(This has been sent to all HM residents registered on the HM email platform)
Update#17 Funnies at the end.
This Update includes Information on:
1) Hershey’s Mill Helping Hands: Services, Face Masks & Supplies Needed
2) COVID-19 & Your Cat
3) Concord Pet in Fraser
4) Primary Election & Mail In Ballots
5) New Date or Filing Federal, State and Local Tax Returns
6) Verizon Removal of Copper Equipment – Update & Schedule
7) COMCAST Box Removal Update
8) Masks, Gloves, Hand Sanitizer Availability
9) Tunnel Repair10) Chandler Road Tunnel Repair Completed
11) APPLAUSE to Honor Healthcare Workers and First Responders
12) Andrea Bocellis Easter Performance
There is a great deal of interesting information contained in this email. We recommend scrolling down through the contents and reading what interests you.
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1) HERSHEY’S MILL ‘HELPING HANDS’ is Available to Assist HM Residents:
Helping Hands is a neighbor helping neighbors, free service, exclusively for Hershey’s Mill residents by Hershey’s Mill residents, through the Safety Sub-Committee of the HM Technology Committee. This FREE service will continue for as long as we are under Stay at Home orders during this pandemic.
– Free Services:
HM Helping Hands will pick up medication, pick up groceries, pick up & deliver Take Out and deliver to your door, contact free.
How to contact Helping Hands:
Email helpinghandshmill@gmail.com.
– Free Face Masks for HM Residents:
By now, everyone is aware of the instructions by the CDC, WHO, US Surgeon General, Governor and President to wear a face mask when leaving the home.
In keeping with this, the HM Helping Hands Volunteers are making Face Masks for HM Residents. The masks are available FREE of Charge.
How to receive a Face Mask:
Email: helpinghandshmill@gmail.com
– Supplies Needed: HM HH Volunteers need the following supplies to make Face Masks for HM Residents:
- Most importantly, Elastic, any size and color from ¼” and up. No matter how large, we can cut to adapt.
2. Seam binding tape.
3. Hair ties that are stretchy. (See if they fit comfortably over your ears before donating.)
- 100% cotton sheets and towels you can spare, any color or pattern.
- 100% cotton table napkins, any color or pattern.
- Muslin fabric.
7. Gently used sheets, towels and napkins are fine as long as they are unstained.
Please Email helpinghandshmill@gmail.com to donate materials.
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2) *****CATS AND CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) by Dr. Wilbur Amand:******
Wilbur B. Amand, VMD, a Hershey’s Mill Resident, has written an interesting and informative article up to date with the most recent information on COVID-19 and Cats. This will be particularly interesting to you if you have a Cat in your home.
“Further studies have provided evidence that cats are very susceptible to the virus……” SEE BELOW for the Full Article
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3) CONCORD PET SUPPLIES
Concord Pet in Frazer is offering touchless curbside pickup for pet food and pet supplies. Place your order and pay over the phone. Curbside Pick Up or Delivery.
610-644-6767
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4) Pennsylvania Primary Election related to COVID 19. In order to protect the health and safety of all voters, poll workers, and election officials while also ensuring access to voting, the legislature, Governor Wolf, and the Department of State worked together to pass legislation to reschedule the PA primary election to Tuesday, June 2.
Additionally, thanks to historic legislation passed last fall, ALL Pennsylvania voters now also have the ability to
vote by mail without having to provide an excuse – for any reason or no reason at all. You can
apply for mail-in ballots online, by mail, or in person, until one week before the election. For the 2020 primary, mail-in ballot applications
must be received by your county election office by 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 26. Applying online is very easy and quick, and even better, if you enter your email address, you will receive notifications as to the status of your application and ballot along the way.
Once you receive your mail-in ballot, you now have until 8pm on June 2 to deliver your completed ballot to your county election office, but you should drop it off or mail it
as early as you can to
ensure it is delivered by that time.
