Hello and welcome to PBS39 WLVT community update on coronavirus it's brought to you with help from our community partner Lehigh Valley Health Network.

We're coming to you live from the PPE public Media Center in Bethlehem.

I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Our guests today include a physician who specializes in infectious diseases in children.

We also have a guest from the United Way who has felt the effects of Covid-19 from different prospect lives.

We'll be meeting with them in just a few moments.

If you have a question, you can give us a call.

The phone number is 4 8 2 1 0 0 0 8.

Our guest will answer some of your questions live.

Plus, four daily coronavirus updates.

Be sure to sign up for our newsletter.

You can do that at our website coronavirus Lehigh Valley .org.

You can find helpful information in English and Spanish.

Now let's get a look.

Today's top headlines.

The number of Pennsylvania kids infected by Covid-19 surpassed 700,000 today.

Going back to the beginning of the pandemic.

The Department of Health reported 10,100 78 new coronavirus cases and 215 more deaths in Lehigh and Northampton counties.

There have been more than 41,000 cases and 1000 18 deaths.

The Bethlehem Health Bureau held vaccine clinic yesterday and has eight more scheduled through the rest of the month.

These clinics for now or for health care professionals and care staff in the one a priority group, you can find dates and sign up on the city website and Facebook page.

Vaccines eventually will be provided to additional groups like Central Worker's and the general public early results are in from vaccine distribution at Greyscale Nursing Home in Northampton County, 22% of the staff and 27% of residents have gotten the first of two doses.

County executive Lamont McClure says he'd hope the numbers would be a little higher, but there have been issues with logistics on distributing those vaccine.

At least two more rounds are scheduled this month.

Grace Dayle Staff members are eligible to be reimbursed.

$750 if they are vaccinated.

Let's meet our guests for the day.

Dr Tibbr Villalobos is chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

She works at Lehigh Valley Riley Children's Hospital and joins us as Pennsylvania has seen a spike the past two months in the number of infections in children's children ages 5 to 18.

Also here is Marcy Lesko.

She is executive Vice President at United Way of Greater Lehigh Valley.

Covid-19 has affected her job.

These are tough times for non-profit groups.

It has also affected her personally.

She was hospitalized and is continuing her recovery from the virus.

I want to thank you both so much for joining today.

Marcy, we will get to you in just a couple of minutes.

But first we'd like to start with Dr Villalobos.

This afternoon, Dr throughout this pandemic research has suggested that infections in children are less severe.

Now, have there been any changes in what we're seeing with kids in the virus as of now?

Well, good afternoon and thank you so much for having me again in the program.

Yes, to answer your question, we still have not seen any changes in the severity of the cases in children giovannoni.

We're continued to see the increase in the number paralleling what we see in adults.

But so far until it seems to be way milder in children as you what they are, they have actually minimal symptoms or they don't even know that they have the Covid.

And we're seeing more cases because we're testing more as part of our tracking of contacts after the diagnosis, somebody would Covid.

Sure.

And in Pennsylvania that we had about ten thousand cases of the virus in kids ages 5 to 18.

That was in October.

Now the number has grown significantly in the past few months, more than 50 thousand.

Why do we have any reasons as to why that's happening?

Is it because of that testing there's more testing or is it spreading among kids faster?

Is Butterball is Braulio Multifactorial?

It's from October now we have seen more cases that we stole from March to October.

So is this significant increase in the number of cases because the increase in community transmissions, most of the children are getting infected from adults in the household, from community to transmission, but not necessarily from the school and from among themselves.

So of course, because we're doing more tests, were able to diagnose more, warrantee more and follow on tracking all these community cases.

But yes, the children are being diagnosed more because there is more information that more community transmission.

Sure.

After this pandemic has affected our children and their learning in so many ways.

Yesterday, the state updated its recommendations for schools allowing blended or hybrid learning and elementary schools even in areas of the state with substantial community transmission.

Let's take a listen.

Health Secretary Dr Rachel Levine had this to say.

We know that it is impossible to eliminate the risk of disease transmission entirely within a school setting.

When community spread is present, however, recent studies have shown that when mitigation efforts, which are very important, such as masking hand hygiene and physical distance distancing is followed.

It may be better for younger children, particularly elementally gray elementary grades students to return to in-person instruction while people of any age can contract Covid-19 research suggests that people aged 18 and under do have a lower risk of severe outcomes.

This doesn't occlude lower rates of hospitalization and death resulting from Covid-19 infection.

Now Dr we know younger people are better learners in person.

Most of us want them back in school.

Your thoughts on whether kids should be back in the classroom at a time when the case numbers remain substantial, including here Lehigh Valley.

Well, I totally agree.

Was sick and tired of living comments there based research that Tatamy got be the Yardley the new president just issued this statement a couple of days ago.

