Essex County, NY Office for the Aging

Recap of today's briefing from Governor Andrew Cuomo: - Dr. Anthony Fauci was a guest in today's briefing. - NYS is recalibrating their strategy to focus on hos...pital capacity. The worst case scenario is an overwhelmed hospital system, where people are dying on gurneys in hallways due to lack of staff & equipment. - The Governor reiterated the "surge and flex" strategy. - Surge: increasing hospital beds, eliminating elective surgeries and building field hospitals. - Today NYSDOH is calling for hospitals to increase bed capacity by 25%, and asking all able nurse and doctor retirees to return to service. - Flex: NYS has 215 hospitals - previously the issue was individual hospital overload - NOT system-wide overload - We now have the ability to not just shift patient load amongst private & public hospital systems, but between the two systems. - If hospital capacity become critical, a region must close down. - If a region's 7 day average hospitalization grown rate shows that within three weeks the region will hit 90%, that region will be subject to NY Pause. - The CDC has updated their guidance, recommending avoiding all nonessential indoor spaces and crowded outdoor settings. Any indoor activity that requires removal of a mask is considered high risk. The CDC recommends promoting flexible worksites, telework and hours. - If NYC does not stabilize their hospitalization numbers, indoor dining may be shut down in NYC as early as next Monday. - 70% of all transmission is "small spread" - also known as "living room spread" - small gatherings of families and friends. - On the vaccine front, 49% of Americans say they are unlikely to take a vaccine. - 57% of Black Americans either won't or are not sure they will take a vaccine. - In order to get "back to normal" - we need 75% - 80% of the population to be vaccinated, to provide an umbrella of safety. - NYS has instituted a vaccination panel, headed by a Nobel Laureate, who is reviewing the vaccine to determine safety before it is administered to New Yorkers. - If the NYS panel approves the vaccine, it will be distributed first to nursing home residents, nursing home workers and health care workers, starting next week. - The good news: NY is one of the lowest states in the nation - and our highest region is lower than 41 states! - Dr. Fauci was available to answer questions, and shared: 1. The Thanksgiving peak will not hit until another 7-10 days from now. 2. The Christmas peak will hit in mid-January. 3. Dr. Fauci approves of the 10 person small gathering limit, but feels like it might even be too many people, especially if it includes anyone from out of state, or has traveled by plane or train. 50% of spread is happening from asymptomatic people. 4. Dr. Fauci feels, depending on the behavior of people (getting vaccinated/practicing masking/etc), we should hit 75%-80% by next September at the earliest. 5. You are not immediately immune to COVID once you get the vaccine. After your first dose, you must take a second dose, 28 days later, and then 7-10 days after your second dose, you have peak immunity. -

Take a look at our December menu!

The Adirondack General Store still has many ham dinners available to those who need it. Please contact them at 518-791-3705 for more information!

We want to take a minute & welcome our new outreach worker! Say hello to Shantel! Shantel worked for DSS for 16 years, and is a huge animal lover. ... We are so excited to have her a part of our OFA family!