A sign at the 2022 Bar & Restaurant Expo and World Tea Conference + Expo recommends face mask ... [+] wearing. Yet, few at the Las Vegas Convention Center are seen covering their noses and mouths. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for Nightclub & Bar Media Group)
At first glance, the maps on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Covid-19 Integrated County View web page look great. As of April 7, most of the U.S. was in the green, with green representing low Covid-19 Community Levels in US by County. It almost makes it seem like people dont have to worry about the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) any more. After all, when you are told that the risk of anything is low whether its getting a disease, being attacked by lemurs at a restaurant, or falling face first into some quiche, you tend to not take precautions.
However, some health experts have expressed concerns that such maps and measures may be misleading. For example, Eric Topol, MD, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, tweeted the following:
As you can see, Topol called a CDC tweet and the accompanying County-level Covid-19 Community Levels map misleading. He added that it will give BA.2 more chance to spread. This is presumably because Americans may take it as false reassurance that Covid-19 is no longer a threat and thus become too lax about Covid-19 precautions. In other words, it could lead to premature relaxation. Premature relaxation of Covid-19 precautions? Gee, when has that ever happened before?
Both Jonathan S. Reiner, MD, a Professor of Medicine at the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Jason L. Salemi, PhD, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of South Florida College of Public Health, pointed out the differences between the green-appearing Covid-19 Community Levels map and the multi-colored CDC Covid-19 Community Transmission map:
The Community Levels U.S. map may look like a giant green light whereas the Community Transmission one looks more like the background of a Wheres Waldo picture. Speaking of Wheres Waldo, Reiner pointed out that the Community Transmission maps are not so easy to find on the CDC website. Contrast that with the fact that the CDC tweeted out the Community Levels map without providing the Community Transmission maps alongside. Moreover, the Community Levels web site is what comes up first on Google searches.
Focusing on the Community Levels map would be like using a weather map from March to determine what to wear today. Life coaches frequently say, dont live in the past, so why should that be done with Covid-19? A countys Covid-19 level qualifies as low when there has been less than 200 cases per 100,000 people, the number of new Covid-19 admissions per 100,000 people has been less than 10, and the percentage of staffed inpatient beds in use by Covid-19 patients has been less than 10% over the previous 7 days. But Covid-19 isnt like Bieber Fever. You dont get diagnosed as soon as you get infected. It can take up to two weeks before you notice symptoms if you even develop symptoms. It can take even longer to get hospitalized. Therefore, the Community Levels map represents transmission that occurred one to four weeks ago. It wont help you determine when to institute precautions such as face mask wearing to prevent an upcoming Covid-19 upswing.
When it comes to Covid-19 precautions, the Community Transmission maps offer much more relevant info than the Community Levels ones. On these maps, a county is considered low when the number of new cases per 100,000 persons has been less than 10 and the percentage of positive Nucleic Acid Amplification (NAAT) tests has been less than 5% over the past 7 days. The level moves up to moderate if the first measure has gone up to the 10 to 49.99 range or the second measure has moved up to the 5% to 7.99% range. Substantial means that either the first measure has been in the 50 to 99.99 range or the second has been in the 8% to 9.99% range. When the first measure has reached 100 or the second has reached 10%, transmission levels then would qualify as high.
Now even these CDC transmission measures dont give you a fully up-to-date and accurate picture. Many people may never get tested and even if they do, they may take time to get tested and may not even report the results. In fact, without Covid-19 tests being free and readily available to all, there can be substantial differences between who gets tested and who doesnt. It can be yet another difference between the haves and have nots in this country. So Community Transmission maps alone may allow you to be a little more proactive but still not enough so.
