Blog posts of '2020' 'May'

The World Health Organization has declared Covid-19 a pandemic. As the total number of cases in the United States exceed 1 million earlier this week, the WHO has set guidelines for the public to prepare themselves for the effect of the pandemic.

  Covid-19, the novel coronavirus that first caused an outbreak in China in 2019  has rapidly infected people around the globe. According to the CDC, the most vulnerable to this viral threat are people over the age of 60 and those with chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and lung disease. Everyone around the world has been urged to stay at home as much as possible and practice social distancing. The virus can cause symptoms ranging from cough to high fever, shortness of breath, and in some cases, it can be deadly, particularly in those populations most at risk. 

The first thing you need to do and this is most important. You must not panic. Even though the term pandemic can sound scary, it doesn’t mean the world is ending. Depending on the scale of the pandemic, there can be interruptions to supply chains and economic repercussions. We’ve already seen multiple reports of people stocking up on essentials all at the same time, which has left supermarkets out of stock.

If you’re unable to easily purchase supplies  at short notice, it is worth being prepared so that you can be comfortable staying home if you or someone in your family does get sick and needs to remain in isolation. As the Coronavirus continues its rapid spread internationally and across the U.S. many Americans are following public health advice from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention to prepare for the possibility of a lengthy home stay.  

So it’s important to have what you need in order to remain at home for a longer period, possibly weeks. That way experts say you’ll be prepared if you need to decrease contact and socialization in case you get sick, or try to prevent illness if there’s an outbreak of coronavirus in your communiy, but rather than panicking and buying more than you need, it’s about being adequately stocked. Just in case you need to shelter in place, or in case stores have limited supplies for some time.

Read on to know more about the best five items to stock up and how you need to prepare yourself for the pandemic, according to experts.

• Medications

It’s a better idea to have a month’s supply of any medications you might be taking, than running out of stock and not finding any at the last moment. Keep handy any self-care supplies, including items needed to manage chronic disease like blood glucose test trips for diabetes, etc.

 “Check to ensure you have at least a 30-day supply of your prescription medications, and have other health supplies on hand, including pain relievers, stomach remedies, cough and cold medicines, fluids with electrolytes, and vitamins,” advises Anthony Tornetta, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross. Also keep a thermometer and medications to reduce fever handy.

• Stock Food

Make sure you get foods you like and are comfortable preparing. While the focus should be to stock up on things that won’t go bad in storage, such as soup and canned food; avoid purchasing things that you won’t end up consuming.

 “Non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items are the best to have on hand. These could be things already in your pantry, such as canned goods or snack bars that can last and be easily stored. If you have an infant, make sure to stock up on extra baby food and formula,” Tornetta adds. “Similarly, if you have pets, make sure you have extra pet food in your home as well.” Make sure you have at least two-week’s worth of these supplies for every person in your household. Just make sure to regularly replace any perishable foods and don’t neglect non-perishable stocks. Eating well supports overall health and can bolster immunity at a time when that’s critical. 

• Stock Up on Cleaning Supplies

Regular hand-washing is important to prevent the spread of disease including coronavirus. At home, soap and, water are more than sufficient. If for some reason, you eventually need to leave your quarantine, it’s a good idea to have antibacterial wipes and/or hand sanitizer gel. Make sure your hand sanitizer is at least 60% alcohol. Get your hands on alcohol-based sanitizer in the comfort of your home, by clicking here - https://www.nobledentalsupplies.com/hand-sanitizer-gel-70-alcohol-w-aloe-mark3

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Make sure you have all you need to keep your home sanitized. You should have disinfectant sanitizers & tissues, such as Kleenex and paper towels, Gentry suggests. You should also have wipes and diapers and any other supplies you need if you have a baby, he advises.

• Wearing a Mask

We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms (‘asymptomatic’) and that even those who eventually develop symptoms (pre-symptomatic’) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms. This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity – for example speaking, coughing, or sneezing – even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms. In light of this new evidence, CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.

• Plan Ahead

You must plan ahead when it comes to emergency, so as you stock up on goods, make sure you put a plan in place to monitor the spread of the virus in your community and neighborhood. This plan will guide you in case you get sick. Keep yourself up to date with local and international news as well as national updates from the CDC.

