March 20 Neighborhood Update

LIST CHANGES
I’m doing fine emotionally (after all, I have all of you to support me!) but my inbox this week has been so full I haven’t managed to read it all, let alone respond to each of you. Nor have I managed to add all the new folks requesting to be on this list. I have been lining up assistance so I can hand over as many tasks as possible to unclog the line (shout out to my new team!!!). I hope by late this afternoon my blog website will be up and running and I’ll send you a link. All these posts will go there, and what I send to lists will just be the table of contents and the link. You will be welcome to share the blog. I have had two lists for many years, Columbia Neighborhood Updates (to couple thousand people until lately) and Fl!p’s Pix For Music (around 1000 subscribers). I’ve combined the two for now. It may make sense to split them again going forward but not right now

NOON NOISE TODAY
Today, Friday, at noon local time, all over the planet, we are invited to go outside and cheer, sing, bang on pots and pans, and make a lot of noise in honor of health care workers. I would add all the other essential workers who are keeping us going through this challenging time. It’s a great time to appreciate each other!

March 20 Corona Virus Update

GETTING THROUGH THIS
Hot bath, good meal, cuddle, walk outdoors in beauty. Hands in soil to help things grow. What will be will be, but right now there is beauty, and the joy of living. I have a procedure to offer you when you get overwhelmed. When you feel tears nearby in your heart, try this: Focus your attention rigorously on the goodness and beauty of our amazing universe and wonderful planet; and on the goodness of people around you (yes, focus on the ones you know are good!); and lastly on your own goodness and potential for more goodness. Then let the tears fall. When you do it this way, every teardrop that falls is a piece of confusion falling away forever.

HALF OF ICU PATIENTS ARE UNDER AGE 50
“Betsy Brown, MD Update from an Epidemic”
Seattle doctor, trusted source for me.
“… The world has shifted. The past few days have had an uptick in positive tests. Word came in the community of a beloved store owner dying. I spoke with a patient yesterday who had a family member die at home. And then overnight, the results seem to have tripled. The doc on call needed help to reach people… Tough call to send one to the hospital because he was worsening, and I called the ER to let them know he was coming, talking with the ER doc who resignedly told me the hospital is full, that they are holding people in the ER until there is space. And now another patient is coming in for them to care for. I felt like a priest, hearing confession. And then he said: do you know that half of the people in our ICU with COVID-19 are younger than 50?”
From the Whatcom County Health Department website:
Confirmed Case Details:
◦ Female in her 60s
◦ Female in her 40s
◦ Female in her 20s
◦ Male in his 60s
◦ Male in his 40s
◦ Male in his teens
◦ Male in his 50s
Not all these are hospitalized.

SCHOOL MEALS
Starting Monday, March 23, Bellingham Public Schools will be offering free meals to help students and families who may struggle with food security when schools are closed. We are looking into drive-thru and delivery options.
Based on guidance from the governor’s office and local health officials, we will practice social distancing while offering this service.
Each student will receive two meals: lunch for the day and breakfast for the following day.
Our plan is to provide meals Monday through Friday through the closure, but as we have seen in the past week, plans may change based on access to food, staff and supplies; guidance from the health department; or orders from the governor to prevent COVID-19 from spreading further. This service is possible with the incredible efforts of our food services team and the generosity of Bellingham Public Schools Foundation.
https://bellinghamschools.org

DROP IN CENTER MOVES TO BHS
Lighthouse Mission Ministries is moving its emergency Drop-In Center for the homeless to Bellingham High School due to the coronavirus outbreak. The move will help the organization comply with social distancing. The move will take place tomorrow, Friday, March 20. The move is temporary and is a partnership between Lighthouse Mission, the Bellingham School District and Whatcom Unified Command.
Excepted rom Bellingham Herald article. For much more detail, read here:
https://www.bellinghamherald.com/

