The Courtyard pool is nearing completion. Looks terrific! David Benzing with help from Tom Taylor and Grounds has moved more than a ton of rock several times.
Many thanks to David, Tom, and our Grounds Crew! –Shared by Mary Behm
COVID Testing Update
Since last Friday, April 16, when an ancillary staff member tested positive for COVID-19, we have been engaged in a twice-per-week COVID-19 testing pattern for both Stephens Care Center residents and staff members. We are pleased to share there have been no more positive results. As long as all test results remain negative next week, Stephens Care Center residents will be able to return to Kendal at Oberlin common spaces by Saturday, May 1, and indoor visitation will resume the following week. This is all in accordance with current Nursing Home and Assisted Living regulatory protocols.
Thank you—everyone–for your incredible patience and understanding!
With 213.24 cases per 100,000 residents reported in the last two weeks, Lorain County’s rate is more than double where it must fall before the county can drop to a Level 2 or Level 1 advisory. No county can be below a Level 3 advisory if it has more than 100 cases per 100,000 population over two weeks.
In addition to the incidence rate, Lorain County was above the thresholds for two other “alert indicators” for pandemic severity: sustained increase in new cases; and proportion of cases not in a congregate setting.
As of Thursday, more than 124,700 people in Lorain County had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while more than 88,800 had received all recommended doses. That is equal to about 40.27 percent of the county population having at least one shot and 28.67 percent having all doses.
Those vaccination rates are ahead of the state as a whole. Across the state, more than 4.48 million people (38.39 percent of the state population) have been inoculated at least once while more than 3.30 million people (28.27 percent of the state population) have taken all recommended doses. –The Chronicle-Telegram
Fitness Center Update
Shared by Jill Tvaroha, Fitness Coordinator
Mandates – Since we have extended hours, I am receiving lots of questions. The way the rooms are mapped out is required by the state mandates. The furniture and equipment we have placed is what we can do right now. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Orientation – Please remember to watch the PowerPoint and notify Jill that you have completed it…before using the Fitness Center. If you are unable to open or see the slideshow, you can make an appointment with Fitness Staff to come and watch it on our laptop.
Coaching – Saun and Jill are starting new group coaching sessions starting in May. Saun’s group will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00-4:00pm. Her topics will be: mind/body connection, body awareness, body isolations, posture. Jill’s group (Gratitude Gatherings) will meet on Thursdays from 1:45-2:45pm. The topics will be: Gratitude: why it changes your attitude; Try it you’ll like it–3 good things; Social connections; Random acts of kindness; Mindfulness– what is it and why it works/practice; Self-care–what is it to you? Contact Jill Tvaroha or Saun Howard to sign up. There is room for 6 people per group.
Tai Chi – I am teaching a beginning Tai Chi class on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00-11:00am. This is a great opportunity to join the class when we are starting with the foundations of Tai Chi. Tai Chi can help your balance, inner strength, and is meditative by nature. It is a good way to learn mindfulness and helps to quiet the internal and external body systems. Want to learn more? Contact Jill about coming to class! Jill Tvaroha or 775-9851. I have space for 2 people.
Pool Spaces – There are a lot of unused slot times in the pools, so please feel free to sign up as often as you would like. Please remember to put your equipment away after your allotted swimming time.
Here’s a Medscape article about what we can expect with COVID the rest of this year. There’s encouraging reinforcement of the data about the vaccine’s protective effects and the need to keep wearing masks. —shared by Don Parker
It seems like each day there’s more bad news about coronavirus variants. There are headlines claiming the variants are becoming deadlier, and stories warning that some variants could escape the vaccines, imprisoning us in a never-ending pandemic. With every step forward — like how millions of Americans are being vaccinated daily — it feels as though the variants send us two steps back. A growing number of infectious disease experts are now saying the variant narrative has spiraled out of control. Yes, there are several variants circulating, and it’s true that some appear to be more transmissible. Yes, we need to continue wearing masks and protecting ourselves and others until we get closer to herd immunity. But there’s no definite evidence that any of the variants are more virulent, and there is currently no reason to think the variants will render our vaccines completely useless, infectious disease experts say. —Shared by Robert Taylor
Exploring Amazonia’s Diverse Ecosystems–Myth vs Reality
Tune in on Zoom or KOTV at 7:15 Monday to hear David Benzing talk about Exploring Amazonia’s Diverse Ecosystems–Myth vs Reality. David writes: “Contrary to the prevailing public impression, Amazonia is not covered by unbroken rainforest, but instead by a mosaic of diverse types of ecosystems that support more than one third of our planet’s named species of plants and animals.” Bonus: some “armchair adventure”
7:15pm, Monday, 4/26 – Join Zoom Meeting – David Benzing – Meeting ID: 838 6417 7375 – One tap mobile +13126266799,,83864177375# US (Chicago) –Shared by Marjorie Porter
Friday, May 14, Oberlin College Graduation – 2021
9am – Graduates whose last names begin with A through Le;
2pm – Graduates whose last names begin with Li through Z.
