Dear friends and neighbors:
Here is my daily e-mail with some updates on COVID-19 in Boone County and Missouri:
(1) Last night’s update from our local Columbia/Boone County Public Health & Human Services (PHHS): there are a total of 502 cases in Missouri (502 current / 3 recovered / 8 deaths), 34 cases in Boone County (22 current, 11 recovered, 1 death), and 3 “travelers” still being monitored. Boone County PHHS is holding a daily update via Facebook Live for the general public, while the Governor is holding a daily update at 3 pm.
(2) For anyone interested in volunteering, the City of Columbia completely revamped its website last weekend; they seek an organized (ie, not fragmented) volunteer response.
– If you goto como.gov,
and click on COVID-19 official info (at the top), you will get to a
webpage which has “get help” and “give help” tabs. If you click on
“give help,” you will be taken to comohelps.org, which is where they want to encourage everyone to sign up to volunteer.
(3) Please feel free to continue to encourage Governor Parson to issue a shelter-in-place/stay-at-home order for the state. Almost half the states (including Ohio, Louisiana, Minnesota, and New Mexico) have now issued such orders; we should too!
(4) Also, “Missouri Extension” has a number of resources to share, during this difficult time for us all; I have attached that information below.
(5)
For those who are panicked, I encourage those individuals to recognize
that 80% of those who catch COVID-19 have a mild illness and recover in 2
weeks. For those who are overly complacent, I encourage those
individuals to understand that (unlike China and Italy), we have quite a
few more critically-ill patients who are 25-60 years of age (albeit few
deaths so far, in that age group).
(6) As before, I encourage everyone to donate blood, comply with good hygiene and situational awareness and social distancing (in a non-panicky way), stockpile 2-3 weeks’ worth of food (in case you have to self-quarantine), and give each other support during this time. It’s also important to go outside and get some fresh air, reconnect with friends and family, and have us all take care of ourselves and each other. Our family got a bunny rabbit on Tuesday, and my wife Tracy and I are planning to do a virtual birthday party for Maxwell (he turns 9 years old!) via Zoom tomorrow.
I invite all of you to forward this e-mail widely. I’m still figuring out social media, but please feel free to find me on Facebook (albert.hsu.35)…. I’ll also be working on my blog over the weekend.
Stay safe, well, and panic-free,
– Albert Hsu
=> From Kathleen Quinn, MU School of Medicine Associate Dean for Rural Health
MU Extension’s land grant mission is to improve lives, communities and economies by producing relevant, reliable and responsive educational strategies throughout Missouri. Extension faculty and staff collaborate with researchers and community leaders to develop and deliver programs addressing Missourian’s needs including educational attainment, environmental concerns and community, economic, business and workforce development. There are 800 employees statewide working on Agriculture & Environment, Youth and Family, Business & Community and Health and Safety. I lead Health and Safety which includes Community Health. Dr. Marshall Stewart is the Vice Chancellor.
https://extension2.missouri.edu/
The following are resources that can help the students’ efforts online, both internally and externally, on the Extension COVID-19 websites:
What You Should Know About Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Medication List & Other Helpful Medical Information – for individuals to complete for themselves and family members, which may be helpful to health providers
COVID-19 Emotional Health and Wellbeing
COVID-19 and Your Workplace: Agricultural Employer Supplement
=> and, the COVID-19 Emotional Health and Wellbeing for Health Providers, First Responders and Those on the Front Lines is now online on the MU Extension COVID-19 Resources website. Here is the link:
https://extensiondata.missouri.edu/Pro/CommunityHealth/docs/COVID19-EmoHealthFirstResponders.pdf