MALLARD ICE CREAM BULK SALE
 We have 2.5 gallon tubs of our various ice creams and sorbets available for purchase at $100 – $120 each. Email kitchen.mallard@gmail.com if you are interested in arranging a pick up. The tubs are about 10″ in diameter and 10-11″ tall.
 While we sort out the logistics of how Mallard will proceed throughout our community’s current situation, as a start I would say that we still have the ability to make and prepackage ice cream. We also have an assortment of pints that are ready to go right now. It doesn’t make sense for us to sell out of our store front, but to pool orders of 10-12+ among neighborhoods, families, individuals, and friends and arrange pickup or drop off methods that encourage best practices in accordance to state-wide and local authorities. Mallard is pretty low-tech compared to most (pretty much all) other restaurants, so I am not suggesting a same day delivery or pick-up sort of situation out the gate, but more of a distribution model where orders/requests are submitted and picked up or dropped off a day or two later to allow ourselves to figure out how it could all work and at what capacity moving forward. Let us know what we can do for y’all! The best way currently for us to begin to sort this all out is to e-mail via our back of house at kitchen.mallard@gmail.com and when and if that becomes overwhelming (but also as we move forward) better systems of transaction will be established. I will let you know at the time of ordering what we currently have available and make plans based on your desires to produce runs of specifically requested ice creams and non-dairy options as we go. Thank you and stay safe!
 [Anybody want to pool? ~Fl!p]

March 19 Neighborhood Update

ELIZABETH PARK SOCIAL DISTANCE SAX CONCERT
My friend and saxophone player extraordinaire, Mark Kelly, sent this email just now:  “Free concert at 3pm today, inside the Elizabeth Park gazebo. My Kid’Sax quartet, playing six feet apart from each other. Bring your chair.”  🙂  Live music!  These kids are very talented.  I will be there!  🙂
 Meredith Ann Murray

NOON NOISE
Our block was INTO it!!! Lots of noise on Victor Street!!!
 Lizanne Schafer

March 19 Corona Virus Update

WHATCOM COUNTY CONFIRMED CASES CLIMB TO TEN
◦ Male in his 60s
◦ Female in her 50s
◦ Male in his 80s
◦ Female in her 60s
◦ Female in her 40s
◦ Female in her 20s
◦ Male in his 60s
◦ Male in his 40s
◦ Male in his teens
◦ Male in his 50s
https://www.whatcomcounty.us/3329/Novel-Coronavirus-COVID-19
Thank you for staying home! Our job is not to protect ourselves from catching this. Our job is to assume we have it, and protect others from catching it from us. Since we don’t have sufficient testing, we must assume this is the tip of the iceberg and there will be a flood of “new” cases in the next few days.

ELIZABETH PARK SOCIAL DISTANCE SAX CONCERT
My friend and saxophone player extraordinaire, Mark Kelly, sent this email just now:  “Free concert at 3pm today, inside the Elizabeth Park gazebo. My Kid’Sax quartet, playing six feet apart from each other. Bring your chair.”  🙂  Live music!  These kids are very talented.  I will be there!  🙂
 Meredith Ann Murray

NOON NOISE
Our block was INTO it!!! Lots of noise on Victor Street!!!
 Lizanne Schafer

THE DOCTOR WHO HELPED DEFEAT SMALLPOX EXPLAINS WHAT’S COMING
Are you scared?
“I’m in the age group that has a one in seven mortality rate if I get it. If you’re not worried, you’re not paying attention. But I’m not scared. I firmly believe that the steps that we’re taking will extend the time that it takes for the virus to make the rounds. I think that, in turn, will increase the likelihood that we will have a vaccine or we will have a prophylactic antiviral in time to cut off, reduce, or truncate the spread. Everybody needs to remember: This is not a zombie apocalypse. It’s not a mass extinction event.”
~ Epidemiologist Larry Brilliant
[Now go read the article.]
https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-interview-larry-brilliant-smallpox-epidemiologist/

SET UP PET CARE
Do you have a 2 week supply of pet food? A designated person who will care for your pet if you get too sick to do so? Time to set that up. You might want to dig out your pet carrier if your pet would need to be transported. With luck you’ll never need this, but there is peace of mind in being prepared.

