NCAA Won't Mandate Uniform Return to College Sports

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

(CNN)Two teenagers in Florida have died from Covid-19 complications, according to data posted by the Florida Department of Health. The teens were between the ages of 14 and 17, the department said.

This brings the total number of minors who have died in relation to the virus in Florida to seven. The others were a 9-year-old girl from Putnam County, an 11-year-old boy in Miami-Dade County, an 11-year-old girl in Broward County, a 16-year-old girl in Lee County, and a 17-year-old boy in Pasco County.
In a telephone interview with CNN's Randi Kaye on Monday, Florida Education Association President Frederick Ingram says news that two additional teenagers died due to Covid-19 complications is "tragic" and "part of what we are going to have to deal with as well when you talk about student and children's mental health."
"Their classmates are getting deathly sick. Grieving for a child can be traumatizing, especially in a school setting. This is devastating for a child trying to make his or her way through grade school," Ingram said.

SPOKANE, Wash. - An additional seven COVID-19-related deaths have been reported in Spokane County since Friday.

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

Another bad day Covid-19, 4 more deaths Spokane. 245 Deaths Florida, 205 Texas along with over 11,00 new cases, 181 California.

Back to sports some MLB teams left their guard down and the results 18 Marlin player Positive only played 3 games so far, because positive test came out. Cardinals 13 players currently positive next 6 games postponed so far 2 against Milwaukee and 4 games this week against Tigers also postponed. Reports Marlin players and Cardinal players being irresponsible infected other players and coaches. MLB is not in a bubble.

NBA and WNBA doing great but in a bubble.

What this tells me is Lady Zag coaches and players should try to create a modified bubble. This can be done by coaches verbally contracting with their players on the standards (safety precautions) 24/7.

It would be a great idea for the WCC to only have local refs for all games. Avoiding refs having to fly on public planes. Refs able to drive to all games. When March madness got cancelled last year I remember some refs were already coming up positive for Covid-19.

Another concern do other teams in WCC have private charter like the ZAGs. If not concern about players from other teams having to fly on public planes.

MLB and players had a false sense of security starting the season. Lady Zags and WCC need to understand the real challenge starts when you start playing other teams. If you have one team let their guard down they pass on Covid-19 to the team they are playing etc, and the next thing like MLB postponed games are getting canceled left and right.

Lets hope the Lady Zags and the WCC have strict guidelines from the beginning. Not like MLB who were very lenient with their players at the beginning and are now trying to tighten their standards after the fact.

Below is a MLB player and manager perspective on whats going on in MLB right now:

Boyd acknowledged the first reaction to the news of the MLB postponements was a disappointment, not just that the Tigers couldn't play ball, but that some perceived loose behavior by players around the league has threatened to derail this season.

"You know the gut reaction is, like, awww man," Boyd said. "It's not my place to judge. We don't know what happened. There's no official word, so to pass judgment on them, especially not knowing what happened, it's not my play, you know.

"With that, you kind of have that reality check. We don't write the script, we just respond to it, and what's our response to this going to be? How can we respond and make the most of that? That's what we're doing.

"It doesn't mean our thoughts don't go there (to disappointment) ... but worrying about it or complaining about it isn't really going to change anything."

Boyd and the Tigers have had few issues with COVID-19, aside from some players, most notably Daniel Norris, catching it during Summer Camp.

That's not by accident. The Tigers, he said, remain vigilant with their social-distancing practices at and, most importantly, away from the ballpark.

They've been following their protocols and MLB's, and Boyd said MLB is working on instituting additional, stricter safety protocols, though nothing has been finalized yet.

It's really all about policing each other. It always has been.

More: Gardenhire: 'I'd have a hard time' staying if team suffers COVID-19 outbreak

"An awful lot," said Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire, asked how often the COVID-19 situation has been brought up with the team. "We've had meetings, lots of meetings, and anytime we see something, we have more meetings about it. Just talking about your responsibilities as a player is to your family and this baseball family. You have to take care of yourself off the field and do all the right things.

[ZagDad84]

Some sobering news today from NBC News:

One death every 80 seconds: The grim new toll of COVID-19 in America
Joe Murphy and Corky Siemaszko and Suzanne Ciechalski 43 mins ago

Over the last seven days, a grim new COVID-19 calculus has emerged: one person died every 80 seconds from the coronavirus in America.