Voters who have already requested a mail-in or absentee ballot will receive your ballot for the rescheduled primary. There is no need to apply again if you have already done so.
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5) FEDERAL, STATE & LOCAL TAX RETURNS:
The new due date for filing your federal, state and local tax returns is July 15th. Please check with your CPA or Tax Preparer for more information.
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6) Verizon Removal of Copper Equipment – Update & Schedule
3 of the 5 main cabinets near the entrances have been removed. The last 2 will be removed in the next few days. The removal of the concrete pads will follow shortly.
Equipment will be removed in this order: (This is a tentative schedule, subject to change.)
Heatherton
Kennett
Franklin
Newbury
Eaton
Vassar
Lincoln
Yardley
Ulster
Troon
Robynwood
Springton
Quaker Ridge
Zephyr Glen
Oakmont
Devonshire
Chatham
Merrifield
Chandler
Inverness
Ashton
Jefferson
Princeton
Glenwood
Brighton
If you have any questions about a box in your yard, email Sherry & Bill Kane – See HM Directory.
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7) COMCAST BOXES:
If you have a COMCAST Box in your area, please call Comcast’s Corporate Office, Executive Customer Service at 888-966-7794 or the Main Office at 215-286-1700 and ask for the President’s Office. Be prepared when you call with:
Your Name
Address
Exact location near your home or another’s home
What type of equipment it is: cabinet or pedestal
What the issue is: fallen over, door open, wires hanging out, etc..
Explain that you have an unsafe situation and want the box removed or repaired properly.
HM Residents have been calling the COMCAST Corporate Office and Comcast Techs have come and removed equipment.
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9) Masks, Gloves, Hand Sanitizer and Gowns available.
We are aware that many in HM have need of these supplies. We have been made aware that these supplies are available through the company below:
Heron Medical Supplies
610-259-9700
Mon-Fri. 9:00 am to 5:00
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10) Chandler Road Tunnel Repair Completed
The second tunnel under the street, that connects the pond at Chandler and Mill to Ridley Creek, has been completed.
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11) APPLAUSE to Honor Healthcare Workers and First Responders
Neighbors within Hershey’s Mill are joining together at 7:00 PM on Monday nights to applaud healthcare workers, first responders and all those working to serve during the pandemic. Join in on your own front porch, wave at neighbors and applaud those in service to us all.
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12) Andrea Bocellis Easter Performance
Click here to be taken to a video and recording of Bocellis’s moving performance. Click on the video link.
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NEIGHBORS:
– Please check on your neighbors regularly. A simple phone call checking in may make all the difference in someone’s day. We are all in this together – call a neighbor or two today. If you just moved here an don’t know any one, call one of your Village Council members.
-Please communicate this information to any neighbor that does not receive emails.
– Please check with your friends and neighbors to be sure they see the COVID-19 emails.
COMMUNITY UPDATES
1) Please tune into Hershey’s Mill Community TV (HMTC) Channel 1971 for updates via scrolling banners
2) Please log onto hersheysmill.org for updates on the HersheyMill website.
We thank you for your understanding and patience as we navigate these unprecedented times.
On behalf of the Hershey’s Mill Technology Committee,
To your health and safety,
Wash your hands, stay healthy,
Sherry & Bill Kane
Co-Chairs
HM Technology Committee
Note: Emails sent out Community wide through the HM Email Platform are for internal HM use only and not for public distribution, posting on any type of website, with the exception of the hersheysmill.org website, or used in any other manner available to the general public or those residing outside Hershey’s Mill.
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ARTICLE:
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COVID-19 and CATS
In my earlier report, I noted that Hong Kong had tested 17 dogs and 8 cats from households with confirmed COVID-19 cases or persons in close contact with confirmed patients. Only two dogs had tested positive using a test for the COVID-91 virus. The first cat to test positive to COVID-19 was reported in Belgium. The cat lived in close contact with its owner who was COVID-19 positive. This cat started showing respiratory symptoms a week after the owner died.