FUNERALS BANNED IN WASHINGTON STATE
I assume we will figure out how to gather by video conferencing.

SEWING MILLIONS OF MASKS
“Prior to modern disposable masks, washable fabric masks were standard use for hospitals,” said Dawn Rogers, MSN, RN, FNP-C, Patient Safety & Infection Prevention Office.  “We will be able to sterilize these masks and use them repeatedly as needed.  While it’s less than ideal, we want to do our best to protect our staff and patients during this pandemic.” Please consider reaching out to a hospital, nursing home, cancer-related organization, etc. near you, as many other health care facilities are also experiencing shortages in masks.
https://www.deaconess.com/How-to-make-a-Face-Mask

March 17 Neighborhood Update

NEIGHBORHOOD SING?
As I do my social distancing, I find myself craving live music, singing together. I have been mulling over how to help organize a neighborhood sing. It could be people gathering at Elizabeth Park — standing 6-10 feet apart. Or it could be everyone coming into their yards at a given time and belting it out.
I am a nurse and things are, of course, a little crazy right now so I don’t feel like I can spearhead this, but I wanted to plant the seed in case someone else has the time/energy to run with it. I would be happy to help.
Carry on and thanks!
Monica Woelfel
Elizabeth St

March 17 Corona Virus update

FIVE KNOWN CASES AS OF TODAY
We’re up to 5 known cases in Whatcom County and 7 in Skagit. Since we have so few tests available, this is unlikely to be at all an accurate picture. People can be infectious without having symptoms. Our current best strategy is to slow down the rate of people catching the virus to keep from overwhelming our hospitals. Please stay home! Go for a walk, but maintain six feet between you and people who don’t live in your household. Use video apps to visit with frie

OOD BANK
Dear Food Bank Volunteers,
As you know, Bellingham Food Bank has been closely watching the
developments around the COVID-19 pandemic. Just last night, our governor
banned all gatherings of 50 people or more, and has also shut down all
restaurants and bars. In order to protect our community, we need to be
proactive.
For this reason, effective tomorrow, March 17th, we are temporarily
suspending our Grocery Rescue Operation. For the foreseeable future we will
no longer pick up any donations from any grocery stores.
This is a difficult decision, but as long as we are picking up donations we
are placing our Grocery Rescue volunteers in harm’s way, and also our
sorting volunteers. If you are a bakery, bread, or non-perishable sorter or
a Grocery Rescue volunteer, your shift is suspended until future notice.
Furthermore, those who are suffering the most from COVID-19 are folks over
the age of 60. Bellingham Food Bank values the help of our volunteers
dearly, but we want to support you all in remaining healthy. For this
reason, if you are over the age of 60, please do not come in for your shift
until further notice.
Other people who shouldn’t come in are those who live with or spend lots of
time with anyone over 60 and/or with people who have compromised health.
And finally, distribution volunteers who are under the age of 60 and are
comfortable coming in: Today we will continue packing boxes of food for
distribution outside. Tomorrow we will plan to distribute boxes from the
back of the trucks at our CTK Satellite.

SMALL MARKETS
It would be great if we can help keep our smaller locally-owned stores solvent during this strange time. For example, if you are looking for rice, most stores were out or only had a bag or two on the shelves yesterday. The Asia Market on Meridian has a LOT of rice and they are open. As of this morning, their shelves were stocked with all sorts of noodles, canned fish and meats, rice crackers, seasonings, some Asian vegetables, and of course, delicious Asian food ingredients.
Sherrie Montgomery

CSA: COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE
The Farmers Market will be closed for a while. This is a good time to sign up for Community Supported Agriculture subscriptions. You pay a set rate and boxes of locally grown produce are delivered weekly to a pick-up point. Consider if your place would be a good pick-up point: under cover, accessible, and not in view of the street. Carport or big porch? This supports our local farmers and brings us fresh produce. It could be another resource that could go on the map project as well.

