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How to do the holidays during COVID-19

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News.

Anna Maria Island is a place where families from all over the country – and the world – come to relax and reunite, especially over the holidays.

But as the coronavirus pandemic is revving up into high gear once again, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control have compiled comprehensive advice for you to consider before planning to travel and host or attend holiday meals and parties in this unusual and challenging holiday season.

Travel

2020 COVID-19 cases on Anna Maria Island

Source: Florida Department of Health

Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 this year, according to the CDC. Before you decide to travel, ask:

  • Are you or anyone you will be visiting at increased risk for COVID-19 due to age or medical conditions?
  • Are cases high or increasing in your community or destination? Check CDC.gov, which reports that cases are rising in the U.S.
  • Are hospitals in your community or destination overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients? Check state and local public health department websites.
  • Do your plans include traveling by bus, train, or air, which makes staying 6 feet apart difficult, or by car, which requires rest stops and gas station stops that can expose you to COVID-19?
  • Does your home or destination have requirements or restrictions for travelers?
  • During the 14 days before you travel, have you or those you are visiting had close contact with people they don’t live with?
  • Are you traveling with people who don’t live with you?

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” you should not travel, according to the CDC.

The CDC advises that you do not host or attend a holiday gathering if you:
  • are at increased risk due to age or health conditions,
  • have been exposed to COVID-19 in the last 14 days,
  • are showing COVID-19 symptoms,
  • have been diagnosed with COVID-19, or
  • are waiting for results of a COVID-19 test.

Gatherings

The lowest-risk way to have a holiday gathering in 2020 is to schedule separate holiday celebrations simultaneously and connect by Zoom or a similar method, according to the CDC. But having meals with only the people who live in your household is also low risk, as is preparing and delivering meals for family and neighbors with no contact.

A moderately-risky option is having meals outdoors with a few family and friends, if they live in your community.

The highest-risk gatherings are indoor meals or parties with people you do not live with or near – the more people, the higher the risk.

Serving or using alcohol increases the risk by altering judgment and making it more difficult to practice safety measures.

Anyone who lives or works with people at higher risk should consider the potential risk to them before attending gatherings.

To reduce risk at a gathering:

  • Hosts and guests should strictly avoid contact with people outside of their households for 14 days before the gathering and should follow COVID-19 safety measures at home.
  • Keep gatherings short.
  • Wear masks with two or more layers, except when eating and drinking, and make sure they are worn over your nose and mouth and fit snugly along the sides of your face. Hosts should have a clean supply of disposable masks.
  • Keep a 6-foot social distance, including at tables. People from the same household should sit at their own tables.
  • Wash hands often, especially before preparing, serving or eating food. Guests should wash hands or use hand sanitizer (60% alcohol or more) for at least 20 seconds when entering and leaving gatherings. Hosts should supply paper towels or single-use hand towels in restrooms instead of cloth towels and may also provide cleaning supplies that allow guests to wipe down surfaces before they use or leave the restroom.
  • Gather outdoors or open windows indoors.
  • Verbally greet people instead of shaking hands, hugging or elbow bumping.
  • Encourage guests to bring their own food and drinks.
  • Do not use a buffet or drink station.
  • Limit people going in and out of the kitchen or gathering around the outdoor grill.
  • Limit the number of people cooking and serving food.
  • Provide single-use condiments to avoid multiple people from handling the same items.
  • Use disposable napkins, plates, cups, utensils and tablecloths.
  • Limit indoor gatherings to 10 people and outdoor gatherings to 25 people.

If you aren’t comfortable with the level of risk involved, consider canceling or not attending the event.

If you are exposed or get sick

After any holiday event, if you feel that you may have been exposed to COVID-19, take extra precautions for 14 days. Avoid being around people, especially those at increased risk of severe illness with COVID-19, and consider getting tested. While you are waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test, stay at home and follow safety measures. If you develop symptoms or test positive for COVID-19, immediately inform the host and other guests who attended the event (hosts should keep a list of guests for contact tracing). This can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by ensuring that others get tested or self-quarantine.

Red tide ‘flu’ nothing to sneeze at

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in Featured, Outdoors, Red tide.

Sore throats, coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath, headache, eye irritation, rashes – people on Anna Maria Island with some of these symptoms are complaining they have the “red tide flu.”

There’s no such thing, according to Brad Dalton, deputy press secretary for the Florida Department of Health.

“To our knowledge there are no medical conditions referred to as the ‘red tide flu,’ ” he said.

But a growing body of scientific research proves that red tide has human health effects, and not just on people with respiratory problems.

Studies show that red tide affects healthy lifeguards, increases emergency room admissions, can have lasting effects on some people for days after they leave the beach, and affects people up to four miles inland. One study also indicates a possible antidote for red tide.

