Did you know that ER doctors in the Bay Area have received orders that they CANNOT give COVID-19 tests to all sick people who go to the ER? Only very sick patients who are immunodeficient, on chemotherapy, or on dialysis can be tested. My daughter was exasperated at the end of her shift in the ER yesterday. This presents 2 terrible situations:
1. Sick Patients AREN’T Being Tested:
Emergency Rooms are sending patients with fevers and coughs back home without testing them for coronavirus. Because these sick people don’t officially know that they have COVID-19 (read between the lines…), they’re probably spreading the virus as they travel home and gather with families and friends. If they actually knew they had COVID-19, they would self quarantine to prevent the spread of the virus and have a specific treatment plan. California has given 64,000 tests compared to New York’s 145,000.
2. Number of Reported COVID-19 Cases is Much Higher:
The number of reported COVID-19 cases is falsely low. When ER doctors aren’t allowed to test patients who clearly present like they have COVID-19, these cases are not included in the daily reports so Americans don’t realize that the real numbers are much higher. This affects how many tests are being made, what PPEs are needed to protect our healthcare professionals, and where lock down orders need to be placed to prevent the pandemic from spreading.
I’m worried and I’m angry. This is what’s happening:
1. Our President says he’s not responsible for managing this pandemic (because he closed the Pandemic Unit 2 years ago). So he’s not going to lead our country out of the biggest disaster we’ve faced in most of our lifetimes. Good grief.
2. Our individual states are responsible for securing coronavirus test kits, PPEs for frontline workers, hospital beds for overcrowded hospitals, and decisions about prisoners and homeless people, which is causing competition between the states for these goods. We need a leader who will execute and oversee the Defense Production Act (DPA) to prioritize production of the much-needed medical equipment and supplies to combat the coronavirus and designate the shipment and delivery of these items to states on an as-needed basis. Now our President has issued orders to not respond to states whose governors have criticized his actions, and to send PPEs to states that support him. WOW! This is school-yard behavior, not presidential… Our healthcare professionals should be the first to receive PPEs, then high-risk people. The healthcare professionals should have enough supplies to use them as directed (change masks between patients — never reuse them!). Who’s on first?
3. We need to have a Shelter-in-Place order now for the entire nation. By studying the outbreaks in China, Italy, and New York City, we know that this community-spread disease can be contained and then eliminated. If we would mandate a stay-at-home order for all non-essential services, we could stomp out COVID-19 in a matter of weeks. But our President says that for economic reasons, we should go back to work and celebrate Easter with our families in the traditional gathering and church-going fashion. Sometimes, you need to sacrifice today for a better tomorrow…
4. Trump was slow to …
… Acknowledge that COVID-19 was not a hoax
… Order coronavirus test kits
… Order PPEs, Respirators, and Hospital Beds/Emergency Facilities
… Consider Shelter-in-Place Orders
… and now he makes predictions about the coronavirus based on a skewed count of COVID-19 patients.
We need to step up together as Americans to provide our healthcare professionals with the PPEs they need to protect themselves. We need to make masks and shower them with support (PPEs, gifts, appreciation) so they can take care of us. We need to stay at home – all of us – to contain this virus so we can go back to work and school.
Did you know that ER doctors in the Bay Area have received orders that they CANNOT give COVID-19 tests to all sick people who go to the ER? Only very sick patients who are immunodeficient, on chemotherapy, or on dialysis can be tested. My daughter was exasperated at the end of her shift in the ER yesterday. This presents 2 terrible situations:
1. Sick Patients AREN’T Being Tested:
Emergency Rooms are sending patients with fevers and coughs back home without testing them for coronavirus. Because these sick people don’t officially know that they have COVID-19 (read between the lines…), they’re probably spreading the virus as they travel home and gather with families and friends. If they actually knew they had COVID-19, they would self quarantine to prevent the spread of the virus and have a specific treatment plan. California has given 64,000 tests compared to New York’s 145,000.
2. Number of Reported COVID-19 Cases is Much Higher:
The number of reported COVID-19 cases is falsely low. When ER doctors aren’t allowed to test patients who clearly present like they have COVID-19, these cases are not included in the daily reports so Americans don’t realize that the real numbers are much higher. This affects how many tests are being made, what PPEs are needed to protect our healthcare professionals, and where lock down orders need to be placed to prevent the pandemic from spreading.
I’m worried and I’m angry. This is what’s happening:
1. Our President says he’s not responsible for managing this pandemic (because he closed the Pandemic Unit 2 years ago). So he’s not going to lead our country out of the biggest disaster we’ve faced in most of our lifetimes. Good grief.
