Category: Covid-19

More than 2,600 health care workers in the Detroit area either have been out sick with symptoms similar to those of COVID-19 or have tested positive for the coronavirus. Above, a police car leaves Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on April 7. Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

More than 2,600 health care workers in the Detroit area either have been out sick with symptoms similar to those of COVID-19 or have tested positive for the coronavirus. Above, a police car leaves Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on April 7.

Cyndi Engelhardt woke up at 5 a.m. one day last month, and laying there in bed she just knew it. She was sick.

She'd had some chest congestion the night before. Now her muscles ached. So in those dark early hours, she got up to take her temperature: 102 degrees.

"And I went back to my bed, and I just put my head in my hands and I was just crying. And I was thinking, 'How am I supposed to help everybody when I'm stuck at home?' " said Engelhardt, an assistant clinical manager at an intensive care unit in Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital. "It just makes you feel like you're helpless."

Part of Engelhardt's job is caring for other nurses including putting together the massive monthly shift schedule. And just then, they needed her more than ever. Over the last few days, their unit had been filling up with COVID-19 patients. Engelhardt had been scrambling to help reorganize and get the staff as much personal protective equipment as the hospital could find.

Now, alone in her home, she reached out to her manager.

"The first thing I said was, 'I'm so, so, so sorry. But I think I may have COVID.' "

Two days later, a test confirmed it: She was positive.

A growing club

Dr. Lamont Jones is vice chair of the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital. And he started having symptoms shortly after his wife, Dr. Teniesha Wright-Jones, got sick. They drove together to get tested, and her results came back first: positive.

So they brought their daughters, ages 10 and 14, into the room and broke the news.

"We had a real discussion about that their mom had tested positive, that I had gotten tested. And it's likely that I would be positive, and what it meant for them. They likely were or eventually would be positive," he said. "So it was a pretty real conversation. And one of my daughters did start crying afterwards because she had been reading everything in the news about people coming down with COVID-19 and that people were dying from it."

When Jones' test came back positive as well, he joined a growing club: health care workers in the metro Detroit area who have contracted COVID-19.

Nobody knows how many, exactly, because some health systems aren't sharing or collecting that data.

But more than 2,600 health care workers in the area either have been out sick with symptoms similar to those of COVID-19 or have tested positive for the coronavirus.

From an office job to the COVID-19 unit

In the meantime, hundreds of people like Heather Haener-Svoboda have been redeployed.

"It's a hospital I've never been at, on a unit I've never been on, on a shift that I'd never work," she said. Haener-Svoboda spent the last few years at an office job as a quality and safety administrator at Beaumont Health. Prior to that, she'd been an operating room nurse.

When her employer started surveying the staff about possible redeployments asking which hospital they'd prefer work at, what shifts they could do and what kind of care they felt most comfortable doing she was upfront: She hadn't done that kind of patient care in 20 years.

"But we all felt like, 'We're nurses. We're reading to step up to the plate. The people of metro Detroit need us,' " Haener-Svoboda said. "So I think everybody is out of their comfort zone. But everybody is realizing they're pretty brave."

Now she's working overnight shifts in the unit where COVID-19 patients are sent after they've left the ICU.

"And they're so helpless and they're so scared," she said. "And you really just feel for them. And we're doing the best we can to take care of them and keep them comforted and encourage them, and holding their hand. And you just really feel like you're doing something important."

Guilt, hope and wanting to help

It's especially important in a city and a state that are among those hit hard by the virus.

At least seven health care workers in Michigan have died, including Lisa Ewald. She was a nurse at Henry Ford Hospital, where Engelhardt works.

"You see that and you just think, 'Why was I OK?' " Engelhardt said. "I had some survivor's guilt with that."

Like the majority of health care workers who have contracted COVID-19, Engelhardt has recovered. And after 14 long, frustrating days stuck at home, she returned to work.

