I woke up on St. Patrick’s day—my birthday—to sobbing. My roommate was curled up on her bed, across the room, crying her eyes out. She cried for half an hour, if not more, because she’d just received the Humboldt State email canceling our graduation and asking students to leave campus if they were able. An achievement she has been working toward for seven years and one I have been busting my ass off for four years was all taken away in seconds.
Instead of celebrating and going to the bars—in true St. Paddy’s day fashion—I spent the day in quarantine having to tell my family to cancel their plane tickets and Airbnb reservations because I wasn’t going to be able to walk.
As one of the students left on campus, it’s strange, to say the least. When my roommate and I go for walks or head to get food from OhSNAP!, the university looks like a nightmarish scene from some dystopian novel. Usually, the only people you’ll find walking around campus are construction workers, nurses or other essential HSU staff. Every once in a while there’s the odd student or two, using what little resources are left available on campus.
In front of the health center, a tent is set up to greet all students where they sanitize their hands and grab a face mask before being allowed to enter the building—even students who just need to pick up medication from the pharmacy.
The only students allowed to be seen at the health center are those who show severe symptoms like a fever, sore throat or difficulty breathing. But for those of us who need regular prescriptions through their pharmacy, be it for anxiety medication, emergency inhalers, birth control pills or other medications they offer, we can still access the pharmacy during their posted hours.
In my opinion, this is one of the most concerning aspects of COVID-19. Students and community members cannot be tested through campus for the illness unless they are extremely sick, which leaves carriers with less severe symptoms to go untested.
Before campus was closed, my roommate and I came down with a cough and fatigue that wouldn’t seem to go away so we decided to visit the health center to see what was wrong, maybe a bit paranoid that we might have contracted the coronavirus somehow. But who isn’t a little paranoid during this pandemic?
We were seated outside and only admitted into the entrance of the health center one-by-one. A blood pressure monitor, thermometer and other equipment were set up in the hallway, with two nurses wearing masks and gloves. We were given masks, examined and told that, unfortunately, if we did not show severe symptoms, they were unable to test us.
In my opinion, this is one of the most concerning aspects of COVID-19. Students and community members cannot be tested through campus for the illness unless they are extremely sick, which leaves carriers with less severe symptoms to go untested.
My roommate and I were told we had post-viral infections and given medicine to treat that, but the truth is, we could very well have had the illness and not known because of arbitrary rules only allowing people very ill to access tests.
I’m still sad that graduation was canceled and I know that it’s a momentous accomplishment that I will never get back. But it’s more important to me that we keep people safe than having the chance to walk across the football field to accept a degree.
There are “asymptomatic” carriers of COVID-19, meaning there might be tons of people in the area infected with the coronavirus without any knowledge they are sick. There might be people who have mild symptoms who are unable to be tested and are unintentionally spreading illness because they think they aren’t that sick. We aren’t only putting the health of students at risk by not testing those concerned they might have the illness, we are endangering the nurses and doctors who are still working through the health center, members of the community that students might come into contact with while grocery shopping or performing essential tasks during quarantine.
But this isn’t only a concern in Arcata. The reason behind such arbitrary testing rules is because, as reported by The New Yorker, there is a critical shortage in medical equipment necessary to perform tests. This is why those who are extremely ill are being prioritized over people who don’t show as many symptoms. We simply do not have the resources to test everyone, so people infected with the illness are falling through the cracks, living their normal lives and potentially spreading the illness because they are unaware they even have it.
While those who are sick, but not sick enough, cannot get tests, celebrities who show no symptoms of COVID-19 are allowed to be tested, leaving medical professionals, sick patients and community members to wonder if their lives are less important than the rich.
I’m sitting in my dorm right now going a bit stir-crazy, still trying to find things to do to occupy my time while I practice social distancing in quarantine. Last week, my roommate and I painted canvases to pass the time. I started learning embroidery because I was that bored and today I went to my Zoom English class, then spent the day writing and watching movies with my roommate. We’ve downloaded TikTok just to pass the time.
I’m still sad that graduation was canceled and I know that it’s a momentous accomplishment that I will never get back. But it’s more important to me that we keep people safe than having the chance to walk across the football field to accept a degree.
