3/15/20 corona extra: cracking open cold covid facts
Announcements & Thank Yous
“About This Newsletter” has been moved to the bottom so it’s easier to skip if you’ve seen the other ones.
Some institutions do not update on Sundays. I have included the date of everything that is in question. That is also why this update is early :)
Thank you to @hysterical-random-things for letting me know about the first death in NYC and where to find that news, to @nanook2000 for information and links about KY’s response, and to @akashicsage for all of the good deets on San Diego county. If you have reliable information from a good source that I don’t seem to have, please shoot me a message/ask/pigeon!
Places now included in the newsletter are: Utah, Oregon, Washington, the Netherlands, Minnesota, Kentucky, Georgia, Nebraska, the UK, and possibly some others I missed here but included in the newsletter. Please send an ask or a message if you would like a place included!
A word on mortality rates: they look very high in some places in the US right now because testing is limited to the sickest patients. People who have mild illness and are well enough to go or stay home may not have been tested until very recently when several states started mass testing/drive through testing. Testing is still limited in a lot of states, so this will be a rolling increase situation, I anticipate.
A word on case numbers: due to the aforementioned expansion of testing capacity in the US (thank fuck), case numbers are gonna grow in a really, really scary-looking way this week. This is not actually as scary as it seems, because it means we are catching more of the cases that would have gone unnoticed and have better information to help more people.
Just The Numbers
Case numbers
Total cases: 153,517 (10,982 new)
Total deaths: 5,735 (343 new)
China: 81,048 cases (27 new!!), 3204 deaths (10 new)
This gives us a mortality rate of ~3.95%
Excluding China: 72,469 cases (10,955 new), 2531 deaths (333 new)
143 countries/territories reporting cases, 9 are new today including:
Kazakhstan: 6 cases
Curacao: 2 cases
Namibia: 2 cases
Central African Republic: 1 case
Congo: 1 case
Equatorial Guinea: 1 case
Eswatini: 1 case
Mauritania: 1 case
Mayotte: 1 case
Italy is reporting over 20,000 cases with over 1400 deaths
Iran is reporting over 10,000 cases with over 700 deaths
South Korea, Spain, and Germany are reporting over 5,000 cases
SK reports 75 deaths
Spain reports 289 deaths
Germany reports 11 deaths
International/General News
Many places experiencing a worsening epidemic are following the lead of countries including South Korea and instituting drive-through testing and high-throughput testing. Some tests (like the ones being used in Vietnam) can have a result in as soon as an hour, enabling people to be quickly cleared or quarantined. (This is super cool science! Yay, science!)
Johns Hopkins University is putting on a webinar on Tuesday, 3/17. If you are interested, you can sign up/check it out here: https://www.jhsph.edu/events/2020/covid-19/
South Korea’s epidemic is currently being driven by a fringe religious group, which represents approximately 60% of all cases.
Italy’s health system is overwhelmed, which is likely why their case-fatality rate is so high. Doctors, nurses, respiratory techs, first responders, lab personnel, and everyone else involved in hospitals/health care are working their butts off and doing some frankly heroic shit to help people.
Singapore has instituted strict travel restrictions on visitors/transiting people from European countries, including Italy, France, Spain, and Germany; this is in addition to restrictions on visitors from Iran, China, and South Korea.
Some doctors from Washington state, USA (the ones seeing the most cases) are noticing that myocarditis (viral infection & inflammation of the heart) seems to be what kills patients, not the ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) that requires ventilation. This is obviously in early stages and more research is ongoing.
The World Health Organization is setting up three hospitals with advanced respiratory care capabilities in Erbil, Baghdad, and Basra, Iraq.
Virology Corner
Today’s topic: where did SARS-CoV-2 come from?
SARS-CoV-2 is what’s known as a zoonotic virus. This means that it spread from animals to humans, and then gained the ability (through mutations) to pass from human to human.
We think that SARS-CoV-2 came from bats (Rhinopholus) or pangolins- which doesn’t mean we need to blame bats or pangolins for this, they’re innocent bystanders in the game of cat-and-mouse viruses and animals are constantly playing over evolutionary timescales. Also they’re pretty ding dang cute.
(Not to get much more depressing, but here goes, as humans encroach on more and more land and as climate change progresses, more zoonoses will affect humans. Sorry to be a mega-bummer.)
Question Tuesday
Today’s question comes from @adventurecalls! They ask (paraphrased because the ask got eaten): “If I do get sick, how do I know when it’s ok to go back to doing stuff?”
This is a really good question, and one that’s rapidly being worked out by public health people as we speak (whoa)!
