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 A bowl of soup is tempting to have,
but if we rush and drink it piping hot, we can get burned. Like coronavirus, it's out there and we need to take precautions and not make hasty moves otherwise, we, too, will get "burned."  Hawaii needs to shape up and learn to keep COVID-19 cases in check!
Not a good showing with 41 cases, today! Only if it's good can we have a ton of it. Keep your distance and don't get too close and sticky!  ...maybe and maybe not.
Hawaii had 7 new COVID-19 cases today. A sizeable drop in #s but we still should keep all our defensive movements ready to protect ourself.  Go Ethan, GO! Ethan we are sending our aloha from Hawaii as you take your big, powerful, long strides to win San Mateo, Highlands July 4, 2020 race First place for your division...3 years in a row!!   Wow, another big congrats for scoring #2 for overall fastest runner for the entire contest!!   Popo and Gungie, uncles and aunties, as well as cousins, send you our love and aloha for staying active, connecting with your friends and neighbors and most of all keeping healthy. YES as the above logo says, We're All in This TOGETHER,  Our San Mateo grandson is 15 yo. Ethan and Popo share the same birthday! He also helped ken run the Olelo cameras to film tai chi at Kilauea District park. Please check out Ethan's YouTube channel Ultimate K6000 by clicking here and subscribe to see the latest and greatest videos!
 with garden herbs including rosemarty, cilantro, Italian parseley, tarragon,
Mexican oregano, sweet basil, onion, garlic, gandule beans, brown rice, quinoa, cherry tomato, okra and sweet corn.  By Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN
Updated 6:52 AM ET, Sat July 4, 2020 (CNN)Back in the middle of May, I wrote an essay titled "If the United States were my patient," pondering what it would be like if the United States were a flesh-and-blood person who had gotten sick with an ongoing infection. Seven weeks later, as we approach the patient's birthday -- July 4th -- I thought it would be a good time to check in and see how the patient's doing. It turns out the answer is: not well at all. In fact, with daily infection rates breaking records on many days during the last couple of weeks, we are arguably worse off today than at any point earlier in the pandemic. Consider: This week, 15 states saw their highest seven-day averages, and the country is seeing around 50,000 new cases a day. We have less than 5% of the global population, but about 25% of coronavirus cases and deaths. Several states, including Texas and Arizona, are on the verge of having recently infected patients overwhelm hospital capacity.US reports over 50,000 new coronavirus cases for third straight day As a doctor, I'm frustrated. I feel our patient's deterioration didn't have to happen and there were many unforced errors. I really thought that we'd be having a different conversation in the country at this point; I thought that along with the fireworks, we'd be celebrating the progress we've made so far. Instead, I have to say to the patient, "The infection has returned with a vengeance. It has spread and risks tipping out of control in some parts of your body." And I'm worried -- worried that we'll get to the point where the existing treatments that we have, the medicines we carry in our little black bag, are no longer going to be effective and we will have to resort to the big guns, the more aggressive measures. But at the same time, I still hold out some hope; we still have a little bit of time to turn the situation around, to restart our medicine, take it faithfully --but we can't afford to waste another minute.The best care, the best advice "If the country, like the human body, were to get sick or infected, it should seek the best medical guidance and follow it, as hard as that might be," I wrote back in May. Well, throughout the illness, this patient has had the benefit of excellent medical care. This country is home to some of the most creative minds, finest doctors and most experienced public health officials the world over. And they, along with equally talented international researchers, jumped into action, trying to decipher the genetic make-up of the virus, learning how it spreads and how to mitigate that spread, discovering all the ways the disease manifests, figuring out how to treat symptoms and desperately trying to develop a vaccine that will prevent new cases of infection in the future. These are the states requiring people to wear masks when out in public But after a few short weeks of following doctors' orders, our patient -- our country -- has chosen to turn its back on the advice of these health experts. It didn't like what the doctors were saying and it stopped taking the prescribed medicines because they were unpalatable. Some of the prescriptions, like social distancing and curtailing our daily activities, tasted bad and were hard to swallow. Others, like wearing a face mask, created a bit of physical discomfort and a lot of political friction. And the most aggressive medicine of all, the stay-at-home orders, triggered never-before-seen mass layoffs across many sectors of the economy and the fallout just rippled outward from there. In other words, very real pain. Another day of record coronavirus cases as more states rethink mask mandate But difficult as it was to put the patient in a medically induced coma with the stay-at-home orders in order to get the infection under control, it appeared to have worked. When I first wrote the piece, just before Memorial Day, the time of another national holiday, it looked like the patient was moving in the right direction. Infection rates had significantly dropped in some of the hardest hit areas, like Michigan, Massachusetts and New York, and were holding steady in much of the country.Stopping treatment too soon I worried back then about stopping the medicine too early -- and that is exactly what happened. The patient was brought out of the medically induced coma too quickly and chaotically, with every state doing its own thing. Some states reopened immediately, while infection rates were trending up (I'm looking at you, Georgia), while other states, and some cities waited a bit longer. But few, if any, states met all of the so-called "gating criteria" for reopening set by the White House and the CDC. Indoor vs. outside dining: Which restaurant tables are safer? In addition to acting too soon, these re-openings were often accompanied by a flouting of rules, a lack of social distancing and a growing refusal to wear masks by a loud minority. We've all seen the photos of packed beaches, crowded bars, protests in favor of reopening, and presidential press briefings with officials crowded together behind the podium, and few, if any, wearing a mask. It's as if our patient had just shrugged after waking up and said, "That was a weird nightmare. Glad it's over," before popping out of bed and walking out of the hospital. But the infection was still smoldering under the surface.Like Cassandra, predictions were ignored Since then, health expert after health expert tried to remind us that this pandemic is not gone. Not only that, it will be here with us for the foreseeable future. But there is no unifying directive or plan of action from the White House. States are responding independently of each other. And so the patient continued to go about its business, often oblivious to the danger. People in parts of the country continued not to social distance and the war against mask-wearing became even more vocal and entrenched, with the President, his vice president and other elected officials refusing to model the very behavior that health experts recommended: Wear a mask and stay 6 feet apart. For a time, the governors of some states, including Arizona and Texas, even blocked local officials from enacting mask mandates within their cities and counties. But thanks in no small part to the alarming rise in cases, we may have hit a turning point this last week. Nearly two dozen states have paused or rolled back reopening efforts. The governors of a handful of holdout states -- including Texas, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Kansas-- issued mask mandates. Some in the GOP and the vice president have started donning a mask. Even President Trump recently said he's "all for masks." And government health expert after government health expert -- including the White House Coronavirus Task Force's Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, the CDC's Dr. Robert Redfield and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar -- repeated the same mantra: Wear a mask. Embrace universal face coverings. Is it too late? As I have said repeatedly, this coronavirus is not hardy and because of that, small spoonfuls of medicine can go a long way. It doesn't travel far, so staying 6 or 10 feet apart can help. With good air circulation, it disperses quickly, so don't congregate in indoor spaces. And wear a mask -- that's a big one. Studies have shown it can reduce transmission to others while also protecting the wearer. Even bandanas, even paper surgical masks work better than nothing. In fact, modelers at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation project that if 95% of people wear masks, about 24,000 lives could be spared by October. If we can get our patient to stick to these small steps -- these tried and true public health measures that have worked in places like South Korea -- the number of daily infections can be slowly cut down to manageable levels. And then we can start containment efforts, like contact tracing and isolating potentially infected people. But we're not even at that stage yet, and it is just not possible to talk about containing the virus when there are 50,000, or even 10,000, new infections per day. In order to do that, we need to get the country closer to one in a million people becoming infected per day. That's just over 300 new infections a day -- not 50,000. And that brings me to another point: We need more testing, not less. It is the only way to see how the patient is doing, to see if the infection is retreating or spreading. Testing in many parts of the country is still hard to come by; components of the test are sometimes in short supply and results are slow to arrive. And now that more people want to be tested, the testing sites in some of the new hotspots are crowded, with long lines. This will further increase the wait for results as labs strain to keep up. We need mass access to a rapid, easy and inexpensive test that can give result in minutes, not days, so testing can be done more easily and results returned more quickly. Things will get worse before they get better Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team. Make no mistake, the patient will feel worse in the coming days until the medicine begins to work, until the public health measures that are once again being put in place have a chance to do their job. And the patient might still require aggressive treatment in some places -- we may see certain areas of the country partially shut down again. In the spring, everyone made great personal and economic sacrifices in trying to flatten the curve. Nobody wants to lose that progress and nobody wants to go back to the coma again. But we have to act now, as one nation, indivisible and with one guiding voice. That would be a great birthday gift for our patient.Andrea Kane contributed to this story. 