"There's a little bit of feeling guilty that I wasn't here, because there are all these people that are fighting for their lives," she said. "And I was home with, like, this mild cold in my eyes. And I don't deserve to be recognized like they do. They're working hard, and I wasn't working hard. I was on this COVID vacation," she added.

Jones and his wife have also returned to work, even though Wright-Jones is still experiencing some shortness of breath.

Since so many of his surgeries have been postponed, Jones has volunteered to clean and disinfect hospital rooms and work in the emergency room.

He says in some ways, having COVID-19 has actually been an asset. Because he presumes he's likely immune, he's taking over some of the higher-risk procedures for his colleagues.

"And so to some degree, it made us feel like we could be more helpful," he said.

Engelhardt also said one good thing has come out of her illness it has given her co-workers a visible reminder that there is hope.

"They saw a lot of hurt," she said. "You know, these patients being alone [when they died]." So when her colleagues see her back at work healthy, energetic and ready to help again it gives them some relief, she said. She's their proof that contracting the virus "doesn't [have to] mean death."

See the rest here:

Detroit Health Care Workers Recover From COVID-19, Return To Work - NPR

Virginia on Friday reported 602 more cases of COVID-19 and 23 more deaths in the last 24 hours.

Fauquier has 35 confirmed cases as of Friday morning up three since Thursday, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

Virginia has 7,491 cases and 231 deaths attributed to the pandemic as of Friday. (The case total includes those tested positive and those with symptoms and known exposure to COVID-19.)

Those numbers stood at 6,889 and 208 a day earlier.

So far, 48,997 people had been tested in Virginia with 1,221 hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19.

Among the states 8.53 million residents, 0.57 percent have been tested.

In the five-county Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District, which includes Fauquier, 1,174 people had undergone tests for the virus. That accounts for 0.6 percent of the districts population of about 180,000.

The statistics reflect information that healthcare providers and laboratories reported to the health department by 5 p.m. Thursday. VDH updates its statistics each morning.

Curbside testing started last week in Warrenton.

The five-county region has two confirmed deaths:

An 80-year-old Warrenton man who died early Tuesday evening, April 7, at Fauquier Hospital.

A woman in her 80s with chronic medical conditions, who died Tuesday, March 31.

The five-county region has 95 known cases including 32 in Culpeper, 19 in Orange, 8 in Madison and 1 in Rappahannock as of Friday morning.

The Madison total includes a patient in a long-term care facility there, the regional health district office reported late Friday afternoon, April 10.

The heath department reports 665 cases and 37 deaths among 66 Virginia long-term care facilities that have experienced outbreaks.

The caseload in Virginia will peak April 27, according to the latest projection from the University of Washington.

But, a study from the University of Virginia Biocomplexity Institute indicates the states cases will peak in mid-July to late August, with about 15,000 confirmed infections.

Virginias most-populous jurisdiction, Fairfax County has 1,476 confirmed cases, up 101 since Thursday, followed by:

Prince William County, 644.

Henrico County, 532.

Arlington County, 485.

Loudoun County, 385.

Virginia Beach, 265.

City of Alexandria, 321.

Chesterfield County, 291.

City of Harrisonburg, 214.

City of Richmond, 201.

James City County (including Williamsburg), 157.

City of Chesapeake, 147.

Stafford County, 128.

Virginia had its first confirmed case Feb. 16.

Nationwide, the number of confirmed cases stood at 662,045 with 28,998 deaths and 54,703 patients who had recovered as of Friday morning.

The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association reported:

1,308 hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 or test results pending as of Friday morning.

224 of those patients on ventilators.

1,110 confirmed COVID19 patients who have been released from hospitals.

The states hospitals have 2,862 ventilators on hand, with 22 percent of them in use, including those for patients not receiving treatment or COVID-19.

The statewide bed availability stood at 5,587.

Six hospitals report difficulty in obtaining or replenishing PPE (personal protection equipment) in the next 72 hours.

Excerpt from:

Va. has 602 new COVID-19 cases, 3 of them here - Fauquier Now

All skilled-nursing residents of a Phoebe Ministries care facility in Montgomery County -- including many battling COVID-19 -- have been moved to the Allentown location, according to a letter to residents and their families.

