AdviniaCare at Wilmington, the nursing home I knew as Woodbriar, announced plans to care for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and in need of oxygen support. Couldn’t help thinking of it as my alma mater. I even remember the annoying voice of the respiratory technician early in the mornings when I was trying to get some shuteye.
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A scientist with a startup in Orono, Maine, suggested an extract from lobsters could work in treating COVID-19. Reminded me or our old belief that using lobsters any way other than boiled or in a lobster salad was a sinful waste of the delicious creature. And Maine’s constant quest for an economic panacea.
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In my freelance days, I did some pieces (I now consider mercenary) about healthcare. So much so that one newspaper briefly credited me as a contributing healthcare writer in the byline. Lots of it came down to cutting healthcare costs, determination of need and other austerity plans. The kind that now have left the U.S. ill-prepared to face the pandemic. Come to think of it, I’ve played a similar role in higher ed.
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The pandemic should remind us we’re all specks of dust. That news stories about Tom Brady are insignificant. The head of the UNH Carsey School of Public Policy seemed to get this with a bit of humility that is too rare among leaders. “The challenges faced by the Carsey School are, of course, trivial compared to those faced by multitudes of people, businesses, and institutions—and society as a whole,” noted Michael Ettlinger in a letter to the community, as he introduced adjustments at the school, ranging from moving classes to virtual to shifting its NH Listens convenings to online civic spaces.
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The Security and Medical Daily Digest–International SOS that I’ve been getting each day for years (see More Trouble in Burkina Faso) has changed its name to Security and Medical Digest. And these days, it’s practically all-COVID all the time. So much so that I was almost relieved to see in the most recent edition the more usual: “Chad: Lac region: Follow directives amid state of emergency in Fouli, Kaya departments after fresh militant attack (Revised)” and “Nigeria: Ebonyi state: Abduction of foreign nationals reflects HIGH travel risk, need for security precautions.”
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Good magazine ran an interesting piece headlined “What will business look like after the pandemic?” The piece notes that “it also seems unlikely that life will return completely to the ‘normal’ of before.” Among other things, “many stores will borrow a page from the restaurant industry and require reservations in order to allow shoppers their prescribed six feet of space” and “Restaurants and bars that survive the coming months may even choose to convert themselves to a membership model, where you’ll still mingle with people from your neighborhood, but you’ll theoretically have a better idea who is sitting nearby.” That’s progress? Oh, and the new age will bring more intentionality (and I don’t mean grounding.)
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My high-risk family has begun trading living will info.