And the pace at which those 7,486 people died appears to be accelerating, a new NBC News tally revealed Wednesday.

In July, a total of 26,198 deaths were reported, meaning one every 102 seconds. As of Wednesday morning, more than 158,000 people in the U.S. had died of the virus since the start of the pandemic.

The numbing new national snapshot of how COVID-19 is claiming more and more lives came as Johns Hopkins University reported another milestone: The world death toll from this plague had eclipsed 700,000.

The U.S. has logged over 4.8 million confirmed cases. And around 1.8 million of those have come since July 7, when the 3 millionth case was reported, NBC News figures show.

While most of the new cases and deaths have been in the South and Sun Belt, states in the northeast like New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts that were hit hardest at the start of the pandemic — and were able to flatten the curve — have also reported worrying upticks.

Entire Article can be found here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/on...?ocid=msedgdhp

ZagDad

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

First day back on the field for @zagwsoccer!

Good to see some sports practices coming out of Gonzaga, 1st soccer practice with social distancing.

Wednesday afternoon Gov. Jay Inslee outlined K-12 school opening recommendations by grouping counties into high-risk, moderate-risk and low-risk categories.

Gov. Inslee said the Washington State Department of Health along with the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction are recommending beginning the year online and canceling extracurricular activities for high-risk counties.

Gov. Inslee outlines K-12 school recommendations
1 of 3
high risk.PNG
moderate group.PNG
low risk.PNG
High-risk counties have more than 75 new cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period.

According to Gov. Inslee, 25 counties, including Spokane County, are considered to be high risk.

For moderate risk counties, the Health Department is recommending distance learning for middle school and high school with possible in-person learning for elementary. Gov. Inslee said moderate risk counties should also cancel extracurricular activities.

Counties are considered moderate if they have more than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period.

According to Gov. Inslee, only five counties are in the low-risk category with fewer than 25 news cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period.

Low-risk counties are recommended to create a hybrid in-person and distance learning model for middle school and high school. Low-risk counties are recommended to have full-time in-person elementary learning.

Gov. Inslee said people need to continue to use face coverings and practice social distancing so Washington can send kids back to the classroom.

[SkipZag]

Estimated deaths from cancer in 2020.. 606,520. We are at 159,000 for covid. Even if we are unfortunate to double by years end... we would be about half of cancer.

Just thought I would add to everyone’s talk of death...

About time for some positive talk... GU student move-ins scheduled for the end of the month.

Pennsylvania had for the first time in a while 0 deaths for a day.

Watched the other day on the news that Whitworth will be opening with set guidelines and that they will be holding a number of dorm rooms in case they have a student come down with covid. We know it will happen... why not have a plan in place. Some are willing to take the risk... to get kids back in school.

Go Zags!!

[ZagDad84]

Estimated deaths from cancer in 2020.. 606,520. We are at 159,000 for covid. Even if we are unfortunate to double by years end... we would be about half of cancer.

While I am too lazy to look it up, I am sure the vast majority of people who will die from cancer this year had been fighting cancer much longer than 6 months or approximately the length of time the U.S. started taking Covid seriously. Just putting some context to your number .

As CAD says, now is the time to get Covid rates in check. If we don't, when flu season comes around any many, many people will have compromised immune systems and you may see the death rates go up significantly among all ages of people.

Great News about Pennsylvania.

How about some great news involving sports. 3rd straight week the NBA has not recorded a single positive Covid-19 case in the bubble. WNBA, NHL and MLS seem to be operating very effectively in their bubbles. Auto racing (Nascar, Indy Car, NHRA, Formula 1 and IMSA) seem to be doing the best of the non-bubble sports. Very few Covid positive tests combined with quick quarantine have prevented any significant outbreaks. Some races have even include fans, admittedly at a fraction of the capacity, but at least some fans got to attend in person. Bad news for the Indy 500. Originally scheduled for a limited occupancy of 50%, it was reduced to 25% and this weekend the State of Indiana has said no fans will be permitted to attend the 500 in a couple of weeks.