SKYPE A SCIENTIST
“For friends who may be stuck at home with their kids, or teachers trying to placate parents – Skype a Scientist is expanding to connect scientists with kids at home! There are over 800 scientists at hand, of many many different disciplines, and all so excited to answer your kid’s questions and provide you at least 30 minutes of relief.”
https://www.skypeascientist.com/for-families.html?fbclid=IwAR12PIH2Bl1mAs4xPlNRq1aAFG4EUPz97pZP2Vvodvxt2aqiZ4-1u5EGaQw
Millie Johnson

MAPPING PROJECT
I have been invited to help with a mapping project and could use both techie help and YOUR help. We have experts who will create a dashboard with links to important resources like the Health Department, newspapers, government etc. Also a map on which we can locate and detail hospital situations, pharmacies (drive through?), stores, and anything else we would find useful. For stores, we can detail current open hours, what is and isn’t on the shelves (with date/time/user), traffic if there are closed areas. We could post online events. What I would like to know from all of you is, what would be useful to have on it? And, are there folks on this list who know how to run Google maps and could help with that part? The mapping project experts I met with yesterday (online) have platforms ready to go and will build infrastructure for us to fill in.
Most useful way to contact me is email: flip@breskin.com
Thank you!

NOT SUNLIGHT
[Looks like I made a mistake – Fl!p}
Bacteria are not viruses. Sunlight while having some minor impact on exposing surfaces to UV light in fighting bacteria growth, has no  bearing on the spread, control or contraction of COvid19. The Medium article offered NO EVIDENCE of any scientific studies, documentation or attribution for their claims. I offer this video from NBC News of a panel of doctors working in Wuhan Province in China sharing their experience and advice. “Failure to prepare is preparedness for failure.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/live-blog/coronavirus-updates-live-u-s-cities-close-public-buildings-global-n1160106/ncrd1160151#liveBlogHeader
Ann Shannon

March 16 Neighborhood Update

MAKING YOUR VOTE COUNT
This email is about the challenged Whatcom County ballots from the Friday 03/14/2020 State Matchback for Whatcom County. As you know, many voters forgot to declare a party in this election which condemns their ballot to rejection unless they ‘cure’ it during the brief post election certification period. Another segment of voters have signature challenges which have very high numbers in WA for this election. Many of you who have been challenged have probably received a letter from the Whatcom County Auditor (Elections department) that will help you cure your ballot. Please do not delay! If you have the time, I recommend walking right into the Whatcom County election office to solve these problems. I suggest you bring your photo ID. The website https://voter.votewa.gov/  will help you check your “Ballot Status” now and after you ‘cure’ your ballot. Please check it.  For questions on your ballot, you should call the Whatcom County elections office. Contact numbers can be found here: http://www.whatcomcounty.us/2348/Presidential-Primary  As a note, the different challenge groups have very different age curves. The “No Party” challenges skew toward older populations, peaking in the late 60s. All other challenges (including signature challenges) skew much younger, peaking in the teens and early 20s.
The way signature verification works for challenged ballots is tricky. You can fail the second attempt at the verification process. I recommend going in with your ballot and ID.  Many signatures aren’t stable or aren’t recognized as stable/authentic  by the new scanners. My recent SE.2020 vote has four verification failures even though I just submitted one new sig in person. I recommend going in.
Good Luck,
Ryan M. Ferris

WARMING THE COLD
Thanks to our community Shari was able to give out 7-8 sleeping bags and 4 tents this cold weekend, plus blankets, quilts, and good warm boots that fit! I forgot to ask for YOGA MATS/ CAMPING PADS. Those would be wonderful!  My front porch can still be a drop-off point. Thank you! If you didn’t yet contact our city and county government to ask for emergency shelters to be opened, it would still be useful.
Fl!p Breskin
2518 Cherry
flip@columbianeighborhood.org

March 16 Corona Virus Update

RELIABLE CORONA VIRUS MAPS
High Schooler From MI
https://ncov2019.live/

THIRD CASE
As of this morning Whatcom County has 3 confirmed cases and 111 negative test results. The case is a woman in her 20s and the Health Department is currently working to identify and advise people who have had close contact with her. On Friday, March 13, a woman in her 40s tested positive for COVID-19 after self-isolating after being notified that she was in close contact with a lab-confirmed positive case from another county, according to a Health Department press release. [From Bellingham Herald]