The 37 residents, who average 84 years old on the skilled-nursing floor, require constant care, a spokeswoman said. Independent living and personal care residents can remain in their apartments at Phoebe Wyncote, the letter said. There is adequate staffing to care for them there, the letter said.

More than two dozen Phoebe Wyncote residents were sick with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as of Friday and many are now recovering under specialized care, a spokeswoman said. None was hospitalized, a spokeswoman said. Ten staff members had been self-quarantined after positive tests and two have recovered and returned to work, a spokeswoman said.

No one has died from COVID-19 at either location, a spokeswoman said.

The Phoebe Allentown facility has largely avoided experiencing an outbreak of the virus, the letter said. One pool employee ttested positivethere before the Wyncote patients were brought north, a spokeswoman said.

With so much staff sidelined in Wyncote, which is a neighborhood in Cheltenham Township, the move was necessitated to provide the most appropriate and highest degree of care for our residents, the letter stated.

A resident in her 80s told the Philadelphia Inquirer that, They told us that we were going to be moved. They didnt ask if we wanted to be. It was mandatory. My family is too far away to do anything about it anyway.

Normally, a nursing facility cant move patients without their permission, Diane Menio, executive director of the Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, a Philadelphia nonprofit, told the newspaper. But a lot of the regulations have been suspended, she added.

The 1 West and 2 West neighborhoods at the Allentown facility, 1925 W. Turner St., are equipped with specially trained staff and resources (including necessary personal protective equipment) and will be solely dedicated to caring for COVID-19 positive residents, the letter said. Neighborhoods are units within a building, the spokeswoman said. The 3 West neighborhood will be used for patients from Wyncote who have not tested positive for COVID-19, yet need to be closely monitored for symptoms, the letter said.

Teams are dedicated to these units and they have separate entrances that restrict crossover between employees and residents, Phoebe Ministries said.

Families were advised about the move, which took place on Wednesday as social distancing was created in buses, the letter stated. Staff on board wore appropriate protective gear, the letter said.

The arrangement will last until affected members of the Wyncote staff are able to recuperate and return to work, Phoebe Ministries said.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

More:

Residents in Montgomery County care facility hit hard by COVID-19 are moved to Allentown location - lehighvalleylive.com

BRANDON, S.D. (KELO) Gates Corporation is shutting down its Brandon manufacturing plant from April 20-24, after nine employees tested positive for COVID-19. But the company says that is not the reason it is temporarily closing.

Gates says the decision came because of the decreased demand for its product due to the economic slowdown.

As soon as we received notification of the first positive diagnosis, we instructed the employee and any coworkers believed to have been in close contact with the employee to self-quarantine for 14 days. We repeated our self-quarantine directive for any subsequent coworkers that have been in close contact with the additional six employees who received a positive diagnosis. Additionally, enhanced cleaning and sanitation practices were immediately initiated in the facility.

Gates has 270 employees at its Brandon facility. The company says it will continue to provide benefits during this time. Gates plans to reopen the facility April 27.

View post:

9 employees positive for COVID-19, but Brandon manufacturer says its shutting down due to economic slowdown - KELOLAND.com

Before the world was alerted to the threat of a novel coronavirus spreading out from China, Hadley Sikes was already well acquainted with developing molecular technology to improve diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Now working on a crucial diagnostic test to find people with Covid-19, the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Professor of chemical engineering at MIT and principal investigator of the Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), and her collaborators have managed to condense months of work into a matter of a few weeks.

Q: Where does your work fit in with the global Covid-19 research effort?

A: The Covid-19 pandemic has presented a huge challenge for the worlds capacity for diagnostic testing. It has given us a clearer picture of what our actual capabilities are because all the countries in this effort are as motivated as they could ever be to deploy technologies that can test populations as quickly and accurately as possible.

