TEE UP, MR. PRESIDENT!

The golf links lie so near the mill 
That almost every day
The laboring children can look out
And see the men at play!*

CRISIS?  WHAT CRISIS?
COVID-19? WHO CARES!

FORGET COVID-19
THIS IS THE REAL CRISIS!

*The Golf Links by contemporary peace, suffrage and labor activist Sarah Norcliffe Cleghorn (1876-1959). 
Here is an interesting student paper about this poem: 
http://cwcs.ysu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Golf-Links.pdf

###

A SPECIAL RESPONSE TO NEW YORK'S MASK CONTEST

Some readers of this blog may be familiar with the Space Alien Gazette (which I also edit) at  www.SpaceAlienGazette.com.

The Space Alien wanted to enter New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's "Wear a Mask" ad contest, but missed the deadline.    

Here are the finalists in that contest and their creative ads: 
https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/wear-mask

The message to all: Wear a Mask

As a courtesy, however, and because we  think readers of this blog would enjoy it, we are printing the Space Alien's entry here. 

Here is that entry.  The Space Alien recommends reciting it as a rap:

You don't have to ask,
I'll still Wear a Mask! 
At home or in space,
I'll cover my face!
Our friends will admire us,
And not catch this virus!
It's fashionable too,
And shows I love you!

And here is the Space Alien in a brand new "country and western" mask!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update: Tuesday, May 26, 2020, Friday, May 22, 2020 Governor Cuomo announced that there had been over 600 submissions to this contest to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) and that over half a million people had voted. 

A similar post is at: 
http://spacealiengazette.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-space-alien-enters-mask-contest.html

###

HAS THE CDC CHANGED COURSE ON SURFACES?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) appears to have retracted some of its COVID-19 guidances, and now downplays the need to disinfect surfaces.  

Your Editor would like to know more about the scientific basis for this decision and will try to find out.  Until she does, and given the tendency of the current administration to place political expediency above public health, she will keep her Clorox-based spray handy!

Here are two articles on this revision: 

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/499142-cdc-updated-guidelines-state-coronavirus-does


https://www.foxnews.com/health/cdc-now-says-coronavirus-does-not-spread-easily-via-contaminated-surfaces

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few more references: 

CDC's advisory How COVID-19 Spreads,
 updated April 13, 2020:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html

And related, from the Food & Drug Administration dated May 21 2020:
https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-frequently-asked-questions  

###

CDC RELEASES LATEST REOPENING PLAN

Center for Disease Control (CDC) released its latest document on Opening America.  

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/php/CDC-Activities-Initiatives-for-COVID-19-Response.pdf

Entitled CDC Activities and Initiatives Supporting the COVID-10 Response and the President's Plan for Opening America Up Again, May 2020, this document subtitled: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-10) Response is dated May 2020 and purports to summarize "CDC's initiatives, activities and tools in support of the Whole-of Government response to COVID-19. "

According to Politico.com this is the most extensive document from CDC which has been the subject of much political controversy.

This article from Politico.com published May 20 2020 offers a review of the twists and turns as what should be straightforward scientific decision-making has been (in the opinion of Your Editor)  fed through the political sausage-making machine.   


https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/20/cdc-guidelines-reopening-coronavirus-270607

ANOTHER VOTE OF THANKS TO GOVERNOR CUOMO

In his daily televised briefings, which I find tremendously motivating and reassuring, New York's Governor Cuomo has given us a model that public officials at all levels would do well to emulate.

This picture says it all. Governor Cuomo's release of this photo on Sunday, May 17, will hopefully motivate others to be tested.

Unfortunately, the specific testing resources used by Governor Cuomo are only available in New York but what a great model for other Governors to follow, especially since the President has shown himself to be, in a word, useless (or worse!).    

The URLs in the caption and below relate to New York, but are still informative. 

Governor Cuomo takes a COVID-19 test at press briefing to demonstrate how easy it is.  
Also see: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news 
To receive briefings write: Email@exec.ny.gov

And see New York State's COVID-19 website here: 
https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/home
While much here is NY based, there's still much useful information. 

