Distancing .. Physical, not Social (please)

We’ve all heard the term ‘Social Distancing‘ (link to the CDC). An excerpt:

While it may be disappointing to hear that so many sports events, cruises, festivals and other gatherings are being cancelled, there is a public health reason for these measures.

These cancellations help stop or slow down the spread of disease allowing the health care system to more readily care for patients over time.

They do. Think of crowded bars, cozy restaurants, queues at checkout lines .. if space is not managed properly we will continue to spread this damn thing at a terrifying pace. Right now, management falls to us, as individuals and families, and we must rise to this occasion.

Happily, today’s hyper-connected world enables to distance ourselves physically .. but not socially. Twitter, Facebook, NextDoor, WhatsApp, Skype, Tumblr, Instagram and others ensure we can stay connected. We must make use of these tools to interact: working, catching up, checking on loved ones.

As time goes by, we will find ourselves looking for those tasty dish snaps as we get more creative when cooking at home.

Even the phone plays a big part .. call someone.

In many ways, and with lots of evidence of  Singing in Italy, Cook-a-Longs in Spain and evolving stories in The States: the mandated distance will bring us closer together .. online and from afar.

Let’s make that happen.

I’m not a Doctor ..

.. I don’t even play one on TV.

I am a newsie though .. I have been paying a great deal of attention to stories about the ‘new normal’ with COVID-19.

We all know:

• It is a highly-contagious virus.
• Older adults are more at risk. I’ve heard over 50 and over 60 (I’m both), but I think the data is still pretty sparse.
• Adults (young and old) are more at risk if they have secondary conditions like heart disease, diabetes and lung disease.
• You can catch it and not know for days.
• It can be contagious when asymptomatic .. that is, you can ‘shed’ virus even if you don’t have symptoms.

We’ve mostly taken some or all of these steps:

• Washing our hands (it turns out Coronavirus just hates plain old soap .. nothing fancy).
• Work from home (for those who can telework).
• Schools are closed.
• Necessary trips only (supermarket, doctor, etc.)
• Reduced the number of gatherings (clubs and church).
• Flown less.
• Fewer events (note that many sports are canceled and movie theatres just closed today).
• ‘Social Distancing’ .. enforcing a six-foot distance between people.

Even with this, some are estimating, that without enforced ‘social distancing’, we are a week behind where Italy is (as of today Italy has 2,503 against 31,506 .. that’s a horrifying 7.9%!) .. we’re not even close, but must take the proper steps. We must ‘flatten the curve‘ through safe tactics so 1) fewer of us will get ill, and 2) it will spread out (in time) the folks who get ill so we don’t overwhelm the healthcare system.

Steps The States have taken:

• Closing restaurants and bars, save for take-out / delivery (even with wine / beer) .. NYC was the first, Washington State right behind them.
• ‘Shelter in Place‘ (an emergency tactic to find a safe place indoors) just took place in San Francisco and may take place in NYC.
• Canceling political rallies, and even elections (Ohio and Georgia have both postponed their primaries).
• Ramping state-based facilities to process the tests.

I feel like as of today (March 17), the US Federal Government has seriously gotten into the game, after weeks of, well, not to a greater degree. This is encouraging, especially as they’re taking into consideration cash flow for hourly workers and small businesses (rather than a foolish and useless payroll tax cut). The airline and hospitality bail-out will be expensive to be sure .. may need to raise taxes.

Happy about the Federal engagement .. although it needed to be early enough (it’s a bit late), quickly enough (ramping effective programs rapidly) and completely enough (addressing enough of the citizenry and business). I am hopeful.

Tests? We need those too, and the means to get them back in short order (see The States, above .. Bravo!).

Okay .. I’m caught up. Please stay tuned.