A: Efforts to protect grandparents, a higher risk group for #COVIDー19 complications, are really hard on everyone! As #ShelterInPlace orders lift, here are some things to consider when making plans to reunite:
2/ This is not personal. Balancing life-threatening risks to grandparents, while limiting the negative effects of #IsolationLife, is no easy feat.
Adding germy, unpredictable small kids to this mix makes things even more complicated.
3/ Differences in opinions across generations can breed additional distress in an already stressful time. Stick to the facts. Listen to each other with #Respect.
4/ Underlying health conditions, caregiving needs, ability of family members to maintain #SocialDistancing measures, local #COVID19 spread, and #shelterinplace orders influence the risks of grandparents and grandchildren meeting up. There is no one right answer.
5/ If you are planning a visit, here are a few guidelines to make visits as safe as possible:
📲 Wait. If you can get by with the video calls and care packages for a bit longer, do it. This remains the #safest option.
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😷 Social distancing rules apply. Maintaining 6 feet between people, wearing masks, #handwashing, sanitizing common surfaces, and avoiding interactions when sick remains critical to preventing spread of the disease.
🌳 Outside activities are preferable to indoors.
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👥 Before grandparent visits, seal up your pod. This might include a two-week self-isolation and limiting contact with anyone not in your household.
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⏳Keep visits short and small. It may be easier to orchestrate a smaller visit with a few family members than to have a reunion with your entire extended family at once. Sleepovers and extended visits increase risks for transmission if someone in the group is infected.
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🥧 Meals are tricky. Eating introduces more opportunities to touch your face and pass around germs. Extra caution required.
1/ Q: Has almost everyone been infected with COVID by now?
A: Recent estimates suggest around 58% of the population in the US and over 70% in England have been previously infected, with BIG increases during the Omicron wave.
3/ ➡️ During the Omicron wave from December 2021-February 2022, this estimate increased from 33% to 58%.
➡️ Rates vary a lot by age, ranging from 33.2% for those over age 65 to 75% for those under age 18.
2/ Not likely. If your kids are suddenly getting sick a lot, this is likely due to “catching up” on exposures rather than a weakened immune system.
3/ Many families w/ young kids have been hunkered down for the better part of 2 years– a good % of a young child’s entire life. While isolation had *many* downsides, we can agree that not having to suction snot out of infant noses or clean up norovirus puke was a happy upside.
1/ Q: Are cases peaking? That means it’s all downhill from here, right?
A: Sort of…. Remember that even if cases come down as quickly as they rise, there will be as many cases *after* the peak as before (think area under the curve).
2/ ➡️ And if the downward slope is *slower* than the rise, we will see *more* cases during the decline from a surge.
3/ Burning fast could be a silver lining of super transmissible #Omicron. Cases rose & fell quickly in S. Africa (w/ hospitalizations & deaths still lagging). The UK appears to have turned the Omicron corner. Many US states appear past their peak in cases, w/ regional variation:
Unfortunately, this includes New Year’s Eve plans. The perfect storm of a new variant & holiday get-togethers is hitting communities & health care w/ FORCE! Testing is in short supply.
3/ Health care is under extreme pressure with surging cases. If you can avoid even one additional contact, you are helping. This is a temporary and urgent request (from a health care provider).