Scientists have only been able to deploy one kind of test so far to identify people who have Covid-19. The coronavirus that causes this illness is made out of proteins and RNA, and so far, we only detect its RNA. RNA tests are complicated and can take hours, or even days, for doctors to receive the results. A faster version of an RNA test was just announced, but it also requires laboratory equipment and it is difficult to produce as many tests are needed.

What Ive been working on at MIT and SMART, MITs research enterprise in Singapore, is developing protein tests that are quick to run and dont require laboratories. These tests can find out if viral proteins are present in bodily fluids and also if a patients immune system has responded to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

That is information that is critical, especially in this situation whereby countries are shutting down. If you know who has had the infection and recovered, and thus now has immunity, you have the potential to keep things running without putting more people at risk.

Before this outbreak, we had been working with support from the Deshpande Center on protein tests to diagnose malaria, dengue, and tuberculosis. Our goal was to find a way to capture more of the proteins made by these pathogens by developing binding reagents that concentrate the proteins within a testing device. We also wanted our tests to be affordable and easy to produce in large quantities.

Developing the reagents is a slow but crucial part of the process of developing a clinical protein diagnostic, and typically takes longer than for nucleic acid tests.

Dr. Eric Miller, who is in my lab at MIT, and Dr. Patthara Kongsuphol at SMART, have been working on engineering reagents that capture more of the scarce viral proteins in a patients bodily fluids. If more of these viral proteins can be captured, the test can be more sensitive.

With the Covid-19 pandemic as his motivation, Dr. Miller figured out how to engineer these binding agents in just two weeks much sooner than the several months it might typically take. On the SMART side, Dr. Kongsuphol has been leading our efforts in Singapore to integrate these agents into diverse test formats that can be challenged with clinical samples.

We are aiming to create a test that can work in 10 minutes and doesnt require specialized instruments or laboratory infrastructure. In this way, it can be carried out at an airport or a clinic to accurately show if a person either has or is immune to Covid-19. Its challenging to make a test that is sensitive and accurate enough, and also a huge challenge to scale up production of such a test fast enough to have an impact when a new pathogen emerges.

Q: What influence has Singapore had on your work?

A: I have been at MIT for 10 years and started working with SMART two years ago. Joining an interdisciplinary research team in Singapore has given me a really great chance to work on a pressing medical problem of our time, which is antimicrobial resistance. It allows me to work with world-class clinicians and government agencies that are international leaders in public health, and with top researchers at Nanyang Technological University, the National University of Singapore, and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

I spent January in Singapore and went back again at the beginning of March, just as the outbreak was emerging in the United States. I really wanted to learn more about how Singapores experience during the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s allowed them to respond so effectively to this outbreak, particularly with diagnostic testing.

It was nerve-wracking being separated from my family at this time. I have three young children and a husband who has a full-time job. Because of the 12-hour time difference with Boston, we had a lot of late-night and early-morning FaceTime chats.

They have been really supportive of the work my team and I are trying to do. I think they are glad I went to Singapore because they see that I am doing what I can to play a role in figuring out effective responses to this, and future public health crises. The mission provides a powerful sense of purpose.

The United States is fortunate that it had not experienced the SARS or MERS outbreaks Singapore and other Asian countries had been through, but this means we are lacking in the knowledge and experience these countries have gained. The United States and other countries can learn a lot from Singapore.

After that event, Singaporean officials analyzed everything that happened and put in place new public health measures designed to effectively manage and contain any future outbreaks. By doing this, they have developed a world-class response.

Q: What did you learn in Singapore?

A: I valued getting to speak to the doctors on the ground who were fighting the Covid-19 outbreak in Singapore and learning what they had seen during their case management amid the crisis.

When I arrived in Singapore, I was honored to get to speak with Dr. Sidney Yee, CEO of the Diagnostics Development Hub, who had worked to rapidly produce a high-performing RNA test and ensure it was quickly deployed as part of Singapores effective response to Covid-19.