2. Our individual states are responsible for securing coronavirus test kits, PPEs for frontline workers, hospital beds for overcrowded hospitals, and decisions about prisoners and homeless people, which is causing competition between the states for these goods. We need a leader who will execute and oversee the Defense Production Act (DPA) to prioritize production of the much-needed medical equipment and supplies to combat the coronavirus and designate the shipment and delivery of these items to states on an as-needed basis. Now our President has issued orders to not respond to states whose governors have criticized his actions, and to send PPEs to states that support him. WOW! This is school-yard behavior, not presidential… Our healthcare professionals should be the first to receive PPEs, then high-risk people. The healthcare professionals should have enough supplies to use them as directed (change masks between patients — never reuse them!). Who’s on first?
3. We need to have a Shelter-in-Place order now for the entire nation. By studying the outbreaks in China, Italy, and New York City, we know that this community-spread disease can be contained and then eliminated. If we would mandate a stay-at-home order for all non-essential services, we could stomp out COVID-19 in a matter of weeks. But our President says that for economic reasons, we should go back to work and celebrate Easter with our families in the traditional gathering and church-going fashion. Sometimes, you need to sacrifice today for a better tomorrow…
4. Trump was slow to …
… Acknowledge that COVID-19 was not a hoax
… Order coronavirus test kits
… Order PPEs, Respirators, and Hospital Beds/Emergency Facilities
… Consider Shelter-in-Place Orders
… and now he makes predictions about the coronavirus based on a skewed count of COVID-19 patients.
We need to step up together as Americans to provide our healthcare professionals with the PPEs they need to protect themselves. We need to make masks and shower them with support (PPEs, gifts, appreciation) so they can take care of us. We need to stay at home – all of us – to contain this virus so we can go back to work and school.
Meet Eric Wei — He’s one of my students who has chosen a career of helping and rescuing people. With our healthcare professionals, law enforcement officers, and EMS providers on the frontlines saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic, I thought high school and college students might be interested in different careers. Check out my interview with Eric on my podcast.
I just harvested my first crop of shiitake mushrooms! Besides tasting delicious, mushrooms provide health benefits, and they can even devour plastic waste and possibly pests – I have a student doing a project on mushrooms as a pesticide. By growing your own mushrooms, you don’t have to worry about getting viruses from people touching them at the grocery store.
I used a kit from Far West Fungi to get started because it was so easy to do. They provide the substrate and the spores so all I had to do was open the bag, put in a few slits in the plastic bag, and watch them grow! This substrate will produce 4 batches of shiitake mushrooms over the next few months. I’m planning on growing mushrooms using spores put into tree branches next. Stay tuned for my next mushroom adventure!
With teachers scrambling to set up online classes; students doing minimal homework and not taking tests, finals, or standardized exams; and nobody leaving home for extracurricular activities, kids are getting bored. There’s only so many shows to watch, and even gamers are looking for a break.
When kids face uncertainty about their future and worry about their parents and grandparents getting COVID-19, our children are dealing with stress and anxiety. They can’t control their lives and there are no schedules: school, after-school activities, homework, test prep, chores, etc. Kids like routines and schedules – even though they used to complain about them – and they want to feel valued.
So let’s give our kids a purpose. Talk to them about the coronavirus and how it is affecting millions of people around the world. Compare trends in Asia and Europe to the United States. Read about what hundreds of humanitarians and volunteers to help those who are sick or homebound. Inspire your kids to do something to help others. This will make them feel important and appreciated.
With all the free time they now have, they can do things to help their local high-risk population, support healthcare professionals, or start a unique project. Kids can find creative ways to get food to seniors who are sheltering in place. They can sew masks for hospital staff. Kids can also start a project doing anything they care about.
All of these projects will give them valuable skills while boosting the way they feel about themselves. The best part — these projects will give them great talking points on their college application essays and interviews. By doing good things for others, they’ll boost their chances of getting into top colleges and winning scholarship dollars. Learn more about doing projects by reading my book: Beat the College Admissions Game by Doing a Project.
Can’t buy hand sanitizer because selfish people are hoarding them? You’re not alone. We couldn’t find hand sanitizers at any stores or online, so we made our own! It’s super easy and inexpensive.
Homemade Hand Sanitizer
¾ cup Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl 99%)
¼ cup Aloe vera gel
10 drops of Teatree essential oil or Lavender essential oil (or lemon juice)
Make enough so you can carry one in your purse/bag and put one in your car, office, kitchen, and entrance to your home. I collected bottles left over from other projects and made labels so everyone knows what’s in it.
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“Ask not what your country can do for you,
but what you can do for your country!”
— President John F. Kennedy
Never thought I’d be citing President Kennedy’s inaugural address outside of a history class. But we are fighting a similar war like we were in back in 1961 — instead of fighting communism, we are fighting a virus. When our frontline medical workers don’t have the personal protection equipment (PPE) they need to stay safe from the coronavirus, hospitals will not be able to help the hundreds (or more) of people who will need medical care. After watching this administration’s leadership first declare this to be a hoax; remove the Pandemic Unit of the National Security Council; and outbid states on purchasing N95 masks, and then tell the governors that they’re on their own to fix this pandemic, I think we all know that we can’t rely on our federal government to protect us from the coronavirus. We need to do our part to slow this pandemic to save our lives.
