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| Visiting The Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, California |
Our team was on the road in the community over the weekend visiting Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos as we observed a number of the artifacts on display on the military history of California. We also hereby note the following correspondence from the 1940's:
One of the key developments we also assessed this week was the resurrection of Joe Biden. Although mixing up his Sister and Wife and forgetting Barack Obama's name was making the Social Media Headlines, he continued to make headway as the Democratic Nomination for President became a two-person race--and as Donald Trump Jr. challenged Hunter Biden to a Debate and as Senate Republicans wanted to resurrect the Burisma investigation, he raised over 20 Million Dollars and Mike Bloomberg committed his entire infrastructure to support Joe Biden. The Financial Times of London also reflected upon this during the week that was:
Our team also found the analysis by The noted Conservative Commentator Erick Erickson especially of interest that we hereby note as follows:
As we also went to press, Europe and Asia woke up to a carnage in equities markets which presented the challenge the European Central Bank and other central bankers have to contend with:
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First scheduled rate decision at a major central bank since virus hit global economy
MARCH 9, 2020 by Martin Arnold in Frankfurt
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We had also been assessing what CityLab had reported on the state of local preparedness in the United States underscored by the following as Test Kits continue to be a challenge--a number of States had declared States of Emergency to deal with the raging epidemic:
There are now at least 100 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., with New York, the most populous city in the country, reporting its first case on Sunday. Both Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo had days earlier called the arrival the virus “inevitable,” and the city is one of several that have been planning for an uptick of cases.
In New York, hospitals designated 1,200 beds for treatment of Covid-19 patients, while city officials are weighing options to limit or stagger public transit ridership. In Texas, weeks before the state confirmed its first case, Tarrant County had established a "war room" in a downtown Fort Worth building so officials could gather for daily conference calls. And in California, San Francisco and a handful of counties have declared public health emergencies to free up funding.
But having a plan doesn't necessarily means being prepared, cautions John Barry, leading historian of the 1918 Spanish flu, which was dubbed the "Mother of all pandemics.” "The problem isn’t the plan,” Barry said in a conversation with me this morning. Some of the most important factors are out of cities’ hands. ”How many hospital beds do you have, specifically ICU beds?" he says, warning that hospitals may be overwhelmed as the number of cases spike. Barry also points to the supply chain disruption in China, which will make nurses and doctors vulnerable. "The surgical gloves, the hypodermic needles, the surgical gowns," he adds. "Nobody stockpiles that stuff." New York, for example, has obtained 1.5 million face masks for its health workers, and needs 300,000 more. The U.S. is currently facing a shortage amid a surge in public demand.
All the while, delays and missteps—including the slow distribution of reliable test kits by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention —have already limited local communities' ability to detect and contain the spread of the virus. In Washington state, the virus may have been spreading, undetected, for six weeks. And as health experts brace for an increase of cases in coming days, King County officials are looking to buy a motel to isolate potential patients.
-Linda Poon
One of the most profound vulnerable populations is the homeless--and the National Association of the Homeless released the following guidance. Although it is homeless-centric, the guidance is still critical for all to embrace as our World battles this raging epidemic:
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Coronavirus and Homelessness
Several resources are available to help providers and systems leaders prepare for the impact of a coronavirus outbreak. Links to the resources are below. Key take-aways include:
- Be prepared by staying informed about your local COVID-19 situation and establish relationships with public health partners in your community
- Communicate with staff and clients about facility preparedness and policy updates (i.e. modified hours, non-urgent care by telephone, etc.), and consider using social media to do so
- Expect the homelessness services sector workforce to be impacted, and anticipate modified service delivery based on staff capacity
- Protect your workforce by screening clients, staff, and visitors for acute respiratory illness, ensuring use of personal protection equipment, and encouraging sick employees to stay home
- Protect your clients by separating those with respiratory illnesses, and implementing prevention strategies to minimize exposure (i.e. encouraging frequent hand-washing, increased surface cleaning/disinfection, etc.)
- Take inventory of supplies (hand soap, food, and more) and order more if necessary
For more detailed information on how to prepare, please consult the following resources:
Pandemic Planning and Services that Support People Who are Homeless, OrgCode
Disease Risks and Homelessness resource and Infectious Diseases Toolkit for CoCs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Steps Healthcare Facilities Can Take Now to Prepare for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Homelessness and the Response to Emerging Infectious Disease Outbreaks: Lessons from SARS, National Center for Biotechnology Information |
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We wanted to close out this weekly with this potential good news courtesy the team at Abundance Insider:
What it is: University of Bern researchers have perfected a cloning technique to reproduce synthetic coronavirus strains more quickly. These clones allow scientists to experiment with knocking out certain genes of the COVID-19 virus and observe the effects. Once the genes associated with replication are identified, researchers can design drugs to specifically target these regions—halting further replication. The team is also working with human samples of the virus from a German patient, who contracted the newest form of the virus in early February. Meanwhile, a team at the University of Texas at Austin has now generated the first 3D atomic-scale map of the region of the COVID-19 virus that attaches to and infects human cells. Made using cryo-electron microscopy, developed by Nobel Prize-winning researcher Jacques Dubochet, this map could unlock important next steps for vaccine development.
Why it’s important: Coronavirus has killed 3,465 people since its initial outbreak, mostly in mainland China. COVID-19’s scope now surpasses 92,000 cases globally, and infection has spread to more than 70 countries and territories. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported Tuesday that the global mortality rate of the virus stands at around 3.4%. As health implications abound, Coronavirus’s economic impacts are already reverberating rapidly. Stock market volatility—in part due to uncertainty surrounding supply chain disruptions caused by sickness, travel restrictions, and quarantines—is but one reflection of the virus’s second-degree consequences. Researchers are working with urgency to delay the spread of disease, and the above COVID-19 clones could quickly supply labs internationally with essential materials to test their solutions.
We will be assessing all matters throughout the week--our Twitter Corner will have daily updates and our live Broadcast POD featuring SkyNews will be available on Demand as we leave all with the following Thoughts:
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