DINE IN RESTAURANTS, BARS, THEATRES ORDERED CLOSED
Gov. Jay Inslee announced that restaurants, bars, health and fitness clubs, entertainment and recreational facilities will be shut down statewide to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus after midnight tonight. Restaurants will be allowed to provide take-out, drive through and delivery services but no in-person dining will be permitted. The ban will not apply to grocery stores and pharmacies. Other retail outlets will have reduced occupancy. Details were not released on the types of retail businesses that would be affected.
[From Bellingham Herald]

LEAVE SOME FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR
Especially items labeled WIC. Parents on WIC can’t choose a different brand of beans or cereal. As long as you can, please do!
https://medium.com/wadepthealth/leave-some-for-your-neighbor-5bd7b941e332
Jennifer Karchmer

CHILD CARE
”Even if they are your parents. And even if they are begging to provide childcare. For the health and safety of the loving grandparents, consider whether it’s possible for your family to find an alternate source of backup childcare,” the health department wrote in a press release Saturday, March 14.
▪ Consider sharing the care of small groups of kids with other neighbors who must work.
▪ Take kids outside to play rather than staying in crowded indoor spaces. Parks remain open and Whatcom’s weather is supposed to return to the 50s after a cold weekend.
▪ Watch for school district news. Some districts are continuing to provide meals and offer on-line learning.
[From Bellingham Herald]

ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITIES
My healthy and active dad lives with me so I had extra precautions to decide where to go out and with whom to socialize. I’m feeling relived today because over the weekend we made a good plan. In addition to washing hands, taking care not to share germs in the house, and social distancing, we will
– choose not to go to group events.
– socialize outside in fresh air.
– before and after socializing,
ask the people we are social with, including partners and their families, to inform us if anyone is sick in any way.
– inform the people we are social with if we develop any symptoms of sickness.
– I will do the grocery shopping (he will not go to places with lots of people).
– get outside for walks or bike rides at least once a day.
Laura Ridenour
Peabody Street

BLEACH DANGERS: DON’T MIX IT
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/tips/a32773/cleaning-products-never-mix/
2tbs bleach to 1 quart of water makes a disinfecting solution you can spray on surfaces and food and let dry to disinfect. Food safety and other disinfecting stuff is surprisingly simple. Letting things air dry after getting the bleach treatment is key.

March 15 Neighborhood Update

TRESPASSING & BURGLARY ON UTTER ST
I caught a man stealing from the shed inside my yard on the 2700 block of Utter St. today at 5:15 PM. He was at my backdoor around 3:00 PM, asking to take an old BBQ from the alley. He returned two hours later, and my husband saw him on our doorbell camera and called to tell me that he was on our back porch again. When I looked outside, he wasn’t there. I went to my side window and found him stealing tools from our shed. I called 911, and they were able to find him along with a bag of stolen items. I was able to identify tools stolen from our shed, but there are items belonging to other people in the bag as well. The patrol officer Tori James told me to reach out to the neighborhood, especially close neighbors, to see if they find anything missing and if so, to contact her at (360) 778-8839 with the case number 20B-16291 to claim any missing items.
Diana Lim
Utter St.

