Bringing Dental Services To The Columbia Community | “Family First Health cut the ribbon on our newest location, our Columbia Dental site, on September 17. Located at 430 Walnut Street, the dental site complements our existing primary medicine location around the corner at 369 Locust Street. Family First Health welcomes all residents in and around Columbia to establish a dental home at this new site.

The new center provides access to primary dental care, serving patients of all ages and featuring comprehensive services including dentures, root canals, traditional restorations, and preventative care with cleanings, x-rays, and sealants. The center has 12 treatments rooms and a team of 5 dentists and their support staff.

Jenny Englerth, President and CEO of Family First Health, said the new center has received strong support from the community, including CHI St. Joseph Children’s Health who made a major donation of equipment to outfit the treatment rooms. The PA Department of Health provided funds through a primary care grant to support the launch of the site. Additionally, the Family First Health dental team is partnering with the Columbia School District to connect students and their families to the dental center, as well as going into the schools to provide preventative care.

“We welcome you to our site and are proud to be in this community, improving the health of Columbia residents for decades to come,” Englerth said. – SOURCE: Family First e-letter

data from Pennsylvania Department of Health Website

Missed Saturday’s report | Trump Coronavirus cases reported in Pennsylvania, October 20, 2020. The data in the above chart reflects more than a week. Still the numbers continue to rise — The US Government-run Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states in this 10-day ago report:

“Nationally, the percentage of specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 and the percentage of visits to emergency departments (ED) or outpatient providers for COVID-like illness (CLI) and influenza-like illness (ILI) have increased slightly in recent weeks. COVID-19 related hospitalizations and mortality attributed to COVID-19 remained stable or declined but this may change as more data are received.”

MAGA-numbers | The United States leads the world in share of cases (21%) and share of deaths (20%). And Pennsylvania’s numbers, though the fifth most populous state (and the eighth most populous state with persons over age 65) ), appears to be having a much better outcome: 14,841 cases per million population versus those “open them up” Southern states. The same is true with deaths per million. – nCoV2019.live – A dynamic site of global statistics

How will winter affect the coronavirus? | “The new study investigates the secret of this virus’s unusual success: its transmissibility, or how it manages to get from host to host. The dominant mode, it turns out, changes according to environmental conditions.” – Futurity

In spite of harsh lockdowns | China expected to be the only major economy to grow in 2020. China’s economy expanded 4.9% in the July-to-September quarter, while the rest of the world continues to struggle with the coronavirus crisis.” – Source: CNNBusiness

“Unlike the U.S. government, China’s Communist Party has not offered relief money to workers, leaving many to dig into their savings to survive. The fourth quarter started off with a weeklong holiday. People spent $70 billion on travel — 70% of what they spent last year. SOURCE: marketWatch

“Many months into the pandemic, many families are going without basic needs | With help slow to come from Washington, a veteran’s family gets by washing cars, skipping meals.” – The Hechinger Report

“Nearly half of all Americans | would have trouble paying for an unexpected $250 bill and a third of Americans have less income than before the pandemic, according to the latest results of our Marketplace-Edison Research Poll.” – MarketPlace