With no face mask wearing or social distancing in sight, college students dance at a South Padre ... [+] Spring Break party at Clayton's Beach Bar in South Padre Island, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Reiner wondered whether the public may take the Community Levels maps in the wrong way:
Topol, Reiner, and Salemi certainly havent been the only folks to raise such concerns. Eric Feigl-Ding, PhD, an epidemiologist and Chief of the COVID Risk Task Force at the New England Complex Systems Institute, tweeted that Countless experts are frustrated with the CDC and their risk level maps that mainly use hospitalization metrics. Those are always too late, as you can see here:
Sure, some politicians and businesses may want things to appear as normal as possible as soon as possible. The illusion of complete normality could prompt people to spend more and re-elect current politicians for office. Plus, Covid-19 precautions require some up front spending and investment. All of this could make people want to green and bear it and be reluctant to leave the green, so speak. Remember back in 2020 when some politicians and business leaders kept downplaying the pandemic, claiming that the pandemic was rounding the corner and other overly optimistic scenarios as I covered in 2020 for Forbes? Hmm, whats happened since then?
The rush to return to normal, whatever normal means, and the repeated premature relaxation of Covid-19 precautions has continued to be remarkably short-sighted. The SARS-CoV-2 doesnt really care what politicians and business leaders say. Failing to maintain proper Covid-19 precautions such as face mask use, social distancing, and Covid-19 vaccination could further extend the pandemic and increase the negative impact of the SARS-CoV-2. This is especially true with the more contagious BA.2 Omicron subvariant spreading. The CDC Covid-19 Community Levels map alone may have you seeing green as in low risk, go, go, go, and perhaps even mo money. But that could end up being an off-color conclusion.
Nothing has shaped Gov. Kate Browns reputation and legacy more than her administrations response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under Brown, Oregon schools and businesses faced prolonged restrictions; teachers received vaccine priority over seniors; and Oregon was among the last states in the country to lift an indoor mask mandate. Yet the state also recorded a significantly lower death rate than other states. Through it all, Browns administrations decisions, strategy and execution have been lauded, decried and second-guessed.
For the upcoming primary, The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board sent endorsement questionnaires to Democratic and Republican candidates seeking to succeed Brown. (Former State Sen. Betsy Johnson, who is running as an unaffiliated candidate and wont compete in a primary, was not sent a questionnaire). We asked them to share in 200 words or less what stood out in Oregons COVID response and how they would govern as the pandemic continues its uncertain path. Below are responses from eight of the candidates, listed alphabetically.
What principles will guide you in navigating Oregon through whatever comes next in the COVID-19 pandemic? What has Oregon gotten right or wrong (e.g. closing schools, mask mandates, vaccine priority) in addressing COVID?
Julian Bell, Democrat: Kate Brown and the state of Oregon both did an excellent job of navigating the challenges of COVID-19, and I am grateful to the state agencies and their staff for their work in very difficult circumstances. I took care of a lot of COVID-19 patients in the hospital. It was a bizarre time. Without question, the vaccines, the use of masks and state recommendations saved peoples lives. While the governor is responsible for the health of the people of the state, they are also responsible for the economy. Even so, you might be able to limp an economy along and then rebuild it, but you cant bring back the dead. The principles that would guide me in the future, should we see another resurgence of the virus, would be the best epidemiology available.
Christine Drazan, Republican: I will lead with facts, not fear. I will respect Oregonians and their right to determine the best approach for themselves and their family when it comes to responding to the virus and in making personal medical decisions. I will engage in a transparent and open dialogue with Oregonians about where we are at, why their state government is responding in a certain way and reject heavy-handed mandates.
Gov. Brown made the wrong call when she went all in for vaccine mandates, for mask mandates, and in her fear-based rhetoric, which did more to erode public trust in the states response than it helped. Her administration was also too rigid, inconsistent in responding to the latest science, and sloppy and overly bureaucratic in the rollout of testing and vaccines.
I will give Gov. Brown credit for resisting the urge to establish an essential business/non-essential business list early in the pandemic, a move many other states made, that would have shut down many vital industries and been disastrous for Oregon. At the time, I urged Gov. Brown to reject this approach and believe she ultimately made the correct decision.