In general, the thought is that once you’re totally recovered you’re not able to spread the virus, but there’s not concrete data on this. The best we have is this recent study in the Lancet (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30566-3/fulltext) which indicates that people who recover shed virus for 20 days from symptom onset, whereas those who die shed virus continuously until their death, a maximum course of 37 days.
I obviously can’t give individual medical advice, which this is not, but the guidance from the WHO is excellent in general, and I will keep readers posted when there’s more information.
If you have questions, ask them and they’ll appear here in the next issue of corona extra!
Regional News (if you want somewhere added just let me know. Don’t be shy!! I highly recommend you just skip to your area if you don’t wanna be overwhelmed.)
Canada: last updated 9:00 AM EST 3/15/20
Total cases: 249 confirmed (+5), 4 presumed (-1), 1 death (3/9/20, no change)
All current cases had symptoms starting between 1/17/20 and 3/9/20
One of these cases is the PM’s wife (mild case); the couple are in quarantine for 14 days now. This is not expected to affect Canada’s management, but is definitely a reminder that being a political leader does not grant one immunity to COVID-19.
12% of cases have required hospitalization
79% of cases are in travellers, and a further 8% in their close contacts
Affected provinces include (both confirmed and presumptive cases): BC (73, +0), Alberta (39, -2), Saskatchewan (2, +0), Manitoba (4, +0), Ontario (103, +2), Quebec (24, +3), Newfoundland and Labrador (1) New Brunswick (2, +0), and PEI (1).
Newly affected provinces include: Newfoundland and Labrador
4 cases in repatriated travellers
The Netherlands
I do not speak Dutch so please correct me if I’ve fucked something up royally
1135 confirmed cases, 20 deaths
176 new cases, 8 new deaths
Provinces (?) affected include: Drenthe (15), Flevoland (19), Friesland (10), Gelderland (100), Groningen (9), Limburg (129), North Brabant (446), North Holland (90), Overijssel (28), Utrecht (109), South Holland (110), and Zeeland (12).
I think this is all of them based on a quick Wikipedia investigation?
Interestingly they tested a bunch of people who work in a hospital and found a pretty high (4%) rate of asymptomatic infection. This seems like bad news (are these people spreading, etc) but it’s actually pretty good news because it means the mortality rate is lower than we think. I’ll update here as I find out more, which is hampered by my inability to speak Dutch.
New Zealand
8 confirmed cases, 2 probable cases
2 new cases, one of which was diagnosed in Australia
Both patients were on international flights and there is extensive contact tracing underway
2 patients have required hospitalization but both have been discharged
6700 people have completed self-isolation, 3015 people continue to be isolated
These people all deserve a medal, thank you for protecting your communities!
Golden Princess cruise berthed in Akaroa has one confirmed and two potential cases. The ship is quarantined now.
Norway
1077 cases, 166 of which are new
I still don’t speak Norwegian so if I screwed up lemme know
Only 1 confirmed death, possibly one more to be confirmed 3/16 but only official numbers go here
Also possible that it’s been confirmed and I don’t know because I don’t speak Norwegian
287 cases are due to community transmission, 710 acquired outside of Norway, the rest are undetermined
Locations where people became infected include Austria (491), Italy (144), Switzerland (14), UK (12), Spain (9), France (8), USA (7), Iran (5), China (1), Hong Kong (1), other countries with more than 3 cases (80), and other countries with less than 3 cases (20).
Breakdown of cases by area: Agder (55, +3), Innlandet (72, +16), Møre og Romsdal (20, +4), Nordland (8, +0), Oslo (281, +59), Rogaland (127, +9), Troms og Finnmark (20, +4), Trøndelag (50, +4), Vestfold og Telemark (48, +9), Vestland (118, +9), and Viken (278, +47)
Good job Nordland! No new cases today! :D
United Kingdom in general: this is pretty rough because apparently the public health strategy coming from Boris is “herd immunity” aka let everyone get sick and then they’ll all be immune, since the only other way to get herd immunity is a vaccine that…..we don’t have yet. Boris does not understand how to medicine.
Fuck you, Boris.
1372 total cases (+20%), 232 are new today
35 total deaths, 14 new today
England
1099 total cases
Affected NHS regions are as follows: London (407), South East (175), Midlands (94), North East and Yorkshire (91), North West (76), East of England (71), and South West (61).
Deaths are not being reported by the PHS but I will do my best to split these out in the next few editions using news reports etc
Scotland
153 cases total and 1 death
Affected health boards are as follows: Ayrshire and Arran (6), Borders (7), Fife (7), Forth Valley (10), Grampian (12), Greater Glasgow and Clyde (39), Highland (2), Lanarkshire (16), Lothian (28), Shetland (11), and Tayside (15).