Further studies have provided evidence that cats are very susceptible to the virus when researchers attempted to infect the cats by introducing viral particles via the nose. They also found that cats can infect each other via respiratory droplets. Studies with dogs showed that they were less likely to catch the virus.
Then on April 5, the Bronx Zoo reported a Malayan tiger was reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. In addition, three other tigers and three lions were showing symptoms – dry cough and a slight decrease in appetite. Public health officials believe that these cats became ill after being exposed to a zoo keeper who was actively shedding virus. All the zoo’s cats that were showing symptoms have been doing well and improving.
Despite the above experience, there is little to no evidence that pets can spread COVID-19 to people. According to a spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association, “This is almost exclusively a human-to-human transmitted disease. The risk to pets is very low, with only a handful of cases of the virus appearing in companion animals and no cases of people getting sick from their pets.”
The following are some frequently asked questions from pet owners about this new coronavirus (COVID-19):
1. If animals (especially cats) can contract the virus, can they pass it back to people? Currently there is no evidence to suggest that pets, livestock, or zoo animals can spread the COVID-19 virus to people or other animals. However, the World Health Organization is taking a closer look at transmission of the virus between humans and animals.
2. What should I do about my cat if I am diagnosed with COVID–19? Although it is very unlikely that you can contract COVID-19 from your pet, if YOU are infected with COVID-19 there is the risk that your pet could get the virus from you. So isolate yourself from your pet.
3. Should my pet be practicing social/physical distancing? Yes, it is recommended that you ensure your pet practices social distancing from other people and pets.
4. Can my pet carry the virus on their fur? Yes, according to the British Veterinary Association, cat (and dogs) can act as “fomites” – meaning the virus can linger on their fur and be transmitted through touch in the same way it can be picked up from surfaces like tables and doorknobs.
5. Should my pet wear a mask? No. There is no good evidence that face masks protect pets from infectious diseases or air pollutants, and masks have the potential to be unnecessarily scary or uncomfortable for pets.
6. Should we have our pets (cats/dogs) tested for COVID–19? No, Routine testing of domestic animals for COVID-19 is not being recommended by the AVMA, CDC or USDA.
7. What should pet owners do if they think their pet has the virus? Contact your veterinary clinic if your pet shows signs of respiratory illness (coughing, sneezing, lethargy, lack of appetite, etc.) and make sure that they are prepared to treat patients that could have been exposed to COVID-19 virus. If your veterinary clinic is unable to provide the care your pet may need, ask for a referral to the nearest clinic that would be able to accept your pet.
8. Should pet owners stop interacting with their pets? If the owner is not ill with COVID-19, you can and should interact with your pets as usual – including feeding, playing, etc. However, continue to practice good hygiene (hand washing; keeping bedding, toys, bowls, litter boxes clean; etc.).
9. Why are animals being tested when there are not enough human COVID–19 tests? The tests differ between humans and animals. The animal tests are usually performed in a veterinary school laboratory or state agricultural laboratory and are not sent to a human testing laboratory. There is no competition for testing.
10. Can manufactured pet food carry COVID-19 virus? There is no evidence for this. It is highly unlikely that dry or canned pet foods are potential viral vectors.
11. What do we know about other coronaviruses in cats, dogs, and horses?
· CATS: Feline enteric coronavirus causes a mild or asymptomatic infection in domestic cats, and most signs are gastrointestinal-related. Infections with this virus are more common in areas of higher cat numbers such as catteries, shelters, etc.
· DOGS: Two known coronaviruses exist in dogs. One is a gastrointestinal form that ranges from asymptomatic to mild diarrhea which may become a severe inflammation of the small intestine. The second which is more commonly seen is a mild disease consisting of cough, sneezing, and nasal discharge.
Wilbur B. Amand, VMD
Inverness Village
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