On the other side of the bubble, MLB players and personnel need to remove their heads from their hindquarters or the season may be scrapped. The players just don't seem to care.

I have no idea how football is going to fare, but I don't have a lot of hope.

Back to your regular programming.

ZagDad

[willandi]

While I am too lazy to look it up, I am sure the vast majority of people who will die from cancer this year had been fighting cancer much longer than 6 months or approximately the length of time the U.S. started taking Covid seriously. Just putting some context to your number .

As CAD says, now is the time to get Covid rates in check. If we don't, when flu season comes around any many, many people will have compromised immune systems and you may see the death rates go up significantly among all ages of people.

Great News about Pennsylvania.

How about some great news involving sports. 3rd straight week the NBA has not recorded a single positive Covid-19 case in the bubble. WNBA, NHL and MLS seem to be operating very effectively in their bubbles. Auto racing (Nascar, Indy Car, NHRA, Formula 1 and IMSA) seem to be doing the best of the non-bubble sports. Very few Covid positive tests combined with quick quarantine have prevented any significant outbreaks. Some races have even include fans, admittedly at a fraction of the capacity, but at least some fans got to attend in person. Bad news for the Indy 500. Originally scheduled for a limited occupancy of 50%, it was reduced to 25% and this weekend the State of Indiana has said no fans will be permitted to attend the 500 in a couple of weeks.

On the other side of the bubble, MLB players and personnel need to remove their heads from their hindquarters or the season may be scrapped. The players just don't seem to care.

I have no idea how football is going to fare, but I don't have a lot of hope.

Back to your regular programming.

ZagDad

My thought is that they (NFL and MLB) could use a modified bubble. Each team should lease a hotel in their home city. One with enough rooms for all players, coaches and staff, AND THEIR FAMILIES. A place big enough to house the visiting team, coaches and staff.
Onsite facilities, restaurants and entertainment. Hire a couple of tutors for the kids, and each place should have a 'lounge' for more adult past times.
Each team leases the required number of buses to get their own personnel from the airport to the Hotel to the stadium and buses for the visitors as well. The buses are not used for anything else. The planes are disinfected before each use, better still if each team leases a plane for the duration (if they don't already).
A modified, moving but self contained bubble. Anyone leaving it has to quarantine to get back in.

Expensive? Probably somewhere around $500,000/month, figuring 100 rooms at $150 a night plus the tutors, food and hotel staff. Is it workable? Who knows, but even at $500K/month for 6 months...$3M is one lower priced veteran. Not a deal killer.

It might be too late for baseball, but not for football.

[ZagDad84]

We now know that the vast majority of larger school districts will begin the school year with distance learning.

According Governor Inslee (as republished by ZAB above - thanks ZAB) 25 counties are considered "high risk" and School Districts in those counties (according to the Health Department) should begin school with distance learning at all grade levels. School Districts located within Moderate Risk counties should practice distance learning for middle- and high school grades with possible in school instruction for elementary grades. School Districts in Moderate Risk counties should also cancel extra-curricular activities. School Districts located in Low Risk Counties should practice a hybrid schedule (combination of in class and distance learning) for middle- and high school grades and in school instruction for elementary grades.

After having a difficult start to the school year the Mississippi Governor issued the following statement today:

"I believe that there is enough motivation (now) to safely get our kids in school that we can really juice the participation of mask wearing throughout our state for the next two weeks," Gov. Tate Reeves said in announcing the new measures, acknowledging the earlier "piecemeal approach."

We have discussed the pros and cons of opening schools and wearing masks on this and other threads. The School Districts, Governor and local politicians are put in a hard place because no matter what path they select, a fair number of the population will disagree with the path they choose. As noted above, the Governor and Health Department have issued their guidelines for getting back to in school education. We, the public, know what we need to do.

Do you think that Spokane parents will respond as the Mississippi Governor has stated that now that parents see what they need to do to get their kids "safely" back in school will it "juice" the participation of mask wearing (& wearing masks correctly) or do you think the School Districts, Governor and Health Department mandates will have little impact on the general public concerning the issue of wearing of masks and social distancing?