The Oberlin Police Department is hosting a prescription drug take-back day tomorrow, Saturday, April 24, from 10am-2pm in the Oberlin Police Department Lobby, 85 South Main Street. This is a great time to get rid of unused prescription medications. The Oberlin Police Department will be managing 6-feet social distancing and masks will be required. According to the Police Department, it is a quick in-and-out of the lobby and never a crowd. Questions to the Oberlin Police Department are directed to 440-774-1061.
Note: You can always drop off manageable amounts (one-two bottles) of unused medications for proper disposal in the Health and Wellness Clinic during their normal office hours.
Today’s Statistics
Kendal at Oberlin (KaO)
Independent Living Resident Cases
0
Stephens Care Center (SCC) Resident Cases
Residential Care Facility
1
Skilled Nursing Facility
0
KaO Residents Total
1
KaO SCC Staff Cases
14
KaO Other Staff Cases
18
KaO Staff Total
32
Kendal at Oberlin Total
33
***In Quarantine, COVID Positive
0
***Recovered
33
Lorain County (as of 4/23/2021) – Level 3 RED
New Cases (since Monday 4/19/2021, 4 day average: 5.8)
23
Total Lorain County Cases
19,003
Total in Zip Code 44074 (+6 since Monday 4/19/2021)
536
Current Lorain County Positivity Rate (rising, *data preliminary)
Total Deaths in Long Term Care Settings (updated weekly, last 4/21/2021)
226
Lorain County Vaccinations Started
125,809 or 40.6% of population
Cuyahoga County (as of 4/23/2021) – Level 3 RED
Cuyahoga County (excluding Cleveland)
77,254
Cleveland Cases
30,375
Total Cuyahoga County Cases
107,629
New Cases (since Monday 4/19/021)
724
Total Cuyahoga County Deaths
2,221
Total Deaths in Long Term Care Settings (updated weekly, last 4/21/2021)
779
State of Ohio (as posted on 4/23/2021)
New Cases in the Last 24-hours
1,788
21-day Average of New Cases
1,914
Total Cases
1,061,907
Age Range all Cases
<1-111
Median Age of all Cases
42
Total Hospitalizations (cumulative)
55,560 5%
Total Hospitalizations Last 24-hours
114
21-day Average of Hospitalizations
110
Median Age of all Hospitalized
67
Total ICU Admissions (cumulative)
7,707 or 1%
Total ICU Admissions last 24-hours
10
21-day Average of ICU Admissions
12
Total Health Care Workers Diagnosed
60,554 or 6%
Total Tested in Ohio
12,178,603
Total Deaths in Ohio
19,118
Median Age of Deaths
80
Deaths in Last 24-hours
89
21-day Average of Deaths
23
Total Deaths in Ohio Long Term Care Settings (updated weekly, last 4/21/2021 – ODH adjusted this number)
7,232
Statewide Vaccinations Started
4,517,359 or 38.7% of population
April 20, 2021: Update to Residents
WASH your clothes with NO plastic jugs or carbon emissions!
Green-Washing Table Display, Heiser Lounge, EARTH DAY, April 22, 1:30-3:30pm. – FREE SAMPLES of green laundry strips. Green-washing that’s really green. —Shared by Ted Wolner
PLUS: John Pesuit’s LED bulb demonstration…AND: WATCH Oberlin College students show you how LED lights are cheaper, longer-lasting and nearly carbon-free. Join Zoom Meeting – Friday, April 23, 2:30-3:30pm
Thursday Afternoon Exchange with Barbara by Zoom and KOTV
On Thursday at 4pm, Kendal’s Exchange – Join Zoom Exchange Meeting – Zoom Meeting ID: 921 4392 7958, One tap mobile +13126266799,,92143927958# US (Chicago) or +16465588656,,92143927958# US (New York)
Dining Listening Post Ends This Week
This opportunity to be heard and to receive personal responses ends this Friday, 4/23. The schedule is from 11am-12:30pm on Wednesday and Friday in the doorway of the Langston near the kiosk.