Looking to the past to learn about the present pandemic
There’s a saying that goes something like, “In order to prevent future mistakes, we should look to the past for guidance.” While this current pandemic may be new to all of us, humans have gone through this before. Some of the more recent pandemics include the SARS virus, the H1N1 virus, Ebola and HIV.
The term pandemic is defined as something “occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population.” Obviously, the current COVID-19 virus fits into this category. While some of the aforementioned pandemics did not enact a devastating, history-altering toll on Humboldt County, another pandemic did.
From 1918 to 1920, the Spanish flu swept across America, resulting in an estimated 675,000 deaths according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The first official report of the Spanish flu in California was reported Sept. 27, 1918, just two weeks after an outbreak on the East Coast. By November 1918, the total cases throughout the state hit about 115,000—overwhelming doctors and government officials from north to south.
One of three doctors that helped Spanish flu patients in the Ferndale area.
Although Humboldt County sits in an isolated area protected by the “Redwood Curtain,” the area was soon amassed in its own troubles combatting the illness. Humboldt County had a population of about 37,000 people with Eureka holding around 12,000. The Spanish flu resulted in around 200 deaths (although it is thought to be much higher) and thousands grew ill.
In 2012, Humboldt State alumnus and McKinleyville native Jeff Benedetti-Coomber wrote a detailed history of the impact the Spanish flu had on Humboldt County. For it, he was awarded the Charles R. Barnum History Award by HSU’s history department. For his research he scoured through old newspaper clippings for primary source documentation. He read academic analysis on how the Spanish flu affected the entire nation and he cited Matina Kilkenny, a researcher and local author for the Humboldt Historical Society who also wrote about the impacts the Spanish flu had on Humboldt County.
What prompted Benedetti-Coomber to focus on the Spanish flu was its lack of local research. As his peers decided to look into European history, he decided to focus his attention on the effects locally.
“I was walking through the graveyard in Arcata and noticed a family of graves, not necessarily related to the [Spanish] influenza but it got me thinking about what effects the flu may have had because it was around the same time,” he told me over the phone from his place in Los Angeles. “Once I started researching it I saw how it did affect the county and I was pretty amazed.”
Benedetti-Coomber’s senior thesis, titled “Death In the Redwoods: The Effects of the Spanish Influenza on Humboldt County,” spans 30 pages and breaks down how each town dealt with the outbreak. He highlights what preventative measures seem to have worked and where officials, the public and the media went wrong and what they got right.
“It’s just like today when you tell people to do something and they kind of resist. A lot of people had that with the Spanish influenza and it was a reason a lot of people died, because they didn’t take it seriously.”
Jeff Benedetti-Coomber
Some of the highlights from his research that still stand out to him are how Eureka initially closed all schools, which flooded the streets with children. They soon changed their minds and brought the kids back into the school to try to quarantine the children. Another nugget of research that sticks out in his mind has to do with masks and the public’s initial reluctance to wear them.
“It’s just like today,” Benedetti-Coomber said, “when you tell people to do something and they kind of resist. A lot of people had that with the Spanish influenza and it was a reason a lot of people died, because they didn’t take it seriously.”
When the Spanish flu hit Humboldt, the United States was in the middle of World War I and young men from Humboldt were signing up to join the war effort. There were war rallies and large gatherings of people throughout the towns in Humboldt in the fall of 1918 as the Spanish flu began to creep in.
“Although the Great War was still the main focus in Humboldt County, more and more citizens were beginning to take notice of the spreading pandemic,” Benedetti-Coomber wrote.
Some of the newspapers in Humboldt at that time seem to have downplayed the seriousness of the Spanish flu. Benedetti-Coomber points to an ad that was in the Humboldt Standard by Vicks VapoRub that was “disguised as an article… and it assured readers that the [Spanish flu] was ‘Nothing new simply the Old Grippe and la Grippe that was the epidemic in 1889-90.’”