ZagDad

[ZagDad84]

My thought is that they (NFL and MLB) could use a modified bubble. Each team should lease a hotel in their home city. One with enough rooms for all players, coaches and staff, AND THEIR FAMILIES. A place big enough to house the visiting team, coaches and staff. Onsite facilities, restaurants and entertainment. Hire a couple of tutors for the kids, and each place should have a 'lounge' for more adult past times.

World Team Tennis "rented" an entire resort (in West Virginia) for the length of their season with all matches played at the resort's tennis court - no fans, no ball kids (team members not playing that match did the ball kid duties), only the chair umpire. As the teams added or subtracted members, the new members had to quarantine. If anybody left the "bubble" without permission, they were immediately terminated. Happened to one USA female player.

Each team leases the required number of buses to get their own personnel from the airport to the Hotel to the stadium and buses for the visitors as well. The buses are not used for anything else. The planes are disinfected before each use, better still if each team leases a plane for the duration (if they don't already).

A modified, moving but self contained bubble. Anyone leaving it has to quarantine to get back in.

Expensive? Probably somewhere around $500,000/month, figuring 100 rooms at $150 a night plus the tutors, food and hotel staff. Is it workable? Who knows, but even at $500K/month for 6 months...$3M is one lower priced veteran. Not a deal killer.

It might be too late for baseball, but not for football.

I agree that it could be done, but is the NFL willing to go that far or are they going to start with a halfway measure that is likely to fail?

Only a few more weeks until we find out. At least so far in training camp, the NFL is doing a much better job the MLB, but that is not a very high bar.

ZagDad

[caduceus]

Estimated deaths from cancer in 2020.. 606,520. We are at 159,000 for covid. Even if we are unfortunate to double by years end... we would be about half of cancer.

Not sure why you're comparing COVID-19 deaths to the second leading cause of death in the U.S. (cancer). I'm hoping you don't see that as a positive.

While COVID deaths will not likely double by then, it's projected there will be about 100,000 additional U.S. deaths by the end of the year. You're also comparing a year's worth of cancer to about 10 months of COVID, since there wasn't much of it here in January and February.

Even with a conservative estimate, coronavirus will have killed more Americans by the end of the year than all lung disease, strokes, Alzheimer's, kidney disease, and so on. It will have caused roughly 5 times the number of deaths from all pneumonias and influenza combined.

That doesn't include the massive undercounting of COVID deaths this year. The U.S. has seen an estimated 156,354 - 212,979 excess deaths so far, excluding diagnosed COVID-19. Not all of these will be due to coronavirus, but undoubtedly a very large bulk of these are primarily or secondarily due to the pandemic.

That's all assuming we stay on this trajectory. If schools and other activities reopen fully, we could see far worse numbers. The virus is already on track to be the third leading cause of U.S. deaths this year. Going March to March, COVID-19 might just give cancer and heart disease a run for its money.

I hate being the harbinger of bad news around here. Everybody wants to get back to "normal." I'd rather be talking about hoops. This damn thing is going to overshadow everything until we get it under control. Winter is coming. Do your best to get prepared, and do everything you can to stop the spread.

[SkipZag]

CAD... I am by no means taking this Virus lightly.

What I’m saying is any loss of life is important... and while its been all hands on deck for this virus, it will take about half of the very important people in our lives compared to cancer. Heard a story the other day that cancer deaths will be up this year because of people staying away from hospitals... if you have family or a friend you have lost to a disease other than Covid, you may wonder what if they had thrown the resources at their disease that they have Covid,

You see while we are center focused on Covid, are we loosing sight of the other parts of life. It’s like on line school... we believe it will save the spread of the Covid... and I believe it will. But at what cost to the kids that don’t have a home life and depend on the schools to escape a bad situation... and they are out there. Thoughs lives matter.

We need to be strong in fighting Covid-19... but lets not forget about the world around us.

Back to basketball...

Go Zags!!

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

Spokane County reporting a record high 170 positive cases today, along with 5 more deaths, 77 deaths now in Spokane County from Covid-19. Stay Safe out their.

Off of the Lady Zags web site saw video of Coach Graves saying he and players are wearing masks in practice. Also they had pictures of his players in pictures below showing them wearing masks in the weight room. Sounds like Coach Graves may being stricter with his players than CLF having them wearing masks on the court (Stricter is Good, Safer always Better). Coach Graves implored fans to do their part wearing masks, distancing, etc.