Fitness Update
Classes with openings available:
Water Class – M, F – 8:30-9:15am – 2 openings in Lap and 4 openings in Therapy
Strength Training – T, TH – 2-2:45pm – 2 openings
Stretch Class – T, TH – 3-3:45pm – 3 openings
Beginning Tai Chi – W, F – 10-11am – 2 openings
Gentle Yoga- M, W, F – 9-9:45am – 2 openings
Meditation – M – 10-10:30am – 2 openings
Meditation – TH – 2-2:30pm – 5 openings
Strength Training – M, W, F – 11:15-12:pm – 3 openings
Orientation
Please make sure you view the PowerPoint orientation on the fitness center. This is meant to be an overview that gives the critical points of safety and where to find information. Please familiarize yourself with the areas, the safety stations, and feel free to ask questions of fitness staff. (available by emailing Jill at jtvaroha@kao.kendal.org)
Buddy clarification
If you feel uncomfortable swimming without staff present, contact Jill to arrange a time to be sure of staff presence. Please don’t assume that staff who may be in the office will be your buddy. We are resuming our teaching schedules so many times the office is empty. We can be available for safety concerns, but not to be a buddy.
Sign in – Please PRINT neatly. Please sign in when you arrive and out when you leave.
Guido Calabresi, a federal judge and Yale law professor, invented a little fable that he has been telling law students for more than three decades. He tells the students to imagine a god coming forth to offer society a wondrous invention that would improve everyday life in almost every way. It would allow people to spend more time with friends and family, see new places and do jobs they otherwise could not do. But it would also come with a high cost. In exchange for bestowing this invention on society, the god would choose 1,000 young men and women and strike them dead. Calabresi then asks: Would you take the deal? Almost invariably, the students say no. The professor then delivers the fable’s lesson: “What’s the difference between this and the automobile?”
In truth, automobiles kill many more than 1,000 young Americans each year; the total U.S. death toll hovers at about 40,000 annually. We accept this toll, almost unthinkingly, because vehicle crashes have always been part of our lives. We can’t fathom a world without them. It’s a classic example of human irrationality about risk. We often underestimate large, chronic dangers, like car crashes or chemical pollution, and fixate on tiny but salient risks, like plane crashes or shark attacks. —The New York Times-shared by many Kendalites
Vaccine breakthrough cases are expected. COVID-19 vaccines are effective and are a critical tool to bring the pandemic under control. However no vaccines are 100% effective at preventing illness. There will be a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated who still get sick, are hospitalized, or die from COVID-19.
More than 75 million people in the United States had been fully vaccinated as of April 14, 2021. Like with other vaccines, symptomatic vaccine breakthrough cases will occur, even though the vaccines are working as expected. Asymptomatic infections among vaccinated people also will occur.
There is some evidence that vaccination may make illness less severe. Current data suggest COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States offer protection against most SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in the United States. However, variants will cause some of these vaccine breakthrough cases. –from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared by Isobel Rutherford
Oberlin Police Prescription Drug Take-Back Day
The Oberlin Police Department is hosting a prescription drug take-back day on Saturday, April 24, from 10am-2pm in the Oberlin Police Department Lobby, 85 South Main Street. This is a great time to get rid of unused prescription medications. We have contacted the Oberlin Police Department; they will be managing 6-feet social distancing and masks will be required. According to the Police Department, it is a quick in-and-out of the lobby, and never a crowd. Questions to the Oberlin Police Department are directed to 440-774-1061.
As always, manageable amounts (one-two bottles) of unused medications can be dropped off for proper disposal in the Health and Wellness Clinic during normal office hours.
Today’s Statistics
Kendal at Oberlin (KaO)
Independent Living Resident Cases
0
Stephens Care Center (SCC) Resident Cases
Residential Care Facility
1
Skilled Nursing Facility
0
KaO Residents Total
1
KaO SCC Staff Cases
14
KaO Other Staff Cases
18
KaO Staff Total (case on 4/16/21 was an ancillary health care provider, not a Kendal employed staff member)
32
Kendal at Oberlin Total
33
***In Quarantine, COVID Positive
0
***Recovered
33
Lorain County (as of 4/19/2021) – Level 3 RED
New Cases (since Friday 4/15/2021, 4 day average: 55)
220
Total Lorain County Cases
18,980
Total in Zip Code 44074 (+2 since Thursday 4/15/2021)
530
Current Lorain County Positivity Rate (rising *Data Preliminary)