I was also able to talk to my colleague at SMART, Dr. Tsin Wen Yeo, while he was doing shifts in the Intensive Care Unit, caring for Covid-19 patients. He gave me his views about what was required from a diagnostic protein test. I think it was an incredible opportunity to understand the needs of doctors in different settings and it focused the efforts of my team. Understanding how diagnostic tests will be used allows us to prioritize the things that doctors find most important.

You could make all sorts of diagnostic tests, but the ones we focus our effort on are the ones that are going to provide doctors with actionable information that will help them treat their patients.

This is a really interesting time now that there is a sudden emphasis on needing better, faster diagnostics for the worlds health-care systems. Engineers have a big role in providing these, for the benefit of patients and health workers, and also to help economies get back on their feet. I hope that this desire for more practical diagnostic research continues after we recover from this outbreak.

See the original post here:

3 Questions: Hadley Sikes on searching for a Covid-19 protein test - MIT News

The financial toll of the coronavirus is even hitting hospitals and other health care facilities.

Spectrum Health announced Friday it is making budget cuts because of COVID-19.

Spectrum said they lost millions of dollars in revenue in just one month when non-emergency and non-urgent surgeries were canceled. And expenses increased because of the urgent need for masks, gloves, face shields and other personal protective equipment for staff during the pandemic.

It also expects a drop in patients, saying unemployment and other economic pressures will likely discourage people from seeking medical help.

As a result, executives are taking 40% pay cuts and donating surplus paid time off to team members in need of PTO.

Company matches to employee retirement contributions are suspended from July until December.

And it said more actions will need to be taken to reduce expenses and continue to serve the community.

Originally posted here:

Spectrum Health Makes Urgent Budget Cuts Because of COVID-19 - 9&10 News

Google says it will slow hiring for the remainder of 2020 and adjust its investments in areas like data centers and marketing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an email from CEO Sundar Pichai sent to Google employees that was obtained by Bloomberg. Google confirmed the authenticity of the email to The Verge.

Well be slowing down the pace of hiring, while maintaining momentum in a small number of strategic areas, and onboarding the many people whove been hired but havent started yet, Google said in a statement to The Verge.

We believe now is the time to significantly slow down the pace of hiring, while maintaining momentum in a small number of strategic areas where users and businesses rely on Google for ongoing support, and where our growth is critical to their success, Pichai said in the memo. By dialing back our plans in other areas, we can ensure Google emerges from this year at a more appropriate size and scale than we would otherwise. That means we need to carefully prioritize hiring employees who will address our greatest user and business needs.

Google hired 20,000 employees in 2019 and had been targeting a similar number for 2020, Pichai said in the memo. Google is also recalibrating the focus and pace of our investments in areas like data centers and machines, and non business essential marketing and travel, Pichai added.

The company is making the decisions in light of the continued economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. They arent the only big tech company to reduce hiring because of the pandemic Microsoft is temporarily pausing recruitment for some roles, according to Business Insider.

Originally posted here:

Google is slowing down hiring through 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic - The Verge

By the time the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt was ordered to port in Guam on March 26, the hulking ship was already being ransacked by the outbreak of an invisible enemy.

At sea on March 24, the first three cases were reported. Within 24 hours, the number of infected more than doubled. Each subsequent day yielded more confirmed cases, numbering 615 as of Wednesday. A 41-year-old chief petty officer became the first to succumb to COVID-19 on Monday, four days after being found unresponsive by other quarantined sailors.

Officials retracing the ships activity pointed to a scheduled port stop in Da Nang, Vietnam, as the source of the outbreak. The oft-questioned decision to continue with the long-planned 25th anniversary celebration of U.S. and Vietnamese diplomatic relations was made at a time when the country had only 16 confirmed cases, all of which were reportedly confined to the northern city of Hanoi, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday said.

As Navy officials analyzed the ships chronological movement, however, the once-firm belief of where the virus first meandered onto the ship was called into question and potentially debunked.

According to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday, Navy officials now believe the outbreak on the carrier Roosevelt was initiated by the ships routine flight operations.