March 15 Corona Virus Update

THE REASON NOT TO GATHER – DATA FOR WHATCOM COUNTY
From Heather Shepherd
Dear Friends,
There is a lot of COVID-19 data floating around out there. Here are some numbers estimated for Whatcom County recently sent. It helped me put this pandemic into perspective. I hope it can do the same for you.
– Number of hospital beds in Whatcom County: 253
– Number of ICU beds in Whatcom County: 24
– St Joesph Medical Center hospital census this last month has ranged from all 253 beds occupied to ~53 hospital beds available (prior to any confirmed COVID-19 cases).
– Number of individuals in Whatcom County greater than 65 years of age: >40,000
– Estimated hospitalization rate for COVID-19 infections: ~15% with “severe illness” (defined as respiratory failure requiring oxygen support).
– Estimated ICU rate for COVID-19 infections: ~5% with“critical illness” (defined as organ failure)
– Average length of stay for hospitalized COVID-19 patients: several weeks
Applying the numbers: If just 1% of our over 65 population becomes infected with COVID-19 in the next week, we can expect the need to hospitalize 60 patients (15%) with “severe illness” and an additional 20 patients (5%) with “critical illness”. As you can see, this already exceeds the supply of hospital and ICU beds in Whatcom County, and we know these ill patients will occupy those beds for weeks. This situation of the hospitals/ICUs being completely overwhelmed by COVID-19 is exactly what is happening in Italy.
As we ride this out remember that we are a community. Practice all the things that are being recommended (social distancing/hand washing/stay home, etc). Take care of one another, practice generosity. Call the elderly. Identify what you have (time, energy, resources) and find a way to safely share it with others.

LISTS OF HELPERS!
Someone has created a Google spreadsheet to gather names of people willing to help out their neighbors all across Bellingham, organized by neighborhood:
tinyurl.com/bhamhelpers

There is also a Facebook group, also organized by neighborhoods:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bellinghamcovid19helpers/
ht/t Alex Pandel
You can sign up on either or both, to offer or look for help. I am so delighted!

And here’s an article about similar groups in England, from Marcia Leister:
https://freedomnews.org.uk/covid-19-uk-mutual-aid-groups-a-list/

You don’t have to wait to start contacting your immediate neighbors to organize mutual support on your block. If you don’t have their email or phone, leave a note with your own contact info, ask for theirs, and then share that with everyone who joins in so we can find each other.

If you know someone who is elderly or in frail health, see if you can set up a daily check-in. See if they have relatives who should know how to contact you and vice versa. We’ll all be safer if we knit our community together this way. Interdependence can support independence. We need each other now.

If one person is going to the store anyway, they can pick up stuff for others. We can reimburse each other using PayPal or other internet apps because they are touch-free. We’re all about to learn some new skills, but we can do this!!! You can start right now. You can teach me, and I’ll pass it on.

MORE HELP NEEDED
If anyone has TENTS you could spare, people without shelter could really use them. And a specific request for a pair of really warm women’s boots, size 10. Or men’s size 8. Thank you. You can bring them here to my house.
Fl!p Breskin
2518 Cherry
flip@columbianeighborhood.org

HEALTH DEPARTMENT CONFIRMED CASES
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Whatcom County
This information will be updated daily at 12:00pm, or sooner if significant developments occur. Last updated: Sunday, March 15, 2020 at 9:32 am
◦ **Confirmed Cases: 2
◦ *Negative Results: 95
◦ Deaths: 0

CIVILIZATION
…Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.
But no. Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.
A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts, Mead said.”
We are at our best when we serve others. Be civilized.
**Ira Byock, in his book The Best Care Possible: A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life (Avery, 2012)

MAP YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SIGN-UPS
Names have been streaming in. I am delighted! For those who haven’t yet considered this, I will be hosting a virtual (on-line) meeting for people willing to host their own block (also on-line only) for a Map Your Neighborhood session on helping each other through this emergency together. Email me with your name, address, phone and say it’s for MYN and I’ll get you on a list and email back with possible times. Right now I’m getting some additional training specific to epidemics. But soon!

CHILDCARE
It is a calculated risk to bring people together. Yet there are parents who must go to work in health care, groceries or other critical services. Try to keep your sharing circles compact. Families sharing care will want to consider and keep track of whether anyone in their group has been exposed. Check the new Helper lists at the top of today’s Update to offer or seek help.
https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/NovelCoronavirusOutbreak2020/ParentsCaregivers

STATE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE POSSIBILITIES
I don’t know whether any of this will come through or not, but it may be worth checking. State government structures & employees are scrambling to try to meet our needs. Be kind to them please.
https://esdorchardstorage.blob.core.windows.net/esdwa/Default/ESDWAGOV/newsroom/COVID-19/covid-19-scenarios-and-benefits.pdf

