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Changing Things for a While to Slow Down Coronavirus and Maybe Keep our Health System Afloat: Post 4

3/18/2020

St. Patrick's Day has come and gone, and more Americans are taking seriously the need for social distance, especially those in leadership. More jurisdictions have closed bars, restaurants, and schools, but many still distrust the idea of a pandemic and the guidance from scientists and are crowding onto beaches, in malls and other shopping venues, and in amusement parks and other gathering spaces.


The CDC is keeping up with data such as reported cases better, but there is still a remarkable shortage of test kits, so there could be many more (or not many more) cases and carriers out there. The private sector is trying to fill the gap left by trump's refusal to allow World Health Organization kits into the country, and to speed up test development CDC has moved responsibility from Atlanta to the states to certify private test developers, but we are facing a race with the virus and with people refusing to distance from others or change their daily practices. 

There is still not a test for who has been infected, nor a way to test for whether people who have recovered are immune. We don't know yet if immunity is conferred by recovering from the infection. Vaccine trials have begun, but it will be months before vaccines are available. Some tests have begun for anti-viral medications including interferon, favipiravir, remdesivir, and others, but none have shown that we can treat these infections once they start.

Without a vaccine or an effective treatment, there is still only one way to "flatten the curve" - social distancing. This Washington Post article is a must-read. We need to have at least three quarters of Americans practicing social distancing if we want to slow the spread enough that our health system can function. Without it, we do not have enough health care resources and our system will fail over the weeks ahead.

I call for all businesses, schools, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and social organizations to stop requiring people to leave their homes and come to another space. The travel from home to a work or social space and the time spent there cannot consistently maintain the 6-10 feet distance we need to keep from each other. The only people moving about in the community should be health care workers, pharmacy staff, and manufacturers of medical supplies and equipment, law enforcement and public safety workers, those who maintain electricity, gas, water, sewers, and other infrastructure, and those who grow, harvest, transport, prepare, and sell food. The rest of us should work from home, going outdoors just around our homes for exercise and sunshine when we can stay far enough away from others. We should work with local government and non-profits to locate and open housing for those who are currently homeless, and we should release prisoners and those held by ICE/CBP (Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol) so that they are not held in large congregate facilities in which the virus would spread like wildfire. And of course, we should all keep doing thorough hand-washing. 

Businesses need to understand that everything is different, and should work on scenario planning, succession planning, and business continuity planning. We should recognize that many businesses will fail, and plan for how their workers will pay for food and housing.

At home, we need to clean surfaces that may have come into contact with an outside person or item, including outdoor door handles, gates, car door handles, and mailboxes. We should only handle mail that is necessary, and should dispose of (hopefully recycle) junk mail with minimal touch. Cash money can also harbor this coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, and so after handling money, thorough hand washing is needed. (EPA publishes a list of cleaners that will kill this coronavirus.)

We will need to get creative about how to work, to pay workers and get paid, to teach our children, and to obtain food, while managing our fears and anxieties about what's happening now and what could happen in the future. And we need to be kind to each other. We're in this together - from a distance.


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