The Director of the CDC, Robert Redfield in an interview with the Washington Post last week, said that the second wave of Coronavirus, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus, could be worse than the current one that shook the world. “There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will be more difficult than the one we just went through,” he said, because it would coincide with the annual flu epidemic, which killed 24,000 to 62,000 people last year alone and caused 18-26 million hospital visits.

Even though several hours later, during Trump’s daily coronavirus press briefing, Redfield was forced to take back his statement saying it is still going to be “more difficult and potentially more complicated, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be worse”.

As of today roughly 80,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus with a vast majority of them happening in the New York, New Jersey area. For a comparison, more than the 47,434 Americans were killed in combat during the Vietnam War. The total number of cases in the United States exceeded 1 million earlier this week. The 1st four months of this crisis will assuredly mean that when we get out of this, we will all be different people in a very different world.

The coronavirus pandemic may have slowed down in many parts of the country because of strict social distancing efforts but we would still hold off on planning any parties, vacations or trips to the office for a while at least. Experts say the virus won’t be a thing of the past anytime soon.

A second round of Covid-19 cases is ‘inevitable’ as soon as fall arrives, says the country’s top infectious disease doctor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. As people increasingly try to resume regular life and more states ease or lift their stay-at-home orders, he says that he is ‘almost certain’ that the virus will come back, because it is so transmissible and globally spread. According to him Americans could be in for ‘a bad fall and a bad winter’, if the country is ill-prepared.

There are many aspects of the virus that remain unknown for scientists, but older viruses are offering some clues. People are usually infected by 4 common coronaviruses that were 1st identified in the mid-1960s, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and those tend to increase multifold in winter months.

Dr. Greg Poland, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic says that Covid-19 is likely to follow that pattern. If that happens, a second wave of the virus would return just in time for the start of flu season. The flu has been a constant threat to Americans and has been devastating in recent years. The CDC estimates that there were at least 39 million cases of the flu in the US and at least 24,000 deaths during the 2019-2020 seasons. He says that the combination of a second wave of Covid-19 with flu season could create ‘a lot of confusion’ because of their overlap in symptoms and it could also put a heavy strain on the health care system.

It appears that the novel coronavirus is likely to keep spreading for at least another 18 months. There are several possible scenarios for the course of the pandemic, but the worst of them is s second wave of infections just like the 1918 influenza pandemic, according to a report by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Mike Osterholm, CIDRAP Director, co-authored a report released recently that recommended the US prepare for a worst-case scenario. The report includes preparation guidelines for a second big wave of coronavirus infections in the fall and winter.

How to Prevent Second Wave of Coronavirus

According to health experts, the coming months would be a good time to prepare for a potential second outbreak of the virus. 

• Hospitals and clinics should refurbish their stocks of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and testing supplies. Order your PPE with zero hassles by clicking here - https://www.nobledentalsupplies.com/kleenguard-a70-chemical-spray-protective-yellow-coveralls-12cs-kimberly-clark 
• People should try to get healthier if possible and continue using face masks for the time being. Gatherings should be kept to no more than 10 people at a time.
• As cities reopen, local officials should make plans to swiftly reissue stay-at-home orders or other strict social distancing measures in the future, in case it is needed. 
• Health officials across the country must continue focusing on expanding coronavirus testing, contact tracing and treatment, said Dr. Helen Boucher, Chief of the Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases Division at Tufts University Medical Center. Improving the way health workers handle the coronavirus pandemic will be key, so the country is ‘as prepared as we can be’ when it’s time to face an outbreak of both the coronavirus and the flu. Check out all our discounted medical supplies at https://www.nobledentalsupplies.com/.

While most experts believe that people who have recovered from the virus will have some sort of immunity, Poland says it is unclear how strong that immunity might be, how long it might last and the accuracy of antibody tests is inconsistent. A lot of hope is being placed on the fact that there are no definitive answers yet, because there’s still a lot scientists don’t know. 

Even though the worst is over, the months to come are not going to be ‘good’ but merely ‘less bad’. All in all, we’re probably living with this virus affecting our lives for one to two years, unless there is a breakthrough and really speedy production and distribution of a vaccine. 