https://www.boston.com/news/coronavirus/2020/07/03/how-fauci-5-other-health-specialists-deal-with-covid-19-risks-in-their-everyday-lives How Fauci, 5 other health specialists deal with COVID-19 risks in their everyday livesDr. Anthony Fauci lowers his mask before testifying June 30, 2020, in Washington, D.C. –Kevin Dietsch-Pool / Getty ImagesAs Americans learn to live with the coronavirus, many are struggling with decisions about which practices are safe or risky for them. The Washington Post asked six public health/infectious diseases specialists about their own behavior choices. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity. The experts:
Q: When and where do you wear a mask? Fauci: It dominates everything I do. The only time I don’t wear one is when I am alone, when I am home with my wife, or when I am speaking in public – provided there is 6 feet between me and the people to whom I am speaking, as was the case when I answered questions at the recent Congressional hearings. Connick: I walk in the morning and never wear a mask walking around in my neighborhood. Even if you see somebody, you can keep your distance. But I do wear it otherwise. I don’t wear one inside my own office, but I do wear one in the general office area. I wasn’t wearing one before, but now everyone is masking because we have more covid spread [in Arizona]. Volberding: I wear a mask most of the time, although not inside the house or sitting outside on my second-floor deck. I think people are crazy not to be wearing masks. The evidence that they are effective is pretty strong. I’ve noticed in recent weeks that the number of people wearing them seems to be decreasing, which concerns me. There is no shame in wearing a mask. Bell: I wear one in public whenever possible, in stores, office settings, if I encounter groups of people that I can’t distance myself from and during press conferences when I’m not speaking. Bloom: Every time I leave the house, inside and outside, and certainly when I shop. Satcher: All the time. Even when I’m in the office, I keep it on, since people are always coming in and out. The only time I don’t is when I am home. – – – Q: Besides family, do you allow anyone else inside your home, such as cleaners or service people for repairs? Fauci: The only person who comes into the house besides (my wife) Christine and me is the woman who cleans the house once every two weeks. She wears a mask and gloves at all times while in the house. Connick: I pay someone to clean house. She was very afraid at first, and didn’t come for six weeks, but I paid her anyway. Then she decided she was comfortable and came back. I’m not here when she cleans, and she’s gone when I come home. So I am not breathing her air. I do have a pest control guy come. He’s quick, and I stay far away from him. Volberding: We have cleaners who come once a week. They text me when they are nearly here, and (my wife) Molly and I close ourselves into a room on the top floor study and don’t interact with them at all. They text when they are leaving. They are good about disinfecting. As for the room we stay in, it’s my chore to keep it clean. Bell: I allow repair workers in the home and don’t make them wear a mask while they’re working, but I do when I have contact with them, and I keep my distance. Bloom: Yes, but only people I know, and we keep our distance and often wear masks. Satcher: Yes, probably more than I should. My daughter is upset at the number of people I let in who don’t wear masks, although I wear one. – – – Q: Do you shop in grocery stores, or order online? Do you wash the items off or disinfect the outside of packages once you get home? Fauci: I do physically go to the grocery store, but I wear a mask and keep my distance. I usually go at odd times. I spend half the day alone in my office, and I’m part-time at the White House. In the late afternoon or evening, when I’m finished with the White House, I go shopping for groceries, or to drugstores. I don’t disinfect the bags. In general, I will take the materials out of the bags, then wash my hands with soap and water, and then use Purell, and let everything sit for a day. Connick: I wear a mask when I shop, and stay away from people while in the store. I try to minimize my trips. As infections become more widespread, I think I will be more conscientious about making only one visit a week. I don’t wash the packages. I did that for about a week, then decided there would be more cases if the virus was transmitted that way. I don’t think there is a lot of virus hanging around on those packages. But I do wash my hands. Volberding: We have wonderful