Every state should have a website like this!  
Here is Illinois': https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/

See my poetic Tribute to Governor Cuomo at: 
https://joanscovid19blog.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-tribute-to-governor-cuomo.html

###

FREE DR. DEBORAH BIRX!

She's been throttled to some extent but manages to hang on to her job!  She served in the Army and maybe there learned knows strategy and tactics to use in a hostile environment.  

https://news.yahoo.com/senior-trump-administration-official-said-181419964.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tL3NlYXJjaD9laT11dGYtOCZmcj1hYXBsdyZwPURyLitEZWJvcmFoK2Jpcng&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKmd2HX5vSxHmtRNBI-7xbAf-WrA-Y8H8xHgOnxsbeTESn_i9upty3ozXyMtyntiCnbtrYabOTi91deQts9Nll-zn36_MVoqhTafRv_wRFMUvEIE4hYq_y-2DEJDM2Dz1CR5vD6Lh7zGl6TG8mvyRphgiWdsKA9HWlqB2zjzth61

Served in Army, etc

https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/a31680328/who-is-deborah-birx/

CDC GUIDANCE OF MAY 14, 2020

The latest reopening guidance from U. S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is discussed here:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/delay-cdc-releases-guidance-states-safely-reopen/story?id=70687074

Here is the description from the above website:

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, while voluntary, is the most specific instruction yet from the federal government on how not to trigger an outbreak, as President Donald Trump pushes states to reopen and most have already started to do so."

Here is that newest CDC link:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html

It has many parts, with links to all at the above website.  It should supersede previous guidances from CDC.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

REOPENING PLANS -- UPDATE

MAY 13, 2020

(Note: This updates and supplants an earlier post at: 
https://joanscovid19blog.blogspot.com/2020/05/cdc-reopening-plan-partial-leak.html.  Please note that reporting on any of these documents from the Federal government has been hampered by what might most charitably be called a remarkable lack of transparency.  Joan is doing her best to sort it out and present this information in a comprehensible manner.)

-----------------------------------

https://apnews.com/d4fb9744fb3524b6aaff1036f3ba9cd2  

Headlined "AP Exclusive: CDC Guidance more restrictive than White House," this article published May 13, 2020, notes that the CDC guidance was "shelved by Trump administration officials"  as earlier reported on this blog. 

Here is a link to the "63 page document" referenced in this article.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6889330-Guidance-for-Opening-Up-America-Again-Framework.html

This document purports to be "more detailed than other, previously reported segments of the shelved guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It shows how the thinking of the CDC infection control experts differs from those in the White House managing the pandemic response."

You may wish to download and save your own copy of this document! 
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

COVID-19 CONVERSATIONS WITH APHA AND NAM

American Public Health Association and National Academy of Medicine present a series of webinars called "COVID-10 Conversatons: Responding to COVID-19, A Science Based Approach."

https://covid19conversations.org


At this website you can watch these webinars in real time and eventually access past webinars. 

###

WHAT'S IN A WORD? THREE TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW!

Isolation.  Quarantine.  Community Containment.

What do these terms mean?  

Here's a link to an article in the British Journal of Travel Medicine published by Oxford Academic Press. 

https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/27/2/taaa020/5735321

This table from that article discusses these terms. It's wider than the page of this blog but I think its importance justifies this!   

To see it all, please scroll sideways, back and forth! 

CDC REOPENING PLAN -- A PARTIAL LEAK?

PLEASE NOTE:  More recent "Reopening Plans" and "Guidances" are on this Blog.  Check them out! 

See, for instance,  
https://joanscovid19blog.blogspot.com/2020/05/reopening-plans-update.html 

and

https://joanscovid19blog.blogspot.com/2020/05/cdc-guidance-of-may-14-2020.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

first printed here on May 11, 2020  The efforts of the Trump administration to bury the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report which was to be published on May 3, 2020 is discussed in this story published on May 6.   This article includes a copy of that plan.

https://apnews.com/7a00d5fba3249e573d2ead4bd323a4d4

In that article you will find this detailed reopening chart:
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6883736/CDC-documents.pdf


Also see the this CDC Interim Report referenced in the above article:  

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6883734-CDC-Business-Plans.html

To print (or save) follow these instructions:
To print the document, click the "Original Document" link to open the

original PDF. At this time it is not possible to print the document with

annotations.

