Rapid Test Center of New York

Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP

By Dr. Stuart Weiss, Intelligent Crowd Solutions – Rapid Test Center of NY

April 8, 2021
CoViD-19 News and Information you can trust. Welcome new readers from the Rapid Test Center.
Topics: How to reopen venues

How To Reopen Venues Today, a good friend of mine called to ask me how they should think about reopening their venue. They are a performing arts center and hope to have performances in the late summer in their community. I have been asked that question many times by our clients recently. Its great that folks are thinking about this and how to do it safely.  So here is what I have been telling folks. You will most certainly will be required to follow local health guidelines but I think that these will continue to be relaxed unless the B.1.1.7 causes a really bad fourth wave. So by the middle to end of summer, you will have the opportunity to hold safe events. When thinking about this, you need to remember that your CoViD-19 planning is all about risk mitigation. You will never be able to reduce your CoViD-19 risk to zero other than keeping your place shut down. So you need to go about planning how to reduce that risk to an acceptable level. There are many areas that we look at with clients. Lets take a look at two of them: Audience Risk Reduction: You will want to ensure that your audience is as uninfected as you can. There are several ways to accomplish this. The first is by asking them if they are vaccinated. People who are two weeks past a full vaccination series (one dose of J&J or two doses of Pfizer or Moderna) basically don’t really get sick and don’t really spread much virus to others. Yes they can still spread it even if vaccinated so you still must be very careful around vulnerable people. But for the most part, vaccinated people who wear face masks are pretty safe. We are learning more about this each week as more studies come out and by the summer, we should have a much better understanding of this. I know that this may be difficult in some states where the Governors have made asking this a crime but that is not based on good science. We should use vaccination status as one criteria for entry. Secondly, you can ask for a negative CoViD-19 test. There are two types of tests that are readily available. The more sensitive rt-PCR test can detect lower levels of virus in the later incubation period and can be used 48 hours prior to your event (many places say 72 hours but I think that is too long and prefer 48 hours). The other type of test is the antigen test which has a lower sensitivity and can be used to detect people in the infectious period so it should be used within 6 hours of the event. So a negative rt-PCR within 48 hours or a negative antigen within 6 hours. That will get a safer audience into your venue. Disease Spread Reduction: Ask your audience to wear face masks as much as possible. They should wear face masks while in their seats and only take them off when eating or drinking in a socially distant specified location, preferably outdoors. For people who cannot wear face masks, they should wear a face shield with a two-ply drape along the bottom edge that is tucked into their shirt.  For the stage, make sure the performers are at least 15 feet from the edge first row. This is to prevent aerosol particles from the performers reaching the audience members. When you are writing your CoViD-19 mitigation plans, you should also look at engineering controls you can put into place to reduce risk. Remember that air exchanges are important as is bringing in fresh air.  By considering all of the different areas in your venue and how you can lower the risk of disease entering your venue and spreading once inside, you can create a good mitigation plan that will help your audience remain safe while they enjoy your presentation.  Get your self vaccinated quickly so we can get through this together. Dr. Stu Weiss

iCrowd.com website

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COVID-19 HEADLINES FOR TODAY

Coronavirus update for April 8, 2021

World Wide Updates More countries pause AstraZeneca vaccine use amid warnings on rare blood clots. Fake vaccination cards sell for as little as $20 on the Internet India reported more than 126,000 new Covid-19 cases in another daily record as several states warned they face a shortage of vaccines. Portuguese health authorities only recommend AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 60 African Union drops plans to buy additional AstraZeneca vaccine from India’s Serum Institute French government seeing “encouraging signs” after partial lockdown, but hospitalizations still on the rise Uruguay’s president extends restrictions as country registers record daily Covid-19 cases Peru says Brazilian variant has been detected in almost all regions More than half of UK postitive cases asymptomatic, figures show Covid cases continue to rise in Osaka and Tokyo Iran tops 2 million cases as new infections double in a week French Open pushed back by a week to welcome more fans US Updates States will see a sharp drop in Johnson and Johnson vaccine deliveries next week  Allocations of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine expected to drop 84% next week, data shows The C.D.C. acknowledges what scientists have been saying: The risk of virus infection from surfaces is low. Dr. Anthony Fauci says new Covid-19 cases are at a disturbing level, warning the US is at risk of a new surge. More than 1 in 4 adults in the US are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 Yosemite National Park to limit summer visitors due to COVID-19 Florida sues feds to allow cruise ships to return to service Free stuff you can get with your CoViD-19 vaccine card: *. Krispy Cream donut across the US *. Sam Adams beer will give $7 to first 10,000 who share vax card *. Brooklyn brewery in NY, free six pack *. Mint Dispensary in AZ – free marijuana edibles *. Juniors cheesecake mini for free in Brooklyn NY *. Discounted Cincinnati Reds tickets

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