Numerous carrier on-board delivery flights originating in Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam occurred in the days following the ships departure from Da Nang, the report said. With some of the first Roosevelt sailors to contract the virus coming from the carriers air wing, the picture began to clarify.

Furthermore, the eight sailors who first tested positive did so over the course of March 24 and 25, more than two weeks after the ship departed Da Nang a time period in excess of the virus incubation. A Navy Times request for officials to confirm which units the first infected sailors belonged to was not returned as of publication.

Additional evidence materialized when the Navy pinpointed a hotel in Da Nang, where 30 sailors had stayed while Roosevelt was in port. Two British nationals who stayed at the same hotel later tested positive for COVID-19, the WSJ reported.

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Each of the 30 sailors who were at the hotel, however, yielded negative test results.

Still, Navy officials are holding off on saying for certain where the virus onboard Theodore Roosevelt originated.

We just dont know, one official told the Wall Street Journal.

Uncertainty has loomed over the Big Stick in the weeks since the first COVID-19 cases emerged.

Upon arriving pierside in Guam, former Theodore Roosevelt commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, penned a letter pleading for Pentagon assistance to evacuate the majority of his sailors off of the ship and into isolated quarantine.

We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die, he wrote. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset our Sailors.

Crozier was subsequently fired by former Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly after the captains letter was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Days after leaving the ship to rousing applause and chants of his name, Capt. Crozier tested positive for COVID-19. Like many of the sailors he used to command, Crozier is now in isolated quarantine.

Modly then flew to Guam to offer Roosevelt sailors an explanation for their captains hasty dismissal, a last-minute tirade that, according to estimates obtained by the Washington Post, came with an airfare tab of $243,151.65.

It was a betrayal," Modly told Roosevelt sailors over the ships 1MC intercom.

And I can tell you one other thing: because he did that he put it in the publics forum and it is now a big controversy in Washington, D.C. If he didnt think, in my opinion, that this information wasnt going to get out to the public, in this day and information age that we live in, then he was either A, too nave or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this. The alternative is that he did this on purpose.

According to a USA Today report Tuesday, Modly expensed the trip before formally submitting a waiver to side-step a policy that limits senior officials to one air crew per trip to curb the cost of travel by military aircraft, the report said. The former Navy secretary took the trip while only informing the Pentagon orally that he intended to use more than one crew.

Pressured by lawmakers on Capitol Hill following his infamous speech the audio was obtained by Military Times Modly resigned.

Now, in the aftermath of his ill-advised trip and potential exposure to COVID-19, Modly, too, is in quarantine.

Since Croziers firing, approximately 85 percent of Roosevelts crew has been evacuated from the carrier, Navy officials said.

In addition to the sailor who died from coronavirus complications, five sailors have been hospitalized. One of the five crew members has been moved to the ICU.

Originally posted here:

COVID-19 outbreak on Theodore Roosevelt sparked by flight crews, officials believe - NavyTimes.com

Amazon has decided to shut down all of its fulfillment centers in France after a French court ruled the company could be fined 1 million per item for shipping anything not directly related to medical supplies, hygiene products, and food items. The company, which plans to appeal the ruling, says that at the moment the risk [is] too high that it will run afoul of the ruling due to complexities in its warehouse operations. The shutdown will last from at least April 16th to April 20th. Reuters originally published the news on Wednesday morning.

Following the judgement of a French court on Tuesday, we have to temporarily suspend operations in our Fulfilment Centres in France. This is in spite of the huge investment we made in additional safety measures to keep our hard-working, dedicated colleagues safe, while ensuring they had continued employment at this difficult time, an Amazon spokesperson tells The Verge in statement. Our FC operations are complex and varied, and with the punitive 1M euro per incident fines imposed by the court, the risk was too high. We remain perplexed by the courts decision, which was made in spite of the overwhelming evidence we provided about the safety measures we have implemented, and have launched an appeal.

