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Anecdotally, we are seeing more guest complaints, and we suspect part of the uptick is because it’s a record-setting year for norovirus. Many of our clients are reporting more guest complaints about “food poisoning” by phone call and online. Guests often assume they got noro at the last place they ate, even though that’s not usually the case. In reality, it’s spreading throughout the community at schools, public restrooms, dorms and healthcare facilities - you name it, if there are people in close contact using the same bathrooms, there’s norovirus there right now. The incubation period for noro averages 12-36 hours, so many people assume it was the dinner they had right before they got sick that night, when in fact it may have been lunch, or even a full day earlier than they’ve assumed. The good news is that noro seems to finally be dropping a bit, so we’re hopeful that guest complaints may subside as those numbers drop.
Sources: NoroSTAT
It’s been a tough week.
I’ve spent over thirty years in health care and public health, and I never imagined we’d see the kind of disruption we’ve experienced over the past ten days—at the CDC, the FDA, and across state and local health departments.
Many of you have reached out, and we hear your concerns loud and clear. You’re asking: How do we separate real threats from background noise without clear guidance? How do we move forward when so many trusted relationships with regulators have vanished? And what happens when the next big outbreak or health threat inevitably comes?
Just last week, we were working with a county health department on what looked like a fairly serious norovirus outbreak. You know the drill—sick guests, sick employees, and escalating demands from health officials as the scope of the issue widened. They requested extensive information: guest receipts, employee records dating back well before the incident, and traceback documentation. We were in touch a dozen times over a few days. And then… complete silence. They just stopped responding. Fortunately, we’ve done all the right things, so we’re comfortable that this incident is over and that every step has been taken to ensure that employees and customers are safe.
One of our go-to moves is to connect with the Minnesota Department of Health when something unusual happens—regardless of where it happens. Many of you know Minnesota’s team: they’re tough, but they’re the best in the business. They know what’s happening nationwide, and they’ve been a guiding light as other states lost experienced epidemiologists post-COVID. We’ve leaned on them often—and so have other states. Just recently, when a new epidemiologist in another state faced his first outbreak, he called Minnesota. When his response seemed to need a course correction, we called Minnesota too, and they stepped in to help.
And now? The Minnesota Department of Health just laid off 300 people — 15% of their top-tier public health staff with additional cuts anticipated. That’s a huge loss.
So, where do we go from here?
Well, you’ve heard me say the same three things for years:
These principles have carried us through tough times before, and they’ll carry us through this, too.
Our commitment to you, our Zero Hour Health community and clients, is this: to continue to share the best employee health information out there (even if it’s harder to find), to step up and fill the gaps that our public health partners will leave in their absence until they can get back to their important work, and to partner with our community every step of the way as we navigate this new landscape together.
In the meantime, as our traditional safety nets are stretched thin, we need to double down on the basics:
We’re in this together.
—Roslyn