Lockdown and its close-knit family of dry laws, masking, self-isolation, curfew and quarantine have had extended shelf life here in pandemic Colombia. Throw in some country-specific phenomena such as repeated street demonstrations, roadblocks, food distribution standstills, general unrest and widespread vandalism, and you begin to get a glimmer of present-day life in this Latin American country, just about 1,725 miles south of Miami.

As things in the United States begin to show serious signs of returning to some semblance of normal, life in many other places in the world shows a contrast as stark as day and night.

In Colombia, the common expression such is life has taken on a whole new meaning.

Some days, evenings or nights, here in front of my building in Bogotá, the sound of a saxophone makes itself known. In the years before the pandemic, this was an unknown amplification. Yet now suddenly, a lonely saxophone can throw us back haphazardly and without notice to the origins of jazz, to poverty and pain. The saxophonist sets up shop in front of building after building and plays his set repeatedly throughout the evening. The lonely sax player is doing his best to make ends meet during a pandemic that seems to have no end.

I have left my building in Bogotá precisely three times in the last nine months; once in April to get my first AstraZeneca jab. Last month, I needed cash to pay a  plumber for an apartment emergency, so I went to an ATM. And three weeks ago, after a seeming never-ending 12-week wait, I went to the San Ignacio Hospital at the Javeriana University to get my second AstraZeneca shot. I finished my 21-day waiting period for maximum immunity to click in just a few days ago. Will my behavior and routine change much? I don’t think so.

Here at the end of June 2021, infection numbers and deaths were breaking records daily. Although we now appear to have passed the peak of our third wave, the mayor of Bogotá is warning that we will most likely have a fourth. As of this writing, the country has had more than 4.6 million Covid cases and there have been 117,000 Covid-related deaths. The daily death rate is still hovering, down somewhat from the third peak, at around 500, and Semana is reporting that one in three Colombians has now had Covid.

Yet, even now, in the midst of so much continuing and brutal uncertainly and after a year and edging toward a year and a half of pandemic living, I have been able to isolate some simple life lessons from my time in isolation (pardon the pun.)

#1 Creating order has opioid-like calming benefits

I don’t have a housekeeper. Making my bed in the morning has always been my responsibility. And I’ve always done it (well, almost always), sometimes later in the day, sometimes earlier. Covid has taught me that earlier in the day is better. The well-being effect clicks in sooner. That I have made my bed every day since the beginning of the pandemic now registers as not only not a bad achievement at all, but as a constant top-up of good energy for the day ahead

#2 Hot water must go down as one of the most brilliant inventions in history

I am more than proud that I have taken a shower every day during this year and almost a half of Zooming. The camera may not lie, but Zoom surely can. I could have gotten away with a day without a shower. Nobody would have been the wiser. But even if my shower happened in the late afternoon, it was still a shower. I have done something like 500 showers since March of last year. I may no longer be definably sane, but I am, and have been, clean. And the rush of hot water revitalizing my body must go down as one of the greatest inventions of all time, way ahead of the Model T, and perhaps just edging out the magic of Photoshop.

#3 Physical books rule

The pandemic has secured streaming as most likely the way we are going to watch movies from here on in. Cinema as we used to know it, going to a public movie palace to view the latest Hollywood offerings along with hundreds of other non-vetted fellow earthlings is over. Ah, but books! Books are forever. Books are physical, to be enjoyed alone in the privacy of home. Throw in the fact that Amazon is now offering free delivery on books to Colombia, and I’m in 7^th pandemic heaven. (Everything is relative.) Books lead us inward to discover nuances of meaning and feeling that movies can only envy. I just finished reading Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Dream of the Celt, and I am humbled. Vargas Llosa’s study and investigation of the life of the Irish patriot Roger Casement leaves me in awe. If any book can change perceptions of history, Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Dream of the Celt can. The book is a spectacular achievement.

#4 I am not Anthony Bourdain

I am not a food adventurer. I do like to eat out, and was amused to read mid-pandemic that what people missed most about going out to eat was not the food but seeing other people. Restaurants, it seems, are our showcases for seeing and for being seen. Restaurants are fashion hotspots, of all things. Lockdown, of course, changed all of that. Stuck at home, I learned that I can cook the same dish twice a week, without shame. I now know that I can get by on maybe 20 to 40 basic recipes for life. I’m good with my food. Oh and during this pandemic time of self-distancing, I have finally figured out how to scramble an egg. A pinch of corn flour does the trick. That and a splash of cream. Add chopped tomato and onion, and there you go, perfect Colombian huevos pericos.

#5 Cat litter is the equivalent of modern-day gold

Having lived with cats all my life, I understand that said cats depend on me for pretty much everything, Covid or no Covid. At the beginning of hard lockdown, when store shelves were being emptied of everything, I panicked. What the hell, is there going to be food available for my cats? I wondered. Luckily, there was. But more importantly I immediately conjectured, Is there going to be cat litter? I still remember the moment I called my local cat store, wondering what kind of future we all were going to have without said cat litter. I nervously asked, Do you have Fresh and Clean? Yes, they did. Big sigh of relief! Of course, that didn’t stop me early in the pandemic from hoarding bags of cat litter the way others were stockpiling other modern-day gold products like toilet paper, medical masks and Lysol Swipes. A slight confession, I am still somewhat of a cat litter hoarder. I still need to have at least two weeks of cat litter on hand to sleep easy.

#6 Pacing is a flawed mechanism for dealing with stress

As many, I thought I needed to exercise at home. I watched and emulated

the New York Times 7-minute workout exercise. I quickly discovered that my knees were not what they used to be, no matter how lite I tried to do the exercises. Locked-in at home, I thought I would just walk, pacing back and forth in my restricted apartment. I counted every footstep as I went room to room sometimes in clockwise direction, sometimes anticlockwise, sometimes totally haphazard. I noted all my pacing numbers in a daily diary. I was certifiably insane, until I realized that I was counting even in my sleep. I had gone overboard. I was counting everything, words on my computer screen, dishes I was washing, the number of food deliveries I was having. I’m happy to relate that the pacing and its annotation have long gone out the window.

#7 Crazy has left the building (or everything has its moment)

A decent night’s sleep depends on so many factors, some in our control, others not. Not only has counting my pacing numbers left my mindset, but so too has counting the days until the end of the term of the ludicrous and cartoon persona that was so much in our face over the last four, now distancing, years. This nightmare has, at least for the moment, left the arena. Everything has its moment, and just so everything has its end. The pain, and daily anxiety of dealing with this shadowy figure, who somehow got to be president and install himself as a curse for many not just in the US but around the world, is done. We can only hope. It doesn’t matter that he refuses to let go. Fold this figure into the shadows of history. Now, there is one less anxiety factor getting in the way of sleep.