Jessica Gomez, Republican: They say that hindsight is 20/20. I dont believe that statement is true anymore, as each person looks back at the COVID pandemic through their own partisan lens. In the early stages of the pandemic, we lacked reliable information on transmission pathways, disease severity and fatalities. Oregon responded cautiously and appropriately. As time went on, it was apparent that our leaders and state agencies were struggling. Oregons rollout of the vaccine was not adequately planned and resourced, and vulnerable communities were not prioritized. Some feel they were misled about the efficacy of the vaccine, as it is more of a pre-emptive therapeutic rather than a traditional vaccine. The vaccine has been shown to reduce the severity of infection but often fails to prevent future infection or transmission.
As governor, whether it be for COVID, or other challenges, I will always be mindful of individual freedom, government transparency and accountability. I would not have extended business or school closures beyond what was absolutely necessary. For our state to have a unified front against the next challenge, it will be imperative that we avoid politicization and work hard to build trust between the governors office, state agencies, and the people of Oregon.
Tina Kotek, Democrat: There are a lot of Oregonians walking around today, alive and well, because Oregonians followed the science, wore a mask and got vaccinated. There was no playbook for how to respond to this crisis, no one had perfect information, and while a lot of the public health measures werent easy, we should be proud that Oregon fared better than most of the country.
But our state agencies certainly fell short in some areas - the failure to handle unemployment payments at a time when so many Oregonians lost their jobs was unacceptable.
We are going to need to manage life with this virus for some time to come. So, we need to make a plan to keep our communities safe and prevent our hospitals from being overextended. As governor, I will consult with experts, read the data, be consistent and be clear, especially if we are faced with new variants and potential surges, and weigh the physical health, emotional well-being, and economic impacts of every decision thoughtfully.
Bud Pierce, Republican: Current Oregon leadership spent money on endless ineffective advertising with scare tactics and guilt-inducing messaging. Businesses were threatened and fined if they tried to stay open. Vaccine priority should have been to those at greatest risk; the aged and chronically ill. While we did not know everything at the beginning of the pandemic, I believe we will soon determine that closing schools caused greater harm to children and their families than keeping them open. Children were at very low risk for severe illness from the virus. As a result of school and business closures, depression, suicide, learning setbacks and financial pressure on families increased. The administrations obsession with wearing masks long after they were needed (punishing businesses and threatening individuals) only caused unnecessary push-back that only widened the rift between government and its citizens.
Stan Pulliam, Republican: The core problem with the COVID response was that our elected officials made stopping the spread of the disease (which we were no better at than other states) the one and only priority. (Editors note: Oregons case rate is the second-lowest in the country, according to figures kept by The New York Times.)
In a society with so many moving parts, its inconceivable that we allowed our economy, our mental health, our small businesses, and our childrens education and socialization to not just be ignored, but to be voluntarily destroyed in the name of trying to stop the inevitable spread of a virus. This was a self-inflicted wound, and history will show how much more damaging the response was to society than the virus itself.
Tobias Read, Democrat: I will be guided by science in any decision we make in the future around the pandemic. I think following the science, especially at the beginning of the pandemic helped make Oregon one of the least impacted states in the country. However, I do think we made a mistake in having bars and restaurants open before kids were back in school. As a parent of two public school students, I saw firsthand the impact that had. Many childrens mental health suffered and test scores and literacy rates dropped significantly. Were going to need to spend years helping children make up for learning loss and supporting our teachers with the resources they need to dig out of this hole. Its clear that there should have been a much greater priority placed on keeping schools open, with proper masking, testing and ventilation to keep everyone safe while continuing our kids education and social and emotional development.
In addition, the state and Legislature could have done a much better job ensuring that agencies like the employment department and the states housing agency were equipped to handle the predictable surge in applications for assistance. We need to restore trust that our government can handle important programs that Oregonians in need rely on.