I don’t know if this is all of the health boards in Scotland but it sure is the ones that have confirmed covid19.
Wales
94 cases, 34 new
Welsh authorities are now recommending that anyone who develops a persistent cough and/or fever self-isolate, and only call 111 if they are unable to cope with their symptoms at home
Affected areas include: Blaenau Gwent County (3, +2), Bridgend County (1, +0), Caerphilly County (11, +4), Carmarthenshire County (7, +3), City & County of Swansea (18, +4), City of Cardiff (8, +3), Conwy County (1, +0), Flintshire County (1, +0), Isle of Anglesey (1, +0), Monmouthshire County (5, +1), Neath Port Talbot (11, +0), Newport City (5, +3), Pembrokeshire (2, +0), Powys County (5, +0), and Wrexham County (1, +0).
Newly affected areas include: Ceredigion County (1), Rhondda Cynon Taf County (2), Torfaen County (2), and Vale of Glamorgan (1).
Northern Ireland
45 cases, 11 new
This is all the data I have, sorry
This may actually be a thing that makes northern/southern Ireland cooperate, which is a small spark of hope in the raging dumpster fire that is this pandemic (I hyperbolize, but only slightly)
US in general: All this info is from the state & county health departments unless I say otherwise. The national response is a trash fire (but maybe hopefully improving this week??) CDC information is updated weekdays; total US cases are from 3/13 at 4 PM
1629 total cases, 41 deaths (2.5% mortality rate), with 46 states and DC reporting cases.
CDC is now recommending all in person gatherings with more than 50 people be canceled for the next 8 weeks. This sucks for me personally and probably a lot of you all too. Hang in there.
California: updated around 10 AM PST, 3/15/20
The state dept of health is not providing a ton of info right now, so all of this is coming from county health departments, which are doing really excellent work btw. Love local public health departments <3
My official take is that the higher level government orgs in the US are muzzled from above and therefore totally shitting the bed and the county-level public health officials are really stepping up to the plate
Total cases not including the ones at Miramar (discussed below): 363, with 4 total deaths
Affected counties include: Alameda (7), Calaveras (2), Contra Costa (29), Fresno (2), Humboldt (1 - recovered), Imperial (2), Los Angeles (53, +11), Madera (1), Marin (5), Orange (14), Placer (8), Riverside (10), Sacramento (29) San Benito (3 - 2 recovered), San Diego (8), San Francisco (28), San Joaquin (8), San Luis Obispo (1), San Mateo (32), Santa Clara (91), Santa Cruz (7), Shasta (1), Solano (6), Sonoma (4), Stanislaus (2), Tulare (2), Ventura (5), Yolo (2)
San Diego: My numbers are not gonna include the federal quarantine situations at Miramar (for repatriated people and the Diamond Princess passengers) because that’s what makes sense right now regarding community transmission. If this changes I will say so.
Unaffected counties include: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yuba
Counties with confirmed community transmission include: Los Angeles, Marin, Orange, Riverside, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Sonoma
Newly affected counties include San Luis Obispo (3/14)
Colorado - last updated 3/14 at 3 PM
Colorado Springs Bridge Center is under an advisory for possible exposure
Drive-up testing is available now, in Denver and Lowry and possibly other places
1 death, 3/13/20, in El Paso County, a female in her 80s
Community spread has been confirmed
101 confirmed cases, 1 death
Affected counties include: Adams (6), Arapahoe (10), Denver (20), Douglas (4), Eagle (18), El Paso (3), Gunnison (6), Jefferson (9), Larimer (1), Mesa (1), Pitkin (2), Pueblo (1), Summit (2), Weld (3)
Out of state visitors who have tested positive are tallied separately. They are located in the following counties: Pitkin (9), Eagle (2), Routt (1), Denver (1), unknown (2 - wtf??)
Florida - last updated 145 AM EST 3/15/20
115 (+45) cases and 4 deaths (+0)
Florida has not yet confirmed community transmission but it’s almost certainly happening. I’m no longer separating counties with and without confirmed community transmission because of that.
Also, the numbers by county do not add up to the same total because locations are updated less frequently by FLDPH than the total number of cases.
Affected counties include: Alachua (1, +0), Broward (36, +16), Charlotte (1, +0), Clay (3, +2), Collier (5, +2), Duval (4, +3), Hillsborough (4, +2), Lee (5, +1), Manatee (4, +0), Miami-Dade (13, +5), Nassau (1, +0) Okaloosa (1, +0), Orange (2, +1), Osceola (1), Palm Beach (5, +0), Pasco (2, +1) Pinellas (2, +0), Santa Rosa (1, +0), Sarasota (1, +0) Seminole (1, +0), Volusia (5, +1)
Newly affected counties include: Citrus (1), St. John’s (1)
Port Everglades is under an advisory due to several cases connected to a cruise company based there.
