California Black Media Staff
Experts say you should wash your hands with water and soap for about 20 seconds to prevent spread of the Coronavirus.
How do you keep track of hand sud time without risking water damage to your smartphone-slash-timer?
Easy. Let’s start with a song every Black person in America knows.
Now, getting through it will take about enough time (you’ll go a little bit over in fact to about 26 seconds) to get in the standard three-line “Happy Birthday” repetition in Stevie Wonder’s version of the birthday song — at least two times. So, a total of six lines after which you’ll be good. And safe. And fresh. And clean. And protected.
Your hard end can come right after you hit that last ‘happy birthday” – the one unpunctuated with the standard “to you” at the end. Yes, you can cut before you get to the bridge and go all out with the dragged out haaaaaaaaaa peeeeeeeeee birth … day … haaaaaaaaaa peeeeeeeeee birth … day …you know the part.
Thank us, later. We appreciate you, too.
In other COVID-19 related information: As the he US Census Bureau sends out forms this week to homes across the country asking people to participate in the 2020 Census, the agency is assuring workers, officials and the general public that it is taking necessary safety precautions to conduct a safe and successful national count.
"The safety of the American public and our employees is job one,” said Steven Dillingham, director of the US Census Bureau, in a statement released last week.
Although the Census Bureau did not yet share the details of its safety plans, Dillingham says his team is working with national health authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the President's Task Force, as well as state and local health departments “to ensure all of their guidance is incorporated into our operations.”
“Operations for the 2020 Census and our ongoing household surveys have procedures built in that specifically anticipate epidemics and pandemics, and we will continue to work with the relevant authorities to keep those up to date,” his statement continued.
California is among the four states that are most likely to be undercounted. Our state is also, sadly, one of the state’s hit hardest by COVID-19 cases.
So far, with 124 confirmed Coronavirus cases in California, the state has just under one-fourth of the roughly 566 total confirmed cases in the United States.
There has been one death in the state, a Placer county man who had been on a Princess cruise ship authorities have been holding off the northern coast of California, and is expected to dock in Oakland this week. The 2,500 passengers on board have been confined to their cabins.
On Sunday, Gov. Newsom announced plans to isolate all passengers when they disembark and provide immediate medical attention to the 11 passengers and 10 crew members who have exhibited symptoms of the mysterious virus.
Another 10,250 Californians across the state have self-quarantined.
Last week, 17 U.S. Senators sent a letter dated March 3 to the Census Bureau asking it to develop a plan that addresses the Coronavirus’ potential impact on worker safety and public participation.
"We urge the Census Bureau to be prepared to assess whether public health concerns about novel coronavirus are depressing census response rates, and develop contingency plans for mitigating measures to help ensure a full and accurate population count,” the senators wrote.
Across California, in big cities and small towns, there are growing concerns, too, about safety.
Stanford University has moved all classes online, and several school districts have temporarily cancelled classes, including Elk Grove Unified School District in Sacramento, where a student’s family has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
“The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus,” Gov. Newsom said last Wednesday when he declared a State of Emergency. “ This emergency proclamation will help the state further prepare our communities and our health care system in the event it spreads more broadly.”
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