Don’t Get Lulled to Sleep, Preparation Saves Lives
Several times during the pandemic we’ve encountered lulls in infections, hospitalizations and deaths. The prudent thing in those times would be to use the time to regroup and prepare for the next challenge.
Unfortunately, we’ve generally responded by acting as if everything was “back to normal,” or sometimes as if there had never been a pandemic at all. Policies that created the lull were set aside and often forgotten. The idea that we were “through” made going back next to impossible. The result would be another surge in infections, then hospitalizations, then deaths.
We’re in such a phase now.
The COVID-19 death rate is higher now than it was mid-year 2021, yet federal officials are preparing to say it’s over now.
We’ll probably see a surge as the last of official mitigations expire, but we’re supporting our partners in the events space who want to continue preemptive testing to keep infected people from entering on-site activities—an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the saying goes.
After all, what’s the worst that can happen from being fully prepared? An event that’s held without a major outbreak, right?
News worth noting
Speaking of outbreaks, The New York Times and other leading news sources are reporting that people who study epidemics are on alert for alarming developments with the H5N1 virus—the virus often called the “bird flu,” because it’s usually confined to bird species.
The bad news is it has jumped into mammals, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its European counterparts. So far, at least 200 cases have been found in bears, cats, foxes, minks, raccoons and skunks, in addition to more than 200 million birds worldwide. Infections at a European mink farm appear to have included mammal to mammal transmission (most prior cases in mammals were thought to result from a mammal eating an infected bird).
As we know from COVID-19, each infection gives a chance for mutations, so the fear is that one of these mammal-borne viruses might be able to make the leap into those two-legged mammals called humans.
Attend Safe is monitoring this next potential pandemic and planning our response.
COVID-19 by the Numbers
According to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dated Feb. 1, new COVID-19 deaths for the week ended that date totaled 3,452, down slightly from the week prior, with 280,911 new cases for the week.
Amanda Schleede is founder and CEO of Attend Safe, which helps people attend to life with safe, secure and sensible protocols. Her leadership allows important events to proceed with safety-conscious protections. With Tuesday Tutor, she hopes others will benefit from her experience. Visit Attend Safe online at AttendSafe.com.