Georgia: last updated 3/15 at 11:43 AM
Y’ALL THEY MADE A HASHTAG. I am NOT making this up. It’s #covid19ga if you want to use that, I guess???
99 cases, 1 death
Affected counties include: Bartow (9), Charlton (1), Cherokee (6), Clayton (2), Clarke (2), Cobb (19), Coweta (2), Dekalb (10), Dougherty (6), Fayette (5), Floyd (4), Fulton (20), Gordon (2), Gwinnett (4), Henry (1), Lowndes (2), Lee (2), Newton (1), and Polk (1).
Illinois: last updated 3/14/20
64 confirmed cases, 16 new, with confirmed community spread
New cases: Chicago (7), Cook not Chicago (4), Kane (1), Lake (1)
195 pending persons under investigation
Affected counties include Cook, Kane, McHenry
Newly affected counties include: Woodford (1), Cumberland (1), St. Clair (2), DuPage (1, first long-term care facility case)
Iowa: last updated 3/14/20
Total cases: 18, 1 new 3/14
Affected counties include: Carroll (1), Dallas (1), Harrison (1), Johnson (14), and Pottawattamie (1)
Community spread confirmed on 3/14/2020
Kansas: last updated 3/14/20
8 confirmed cases
Affected counties include: Johnson (5), Wyandotte (1), Butler (1), Franklin (1)
Kentucky: last updated 3/14 at 6 pm local time
18 confirmed cases
2 new cases, both in Fayette County
One patient in Nelson County tested positive but left the hospital and refused to quarantine himself. Don’t be like this guy. Please. I’m expecting a lot more cases to pop up in Nelson county over the next couple weeks all connected to this one patient.
Apparently there’s now a bunch of cops sitting outside his house to make sure he stays there. Ffs.
Affected counties include: Harrison (6), Fayette (7), Jefferson (3 or 4, possible repeat test), Bourbon (1), Nelson (1), and Montgomery (1)
Governor is recommending hospitals stop elective procedures and childcare centers plan for closure by 3/17/20. Also put in place a bunch of important protections for people who don’t have insurance and stuff. Good job, KY!
First patient has fully recovered! Yay!
Louisiana: last updated 9:30 am 3/15/20
91 cases reported, 14 new
2 deaths, 1 new
Parishes affected: Jefferson (12, +1), Lafourche (1, +0), Orleans (65, +12), St. Charles (2, +0), St. John the Baptist (1, +0), St. Tammany (4, +2), and Terrebonne (2, +1)
New parishes affected: Bossier (1), Caddo (1), St. Bernard (1)
Massachusetts: last updated 4 pm 3/14/20
138 cases (19 lab confirmed, 119 presumptive positives)
1 new lab confirmed case, 14 new presumptive positives
1083 people in quarantine
Affected counties include: Berkshire (9, 0% change), Essex (5, +150%), Middlesex (65, +8%), Norfolk (28, +16%), Suffolk (27, +3%), and Worcester (2, 0% change)
Newly affected counties include: Barnstable (1) and Bristol (1)
5 cases travel related, 104 (+10%) in one community transmission cluster, others unknown
11 hospitalized, 105 not hospitalized, the rest pending (22)
1 new hospitalization
Michigan: last updated 3/14/20 in the evening
33 cases, 8 new, 0 deaths
Affected counties include: Bay (1), Charlevoix (1), Ingham (1), Kent (3), Macomb (2), Monroe (1), Montcalm (1), Oakland (9), St. Clair (1), Wayne (8), and Washtenaw (4)
Likely community transmission
Minnesota: last updated 3/15
35 cases, community transmission confirmed
Affected counties include: Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Olmstead, Ramsey, Renville, Stearns, Waseca, Washington, and Wright
County numbers are not currently being provided by MN dept of health, just ranges. Hennepin and Ramsey counties have 6-20 cases each.
Hopefully they’ll pull an Ohio and help a girl out soon
Drive through testing available in Olivia
Nebraska: last updated 3/15
Community transmission confirmed: many locations in Douglas County are potential places where transmission has occurred; if you live or have traveled to Douglas County (Omaha), please check the Douglas County COVID-19 monitoring site.
There were also two exposures in Knox County on March 5, at basketball games at Lincoln Southwest HS and North Star HS.