Bob Tiernan, Republican: My decision-making process balancing harm v. benefit, ability to put together knowledgeable teams, using fact-based approaches, listening to different ideas, considering and exploring unintended consequences of each major decision and making necessary adjustments as the facts or circumstances change.
Oregon should not have closed schools. The harm it caused our children far outweighed the benefits. Government mandates, such as vaccine mandates, should only come in extreme situations, especially when it denies Oregonians some of their most basic rights.
-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
Oregonian editorials
Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Therese Bottomly, Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung and John Maher.
Members of the board meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on issues of the day. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can lend clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles.
The stolen money was used on rent, hotels, dog boarding, attorney fees, rideshares, electronics, and a Tesla Model 3. At least $288,000 was converted to cryptocurrency and other funds were wired across 13 bank and brokerage accounts. Some funds were used in over 2,000 transactions utilizing 43 different types of cryptocurrency.
D.C. Department of Justice officials say that Elias Eldabbagh, 30, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges after carrying out a scheme with the potential to gain $31 million of CARES Act funding. He successfully stole $2,385,000.
Eldabbagh is said to have stolen the money for a luxury car using a Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan scheme.
During the two years since the CARES Act was passed, IRS-CI special agents have rooted out and continue to pursue these selfish criminals who thought they could get away with stealing from those who truly needed help, IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Waldon said.
According to a statement, the man used a company Alias Systems, LLC to apply for 25 PPP loans totaling over $30 million from July 2020 through May 2021. He also submitted at least four EIDL applications that totaled $950,000.
Officials say he disguised himself using a stolen identity in order to submit most of the applications. He also used identities, tax returns and financial documents from a consulting company in D.C. and doctored those documents to match his company name.
The stolen money was used on rent, hotels, dog boarding, attorney fees, rideshares, electronics, and a Tesla Model 3. At least $288,000 was converted to cryptocurrency and other funds were wired across 13 bank and brokerage accounts. Some funds were used in over 2,000 transactions utilizing 43 different types of cryptocurrency.
In May of 2021, officials say that Eldabbagh tried to transfer funds seized by IRS-CI to other accounts. He has since agreed to forfeit the Tesla Model 3, the contents of 21 bank accounts and liquidate his cryptocurrency interests.
Eldabbagh is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 25.
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WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) This week, dozens of top government officials and others tested positive for COVID-19 after a high-profile Washington dinner last weekend.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., are the latest victims.
Possibly the highest profile positive case Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She abruptly canceled her weekly press conference after testing positive on Thursday.
Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged President Biden could be vulnerable.
Like anyone, the President may also test positive for COVID-19, said Psaki.
Shortly before testing positive, Speaker Pelosi was spotted hugging and even kissing the president on the cheek.
Thursday, the Vice Presidents communications director also tested positive.
The Vice President and the President have since tested negative.
The Vice President wore a mask inside today, when she was both with the President and with her staff, Psaki said.
She said whats most important is the President is prepared.
He has taken a range of precautions, as we all have, but hes also taken steps like getting his second booster, as he did last week. Psaki said.
Earlier this week, Chief Medical Advisor to the President Doctor Anthony Fauci said the fourth shot is proven to prevent serious illness or death.
According to the Speakers office, Pelosi is fully vaccinated, boosted and only experiencing mild symptoms, as are most others who reported positive cases.
The White House says the President will continue his public schedule.
His doctors are comfortable that he can carry out his duties, said Psaki.
That continued Friday when the President held a rather large gathering on the south lawn of the White House to celebrate the confirmation of justice-to-be, judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. There was some concern that the event could end up being another super-spreader event, as was there not many masks outdoors.
There are no public events for the President today. He is back home in Delaware for the weekend.
Biden orders new national research on long COVID
Confronting the pandemic's lasting shadow, President Joe Biden on Tuesday is ordering a new national research push on long COVID, while also directing federal agencies to support patients dealing with the condition. (April 5)
AP
According to state Department of Health Services data, Wisconsin has seen a rise in COVID-19 cases throughout the week.
