Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current, April 03, 2020, Image 5

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Keizertimes., April 03, 2020, Page 5, Image 5

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Newspaper Page TextAPRIL 3, 2020, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 Opinion Keep up the good work Keep it up, Oregon. Our social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing is working. It is good to see people distanc- ing themselves from others when they have to go out to the store or the pharmacy. As of early this week the state had a total of 690 novel coronavirus cases and 18 deaths. One death from COVID-19 is too many, but so far Oregon has been spared the devastating number of cases and deaths expe- rienced in other parts of the country such as New York. We are all facing hardships. Schools are closed, probably un- til fall. The Oregon Department of Education is instructing school districts to implement distant learning for all students. This week Salem-Keiezr Public Schools was passing out Chromebooks for all students to connect to online class- es. Students of any age can borrow a Chromebook for free. It remains to be seen how schools will address college-bound seniors, especially those who may still need credits. Every school of higher learning across the country must work in partnership with school districts to formulate plans for high school se- niors to stay on course for receving diplomas. Every household with younger chil- dren is challenged to ﬁ nd ways to keep their kids occupied during the shelter- in-place, stay home orders. Parents, many who are also staying home, are becom- ing activity directors, home schoolers and keepers of the calm. This week, President Trump said the United States might see as many as 240,000 COVID-19-re- lated deaths. Medical experts are reporting that practicing social dis- tancing seems to be having a pos- itive effect. Until we start hearing reports of decreased coronavirus cases, we all need to keep adhering to the rules living in a time of this pan- demic. We may get bored staying home but boredom is a much bet- ter result than exposing ourselves editorial to the virus. When we go out we can protect ourselves by assuming everyone else is infected and every surface we touch has coronavirus. Though ordered to stay home, we should not forget our neigh- bors, especially those who are old- er and those who are shut-ins. A telephone call or email to check on family and friends is important. Uncertain times result in fright- ened people. We don’t know when this pan- demic will run its course. No one has the answer. We could be hun- ked down for months to come. Life as we know it has already changed and it will undoubtedly change more as we move forward. What we could end up with is a society that is more diligent about personal hygiene (washing hands more often), a society that demands its governments be better prepared for disasters, both natural and medical and a society that be- comes more connected and much less partisan. Lives depend on it now and in the future. As for Oregon, keep up the good work of following the protocols during this difﬁ cult time. — LAZ Worst-case scenarios aren’t the only ones By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS In February, the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention held a conference call on COVID-19 and warned, as The New York Times re- ported, that 160 million to 214 mil- lion Americans could become infect- ed and 200,000 to 1.7 million might die. On March 3, the World Health Organization noted that globally 3.4 percent of those infected with the vi- rus died. These numbers have become frequent talking points—even though they present- ed an inﬂ ated picture based on cas- es conﬁ rmed because patients had symptoms in countries with dubious health care systems. We are living in a news climate where the scarier the factoid, the more credibility it can claim. “The problem is the experts don’t know this number either,” Stanford University Medical Professor Jayanta Bhattacharya told me after he became alarmed at some of the high estimates ﬂ oating around —including numbers that, for example, didn’t factor in the effects of social distancing. And it bothers Bhattacharya that risk assessments see risk only in not following guidelines when there can be risk in following them. “There’s mortality on both sides of this,” he explained. I am not an expert—so I’ll go along with what doctors recommend. But I can still voice skepticism about dire predictions that the nation has to hunker down for many months, and I can wonder if a multimonth shut- down, which some ofﬁ cials are sug- gesting, will produce economic out- comes that are bad for human health and longevity. And I’m open to news that doesn’t offer the worst possible information. As of last week, the mortality rate in the United States was about 1.5 percent—with a patient pool that largely was symptomatic. Dr. Anthony Fauci told Con- gress he believes the corona- virus mortality rate is 1 per- cent—10 times larger than the 0.1 percenet rate for the common ﬂ u. Bhattacharya sifted through studies, corrected for certain factors and came up with morality rate closer to one-half of 1 percent— but he won’t trust that estimate until there is a study to back it up. That’s not great news, as it por- tends once-healthy adults hooked up to ventilators and vulnerable people in caskets. We’d all like the magic number to be zero. The death rate stays on the low side only if health care workers have protective gear and hospitals have beds and ventilators —and that is not a universal situation. I am struck at one area of agree- ment between Trump