Coach Graves said players complained the first week wearing masks in practice but now they are use to it.

Coach Graves also said it what his players do away from the work outs is paramount that will determine if they stay safe.

[caduceus]

CAD... I am by no means taking this Virus lightly.

Meanwhile, you are.

What I’m saying is any loss of life is important... and while its been all hands on deck for this virus, it will take about half of the very important people in our lives compared to cancer. Heard a story the other day that cancer deaths will be up this year because of people staying away from hospitals... if you have family or a friend you have lost to a disease other than Covid, you may wonder what if they had thrown the resources at their disease that they have Covid,

This is what you don't understand. The pandemic is causing people to forgo cancer treatments. To avoid going to the doctor. The excess morbidity and mortality is BECAUSE of the pandemic. If you don't treat the underlying factor, then all other matters will be a lost cause. The increase in cancer deaths will pale in comparison to the coronavirus deaths. This is a crazy comparison. If there are 500 more cancer deaths, but 150,000 more COVID-19 deaths, then is that what you think is what we should be arguing?

You see while we are center focused on Covid, are we loosing sight of the other parts of life. It’s like on line school... we believe it will save the spread of the Covid... and I believe it will. But at what cost to the kids that don’t have a home life and depend on the schools to escape a bad situation... and they are out there. Thoughs lives matter.

First off, it's losing, not loosing. Loosing is when something gets loose. A year of losing in-person teaching doesn't compare to the abhorrent amount of deaths that occur. We've seen a superintendent at age 43 die. We've seen several 6 and 7 and 9 year olds die. We've seen a beloved football coach die in his 40s before the season even started. All the while, 98% of the country hasn't even started school yet. It's going to get very interesting when actual school starts for most of the country.

We need to be strong in fighting Covid-19... but lets not forget about the world around us.

I suspect the first part of your statement is half-hearted. Anyone can say that while dismissing the seriousness that we face (as I've seen over and over from friends who say they're doing all they can, but really aren't because they're visiting friends and having get-togethers because it's just family - as if that somehow reduces risk). The world around us says we need to stop transmission now. UW's prestigious IHME today says without intervention, we will now double the number of deaths by December...300,000. You said previously (and I did too), that that would be unrealistic. Well, here we are. Exceeding expectations. And this is all summertime events. Fall and winter will not be so kind when people are forced indoors. Earliest vaccine estimations are into 2021, with another six months+ to distribute it widely (anyone who thinks it'll be available this fall is dreaming wildly). Believe me or don't. It's your calculation, my friend.

[caduceus]

People who are infected with the coronavirus carry similar levels of the pathogen in their nose, throat and lungs whether they have symptoms or not, a new study from South Korea showed Thursday.

... snip ...

The group ranged in age from 22 to 36 and two-thirds were women. Of the total, 193 were symptomatic and 110 were asymptomatic.

Among those who were initially asymptomatic, 89 never developed symptoms at all – about 30 percent of the total.

This finding itself helps gives a sense of what portion of infected people are truly asymptomatic rather than merely "presymptomatic," a subject of confusion.

All were sampled at regular intervals after day eight of isolation, and the samples returned comparable values of the virus' genetic material from the upper and lower airways.

The median time taken for the patients to return negative tests was marginally less for asymptomatic patients compared with symptomatic: 17 and 19.5 days, respectively.

https://www.sciencealert.com/all-car...ss-of-symptoms

[SkipZag]

The thing about this board is the different points of view...

While Cad and I look at things from different views and back grounds, my view as I would think Cad, is saving lives.

Cad, I don’t think I have came after your views in quite the way you have mine... I’m very much open to your thoughts and views. And because I come with another view that looks at things other than just covid-19.. suddenly you appear to think I don’t care about the lost lives due to covid... you couldn’t be more wrong. I am just pointing out the life going on around us and the impacts covid-19 has on our lifes. And did you just compare school to death... really? Missing out on the three Rs isn’t even a thought... it’s all the other things being missed that is adding up the longer we separate. And you have to see that and if you aren’t concerned also... well I would be surprised. And their lives probably don’t make the headlines...