But, due to a backlog of data being entered, Friday's case totals are elevated.
"While we have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases recently, data from April 8, 2022 does not reflect the actual number of new COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin in the last 24 hours," a statement from DHS' website reads.
The seven-day average of daily cases increased by nearly 200 cases from last Friday. However, based on DHS' statement, Friday's seven-day average of 568 cases might be elevated. The seven-day average should become a better indicator in coming days.
The seven-day percent positive by test increased throughout the week to 3.8%.
On a positive note, the number of deaths reported by DHS dropped considerably throughout the week. The state is currently averaging three confirmed deaths a day, which is down 23 deaths from a month ago.
According to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, COVID-19 hospitalizations seems to have reached a flattening in patient totals data. Hospitalizations have been in a relatively steady decline since its peak of more than 2,250 patients in January.
On the vaccine front, the number of people receiving the shot continues to decline. The seven-day average of daily booster doses fell below 1,000 for the first time since the booster became readily available.
Track COVID and the vaccine in Wisconsin: See the latest data on cases, deaths and administered doses
State and private labs regularly do further tests on a portion of positive COVID-19 samples to find the prevalence of different variants of the virus. The numbers below are just a fraction of the total number of variant cases.
Omicronvariant was identified in 100% of tests sequenced during the week starting March6.
Contact Drake Bentley at (414) 391-5647 orDBentley1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DrakeBentleyMJS.
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Cases of COVID-19 in decline since the last surge in January increased for the first time in nine weeks on the Space Coast, according to data released by the Florida Department of Health Friday.
From April 1 to April 7,there were 312 cases in Brevard County, or 51 cases per 100,000 population compared to 26.3 cases per 100,000 population from the last period. This makes for an increase of 24.09cases per 100,000 population in just one week.
Because FDOHhas moved to releasing COVID-19 data on a biweeklybasis, they did not release a COVID-19 report last week. However, theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention which releases data weeklyshowed that there were 26.91 cases per 100,000 population.
Florida hospitalizations at record low: Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations at pandemic low as cases continue rising due to BA.2
COVID medications: Previously unavailable COVID-19 antiviral medications now available on Space Coast
COVID-19's toll on the Space Coast: Help us tell the stories of those we've lost
The omicron variant of the novel coronavirus fueled the January surge. Now a variant of that variant, nicknamed omicron stealth, is on the rise in Florida and across the country.
The stealth omicron subvariant, dubbed BA.2, has quickly become the most common strainin the U.S., according to the latest data from the CDC.The new strain,now accounts for more than half (72.2%) of coronavirus infections in the country, according to the CDC. But while the cases are increasing, medical experts predictit will be milder than the surges that preceded it.
Based on new CDC transmission guidelines, the Space Coast is still a community of low transmission. Old CDC guidelineswould have categorized Brevard County as a community of substantial transmissiontransmission, whencases per 100,000 population are between 50 and 100and the positivity rate is between 8% and 10%.
The are other signs that Brevard County could be on the cusp of a new wave of infections:Deaths on the Space Coast also rose, according to a provisional CDC database.From March 26 to April 2, there were 17 COVID-19 related deaths compared totwo deaths during the previous week.
Despite the jump in cases,the vaccination rate remain stagnant,according to FDOHdata.And its a figure that may remain stagnant as the HRSA ran out of funds to reimburse healthcare providers for uninsured testsand vaccines. FDOH data shows that as of April 7 only 70% of eligible residents those ages five and older were vaccinated.
Testing, a tool used in tandem with vaccinations to monitor and control the spread of COVID-19, saw a decrease.
Last week's numbers: COVID-19 hospitalizations increase in Brevard County, though cases show a decline
According to CDC figures, there were 4,834 tests performed from March26 to April 1. Yet, the amount of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 increased from 2% last week to 4.8% from April 1 to April 7, according to FDOH data.This could also be an undercount because most at-home test kits do not get counted and those who may have signs and symptoms may choose not to take a COVID-19 test.
