If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or need help, call 988 or message the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
Yes, beef, eggs, and chicken products are safe to serve and eat if properly prepared and fully cooked, even as the bird flu is affecting more commercial flocks and dairy cows. Raw eggs could in theory pass the avian flu virus to a person, just the way they can carry salmonella, which is why it’s always advised to fully cook eggs. But there are strong procedures in place to recall any eggs from farms with outbreaks or sick chickens, which can usually be done before they even go to market. Meat - both chicken and cows - is also low risk when cooked properly since appropriate temperatures for cooked meat would kill any flu particles and because USDA procedures require sick animals to be removed and quarantined before they end up in the food supply. Normal food handling procedures designed to reduce bacterial contamination will work to prevent avian flu spread, as well. The basics - clean hands and surfaces, preventing cross-contamination, and cooking and holding to proper temps - should be all you need to safely prepare and serve eggs, chicken, and beef right now.
Carbon dioxide leaks can happen if CO2 tanks, canisters, or lines aren’t installed properly, especially in restaurants and bars that have larger tanks for filling carbon dioxide containers on-site. Generally, restaurants with kitchens have great ventilation, so most leaks don’t have any major impact on employee health, as the CO2 is filtered out of the air. But in rare circumstances without proper ventilation or with very high concentrations of CO2, a leak can replace the oxygen in the room and slowly cause suffocation. In 2010, an elderly guest at a fast food restaurant died after a CO2 leak in the bathroom walls. Each year, we hear stories of leaks leading to employees passing out or getting sent to the hospital to be checked out. The good news is that there are highly effective alarms. Speak with your CO2 provider about an alarm system; fixed wall units are generally under $600. And as always, if employees complain of lightheadedness or a strange smell, it’s best to evacuate and call the fire department to come check things out to be safe.
Unfortunately, yes. There have been 113 cases so far this year, already double last year, and it’s just the beginning of April. More than half (58%) have been hospitalized, either due to complications or to help isolate the person and stop the spread (because most are kids, especially five and under). There are cases in 19 states so far, and Illinois has the highest case count because of an outbreak in a migrant shelter there, but most states have just a handful of cases. There are a number of states with very low childhood vaccination coverage (under 90%) for their kindergarteners, which put them at significantly higher risk of an outbreak. Those include Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, Georgia, New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Washington, D.C.
After the East Coast experienced a rare earthquake last week, you’re not alone if you felt dizzy, anxious or even phantom aftershocks: