Midmorning With Aundrea - May 1, 2020 (Part 1)

(Part 1 of 2) However much it may be wreaking havoc in our lives, the coronavirus has spurred researchers and inventors to come up with some functional gadgets designed to minimize contact and keep people safe.

And health care workers are understandably under a great deal of stress these days, but one New York hospital is using relaxing "recharge rooms" to reduce stress amidst chaos.

And a former Starkville native joins Aundrea via Zoom to discuss her own personal battle with COVID-19

You can be a scientists and researchers around the world are testing medicines and possible vaccines.

The race to find solutions has others thinking of ideas to keep us safe.

That includes products meant to help keep us safe from possibly risky things, like touching our faces or door handles.

Charlie d'agata reports on some of the inventions that could eventually become part of our lives.

People touch their faces!

All the time, all the time //// people touch their face 23 times per hour.

It's an unconscious behavior that just happens.

Stopping it from 'just happening' is what designer seattle-based justin ith had in mind with his vibrating bracelet&reducing the risk of the coronavirus entering the body through vulnerable points.

So you basically calibrate, 'this is when i touch my eye, this is when i touch my nose, this is when i touch my mouth'.

So when you do that in the future it will vibrate.

The global pandemic - and the challenges of a post-lockdown world -- have already inspired a slew of ideas.

Like dividing screens in restaurants& &plexiglass cubicles for the beach.

&and mobile barriers on car assembly lines.

In the world we now live in, every surface is a potential health hazard.

Especially door handles.

One british inventor came up with this, the hygiene hook.

It's a pretty simple concept works like this&and like this& inventor steve brooks has already donated hundreds to hospital workers.

Are we seeing a new age of innovation now?

Yes.

World war two saw an explosion of inventions and innovations.

Like long-range guided missiles... &which helped launch the era of space exploration.

The jet engine...which revolutionized commercial aviation.

But that period also introduced the modern ballpoint pen& ...and superglue&everyd ay objects you'd find in your home today.

And home is exactly where justin ith's idea started.

We created it because, for personal reasons.

My father is in his late sixties and he has an autoimmune disease that makes him immune compromised // we wanted to jump into action and protect people like my dad.

Sometimes complicated situations call for simple solutions.

Charlie d'agata, cbs news, london doctors and nurses, therapists and other medical workers are under a lot of stress right now.

Now one hospital is trying to ease some of that stress and anxiety in a unique way that combines the calm of nature with technology indoors.

Tom hanson has more.

Dr.danya mccarthy's usual job is in sports medicine &but now she's on the front lines&taking care of critically ill covid-19 patients.

The anxiety is one thing coming into it and not knowing what you're getting into and just, again, being worried about your own safety and being worried about being able to take care of the patients to the best of your ability.

And then the fatigue that just sets in healthcare workers around the nation responding to the pandemic are trying to navigate the overwhelming physical and mental demands.

Nats that's where recharge rooms like this at mount sinai hospital in new york come in.

Nats sights, sounds and smells from relaxing settings& nats aim to help staff cope with the anxiety, stress, and trauma they're facing.

It gives you that chance to kind of just sit there and kind of empty your brain of everything else that it's been filled with and so focused on during the day.

All of these stresses and worries that they have never thought that they would face in their in their healthcare career.

It's really weighing on them.

Dr. david putrino worked with the company studio elsewhere to design and build the space.

What we're seeing is that in 15 minutes of being in the space, people are reporting 70 to 80% reductions in their perceived level of stress, which is huge.

Healthcare workers are also able to grab snacks and drinks to re-energize.

Nats dr. mccarthy says she's grateful for the entire experience.

Sh she hopes more people on the front lines of this fight are able to take some much need time for themselves.

Tom hanson, cbs news, new york.

Rooms are voice activated through google home, so workers don't touch anything, which is meant to avoid spreading infections.

It is an adjustment that can be challenging for some.

Having a loved one away in the military during the covid 19 pandemic.

Wcbi's bobby martinez spoke to two families about how they're handling that separation..

It is moments like these where being next to your loved ones can help you get through these tough times... but those who have loved ones in the military say... the transition has not been easy.

"it is hard becaus you can't get to them the way you are used to and protect them."

In january 19-year- old eli box began his military career.

After he was sworn into the mississippi army national guard..

He was shipped off to basic traing... around the same time - the corona virus started to make an impact on america..

Sot - jenny box - mother 'when things first started getting really bad around our nation he was really nervous.

But we continue to tell him you know that we are ok and you know share information with him."

A few months in..

Eli's parents say he has adjusted.

And the military is doing a good job keeping their personnel safe..