Statewide, FDOH data shows thatthere were COVID-19 511related deaths in the past two weeks. Since the start of the pandemic 73,538Floridians have died of COVID-19 as of April 7. Additionally, 3.8%Floridians tested positive for COVID-19, representingan infection rate of almost 51.6cases per 100,000 population. Statewide, vaccination rate remainsat 74%.
According to FDOH, of the eligible population in Florida, age group vaccination rates across the state are:
Nationwide, 69.9%of eligible Americans have been fully vaccinated. There have been 80,146,451COVID-19 cases and 981,748deaths nationwide since the start of the pandemic.
The following Brevard County Emergency Management Office-supported sites are available for COVID-19 testing.
Florida Department of Health-Brevard, 2555 Judge Fran Jamison Way, Viera; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.This is a walk-up site.Preregister at nomihealth.com.
Testing also is available to established or new Omni Healthcare patients at itsofficesin Brevard County. To book an appointment, patients can call theirOmni doctor's office.
Various other urgent-care centers, private physicians' offices and pharmacies also provide COVID-19 tests, and some retailers sell in-home test kits. Additionally, thewebsite www.211Brevard.orghas a list of sites offering testing.Some of those sites require reservations, while others allow walk-ins.
The Florida Department of Health is offering COVID-19 vaccines at three sites.
Residents also can get vaccinated at Omni Healthcare's offices, as well as at its walk-in vaccination clinic located in Suite 303 on the third floor of 1344 S. Apollo Blvd.in Melbourne, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.weekdays. Vaccinations also are available from 9 a.m. to noon in Suite 2C of Omni's 1344 S. Apollo Blvd. complex.
Walk-ins are accepted. Butappointments can be made by calling 321-802-5515 or by emailing the request and including a name and phone number toCOVID@OMNIhealthcare.com.
COVID-19 vaccines also are available at pharmacies at various local CVS, Publix, Sams Club, Walgreens, Walmart and Winn-Dixie stores, as well as some urgent-care centers and physician offices. Check the individual site for appointment requirements and vaccine availability.
Amira Sweilem is the data reporter at FLORIDA TODAY.Contact Sweilemat 386-406-5648orasweilem@floridatoday.com.
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Years ago, I helped plan a major milestone reunion for my high school class. I was neither the student body president nor the valedictorian, but I did have one qualification that my former classmates did not: I knew how to use Microsoft Excel. Hence, my promotion from potential attendee to (assistant) party planner.
My job was to enter names and contact details into Excel as each RSVP arrived. I remember smiling and paging through an old yearbook as I input the information. The act of typing those names alone felt like a mini-reunion.
About two weeks ago, I had a flashback to that feeling when I started to compile another spreadsheet, this one of restaurants to be reviewed in 2022. Before the pandemic, I maintained a version of the same list. Each week, Id update it, adding color-coded highlights to help me (and my editor) see what was eligible for coverage, what I was writing next, and any complicating factors (dress code, expense, seasonality).
This time around, I started with a blank document and began adding entering names cell by cell. Some were new: places I had only heard whispers about before the pandemic, like Caf Louis, Radici and Crispy Gai. But what really made me start welling up was transferring names that still lingered on my old spreadsheet. Waiting for more than two years were now-familiar restaurants like The Knotted Apron, Magnus on Water in Biddeford, and Nura, all of which were newly opened (within our three-month grace period), back when everything tilted off its axis in 2020.
If you havent worked it out yet, be patient, reader: Please remain seated and keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times were about to start reviewing again.
As I gear up for a return to thinking critically about restaurant dining, Ive also been realizing how different writing a full review will be. Its pure denial to insist that our world is normal again, so why should we expect our food writing to be the same as it once was?
Before COVID, I rated restaurants on a five-star scale, taking into account the unique aspirations of each business while factoring in food, service, atmosphere and value. I havent always loved the constraints of awarding stars, but for many people, theyre intuitive.
