CHARLOTTE — US lawmakers are waiting for President Donald Trump to sign a massive spending bill to fight the coronavirus. If he approves it, more than $8 billion will be used to speed up the development of vaccines and new medicines.
People over the age of 60 are the most vulnerable when it comes to catching the virus.
Channel 9’s Glenn Counts visited an assisted-living facility where there are signs up asking people to stay away if they’re sick. Counts learned that health workers are trying to protect those who may be the most vulnerable.
“Those are good people over the age of about 60, especially those over the age of 75,” said Dr. Rachel Graham, an epidemiologist at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Medicine.
Ground zero in the country is at a nursing home in Washington state, which has facilities in our area on notice.
White Oak of Charlotte urged people who have flu-like symptoms to stay away.
"It puts it in the forefront,” visitor Susan Abernathy said. “You look at it. You see it and you go, ‘I need to wash my hands.’"
Abernathy's husband is a resident there.
The state is not requiring those types of signs, but some facilities want to get ahead of the game.
"You bring a respiratory illness in with you, it's going to spread, and it's gonna spread fairly quickly," Graham said.
White Oak has not had one case of the flu this year.
"I think the nursing staff is very vigilant,” Abernathy said. “Washing their hands, putting their gloves on, taking their gloves off, washing their hands as they leave. That makes all the difference in the world."
The American Health Care Association has been talking to facilities all week about the coronavirus.
One of their main recommendations is that providers have policies that will pay employees to stay at home if they get sick.
>> Reading this story in our app? The new "Follow the Lead" feature allows you to tap the blue tag indicated with a '+' to subscribe to alerts on the very latest breaking news updates.
Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:
Worker shot during robbery at north Charlotte restaurant, police say
‘Nobody saw this coming’: Walmart to close its Wadesboro store
Man accused of gunning down beloved NoDa sandwich shop co-owner faces judge
Coronavirus live updates: Pence says US has too few coronavirus tests to meet expected demand
FORECAST: Rain sticks around all day as temps struggle to reach 50 degrees
© 2020 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