I'm focussing for the start of the school for the children to go face to face in a safety manner.

So is a recent benefit I guess measure what is more beneficial to these children to be in this school is they have appropriate mitigation measures and they have improved real here in the valley where most of the school these trees in elementary school art had been going hybrid or blended schedules in the school started and we haven't seen a major increase of transmission within those age group in the schools.

Our parochial school or private school has been going face to face from the whole of this school year.

We also have no seeing an increase among themselves.

Third, our day-care Center, a pre-school, they have many children, their neighbor closed because we attend to essential workers have nothing any issues for they see the beginning of the school year.

And it was not until two, three weeks before that we have a staff worker working in one of the rooms that gold Covid in the community and then it has to close that room for a few days.

But otherwise be amongst the children.

This doesn't seem to be a transmission that is significant to stop them from going to face to face school and learning.

They learn - really these four of the children are getting behind me, the children and they are affecting mostly children from lower income communities, inner city communities.

And really they need to start catching up on their learning.

Dr Villanova's.

Why do you feel it's so important for children of all ages to be back in school in person learning the thing besides, is they going to school?

And the academic aspect is also what the school provides for them.

So Sukhi depends on the school for the safety net for school meals.

So more work is what the school and get two meals a day.

There also are tutoring.

There were some other services that they otherwise have not been getting for months.

So it's not just a face to face that is increasing their academic achievement is also everything that allows them to belong to their peer, to interact with their peers.

This affecting their families who watch at home, who is tutoring them, where they learning in a home school environment.

So this is affecting family dynamic family finances and you sell a lot of community reflect that.

If we can make them go to school, save I mean, which you always support.

Sure.

And what about the adults or in the schools, the administrators, the teachers?

Are they safe with the children seeing that children are often asymptomatic?

So believe it or not, in the elementary school, Tullytown have been very good, much better than the high school in in following the distancing wearing their mask.

The kindergarten.

I don't know anything different.

This is their first year in school and they know they have to wear a mask.

They know they have to listen and keep these dancing among themselves.

And they are bound by a set rule that they don't know the difference.

So I think they have been an example to them.

There is a study that was published you'll see in the Pediatric Journal in North Carolina where they look at school districts about 100,000 students came from Duke area and Chapel Hill and they saw only I have the numbers right here with me.

Only 37 cases in nine weeks and they all were community acquired.

100,000 students and three size staff members.

In the meantime, in those nine weeks, they look at this study, there were 775 community wide cases in the community that mostly adults.

But that didn't translate to initial insights.

So they thought that a school setting was not a source of transmission or increase transmission from the school to the community.

So this is one of the landmark studies that show that we may be safer sending the kids back to school.

So that's behind that short act of all.

So you are a strong advocate for the kids to go back to school.

Among your young patients, have you seen an emotional toll that this pandemic has taken on them?

The I wouldn't say so much about the Jungers well, it that they're spending more time doing electronic video games being I don't know, exercising.

If you asked our local 3.

They have seen an increasing obesity in all ages that are helping to the epidemic.

One thing that I can see, even though it's not my area of expertise, our admission rate on council for Mental Health Issues has increased exponentially.

Hundreds of Paulsen's percent of children are being admitted to our children's ER There is always an those every night or every adolescent, every other day.

And for mental health issues, everything difficult.

How this is affecting our children population in all aspect.

So what tips do you have for parents who do have children at home right now who are stuck at home learning virtually?

What's your advice for them?

The most difficult because everybody's tired of being home.

They have to keep a schedule, a little Lev Parnas the ones that are lucky to be working for home.

They have to maneuver teaching, homeschooling and also working.

They have to get kids out in a safe environment.

Is time to board game to do family activities.

They have the dog go for a walk with the family dog even though of course winter and high school.

That's not helping either.

Also because of the weather, they have to stay indoors, do movie time, family time, go face with the grandpa.

Don't lose your social.

They the kids are so sad because they cannot see their Francine person figured out how to play date virtual.

There are websites that allow that you can motivate kids and they do ballgames and they use electronic with these big Wind Gap itself to try to socialize.

So it's hard is hiding family.

But we need to get out and try to have some sense of normalcy.

Sure.

Some great tips for parents there.

Dr Phil, love us.

I want to switch gears here and talk about vaccines.

Obviously, children are not receiving the vaccines yet, but are there any trials under way for the kids?

Actually, are they?

And you know, they Pfizer vaccines is approved for age 16, all 16.

I'm over there with adult.

They can get the Pfizer vaccine.

The trial is on their way.

I know we are trying to become a site because we were a site for trial and he's going to be 12 to 17.

Same for them when there are no vaccine.

The Moderna vaccine also started to recruit.

They are trying to recruit about 3000 children to receive either placebo or the vaccine.

That also on going unfortunately, there are no trials.

This deal is scheduled to start for Joe Biden children is going to be all told year on an older eventual will.

