For those of you on this post who live in Michigan, you will be comforted by the leaders of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. She has taken the lead in Michigan to try to stay ahead of the virus and mitigate its spread. She has closed all Michigan public schools for three weeks and called a state of emergency.. This state of emergency gives her broad powers to regulate citizens’ activities which if allowed to continue could exacerbate the contagion.
She has coordinated a Michigan Corona virus website which provides up to date information on the spread in Michigan, how many tests have been given and the test results. It provides citizens with the latest recommendations for self protection and preparedness.
The site appears to be comprehensive and well organized. It gives a sense of confidence that Whitmer and her team are staying ahead of the curve. (This idiom also fits a pandemic.). It would behoove all Michigan residents on this post to check out this website each day. If you live in another state, check out both your state and local health departments, to make sure they are operating effectively.
https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98158—,00.html
Am also providing the Benzie/Leelanau District Health Department (BLDHD) and Grand Traverse County Health Department (GTCHD) websites. Both sites likewise provide good information about what is happening in their local area. Compare the two websites to see if one looks more complete than the other.
http://gtchd.org/2231/COVID-19-Novel-Coronavirus
http://www.bldhd.org/coronavirus-covid-19
If so inclined, there happens to be a role for residents of the region, to keep their health departments performing on all cylinders. By way of phone calls and emails, citizens can ask probing questions about availability of ICU beds, ventilators and if the health departments have adequately prepared for a hospital intake surge. Are other facilities being prepared?
To discourage these calls, due to over burdening department staff, health departments could provide answers to the questions on their sites. If they are worried about scaring citizens, they can mention they are working on the issue/s.
For example, the BLDHD cites their responsibility to track the health of travelers either returning to the area or visitors. The GTCHD does not include that obligation on their site. Either way, questions are being raised whether or not passengers arriving at Cherry Capitol Airport are being screened. What about the bus stations in the region?
In addition, since Munson is a regional hospital serving northern lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, how prepared is the hospital in the event of a surge of patients? Have they identified overflow facilities? Have they enough ventilators? Is the Traverse County Health Department on alert for assisting with the hospital’s needs? In what ways?
Can business leaders play a role? Yesterday, Trump announced a private sector/government partnership to assist with mitigation plans. If it is all hands on deck, mayors and health department officials need to think big and recruit business leaders to jump on board. And these questions are not meant to hold any one’s feet to the fire. They are only proposed to insure as comprehensive and compete preparedness as possible because people’s lives are at stake.
Which brings us right to our very own members of Congress and what they can provide in the way of assistance. Let’s all call Bergman, Stabenow and Peters to find out what they are doing to facilitate Michigan’s readiness. Have they been working on securing testing kits? What else have they been doing?. Plan on calling them Monday morning to speak to a staff person.
And don’t forget the Record Eagle to not only register complaints about northern Michigan’s problems with readiness but also to suggest ideas to keep the region more safe and people’s morale from ebbing.
Reaching out to others lifts one’s s own spirits. There are so many lonely souls in our culture to begin with, this pandemic will isolate them even more. Get creative about ways you can help friends and neighbors via phone calls and emails.
And finally in the interest of full disclosure, I am currently in Scottsdale, Arizona. In the greater Phoenix area, in which Scottsdale abuts, there are 56 hospitals and almost 5 million residents. Like Florida, there are also seasonal retirees who flock to the area in the winter.
I have no idea what all this means for a surge of the virus here and so it pays to isolate to stay safe. Unfortunately, due to only 3 identified cases in the entire county, many citizens are disregarding the virus as not affecting them and going about their business as usual.
The good news here is that Dem candidate Mark Kelly, Gabby Gifford’s spouse, leads Martha McSally by 7 points in the race for the U.S. Senate. Yeah!
Finally, here is an article from The Record Eagle which discusses the latest status of cases in Michigan and the region.
Stay safe.
https://www.record-eagle.com/collections/first-person-from-northern-michigan-diagnosed-with-covid/article_8ac90a46-653c-11ea-8212-af91dbbcdc9c.html