stores in our neighborhood that really enforce everything. They don’t let you get close to anyone else and everyone wears a mask. I don’t disinfect or wash anything. I don’t think the evidence for surface contamination is real. I don’t wear gloves in the store, but I wash my hands before I go and when I come back. Bell: I shop in grocery stores and order online. I don’t disinfect packages that I bring into my home. Bloom: I shop at grocery stores, and also have them shipped. I don’t wash them, but usually let them sit for a day before I use them. The bug dies pretty quickly. Satcher: I shop in grocery stores and I wear a mask. I do the handwashing thing. I’m compulsive about that. I don’t wash or disinfect the packages, but I do wash my hands after touching them. – – – Q: Would you dine inside a restaurant? Outside? Do you get takeout? Fauci: We don’t do anything inside. I don’t eat in restaurants. We do get takeout. Connick: No, no restaurants. I avoid any closed space with a lot of people, particularly when it’s people whose risk I don’t know. I think the biggest risk is being in a closed space and breathing the same air that other people are breathing, and also not wearing masks. I wouldn’t go even if they were wearing masks. I might consider dining outside, although I would rather not. I think being outside is much safer. Takeout, yes. I would die if I didn’t do takeout. Volberding: I wouldn’t feel comfortable yet with indoor seating, but I’d feel comfortable outside, with distances between the tables. We haven’t gone yet. We’ve gotten takeout a couple of times. We are cooking a ton, and love it. Bell: I would not dine in a restaurant, but I would dine outside if the restaurant had a safe set up. I do get takeout. Bloom: I would not dine inside now. I would dine outside. I’m a big believer in outside, that it’s safer outside. Satcher: I have not dined inside a restaurant in a long time, and I used to do it a lot. I have not dined outside, but I would if I could be six feet away from other people. I do sometimes get takeout. – – – Q: Do you take any precautions with your mail or packages? Fauci: I used to, but now I just bring the mail in, wash my hands, then let it lie around for a day or two before I open it. Connick: I’m just not that interested in my mail. It’s in a locked box across the street from my driveway, and I only pick it up once a week. If there is any virus on those letters, it gets cooked off. I don’t think a virus is living on my mail, and I’m really not worried about it. I don’t worry about packages. I open them. Volberding: I don’t take any precautions with my mail. As for packages, there is no contact with the delivery person. I don’t leave them outside – they’d be stolen if I did. Bell: No. Bloom: I let them sit for a day. That’s probably irrational, but I do it that way. Satcher: I’m so compulsive about mail that I’m reading it before I get it into my house. But I do wash my hands afterwards. – – – Q: Do you go to friends’ homes for dinner, or have friends to your house, or see them in other ways? Fauci: On the rare occasion when we have people over, we have them out on the deck, six feet apart, and we never have more than two people, and they are people who themselves are locked in. We wear masks, unless we are eating. We don’t share anything. There are no common bowls. Each person has his or her own receptacle. Some people even bring their own glasses. We always do takeout and I tell the takeout people that I want the food in four separate plastic containers, so no one has to touch anyone else’s food. Everyone’s food is self-contained. Also, we always stay outside. We don’t do anything inside. If it’s too hot, or rainy, we cancel it. Connick: There are a few friends I see for dinner. In Tucson, you can sit outside to eat. I’ve had a few people over to dinner and we eat outside. I don’t have many people over. The people I have over have been quarantining. We don’t wear masks. We sit outside at a good distance. I think if you are outside at a good distance the risk is very small. I invite over people who are very circumspect in their behavior. No one comes over to my house who goes to restaurants or bars. Volberding: Except for seeing immediate family, the only thing we have done was to go to a birthday celebration for a friend in Golden Gate Park. Everything was widely spread out, and everyone was wearing masks. Everyone brought their own blanket and food. We haven’t been in anyone else’s house, and no one has been in ours, except our kids, and only once in a while. Bell: I don’t go to friends’ homes for dinner at this time. I do