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Showing posts from May, 2020

Working in a Senior Living Center during a Pandemic

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from Elderwood Facebook Page During the novel coronavirus, many lives have been affected in a variety of ways. People have lost their jobs, have had to work from home and for some, there is an added pressure to keep spirits high. Inside senior living centers, there has been a significant change in the way of life. Residents have been restricted to their rooms with common areas closed to the residential community. Group outings have been canceled, meals are being delivered to rooms, and visitors are no longer allowed.  With residents' safety as the main priority, the added restrictions create an isolating environment for those living there. Inversely, there is pressure for the staff to maintain a positive attitude despite personal circumstances. I interviewed my Aunt, Josephine Rosa, about their experiences working in a senior living center during a pandemic. Rosa is the Activities Director at Elderwood Senior Living , a nursing home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. S...

Practicing Mindfulness during Quarantine

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Photo by  Aarón Blanco Tejedor  on  Unsplash The novel coronavirus has seemingly shut down the world. Everyone has been staying inside whether it be with family, friends, a partner, or alone. These past few months have been challenging for all of us, no matter how comfortable you are with being at home. Over these last few weeks of quarantine, I have developed somewhat of a social regimen that has allowed me to stay sane. Netflix with Friends For those that don't know there is a chrome extension that allows people to watch Netflix at the same time. Since discovering this I have since downloaded the extension had had had weekly movie nights with my friends. This has been great because there is a chat feature that allows all the viewers to comment in real-time. My friends and I have used this feature to the fullest when watching movies. Zoom Parties At this point, if you haven't heard of Zoom you might be living under a rock! Zoom has been a great vid...

Lancaster County COVID-19 Statistics

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Screenshot of Lancaster County COVID-19 Page Lancaster County is located in South-Central Pennsylvania, most commonly known for its Amish community. The coronavirus has affected millions of people across the globe and although some in Lancaster County want to reopen , below are some of the official statistics from the county's website . The county has created a page on its website with all COVID-19 related information on one page. The image above is what visitors to the site are encountered with. What might seem overwhelming at first, is a lot of helpful information. Below I have formatted and broken down the information provided by the county. Three important numbers highlighted on the page, as of May 14th,2020, are: 249 deaths in Lancaster County 2,364 confirmed cases in the county 62,791 confirmed cases in Pennsylvania Background numbers that may be helpful to note are that the current population of Lancaster County is 543,557 according to DataUSA . So this mea...

COVID-19: Is Lancaster County ready to reopen?

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Photo from  https://www.exploreretirementliving.org/ The City of Lancaster is experiencing pushback from residents to reopen. The county's republican delegation sent a letter, on May 9th, to Governor Wolf asking to move the city into the "yellow" phase of his reopening plan. As many Governor's around the United States have been taking charge in the response to COVID-19; plans on "reopening states" and allowing non-essential businesses and public gatherings to occur vary state by state. Government officials are taking into account the population of the infected and the resources available to help when creating reopening plans. My reopening plan for Pennsylvania is gradual and prioritizes health and public safety. The politicians who are encouraging counties to reopen prematurely are putting all of us at risk of resurgence. Here is our measured approach to reopening, advised by health experts. ⤵ pic.twitter.com/iyBOOlh725 — Governor Tom Wolf (@...

At home, bored but aLIVE

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Photo by  Edwin Hooper  on  Unsplash Although the coronavirus has everyone stuck at home many people have found ways to continue to thrive and flourish and others have found peace with taking things day by day. In any case, this collective experience has generated interesting content. Many celebrities have been going LIVE on their social media accounts and using their social capital to create tangible change. Using their skills and talents to raise money for organizations that are helping those affected by this pandemic. Others have been using their platforms to spread positivity as a way of distracting from the chaos. Here is a list of some of the people that I've been following on social media: Bon Appetit Magazine This food and entertainment magazine has been using its platform to raise money for different food-related organizations. They recently went Live on Youtube with food editors and chefs that help to develop recipes to raise money for World C...

How to dodge Fake News

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Photo by  Markus Winkler  on  Unsplash More than ever it is important to make sure that the information being consumed is accurate and reliable. During a global pandemic, there is so much that is not yet known, experts and scientists are constantly updating the public with new information and slipping between the cracks are false "facts". Knowing where your information is coming from is key when spotting fiction. Although we are likely to look to our government officials for reliable information, in the United States, there have been some hiccups regarding safety. Some states have opened prematurely and even the President has made some dangerous remarks; from telling citizens to swallow cleaning pills to drinking bleach . Although it seems that even government officials are prone to repeating false information, it seems like the only reliable sources are the Center For Disease Control and the World Health Organization . View this post on...

Deportations amid Pandemic

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Photo by  Fabian Fauth  on  Unsplash Although the novel coronavirus has swept the globe some things are still running normally. In the United States, state governors have been encouraging social distancing and forcing non-essential businesses to close down. Essential businesses like grocery stores, gas stations, and medical facilities. Amid the pandemic immigrant children are still being processed for deportations. Democracy Now! reports that judges show up on TV screens and there are no attorneys present. The New York Times reports that there are concerns with the migrants who are being sent to their home countries. they could be potential carriers of the virus and affect those in theiR home countries who are already suffering greatly from the virus. In the midst of a global pandemic, it seems irresponsible to continue with such proceedings. There is a blatant humanitarian crisis happening, it seems that is a lack of compassion for fellow humans who are expe...