More than two years after my last starred review (Anoche), I think its important to engineer some consistency into the rating system for 2022 and beyond, such that a four-star review means approximately the same thing now as it would have in 2019.
Service
I dont believe for a second that people dont want to work. What the Great Resignation actually signifies is that people are unwilling to shoulder the multiplex burdens of low wages, overwork and customer abuse. Were seeing it play out across the service industry, especially in restaurants. Servers, bartenders, dishwashers, line cooks, even sometimes senior kitchen staff (chefs de cuisine, executive chefs) are harder to hire and harder to retain than ever before.
Restaurant owners and managers Ive spoken with over the last two years have said that they now spend much of their time training and retraining new front-of-house staff. Some cant hire enough people to stay open five or six days a week, others barely can. The upshot is that when I review a restaurant, I cant think about service the same way as I once did.
So when I visit, I need to keep in mind that my server might be a newbie perhaps new to this restaurant or maybe new to waiting tables in general. Or perhaps the front-of-house team is just scraping by with a skeleton crew that can barely cover the tables in the dining room. No doubt, my baseline standard will always be competent, considerate service. But when it comes to a servers deep knowledge about the chef, the wine list, the venue and the menu, Ill be grading on a curve for now.
Food
For most diners, there have been a few positives to come out of the pandemic. Better outdoor dining options (more on that later) and take-out alcohol sales certainly count. But so does the recent trend toward smaller, well-edited menus. To be fair, not all restaurants are happy about being forced to trim their dining options in response to labor and supply shortages. But theres a silver lining stitched around this particular cloud.
If youve been reading Dine Out Maine since before COVID, you know that I have long admired businesses that understand their craft well enough to pare a menu down to its essentials. Theres a swagger to a full-service establishment confident enough to present a scant few options for appetizers, entrees and desserts. But until recently, concise menus were the exception, not the rule.These days, it seems like most restaurants, especially full-service establishments, have winnowed their offerings, eliminating scruff in favor of dishes the kitchen knows it can execute well.
I recognize that these dishes might not be the chefs favorites, but the choice of what to eliminate and what to keep can be illuminating. In some ways, short menus make my job easier. No longer do I have to gamble when my dinner guest and I choose our meals; our odds of picking something representative of the kitchens talents are automatically much higher.
At the same time, with supply-chain uncertainty still a fact of life, I also have to be understanding about shortages or last-minute alterations to dishes. As a reader, youll have to share some of that responsibility and accept that something I rave about in a review might not be available when you visit. Naturally, we should all still expect high-quality execution seasoning, technique and flavor from the dishes the kitchen elects to keep, especially as the price of eating out has ballooned. But we all must acknowledge that we live in a world of restricted options, and that extends to dining out.
Atmosphere
Not too long ago, my favorite spot to sit at any restaurant was at a tiny two-top, wedged in so tightly that I could hear what my neighbors were whispering about their meal.
In 2022, I have more in common with the elderly woman I stood behind at a local bistros host station last month. If theres anyone coughing, I want a seat as far from them as possible, please, she requested. When the host offered her a table directly underneath the rumbling air purifier, she grinned as if shed just won a raffle.
Rest assured, I do not intend to talk about HVAC and Plexiglas barriers on a regular basis. Not every business can afford expensive retrofits.
Instead, I plan to continue to describe the design elements of the restaurants I write about, especially layout and dcor, while also taking better advantage of the widespread availability of full-service outdoor seating. As the weather warms, more of you are doing the same, and ultimately, my meals should echo yours.
Speaking of echoes, I will continue to report back on noise level, regardless of where I sit. A reader from Cumberland emailed me last year about my metaphorical noise-level ratings, telling me how much he missed reading them. I ate outside at Thoroughfare (in Yarmouth) for the first time this week, he wrote. And I was trying to imagine what youd call the tables full of teenagers eating burgers. I think youd call it noisy cafeteria. Having downed a gochujang chicken sandwich on Thoroughfares patio myself that weekend, Id have gone with rowdy class reunion, but I think were on the same wavelength.
