This has been a momentous week for us here in Weiser. The corona virus and an earthquake both came to town. Given the way this virus has spread elsewhere, there are probably more cases that are undetected at this time. As of the time of this writing, Monday morning, Weiser Memorial Hospital has given 51 tests, 44 have come back negative, with 1 being positive.
Regarding covid-19 locally, we need to dispel some speculation that is going around town. The speculation revolves around the illness many in the area experienced between November and February this last winter. Because there was no name for it, many people are wondering if it was, in fact, covid-19. This is not the case.
The word from the medical community, principally the hospital Chief of Staff and Emergency Dept. physician, Dr. Torrey Nash, is the covid-19 virus, which has been documented to have originated in November 2019 in China, could NOT have reached our isolated community during that time frame. It would have had to cross the Pacific and land specifically in our isolated town. Instead, it predictably spread through international travel, coming to our coastal transportation hubs and spreading from there. What was circulating in and around Weiser last winter was some other bug.
We are in the very first stages of seeing this virus in our community. We were among the last of the counties in the state to get the virus. We need to keep distancing ourselves, wash hands, etc. Go the stores sparingly, plan your visit, do not linger. What we are doing is working. Keep it up. For answers to most questions, you can go to either the CDC’s site at cdc.gov/coronavirus or Idaho’s site at coronavirus.idaho.gov. If your question cannot be answered there, you can call Idaho’s hotline at 888-330-3010 Monday-Friday 8 a.m. through 5 p.m.
It would be nice to think that the covid 19 virus had already made the rounds. If it had, it would mean that most of the people who were going to be infected already had. It would also mean we have seen the first wave of this disease pass through. Therefore, subsequent waves would be less severe in terms of the number of people infected. Instead we are just beginning. We just need to do what we need to do to slow the spread and pray that we flatten the curve locally. We cannot let down our guard.
The month of March, which came in like a lion, then just kept getting worse, decided to shake things up further by giving us a bit of a ride in the form of an earthquake. Fortunately, damage that we can see at this time, has been limited to some cracks in foundations, an AC/heating unit coming off the side of a building, and a broken water fountain. With all of our older buildings in town, we were very fortunate.
If you would like a bit of light hearted relief from all of this news and cabin fever, look around on the internet. There are a lot of very talented people who have nothing to do but come up with ways to entertain. For one of my favorites, search for SGN to see John Krasinski’s Some Good News impromptu good news network.
Well, that’s it for now. What a week.
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