17 cases, no deaths
Affected counties include: Cass (1), Douglas (15) and Knox (1)
New Jersey : last updated 3/14 at 2 pm
69 cases (+38%), 1 death (none new)
Affected counties include: Bergen (25, +47%), Burlington (3, no change), Camden (2, +1), Essex (7, +1), Hudson (5, +2), Middlesex (10, +6), Monmouth (8, +1), Morris (3, no change), Ocean (1, no change), Passaic (2, -1 apparently?), Somerset (1, no change), and Union (1, no change)
Newly affected counties include: Mercer (1)
I dread updating NJ just because the website sucks so bad
Thank you to the commenter who noted that the help line apparently rules and they’ve been advertising it heavily, that’s awesome public health work by NJ!
So that’s a bright spot, eh?
New York: last updated 3/14 at 8 PM
613 cases, 192 new, 1 new death
Affected counties include: Westchester (178, +12%), Nassau (79, +54%), Suffolk (41, +13), Rockland (12, +3), Ulster (5, +0), Dutchess (4, +1), Orange (6, +3), Saratoga (3), Albany (5, +3), Broom (1, +0), Delaware (1, +0), Herkimer (1, +0), Monroe (2, +1), and Schenectady (1, +0).
NYC has 269 cases (+75%) as of 3/15 at noon
Newly affected counties include: Erie (3), Tioga (1), and Tompkins (1)
Drive through testing in New Rochelle and Long Island
All public places are closed in New Rochelle through March 25.
Ohio: last updated 3/15 at 2 pm
36 confirmed cases, 10 new
350 people under investigation
Affected counties include: Belmont (2), Butler (6), Cuyahoga (14), Franklin (3), Lorain (2), Lucas (1), Medina (1), Stark (2), Summit (2), Trumbull (2), Tuscarawas (1)
THEY STARTED GIVING COUNTY BY COUNTY INFO, PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Oregon: last updated 3/14 at 11:00 AM
36 cases, 13 hospitalized at time of positive test, 1 death (3/14)
The following counties are affected: Clackamas (1), Deschutes (3), Douglas (1), Jackson (2), Klamath (1), Linn (9), Marion (2), Multnomah (1), Polk (1), Umatilla (2), and Washington (13).
Pennsylvania: last updated 3/15 at noon
Gritty is now loose and is singlehandedly responsible for all cases in Philadelphia, if you see the orange monster, RUN
63 total cases, 16 new today
No deaths, Gritty is thankfully failing in his mission to murder
Counties affected include: Allegheny (3, +1) Bucks (4, +1), Chester (2, +0), Cumberland (5, +2), Delaware (7, +1), Monroe (6, +3), Montgomery (24, +4), Northampton (1, +0), Philadelphia (6, +2), Pike (1, +0), Washington (1, +0), Wayne (1, +0)
Newly affected counties include: Lehigh (1) and Luzerne (1)
446 people under investigation pending test results
Rhode Island: last updated 3/13/20
~500 people in quarantine for close contact situations
57 pending people under investigation
20 confirmed cases, no deaths
Next expected update 3/16 in the AM
South Dakota: last updated 3/15
9 confirmed cases, no new cases since 3/14
6 pending cases under investigation
Affected counties include: Beadle (1), Bon Homme (1), Charles Mix (1), Davison (1), McCook (1), Minnehaha (3), and Pennington (1)
No community transmission
Texas: last updated 3/15
56 total cases, 5 new.
Highly likely that there has been community transmission, unconfirmed currently
Affected counties include: Bell (1, +0), Bexar (3, +2), Brazoria (2, +0), Collin (6, +1), Dallas (8, +0), El Paso (1, +0), Fort Bend (9, +0), Galveston (1, +0), Gregg (1, +0), Harris (10, +0), Hays (1, +0), Lavaca (1, +0), Montgomery (3, +0), Smith (4, +1), Tarrant (3, +0), and Travis (1, +0)
Newly affected counties include: Matagorda (1)
The Texas DPH has corrected a tabulation error that affected Gregg and Travis counties.
Utah: last updated 3/15
21 total cases, 14 cases in Utah residents
Affected health districts include: Davis County (3), Salt Lake county (14), Southwest Utah (1), Summit County (2), and Weber-Morgan (1)
The Utah Jazz managed to get more testing than the rest of the country for awhile there, so that’s great for them
Whoever does your graphic design, *greatjob* (the little virus instead of the UDPH logo is CHOICE)
Also, the website is super useful and readable, 10/10 good job Utah
First case of community spread identified on 3/14/20, in Summit County
Schools and universities are closed starting 3/16/20, Mormonism is closed until further notice, and skiing is canceled in Park City and Cottonwood Canyon for a minimum of a week. If you are interested in skiing in Utah, check Ski Utah for a list of closures.