and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Trump told Fox News that his goal was “to ease the guidelines and open things up to very large sections of our country as we near the end of our historic battle with the invisible en- emy.” Trump threw out Easter, April 12, which he later called a “beautiful timeline.” Figure, it’s a goal. University of Ottawa professor of Law and Medicine Amir Attaran told The Times, “Nobody voted in other voices Donald Trump thinking he would become a ‘one-man death panel’ em- powered to dispense with American lives like cannon fodder.” For his part, Fauci told reporters that no one wants to “tone things down” in New York City but there could be a more ﬂ exible approach in parts of the country. Cuomo, the governor of the state with the country’s worst infection rate, has spoken to the same effect. He told reporters, “You can’t stop the economy forever.” Cuomo has ﬂ irted with sending young people or those who have had the virus and are now immune back to work earlier than others. Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s reaction to Trump’s Easter talking point? The former vice president told CBS News: “The only thing we can do worse than telling the American people the truth is in fact raise false hopes. And then when it doesn’t oc- cur, they say, oh my God, something really must be worse than I thought it was.” That’s the conventional wisdom from inside the Beltway—that there is a duty to shut down everything because there is no downside to “an abundance of caution.” And some- how leaders instill trust by not want- ing to open some of the doors sooner. “There’s no caution on either side,” said Bhattacharya. “If the end of the quarantine is tomorrow, that could be a disaster. If we continue the quarantine for a couple of months, that could be a disaster also.” (Creators Syndicate) Mankind is up to task to defeat COVID-19 We humans have been roaming the Earth for about 200,000 years. Some ancient civilizations, such as the Incas, the Egyptians, the Mesopotamians and the empires of China, made great strides in a multitude of human en- deavors, even having performed brain surgery. It is not known whether any of them knew about the ex- istence of microscopic life or the germs that surround and inhabit our bodies, are found everywhere, in all things, and throughout our planet. Though great human settlements were established as far back as 10,000 years ago, our ancient forebearers were far from successful at sanitary, healthful liv- ing environments. With their lack of sanitation came infections, those in- fections inevitably leading to diseas- es. Thus began the long, shared histo- ry between human civilizations and illnesses. Our ancestors were exposed to fewer infections and diseases than we are; yet, over centuries, they were eventually plagued by inﬂ uenza, ty- phoid, malaria, measles, tuberculosis, yellow fever, small pox, chicken pox and a whole host of others. Help was hundreds, even thou- sands of years, in coming. Immuni- zations, inoculations and vaccinations arrived on the human scene to deal with these and other disease-ravaging illnesses barely 200 years ago. One such break- through for human health in the United Kingdom took place by one keen- eyed British fellow, Ed- ward Jenner. In 1796, Jenner observed that some dairymaids seemed protected from smallpox if they had already been infected by a much less-danger- ous virus related to small pox. Jenner thereafter conducted an experiment: scratching the arm of an 8-year-old boy from a cowpox sore on one of the dairymaids, he succeeded when the boy was immunized against the deadly smallpox while Jenner’s ex- periment began the immunization age. Another breakthrough about gene h. mcintyre Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com 2019-2020 President Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon SUBSCRIPTIONS One year: $35 in Marion County, $43 outside Marion County, $55 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 100 years later, Dr. Louis Pasteur demonstrated that disease could be prevented by infecting humans with weakened germs. In 1885 he began preventing rabies. During the last century great ad- vances were made in immunizations. Instances include those of the 1950s when medical doctors Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin made what are possi- bly the best known of advances in medical science through prevention of polio: up to 20,000 cases of polio were reported every year in the U.S. before the Salk vaccine was avail- able. By 2000 not one case was re- ported. There were countless others developed during the 1900s, one of which has allowed millions of Amer- icans to avoid inﬂ uenza by the annual injection of the latest vaccine adap- tation every year. Measles formerly killed a half million children every year along while huge numbers of children stricken by other diseases now virtually eliminated by inocu- lations. History provides justiﬁ able con- ﬁ dence in the development of a vaccine for the Coronavirus or COVID-19. It will require some time to develop a safe and ef- fective immunization against it, forthcoming as soon as it can be made and tested to determine its safety and effectiveness. Based on what science already knows about COVID-19, it is likely to mutate. Speculation now is that a refresher shot, much like the annual renewal to lessen or avoid inﬂ uenza, will be an annual event for most everyone who values his health and life. (Gene H. McIntyre lives in Keiz- er. He shares his opinion frequent- ly in the Keizertimes.) Monetary support needed at food share By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes At any other time, the Marion Polk Food Share (MPFS) could use any