As the nation begins to slowly reopen different sectors of the economy, it is important to consider how this “return to practice” will work for the dental industry.

Natasha Lee, DDS, a practicing dentist in San Francisco, was appointed for this effort by the Gov. Gavin Newsom to California’s Economic Recovery Task Force. Dr. Lee is also a member of CDA’s Covid-19 Clinical Care Workgroup and Economic Recovery Workgroup.

 The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the California Department of Public Health in March and Early April, issued guidance that dentists should perform only urgent and emergency care. This guidance was driven by data that demonstrated an alarming rise in community transmission across the country and the need to flatten the Covid-19 curve of infection and death. It was also done in order to protect dental personnel and their patients from the virus. CDA, ADA and most state dental organizations issued recommendations consistent with the federal and respective state authorities regarding how to apply the guidance in serving patients during the crisis.

In addition to enormous advocacy for economic relief, the next critical phase of work is to address recommendations regarding when the profession may resume thorough patient care and what practice changes will be needed to provide that kind of care.

  CDA President Richard Nagy, DDS, and California State Dental Director Jay Kumar, DDS, have established a workgroup composed of dental practitioners, academicians and researchers to help establish the recommendations for this futuristic path.

The workgroup’s return-to-practice guidance will be informed by dental office infection control fundamentals and Covid-19 specific research and advisories. Also, the workgroup is monitoring federal and state advisories and conditions for reopening the economy.

While there are many details that still need evaluation, what is certain is that significant steps must be taken to restart the broader economy and dentistry. Providing frequent close-contact, high-aerosol procedures that are common in dentistry will require meeting several conditions. The two most vital components to this would be the wide availability of rapid testing and sufficient availability of PPE, which is in short supply, as we are all well aware.

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In order to get back to normal, here’s an infection control checklist for reopening the practice after Coronavirus closures.

• Safe practices

When practices do begin seeing patients on a routine basis, safe practices infection prevention consultant and speaker Jackie Dorst, RDH, BS, doesn’t expect everything will look just the way it did before it was put on pause. “There won’t be one big opening of the gates and saying that everything’s all clear. It’s going to be a gradual thing. Densely populated areas may be a little slower to resume medical and dental services than rural areas that are sparsely populated.” Dorst also believes that waiting rooms will need to be reorganized to limit exposure to both patients and staff.

  The patient ideally should be met at the door, greeted, temperature taken, given a mask, a wellness screening, made to practice hand hygiene before they’re even seated in the operatory. It’s definitely going to require schedule planning and time on the dental team’s part

• PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)

Personal protective equipment has always been an important component of infection control efforts at the dental practice. But, in a Covid-19 world, that equipment becomes even more important- along with its proper use and availability. One likely change is the type of PPE worn by staff, Dorst says, and the guidelines surrounding PPE that will become even more stringent.

  From now on, a dental assistant is going to have to wear an N95 respirator mask, with a full-face shield over it, and then an isolation gown, rather than just the clinic jacket or scrubs that they might have worn earlier. 

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• Equipment maintenance

This downtime has given practices the opportunity to address proper preparation and availability of dental instruments and equipment. Taking stock and getting the input of hygienists and assistants will make sure the office is ready for a full schedule post Coronavirus. Your team will appreciate being heard and the practice will be in great shape when things are in full swing again. Make sure ordering dental supplies in bulk is on the top of your list.

Putting equipment back into use shouldn’t be difficult, but keep in mind it has been sitting unused and unmaintained for weeks. Be sure to properly service the equipment according to manufacturer instructions.

• Refreshing skills

Now is a great time to brush up on infection control policies and procedures, before patients walk through the door. It’s the perfect time to train on OSHA and Infection Control as well as take on written programs like the Exposure Control Plan. If you already have a process in place for screening for tuberculosis and other aerosol transmissible diseases, then it can be modified to include conditions like Covid-19.

It’s also very important to ensure that the practice has people in their proper safety roles, such as an infection control coordinator or a safety officer. But remember, safety is not just one person’s job, it is everyone’s job. However, a person in charge who oversees the program is extremely beneficial.

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