Virginia: last updated 3/15
45 cases total, 4 new
Affected counties/cities include: Arlington (8, +1), Chesterfield (1, +0), Fairfax (10, +0) James City (8, +1), Loudoun (5, +0), Virginia Beach City (4, +1), Prince William (3, +1), Spotsylvania (1, +0), Prince Edward (1, +0), Hanover (1, +0), Harrisonburg City (1, +0), and Alexandria City (1, +0)
No newly affected areas today.
Washington: last updated 3/14 at 2:45 PM
Godspeed, y’all are having a real rough time right now. Yipes. Washington is really hard hit right now, especially King County. Look to Washington State and how they’re coping for a preview of how things are gonna go as the cases develop elsewhere.
642 total cases, 40 deaths (6.2% mortality)
Affected counties include: Clark (3), Columbia (1), Grant (2), Grays Harbor (1), Island (6), Jefferson (1), King (387), Kitsap (3), Kittitas (3), Pierce (26), Skagit (4), Snohomish (154), Spokane (3), Thurston (3), Whatcom (2), and Yakima (4).
39 cases are currently unassigned to a county. These are expected to resolve in the coming days, hopefully.
Deaths have occurred in the following counties: Grant (1), King (35), Snohomish (4),
Wisconsin: last updated 3/15 at 2 PM
33 total cases (6 new), 1 recovered, 0 deaths
Affected counties include: Dane (6, +0), Fond du Lac (11, +5), Milwaukee (7, +1), Pierce (1, +0), Racine (1, +0), Sheboygan (3, +0), Waukesha (3, +0), and Winnebago (1, +0)
Today’s Hot Tips
Make sure you have ibuprofen and tylenol/acetaminophen/APAP/paracetamol at home before you get sick. This isn’t just covid advice, this is life advice in general. (Obvs, ask your doctor about what’s safe to take if you have chronic health conditions etc but this is a general recommendation, not medical advice. As I said, life advice.)
As far as I know, ibuprofen and tylenol are ok, but research may change this. Current research indicates that steroids, which are used in other severe respiratory conditions, may make COVID-19 associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) worse. More on this later.
It still can’t hurt to have some tylenol around, though, ya know?
Hand Washing Song of the Day
If you hate singing happy birthday while you wash your hands, I certainly do, try Good as Hell by Lizzo instead!
Sing from “I do my hair toss” to “If he don’t love you anymore” at minimum (if you’re like me and can’t leave a lyric unfinished, go ahead and dry your hands while making your brain happy.) to follow CDC handwashing guidelines! Use soap and water for maximum virus-murdering.
Chill Cat Otter Corner
https://gfycat.com/pastjovialalligatorgar-otter
Please watch these otters sproing and chase!
About this newsletter
I’m Emily, I’m a 4th year med student w/ a degree in molecular biology. I wrote this because I’m an infectious disease and epidemiology nerd and also all my friends have questions & anxiety. Hi internet!
All this info is sourced from regional & national public health organizations, plus the WHO. It’s as up to date as humanly possible. I’ve been beaming information about this outbreak directly into my brain 24/7 but I still miss stuff. Please let me know if I miss something!
Most public health departments stop updating their information around 4-5 PM local time on weekdays. That means that the earliest this will come out is around 6 PM Pacific time on weekdays going forward. On weekends things update more sporadically and earlier, so who knows what I’ll do then, but I’ll do my best.
Thank you to @marywhal for the excellent title!
For More Information
JHU COVID-19 data center: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
List of peer-reviewed publications: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/publications.html
WHO daily sitrep: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200315-sitrep-55-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=33daa5cb_6
WHO FAQ: https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
CDC cases in the US (take w/ a grain of salt due to Political Garbage, as detailed above): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html, this also has links to each state’s health dept which may or may not be more up to date than the CDC
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March 30, 2020
Kids Arts Activities through Quarantine
As BC’s spring break officially ends, I am very aware that working parents, with kids at home who now need online schooling and extra care, are extremely hard hit by the current changes. I also realize that Adagio may not at all reflect the tempo of their lives as they juggle these new responsibilities. What I hear from my friends in this situation is that Prestissimo Agitato (agitatedly fast) probably sums it up far better. So, I am hoping that some of the kids’ arts activities which I list below might help give parents even a few tacet moments.