Cancer is dear to me... I have lost loved ones. I brought it up because again while we headline day after day covid, other health concerns appear to be disrupted. And when you are losing (thank you) the population of Spokane County every year to cancer, it also needs to be on the radar.

Mask up, distance and be safe.

Go Zags!!

PS: will be interested in seeing Mead’s hybrid approach to teaching

[caduceus]

And did you just compare school to death... really?

Yes. This is just a sample of the news from only this morning:

2019 Puyallup High School graduate dies of COVID-19 complications

11 cases of COVID-19 related syndrome in kids confirmed in Washington State

7-year-old Georgia boy dies of coronavirus, officials confirm

Two teens in Florida die of coronavirus complications

Florida High School coach in medically-induced coma, battling COVID-19

Mississippi teacher's death during first week of school stokes COVID-19 fears

Within 11 days of schools opening, dozens of students and teachers have gotten COVID-19: 'I truly wish we'd kept our children home'

32 year old UGA Employee Dead from COVID-19, Worked in University Housing

Florida: Health directors told to keep quiet as Fla. leaders pressed to reopen classrooms

North Carolina reports first death tied to child care COVID-19 cluster

Virus keeps spreading as schools begin to open, frightening parents and alarming public health officials

(GA) Cobb schools district reports 100 COVID-19 cases in staff, students

Alabama HS football team, band under quarantine

UCF students prepare to return to campus with hundreds of COVID-19 cases already reported

Seven Cherokee schools now affected by COVID-19 quarantines after one week of school

Without COVID-19 testing, high school football putting communities at risk


There were a dozen other similar articles, but my fingers tired.

[SkipZag]

Wow...

State of Washington... 1654 deaths. 99% — 40 and older. 100% — 20 and older. The State’s numbers not mine. And I don’t think the children have been locked away all summer.

Many many many terrible stories out there... if you are looking and not just of the covid

I think we should move on...

Cheers

[caduceus]

State of Washington... 1654 deaths. 99% — 40 and older. 100% — 20 and older. The State’s numbers not mine. And I don’t think the children have been locked away all summer.

I'm well aware of the statistics. Death and complete recovery are very much not the only two outcomes. We've already seen a young, previously healthy MLB pitcher out for the season with heart failure from COVID-19, among many other stories regarding youth morbidity.

Recent studies show that kids and young adults pass it on to other contacts as easily as adults do, possibly more. Dead kids are clearly not the major concern. Dead teachers, staff, coaches, parents, and grandparents are. You cannot hide away all these people while schools become major centers of transmission.

[TerpZag]

As a brief background, Mrs. TerpZag and I are both 72+ years old. We are both retired for the most part except for a few regulatory consulting arrangements on my part here and there.

Since early in March, we have tried to be diligent in our efforts to heed the advice medical experts at the Federal, state and local levels. While our usual routine was suddenly and dramatically turned up side down, we continue to minimize our travel trips, keep our social distance where necessary and wear our masks to not only keep ourselves safe but more importantly to keep others safe.

Our major worry so far has been our concern for the safety and the health of our son and his wife and their 4 young children. Before this we were involved on virtually each day of the work week with 1, 2 or even all 4 of our grandkids. We live about a mile away from them but it might as well be hundreds of miles these days. We miss being with them and they miss being here with us.

We also now find ourselves checking in periodically with our extended family members across the country on a more frequent basis. Just to touch base and see how they are doing...

I would like to extend a big shout out of thanks to Caduceus for taking his time to generously share with us his knowledge, his experience and his concern for the health and safety of all his fellow Zag fans. I know i am not the only one who is grateful for your contribution Caduceus to this ongoing and important discussion.

Here are a few recent postings by Caduceus that might be worthwhile reviewing:

...This is cataclysmic, and for some reason, people have decided to ignore it wholesale. Yes, it is absolutely terrifying because this country just might actually undo all the greatness and prosperity of the last 70 years, and I'm not kidding in any way.

