Surfing the Tsunami

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]

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

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

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.