2020–03–14 ~ Day #2 ~ Walk before run ~ Practice for a self-quarantine
Hello world-in-a-pandemic
Why am I doing this? Part 2
I’m 73. I am finding growing old to be a very interesting topic. It’s a great learning experience. Is this the ultimate challenge: how well can you die? See also my post My New Side Hustle: Death 2.0.
Elsewhere, I’m working on writing a summary of a book titled Successful Aging by Dan Levitin. Dan proposes that people who live well until their death tend to follow the principles of COACH:
COACH = conscientiousness, openness, affiliations, curiosity, and healthy lifestyle.
Dan asks us to work at being more conscientious. Relevant quotes include:
- “Do things when you say you’ll do them. See your doctor regularly. If the doctor tells you to do something, do it,” he said. “Conscientiousness is associated with much better life outcomes.”
- Conscientiousness includes Include organized, responsible, careful, and practical, and the opposites disorganized, irresponsible, sloppy, and impractical. People who score high in this dimension tend to be prepared, be diligent, pay attention to details, and do what they say they will do
- To become more conscientious, one must change underline cognitive processes such a self regulation (Controlling impulsive behaviors) and self monitoring (Noticing which circumstances lead to successful self regulation in which circumstances sabotage self regulation).
- Self-regulation — controlling impulsive behaviors
- Self-monitoring — noticing which circumstances lead to better self regulation and which sabotage sef-regulation
- Too conscientious: Obsessive compulsive disorder
The words that resonate with me are: “If the doctor tells you to do something, do it”.
These are not words I like to hear. They sound like:
- Follow the rules
- Do what teacher tells you
- Be good and play nice, work hard, stay kind
I consider myself impulsive and often impractical. I want to:
- Move fast and break things
- Think different
- Stay hungry. Stay foolish
- It’s better to be a pirate than to join the Navy
And as happens from time to time, I stop working on whatever and double-click to something random and unrelated. This time it was COVID-19. And, guess what? You can keep clicking on this topic all day long. And I did. Listed after the break are links and quotes from a variety of sources. And, guess what: All the links are all about doctors telling me what to do — following the rules. Starting from the top here is what I found:
- Because I’m older I’m more vulnerable
- Because I’m more vulnerable I should take special precautions
- The most important precaution is social distancing
So here I am in training to become some kind of goody-goody teacher’s pet — and trying to follow Dan Levitin’s good advice to listen to the doctors. At least I’m with somebody who is a lot of fun to be with — which is me!
3D Globe with statistics
What I really wanted to tell you though, were all the adventures that happened during the day, but I got sidetracked. It turns out that there is no nice 3D globe showing the number of cases in each country. I have started building one. I told you I am impulsive. Fingers crossed, more on this in Day #3.
Bookmarks
Below are some of the links I bookmarked today, Basically every major health organization around the world is on the case of COVID-19 and working overtime. And there is a lot of information that can help you decide if you need to take action and what actions to take. I hope to be able to summarize these or chart a course through them. At least I have a good set of bookmarks to start with.
Nice replies
I received many replies to my day #1 message. Thank you all. I will do my best to reply once I have a shiny new globe to show you — chock full of recovery numbers (and sad numbers too )
ox ox
Theo
PS My favorite quote of the day: when you see someone without a smile give them one of yours
World Health Organization (WHO)
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public
Stay informed and follow advice given by your healthcare provider Stay informed on the latest developments about COVID-19. Follow advice given by your healthcare provider, your national and local public health authority or your employer on how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.
Why? National and local authorities will have the most up to date information on whether COVID-19 is spreading in your area. They are best placed to advise on what people in your area should be doing to protect themselves.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
The risk of severe disease associated with COVID-19 infection for people in the EU/EEA and UK is currently considered moderate for the general population and high for older adults and individuals with chronic underlying conditions, based on the probability of community transmission and the impact of the disease.
Whitehouse
National Emergency Proclamation
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-declaring-national-emergency-concerning-novel-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak/
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/healthcare/
But we are doing what we must to protect our vulnerable elderly
Center for Disease control (CDC)
People at Risk for Serious Illness from COVID-19
If COVID-19 is spreading in your community, take extra measures to put distance between yourself and other people to further reduce your risk of being exposed to this new virus.
Stay home as much as possible.
Consider ways of getting food brought to your house through family, social, or commercial networks
California Department of Public Health (CDPH )
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Gathering_Guidance_03.11.20.pdf
The California Department of Public Health finds the following:
Large gatherings that include 250 people or more should be postponed or canceled.
This includes gatherings such as concerts, conferences, and professional, college, and school sporting events.
Smaller gatherings held in venues that do not allow social distancing of six feet per person should be postponed or canceled.
This includes gatherings in crowded auditoriums, rooms or other venues.
Gatherings of individuals who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 should be limited to no more than 10 people.
This includes gatherings such as those at retirement facilities, assisted living facilities, developmental homes, and support groups for people with health conditions.
A “gathering” is any event or convening that brings together people in a single room or single space at the same time, such as an auditorium, stadium, arena, large conference room, meeting hall, cafeteria, or any other indoor or outdoor space.
[COVID-19 PUBLIC HEALTH GUIDANCE FOR PEOPLE AT RISK FOR SERIOUS ILLNESS March 10, 2020]
Avoid crowds, mass gatherings or large events, and public transit, and stay home as much as possible.
Long and really tedious thing to fill in. Yikes!
San Francisco Department of Public Health ( SFCDCP )
https://www.sfcdcp.org/infectious-diseases-a-to-z/coronavirus-2019-novel-coronavirus/
Vulnerable populations include people who are 60 years old and older, pregnant people and people who were pregnant in the past two weeks and people with certain health conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, kidney disease and weakened immune systems. To help protect themselves from COVID-19, vulnerable populations should:
limit outings
avoid going to gatherings of 10 people or more unless it is essential
telecommute if possible, and
avoid contact with people who are sick
if you are sick, you should stay home and not attend