#8 Mortality is a real thing

I have limited time here on earth. It’s a thought that has occurred to most of us during this pandemic. We are not in control of our destiny. Before this massive interruption to everyday life, maybe some of us thought we were good going forward. Others of us knew we were not in control long ago. A friend said to me early on in this pestilence, “We are back in the Middle Ages.” Not exactly. We have quickly garnered weapons to combat our plague. I am not religious and I hate to posturize, but I think that perhaps our most rewarding lesson from this intrusion of nature might be to think about how much good we can do in our time here on earth. ”How can we best contribute to the lives of others?” It’s a question well worth considering, it seems to me now.

#9 Tillie Olsen knew it all along

The repeated arm movement of pressing heat over dampened clothes to establish order when ironing is soothing and contributive to contemplation. Ironing’s sisters, folding, airing and placing on shelves or in drawers are equally good companions for reflection and for fortifying our inner selves. When we have something so rich in our lives, what do we do? Replace it, of course. We modernize. How about we invent something called a dryer? Throw soothing and contemplative out the window. True, a drying machine gets clothes dried fast, as often as not eliminating the need to iron. Here in Bogotá, I don’t have a dryer. I hang my clothes up to dry, as do most Colombians. When the clothes are ready, I iron, just as people have done for a long while before me.

#10 Breathe in breathe out/ Life goes on

We may like it or we may not, but in one form or another, life goes on. The Spanish Flu pandemic killed from 20 to 50 million people, and possibly many more. It infected some 500 million. Then came the Roaring 20’s, the Great Depression, the Second World War, the Swinging 60’s, the Vietnam War, Hippies and Yuppies, the Internet and a new millennium. We were home free. Or so we thought. Only not. We were somehow hard-wired to repeat a pandemic lost in history to most. As of now, our Covid pandemic has taken more than 4 million lives worldwide. Our infections are at close to 200 million. And we are not out of the woods yet. Sometimes, I lie on my bed, and I start a breathing exercise learned in therapy in New York many years ago. I teach my body to relax. I start with my small right toe. I am calm, peaceful, relaxed, I tell my small right toe. I breathe in, I breathe out. I continue toe by toe, limb by limb, body part by body part. I end with my brain. And then, I start again. I am calm, peaceful, relaxed. And then for a while, I am at peace. And if successful, I may even find myself asleep.

The post Bogota breakdown: 10 lessons from an endless COVID lockdown appeared first on Occasional Planet.

At 2:30 pm, on Friday, January 29, 2021, I became a COVD-19 statistic.

That day, my name was entered into two databases: New York State’s and the CDC’s national registry. The CDC tracks  individuals who have received one of the 29 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered across the U.S. since December 14, 2020. I count myself unbelievably lucky and grateful.

First of all, let me be frank. I’m acutely aware that I’m lucky on a host of fronts. First, I live in New York State – a state that’s been at the forefront of the urgent effort to coherently respond to the chaos of the Trump administration’s botched response to this once-in-a-lifetime national emergency. True to form, on January 12, 2021, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, responding almost immediately to updated directives for vaccination eligibility prescribed by President Biden’s newly organized CDC, opened up the state’s vaccination distribution to New Yorkers aged 65 and over.

Being a New Yorker is just the beginning of my luck. I also count myself lucky because, unlike the majority of Americans in my demographic group of 65 and over, I was contacted by a tech-savvy friend who offered to help my spouse and myself lock in appointments on New York State’s COVID-19 online vaccination sign-up site. That friend, motivated by a well-founded sense of urgency and a desire to help not only my spouse and myself but also our community at large, was invaluable in our securing appointments. After some false starts, when tips about potential vaccination availability at two independent pharmacies didn’t pan out, our friend’s determination and around-the-clock monitoring of the state’s website enabled us to capture two of the 250,000 doses per week that New York State currently receives as its allotment from the federal government.

Forgive me if I repeat the word lucky yet again. But there’s no other way to describe the experience of moving swiftly from non-vaccinated to vaccinated status. I was lucky, too, to be vaccinated at one of the thirteen official New York State-operated vaccination sites. The site I visited is located at SUNY Albany, just a thirty-minute drive from my home. Contrary to the myth of government ineptitude versus private-sector competence, the state-run facility was extremely well organized, efficient, and surprisingly pleasant. But beyond the obvious organizational wizardry at the site, what I found most impressive were the staff – many of whom were state employees or private citizens who had generously volunteered their time and skills to help accomplish the complex and necessary task of vaccinating as many New Yorkers as possible. They, along with the medical personnel, exuded a palpable sense of common purpose and a quiet awareness of their participation in an historic moment.

A Quick and Efficient Process

Located in the university’s parking lot, the site looked less like an emergency-response facility and more like a touring tent show for Cirque du Soleil. Unlike in other states, there were no  lines snaking around the parking lot. Upon entering the first tent, future vaccinees were greeted by uniformed members of New York’s National Guard whose job was to confirm our appointments. Our temperatures were then monitored, after which we were ushered into the first of several interconnected, heated tents. A greeter directed each of us to the first of the four stations we would be required to visit.

At the first station, we were given a medical-history questionnaire. Yet another greeter’s job was to offer assistance answering questions and walk us over to a table where we filled out the three-page document. Upon completing the document, we were accompanied to the second station where a staff member asked each of us to confirm that we had not been exposed to anyone diagnosed with Covid-19 nor had we traveled outside of New York State. Finally, we were asked to sanitize our hands before being shown into the tent where we would receive our vaccinations.

The third station was located in the vaccination tent, which contained a multitude of cubicles curtained off for privacy. Inside sat three individuals: two whose job was to review the paperwork and solicit confirmation that the information visible on a computer screen was accurate. The third staff member was a friendly, chatty nurse who was there to administer the vaccine. A second supervising nurse was on call to confirm that vaccination was appropriate in circumstances where there might be any pre-existing medical conditions. Within five minutes, my Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was quickly and painlessly administered, and a follow-up appointment twenty-one days later for the second vaccine confirmed.

Before leaving the cubicle, each vaccinee was given a time slip that indicated when they might leave the facility following a thirty-minute observation period. The fourth and final station was the observation area where not more than thirty, socially distanced individuals, including myself, sat, while waiting out our time. A nurse walked back and forth down the aisles, smiling and asking each of us how we were feeling. From start to finish, the process took just forty-five minutes.

Two Days Later

As I write this, it’s two days since I received my COVID vaccination. Once again, I have to acknowledge that I’ve been extremely lucky. Unlike some individuals, I have experienced no adverse reactions beyond a tolerable soreness on my upper arm at the point of vaccination,  which, as of now, has completely subsided.

The post My COVID-19 Vaccination: How it worked in New York State appeared first on Occasional Planet.

January 20^th is just nine days from the writing of this post. That day and the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris cannot come soon enough. A Democratically controlled Senate cannot come soon enough.

For now, however, take a deep breath. Try to stay calm and hope that the days between now and the inauguration won’t spew forth anything more shocking than what we’ve already experienced in the past four years. The list of shocks and insults to the American soul is long and shameful: The daily onslaught of self-serving lies that has cost America its reputation and Americans their lives and livelihoods. The lawlessness. The denials, institutional chaos, and irresponsibility in the face of a deadly pandemic. And, of course, the violent, tragically predictable result of the accumulation of all of those lies and deceptions on the never-to-be-forgotten storming on January 6 of the Capitol Building and the devastating loss of life on that day.

But the day before inauguration day, a less publicized, but equally important event, will take place. The January 19^th event is intended to begin a process to right the wrongs of the Trump administration’s depraved abdication of its solemn duty to recognize and remember those Americans who died of COVID-19 on their watch and to acknowledge the grief of their loved ones.

On January 19^th, at 5:30pm (ET), the Presidential Inaugural Committee will host a memorial for the 373,000 Americans who have lost their lives in the pandemic. In recognition of the need not just for a national memorial but also for individuals, families, and neighbors to remember together the lives lost closer to home in their own communities, the Inaugural Committee is inviting cities and towns and neighborhoods across the country to light up buildings and ring bells in “a moment of unity and remembrance.”

Here is how Presidential Inaugural Committee Communications Director Pili Tobar describes the event: “. . . in the midst of a pandemic – when so many Americans are grieving the loss of family, friends, and neighbors – it is important that we honor those who have died, reflect on what has been one of the more challenging periods in the nation’s history, and renew our commitment to coming together to end the pandemic and rebuild our nation.”

Presidential Inaugural Committee Announces Memorial and Nationwide Tribute to Remember and Honor the Lives Lost to COVID-19

01/05/2021

Today, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced that it will host a memorial to remember and honor the lives lost to COVID-19 in cities and towns across the country on January 19, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. ET. A Washington, D.C. ceremony will feature a lighting around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. It will be the first-ever lighting around the Reflecting Pool to memorialize American lives lost.

PIC is inviting cities and towns around the country to join Washington, D.C. in illuminating buildings and ringing church bells at 5:30 p.m. ET in a national moment of unity and remembrance.

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I’m a glutton for punishment. From time to time, I dip into Donald Trump’s @realDonaldTrump Twitter feed just to see what kind of insanity is on the menu. Recently, it seems like every time I did, there was a rash of rage about the election he lost and how unfair the world is to him.

How bad was Trump’s obsession with his election loss? Mother Jones just published a revealing tally of all his tweets since election day and the numbers are mind-boggling. Not including re-tweets, from November 3 to December 16, Trump posted 506 original tweets about his lost election. There are probably about half that many more re-tweet postings. In a recent sampling, about half of Trump’s election-related postings were flagged by Twitter as being factually disputed. A glance at the chart below paints the picture.

Contrast those 500 plus election fraud tweets to the mere 13 he has posted about the virus that has cost more than 300,000 American lives. No tweets were posted about the COVID-19 death toll.  There were only 32 tweets about the vaccine that we so desperately need.

I guess the man has his priorities, but they’re likely different than yours or mine.

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That we live in an unequal world is nothing new. Now, though, that reality may have unpredictable consequences for all of us. We are living through a pandemic and desperately waiting for vaccines to help us put an end to this endurance marathon we find ourselves running.

As the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine becomes the first to be approved in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Bahrain, anxiety is spreading in other parts of the world. The world’s capacity for vaccine production is limited, and the buying power of low and middle-income countries cannot match that of wealthier nations. Even though a rallying cry during the pandemic has been that No one is safe until everyone is safe, people in less well-off countries may have to wait until the middle of the decade to be vaccinated. In that scenario, the threat of Covid might not wane for several years despite the approval of vaccines.

As Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, reminds us:

Only once COVID-19 vaccines are available to priority populations in all countries           around the world will we bring the pandemic under control.

Amnesty International reports that Rich countries have bought up enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly 3 times over. Deutsche Welle (DW,) Germany’s international broadcaster, points out that the claim is somewhat misleading:

The claim assumes that all vaccines will pass clinical trials and be approved. Although more affluent countries have signed agreements with leading vaccination companies, the global scramble to secure doses occurred well before their safety and efficacy were established. While doses have been reserved, this does not necessarily mean that all companies will produce an effective vaccine that is then approved. In short, doses have been reserved for vaccines that are still being tested.

Status of leading vaccine candidates

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, which is much desired as it is given in a one-shot dose, is, as of yet, unapproved anywhere. But the U.S. has pre-ordered 200 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Canada has a bid in for 38 million doses, and the U. K. has ordered 30 million doses.

And the US has preordered 100 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine, Canada 56 million doses and the UK 50 million. The Moderna vaccine has the advantage of being 94 percent effective and can be distributed more easily than the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, as it remains stable at minus 20 Celsius for up to six months. The vaccine maintains potency in a standard refrigerator for up to a month. And yet, no Latin American country has preordered the Moderna vaccine, even though Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Mexico are among the countries most impacted by Covid. Why not? The simple answer is cost. The Moderna vaccine is the most expensive in the marketplace and out of the reach of many.

The European Union had ordered 300 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, as of Nov. 11. Japan wants 120 million doses, and the U.S. has bought 100 million doses. AstraZeneca/Oxford offered to deliver their vaccine at a no-profit price, which offered hope to developing countries, but their vaccine has run into problems. Released Phase 3 data confused more than assured many, and their trials are being repeated. Countries that had preordered only the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine were left scrambling.

Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine

The Russian Sputnik V is a possibility. Sputnik V, also known as the Gamaleya vaccine, has been given short shrift in higher-income countries. Even though Russia has done pioneering work on vaccines in the past, when Russia fast-forwarded approval of its Sputnik V vaccine before Phase 3 trials were complete, many raised an eyebrow. Even so, early data on the Sputnik V vaccine suggest that it is 92% effective according to the BBC. Russia began offering broad Sputnik V immunizations to its citizens this past week. There were few takers. Distrust of the government is so widespread that 59 percent of Russians say they have no intention of getting a shot, the New York Times reports. Yet, this disparaged vaccine might just be the salvation of millions. Right now, we just don’t know. Just in case, Brazil has ordered 50 million doses, Mexico 32 million, Argentina 25 million and Venezuela 10 million.

Chinese Vaccines

A number of Chinese vaccines are also candidates. The efficacy of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine will not be known until January. Nevertheless, the Sinovac vaccine and Sinopharm, another Chinese vaccine, have been administered under emergency-use orders in China since as early as last July. More than 1 million Chinese have been vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine. On December 9, the Sinopharm vaccine was registered in the United Arab Emirates after it was found to be 86% effective in Phase 3 trials there. Bahrain approved the use of the Sinopharm vaccine on Dec 10. Morocco has said that it will initially rely on the Sinopharm vaccine for its plan to vaccinate 80% of its adult population. The Philippines plans to vaccinate 9 million people with the Sinovac vaccine. Chile has ordered 60 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, and Brazil another 46 million. Mexico has just signed an agreement to buy 35 million doses of another unapproved Chinese product, CanSino Biologics’ COVID-19 vaccine.

It is worth noting that, as of mid-November 2020, no country in sub-Saharan Africa had made any prepurchase agreements for any COVID-19 vaccines in development.

Leveling the Playing Field

COVAX AMC (Advance Market Commitment) is a vaccine purchasing fund led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the WHO. COVAX was established to support vaccine development and to try to level the playing field of vaccine accessibility worldwide. So far, COVAX has secured 700 million doses of vaccine to distribute among its 92 low-income country members. The EU, the UK and Canada have been key financial contributors to COVAX, as has the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The United States had not participated.

The inequality inherent in the rich country poor country vaccine availability divide has pushed India and South Africa to petition the World Trade Organization to temporarily suspend certain intellectual property rights and medical patents in order to speed up COVID-19 vaccine production in less wealthy areas of the world, at least until herd immunity is achieved. And a group called the People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of organizations including Free the Vaccine, the Yunus Centre, Frontline AIDS, Oxfam, SumOfUs and UNAIDS, is spearheading the call for COVID-19 vaccines free from patents. This group is asking for the fair allocation of vaccines, the prevention of vaccine monopolies, and vaccines available to all, everywhere, free of charge.

The immunity question

In the meantime, in their paper published in the medical journal The Lancet (Nov. 2020), Roy M Anderson, Carolin Vegvari, James Truscott and Benjamin S Collyer remind us of the unwelcome reality of the conundrum we find ourselves in:

Data on immunity to other coronaviruses suggest that immunity to SARS-CoV-2 might be short lived, perhaps 12–18 months in duration. Whether past infection will prevent severe COVID-19 on re-exposure to SARS-CoV-2 is not known at present.

In other words, even after herd immunity is achieved, vaccination against COVID-19 might need to become an annual jab.

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I am not perfect, and I’ve never been particularly great at taking direction. As a child I always received low grades in art, of all subjects, because I couldn’t focus long enough to master technique, the way to hold a brush or how to appropriately mold, etc. During my first attempt at a driver’s license I failed because I argued with the instructor about proper reversing technique (he was right, mirrors aren’t enough you–have to look behind you). However, I’ve consistently always tried my best with the understanding that I wouldn’t always get it right, and that’s okay because almost nothing is a matter of life and death. Almost nothing.

I’ve taken the Coronavirus pandemic very seriously. Back in February, I bought dry goods and non-perishables in the event my roommates and I needed to quarantine. I stopped traveling home to St. Louis, instead spending my time in sparsely populated Northeast Missouri. I wore my mask everywhere and I maintained social distance. I even avoided gas pumps and doorknobs if there were no gloves nearby. I was meticulous, but I was not perfect.

My neighbors and I would spend time together, a beer shared here or frisbee tossed across the yard. I’d see my girlfriend, not nearly enough for either of our liking, but with some regularity, even though she is an essential worker at a local grocery chain. That saying, “Old habits die hard” rang especially true for me, as I never got the hang of the elbow bump and never stopped shaking hands. This isn’t to say I’m a Covid-19 truther; I should say I feel very far from it, but rather I happen to be an imperfect person struggling to balance my need for human connection and a real desire not to get sick.

When I was eventually exposed however, it wasn’t because of any of my previous shortcomings. A friend of a friend of my girlfriend got sick. She had been traveling to Texas and around town to bars and was seemingly unconcerned about the virus until it arrived at her doorstep. For days she didn’t know if she was sick, maybe a cold, or allergies, or hangover, or something else. However, instead of taking precautions as a preventative measure, just in case, she lived undisturbed. She went out, she invited people over. One of those people she invited over was a friend of my girlfriend, who happened to also be her roommate. The week after this contact, my girlfriend’s friend asked to share electronic cigarettes and drinks, and made home visits, and went out to bars.

She visited me about five days after her Covid-19 exposure to apologize for a rude comment that left her uninvited to my intimate birthday dinner. It was awkward, I didn’t look at her much, because I don’t like her much, I kept my distance but we shared a room, shared air, and yes shared a hug at the conclusion of her apology. She isn’t a malicious person, just raised in a part of St. Louis that never required her to face diversity or truly be accountable for her actions. She was oblivious, annoying, and prejudiced but not mean. As I walked her out of the door, I felt relieved, I’d finally gotten her to stop pestering me and I could reliably say that I wouldn’t have to think about her all summer. I was wrong.

Later that afternoon the friend of a friend revealed on snapchat “I’m COVID positive! lol get tested!” I’d later learn that the friend of a friend was very sick, pneumonia sick and not necessarily improving. My roommates and I were unconcerned because we hadn’t seen her, but then another snapchat appeared from my girlfriend’s friend/roommate with a more somber tone. “I’ve recently learned I’ve been exposed to Covid-19, if you’ve had close contact with me then you should get tested.” Neither sent this message to the individuals they had contact with, it was left public on a platform where content disappears in 24 hours. I’m still struck by how irresponsible this mode of communication was. Suppose I hadn’t been on my phone. Or suppose I had chosen not to consume the content of people I don’t really care for. I might not have ever known that I’d been exposed. It was the kind of anti-confrontational thing that generation Z is known for.

My roommates and my neighbors and my girlfriend (who usually lives at home, but visited Kirksville during her friend’s exposure) decided that the best course of action was to wait to see if my girlfriend’s friend tested positive, because if she did, then we were truly exposed; however, if she did not we were not. There is something about the anticipation of either way, whether it is good news or bad news that always has unsettled me. I acknowledge one of my faults as a human being is my need to be in control, and a deep discomfort with uncertainty. This was like something out of a nightmare, the waiting and pacing and the virtual radio silence from my girlfriend’s friend during the process. However, the results eventually came, positive. We all needed to be tested because we’d all been exposed.

One of my roommates had already been living on unemployment. Her job had refused to schedule her since March, and things were hard before the Covid-19 relief stimulus was passed (and have been hard since because it has lapsed). My other roommate has been a delivery driver for a pizza chain, but he was forcibly unemployed because of our mandated quarantine, leaving me as the primary breadwinner in the house. We felt a lot of emotions the first day, how would we afford to live and how long would we need to be inside were the first things that came to mind. What came next was panic. One of my roommates had their grandmother visit the day after our exposure, her asthmatic grandmother. Then what came was a deep awareness of our own mortality which I suppose we had not considered. The fatalities for people in our age range is not especially high, but it rises for people with pre-existing health problems and myself and another roommate lack health insurance and haven’t been to the doctor in years, so we simply didn’t know if those problems exist within us. We talked about life and death and what comes after, what happens during and what would happen if worse came to worse. We had a very frank discussion about property and next of kin and so on. Then came a realization that we had to be tested, we didn’t know for sure and so we needed to know. Here’s what that process was like.

First, I called our local urgent care. We decided, to save money, that only one of us should get tested because if one of us was positive then surely the rest of us were. I figured I could volunteer. The urgent care worker informed me that I needed a virtual consultation before I could be tested, which entailed a doctor calling me on the phone and asking me the same questions the urgent care worker asked, but the difference was I had to wait several hours for that next conversation.

Next, I called our local health department to inform them of the places that I had been, but more importantly the places that my Covid-19 positive associate had been. That conversation did not inspire confidence, as the health department told me that the businesses that had been frequented were under no obligation to inform workers nor patrons that a Covid-19 positive person was a frequent guest. This obviously begs the question: how many businesses know that they could be spreading Covid-19 but simply refuse to shut down or even inform employees to get tested? The health department also let me know I’d have to take part in a contact tracing effort should my results come back positive, which I was somewhat familiar with as I was helping my girlfriend’s Covid-19 positive friend contact trace.

The day following my virtual appointment, early in the morning I drove with my neighbors (who needed to be tested in order to return to work) to the Covid-19 testing site. We took our place in a long line of vehicles and watched as women in painter suits, with face shields, and latex gloves that extended off the elbow approached vehicles, swabbed and then returned to the building. Finally, it was our turn, and we were given paperwork informing us what to do no matter our results, and the test was administered. I wish I could say it didn’t hurt. I wish I could say it was no big deal and everyone should try it. That wasn’t true though, it hurt like hell; it burned when they twisted the apparatus and my nostril felt hollow and violated the entire day after. However once it was done it was done and we were told to expect results in no less than three days, a marvel when you think about the extended time frames for others (a friend in Indiana waited 11 days. He tested negative).

My girlfriend also had to test, and she tried to keep a happy face providing me with self-selected positive information that unfairly skewed the severity of our situation because she too has an issue with control. She lost some of her optimism during her test. She went to be tested in Palmyra near her home, and the doctor took her temperature. It was over 101°F. She called me immediately after and we figured we knew. A fever is never a good sign, and she’d been congested. If her results came back positive, then mine surely were and so were my neighbors and roommates. So, I did what anyone would do, I called my mother and then I called my boss. Both offered their own sage advice to take every day as it comes and express their distraught at my situation, but it was somewhat cold comfort.

I’ve had my experience with panic attacks, they were not just rare but exceedingly rare. Perhaps I’d only had two in my entire life up until that point. In the two days waiting for my test results, I expect that I had if not one every hour, then one every other hour. I could not eat. I became malnourished and lethargic. I could not sleep. I lay awake in bed staring into the darkness thinking of the unknown, wondering if this ache or that pain was attributable to stress or to disease. I could not focus, because every moment, however fleeting, my mind was able to escape from the constant terror that was lurking, I would suddenly race back to it and be drenched in sweat. This was no way to live, and in the unlikely event that I died, I did not want to die without dignity. So, we resolved ourselves to drink, and keep drinking because eventually we find ourselves drinking in celebration or in despair, but in the meantime we can drink for relief, so we did.

We painted, we drank, we cooked, we drank, we watched classic film, we drank, we worked together for my internship, and in the interim we drank. The drinking was an escape but not really, I still thought about the same thing. What would happen to my mother if I wasn’t there to take care of her in her old age? Will I be able to go to school if I’m Covid-19 positive, and if not, where does that leave me? Am I ever going to leave this house again? It was easily one of the most trying times of my life.

After two days of exposure, my girlfriend received her test results back. Negative, the fever was unrelated, and she would be fine. Her exposure was further removed than mine, but I was relieved to know that at least she was okay. I learned that our local testing center doesn’t give results until the end of the day, so we waited in anticipation. Most times silently sitting, staring at the floor more at a blank screen, numbed by this awful experience. We truly didn’t know what to expect, and so all we could do was wait.

Around 5:30 that evening my phone rang, it was the testing center. They asked my name, they asked for my birthday, and they told me that my results were ready. The caller paused for what seemed like an eternity, the words taking their time to leave her mouth. Until finally, “Mr. Ellis, negative.” Those words echoed in my head and I was overwhelmed with emotion, I began to cry (well more like weep) and I hung up the phone. Then the next calls for my neighbors, also negative. We had flown so close to the sun yet remained unburnt, this was cause for celebration.

We took to the highway with our windows down blasting from speakers Frank Sinatra’s “I’m gonna live until I die” and laughing for the first time in days. We drank, again, but this time it was champagne to celebrate life. Things were good, if only for a moment. My girlfriend can still not return to her home in Kirksville as of the publishing of this piece because her roommates are still Covid-19 positive. My roommates are still unemployed, bills are still due, and we still struggle to make ends meet, more so now that it’s time to buy textbooks. 150,000 people in this country, some of them people I have loved but all of them beloved to someone have still perished from this disease. Local communities are still devastated, with many business loans finding their way to cruise ships, as opposed to coffee shops.

Things are not good, I am Covid-19 negative, but things are not good. Perhaps things never truly were good, but they were different in a good way or at least I think they were. I don’t know what comes next, I am still uncomfortable with uncertainty, but now I know I can survive it, and that is good.