Here is a link for the White House "Opening Up American Again" referenced in the AP News article above.  It was published a month earlier but, as the AP article notes, was less detailed.  
https://www.whitehouse.gov/openingamerica/

###

THE U.S. CORONAVIRUS WEBSITE

The U. S. Coronavirus website sponsored by the CDC, FEMA and the White House, offers information on How to Prepare and Protect Yourself,  What to Do if You Think You Are Sick, and links to other resources:   www.coronavirus.gov

PUBLIC CITIZEN ON COVID-19

PUBLIC CITIZEN, A PERENNIAL SOURCE OF SOUND INFORMATION (WHERE I WAS PROUD TO WORK MANY YEARS AGO), OFFERS AN AWESOME ARRAY OF ARTICLES ON MANY ASPECTS OF COVID-19.  THE LINK BELOW IS DEFINITELY WORTH A LOOK!
  https://www.citizen.org/?s=Covid  

A LIMERICK FOR MY COVID-19-BURDENED BIRTHDAY

THANK YOU, LOYAL READER, FOR THIS GRAPHIC! 

May 12, 2020

The unceasing news of a virus, 
Is sure to do nothing but tire us.  
But if we're not grouchy, 
And listen to Fauci, 
I'm certain the world will admire us!

A POETIC TRIBUTE TO GOVERNOR CUOMO

Although I live in Illinois, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's daily TV talks give me the incentive to get through another day in self-isolation.   Sir Walter Scott's poem "Lochinvar" is one of my favorites, so this is for you, Governor Cuomo!  (And please see another vote of thanks to Governor Cuomo at: https://joanscovid19blog.blogspot.com/2020/05/another-vote-of-thanks-to-governor-cuomo.html)

With Apologies to Sir Walter Scott

Oh Governor Cuomo came out of the East, 

Preparing to slaughter the cruel COVID beast,

And save for his microphone, weapons had none —

He spoke off the cuff, his language was tough, 

For letting us know, where our country should go - 

There ne'er was the like of Andrew Cuomo!   

He didn’t pull punches, He gave facts with verve, 

He showed the crowd how they had flattened the curve!

But the President watching, became made as hell,

Because he could never give speeches so well! 

And Ivanka was thinking: “‘t'were better I know, 

To have dumped feckless Jared for Andrew Cuomo!”

Parody (c) 2020 Joan D. Levin

———————————————————

The above verse was inspired by one of my favorite poems.  Here are a few verses from the original by Sir Walter Scott.  

Read it all at: 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52300/lochinvar

O young Lochinvar is come out of the west, 

Through all the wide Border his steed was the best; 

And save his good broadsword he weapons had none, 

He rode all unarm’d, and he rode all alone. 

So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, 

There never was knight like the young Lochinvar. 

————————

So stately his form, and so lovely her face, 

That never a hall such a galliard did grace; 

While her mother did fret, and her father did fume, 

And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume; 

And the bride-maidens whisper’d, “’twere better by far 

To have match’d our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.” 

Sir Walter Scott

ILLINOIS PIRG URGES ACTION!

Visit the Illinois PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) website to see the great work they are doing!  https://illinoispirg.org/    

At the "Issues" tab, click on COVID-19 which will take you to U. S. PIRG for things you can do during this COVID-19 crisis.  
https://uspirg.org/feature/usp/responding-crisis.

Scroll down to learn more, and take action, on COVID-19 related issues, including Comprehensive Testing, Emergency Election Procedures, Safe Reopening, Protecting Consumer Credit, Stopping Bad Bailouts, and ideas for things kids can do at home!

These are all things you can learn and do while sheltering in place that will make a difference!  

###

FROM JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

An informative website from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (my public health alma mater):     https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/

Also, listen to (or read transcripts of) lectures by Johns Hopkins Public Health Faculty:
http://bit.ly/publichealthoncall

A wealth of information while you are sheltering in place!  

