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Wednesday, October 28, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Pandemic preparedness
— past, present, future
FALL BACK
By Monica Tomosy
Guest Columnist
Set your clocks back
one hour at 2 a.m. on
Sunday, November 1
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer¾s name, address and phone number. Letters
to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The
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longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is 10 a.m. Monday.
To the Editor:
If you haven9t yet voted, I am writing to
encourage you to consider Elizabeth Fisher
for one of the open seats on the Sisters City
Council. I first met Elizabeth when she was a
student in a chemistry class I taught at Sisters
High School. Though that was a number of
years ago, several of the personal characteris-
tics which Elizabeth demonstrated even then
qualify her as an excellent Councilor.
Elizabeth never came to class unprepared.
She had always completed her homework
conscientiously and thoughtfully. Though she
was sometimes quiet in class, Elizabeth was
intensely attentive and an astute and engaged
listener. When she did volunteer a thought,
Elizabeth9s words carried the gravitas of care-
ful consideration of multiple angles. I know
that Elizabeth will put in the time outside of
meetings to prepare herself for policy discus-
sions and will bring to Council a reasoned
perspective informed by the experiences and
opinions of many community members.
It has been an inspiration to see how
Elizabeth has matured in the years since high
school. Given her high standards, work ethic,
and agile mind, it comes as no surprise to me
that she earned an honors degree from OSU
in chemical engineering. Even more impres-
sive is the strength Elizabeth has found as a
community leader here in Sisters, taking an
active role organizing events, networking
with regional organizations, and advocating
for those who live here whose voices are least
heard.
I am inspired by the engagement of
younger people who see a role for themselves
in improving our community and am thrilled
by the opportunity to vote for a such a capable
and conscientious Sisters Outlaw. I hope that
you will be too.
Rob Corrigan
s
s
s
To the Editor:
If you haven9t voted yet, or are planning on
voting more than once, please consider vot-
ing YES on Local Measure 9-139. Our public
libraries are a mecca for information, thought
provocation and entertainment, and are still
one of the best bangs for your taxpayer buck.
Greg Werts
s
s
s
To the Editor:
Many thanks to the young lady and young
gentleman who recognized that I could not cross
the patio at The Open Door on Thursday after-
noon, October 22. I was in severe distress and
my companion was unable to help me move.
The two of you lifted me up and trans-
ported me to my car. Thank you! Thank you!
P.S.: Problem was identified and treated.
Betsy Beaver
See LETTERS on page 7
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<Getting back to more
normal life= 4 a common
sentiment these days. I9d
like to offer a perspective
on how we can do that. In
2005, the Bush administra-
tion developed a Pandemic
Preparedness Plan (PPP) to
address the Avian Flu. They
transferred the PPP template
on to the Obama adminis-
tration, which modified and
improved it in order to han-
dle the Ebola crisis.
As a science manager in
the Department of Interior, I
was engaged in the Avian Flu
response, and when I later
moved to the Department of
Agriculture, I was involved
in the Ebola response.
Because pandemic risks are
global, and the potential
for impacts are nationwide,
both pandemics were dealt
with at the federal level,
and in a strategic, calm, and
effective manner. But soon
after Trump9s inauguration
in 2017, the PPP program,
staff, and budget were cut.
To me this was like skydiv-
ing without a parachute.
What happened next was
inevitable: Another pan-
demic, this time in freefall.
Why inevitable? Three
main reasons: People and
animals are moving around
the globe more than ever;
land use and land conditions
are undergoing dramatic
changes, and human popula-
tions are growing. This triple
reality is a recipe for more
pandemics; a fact that has
been common knowledge
among scientists and public
health leaders for decades.
A future with more dis-
ease is so widely expected,
that a team approach called
<One Health= set goals to
achieve best-case scenarios.
These experts recognized
that the health of people
is closely connected to the
health of both wild and
domestic animals, and our
shared global environment.
A big area of concern is mar-
kets where people sell wild
animals, which often carry
viruses that humans would
otherwise never be exposed
to.
Why did the Trump
administration allow the
coronavirus pandemic
threat to slip under their
radar, and intentionally end
the PPP program? Because
Department of Homeland
Security officials didn9t see
a pandemic as <terrorism=
and Office of Management
and Budget officials didn9t
respect science. Maybe
Homeland Security is not the
place to deal with pandem-
ics, but pandemics certainly
are <a thing= to <prepare= for.
Eliminating the PPP pro-
gram left us with a presi-
dent whose only tools were
to try to bully or negotiate
with a microbe. This has
not worked out. The truth is,
without effective leadership
based in science, a microbe
will win every time.
To be clear, <the Trump
way= is the reason we are
experiencing frustrations,
inconveniences, and deaths
that never should have hap-
pened. Trump9s handling of
the pandemic has resulted
in a nation with four per-
cent of the world9s popula-
tion having 20 percent of
the infections; a politiciza-
tion of masks; and Main
Street economies suffering
nationwide.
To this day, Trump has no
plan going forward. This past
Sunday, his Chief of Staff
admitted on national TV that
the administration has no
intention of trying to con-
trol the spiking outbreaks.
Instead, they are putting all
their eggs in the vaccine bas-
ket. There has never been
a vaccine for a respiratory
virus, but hopefully this will
be the first. But hoping for a
vaccine is not a strategy. It is
merely playing defense. We
need to play offense. I9m not
a sociologist or psychologist,
but there seems to be a mix
of defiance, arrogance, igno-
rance, or perhaps insanity
here. Not only is it clear that
Trump just doesn9t know
what to do, he seems to not
want to know. He repeatedly
defies what the experts are
saying is the best way to get
this virus under control. We
can9t put pandemics behind
us with incurious and will-
fully ignorant people like
Trump in the White House.
So, what now? Well, I
heard Joe Biden is running!
Here is a candidate with
a solid plan. Joe Biden9s
approach embraces scien-
tific expertise 4 critically
necessary in both reducing
illness and death, as well as
recovering the economy. He
would implement simple
things Trump could have
done, starting with the two
low-hanging fruits: testing
and tracing.
Joe has a clear roadmap
to address the crucial issue;
please read it here: https://
joebiden.com/covid19/. And
for your family, our commu-
nity, and our country, vote
for Joe.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.