The post I tested negative for COVID-19: Here’s my story of exposure, anxiety and relief appeared first on Occasional Planet.

It’s already starting to happen. The healing. The power to love one another. The excitement of a shared commitment. The sense of wholeness when we know we belong to something larger than ourselves.  It’s been a long time coming, but the blossoms are opening. No one can take this from us now.

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York keeps telling us we are going to defeat the “beast” of this virus epidemic and come out the other end better and stronger. It’s tragic that it has taken such a scourge to wake us up to the damage we’ve done to ourselves and our planet, but better late than never.

How we got here

This is one very short version of how we got to the point of electing a con man as president:     During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, American leaders turned to the ideas of British economist John Maynard Keynes. He taught that the best way to stimulate a moribund economy was to increase government spending and lower taxes. The Roosevelt administration developed dozens and then, eventually, hundreds of different programs to help individual citizens succeed and prosper. Basic necessities were subsidized. Unions built a comfortable life for workers.  A sense of community flourished on the local level. And “Happy Days are Here Again” became the national theme song, at least for European Americans.

Post-World War II became “the American century,” partly because most of the other powerful nations had been laid low by the war. With basic necessities such as food and shelter being met for most citizens, the need for more progress became apparent, and we entered the age of Aquarius.  Giving birth is never easy, but the heroes of the civil rights, women’s rights, Native American rights struggles helped us keep our eyes on the prize of equality and opportunity for everyone.  We had time to study the environment and recognize the damage we were doing to Mother Earth.

So, what happened to Camelot?  How did we get from loving our planet and each other to a hundred thousand of us dying from an unseen virus?

In short, some very smart people wanted to become even richer than they already were and financed a plan to tap into the less humanitarian parts of our human nature. They turned to economists like Milton Friedman who preached the philosophy of limited government, personal freedom and winner takes all. Using emotionally charged issues, they cornered the market on voter turnout.

Over time, our more advanced sense of humanitarianism and cooperative behavior began to fade, and folks became downright suspicious of government and each other. We became more interested in stroking our own egos, living the good life, and filling the void in our lives with compulsive consumerism.

And while we were looking forward to weekends and partying, we didn’t notice that very few of us were accumulating a larger and larger share of the wealth we were all creating.

The rich got richer and the poor got poorer over the last few decades. No one can deny that. Automation, globalization and the dismantling of our common bonds brought us to a dark place where murder and suicide now outnumber deaths from some of the major diseases. As the virus spreads across the country, people are buying guns, and domestic violence is a major issue. In short, we are a sick society.

How we rebuild our communities

But the pandemic has also given us time to examine our lives, our culture and our future.  Despite the damage being done by a tiny virus, we’ve re-imagined a society based on cooperation, sacrifice and love. We are rewriting our common story without even being aware of it. “We are all in this together.”

We’ve seen many examples of shared community on TV:

1. An incredible outpouring of affection and support for “frontline” workers during this crisis. (Too many examples to list here.)
2. Amazing use of intellect and ingenuity by thousands of Americans:

…using 3 D printers to make face masks

…organizing virtual meetings, family gatherings, church services

…adapting to online learning, expanding broadband

…turning face mask sewing into an artistic competition

…adjusting to working from home and saving on gas

3. Innovative expressions of the need for social connectedness:

…individual singers and instrumentalists combining their talents online (How do they do that?

…New ways of celebrating traditional events such as birthdays and graduations

…Neighborhood parties with social distancing, drive in theaters for live concerts

…Eager participation in local outreach efforts such as food drives, checking on neighbors, delivering food and medicine to senior citizens

What we’ve learned and what needs fixing

The epidemic has also brought to our attention issues that have been simmering behind the scenes for a long time. The good news is that we are now more open to solving some of those problems.

Gov. Cuomo has filled the role of moral leader left vacant by the White House during this national tragedy. One issue he is addressing head on is the disproportionate effect of this virus on communities of color. Working with church leaders in the hardest hit neighborhoods, the NYC public health department has set up testing sites in those churches to track the virus. The plan is to go well beyond serving those communities during the epidemic. What they learn and accomplish can be replicated in other parts of the country.

The pandemic has brought our attention also to the appalling conditions in some Native American communities. “Navajo Nation,” in the Southwest, has one of the highest rates of disease and death caused by COVID-19. The question is:  How is it possible that people living in the richest country in the world don’t have immediate access to potable water?  The governor of Arizona is doing all she can with state resources, but the Indian Health Service (part of HHS) is AWOL.  This can and will be fixed with a Democratic president in the White House.

Pollution is bad in most of our country but much worse in cities. Now is the time to address urban health issues, especially those affecting children. We’ve known for decades about the rates of asthma in big cities and how children have to miss school on “orange alert” days. Decades ago, when we were, as a society, sincerely interested in making life better for everyone, a big campaign forced paint companies to remove lead from their products because it causes damage to children’s brains. Now imagine a campaign like that directed at fossil fuel companies and other polluters.

We see on TV the before and after photos of polluted cities. When people work from    home and don’t drive or use public transit, the air is cleaner and healthier. Now is the perfect time to revive the enthusiasm for saving the environment that began in the 1970’s.  For starters, our new president must rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and begin repairing our relationships around the world.  Environmental groups have been stigmatized by the big polluters, but we can gradually change that with our support of those organizations. Imagine the creativity of our younger generations and how much they can accomplish in a short time.

“Going to prison shouldn’t be a death sentence.”  Sadly, it took a deadly virus to bring prison reform front and center for discussion. The prison industrial complex, aided and abetted by businesses looking for cheap labor, must be thoroughly examined. There is nothing “correctional” about a system that traps people during a pandemic.

Just as shockingly, we’ve been forced to learn about the inhumane treatment of immigrant laborers, especially in meat packing plants. This is the time for Congress to finally face the need for comprehensive immigration reform and for us to elect a president who will inspire that effort.  And, yes, it’s time to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Health care…. It’s time to detach health insurance from employment. This issue received plenty of attention during the Democratic debates, but the loss of work due to the pandemic now demonstrates why we need guaranteed medical care for everyone.

Many of us shook our heads watching tens of thousands of pounds of food being plowed under for lack of markets. Milk had to be dumped too. This was happening as people out of work were lining up at food banks. It’s time for some federal agency to work out a plan for transportation and distribution of food, not just in case of another pandemic, but also for the next wave of climate induced weather disasters.

