Dear Mom & Dad,
Please practice social distancing, and adhere to calls to shelter-in-place. Early results from clinical studies indicate a significant number of people infected with SARS-Cov2/COVID-19 show no symptoms. These carriers are unsuspectingly spreading the virus and the disease it causes. Already, there are 16 positive tests confirmed in Lancaster, California as of Tuesday, March 24th. Today, LA County reports 1,216 confirmed cases, including 21 lost souls. Compare that to Illinois which was at 1,285 positive tests confirmed 3 days ago, and today is nearly double at 2,538 positive tests confirmed; across both urban and rural areas of Illinois.
Our duty to slow the spread of this virus is two fold: 1) buy time for a cure and vaccine to be produced and distributed, and 2) prevent our existing medical structure from being overwhelmed. Remember that while this pandemic is occurring, people still have urgent medical needs. The current system has finite capacity in terms of people (doctors and nurses), equipment (particularly personal protective equipment), and appropriate physical space for patients (with necessary equipment and proper hygiene). Even before this pandemic, emergency department visits due to influenza-like illness are high this season. This particularly bad flu season exacerbates the situation at our medical facilities.
We do these things not only to benefit ourselves and our family, but as our Catholic duty to be neighbors to our friends, enemies, communities, country, and humanity.
At the very least, please continue to diligently wash your hands, disinfect surfaces, and practice overall good hygiene.
Thank you for listening!
Love,
Kathleen & Andre, Alexis, Valerie.
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