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AAIE's 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) UPDATE #30
For March 25, 2020
ANNOUNCING: A New Online CONVERSATION (sponsored by the Office of Overseas Schools)
Inviting Directors of Technology and School Heads
TUESDAY, MARCH 31- 8:00AM EST (NYC) Time
A CONVERSATION between chief technology officers and school heads for advancing online learning, discussing the pitfalls and the future of distance learning– even when regular school resumes. This is meant to be a CONVERSATION toward helping everyone understand a new normal for teaching and learning post-COVID-19.
SCHOOL HEADS, Please pass along to your tech director- and click on the button to sign-up. We are pushing for a collaborative discussion with both school heads and tech directors joining the CONVERSATION.
–NEWS UPDATE–
Christopher Kirchhoff wrote the White House report on lessons learned during the Ebola outbreak. In an interview he is quoted, "It's hard to express in words how our inability to test early and to contact trace has set us back. And I think it's honestly launched us into a new reality that none of us have clear or clever ideas about what to do." See the full interview below. It is all about testing to isolate and to know the extend of virus spread.
The ongoing discussion about drug therapy for COVID-19 is summarized HERE. The science of whether Ibuprofin vs. Acetaminophen, high blood pressure medicines or Chloroquine or Remdesivir as viable therapies is under scrutiny with current thinking that more controlled studies are needed. Also see the STATnews review below about promising medicines to treat COVID-19.
The WHO has said that aggressive testing is vital in combating the outbreak. South Korea, where the number of new cases has flatlined to a little over 9,000, is an example of how testing can help flatten the curve effectively.
Interesting is that South Korea was testing 327,000 people each day, and the USA has mustered 20,000 tests per day to date. Mention of America here is to again restate that the WHO views the USA as potentially the next epicenter for the virus.
(The impact on our schools)
"The epicentre of the coronavirus is now Europe, with the largest number of confirmed cases in Italy, and death tolls growing more quickly in Italy and Spain than they did in China at the same stage of the outbreak."–The Financial Times
India: Is ordering 1.3 billion people, for the next three weeks to stay at home, India is attempting the largest shelter in place to date. Prime Minister Modi said, "Forget what going out means." Already 1.8 million people are being monitored for the virus.
Italy: The country hardest hit by the virus as percent of population saw an uptick in deaths over the past 24-hours. The infection rate data indicates a slowing based on Draconian restrictions. Likely these restrictions will be extended. Lombardia remains the worst affected area in the world.
Spain: Spain has suffered one of the fastest-growing outbreaks of the coronavirus in the world, due to the government's slow response to the pandemic, Spaniards' active nightlife and resistance to government-ordered lockdowns. Deaths in Spain have exceeded those in China. Looks as though both Madrid and New York City will become the worst affected areas, surpassing Milan.
United Kingdom: The recent University of Oxford theoretical epidemiology study estimates that possibly half of the country's population has likely been infected with the virus– with one in every thousand people needing hospital treatment. Prince Phillip has tested positive for the coronavirus
Germany: Angela Merkel is on her own 14-day quarantine, with the country under restrictions. The economy is in shock as elsewhere, yet significant to the EU. Germany has comparably a very low death rate to COVID-19, likely attributed to the patient health profile and Germany's emphasis on quality nursing care.
Gaza, Myanmar, Syria, South Sudan, and Yemen: The WHO and other aid agencies fear a cataclysmic second phase of the pandemic: spreading in the close-quarters encampments of the world's more than 25 million refugees and another 40 million displaced people. (see link below)
USA: WHO predicts the next epicenter for the disease will be the USA without implementation of more rigorous restrictions. Straight-shooting Governor (NY) Cuomo also announced the need for medical materials and respirators. New York is on a fourteen day quarantine.
South Korea: The rate of infection has flatlined where the country is viewed as the "poster child" for effective testing to isolate and track infections.
–Supporting the
AN ESSENTIAL READ The Economics of a Pandemic: The Case of Covid-19 From Daniel Jubert of the American International School of Capetown. The single most comprehensive overview of the COVID-19 science-fiction that we are living around the world. Divided into science, health policies and economics.
An excellent resource for your own communications to your stakeholder groups.
CLICK HERE to read and learn from this impressive London Business School lecture.
OUR ONGOING CONVERSATION BETWEEN SCHOOL HEADS: Every Thursday
Sign-up for COVID-19 CONVERSATION #4 March 26, 2020, 8:00AM EST (NYC) Time
A Few of the Questions to Investigate Together
A CONVERSATION with Jane Goodall– Who Is Self-Isolating Too
CLICK HERE for NYT Interview
Question: So in isolation, you are catching up a bit?
"It's catching up you know. But there are some things that are so unbelievably worrying. In the U.S. you have people who can apply for unemployment or something. But what about in Tanzania, for example? The people running the bars, the restaurants, selling food at the side of the road — all banned now. And they make just enough to keep alive for a week and pay the rent and there's no social security, nothing for them."
QUESTION: Back to our current situation. What is it like where you are now?
"It's a family home. We came here in the war. It was my grandmother's. I'm looking out at the window at the tree I climbed as a child and I'm looking over at all the books I read as a child, my Dr. Doolittles and my Tarzans, and me and my dog, Rusty. There's a big picture of him opposite me, the dog who taught me about animals, that of course they have minds and personalities and emotions.
QUESTION: Any personal advice on what might help with isolation?
A sense of humor. There's all this nonsense about loo paper. There's two very funny videos. Apparently one is of a man sitting on his loo and a dog comes in and steals the loo roll. And then there's another of a different man sitting on another loo and the dog comes and grabs one end of the roll and you follow him. He goes down the stairs and the man on the loo is sitting watching as his loo paper is reeling away in front of him. The dog takes it to another man. During all of this we have to keep a sense of humor. A Few Quotes to Consider
"Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control." – Tom Landry
"In crisis management, be quick with the facts, slow with the blame." –Leonard Saffir
"There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full." –Henry A. Kissinger
"In times of crisis, people reach for meaning. Meaning is strength. Our survival may depend on our seeking and finding it." –Viktor E. Frankl
"In time of crisis people want to know that you care, more than they care what you know." –Will Rogers
"Persons in whom a crisis takes place pass the night preceding the paroxysm uncomfortably, but the succeeding night generally more comfortably." –Hippocrates
(updated hourly online)
Editor's Note: Please remember that AAIE is providing these updates to ensure you have ease of access to information. Our goal is to keep you informed with curated articles that may be helpful to you and how you respond to your school community. If you have articles or local stories to share, please pass along to Mark Ulfers at mark@aaie.org. |