one of three things: ﬁ nancial do- nations, volunteers or food. In the era of the COVID-19 pan- demic, the organization is narrowing its focus to ﬁ nancial donations. “Normally, we would love to have people organizing food drives or bringing us barrels from their busi- ness, because of contamination con- cerns and social distancing measures we just can’t encourage it,” said Rick Gaupo, executive director of MPFS. MPFS has suspended volunteer activity since the start of the crisis and is waiting for further direction from state ofﬁ cials before bringing the helping hands back. Even em- ployees are working on skeleton crews to handle donations coming in and food going out to community food banks. If someone has a semi-load of food looking for a home (See relat- ed story Keizer church on Page A1), Gaupo is more than willing to ﬁ nd a way to add it to the food share’s reserves, but ﬁ nancial donations will go further for the moment and no one has to worry about COVID-19 over the wires. “If people have food they can hold onto and donate it later, we will be happy to take it, but the logistics right now make it difﬁ cult,” Gaupo said. To contribute to the Marion Polk Food Share, visit tinyurl.com/mpfs- giving, or call 503-581-3855. Cherriots suspends service The Salem Area Mass Transit Dis- trict is suspending its local and region- al service until further notice. The paratransit service, Cherri- ots LIFT, will provide life-sustaining trips only, including appointments for medical care and dialysis treatment. “In the interest of public health and safety, we are temporarily suspending service,” said General Manager Allan Pollock. “We are committed to serv- ing our Mid-Willamette Valley cus- tomers, but only if we can assure the well-being of both our riders and our operators.” To date, the District has been expe- riencing signiﬁ cant stafﬁ ng shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, seven staff have self-reported conﬁ rmation of coronavirus. During the suspension, the Dis- trict’s buses and buildings will be deep cleaned; operations staff will be placed on temporary leave; administrative staff will work remotely, if appropriate; and other employees will work onsite observing social distancing guidelines. Executive leadership will continue to meet daily to develop a plan that will safely restore public transportation service to Marion and Polk counties. Customer service will be avail- able to answer questions and provide information by telephone, 503-588- 2877, by email info@cherriots.org, and social media. Customer service hours are Monday-Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. police scanner SUNDAY, MARCH 22 • 3 a.m. - Theft in the 4000 block of Brooks Avenue North. • 9:29 a.m. - Arrest for violation of release agreement in the 1200 block of Clearview Avenue NE. • 11:59 a.m. - Shoplifting in the 3800 block of River Road N. • 5:56 p.m. Motor vehicle theft in the 200 block of Heather Stone Court NE. MONDAY, MARCH 23 • 3:15 a.m. - Unlawful entry into motor vehicle in the 1500 block of Alder Drive NE. • 8:54 a.m. - Theft from motor ve- hicle in the 6500 block of Wheatland Road N. • 1:46 p.m. - Identity theft in the 5100 block of Hasbrook Avenue NE. • 3:08 p.m. - Assault in the 900 block of Dearborn Avenue NE. • 9 p.m. - Unlawful entry into motor vehicle in the 500 block of Chehalis Drive NE. • 11:17 p.m. - Arrest for theft from motor vehicle in the 600 block of Chemawa Road N. TUESDAY, MARCH 24 • 8:23 a.m. - Theft from motor vehicle in the 500 block of Sunset Avenue N. • 9:03 a.m. - Theft from motor vehicle in the 500 block of Chehalis Drive NE. • 12:52 p.m. - Theft from motor vehicle in the 700 block of Dearborn Avenue NE. • 1 p.m. - Theft from motor vehi- cle in the 5000 block of 7th Avenue NE. • 2:47 p.m. - Theft from motor ve- hicle in the 700 block of Dearborn Avenue NE. • 6:27 p.m. - Computer crime and theft by deception in the 6400 block of Crampton Drive. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 • 3:13 a.m. - Harrassment and menacing in the 800 block of Man- brin Drive NE. • 8:45 a.m. - Attempt to elude and reckless endangering at the intersec- tion of River Road N and Plymouth Avenue NE. • 9:40 a.m. - Restraining order violation in the 1100 block of Clear- view Avenue NE. • 12 p.m. - Shoplifting in the 3800 block of River Road N. • 3:25 p.m. - Identity theft in the 4300 block of Adam Court NE. • 4:11 p.m. - Shoplifting in the 3800 block of River Road N. • 6 p.m. - Theft in the 3800 block of River Road N. THURSDAY, MARCH 26 • 10:53 a.m. - Assault at the in- tersection of Arcade Avenue NE and Chemawa Road NE. FRIDAY, MARCH 27 • 12:51 a.m. - Assault in the 500 block of Greenwood Drive NE. • 2:44 p.m. - Methamphetamine possession in the 3800 block of River Road N. • 2:47 p.m. - Vandalism in the 5100 block of River Road N. • 6:47 p.m. - Physical harassment in the 1000 block of Cynthia Street NE. • 7:59 p.m. Criminal trespass in the 5000 block of River Road N. SATURDAY, MARCH 28 • 12:43 a.m. - Criminal trespass in the 4300 block of River Road N. • 1:35 a.m. - Unlawful entry into motor vehicle in the 900 block of Plymouth Drive NE. • 7:16 a.m. - Vandalism in the 5100 block of Wittenberg Lane NE. • 6:42 p.m. - DUII in the 5100 block of Courtlyn Avenue NE. • 9:26 p.m. - Theft and menacing in the 3800 block of River Road N. SUNDAY, MARCH 29 • 12 a.m. - Theft from motor ve- hicle in the 7400 block of Sagebrush Street NE. • 4 p.m. - Theft from motor vehi- cle in the 4100 block of River Road N. • 4:32 p.m. - Theft in the 4900 block of Bailey Road NE. • 6:25 p.m. - Restraining order violation in the 4200 block of Mead- owbrook Court NE. sudoku Enter digits from 1-9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square.