But they are going by risk assessment that younger children seem to really have minimal symptoms and no complications for the disease and they are less transmitter's.

So the is to vaccinate the more patients that actually can transmit the disease can get sick themselves.

So yes, they trial for 212 Annable to starting to.

Sure.

So it doesn't seem to impact children as much as it impacts adults.

But there is a small group of children who contract it and then get this inflammatory syndrome that is really, really severe.

Let's talk a little about that.

I know it's a small group of children who have contracted this, but if you can tell us what we know about that.

Oh, yes.

You know, during the first months of the pandemic, after the first staunching, these goes mostly with seeing these masc which stands for multi systemic inflammatory syndromes.

And it happen in children that have had infection and for some reason is still unclear.

There is this function of the immune response and they develop inflammation, attack multiple or at the same time it looks like Kawasaki disease, which you say vasculitis that affect - children.

But it's not a stimulant nor the same.

It doesn't develop the same way.

We're still finding what is the acceptors while these children some children are no orders develop this syndrome.

But we saw several cases at the beginning and we have seen a few after this second search.

So a usually happen three to six weeks after this sort.

You see the number of cases have the infection and a few after that.

The immune system kind of produce this inflammation that attacks them and they can get really, really sick to the date they have been 67 cases reported in Pennsylvania since the very beginning of the pandemic.

Are we have one about two weeks ago, three weeks ago, we thought it happened right after this search.

Our own sons giving and then three to four weeks after we saw the case, we haven't seen any since, but we are expecting our intensive.

Our hospitals are very aware and we have a protocol.

How do we screen and test and treat these kids properly if we suspect the syndrome?

Sure.

And obviously, if a parent suspects, bring them right in or call right away.

Is correct.

All right.

Part of what we're teaching was somebody had Covid and Rickover even they're very healthy.

And if they develop solid fever, swelling, red eyes, Cheadle's vomiting after having Covid immediately having TCEQ or bring him to the two of them Tim Murtaugh.

All right.

Thank you so much for that.

Information.

Dr Villalobos from Lehigh Valley Riley Children's Hospital.

Of course, that information today was critical.

Thank you so much for sharing.

We continue this community update on coronavirus on PBS.

39.

You can catch the rebroadcast on radio tonight at 9:30 on WLVT.

News.

91 three FM Let's bring in now Marci Lesko of the United Way again, thank you so much for joining us.

Marci, glad to be here.

You've been having absolutely.

Marcio, I want to ask you about how the United Way and other non-profit groups are faring in this pandemic.

But before we get to that, you've had a very difficult personal experience with Covid-19.

I'm so glad that you are feeling a little bit better.

You're able to join today.

Can you please share, if you don't mind, with the past month and a half has looked like for you it has been a nightmare.

Today is probably the best day that I've had in six weeks.

And I you know, we'll talk about, you know, how I was involved in our community mobilization around supporting people related to the pandemic before this happened.

And then to have you know, so I knew how important it was for to be careful to do all the things that were being told to do.

And was very helpful and successful in keeping my family safe for several months.

And then it got me.

And so the day before Thanksgiving, I started having my first symptoms.

I thought it was a head cold.

A few days later, I lost my sense of smell.

I felt extremely sick.

And the Saturday after things, I went to get tested.

And within 24 hours I knew that I was positive.

A few days after that, my lips started turning blue.

I started having shortness of breath and was admitted to the hospital with Covid pneumonia and within a few hours I was in respiratory distress.

And here's some pictures.

Describe to us what this picture is.

This is really impactful picture.

This is your sister talking you on face time.

Raine's My sister is a nurse and has been for the last 10 years and she has worked in long term care and knows a lot about how people are doing.

This is her work.

And so she can't calling and calling me every few hours or every hour and she can see that I was getting sicker and sicker and sicker.

She kept asking for my vitals and asking what was going on.

And in that particular picture, she was horrified.

My oxygen was bottoming out to 77%.

I was on eight liters oxygen.

My blood pressure had spiked, my fever had spiked.

All of the markers were indicating that there was a storm in my body.

And so, you know, she I was really kind of in and out of it in terms of just my being cognizant what was going on.

Asking me questions and then really sort of shouting at me through the phone to breathe, keep breathing, keep fighting.

You can do this.

And I really credit her and health care professionals at the hospital for saving my life.

That is terrifying.

Marcy, we spoke briefly before this program and you shared with me that you were sharing your passwords to things.

That's how dire the situation had gotten for you.

That is terrifying.

Tell us about one.

The turning point was for you at the hospital when you did start to make progress with this virus.

Yes.

So at one point, the health team came in and said, do we have permission to put you ventilator?

Do we have version to save your life?

Do you want.

You saved and my voice just lost their dad eight months ago.

And I said, you know, look, my boys, you've lost their dad.