PAID FAMILY LEAVE BENEFIT
https://dfi.wa.gov/coronavirus-financial-resources
ESD’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program can provide paid leave benefits for Washington workers who need to take time off from work due to a serious health condition or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Certification by a healthcare provider is required for applications for Paid Family and Medical Leave due to a serious health condition. Visit: https://paidleave.wa.gov/ • I
https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/Resource%20List%20for%20WA%20State%20Businesses%20and%20Workers%20Impacted%20by%20Coronavirus.pdf

PARTIAL UNEMPLOYMENT
Some people who are losing significant hours without paid time leave due to CoVid-19 might be able to go online to file a claim for partial unemployment benefits. Or call 800-318-6022.
esd.wa.gov

UPDATE FROM AN EPIDEMIC
This is someone to follow for real, compassionate, accurate information from the trenches. “This is truly not about you getting exposed, but your responsibility to not give it to someone else.”
https://betsybrownmd.substack.com/p/march-13-2020?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&utm_source=facebook

WARMING OUR WORLD
Oh my dear neighbors! You’ve been magnificent. Yesterday morning my front entry was filled by an amazing stream of neighbors and friends bearing sleeping bags, coats, hats, gloves, warm socks, beautiful hand-knit hats and scarves and sweaters, everything you could think of and spare. And cash donations – almost $350! Jana came and picked it all up around noon and crammed it in her car. And I do mean crammed! Trunk, backseat, everywhere but just room to squish in the driver. Jana took it to Shari, who got tearful, and then went and bought tarps with a bunch of the cash and handed your gifts out today, with tarps to wrap around the sleeping bags to help cut the bitter wind. THANK YOU!
If you didn’t yet contact our city and county government to ask for emergency shelters to be opened, it would still be useful. You can still bring things here, and Jana will pick them up.

CDC: HANDWASHING TEMPERATURE DOESN’T MATTER (!?)
From the Center for Disease Control’s “Show Me the Science — How to Wash Your Hands”:
Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.
Why? Because hands could become recontaminated if placed in a basin of standing water that has been contaminated through previous use, clean running water should be used. However, washing with non-potable water when necessary may still improve health. The temperature of the water does not appear to affect microbe removal; however, warmer water may cause more skin irritation and is more environmentally costly. Turning off the faucet after wetting hands saves water, and there are few data to prove whether significant numbers of germs are transferred between hands and the faucet.

PERSPECTIVE
We live in a culture that idolizes action and struggle, gun-slingers and ass-kickers. But gun-slingers are no use today, if they ever were. You know who’s going to make a difference in this crisis, who’s going to save lives? The patient, the cautious, the careful, the caring, the steadfast, the nervous, the slightly obsessive, the checkers and double-checkers, the cooks, the cleaners, the good neighbors, the kid wranglers, the meal deliverers, the errand runners, the wash-your-hands naggers, the care-givers, the home schoolers, the late-night tale tellers, and the chicken soup makers.
I see you. You are my people. This could be our finest hour.
Rosalind Reynolds

UPDATED RELIABLE SOURCES
From Victor Street neighbor Greg Hope, who works in emergency management.
• http://whatcomcounty.us/ncov
• http://www.whatcomcounty.us/3329/Novel-Coronavirus-COVID-19
• https://www.doh.wa.gov/emergencies/coronavirus
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus
• https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

The Washington State Department of Health has established a call center to address questions from the public. If you have questions about what is happening in Washington state, how the virus is spread, and what to do if you have symptoms, please call 1-800-525-0127 and press #.  Open 7 days, 6 AM to 10 PM. [I talked with them yesterday and they did their best to help. ~Fl!p]

TAKING IT SERIOUSLY
I’m looking at Passover Over The Internet this year. Since I subscribed to Zoom for a year, I can lead my big family gathering this way. I love my family and want them to stay home. Not just to protect themselves, but even more, to protect Everyone.
Love/Fl!p

JOYFUL CONNECTION
https://www.today.com/news/moving-videos-show-italians-singing-during-coronavirus-quarantine-t175966