March 17, 2020 - Message from Peggy
Greeting ISI friends at UCSC!
Peggy here, ISI staff for UCSC
How are you doing in this difficult time?
Just after our UCSC campus has suffered through grad student TA protests since December, we were finally poised to get back to normal when--
... WHAM the pandemic hits!
We are all reeling!
In the last three days I've studied a flood of announcements of school, governments and other public event closures...
because knowledge is power.
But my emotional tide didn't turn for me until I read through THIS excellent article.
forwarded by our son Bruin, at Washington Univ. Medical School in St. Louis.
Its correct advice for Social Distancing is also now echoed by Santa Cruz Health department and network news media.
..and fits with my own husband Dr. Bob's excellent advice (after his UCSF Med school personal study into Common Cold research, followed by the past 35 years in the ER, treating 75,000+ common colds -- of which COVID-19 is a new strain in the coronavirus category)
Even though we have only a few local cases identified, the Santa Cruz community is quickly realizing we must do our parts to slow the spread of COVID-19 BEFORE it overwhelms our already maxed-out healthcare system.
Our Bay area population is highly mobile,
highly internationally travelled.
In the past two weeks, I, like many of us, have been with, maybe 500 Bay Area people at some big group events. Everyone seemed healthy, and we felt SO happy to connect, and were careful to wash hands. BUT...careful enough?
Though probability is low, I now realize, any of us, including me, could have, unwittingly spread the virus around.
Especially since a person can be contagious for 14 or more days or more, before showing any symptoms!
Yikes!
It's the downside of being so internationally connected.
Our ISI West Coast staff met last week to fellowship and share strategies.
I even learned the new "Wuhan Foot Greeting."
Most ISI are now likewise stopping in-person meetings, and going online. We are so sad to do this. BUT we must put everyone's health as top priority.
We are also concerned the pandemic is causing great stress for many people with jobs and other needs.
So please let us know how we can help support you through this.
One good thing is that, unlike past times, we now have a strong internet allowing us to have great communication capabilities.
And a bit of a silver lining is that our Social Distancing time is slowing us all down a bit,
so we can get more sleep,
catch up on home-based and personal activities
and neglected other goals?
But life is still going ahead...
with some great things to celebrate
Big Congratulations
to our friend Abel Mkulama!
Last Saturday, he just won
second place in the all-UCSC "Grad Slam"
public speaking contest for graduate student projects.
Spiritual Inspiration
Sooooo I ask you
in our time of global pandemic
how we should respond...
With hourly news updates of the growing pandemic.
Is it time to panic yet?
Hoard toilet paper, canned goods and Purell?
in case of an impeding apocalypse
that stuff does make you feel a bit safer, right?
OR time to pooh-pooh?
Just ignore all those health warnings,
click-bait media hype
and carry on my personal planned agenda.
I don't see or feel anything different yet,
so it must not be real.
Anyway, I'm a tough, healthy person,
not afraid of a little risk
OR our time to ponder our relations,
understand what we can from the wonderful
abundance of information that
God has blessed us with these days.
Then PRAY intelligently--
Lift it all up to God
who knows far beyond what we know,
to guide, fill and empower us in love and truth
as we take care of the people and responsibilities
HE has brought each of us.
Peggy here, ISI staff for UCSC
How are you doing in this difficult time?
Just after our UCSC campus has suffered through grad student TA protests since December, we were finally poised to get back to normal when--
... WHAM the pandemic hits!
We are all reeling!
In the last three days I've studied a flood of announcements of school, governments and other public event closures...
because knowledge is power.
But my emotional tide didn't turn for me until I read through THIS excellent article.
forwarded by our son Bruin, at Washington Univ. Medical School in St. Louis.
Its correct advice for Social Distancing is also now echoed by Santa Cruz Health department and network news media.
..and fits with my own husband Dr. Bob's excellent advice (after his UCSF Med school personal study into Common Cold research, followed by the past 35 years in the ER, treating 75,000+ common colds -- of which COVID-19 is a new strain in the coronavirus category)
Even though we have only a few local cases identified, the Santa Cruz community is quickly realizing we must do our parts to slow the spread of COVID-19 BEFORE it overwhelms our already maxed-out healthcare system.
Our Bay area population is highly mobile,
highly internationally travelled.
In the past two weeks, I, like many of us, have been with, maybe 500 Bay Area people at some big group events. Everyone seemed healthy, and we felt SO happy to connect, and were careful to wash hands. BUT...careful enough?
Though probability is low, I now realize, any of us, including me, could have, unwittingly spread the virus around.
Especially since a person can be contagious for 14 or more days or more, before showing any symptoms!
Yikes!
It's the downside of being so internationally connected.
Our ISI West Coast staff met last week to fellowship and share strategies.
I even learned the new "Wuhan Foot Greeting."
Most ISI are now likewise stopping in-person meetings, and going online. We are so sad to do this. BUT we must put everyone's health as top priority.
We are also concerned the pandemic is causing great stress for many people with jobs and other needs.
So please let us know how we can help support you through this.
One good thing is that, unlike past times, we now have a strong internet allowing us to have great communication capabilities.
And a bit of a silver lining is that our Social Distancing time is slowing us all down a bit,
so we can get more sleep,
catch up on home-based and personal activities
and neglected other goals?
But life is still going ahead...
with some great things to celebrate
Big Congratulations
to our friend Abel Mkulama!
Last Saturday, he just won
second place in the all-UCSC "Grad Slam"
public speaking contest for graduate student projects.
Spiritual Inspiration
Sooooo I ask you
in our time of global pandemic
how we should respond...
With hourly news updates of the growing pandemic.
Is it time to panic yet?
Hoard toilet paper, canned goods and Purell?
in case of an impeding apocalypse
that stuff does make you feel a bit safer, right?
OR time to pooh-pooh?
Just ignore all those health warnings,
click-bait media hype
and carry on my personal planned agenda.
I don't see or feel anything different yet,
so it must not be real.
Anyway, I'm a tough, healthy person,
not afraid of a little risk
OR our time to ponder our relations,
understand what we can from the wonderful
abundance of information that
God has blessed us with these days.
Then PRAY intelligently--
Lift it all up to God
who knows far beyond what we know,
to guide, fill and empower us in love and truth
as we take care of the people and responsibilities
HE has brought each of us.