My colleagues are wholly in despair about what the next weeks and months might bring. They are in fear of making the wrong medical decisions for their patients. They are worried themselves about contracting the illness and dying, or spreading it to their families. They are very afraid we will run out of protective gear even worse than we already have. They're worried about their mental health with all the dying and making life & death decisions about who gets a ventilator or the very few ECMO machines (a last resort that entails a small garden hose snaked up into the heart. I'm not sure Spokane has more than a handful, if any) we have. We are starting to see a MAJOR shortage of testing kits, with results backlogged for a week in some states (Arizona and several others). That means soon we'll be flying blind. I wish we had more news crews inside of ICUs to portray what's happening on the front lines.

When our healthcare providers get sick and can't do their duties, an extremely dangerous situation arises. There's a long chain of professions to maintain the system -- EMTs, paramedics, ambulance drivers, ER docs, nurses, medical assistants, managers, internists, ICU docs, respiratory therapists, radiology techs, lab staff, social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, medical ethicists, infectious disease specialists, hospice workers, etc. The list is much, much larger than I've mentioned. Most people don't even realize the undertaking, and every single bit of these parts need to work, or someone dies or ends up debilitated (and with a million dollar hospital bill in many cases -- ICU care is about $10,000 a day).

What's happening across the entire southern swath of our country is primarily due to "opening the economy" and Memorial Day close social interactions without recognizing the danger. Now that Independence Day has passed, and with all the parties and crowded bars and indoor situations, I guarantee you that we will see an uptick, if not an explosion of new cases and subsequent deaths...

I post this because 1) This regards our beautiful Washington State in the midst of COVID-19; 2) Harborview is the county hospital in King (having been around since 1877!), and is the only level I trauma center in the entire state, and one of the best in the entire world. The area it serves is far and away the largest in the United States, because it is the only level I trauma center among Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska (the next nearest are Portland, SLC, and Minneapolis). 3) They were instrumental in developing the Medic One/911 system for the entire United States (thank you, mentor Dr. Michael Copass). 4) In all my training and career, I never met a kinder, more caring staff than the people at Harborview. These are the people that are not in it for the money or notoriety, but for the singular purpose of saving lives and making people better.

It's an absolute zoo there sometimes, especially in the ER. But boy, does it make an impression on you in terms of pure compassion and kindness.

Please watch. It gives a good perspective of what's happening on the ground in our state, and should be required viewing for anyone that thinks this pandemic is just another common virus, and that things should just go back to normal:

I have 2 younger cousins who are in the medical profession and currently involved in dealing with the impact on the Covid-19 virus in their respective communities.

One cousin is currently retired and is now living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Prior to her early retiremnt, she was the Medical Director at the Public Health Division of the Department of Health of a state in the southwest United States. Earlier in her medical career, she was a Medical Epidemiologist and a Public Health Physician. Now she spends her time volunteering at various medical clinics in the communities near her on the Eastern Shore. In her conversations with me over these last 5 months, she has reported that these community clinics and their regional hospital have all been stretched to the limit at times both earlier in the Spring and most recently during much of July with Covid-19 patients. It still astonishes her that so many of these patients just believe that it will not happen to them and that they can just ignore all the safety precautions while going about their daily routines.

My other cousin is a Trauma Surgeon and a Professor of Critical Care Medicine at the Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Again, In his conversations with me over these recent months, he has indicated that his trauma facility has been overwhelmed during certain periods with the number of Covid-19 patients along with their usual number of trauma/emergency patients. He worries about both the short-term and the long-term impact on his colleagues of the hospital's Covid-19 medical response. They are all worried about contracting this virus and spreading it to their families. He has mentioned numerous times his admiration of the priests and other chaplains there who minister to the very sick and dying and comfort them in their final days and hours. He is heartbroken to see so many of their Covid-19 patients who have ignored virtually all the safety warning and precautions.

Both have pointed with pride though to all the care, concern, compassion and dedication exhibited by all their colleagues from top to bottom day after day, week after week and now month after month. God Bless them all...

Here are a few recent pictures from the Cowley Shock Trauma Center:

[ZagDad84]

PS: will be interested in seeing Mead’s hybrid approach to teaching

My concern (outside of the obvious health issues) is the School Districts who are opening up against the Governor's, Health Department's and OSPI's recommendations.

What happens, which is surely going to happen, when a student gets Covid-19 (whether at school or somewhere else) and spreads it to other students or a teacher? If a student ends up in ICU, has further complications or worse, you can count on a significant lawsuit against the School District, Superintendent, School Administration, Teacher and maybe even the student and parents of the student who came to school with Covid. If the School (or School District) is opening and not following the health department recommendations (masks, social distancing, limited class sizes, etc.) it only will increase the liability of the School District.