Andrew Ross has written about food and dining in New York and the United Kingdom. He and his work have been featured on Martha Stewart Living Radio and in The New York Times. He is the recipient of five recent Critics Awards from the Maine Press Association. Contact him at:
[emailprotected]Twitter: @AndrewRossME
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking steps to continue to protect nursing home residents health and safety by announcing guidance that restores certain minimum standards for compliance with CMS requirements. Restoring these standards will be accomplished by phasing out some temporary emergency declaration waivers that have been in effect throughout the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). These temporary emergency waivers were designed to provide facilities with the flexibilities needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the PHE, CMS used a combination of emergency waivers, regulations, and sub-regulatory guidance to offer health care providers the flexibility needed to respond to the pandemic. In certain cases, these flexibilities suspended requirements in order to address acute and extraordinary circumstances. CMS has consistently monitored data within nursing homes and has used these data to inform decision making.
With steadily increasing vaccination rates for nursing home residents and staff, and with overall improvements seen in nursing homes abilities to respond to COVID-19 outbreaks, CMS is taking steps to phase out certain flexibilities that are generally no longer needed to re-establish certain minimum standards while continuing to protect the health and safety of those residing in skilled nursing facilities/nursing facilities (SNFs/NFs). Similarly, some of the same waivers are also being terminated for inpatient hospices, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICF/IIDs), and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) facilities.
Patient and resident health and safety are top priorities for CMS, and todays actions are focused on ensuring every nursing home resident is cared for in a safe, high-quality environment, said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. Weve learned a lot from the pandemic over the last two years and are committed to using that knowledge to re-envision the next chapter of health care quality and patient safety and build a stronger health care system.
Recent onsite long-term care (LTC) survey findings have provided insight into issues with resident care that are unrelated to infection control, such as increases in residents weight-loss, depression, and pressure ulcers. The lack of certain minimum standards, such as training for nurse aides, may be contributing to these issues. By ending some of the temporary waivers, CMS is helping nursing homes to redirect efforts back to meeting the regulatory requirements aimed at ensuring each residents physical, mental, and psychosocial needs are met. In addition, CMS expects providers to have integrated practices to address any COVID-19 outbreaks into their normal operations.
CMS will maintain flexibility for certain requirements, such as making temporary waivers available for nurse aides certification if there are documented capacity issues in training or testing programs, and CMS will retain the ability until the expiration or termination of the national COVID-19 PHE to issue individual state-based, county-based, or facility-based waivers as needed. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and CMS data, tracking trends in the number of COVID-19 cases in local communities and nursing homes, provide CMS with the ability to grant waivers in specific situations. For example, if there is a severe outbreak in a facility or geographically distinct group of facilities, CMS can quickly grant waivers to support the facilities response to COVID-19. If there is a nationwide surge of nursing home COVID-19 cases in the future, CMS can quickly re-issue national blanket waivers during the PHE.
CMS is ending specific waivers in two groups: one group of waivers will terminate 30 days from the issuance of this new guidance, and the other group will terminate 60 days from issuance. These timeframes give providers and state agencies time to adjust their operations to the reinstituted requirements.
Details can be found in the Quality, Safety, and Oversight (QSO) memo here:https://www.cms.gov/medicareprovider-enrollment-and-certificationsurveycertificationgeninfopolicy-and-memos-states-and/update-covid-19-emergency-declaration-blanket-waivers-specific.
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Two years after the coronavirus ravaged through nursing homes, families of residents who died from Covid-19 are bringing a wave of negligence and wrongful death lawsuits against the facilities.
The surge of suits, spurred by a repeal of liability protections and statutory deadlines to file the suits, largely accuses nursing homes of failing to properly curb the spread of disease, identify infected residents and treat their illnesses.