Amazon has come under fire both in the US and overseas for its handling of health and safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The health crisis has only made the e-commerce giants services more vital as people shelter at home and rely more on online ordering and delivery of household goods, food, and other items. But more than 50 Amazon-owned facilities have confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the Financial Times, and the company is now building its own testing lab to try to keep its operations running amid panic surrounding the viruss rapid spread through its warehouses.

Throughout the crisis, Amazon has been criticized by workers, activists, and politicians for not properly communicating to warehouse workers when a co-worker has been diagnosed with the illness and for not taking enough precautionary measures to prevent the illness from spreading by closing down facilities and deep cleaning them. In some cases, Amazon workers say they only hear about a COVID-19 diagnosis from co-workers, and in Kentucky, the governor ordered Amazon to keep its returns facility closed after numerous confirmed cases among the workforce.

According to Amazon, the Kentucky warehouse reopened on April 1st. The company provided this statement to The Verge regarding its measures to ensure employee health and safety:

Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our teams. Since the early days of this situation, we have worked closely with health authorities to proactively respond, ensuring we continue to serve people while taking care of our associates and teams. We have also implemented proactive measures at our facilities to protect employees, including mandatory social distancing, adding distance between drivers and people in the community when making deliveries, and providing masks for everyone to use, as we remain committed to keeping our teams healthy and safe.

In one particularly high-profile controversy, Amazon also fired a warehouse worker in New York City who organized a protest against the companys handling of health and safety issues related to COVID-19. The situation, in which Amazon claimed the worker violated the companys self-isolation guidelines to attend the protest, drew the attention of Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and accusations of retaliation. It was later discovered Amazon executives internally discussed how to smear the organizer in the media.

In France, the Union Syndicale Solidaires trade union filed complaints pushing for more oversight of Amazons handling of health issues during the pandemic and calling for the closure of facilities due to overcrowding. Amazon now says it is asking its fulfillment center workers to stay home. Amazon employs about 10,000 people in warehouses in France, according to Reuters.

In the mean-time, we are working through what this courts decision means for them and our French operation, the statement reads. While we will do our best to minimize the impact on French small businesses, those who depend on our FC network to deliver their products will be negatively impacted by this ruling.

Amazon says it will continue to serve French customers using its Marketplace sellers and robust global fulfillment network. However, its not clear if that means French customers will have to order from Marketplace sellers outside the country and have those products shipped in without routing through a warehouse, or if French Marketplace sellers will be able to ship the items directly or through an Amazon partner.

Update April 15th, 5:05PM ET: Added additional comment from Amazon regarding its measures to protect employees during COVID-19.

Link:

French ruling pushes Amazon to close its warehouses over COVID-19 health concerns - The Verge

FOND DU LAC COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) - An additional 166 patients tested positive for COVID-19 in numbers reported to the state Department of Health Services over the past 24 hours. The state now reports a total 3,721 positive tests.

Brown County accounted for 17 of the new cases reported by the state.

There are 182 deaths -- 12 more than Tuesday. Fond du Lac County reported its 3rd COVID-19 related death, which was included in Wednesday's update.

The state reports 1,091 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized during their treatment, including 163 who are currently in intensive care.

Washburn County in northwestern Wisconsin reported its first COVID-19 patient. That leaves 7 counties in Wisconsin which haven't had a positive test: Burnett, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Pepin, Taylor and Vernon.