see friends by practicing physical distancing and using masks if we have to be closer than six feet for longer than a few minutes. I allow friends in the home whose practices I’m confident in. Bloom: I have only seen friends once, to dine outside, which was very nice. I am very keen on the outside and dispersion of aerosols sitting in the open air, but concerned about them in closed settings. Satcher: I have not been to anybody’s house for dinner since this started. My son and his family came over for the day, and my daughter was over once to help me with a Zoom presentation. – – – Q: Are you getting your hair cut? Fauci: I usually get it cut every five weeks, but I didn’t go for a long while. By the 11th week, it was looking really bad. So I asked the woman who cuts my hair if I could come in really early in the morning, at 7 a.m., and we arranged to do that. No one else was there. She wore a mask and I wore a mask. Connick: I do not go to the hair salon. I pay my hairdresser to come to my house. The first time he did it, he said: “It’s on me, thanks for being a health-care worker.” The second time, I insisted. He did it outside the first time, the second time, inside. He comes once a month. No mask for my hairdresser or me in the past. However, now that salons are open, I will have to ask him how much time he has spent at the salon. If he is spending a lot of time, I may ask him to mask. We will definitely do hair outside next time. The pandemic is unfortunately ramping up in Arizona, and everyone’s risk is greater now than it was two months ago when he first cut my hair. Volberding: [laughs] I am quite bald. I have a little hair on the sides and I buzz that off myself. I know Molly would love to get to the hair salon. She took some kitchen shears a couple of weeks ago and whacked off her hair. I understand the urge to get back to some of those personal services, but I haven’t been inclined at all. Bell: I have not, but I would go if the business only allowed one client at a time in the general area, there was no waiting with other clients and the use of masks by all employees was required. Bloom: Nope, I haven’t in three months, but that’s because the barbers were closed down. Now you have to make an appointment, and I haven’t had the time. Everybody wears a mask, so it would be fine. Satcher: I haven’t been to the barber since this started. I cut my own hair now, just like I did when I was in college. – – – Q: Are you willing to fly? What about bus, train, subway? Fauci: I’m 79 years old. I am not getting on a plane. I have been on flights where I’ve been seated near people who were sneezing and coughing, and then three days later, I’ve got it. So, no chance. No Metro, no public transportation. I’m in a high risk group, and I don’t want to play around. Connick: I would only fly if I had to, for an emergency. I would not fly now for pleasure or work. I have a family reunion that happens every year, and I’m not going. But if I had to fly, I would wear an N95 mask. Volberding: I haven’t flown, and I’m not eager to. I don’t like the idea of being in an enclosed space, especially when the airplanes are full. I’ve only ridden BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) once because we were in the East Bay to see our new granddaughter, and a Black Lives Matter protest took over the Bay Bridge. There was no way to get back except by BART. Normally, I wouldn’t have done it, but it wasn’t very crowded. Bell: No. With the current disease activity in the country, I don’t know when I’ll fly again while airlines don’t require physical distancing and masks required for all. No [buses or trains], but public transport isn’t widely used in my community. Bloom: No, none of them, not until the numbers of cases are down to much lower levels than they are at the moment. Satcher: I am willing, but I haven’t flown recently. If someone invites me to speak, and I can speak by Zoom, I do it. If someone said they really needed me somewhere, I would go, but I would wear a mask all the way. I have not been on the subway since this started, but Atlanta isn’t as big on subways as New York or other places. I just usually drive my car. – – – Q: Would you visit your kids/grandkids? Fauci: My middle daughter, who teaches school in New Orleans, drove up here after they closed the schools. She could teach online from here, so she thought: Why not come home and see her parents? When she got here she went straight through the back entrance into the basement. She stayed in our basement, which has a room with a bed, a shower, electricity, and she did not come upstairs for 14 days. My