Benedetti-Coomber wrote that it is believed the Spanish flu was brought to Humboldt County by locals traveling to other parts of the state to help care for sick family members and then returning before symptoms started to show. By mid-October 1918, reports of the Spanish flu were starting to pop up in the local newspapers.
“The Humboldt Times also reported that there were roughly 150 cases in Eureka by [Oct. 22] and hospitals were short staffed. Doctors were so busy they did not have the time to report new cases or treat the majority of their patients.”
Jeff Benedetti-Coomber
“The Humboldt Times and Humboldt Standard newspapers offered daily accounts of what was happening,” he said, adding that they also seemed to not care about the Spanish flu at first.
On Oct. 12, 1918, four cases were reported in the Humboldt Times and those infected were quarantined in a “‘safe house’” on 8th Street where they could be quarantined and cared for,” Benedetti-Coomber wrote.
At first, the mayor of Eureka downplayed the danger to the public, but two days later, five more people were infected. By Oct. 22, 1918 there would be more than 150 cases and one death.
“According to the Humboldt Times, Mrs. Garber Dahle was the first person in Humboldt County to die from the deadly virus,” Benedetti-Coomber wrote. “The Humboldt Times also reported that there were roughly 150 cases in Eureka by [Oct. 22] and hospitals were short staffed. Doctors were so busy they did not have the time to report new cases or treat the majority of their patients.”
Action to combat the Spanish flu across the county began to take root. Arcata was the first town to pass a requirement that all residents had to wear a mask while out in public, and by Nov. 7, 1918, the entire county was required to do so. Emergency hospitals were soon established across the county with some residents offering up their homes for the infected.
Arcata escaped the pandemic with only four deaths, but the same can’t be said for Eureka and especially for the logging camps in the remote areas of the county. The number of cases grew in the urban areas, and by Oct. 23, 1918, the logging camps were left to fend for themselves.
“Logging camps and small towns were informed by the newspapers and from local physicians that they would have to face the Spanish Influenza on their own as all of the county hospitals were completely full,” Benedetti-Coomber wrote while citing a Humboldt Times article titled “Influenza Increases Alarmingly in Two Days.”
Young women wearing masks in Humboldt County.
But one logging camp was able to escape the pandemic with no cases at all. In her article, “Missing Faces,” Matina Kilkenny reported how Carl Munther set up a quarantine system for his workers who decided to go into town. (Kilkenny’s article has a number of great photographs of life in Humboldt County during the Spanish flu.)
“Munther required every person returning to camp… to stay four days in a tent he’d pitched some distance from the workers’ cabin,” Kilkenny wrote, adding that the returning workers were also required to work and eat separately from their peers. “Thanks to their boss, very few men chose to leave the Barrel Company camp and not one case of influenza occurred there.”
Sisters of St. Joseph wearing masks during the Spanish flu. The sisters helped many patients in Humboldt from 1918-1920.
Throughout her research, Kilkenny was able to find where a number of hospitals were set up across Humboldt. There was a Red Cross Hospital in Korbel, Arcata, Blue Lake and Eureka. Kilkenny also came across an interview between a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange in Eureka and a man named Brad Geagly. Kilkenny wrote the following:
“[Mother Bernard] sent [the Sisters] out in twos, in cars provided by the Red Cross. She armed each Sister with a kit containing camphor and sweet oil, castor oil, and mustard plasters. Into the homes… the sisters came, arriving at seven o’clock and leaving at the end of a 12-hour shift, to be replaced by two other Sisters. They would attend first to the adults….They would bathe the delirious victims completely, rubbing their chests deeply with the camphorated oil. Mustard plasters would be applied, and then the sisters would wrap the sick tightly in whatever woolen material they could find; then they would tend the children. Once they had been bathed and medicated, the sisters turned to washing linens or cleaning house. They fed their charges warmed milk and broth prepared from the food furnished by the Red Cross.”
Kilkenny noted that, generally, it was the poor who were admitted into the hospitals, while the more well-off were cared for in their homes. Because of this the actual tally for those infected and the deaths attributed to the Spanish flu is unknown. Kilkenny also points out how the Native American tribes were hit hard by the Spanish Flu as well.