They're not going to lose.

And so I need to do this.

I'm not sure it was that particular.

But I just said I plan to live.

I'm planning to get out of this.

And so I really felt like the health care team rallied around me along with my family through the phone.

I was in isolation for 10 and a half days.

And so my family and the health care team, you know, sort of said, you know, we're going to fight.

We're going do everything.

They gave me remdesivir.

They gave me plasma.

They gave me steroids through the.

They gave me everything they possibly could give me.

And then just said we've given you everything we can.

We're going to see how you do.

And so about the fourth day in the hospital, I started making a term.

So after about four days of just sweating in the bed and fevers and really struggling to breathe.

They were pruning me.

So we me laying on my stomach and on my side for just hours I would lay and watch the monitor started giving my sister my passwords, sort of saying, you know, here where some important documents are about day for or things started turning around.

And then for the next six days they were working, weeding me off the oxygen, trying to build up my strength so that I could go home.

Sure.

And Marcy eventually did get to go home.

Obviously, you're home now.

You're not in the hospital any more.

But not without bringing some oxygen home.

And still having some side effects from this virus.

Could you talk about them?

Yeah.

So what we're really learning and what I've learned in all of my own experience and just talking lots of other folks are still having this.

Is that well, first of all, I came home two liters of oxygen and was on 24 hours.

We couldn't even take off that for when I came home.

I could be off the oxygen for six minutes and then 15 and then 20.

That was me saying I got this, I'm going to fight this.

And then 20 and then 30.

And then I started just sort of say with my resolve, I'm going to do this.

And so we did everything the doctors told us I had a home visiting nurse, physical therapy, occupational therapy for the last today's a month since home.

And I've made huge progress, oxygen on at night.ith theP So continued sort of struggle with my lungs, continued to struggle with my pulse.

It'll fly up pretty high and bottom out, which is something that people are seeing as a side effect.

Temperature regulation.

So I'll get superhot and then super, super cold.

But you know, thankfully those are some of the only major side effects.

We did see that my liver enzymes were pretty high.

My Veridian was extremely high.

Normal for me is about 10.

Mine was 2700 when I went to the hospital.

It really has shown that the virus is coming down in my body.

But it was really serious for a long time.

So today, like I said, it's probably the best day I've had in six weeks.

I'm so glad to hear that.

And you're looking well as well.

So hopefully a recovery continues to go well.

I do want to kind talk about some of the things you were doing before you contracted Covid.

Obviously you work for the United Way of the Lehigh Valley.

Talk to us about those relief efforts.

What's the greatest need that you were seeing in the community during this pandemic?

Yeah.

So again, I was on the other side.

So the moment the pandemic hit, I'm so proud of our team, we mobilized a massive community response.

We were raising money so in just a short period of time we raised over $700,000 to get support to non-profits and to other organizations that were providing response and support for folks that were dealing with the impact Covid.

And that ranged from food, shelter, support, emergency services, neighborhood engagement, neighborhood revitalization.

We were doing a variety things.

We were having community conversations.

We established a Facebook forum where nonprofits could find each other and provide support and ask and answer questions, exchange resources.

You know, someone would say, I need a notary.

Can anybody get me a notary immediately?

I need a tent to be set up outside of our homeless shelter folks.

We need you know, we were getting diapers, the neighborhoods and people that were had lost their jobs, people that had lost their lives and now their families were struggling.

I mean, we met we mobilized the community like so many other organizations, you know, chamber PVA, others who were really stepping up to make sure that the community, our health care networks could get the support they needed.

And so we raised money.

We were getting supplies, support for nonprofits, etc.

And then I think a really what we noticed early on was that like other folks in the countr noticed that Covid was disproportionately affected communities of color.

And so we really worked hard to engage and mobilize organizations that are led by people of color at the neighborhood and grassroots levels of promise neighborhoods.

Our friends at the boys and girls of Easton, Boys and Girls, Schuylkill Bethlehem and others that sort of stepped up and said, we know that we can reach our neighbors in the community.

And so we did we did all those things.

Awesome.

Marcy.

And unfortunately we don't have a ton of time.

But if people do want to get involved, is there a website they can go to to help people in the community?

Yeah.

So United Way GIOVINO Or sorry about that.

But you know, I feel passionately about it.

And so, you know, knowing professionally and personally it's then a really tough time.

Sure.

And we wish you luck in your recovery efforts.

Thank you for all of you that you've done for the community.

We want to thank you for being here and we want to thank you for watching our community update on coronavirus.

We'll be here at 4pm each Monday, Wednesday and Friday on PBS39 and on the radio at 9:30 those same nights on WLVT News.

We'll be back Monday at 4:00 with State Senator Lisa Pascola.

If you have a question, you can give us a call or leave it on social media for PBS.

39 and WLVT News.

I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Stay safe.