This accelerated pace also relates to health care workers, grocery employees, and so many others who are working harder than ever during this period. Conversely, people who have temporarily lost their jobs, aging people who were enjoying the well-earned luxury of post-career social time before the virus hit, and many others now find time spooling out before them in a sometimes overwhelming abundance. And while I am fortunate to be able to sustain a considerable amount of my work during this unusual time, I relate more to both the challenges and privileges of being faced with increased space in my life. In fact, I have always been aware that my choice not to have children has meant that my life’s rhythms are quite different from many of my peers. So, I take this reality as an onus to use the extra capacity I have to contribute where I can. And writing this blog is one way I am attempting to do that.
As I share this, I am inspired by the words of one of my favorite writers and thinkers, Rebecca Solnit, who in her Harper’s article, The Mother of All Questions, poignantly sums up the role that people who choose not to have children can play in their communities. “There are so many things to love besides one’s offspring, so much work that love has to do in the world”.
So, for children and adults alike, I offer Lunch Doodles and Lockdown Diaries and Puppet Shows and Haiku.
At 1 pm EST, every day, Mo Willems, livestreams his Lunch Doodles classes for all to follow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmzjCPQv3y8
Or, if you want to get your hands a bit dirtier, you might try this homemade playdough recipe to make the rainbows that people are sticking to their windows all over the world to spread hope.
https://www.pre-kpages.com/rainbow-play-dough/
In Saskatoon, Wide Open Children’s Theatrehosts livestreamed storytelling and puppet shows at 10 am CST and bedtime (7 pm CST), every single day, on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/638733030283792/
Christchurch artist, Stephen McCarthy has created a free downloadable, Lockdown Diary, that will keep anyone busy for ages:
https://www.mylockdowndiary.com/?fbclid=IwAR0G3KgCfRfnr2FXhEIumzR2SigQB3bEYXfOu1m9m0g8tqL2RnQPoprJL2w
The New York Times has created a digital coloring book with a truly timely image. You can play with their online pen or print it out and do it old-school analog style.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/23/opinion/covid-coloring-activity.html
And finally, if you want to distill your feelings about this unique time, the simple container of a Haiku works very well for this. The 3 lines form is made up of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, & 5 syllables. The invite it is to write your own, video record yourself reading it, and then send it to Quarantine Haikus: https://thebridgepai.org/quarantinehaikus/
Here’s mine:
cherry blossom tree
as colorful as ever
like nothing has changed
March 31, 2020
Resilient Quarantine Artist Projects
The life of an artist is one of constant reinvention. And these times call for just that. As I’ve shifted from a flute performance career, to directing a community arts non-profit, Instruments of Change (instrumentsofchange.org), to creative writing, I have sometimes struggled to define myself by my job description or title. However, if I have learned anything from this necessary process of unravelling my identity from my career achievements, I have learned to connect more deeply to who I AM rather than what I DO. This process of redefinition has led me to recognize that, at the core of everything I do, I am an arts advocate, first and foremost. So, this is the title that sits most comfortably for me. As an arts advocate, I am constantly seeking ways to increase public perception of the value of the arts and artists, themselves. And this eloquent article (https://madmimi.com/s/708e601) which my friend, Juliana Bedoya shared, perfectly illustrates why artists are ideally equipped for dealing with our current uncertain circumstances. To summarize Andrew Simonet’s piece, Dear Artists, This is What We Train For:
1. Artists are accustomed to charting unfamiliar territory.
2. Artists are excellent at “working with what they’ve got” - to quote Duke Ellington
3. Artists are keen observers, and they use those powers to create expressions of resonance and relevance.
4. Artists thrive at adapting to constantly changing rhythms and flow.
In only the few brief weeks since quarantined living began (although I know that this has seemed eternal for some), it has been remarkable how many resilient strategies and projects I’ve encountered in my artist community. So, here, I’d like to share just a few initiatives that are happening in my own backyard.
In Vancouver, the Little Chamber Music Series That Could has launched their Isolation Commissions, where individuals, for only $200, can hire solo artists to film a 4 min video of themselves performing something which reflects the impact that this extraordinary social situation is having on their artistic practice. It might be an improvisation, a favorite piece, a work that brings comfort, or a new composition in progress. Incredibly, by March 31st, already 30 video performances from 30 unique artists had been successfully commissioned. Interested “commissioners” can contact Mark Haney at:
[email protected] to arrange their desired artist partnership. And you can learn more about their innovative program here: http://littlechambermusic.com/isolation-commissions/
For years, the Sunday Service has provided live improv sets at Vancouver’s Fox Cabaret, and they are not letting self-isolation stop that tradition. So now, every Sunday, at 9 pm, Cyber Service livestreams collaborative improv, from each of their respective homes, on their You Tube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2A8-xxVUssHFIr_WDt4Gyg?view_as=subscriber&fbclid=IwAR2ojZlCDLZHjkN6qq0iDKtm4mPkI9dQvoZeGVv9IWpYX85zDfq0lKePegA
Instruments of Change is also playing with our own adaptive strategies as we anticipate the potential cancellation of our free, outdoor summer concert series, Street Beats. In 2018, originally invited by VIVA Vancouver, I of C launched this series to make a wide variety of top-rate live music accessible to all, while celebrating our city’s vibrant public spaces. So, in an effort to continue meeting those objectives without the possibility of large public gatherings, Street Beats sound engineer, David Spidel has proposed Street Beats - the Stream Beats edition. His idea is to drone video record several Vancouver parklets and plazas, and then green screen these behind various livestreamed performances of Vancouver artists. We should learn, in the coming weeks, if VIVA goes for his slightly wacky concept, and we’ll keep you posted.