County by countyAdams - 3 (1 death)Ashland - 2Barron - 6Bayfield - 3Brown - 114 (1 death)Buffalo - 4 (1 death)Calumet - 5Chippewa - 20Clark - 9Columbia - 27 (1 death)Crawford - 3Dane - 351 (13 deaths)Dodge - 19 (1 death)Door - 9 (1 death)Douglas - 7Dunn - 9Eau Claire - 21Florence - 2Fond du Lac - 59 (3 deaths)Grant - 8 (1 death)Green - 9Green Lake - 1Iowa - 5Iron - 2 (1 death)Jackson - 10 (1 death)Jefferson - 24Juneau - 7 (1 death)Kenosha - 204 (4 deaths)Kewaunee - 5 (1 death)La Crosse - 25Lafayette - 3Manitowoc 4Marathon - 14 (1 death)Marinette - 4 (1 death)Marquette - 3Menominee - 1Milwaukee - 1,870 (105 deaths)Monroe - 10Oconto - 4Oneida 6Outagamie - 31 (2 deaths)Ozaukee - 77 (9 deaths)Pierce - 7Polk - 3Portage - 4Price - 1Racine - 138 (6 deaths)Richland - 7Rock - 62 (4 deaths)Rusk - 3Sauk - 31 (4 deaths)Sawyer - 2Shawano - 6Sheboygan - 37 (2 deaths)St. Croix - 10Trempealeau - 1Vilas - 4Walworth - 49 (2 deaths)Washburn - 1Washington - 78 (3 deaths)Waukesha - 238 (10 deaths)Waupaca - 4 (1 death)Waushara - 2Winnebago - 31 (1 death)Wood - 2

Michigan's health department reports 54 COVID-19 patients in the Upper Peninsula, including 27 in Marquette County. There have been 9 deaths.

Fond du Lac County reports 3rd death

The Fond du Lac County Health Department announced Wednesday that the illness "has taken the life of another Fond du Lac County resident."

Health Officer Kim Mueller did not release any details about the person who died.

"To the family, friends, and neighbors, whose lives have been forever changed by the loss of a loved one, there may be few words to comfort you. Once again, I am urging all Fond du Lac County residents to follow the Safer at Home order and only go out for the necessities, protect yourself and others. All of our lives depend on it," reads a statement from Mueller.

It's the county's third COVID-19 related death and the first death in more than 2 weeks.

On March 29, a man who was being treated at a hospital in Fond du Lac County passed away from the virus.

On March 19, Fond du Lac man Dale Witkowski passed away from the virus. Witkowski was one of the patients in Fond du Lac County who contracted the coronavirus while on an Egypt river cruise.

Other casesManitowoc County reported its fifth COVID-19 patient late Wednesday afternoon. Citing the patient's privacy, county officials aren't releasing any information about the patient's age, gender, hometown or whether they were infected by community spread. The county determined infections were spreading in the community a week ago, and Emergency Services Director Travis Waack emphasized the need for avoiding non-essential travel and private gatherings, and that people should maintain physical distance, wash their hands frequently, and cover their sneezes and coughs.

Sheboygan County's Division of Public Health reported Wednesday it has 38 total COVID-19 patients. Twenty-six of these are considered recovered. Ten cases remain active, and the county had 2 deaths.

CLICK HERE to track the virus in Wisconsin.

Spreading the disease

The coronavirus is spread when an infected person coughs, sneezes or breathes.

"These droplets can remain in the air and on surfaces for an extended period of time. When people breathe in (inhale) the droplets, or touch surfaces that have been contaminated and then touch their mouth, face, or eyes, the virus can make them sick," says the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

People infected with the virus can develop the respiratory disease named COVID-19.

COVID-19 symptoms and prevention

Symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. CLICK HERE for more information on symptoms. Emergency signs include pain and pressure in the chest, confusion, trouble breathing, and bluish lips or face.

The CDC believes symptoms may appear between 2 and 14 days after contact with an infected person.

VISIT wbay.com/coronavirus for complete local, national and international coverage of the outbreak.

DHS recommends taking these steps to help stop the spread of the virus:

--Stay at home--Limit your physical interactions with people--Keep at least six feet apart from others--Frequent and thorough hand washing with soap and water--Make essential trips no more than once a week--Covering coughs and sneezes--Avoid touching your face

Local and national health care providers are encouraging people to wear masks in public to avoid spreading the illness to others.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has issued a Safer at Home order restricting large gatherings, non-essential business and travel in the state. CLICK HERE to find out what the order means for you.

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More than 3,700 positive for COVID-19; Fond du Lac County reports 3rd death - WBAY