Then and now

We need a new story to tell ourselves what we expect our “new normal” to look like. It’s pretty obvious we are never going back to the America of 2019. And that’s a good thing because we have the opportunity now to rewrite our vision of the future. What have we learned from the worst disaster to hit our country since the Great Depression?  In a way, we are seeing many of the same problems… hunger, homelessness, high unemployment, a fractured political system that plagued us back then.

As described above, we, the people, have risen to the challenge of facing this epidemic head on. When hospital workers needed us, we rushed in to help. When leadership at the national level failed us, we organized and did amazing things in our own communities. This new spirit of togetherness and service to others has rekindled the love of community that was stolen from us in recent decades.

Now we can build on those local connections/

Suggestions:

…Get to know someone new and different…. There is a wonderful example in St. Louis each Christmas Day when Jewish and Muslim neighbors work together on hundreds of local projects while giving Christians a day to celebrate their holiday. The best way to reduce our fear of others or discomfort with people we are not used to being with is to work together on some local project of mutual interest. Local elected officials can facilitate these connections.

…Promote the arts…. As President Kennedy said, “When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstones of our judgement.”   Those who want to control us work constantly to confuse us with “alternative facts,” emotional distractions and ways to tempt out that lower part of human nature. Why else would they be promoting competitive and increasingly violent forms entertainment as “sports”?  Why do they insist on cutting funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, National Public Radio and Public Television?  Why is it, when school budgets come under the knife, it’s always the arts that go first?  Think about it.  Remember the Maslow hierarchy of needs?  Once we are fed and housed, we yearn for something psychologically and spiritually satisfying.

…Offer people a chance to be part of the decision-making process locally and nationally. We need to work on expanding voter participation starting with teaching some form of civics (and not just a “course” in it) to children and teenagers. Given the natural desire to join forces to help one another shown during the pandemic, this should be an obvious next step. Maybe we can reimagine how local government works to bring more citizens into the decision-making process. How do we include non-citizens who are essential members of our community and who pay taxes?

…Finally and most importantly, we need to rewrite the story we live by. George Monbiot, writer for the London Guardian, has written about this extensively. He describes the toxic ideology of extreme competition and individualism that has come to dominate the world that must change if we are to build a healthier society. What is needed now is the same “story” people needed in past centuries after a cataclysmic disaster laid them low. Monbiot calls it the “restoration story.”  We obviously need to restore the foundation of a healthy economy that meets people’s basic needs. But, more than that, we need to listen to those better angels of our human nature Lincoln spoke about and create a new politics of belonging. The Biden campaign slogan has already been written:  We are all in this together.

The post We’re all in this together. Where we are, where we need to go. appeared first on Occasional Planet.

This morning’s New York Times roundup, by David Leonhart, mentioned a blog post by a Dartmouth biologist, Erin S. Bromage: The Risks – Know Them – Avoid Them.  It is an excellent explanation of the role of time, airflow, viral density in spread of disease. A little math, lots of science and some references to serious papers. It contains some very practical information: basically, avoid enclosed spaces where you might spend time with other people. Worth a read.

Here are some excerpts:

    Indoor spaces, with limited air exchange or recycled air and lots of people, are concerning from a transmission standpoint. We know that 60 people in a volleyball court-sized room (choir) results in massive infections. Same situation with the restaurant and the call center.  Social distancing guidelines don’t hold in indoor spaces where you spend a lot of time, as people on the opposite side of the room were infected.

The principle is viral exposure over an extended period of time. In all these cases, people were exposed to the virus in the air for a prolonged period (hours). Even if they were 50 feet away (choir or call center), even a low dose of the virus in the air reaching them, over a sustained period, was enough to cause infection and in some cases, death.

Social distancing rules are really to protect you with brief exposures or outdoor exposures. In these situations there is not enough time to achieve the infectious viral load when you are standing 6 feet apart or where wind and the infinite outdoor space for viral dilution reduces viral load.

… When assessing the risk of infection (via respiration) at the grocery store or mall, you need to consider the volume of the air space (very large), the number of people (restricted), how long people are spending in the store (workers – all day; customers – an hour). Taken together, for a person shopping: the low density, high air volume of the store, along with the restricted time you spend in the store, means that the opportunity to receive an infectious dose is low. But, for the store worker, the extended time they spend in the store provides a greater opportunity to receive the infectious dose and therefore the job becomes more risky.

… Basically, as the work closures are loosened, and we start to venture out more, possibly even resuming in-office activities, you need to look at your environment and make judgments. How many people are here, how much airflow is there around me, and how long will I be in this environment. If you are in an open floorplan office, you really need critically assess the risk (volume, people, and airflow). … If you are sitting in a well ventilated space, with few people, the risk is low.

…If I am outside, and I walk past someone, remember it is “dose and time” needed for infection. You would have to be in their airstream for 5+ minutes for a chance of infection.

Be careful out there.

The post A little math, a lot of science: calculating COVID-19 risks appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Once upon a time, we had Paint by Numbers. Now suddenly, we have Life by Numbers. Numbers circulate in our daily 2020 lives just as much as coronavirus, officially SARS-CoV-2, does in our air; known, unknown, knowable, unknowable, ambiguous markers of the times we are living in.

Infections

These days, news publications and websites worldwide first and foremost publish the new daily number of infections from coronavirus. There are websites, worldometer one of the most popular, given over to just keeping track of new infections, deaths and recoveries country by country on a day-to-day basis. Millions check in every day to see how we’re doing. We try to make sense of the numbers, to negotiate whether we are feeling more, or less, vulnerable to the immediate risk to our lives.

Deaths

In 1918, the year of the last pandemic, approximately 50 million people died. Our fears are well-founded. Though not even close to 50 million, the number of deaths from coronavirus is staggering. The stories of these deaths will not be fully told for a long time. In this year of 2020, we are witnessing a reordering of the world. The number of ICU’s and ventilators available in a broad geographic spectrum close to where we live is now essential information.

False claims, lies, self-congratulations

On April 9, the Atlantic attempted to document the number of misguided assertions made by Trump about coronavirus. More recently, CNN reported on the latest number of Trump’s false claims. And just this week 3 New York Times reporters waded through Trump’s pronouncements during this pandemic from March 9 forward. They found 600 instances of self-congratulation, far outnumbering the 160 instances of empathy or appeals to national unity.