Sot - mark box - father "they really done lot to do the separation and the social distancing and the quarantining.

You know it is rough but we felt that he's been pretty safe so far."

As for anna mueller... her experience was challenging at first.

When her husband michael mueller deployed overseas in the fall, corona virus was un heard of... but by january..

The pandemic was taking the world by storm..

Leaving anna wondering when will be the next time she would hold her husband in her arms..

Sot "i didn't reall expect to get that bad here.

So when it did i was like oh crap.

Yeah, you know, after that first presidential address and him being so close to being home i was like ok yeah this is going to affect it somehow."

Anna says michael came home in march.

Something she is very thankful for "luckily he was at point where i mean didn't have anything for him to do over there, so getting a waiver was pretty easy for him.

There's other people that you know they were even on their way back and they're still you know having to stay overseas somewhere."

Reporting in columbus..

Bobby martinez wcbi news..

It is so challenging to have our daily routine upended.

But the transition can be áespecially difficultá for people on the autism spectrum and their families.

During this world autism month, jamie wax shows us how some are coping -- and how the pandemic is highlighting the value of autistic people in the workforce.

Sot: kristen teodoro / parent of autistic child "i'm not a traine therapist.

I'm not a trained teacher.

And i'm trying my hardest."

Kristen teodoro has a lot on her plate these days.

Like many of us - the long island mom of two was forced to make a big shift when social distancing became the norm across the country.

Her 4 year old son hudson is nonverbal and on the autism spectrum.

He relies on speech and occupational therapy - in addition to classroom learning.

"the fact tha we're losing all of this time and we don't really see, you know, when it's going to end is really scary for us."

According to the c-d-c - one in 54 children in the u-s is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

And as covid-19 continues to interrupt everyday lives, groups like "autis speaks" are no offering free online resources to help those children - and their families - transition.

Donna murray is head of the autism treatment network.

"many in ou community find comfort in routine.

So this has really disrupted their lives in big ways."

That comfort in routine was also a concern for auticon& an i-t services company that says two- thirds of its workforce is on the autism spectrum.

David aspinall runs their u-s operations.

What we found is through utilizing a lot of the business tools that we're now using in a work from home environment, we're really helping our analysts grow.

When you talk about this, it seems almost like a silver ling to everything that's happening to business during this pandemic.

Yeah, i think it's opening eyes to the possibilities of neurodiversity within the workplace.

Employment is something will collett struggled with for years.

He counted himself among the estimated 85 percent of autistic adults who are unemployed or underemployed.

After a string of dead end jobs - he found the training program at auticon.

"as soon as th instructor at auticon started writing this thing out on the board, i went, i know how to do that.

I really enjoyed doing that.

I think i found my place."

"that must hav been an incredible feeling."

"it was an amazin feeling."

And amid all of today's uncertainty, these glimpses of opportunity and acceptance are also creating hope.

"in some ways, you 4 year old son could not be coming into the world as an autistic person at any better time in history.

Do you agree with that?"

"one hundre percent.

My husband and i talk about it all the time // which brings us comfort."

We're talking with a starkville native who describes her journey that's me morning everyone on the staff.

The natal ashley brown is joining the army in morning you so much for me ... we have you here this morning to share your story to work with the coronavirus it was that we would have this you not not in ... a came when i travel that your ... a came after screening at the series the scan in chicago ... four days after i developed some as time went on they got worse ... my chessmen very tight i started getting dizzy ... i lost my sense of the case at this time in case this mail right when i lost it they came out to see that you have the coronavirus i never actually had a fever with in the three weeks that i developed symptoms to have 100.5 for before you get testy at that time part of the problem was that we did, how the economy is the meaning i feel i'm alone for compromise i did not want to develop i just tried to working through measure had about his trip to wendy to the start to feel a little better it was probably three that third week i felt like i was never going to get back i told my husband i don't feel that however feel better this starting march 15 report this when i started to get out of bed more and he kind of just when the weight after that at that point they did not have a test that you didn't know that it was a little bit i was actually just able to do it last sunday i have been trying to get an antibody test or you but i just can't have a company called me in on sunday to take an antibody test they just prick your finger and it's a pretty easy task to take and pretty much works like a pregnancy test after that or they see or are you afraid that there is that there is an issue we we thought that all of us had it my daughters and everyone else we have been testing my keys because they show no symptoms and they were negative and is very surprising because they were pretty close proximity to me a lot of people held questions about what does this feel like i don't want you to just show up they want to keep distraught with the symptoms or light so i think is very important and what is minus when they go to get tested and i think your testimony very because it gives insight is so severe that basically the issue wow what you like a picture of health today look very well