So, what can YOU do?
1. Stay home
Keep at least 6 feet between you and everyone.
2. Send visitors away
Don’t allow them into your homes.
3. Sew masks
If you have a sewing machine and scrap fabric, sew masks for frontline workers.
Check vmcfoundation.org after March 23rd for guidelines and instructions on how to make masks to donate to Valley Medication Foundation.
Here is a website that shows you how to make several types of masks and shields:
4. Donate masks
If you have access to new N95 masks, surgical masks, or face shields, please donate to hospitals that need them. Call or check online to see what they need and what requirements are in place.
I checked with Valley Medical Center in San Jose, CA and they need the following NOW:
New N95 Respirator Masks
New Surgical Masks
New Face Shields
New Gowns
Disinfectant Wipes
Hand Sanitizers
Goggles
Thermometers
Drop off or send to:
Valley Medical Center Foundation
2400 Clove Drive
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 885-5299 or vmcfoundation@hhs.sccgov.org
As American citizens, we can work together to give our medical frontline professionals the protection they need to treat the very sick and the COVID-19 patients. Encourage everyone to donate new masks and shields to the hospitals that need them. Sew cloth masks for your local hospitals or send to Valley Medical Foundation. Hunker down and stay at least 6 feet away from others to slow the spread of this deadly virus. We can do this! It’s up to us to take control and stop the coronavirus from spreading.
Want to protect yourself and your loved ones from getting COVID-19? Of course you do! Will you do anything in your power to do so? Then STOP HOARDING and SUPPORT first responders and healthcare professionals. My daughter is an ER doctor in Silicon Valley. As her mother, I want to protect her from the coronavirus and quite frankly, I wish she’d leave the profession.
She treated the first coronavirus patient in the Bay Area back in January, and she has been treating many patients since then. She and the selfless paramedics, nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals are risking their lives to save ours. Stop and think about that for a moment. Would you give your life to save a stranger’s?
When I hear that people are hoarding masks, disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitizers, I feel outraged. People are hoarding so many masks that HOSPITALS DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MASKS TO PROTECT OUR FRONTLINE WORKERS. Selfish, stupid people.
If doctors, nurses, and first responders can’t protect themselves from very sick patients suffering from COVID-19 and other life-threatening diseases, our hospitals will close when they run out of staff. When doctors, nurses, and paramedics get sick, need to be quarantined, or die, WHERE WILL YOU GO WHEN YOU OR YOUR PARENTS GET SICK AND NEED HELP?
Listen to the healthcare professionals and help them set up and prepare for the biggest pandemic we have ever faced. Make sure they have access to masks, coronavirus test kits, and other life-saving devices and equipment they need NOW. Their voices are the ones you can trust and you need to support. They are not trying to win elections, make money on drugs or masks, or hide statistics from you.
When I hear that the government is DIVERTING FUNDS AWAY FROM PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF COVID-19, I feel even more outraged.
We need to ask why the Trump Administration has done the following:
- Submitted a budget that would:
- Eliminated the Pandemic Unit of the National Security Council [Source]
- Cut the Complex Crises Fund of $30 million that could deploy disease experts for this crisis. [Source]
- Forced CDC to slash the program to prevent global disease outbreak by 80% [Source]
- Downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19 by telling people it’s no worse than the flu and that they should go out to restaurants or go back to work when the doctors, WHO, and the rest of the world is quarantining. [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source]
- Postponed an annual intelligence report warning that the US is unprepared for a global pandemic. [Source]
- Asked for just $2.5 billion (half diverted from other programs) to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, when the congress instead authorized $8.3 billion in emergency funding. [Source]
- Made every step (albeit, delayed step) taken to contain the coronavirus all about Trump – it’s become his political campaign.
To take care of yourself and your loved ones, you need to make sure your healthcare professionals and frontline workers have all the personal protection, test kits, and equipment they need to save all of us. So stop hoarding, and start sharing. When you buy, buy for 2 weeks — not for 6 months. Pressure local, state, and federal agencies to protect our frontline workers and give them the tools they need to keep us safe. And, stay home no matter your age or vitality. Do your part to give our healthcare workers a chance to manage this pandemic.
