Last night, Duke University announced that it is beginning social distancing procedures:
Duke is committed to maintaining our daily operations, completing the semester, and ensuring that all students can fulfill their academic requirements as planned. We will, however, institute a series of social distancing practices to protect the health and continuity of our community.
First, all on-campus classes will be suspended until further notice, and we will transition to remote instruction ….
Second, all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who are currently out of town for Spring Break should NOT return to the Duke campus if at all possible….
At this time, we are also suspending all non-essential university-funded travel, both domestic and international.
West Virginia University is taking similar steps.
We are trying to buy externalities to slow the spread and decrease the size of the spike. For families like mine, where we are all young (enough) with no major health concerns, the personal risk is low. Our goal is to make sure that we don’t get infected and then pass COVID19 to individuals who are at higher risk. We are beginning to lean on our social system to give our medical system a chance next week and the week after that and the week after that.
So what should we be doing?
- Wash your hands!
- Maintain distance
- Stay home as much as possible
- Check in on your neighbors and help out if/as possible
- Lean in to help the folks who are going to be in the wards soon
- Wash your hands
Checking in on friends, family and neighbors will be critical. This is especially true for our community members who may not have the same abundance of resources or luck in their health profiles. If someone needs a medicine pick-up but they are working, lean into that. If someone needs a lawn mowed but their regular guy is not around, mow the lawn. Lean in. We need to lean into our social networks, even as physical distances increase.
Balloon Juice is as much a community as any neighborhood. Let’s make sure that we’re checking in on each other, and offering whatever support we can when and where we can.
different-church-lady
Oh, honey, I’ve been self-quarantining for years now.
mrmoshpotato
@different-church-lady: LOL ?
MomSense
I wish I could self quarantine
Baud
This is why I love this blog. I can’t get diseases from any of you.
Travels with Charley
this is great advice, and makes me feel that there is something positive I can contribute, other than washing my hands. I work for a small defense contractor and we will be contacting our government clients this week about sending our employees home
in Northern Virginia, Fairfax. Is there any balloon juice jackals in my area that I can support?
Betty Cracker
Good advice.
Personal dilemma: We’ve got tickets to a spring training game this weekend. Hate to miss it, but maybe staying home is the right thing to do?
So far, life in Florida is as normal as it ever is in this open air asylum. There aren’t any school or business closures that I’m aware of, no public events canceled by the authorities (though Biden and Sanders both canceled planned rallies, I believe). But we are governed by Republicans, so I assume they are acting in their short-term political interests rather than in the public’s.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: and it’s a bult-in audience for Baud! 2020!
mrmoshpotato
@Betty Cracker: Who’s playing?
sherparick
Thank you very much for the information and guidance. We all appreciate it.
Betty Cracker
@mrmoshpotato: Rays and Jays.
Cheryl Rofer
I was asked to participate in lobbying Congress to keep key arms control treaties the end of April. We’re now talking about alternative ways to do that.
mrmoshpotato
@Betty Cracker: Their records are almost neck-and-neck. I think it could be a good game. And it’ll take your mind off of the screaming orange brat for a few hours.
Another Scott
@Betty Cracker: The medical conference in NY was just a few hundred people (if that) and apparently half of them were infected.
We’ve got an annual award banquet coming up in April. A few hundred people, lots of close conversation and hand shaking in normal times. I’m thinking of not going this year…
tl;dr – you should assume that the virus is everywhere. Wash your hands. If you have risk factors, or contact people who do, strongly consider maximizing your social distance.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
jackson
@Travels with Charley:
recovering from surgery. can use help.
Amir Khalid
@Baud:
Except maybe at a meetup. Speaking of which, should jackals consider a moratorium on them? I would not be affected myself, here on the other side of the planet, but you guys might be.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Wanna bet?
arrieve
Just cancelled my meditation retreat near San Francisco. I was hoping that I could go but it’s just irresponsible to travel right now. I’m not (that) worried about getting sick myself, but don’t want to infect other people.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: I cancelled a trip to the ball park with my son that was set for 4/9, but I have several strikes against me.
PenAndKey
My wife is 8 months pregnant and works in retail. I have a son in elementary school. I might be able to work from home if the corporation I work for shutters my plant for a quarantine so we’d still have health insurance and at least 2/3 of our income so while our credit cards might default at least we’d have enough for our utilities, house and car payments. Needless to say, I’d absolutely love to be able to sequester us all into our house for the duration but even as okay as we would be I doubt it’s in the cards. At least the wife’ll be home after next month for 6-8 weeks.
David Anderson
@jackson: What type of help do you need?
Tenar Arha
@Betty Cracker: If you can sit spaced apart in the stands or the lawn, maybe?
I probably went to my last usual night out at the movies, yesterday. Whether bc of the clear signal sent by Harvard, the parade cancellation, & then Baker’s emergency declaration, and/or it’s a bit of a lull btw releases, it really wasn’t busy anywhere at all. And normally bc it’s the AMC 19 theater with lots of movies to choose from & $6 Tuesdays it’s always kinda crowded at 7-ish, even though it’s Tuesday. Add in the way we ended up spreading out in the theater once it was clear that the reserved seats weren’t required, it seemed clear people were taking the 1-3 meter distance rule seriously. I even saw a college student afterwards on the T holding the railing using his sweatshirt!
Movie note: BTW Wendy was a clever adaptation with some great acting, but it didn’t really grab me like Portrait of a Lady on Fire.