Here is a roundup of the latest news concerning the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to announcements from local, state, and federal governments, as well as international channels. To share a business or nonprofit story, please send us a message.
Domino’s to Hire 20,000 Nationwide
Ann Arbor’s Domino’s Pizza Inc., the world’s largest pizza company based on global retail sales, wants to fill more than 20,000 positions nationwide, including delivery drivers, pizza makers, customer service representatives, managers, and assistant managers. In addition, supply chain centers across the U.S. are hiring production and warehouse personnel, as well as drivers with a commercial driver’s license.
“We realize that these are tough times, and not only do we want to maintain strong service levels, but we also want to provide opportunities to those who have lost their jobs or are facing reduced hours,” says Tom Curtis, executive vice president of operations and support at Domino’s. “Domino’s stores offer flexible work options, which include part-time and full-time opportunities. If you’re looking for a steady income and want to be a part of a great team, we encourage you to apply.”
To apply or learn more, visit here.
U-M Health System Signs Imaging Contract with Connecticut’s Sectra
The University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor has signed a contract with Connecticut-based international medical imaging and cybersecurity company Sectra to provide the latter’s enterprise imaging solution throughout the U-M system.
This unified imaging strategy, according to Sectra, will support work-sharing, subspecialty interpretation of studies acquired at any location within the system, and remote reading.
The contract comprises modules for radiology and orthopedics as well as the ability to store all departmental imaging. The solution will ensure high system availability and provide a full patient overview to the care team, says Sectra.
“Our experience with academic medical centers and successful track record with large-scale deployments and deep EMR integration makes for a perfect fit between the two organizations,” says Anthony Grise, vice president of sales at Sectra. “I look forward to a collaborative relationship between our respective teams.”
Report: Michigan Ranks 22nd in Decreased in Mobility Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
Michigan was been 9 percent less active than usual in retail and recreation activities and 34 percent are opted to stay home during June due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report released today by Seattle’s QuoteWizard, a LendingTree company.
The report shows the mobility rates of each state and says one-third of Americans are shoosing to stay home during the pandemic.
Michigan’s numbers put it at 22nd on the list of states whose mobility, the rate at which people are getting out of the house and traveling to work, retail, and recreation, has been affected by the coronavirus.
California ranked No. 1 with a 33 percent drop in recreation and retail mobility and 35 percent of its citizens staying at home. South Dakota was 50th with 6 percent increase in recreation and retail mobility and 24 percent staying home.
Other key findings include:
- In June 2020, 36.5 percent of adults in the U.S. experienced symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, compared to 11 percent in the same period in 2019.
- Millennials have seen nearly a 20 percent increase in anxiety from April to July 2020.
- California, Hawaii, and Arizona are considered to be the least mobile states due to COVID-19-related restrictions.
- A 9 percent reduction in retail and recreation activities in the U.S. means lower levels of mobility.
- About 33 percent of people are choosing to stay at home compared to pre-coronavirus rates.
QuoteWizard says it analyzed Google and CDC data that looked at mobility factors during the pandemic and built its ranking based on two key mobility factors: the rate of retail and recreation and the rate of people staying at home. These factors show which states are considered to be least mobile by comparison. Each rate of retail and recreation and people staying at home is based on historical norms. States with negative rates of retail and recreation are considered to be lower than normal. States with high rates of people staying at home are considered to be higher than normal.
To view the full report, visit here.
U-M Report: Telehealth Visits Have Increased for Older Adults but Concerns Remain
One in four older Americans had a virtual medical visit in the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of them by video, a new telehealth poll by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor finds.
That’s much higher than the 4 percent of people over 50 who said they had ever had a virtual visit with a doctor in a similar poll taken in 2019.
Comfort levels with telehealth, also called telemedicine, also have increased. Back in 2019, most older adults expressed at least one serious concern about trying a telehealth visit. But by mid-2020, the percentage with such concerns had eased, especially among those who had experienced a virtual visit between March and June of this year.
Yet, not all older adults see virtual care as an adequate substitute for in-person care, even in a pandemic, the survey’s findings show.
Seventeen percent of people over 50 still say they have never used any sort of video conferencing tool for any reason, including medical care. While that’s 11 percentage points lower than in the 2019 poll, that lack of experience or access could be a barrier to receiving care without having to leave home as the pandemic continues to surge in dozens of states.
Both the 2019 and 2020 polls were done for the U-M’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation with support from AARP and Michigan Medicine, U-M’s academic medical center. Both involved a national sample of more than 2,000 adults aged 50 to 80.
“These findings have implications for the health providers who have ramped up telehealth offerings rapidly and for the insurance companies and government agencies that have quickly changed their policies to cover virtual visits,” say Lorraine Buis, a health information technology researcher at U-M who helped design the poll and interpret its results. “Tracking change over time could inform future efforts and highlights the need for much more research on concerns, barriers and optimal use of telehealth by older adults.”
Jeff Kullgren, an associate director of the poll and U-M assistant professor of internal medicine, says, “This has been an extraordinary time for the telemedicine movement, and these poll results show just how powerful this trial by fire has been. But our data also highlight areas of continued concern for patients that need to be addressed.”
To read the full report of the U-M survey, visit here.
