:27:43 GMT -5
I don't know what claims they are making but I have always assumed that it would kill whatever rubbing alcohol would kill and nothing more.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2020 19:55:38 GMT -5
What's the story with Purell? I think I heard something about the FDA issuing the company a warning about making false claims about their hand sanitizer. Why Purell is bad for you? “If you're using very high concentrations of alcohol, it can cause dryness and cracks in the skin. Not only does it not feel good when the alcohol hits the skin, but then the skin won't heal as well,” says Fischer. That's why it's especially important not to use alcohol-based sanitizers on injured skin.May 24, 2019 Does Purell hand sanitizer kill norovirus? Alcohol-based hand sanitizer is a great alternative to washing your hands if you have no access to soap and water, your hands are not visibly soiled and you understand that it does not kill germs such as MRSA, salmonella, e. Coli, and norovirus. ... The high alcohol content can be fatal to a young child. How do you catch norovirus? Infection occurs by: touching objects or surfaces that are contaminated with the virus, and then touching one's mouth. consuming food or drink that is contaminated with the virus. swallowing aerosolised particles that are dispersed in the air after an infected person has vomited. Is hand sanitizer bad for your immune system? Although hand sanitizer is a very good way to stay clean and healthy, it is NOT an alternative to washing your hands. ... Hand sanitizer does have some possible bad sides to it. Some sanitizers can weaken the immune system, disrupt your hormones, cause alcohol poisoning if swallowed, or cause resistance to antibiotics.Sep 18, 2015 Why you should not use hand sanitizer? This is because alcohol is a skin irritant, which disrupts your natural oil production causing both dry and flaky skin. Over time, use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers can cause the skin on your hands to age more rapidly than it would naturally, as dry skin is prone to developing wrinkles and other blemishes. Can we use sanitizer on private parts? Hand sanitizer is NOT a safe spermicide Therefore, hand sanitizer should only be used on the hands for the purpose of killing bacteria and should never be applied to a penis or a vagina. ... The vulva and vagina are very sensitive areas and harsh chemicals may cause burning and irritation.Nov 20, 2019 ( I can't believe anyone would ask such a questions it has alcohol in it as a main ingredient.) |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2020 20:06:32 GMT -5
My hands used to crack when I lived up there. The best things I found to use were Corn Husker's Lotion and Vermont's Bag Balm. It is made to use on cow's udders when they get chapped and cracked. It heals in no time, and the Corn Huskers will keep your hands soft and smooth. Cow's Utters when they get chapped and cracked. Poor Cows! I never hear of that but Walmart sells the stuff so it must be ok. I read it is great on dry feet. I just don't want my feet or hands lactating when I'm walking around. |
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Mar 2, 2020 21:48:39 GMT -5
Cow's udders become chapped and their teats can crack from having calves sucking on them or milking machines irritating them. Farmers wash the udders with a disinfectant before putting the milking machine onto them. Usually Clorox and water on a wet rag. That also contributes to the chapping and irritation. I have used that bag balm since I was a teenager working on farms. I have never found anything that worked as well or as fast to heal cracked hands.
|
|
|
|
Post by clarencebunsen on Mar 2, 2020 22:02:07 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Ralph on Mar 3, 2020 13:53:25 GMT -5
If they wanted to disinfect anything at Walmart, they would have to bring one of those mobile fog units in to do it.
I can't imagine what strange viruses are crawling around where I work. I only know that when I first started there over four years ago I got sicker than a dog for the first few months.
I figure by now I am immune to pretty much anything!
I haven't see "runs" on anything there yet, but I've been off since Sunday night. No telling what happened yesterday or today. Tomorrow will tell I guess. Stocking there I am touching stuff that has been touched by everyone but the Pope at least a hundred times. I'll just keep washing my hands and hoping for the best.
|
|
|
|
Post by clarencebunsen on Mar 3, 2020 14:18:44 GMT -5
Are gloves a possibility. By the way, the Pope is sick.
The Walmart in New Hartford is out of hand sanitizer.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2020 16:46:22 GMT -5
I was wondering if gloves can help. I realized today that I always wear my winter gloves getting on the Bus, while on the Bus and getting off the Bus but never wash them. So I started washing them at night when I get home. I also have some plastic gloves if I need them. I hope North Utica Walmart has sanitizer. Noticed today that people are starting to wear surgical masks on the Bus and in the CENTRO Bus Station. Some lady up front was coughing without covering her mouth and a few people moved to back of Bus while one person told the coughing lady off--which is not a good thing since with those who take the Bus one never knows how mentally stable they are.
|
|
|
|
Post by clarencebunsen on Mar 3, 2020 17:56:53 GMT -5
Gloves would help. Especially if you need to punch someone coughing on the bus.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ralph on Mar 3, 2020 18:58:09 GMT -5
I wear special gloves for stocking that have rubber coating on them for gripping, but I still touch a thousand items a day that have been touched a hundred times before, plus the carts we pull that everyone else touched/touches. Going to be using hand sanitizer on the gloves as well! And of course there are the people; sick ones of course, never covering their moth/nose when they sneeze or cough and touching everything we'll be touching as well. It's like working in an ER.......it's full of sick people.  |
|