April 1, 2020
Lockdown Laughs
This year, the internet exploded with announcements that there should be a moratorium on April Fools Jokes, as we are all living a far worse hoax than any one of us could ever devise. And while I’m usually a huge fan of this prankster holiday, I fully understand the sensitivity of the ask. So, instead of tricks, I thought I’d just include some good laughs for much needed levity.
As a dentist, my Dad spent his life glaring into terrified people’s mouths, so humor served him well to put his patients at ease. It is no surprise, then, that he has injected daily doses of giggles into my quarantined existence with his reliably hilarious links. Here’s my favorite so far:
https://www.theloop.ca/watch/news/strange/this-couple-s-hilarious-horse-dance-has-gone-viral/6144325579001/1660977952457681249%20/your-morning/
Masters of lockdown living, people in China have perfected the art of making themselves laugh in hard times. And watching this American comedian’s stand-up routine, which weaves in crazy Tiktok videos from China, was perhaps the hardest I’ve laughed since this whole ordeal began:
https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/608485/tik-tok-quarantine/
Also, my local arts community has come through again, with a livestream version of their weekly Thursday night comedy show, Jokes Please, that’s hosted at Little Mountain Theatre, only blocks from our home. It airs every Thursday, at 9 pm PST, but remains on their Facebook page for future viewing, too. https://www.facebook.com/jokespleaseshow
April 2, 2020
A Simple Verse
Some days, a few artful lines can go a long way. In life, as is now evident more than ever, there are many changes over which we have no control. And while we often wish we had the power to say or do something that could shift those things with which we are uncomfortable, this is not always possible. However, what we can control is the steadiness with which we face these uncomfortabilities. As we all struggle with feelings of powerlessness in these uncertain times, TS Eliot reminds us that patience and faith will get us through.
I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing;
Wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing;
There is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.
T.S. Eliot
April 3, 2020
Physically Distant Connections
There is much to be learned from trees. For those who have not yet read the wonderous, Hidden Life of Trees, in it Peter Wohlleben describes the remarkable communication system between our forest friends. Without language or physical touch, these living beings can support, nourish and love one another in magnificent symbiosis. In fact, trees are masters of social distancing, as he illustrates here:
“The average tree grows its branches out until it encounters the branch tips of a neighboring tree of the same height. It doesn’t grow any wider because the air and better light in this space are already taken. However, it heavily reinforces the branches it has extended, so you get the impression that there’s quite a shoving match going on up there. But a pair of true friends is careful right from the outset not to grow overly thick branches in each other’s direction. The trees don’t want to take anything away from each other, and so they develop sturdy branches only at the outer edges of their crowns, that is to say, only in the direction of “non-friends.” Such partners are often so tightly connected at the roots that sometimes they even die together.”
Ironically, another term for the crown of a stand of trees is corona. So, let us all follow their lead and trust that our separateness is what will keep us together.
And, if you’re keen to read more about the wisdom of trees, the latest Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Overstory by Richard Powers, weaves a dense and motivating tale that explores what drives radical tree activists’ passion to save our dwindling forests. Powers is not a man of few words. On nearly every tenth page of his 512 page tome, there will be a word that you will likely have to look up. But trust that you will be the smarter and more moved for it. This has been the most powerful read I’ve had in the past couple of years, emotionally and intellectually. So, if quarantine living happens to leave you with some extra time on your hands, it’s definitely worth it.
Pratityasamutpada is my favorite Sanskrit word. (And yes, as nerdy as that sounds, I do have a favorite.) It means the interdependence of all things. And since physical distancing began, nothing has made me feel more connected to my fellow citizens than the nightly 7 pm cheer for our health care workers. So, I will leave you with a video from this week that captures the essence of interconnectedness beautifully. https://youtu.be/BS8dMC1sfXc
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