Time and money

$1,200 is the first dollar amount of assistance being rolled out to some 80 million Americans by the federal government. With that, those of us included in the distribution will be good for a couple of weeks, or being optimistic, let’s say a month or even two if we can keep our expenses to a minimum. If the 18 months or 2 years being touted as a time frame for the arrival of a vaccine tallies true, many of us will have been in self-isolation and in need of assistance for more than 540 to 730 days by then. Today welcome news was reported: Scientists at the Jenner Institute at Oxford University in England are preparing for mass clinical vaccine trials by the end of May. Tests have shown their vaccine to be effective in monkeys. If the trials prove the vaccine safe and effective in humans, the first millions of doses could be available as early as September, well ahead of general vaccine expectations just weeks ago. We can only hope.

Steps

I’ve been in self-isolation for 7 weeks and counting now. I’ve started a regime of planned walking about my 84 square meter apartment as a form of exercise. My goal is 4,000 paces per day. Some days I register 3,000 paces back and forth, some days 6,000 and some days 2,000. I don’t stress over the numbers. 2 of my cats are mystified about this new walking behavior. They watch me perplexed as I walk counting numbers aloud as a way to keep my mind active and distracted. Sebastian, my youngest and most playful cat, joins me for a lot of my pacing, racing in front of me, beside me, behind me. He makes the whole endeavor a lot more entertaining.

Breathing

15 X 3; I take 15 deep breathes at least 3 times a day to help disperse my anxiety. My anxiety attacks are generally greater in the early hours of the morning as I’m waking. Sometimes, I take 15 deep breaths before even getting out of bed. Once I get my day going, the anxiety diminishes.

Aging

I’m about to turn 70, another number. It turns out that based on the statistics available so far I’m a perfect target for coronavirus, male just hitting 70. I wrote an innocent piece on turning 70 on Occasional Planet not so long ago at all. I wondered then where I was going to spend my 70^th birthday. At the time, I had no idea. It turns out that, in all probability, I’m going to spend my 70^th birthday in self-isolation in my apartment in Bogotá, most likely pacing back and forth from room to room counting out loud as Sebastian tries to trip me up.

Shopping

Right now in Bogota, Colombia, where I live, men get to go out for essential services such as grocery shopping on odd days in the month, women on even. My outings are solely confined to taking my garbage out and going down to the gate of my complex to receive deliveries. The doorman wears a mask, the deliverer wears a mask and I wear a mask. And of course, I wash my hands in soap and water for at least 20 seconds after each foray into the great outdoors.

Disinfecting

2 X 35 X 99.9. Today, I felt privileged. I had ordered 2 Lysol containers of 35 disinfectant wet wipes apiece online. The wipes guarantee the elimination of 99.9% of viruses. I had read that these wipes were now the equivalent of disinfectant gold and I ordered them without believing that I would ever get a delivery. Lo and behold and on a Sunday afternoon no less, the wet wipes arrived. And I gave a deep sigh of relief, and thanks, that things might truly yet return to some form of normal.

Work

I’m lucky. I can work from home. This week I gave 6 English classes using Zoom, did 2 translations and 1 commercial video voice-over. And I got to work from home on my art, my writing and my cartoons. Many millions of others don’t share the luxury of being able to work as I do. For untold numbers of people worldwide, the risk of contracting the virus is outweighed by the need to go out to work in order to put food on the table.

Vaccine?

The key number for all of us right now is how many days, how many weeks, how many months, now many years until we have a vaccine. Choose a number. The truth, despite the good work being done at Oxford University’s Jenner Institute, is that nobody knows.

The post Life by numbers appeared first on Occasional Planet.

800,000 doctors are telling Donald Trump that his “plan” to reopen businesses by Easter is a bad idea. In a letter delivered to Trump on March 27, 2020, organizations representing American physicians in a vast range of specialties voiced their concerns about ending social distancing as COVID-19 continues to spread across the US and has killed at least 1,000 people.

The letter came in response to Trump’s publicly declared preference for ending social distancing and having the economy up and running by Easter, a date he chose because he sees it as  “a beautiful time,” and because, it has been reported, he has grown impatient with being cooped up in the White House and unable to hold the big campaign rallies that he thrives on.

“Federal, state and local governments should only set a date for lifting nationwide social distancing restrictions consistent with assessments by public health and medical experts,” the letter said. “Lifting restrictions sooner will gravely jeopardize the health of all Americans and extend the devastation of the COVID-10 pandemic.”

Here is the full text of the letter and the list of signers.

CMSS Statement on Restrictions to Slow the COVID-19 Pandemic

March 27, 2020

Dear President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Ambassador Birx:

Thank you for actively engaging the health care community—particularly the nation’s physicians and the organizations that represent them—in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

As more than 800,000 physicians across more than 40 specialties in medicine, we continue to support travel and gathering restrictions to slow the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Physicians, other health professionals, and staff are putting themselves in harm’s way without adequate personal protective equipment or necessary tools (such as ventilators) as well as with no proven treatment or vaccine for the virus.

Significant COVID-19 transmission continues across the United States, and we need your leadership in supporting science-based recommendations on social distancing that can slow the virus. Our societies have closely adhered to these measures by moving our staff to fulltime telework and canceling in-person meetings (including annual meetings). These actions have helped to keep physicians and other health professionals in health care facilities, including hospitals, and reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Statewide efforts alone will not sufficiently control this public health crisis. A strong nationwide plan that supports and enforces social distancing—and recognizes that our health and our economy are inextricably linked—should remain in place until public health and medical experts indicate it can be lifted.

Federal, state, and local governments should only set a date for lifting nationwide social distancing restrictions consistent with assessments by public health and medical experts. Lifting restrictions sooner will gravely jeopardize the health of all Americans and extend the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Again, thank you for actively engaging the nation’s physicians and the organizations that represent them. We appreciate your considering these comments and welcome an opportunity for further dialogue.

Sincerely,

Council of Medical Specialty Societies

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
American Academy of Dermatology
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
American Academy of Neurology
American Academy of Ophthalmology
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
American College of Cardiology
American College of Emergency Physicians
American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
American College of Physicians
American College of Preventive Medicine
American College of Radiology
American College of Rheumatology
American College of Surgeons
American Epilepsy Society
American Gastroenterological Association
American Geriatrics Society
American Medical Informatics Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Society of Anesthesiologists
American Society for Clinical Pathology
American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons
American Society of Hematology
American Society of Nephrology
American Society for Radiation Oncology
American Society for Reproductive Medicine
American Thoracic Society
American Urological Association
Association for Clinical Oncology
Infectious Diseases Society of America
North American Spine Society
Society of Critical Care Medicine
Society of Gynecologic Oncology
Society of Hospital Medicine
Society of Interventional Radiology
Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Society for Vascular Surgery

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