03.13.20 Daily Bulletin: #flattenthecurve
It's now fairly apparent that we're all going to have to explore pretty drastic measures in order to #flattenthecurve. But what exactly does that mean? And how do school closures help?
Today marks the day that $*@# just got real. Schools in many parts of the country are closing - anywhere from 2-6 weeks and there are so many parents scrambling to figure out what that means - not only for our work and our sanity but their learning and socialization.
It’s hard to know whether it’s the right thing to do until you see one visual and then, even though it’s going to be incredibly hard and painful for so many, it starts to make sense about why this is what we need to do. That’s what we’re looking at today.
🎯The Stats.
School closure status - see across the country and in your neighborhood -
WHO situation dashboard - the latest counts and cases, by country.
📰 The Topic
Flatten the Curve
This article goes into more detail about the different phases of an epidemic but the key is all about keeping it under control such that it doesn’t overwhelm our healthcare system capacity. Because if that happens, lots of things start to fail and what is a terribly bad situation will quickly turn catastrophic. We only have to look at Italy, unfortunately, to see this playing out.
Limiting the speed and the spread, or as this author describes it, “the embers” from one person to another is critical in the early days to “flatten the curve”. It can be that in the end, the same number of people end up getting sick. But it happening over a longer period of time means a better chance of recovery for the most number of people.
And so, we’re seeing the cancellation of gatherings over 250 people, the suspension of sporting events and yes, school closures. It’s what all of us can do to really halt the spread, as aggressively as we can, until we can develop and manufacture vaccines and we develop sufficient herd immunity.
It’s hard to feel this benefit on day 16, cooped up with the kids and your spouse, but remember, you’re doing your part to make that curve as flat as we can.
🧰 The Tools.
It’s Friday, which in my house growing up always meant pizza night. So on this Friday, we offer up the 2-in-1 activity and meal of Pizza Night.
Choose your own adventure - you can certainly order in and make it a pizza and movie night, but why not take the opportunity to make it a fun family activity.
🍕What you need:
pizza dough (frozen, fresh, already baked)
sauce (tomato, pesto, white sauce - go nuts)
toppings (the best part - veggies, meat… and my fav 🍍)
Gather all the materials on your kitchen island or dining table. Create little stations for everyone with placemats or plastic cutting boards. Go to town.
Bake up and enjoy. Sure to be a hit with the kids - even the picky eaters.