“Of the [11] Native Americans whose deaths are on record at the County Courthouse, five were from Table Bluff, two from Hoopa, one from Miranda, one from Orleans, one from Requa, and one was a laborer at Korbel,” Kilkenny wrote. She also noted evidence that many Native Americans often refused treatment by White settlers around this time period.
Kilkenny was also able to find county death records from that time and noted that between Sept. 1, 1918 and April 1919, 175 Humboldt residents died with 91 of them between the ages of 20 and 40.
And so what can we learn from this history?
There is evidence that social distancing works by the example set by Carl Munther at his logging camp and how travel throughout the state can spread the virus. We can see how hospitals were eventually inundated with those infected with the Spanish flu and how staff were stretched thin. We can also see how it is important to get ahead of a pandemic and try to prepare as much as possible.
Humboldt County seems to be doing just that. They have recently distributed around 30,000 pieces of personal protective equipment to first responders and medical staff across the county. Humboldt State chipped in and prepared 1,250 COVID-19 test kits. Also, as I’m sure you are aware, we are in a “shelter in place” order that was enacted to help stop the spread of the virus and to give medical staff the ability to fight the virus without being overwhelmed.
Towns across Humboldt are also doing their part to help prevent an outbreak. Trinidad passed a moratorium on all short-term rentals and added some pretty forceful consequences to anyone who breaks it.
“Over the course of the meeting, council members added some teeth to the resolution with language saying that a single violation may result in the City revoking a proprietor’s short-term rental license for up to a year,” the Lost Coast Outpost’s Ryan Burns recently reported, adding that the county may consider a similar measure.
A stained glass piece by Humboldt artist Colleen Clifford.
As this thing progresses, we are all going to have to make some sacrifices, but we’ll get through it. Help out the elderly and the immunocompromised if you can. Help out each other by not going out or attending pretty much any gathering of any number of people.
Let’s all work together — but at least six apart — to help “flatten the curve.”
With labs, classrooms and most facilities on campus closed, what is being done with student tuition?
After Humboldt State University canceled in-person classes three weeks ago, students created a change.org petition calling for a reimbursement of tuition. With 2,000 students and supporters rallying behind it, perhaps HSU will bring their concerns into the conversation. Regardless of the administration’s acknowledgement, or lack thereof, HSU students are and will be experiencing a drop in the quality of their education.
As a journalism major, our classes haven’t been heavily impacted, but our access to the university spaces we all pay for is not as integral as for majors like art, dance, theatre and lab sciences.
Bryan Gambrel, a kinesiology major at HSU, said the switch to online labs has affected his motivation to learn the material. With an inability to use the lab spaces, the only way to show comprehension of the reading material is through quizzes.
“My difficult class has become now something that’s based off of reading rather than three hours of experimenting in a lab,” Gambrel said. “I’m not even sure how they can credit it for your GE.”
Lindsey Miller, an HSU freshman, signed the petition. She is a part of the environmental resources department and is taking a chemistry lab course this semester. With the switch to online classes, lessons consist of videos of the professor completing the experiment. She felt like this semester’s labs were a little more challenging than her first semester.
“Without having that hands-on experience in the lab, I don’t know when people are gonna learn it again.”
Raili Makela
“I was only kinda picking up on it before spring break,” Miller said.
Raili Makela is a fourth year marine biology major at HSU. This semester she had signed up for two labs and two lectures that have now been transitioned into online courses. Makela noticed the switch to online labs has made understanding the concepts more difficult.
“It’s because of that hands-on learning that I really start to understand the other material,” Makela said.
While she has learned a lot from her earlier labs and can work from that knowledge, she is worried about how those getting their first lab experience will be impacted.
“Without having that hands-on experience in the lab, I don’t know when people are gonna learn it again,” Makela said.
The situation we are in is reasonable. There isn’t another option that would keep our students, staff and faculty as safe as the current measures we have in place, but it is our money that’s no longer being spent to keep the doors open. Our tuition is not a goodwill donation. It is an exchange for the resources provided by the institution, and if those resources are not being provided, then we are getting shortchanged on our education.