I know the liability issue was raised in the reopening talks in the SPS District and I am surprised that Mead went the way they did. East Valley does not surprise me at all, as the population within the School District is conservative.

Time will tell which decision turns out better.

Did you see the picture posted by a 15 year old girl of the 1st day of high school (Georgia - about an hour outside of Atlanta) of the corridor during a class change over where the hallways were packed and nary a mask was seen in sight. The girl got suspended for 5 days for violating the school district's policy on posting data on schools to social media sites without prior approval. A bit touchy in Georgia these days.

ZagDad

[SkipZag]

Not sure on East Valley ZD. I know the Superintendent and he is working very hard at making sure everyone is safe. And at the same time knows the importants with his community of getting them back to school. He spent time in the Mead district so may look at Mead for guidance.

Cheney, where I’m at, is starting on line. And when a survey was taken, it was 70% in favor of having the kids back in school.

You will never satisfy everyone... you see a difference in views and thoughts on this board. Wouldn’t expect otherwise.

How about the Big Sky and football next spring... may need to truck in the snow.

Today is National Twins day... checkout the GU WBB Facebook page. Any guesses on who is who?

Face mask, distance and stay safe!!

Go Zags!!

[ZagDad84]

Not sure on East Valley ZD. I know the Superintendent and he is working very hard at making sure everyone is safe. And at the same time knows the importants with his community of getting them back to school. He spent time in the Mead district so may look at Mead for guidance.

Cheney, where I’m at, is starting on line. And when a survey was taken, it was 70% in favor of having the kids back in school.

You will never satisfy everyone... you see a difference in views and thoughts on this board. Wouldn’t expect otherwise.

How about the Big Sky and football next spring... may need to truck in the snow.

Today is National Twins day... checkout the GU WBB Facebook page. Any guesses on who is who?

Face mask, distance and stay safe!!

Go Zags!!

As I said, I don't have a dog in the school fight one way or another. If I did have kids, they would not attend school in this climate, but since I work from home and my wife is a teacher, we would be much better off than most.

Every parent has to make the determination for themselves and their family what is an acceptable risk for them and their family. I certainly see the potential for a petri dish of Covid, but we will see how the districts who are choosing to open fair. let's hope all goes well.

Unfortunately, I am willing to bet that a very large quantity of the 70% of the parents that want their kids back in school would be first in line to sue the School District if Covid shows its ugly head and significantly impacts their kids. Yes they want it one way, but when it comes time to pay the piper, it better not be their kid who pays the price even if today they are the ones who wanted their kid in school.

Yes, the School Districts can never satisfy everybody or even 50% of their families entirely. SPS and CV decided to error on the side of caution putting the health of the students, teachers, parents, etc. ahead of the educational issues. Other districts chose a different path. I see both sides of the equation. Let's hope it is not the students, parents and their greater families, teachers, etc. who pay the price.

Snow? The Vandals play indoors. EWU might need to truck in some snow.

Since they parted their hair in the same spot, I think LW is on the left and JW on the right base on their smile. I would say Kayleigh is on the right and Kaylynne is on the left based on their height as Kayleigh is an inch taller.

ZagDad

[SkipZag]

Many years of clearing snow from our seats for Eastern games. Glad that they didn’t cancel football but moved it to Spring.

I saw the same thing with the Wirth twins and their hair. I agree on your choices of the twins. JW and LW appear to be having fun with looking alike... with the hair and dressing the same. Love the smiles...

Go Zags!!

[ZagDad84]

Many years of clearing snow from our seats for Eastern games. Glad that they didn’t cancel football but moved it to Spring.

My two boys went to Eastern and for several years they gifted us Season tickets to EWU football. Now they are usually providing security, so we go to the games where there is no snow. Yup, fair weather fans (Hey my degrees are from GU and WSU, Eastern just gets the leftovers).

ZagDad

[caduceus]

Hey Terp, thanks for the kind words and sharing your experiences. Also many thanks to your long history of contributing to the women's side of the board...much appreciated!