Hi all… I have decided to try to throw together a list every few days with the best COVID-related info I have stumbled across – feel free to forward/share with anyone you like. Some are articles about the virus, others about its spread. Some are about collateral damage and others about how communities are pulling together. Many of these links have been forwarded to me by friends, so big thanks to everyone and please keep passing along good content. If you want to check out past coronavirus posts,
click here
. And despite how stifling it may feel, thanks for staying home and washing your hands like crazy!
From the Medicine + Science P.O.V.:
Meanwhile, there are throngs of people who have had a mild illness over the past few weeks – or maybe not so mild – who weren’t tested for coronavirus and wonder if they had it. There will be a specific type of test poised to dictate when we can return to normal: an
antibody test
looking for evidence that a person was infected at some point in the recent past. And there’s a race to getting this one to market as well.
There’s also a very small new study that shows patients can continue to
shed coronavirus up to 8 days after symptoms resolve
. This certainly warrants follow up, because in communities where there aren’t enough tests to make definitive diagnoses or to document when the virus is gone (i.e. pretty much the entire US at the moment), it may be necessary to recommend that people who are recovering from presumed coronavirus infection remain in quarantine for
another 2 weeks
after symptoms are gone.
When there is so much information flying at us in every direction, where do you get your coronavirus information? Take a look at this list of
top-rated COVID-19 reporters
for legit and readable resources.
From the Parenting P.O.V.:
Now for some practical advice about how to keep reinforcing the most important lessons of the day. We’ve all heard about the 20 second rule when it comes to hand washing, but understanding
why
goes a long way towards compliance. This
video
is great for you and your kids.
I am loving the deluge of shared parenting resources – we’re all making this up as we go along, and doing it as a team makes that so much easier. If you have high schoolers under your roof who want to take a class that wouldn’t otherwise fit into their schedule, check out
Coursera
. If they want to get better at Spanish, try
learning via telanovela
. And for aspiring painters, there’s always
Bob Ross
!
A big part of parenting is teaching our kids how to be solid citizens. So to that end, add this to your checklist: make sure you have registered to vote by mail. If you live in
California
, here’s a link to your application. There’s lots of info here for those in
other states
.
From My Personal P.O.V.:
When I was writing
Decoding Boys
, my research, particularly on the topic of porn, resulted in a flood of spam emails offering me direct links to porn sites all over the web, usually with peach, eggplant, and squirting water emojis in the subject lines. These days, those junk solicitations have been replaced by offers to buy masks, gowns, and other protective equipment for cheap. If that doesn’t say it all, I don’t know what does.
Meanwhile this weekend (which frankly felt like every other day of the week!), my son asked for a haircut. He literally couldn’t see through the forest of his top mop. It took a pandemic for him to give over to my lifelong dream of cutting his hair. And I’m not bragging, but my end result was much better than any of these:
