March 2020 Newsletter During COVID-19



Photo by Anshu A on Unsplash

Introduction

Welcome to the March 2020 newsletter. You can find past newsletters with additional background materials, and different stories and initiatives in my LinkedIn articles and on my website. Join me in improving and coordinating initiatives that advance health, health equity and community and healthcare redesign.

Shannah’s Insights and Reflections

Nothing in March is business as usual and this newsletter is no exception. I gather my intel on living conditions and health from google alerts. The first Coronavirus online story that surfaced (based on my search terms) was on March 8th about the first case in Kansas and that she was isolating at home. Just this statement underscores how living conditions or social determinants will be part of the fabric in which people manage through this pandemic. “Isolating” and “home” are two fundamental factors for how individuals who test positive will fair. Do they have a support network, albeit remote, that will help them through this challenge? Do they have a home in which they can isolate/self-quarantine, manage needed services and resources and avoid infecting others?

There was no further mention in my alerts until a COVID-19 Q&A on the 20th and an article identifying protection for rideshare drivers. This article discussed helping drivers know if they have been exposed to the virus, particularly medical rideshare drivers who are critical for patients needing rides. Drivers are at greater risk for exposure from patients and in turn are potentially exposing others.  The drivers may also want riders to wear protective gear that is increasingly difficult for even healthcare workers to get. Since that story the intersection of the pandemic and living conditions was regularly reported.

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