wife brought food down to her on paper dishes. She lives in a very high risk city, and she wouldn’t let us near her. I wanted to hug her when she arrived, but she said: “No way, dad.” She came upstairs after 14 days, and then stayed with us for several months. Connick: I’m not going to go visit him [a son, 22, who lives in New York City] because of the flying. Besides, who wants to go to New York when you can’t go anywhere? Also, I wouldn’t take the bus or subway there. Those are enclosed spaces where you share air, and I avoid them. Volberding: Not very often. At first, we didn’t at all. We have family cocktail hour Zooms twice a week. We talk a lot about covid, and everyone is being super safe. I held my granddaughter – I couldn’t help that – but I don’t hug my kids or their partners. Bloom: I have a brand new grandson, 2 months old, who lives in Los Angeles. He’s the cutest kid in the world. I would love to fly there and see him, but I won’t. Satcher: I’ve visited my son and daughter-in-law once or twice. They needed me to sign some papers, so I went over. We were social distancing in the garage area and wearing masks, and my grandkids were wearing masks. We also do family Zoom meetings every other week on Sundays which include my two brothers and sister and their children. – – – Q: What would you tell your kids or grandkids who wanted to join a protest march or go to a political rally? Fauci: My daughters feel very strongly about social injustice, but would not likely want to do that. They are very careful with their health. They stay away from crowds. Connick: I’d be so proud of him. I would tell him to wear a mask. He’s young and doesn’t have any health conditions. Nothing is risk free. If that’s what he wanted to do, I’d ask him to wear a mask. Volberding: We are a pretty political family, and believe in these protests. But I haven’t been to a rally. I’m old enough that it’s probably more serious for me. They are young enough that it’s probably less serious for them. But I would tell them to stay to the side and wear masks all the time, and that being in the mosh pit of a crowd is a pretty bad idea. Bell: I would advise them that the risk for exposure is high, and that they should wear a mask at all times, and make every attempt to distance themselves from people without masks. Bloom: The answer would be yes, but wear a mask and try to stay [six to eight] feet away from everybody. I wouldn’t do it because I am at high risk. Satcher: I was quite active in the civil rights movement when I was a student at Morehouse. I went to jail at least five times. What bothers me about today’s protests is that they aren’t as organized as we were. You don’t know who you are marching with. You don’t want to find out when you get there that someone is going to throw a rock or start a fire. – – – Q: Would you go work out at a gym? Swim in a pool? Run? Walk? Fauci: I wouldn’t go to a gym. I need to be so careful. I don’t want to take a chance. I have a pool at home, so I swim in that. I do power-walking with Chris. I was running until about a year ago, but every time I went running, my back would tighten up the next morning. So now I walk the same distance. It just takes longer. We go every day with few exceptions, 3.5 miles per day during the week, four miles over the weekend. Prior to covid-19, I did it at lunch alone in the parks near NIH. Now, I do it in the evening with Chris around the neighborhood. On the weekends, Chris and I do it together on the C&O canal. Connick: I wouldn’t go to a gym. I’d go to an outdoor pool, which is much safer than an indoor pool, since everything dissipates in the air, although I wouldn’t go to a crowded outdoor pool. Volberding: I had a gym built in my house before this and it has everything, so I have no need to go to a gym. But I wouldn’t go eagerly. They can’t disinfect everything all of the time. As for pools, if anything, outdoors yes, indoors no. The swimmers would need to be far enough apart. There is a lot of heavy breathing, so even if they are in the next lane, I don’t think it’s fully safe. I try to get out and walk most days. Bell: Of these I would only run, walk or hike where there were few other people, making it easy to avoid close contact Bloom: I’m on the treadmill every other day at my house. I belong to a gym, but don’t believe gyms are the safest place to be until the numbers go down. Swimming outside itself is pretty safe – but stay out of the locker rooms. Satcher: I’m not a gym person, even when there is no pandemic. I have to be outside. Being outside is good for you. I still run and walk, although I walk more