Now that most schools in the US are closed for at least 2-3 weeks and some for the rest of the school year, there are some things you can do to make sure that your child won’t fall behind and to give them a head start next year. While this interruption in school affects the whole country, it doesn’t need to handicap them if we use this time wisely. Don’t be fooled to think that your children are okay because their teachers won’t test them on material they didn’t cover due to school closures. They may get A’s on their spring report cards, but they still need to learn the concepts they missed. When students miss a month or more of school (and classes aren’t conducted every day at the same caliber as they are when they’re in classes), they will be behind next year when their teachers expect that they had learned a bank of concepts the previous year. This is the real problem.
You don’t need to be a mathematician, physicist, or published author to support your children’s academics. All you need to do is organize their time at home. They’re already used to a routine at school, so give them some structure to help them stay on task and to ward off anxiety and depression. Set up a schedule for them to wake up, have breakfast, and get ready for the day – yes, get them out of their jammies!
Then, layout their academic or school schedule if they don’t have online classes with their teachers at a regular time. This gives you the unique opportunity to fine tune what they will learn and to give them support in areas where they may be weak. If they need to build a stronger math foundation, set up math drills using online math games (MathBlaster) or math programs (Khan Academy) to give them mileage so they can be successful in math when they return to school.
For students who need to build reading comprehension skills (all ages; and it’s great for SAT prep too!), give them books to read. Yes, lots of books! Here is a list of summer reading that I recommend for elementary, middle, and high school students. Block off 45 minutes to an hour for reading without distractions (cell phones, video games, TV, radio). Have your children start a journal to document their experiences and to give them free reign to find their voices while using complete sentences (no abbreviations or text-message style). The best way to improve writing is to write!
Hire online tutors or teachers to teach difficult concepts and to give your children exercises to build their skills in these areas. These teachers can pick up where the classroom teacher left off, and continue to cover all chapters and concepts that the students will miss. This will ensure that they do well when they return this semester and that they’ll have the foundation they’ll need to proceed in all classes next year. Merit offers both tutoring and one-on-one accredited classes taught by real teachers in Google Hangouts.
Besides academic learning, you can also block off time for your children to explore art and history museums online. They can start a vegetable garden. Children and teens can also learn how to crochet and knit blankets. Pull out puzzles to give them a long-term challenge – and to get them off their computers. Create a list of movies and documentaries you’d like them to watch.
The opportunities are endless. Just make sure they stay home or in the yard – don’t take them out into the public. We all need to work together to make sure that we aren’t carrying the virus and spreading it to others. So let’s use this break from school to prepare our children with the additional skill-building they’ll need when they return to school in a month or next year.
A lot can change in 24 hours, and this pandemic has caused lots of anxiety for everyone. For college-bound students, and their parents, who were scheduled to take the SAT or ACT, here are a few updates:
1. SAT has been canceled until and including May 2nd. You will receive refunds for all cancelled dates. The next SAT will be on June 6th – we’ll update you as we get closer to that date.
2. ACT has been rescheduled for June 13th. If you’ve registered for previous test dates, ACT will contact you about new dates.
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While the idea of being “quarantined” sounds stressful – conjuring up visions of claustrophobia – it may be just the relief we all need. We’re busy with work or school, childcare or homework, and traffic and over-scheduled activities. Racing around town and juggling commitments just wipes us out and we become vulnerable to all kinds of sicknesses.
So the new chant “Stay at Home” may be just what we all need. Take this opportunity to protect yourselves and your loved ones by cancelling social gatherings and events for the next 2 months. Take this time for YOU and rejuvenate. When you’re not stressed out, your body will better ward off illnesses so you can optimize your chances of not getting COVID-19.
I look forward to doing projects around my home and property now that I’m staying put. Here are some things you can do to improve your life and get a jump start on all those little things that you’ve put off for too long.
1. Connect with family and friends using Google Hangouts or Skype (online)
2. Spring clean your home
3. Plant veggie seeds to get your spring garden started
4. Put together your Go-Bag
5. Start your genealogy research by reaching out to family via email, text, or hangouts.
6. Set up free exercise/yoga schedule and do this in your living room
7. Binge watch your favorite episodes or discover new shows
8. Sit in on webinars and participate in Q&As
9. Dust off those books that you’ve wanted to read
10. Take online classes to expand your mind (or get college credit)
11. Find your “to-do” lists
12. Purge your junk (get rid of stuff you don’t use or need)
13. Weed your gardens
14. Limb branches 100 feet from your house to prevent fires
15. Move firewood and wooden furniture at least 5 feet away from your house
16. Give yourself a facial or do your nails
17. Work on your taxes
18. Meal prep and freeze for later
Regardless of your age or health, stay at home and avoid going to places where you’ll interface with people. If you’re over 60, you may get COVID-19 and die. If you’re under 60, you may carry the coronavirus (and get sick) and even worse — infect your parents, grandparents, or loved ones and they can die. Either way, STAY AT HOME! Relax and work on your to-do lists! You’ll also reduce your gas mileage and CO2, and you won’t be wasting your precious time in traffic.