‘It’s Been A Long, Long Time’: Hug Tent Offers Needed Connection

LOUISVILLE, CO — On Wednesday, Lynda Hartman received a hug she so desperately needed.

It had been eight months since she touched her 77-year-old husband, Len, who has dementia and has been at an assisted living center in suburban Denver for the last year.

And thanks to a "hug tent" set up outside Juniper Village at Louisville, Hartman finally got to wrap her arms around her husband, even if it was while wearing plastic sleeves and separated by a 4-millimeter-thick clear plastic barrier.

"I really needed it. I really needed it," the 75-year-old told The Associated Press after her brief visit. "It meant a lot to me, and it's been a long, long time."

The assisted living facility in the Denver suburb, which has fully vaccinated its residents and staff, partnered with nonprofit health care organization TRU Community Care to set up the tent with construction-grade plastic on a blustery but warm winter day this week.

"I think it's just a huge weight off their shoulders, just being able to have that hug that they haven't had in so long," Anna Hostetter, a spokeswoman for Juniper Village at Louisville, told AP. "When we were planning this and setting it up, and I saw pictures, I wasn't sure if with all the plastic and everything you could really get that human contact. But I teared up on some of them. It was really special for our families."

READ MORE: ‘Hug Tent’ Provides Safe Embraces At Louisville Elderly Home

The Latest

A day before the largest sporting event of the year, the National Football League has offered to turn its remaining 30 stadiums into mass vaccination sites, joining the seven already being used to administer the vaccine.

In a letter to President Joe Biden obtained by The Associated Press, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said many of the stadiums should be able to get vaccination efforts moving quickly because of previous offers to use stadiums as virus testing centers and election sites.

The seven clubs already using their stadiums as vaccine sites are Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Houston, Miami and New England.

The offer comes as United States coronavirus deaths topped 460,000 on Saturday and cases have surpassed 26.8 million. Despite the growing numbers, the rate of those receiving vaccinations in the United States is accelerating, and the number of people who have received at least one shot is now higher than the total number of reported U.S. infections.

At least 36.8 million Americans have received one or both of the coronavirus vaccine doses, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also, the Biden administration on Friday announced it plans to send 1,100 active-duty troops to five federal COVID-19 vaccination centers across the country, The New York Times reported, an effort to take better control of a chaotic and mostly state-led effort to administer the vaccines.

The sites, and the use of the military within them, would require the approval of state governments, not all of which are open to the idea.

Pandemic adviser Andy Slavitt on Friday said troops would arrive in California within 10 days, to begin operating around Feb. 15. Other assignments will be announced soon.

Also, a third vaccine could soon join the fight against coronavirus in the United States.

Johnson & Johnson on Thursday submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration seeking emergency authorization for its one-dose coronavirus vaccine, according to a New York Times report. This puts the company on track to potentially begin shipping it by early March.

The agency has scheduled a meeting with its outside advisory panel, which is to vote Feb. 26 on whether the FDA should authorize the vaccine, sources told The Times.

Finally, since we brought up the Super Bowl, health experts are again warning against holding large gatherings and parties to root for your favorite team.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said that when it comes to Super Bowl parties during the pandemic, people should "just lay low and cool it," according to an Associated Press report.

He said during TV interviews Wednesday that now isn't the time to invite people over for watch parties, because of the possibility that they're infected with the coronavirus and could sicken others.

"You don't want parties with people that you haven't had much contact with," he told NBC's "Today" show. "You just don't know if they're infected; so as difficult as that is, at least this time around, just lay low and cool it."

Newest Numbers

As of midday Saturday, the United States had reported at least 26.8 million cases and more than 460,000 deaths from COVID-19-related illnesses, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

At least 3,565 deaths and 131,145 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States as of 6 p.m. Friday, according to a Washington Post database. The Post's reporting shows that over the past week, new daily reported cases have fallen 18.8 percent, new daily deaths have increased 0.3 percent and COVID-19-related hospitalizations have fallen 14.1 percent.

More than 58.3 million vaccine doses have been distributed and 36.8 million administered in the United States as of Saturday morning, according to the CDC. More than 28.9 million people have received one dose, and more than 7.5 million have received two.

Currently, 86,373 people are hospitalized with a coronavirus-related illness in the United States, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

As of Friday, 33 states and U.S. territories remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or The Washington Post.

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