3/22 Covid-19 Update: "Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts"
Evening everybody,
My family has a campsite up the North Cascades Highway in Washington state that is the location of a lot of my life's happiest and most peaceful memories. We always joked that when the apocalypse happened, we would all flee there and at least be spend our last minutes together looking at that river when the end came. While this most certainly isn't the end, everything has a bit of an apocalyptic feel to it here at the moment, and so we found ourselves there yesterday - properly socially distanced in a very wide circle around a campfire. I'm still having a hard time finding "covid free" moments -- it seems to be the ever-present current below every thought and feeling I have. But I think there were a few times yesterday when I was able to look up at the trees and feel the sunshine and bask in the sensation of being in the orbit of people I love and enjoy just the tiniest taste of separation from this virus. Fleeting, luxurious, privileged moments that I know not everyone has access to right now - but I tried to give myself permission to feel them. Because what good comes from denying myself that gift? "Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive," Hafiz says. I hope you all had moments this weekend that made you feel glad to be alive, too.
FAQs:
The most frequently asked questions I've heard over the last few days. Reminder: I am NOT a doctor/scientist. The answers below reflect the thinking I'm seeing from doctors/scientists I respect and trust, and I'd encourage you to continue to seek out credible sources of information. See what data they're using to back up their arguments, and if their opinion is related to public health interventions, make sure they're a public health expert.
Can I quarantine with my friends? I think this article provides the best answer I've seen (Tl;dr: No), but the personal rule I'm using is this: If I'm going to be within six feet of someone, it is my responsibility to let them know who else I've come within six feet of. If my cousins in Seattle - who have become my quarantine group even though we're pretty much only meeting outside at this point - think that we're the extent of each other's social interactions, but actually each of us also has another quarantine group or person on the side that we haven't disclosed, then we're not able to honestly assess the risk of our interactions, and we've really violated the spirit of what this quarantine is trying to do. It's the same way we were taught safe sex: you have an obligation to disclose other partners/history so that people can make informed decisions about the level of risk they're willing to tolerate (and potentially pass on to others). Short answer: Ashes to ashes, death to covid quarantine sidechicks. (Here's the best Q&A I've seen on why and how to practice social distancing: https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-vital-importance-of-isolation)
Why hasn't Gov. Inslee announced "shelter in place" yet? Mark Lipsitch is an epidemiologist and the director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard, and his comments on Twitter about this seem to match most closely with the people i work with: A)"Shelter in place" is basically what is already happening in Washington state under the guidance of "stay at home if you can, especially if you're at risk" B) It's not a useful public health term - it was created for active shooter situations/nuclear war, and if used during a pandemic can actually be really confusing to people, causing some to panic and flee -therefore spreading the virus with them (which we've seen in CA/NY - both states are no longer using "shelter in place" guidance C) Fresh air (ventilation) and UV light are important for our immune system - and what we actually need is to find ways to help people be safely outdoors at a distance from each other, not to keep them trapped inside.The New Yorker Q&A linked to above also talks about this.
Should I be afraid if the national guard gets called in? No. The National Guard is an organized military unit designed to help people! Think of images of Florida after hurricanes, when the National Guard got called in to help with relief efforts. In normal circumstances, the National Guard showing up means that there's been a disaster of some sort, but that there's now a coordinated effort to get help to people. Yes - this could include law enforcement, but it also means getting food to old people, helping train first responders, and cleaning public spaces. We should be grateful to the people doing this work.
Recommended reading:
"This 39-year-old New Orleans woman tested for coronavirus. She died before getting her results" -- Ott texted Anderson regularly in the days before her death, he said. She complained of feeling unwell and feverish; she drank "medicinal whiskey" to try to feel better. Things seemed to be getting better on Thursday; after walking her dog, Zola, she and Anderson made plans to watch Netflix on Friday night. When she didn’t answer his calls that day, he went to her home, where he found her body on the floor. If a loved one is showing symptoms, "you need to check with that person … not every day, but every hour,” Anderson said. “And at any point, if they say anything about their lungs, you need to get them to the hospital.”
"Five Ways To Find Joy and Love Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic" -- Be with what ails you; find the magic in everything; once you find the magic, share it; embrace community; find the things that make you happy (and do them): "We’ve been in such a panic mode of what to do and who to listen to, it has become increasingly more difficult for us to sit still and pay attention to what we need to feed ourselves (besides our Pringles rations.) This is the time for you to do all the things or do nothing at all. Whatever you decide to do, try to find your sense of peace within it."
"Here’s What Parents Dealing With Coronavirus Isolation Want You To Know" -- "Over the last week, I’ve talked to hundreds of parents about the specific challenges they’re facing now — some are unique, others feel near-universal. Some parents feel alone, even though they know millions of others are in the same position; some feel like people without kids just aren’t getting it: Everything that was once simple feels difficult, and everything that was already difficult feels impossible"
COVID-19 Saint of the Day:
Saint Paulus, the First Hermit (h/t Laura): (The Life of Paulus was written in the year 374 or 375 during Jerome's stay in the desert of Syria, as is seen from c. 6, and was dedicated to Paulus of Concordia as stated in Jerome's Epistle x. c. 3): "The young man fled to the mountain wilds to wait for the end of the persecution. He began with easy stages, and repeated halts, to advance into the desert."
COVID-19 Quote of the Day:
Margaret Mead, of the "“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has" fame - also said this:
❝ 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, The Best Care Possible: A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life (Avery, 2012)
--
Here's a photo of my socially distanced family (thanks, Mia!) at our campsite yesterday. Hang in there everybody! Be civilized!
Sending love,
Alison
If you know someone interested in receiving this newsletter, forward it their way. You can subscribe (and link to it) here: http://coronavirus19.substack.com/