///////////////////////////////////////////////

GOVERNOR PRITZKER ANNNOUNCES PLAN FOR ILLINOIS

On Tuesday, May 5, 2020, Illinois Governor J.B Pritzker announced a Five Phase Plan to reopen Illinois.  Read it here:

https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/sfc/servlet.shepherd/document/download/069t000000BadS0AAJ?operationContext=S1

This chart is included in that plan. 

Keep up-to-date at: https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/
  

###

VIEWING LIFE WITH COVID-19 THROUGH THE MYERS-BRIGGS LENS

THIS POST DRAWS HEAVILY ON MY EXPERIENCE AS A QUALIFIED USER OF THE MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR WHICH I USED TO TEACH AS PART OF A U.S.OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT TRAINING TEAM.  It is not intended diagnose or treat anything for anyone.  It is simply an account of my impressions formed over many months of living in the shadow of COVID-19.

More information about Myers-Briggs products and services -- protected by copyright -- maybe found here: 

https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-us/products-and-services/myers-briggs


There are many sources of information about this instrument online.  For convenience, here is one, with descriptions of the sixteen Myers-Briggs type about the sixteen Myers-Briggs types: 

https://www.verywellmind.com/the-myers-briggs-type-indicator-2795583

Information on my type, ENTP, may also be found at many sources, including: 
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-entp-personality-type-and-characteristics-2795982

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For over two years as of this writing I have been living a mostly solitary life.  

First as a result of the medically-caused fractures discussed elsewhere in this blog, and, more recently and more drastically, as a result of the restrictions entailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

I live in a high rise apartment, which has  (wisely in my opinion) taken many preventive steps to protect residents from this virus.  These include strictly limiting elevator access to building staff and emergency personnel.  Which means that no visitors may access my apartment. 

But even before that, as a result of these fractures, I had been quite limited by pain when sitting or standing in what I could do. And now, except for occasional telephone calls with friends, and rare telephone calls with family, the only human beings with whom I have regular contact are the staff of this building with whom I exchange pleasantries when I get the mail and cab drivers and health care  personnel during the course of routine medical and dental visits.

As a Myers-Briggs E (which stands for Extraversion) I am energized by relationship with others, which include conversations, and the give and take of routine interactions.  But none of this is possible on a regular basis  now. 

Right now may conversations are many with a few stuffed animals, characters in my fantasies, and TV personalities.  

(to be continued)   

DJT WELCOMES A GUEST

Come in, COVID-19!  Make yourself at home
While I look for my big boy pants! 

(Joan's original montage, also posted at:
www.joanspix.com) 

IMMUNE RESPONSE AND COVID-19: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

Are the undesirable reactions to COVID-19 the result of immune response?  

Here is an interesting article from the medical school at University of Southern California (USC) dated May 1, 2020.   

https://keck.usc.edu/timing-of-immune-response-to-covid-19-may-contribute-to-disease-severity/

The cited study raises an intriguing question as to whether temporarily suppressing immune response might be protective.  

JAMA COVID-19 RESOURCE

JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) now has a COVID-19 resource at:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/pages/coronavirus-alert
(I have not explored this yet but plan to do so soon.)

HOW ANOTHER PRESIDENT RESPONDED IN SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES

The following lines are from an article about the role of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- himself disabled by polio -- in helping to conquer this scourge.   

The remainder of this article, published on April 12, 2020 (the anniversary of Roosevelt's death), is in the website below.  It is well worth reading and considering!  

"No president can end an epidemic single handedly, but they can inspire a popular movement that eradicates a disease. Such was the case with Franklin Roosevelt and polio.

Seventy-five years ago, on April 12, 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died at the “Little White House” in Warm Springs, Georgia. His administration’s achievements, such as Social Security and unemployment relief, are woven into the fabric of American government. Pundits still measure new presidents against FDR’s First Hundred Days, and present-day politicians slap the “New Deal” label on ambitious agendas. Donald Trump, like FDR a wealthy New Yorker presiding over turbulent economic times, has recently cast himself as a “wartime president” in his predecessor’s mold."

Read the remainder of this History News Network article here: 

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/174983