than I run. I go about three or four miles most mornings. I would swim, since there is no evidence it is spread in water. I would only swim outside, since I am not an indoor swimmer. – – – Q: Are you making routine trips to the doctor or dentist? Fauci: No, not yet, although I might check in within the next few weeks with my physician to get some soothing meds for my throat since I have a hoarse voice from so many briefings and interviews. He will probably take a look and say: “Just stop talking so much.” Connick: Fortunately, I had my doctor checkup just before the shutdown, but I probably would not. As for the dentist, I probably wouldn’t go unless I had an emergency. I wouldn’t go for a routine cleaning. Volberding: Nope. I had one doctor’s appointment done by video. I haven’t been to the dentist, although the problem with dentists is not my health, but theirs. I feel sorry for them. Bell: No. Bloom: No. I’m still nervous about infection control. If I had a major dental or medical emergency, I would go. The medical people take good precautions, but I am concerned with other patients going in and out. Satcher: I haven’t seen a dentist since this started, but probably will go in soon. I’ve seen a physician once or twice for routine appointments, and I was comfortable with the way they handled the visits. – – – Q: What about mammograms? Would you get a routine mammogram/advise your wife/daughter to get one? Fauci: If routine, I’d probably tell her to wait. Connick: I am going to do it because I am a year overdue for mine, and want to get it done, otherwise I probably wouldn’t. Volberding: Not yet. Bell: Yes. Bloom: Probably not. Satcher: There is breast cancer history in the family, so yes. – – – Q: What kinds of questions would you ask a doctor’s office before going for a routine appointment – and what are “acceptable risk” answers? Connick: I would ask if they practice universal masking and whether they are seeing sick patients in their office. Volberding: I would ask about disinfection, masks and face shields, and – for the dentist – whether they are using tools that generate a lot of aerosols. Bell: I would ask if they separate sick patients from others, whether they keep a physical distance between patients, whether they require the use of masks for all employees and patients in common areas, do they screen health-care providers for symptoms, and exclude those who are ill. Satcher: I have not interrogated the doctors, because I trust them, and I haven’t been disappointed. – – – Q: Are you working in your office? What precautions do you take? Fauci: I don’t wear a mask when I’m alone in my office, but I slap one on if I walk out into the hall and could pass someone, like my assistant, who also wears one. Connick: In our infectious diseases clinic, if anyone is sick, they are sent home. They are screened outside and talked to on phone, and asked if they are sick. We see people for HIV or other chronic infectious diseases and they are asked not to come if they have a fever or upper respiratory tract symptoms. Also, everyone must wear a surgical mask or we won’t see them. I wear an N95 mask if I am seeing covid patients, as well as goggles and a shield. Volberding: I still have AIDS patients I do by phone. I went into clinic once a few weeks ago, but stayed only a brief period of time. I’m still not too eager to get back to the clinic. I do most work from home. Bell: I primarily telework, but I wear a mask in group meetings when I’m in the office. Bloom: Until recently, school has been closed and locked. I have permission to go in, but no particular reason to do so. I live by Zoom, and it’s fantastic. Satcher: I go in about twice a week and wear a mask all the time, which is the rule. Also, everyone gets temperature checked. – – – Q: Will you ever shake hands again? Hug/kiss someone? Fauci: I think it’s going to be a while. The infection rate will have to be extremely low or nonexistent, or we have to have a vaccine. Right now, I don’t even think about doing it. Connick: I don’t know if people will ever shake hands again. Not until this thing is gone. Not until this is over. If my son came to visit, I’d hug him, but I’m generally not hugging people. Volberding: It’s been a long time since I have shaken a hand. Maybe I will again once there is a vaccine. I grew up in Minnesota where hugging is not common, but since I’ve been out here, I’ve wanted to hug people, and love it. Once there is a vaccine, I want to get back to hugging. It just feels normal. Bell: Yes [to shaking hands], followed by practicing good hand hygiene. Yes [to hugging and kissing.] Bloom: I’d try to avoid it. I think it’s a bad idea. But I would rub elbows. Satcher: I forget upon occasion and reach out my hand. I’m supposed to set an example, but I don’t always remember. Handshakes have always been a big thing at Morehouse, a firm handshake was one of the things they recommended when I was a student. I do the elbow bump thing, and I’m now a stickler for social distance. I don’t hug or kiss anyone. – – – Q: If you had young kids, would you send them back to school in the fall? Fauci: It really depends on where you live. Connick: I think that’s a very difficult question. I’m very glad I don’t have to make that decision. If they got sick, they may be fine but they could give it to me. As a doctor, I feel obligated to not get sick. It would be very difficult [to] have children who were in the school system. Volberding: Oh boy, that’s a hard question. It’s such a challenge. The data I’ve heard about suggest that the really young kids are not much of an infection reservoir, so I think it might be okay for preschool, day care and elementary school. The question gets to be harder in high school and college. I think the schools probably will have shifts, morning and afternoon, and limited hours. They might consider teaching in cohorts – small groups of students, so if one get infected, they can quarantine that one group to keep it from spreading. I don’t think you can replace direct interaction with Zoom. Bell: Yes. Bloom: Yes. I believe that the process of socialization is really important, and that long-term deprivation of that is probably going to do more harm than the occasional child becoming infected. We also need to liberate parents and get them back to work, but as carefully as we can. I think kids need schooling and socialization. Satcher: It would depend on what arrangements the school made to protect their health. – – – Q: Have you been tested for the coronavirus? Fauci: Yes, every time I go to the White House. Connick: I have not been tested. I’ve had no symptoms, so I see no reason to get tested. Volberding: No. I am asymptomatic. I take my temperature every day and I have a spray bottle of fragrance that I spray into the air every day to make sure I haven’t lost my sense of smell. I’m in my house almost all the time except for walks in the neighborhood and trips to grocery stores. Bell: No. Bloom: No. But I have no symptoms. Satcher: Yes, Morehouse requires it before we can come back. I actually took two different tests, the nasal swab and an antibody test because I was curious. I didn’t have any symptoms. Both were negative. – – – Q: What is your best guess about when a vaccine will be available? Fauci: We have multiple candidates, and my hope is that we will have more than one, probably by the end of this year or the beginning of 2021. Connick: Hopefully in six months. That would be a dream. Volberding: The challenge isn’t making a vaccine, it’s in testing it for efficacy in large numbers of people. It’s got to be placebo controlled to know it’s working, and done on enough people with exposure risk. If everyone is staying at home, you won’t know. It also depends on how the epidemic goes. If, unfortunately, it is blasting along, you’ll be able to test it. It will take longer if there is a pandemic lull. I’m not expecting anything for at least a year from now. Bell: Based on previous vaccine development, and the expectation that safety and efficacy were well tested, a complete guess would be late 2021. Bloom: It’s unlikely we will have one that is 100 percent effective. But it would be terrific to have one that’s 50 percent effective, which is in the ballpark for flu. You need about 30,000 people to test and I don’t think 30,000 people are going to volunteer for each trial. So how many to know it’s safe and effective? My guess, though, is that we could have something by the first quarter of 2021. Satcher: I wish I could say we will have one by the end of this year, but I can’t. We may have one in 2021, but I think it’s a long shot. Vaccines are not easy to develop, and this virus gives us some real challenges.  Ken's ingenuity to grow kalo for its leaves for our vegetarian lifestyle and using an old baby bathtub as a planter. Time to THINK and make wise choices as we all try to get thru our pandemic safely.   Today's kitchen project was fun...bc Caroline helped me harvest the kalamungay or moringa as well as the sweet basil from ken's garden. She actually did the measuring and processing! Always fun to work as a team as we wore our masks and physical distanced even in the kitchen!   |
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