The chapter on COVID’s impact is still writtenbeing

The new normal: adapting to COVID Future of virus is uncertain; so are various gov’t mandates

by Katherine Donlevy Associate Editor

Apotential COVID-19 vaccine in its final phase of testing was announced Nov. 9 as the pandemic rolled into its eighth month, but doctors warn that the overly cautious way of life we’ve grown accustomed to may last a good deal longer.

“When the vaccine comes it might take awhile for things to go back to normal because it will require a lot of individuals to get vaccinated. In the early stages of the vaccine we should continue mask wearing, social distancing, proper hand hygiene and other measures,” said Dr. John Raimo, an internist and chairperson of medicine at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills-Northwell Health.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer and partner BioNTech said Monday that their vaccine, the first to be tested in the U.S., had proved a 90 percent effectiveness rate so far, but is still in its third testing phase and results could change.

Despite the uncertainty around when a vaccine could become widely available, Raimo said he hopes people understand the significant aid it would bring to the suffering populace, especially those weary and suspicious of vaccines.

“It’s hard to say what’s going through peoples’ minds,” the doctor said of the anti-vaxxer population, which has grown in recent years despite authorities like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirming vaccines do not cause autism or other suspected disabilities. “I think a lot are wondering in the healthcare community, but a vaccine is going to be part of the long-term solution.”

The population’s faith in vaccines is just one hypothetical change Raimo said could result from the pandemic, but another he hopes will arise is the public’s attentiveness to their own health. In the first months, Raimo noticed patients were nervous to come in for health screenings but are now enthusiastically monitoring changes to their bodies, due in part to the various precautions hospitals and healthcare facilities have implemented.

LIJ Forest Hills and other New York hospitals operating under state Health Department guidelines are now stocked with hordes of personal protective equipment for visitors and staff alike — if you’re not wearing a hospital-issued mask you will be provided one and asked to remove your own — have clear, plastic barriers in waiting rooms and lobbies and have security and temperature checkpoints throughout their buildings.

“Probably one of the biggest changes is the restriction on visiting hours that’s really going on statewide,” Raimo said. Each patient is only allowed one visitor and only between 2 and 6 p.m. COVID-19 patients, however, are not allowed any visitors at all.

Staff are required to take additional, vigorous steps as well. Each time Raimo reports for a shift he is mandated to fill out a questionnaire outlining his symptoms, exposure and testing history, similar to the screening process visitors and patients must take. Staff, however, have the added burden of donning various PPE, such as gowns, gloves, masks and shields, hair caps and goggles.

The strict regulations implemented by the state go much further than inside our hospitals, an approach not many other states have adopted, but one that has been working in our favor, said the doctor.

New York was one of the hardest Staff at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills-Northwell Health and other hospitals across the state are required to wear various articles of personal protective gear while on the job, such as gowns, masks, gloves and hair caps, in addition to sanitizing and hand washing frequently. PHOTO COURTESY NORTHWELL

hit places in the U.S. in the early days of the pandemic, reaching its peak on April 4 when the state reported over 12,000 new cases in a single day. The Empire State reported its highest death toll, which was 1,028 lives in a single day, five days later.

As of November, New York has the third-lowest positivity rate of any state, according to Johns Hopkins University. Cases across the state have seen a slight increase since the tail end of September, reaching as high as nearly 4,000 new single-day cases on Nov. 10, but are relatively under control compared to the rest of the country, which reported its apex of almost 140,000 cases that same day.

Many of the rules have changed the way of life in New York, which Raimo said could remain in place for some time, especially because the expected vaccine is still so uncertain.

Wearing masks, the doctor said, is one mainstay the population should continue to utilize for the long term, especially in the coming winter months and during influenza season. New York State requires everyone over age 2 who can medically tolerate a face covering to wear one because that has proven to slow the spread of the airborne virus.

Other mandates, such as Gov. Cuomo’s cluster initiative plan which threatens to shut down nonessential businesses and in-person learning if neighborhoods report above a 3 percent infection rate, has incentivised many to follow New York’s strict regulations.

The plan outlines zones that correlate to certain restrictions made in an attempt to quell the COVID surge: Red is the cluster area itself, with the most limitations, orange is the surrounding warning zone and yellow is the precautionary sector.

“Drop a pebble into the pond, the pebble goes in, then there’s one ring, two rings, three rings, and the rings continue across the pond. When you see the cluster, you have to stop it at that point,” Cuomo had said in early October.

Even neighborhoods that report solid case numbers are required to follow firm regulations to maintain low infection rates. Restaurants in New York City are still limited to a 25 percent indoor capacity and some have taken extra measures such as putting Plexiglas dividers between tables.

Additionally, schools across the city have developed a part-time remote model that could change the way students learn forever — Chancellor Richard Carranza said on Oct. 29 there may “no longer be a need for snow days,” because lessons could be conducted remotely.

Raimo said that while the future is uncertain and there’s no telling what the city or nation will look like in a few months, he’s hopeful the country can smoothly accept the change to come.

“You have to learn to adapt to it ... The medical community, we’re getting used to adapting to what’s coming our way,” he said. Q