The culprit: Red tide toxin

The algae known as Karenia brevis, which began blooming in overabundance in the Gulf of Mexico and inland waters in Collier County last October, kills fish, marine mammals, sea turtles and shorebirds and makes shellfish unfit for consumption. It drifted north to Anna Maria Island on Aug. 3, and people have been suffering symptoms here ever since.

The symptoms are triggered by a neurotoxin, called brevetoxin, that is stirred up by wave action and winds. When it becomes airborne, particularly blowing towards land, it can cause watery eyes, tickly throats and coughing, especially in people with respiratory issues such as asthma, emphysema or COPD, said Tom Larkin, environmental health director for the Manatee County Health Department.

“The aerosolized product can cause asthma attacks to flare,” he said. “If you go to the beach and experience those symptoms, leave and go to another beach, because it can be at one beach and not another. If you live here, stay inside air conditioning and limit your outside exposure,” he said, adding that an “N-95” mask, available at hardware stores, can help filter out red tide.

Studies confirm that using a surgical mask decreases inhalation of brevetoxin by up to 45 percent.

But inhaling the brevetoxin is not the only way you can be exposed to red tide, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Symptoms can follow ingesting red tide water by swallowing or even by breathing in tiny water particles in the air, eating contaminated shellfish or through skin contact while swimming or wading.

“Marine Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) can cause a variety of illnesses in people,” both immediate and recurring, according to the CDC.

Red tide antidote

A promising recent development is a study on sheep that has identified brevenal, an antidote to brevetoxin, in Karenia brevis itself. Experiments showed that brevenal helps clear the lungs of mucus produced by inhaling red tide. Researchers noted in “Pathophysiologic Airway Responses to Inhaled Red Tide Brevetoxin in Allergic Sheep” that it is the first documented case of a toxin-producing organism also producing its own antidote.

Red tide affects people inland

A study, “Inland Transport of Aerosolized Florida Red Tide Toxins,” shows that red tide can travel four miles inland from a red tide-affected beach. In addition, “People may still be exposed environmentally to the aerosolized brevetoxins even after they leave the beach,” according to the study. “Indeed, if people remain on a barrier island where no point is greater than 1.6 km (about 1 mile) from a coast, they will most likely be continuing their exposure in any outdoor setting and from all directions if the inland waters also contain K. brevis blooms.”

Inland waters including the Manatee River, Palma Sola Bay and Sarasota Bay all have shown evidence of red tide this month.

“Currently, the public health message in communities with onshore Karenia blooms has only recommended leaving the beach area to avoid aerosol exposure; this message needs to be re-evaluated based on these new findings to take into account the possibility of inland environmental exposure to brevetoxins, particularly for persons with underlying lung diseases such as asthma,” the study concluded.

Red tide worse for people with asthma

People with asthma experience “objectively measurable adverse changes in lung function from exposure to aerosolized Florida red tide toxins,” particularly among those requiring regular therapy with asthma medications, according to the study, “Aerosolized Red-Tide Toxins (Brevetoxins) and Asthma.”

The study “Florida Red Tide Toxins (Brevetoxins) and Longitudinal Respiratory Effects in Asthmatics” found that only one hour of exposure to Florida red tide aerosols can cause increased symptoms and decreased respiratory function lasting for at least several days after exposure.

“We recommend persons with underlying respiratory disease (and their healthcare providers, emergency medical facilities and public health officials) be aware of the onshore activity of Florida red tide blooms, and avoid visiting coastal areas with strong onshore winds during onshore blooms. This appears to be particularly important for poorly controlled asthmatics, and those with relatively little regular brevetoxin exposure (for example, those who live inland or visitors).”

ER visits up during red tide

Emergency room admissions for respiratory problems increases with red tide, according to a study called “Environmental Exposures to Florida Ted Tides,” which noted “a significant increase in the rates of respiratory disease admissions to an ER for coastal residents during a year when there was a red tide bloom over several months compared to respiratory disease admissions during no red tide.”

Red tide affects healthy people

Studies show that red tide also affects people without underlying respiratory problems.

In one study, “Occupational Exposure to Aerosolized Brevetoxins during Florida Red Tide Events: Effects on a Healthy Worker Population,” 28 healthy Florida lifeguards exposed to red tide toxins at work reported airway irritation including eye irritation, nasal congestion, cough and headaches.

Island lifeguards are coping with red tide with masks and air-conditioned lifeguard stands, Manatee County Marine Rescue Chief Joe Westerman said. The beach flag system does not specifically address red tide, but if it is bad enough that swimming is not advisable, beaches will be closed with a double red flag, as they have been a few days this month, he said.