A conversation with a College of the Redwoods student at Pelican Bay State Prison
We now have more than 1.5 million people worldwide infected with COVID-19 and over 90,000 deaths. The United States has surpassed every other country in cases with just over 450,000. People are being told to socially distance themselves with six feet of space between others and isolate inside. But what about the millions who are incarcerated that don’t have that option?
Kunlyna Tauch is housed at Pelican Bay State Prison and is a student in the College of the Redwoods Pelican Bay Scholars Program at Pelican Bay State Prison. He is slated to graduate with his associate degree for transfer this summer. Tauch is also a student and contributor in Paul Critz’s audio journalism class, which produces Pelican Bay’s podcast “Pelican Bay: UNLOCKED.” Tauch has been a spokesperson of sorts for the recent programming at Pelican Bay and an advocate of the changes being made inside the supermax prison.
Cases of the coronavirus have risen just over 1,300 throughout 100 federal prisons, thousands of jails and 1,700 state-run facilities nationwide. The Federal Bureau of Prisons says 138 inmates and 59 employees have tested positive and at least seven inmates have died, bringing the total to at least 32 COVID-19-related deaths inside the nation’s prisons and jails.
On March 31, California state prison officials announced they would be releasing 3,500 incarcerated individuals early to help free space in cramped prisons due to a possible coronavirus outbreak. Governor Gavin Newsom announced a halt in the transfer and intake of incarcerated individuals and youths into California’s 35 state prisons.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation website, there are, as of April 9, 12 incarcerated persons at California Prison, Los Angeles County, 19 incarcerated persons at California Institution for Men in Chino, one incarcerated person at North Kern State Prison in Delano and one incarcerated person at Substance Abuse Training Facility in Corcoran who have tested positive for COVID-19. Seventy-one CDCR or California Correctional Health Care Services employees have tested positive for COVID-19 in 21 incarcerated facilities, and hundreds have called in sick for work.
In the past five years there have been more programs in Pelican Bay than ever before and the culture inside is changing. After a lawsuit was awarded to the incarcerated individuals participating in the 2011 and 2013 hunger strikes and their advocates, one of the two solitary housing units was shut down and terms of isolation were limited to five years. This caused the prison to mitigate the effects of solitary confinement with programs like education and therapy. I spoke with Tauch on what it’s like in Pelican Bay State Prison as a college student amid the changes COVID-19 has brought to the infamous prison.
Kunlyna Tauch looking upward in June of 2019. Tauch is slated to earn his associate degree for transfer through College of the Redwoods’ Pelican Bay Scholars program this semester. | Photo by T. William Wallin
Tony Wallin: What’s it like in Pelican Bay State Prison right now and what are your concerns?
Kunlya Tauch: First of all, CDCR stopped all visitation and there are no programs. So we’re doing like old prison time, right. Which is us in prison going to yard and trying to occupy ourselves with whatever we have, which is not that much. My concern is that people on the streets are so socially distant from each other they become callous of each other and become more segregated and more disconnected. But from what I am seeing on TV is a lot of good, which is making me happy. The little acts of kindness and videos of people on the street coming out, I love it. There’s actually a little silver lining out of this.
TW: Yeah. There’s a lot of opportunity for positivity through all of this.
KT: It’s hard to pass on those opportunities because it’s so in-your-face.
TW: What’s it like in there with programs shut down? What are you doing to keep busy?
KT: College of the Redwoods has been the only program that is really working on shifting their whole business model to make it work for us. They are still running classes through correspondence and we’re getting hella work like every Friday. Our teachers are saying, ‘This is what we expect. Your next essay is due this date, send it in the mail,’ but because I have five classes I have enough work to sustain me, plus I have hella books I’ve got to get through. I am pretty occupied but it’s pretty restless in here, you know? People are constantly checking on their family, making sure they are well. They aren’t reading, they aren’t programming, they aren’t going anywhere, so their day consists of the phone and the yard. The yard schedule in itself [has changed], we aren’t seeing the regular people we used to see. They’re making it real limited, they’re not giving the day room. They literally made some new rule where only five cells in the day room at a time, which prohibits ourselves from doing what we want to do. It’s kinda stressful. It feels like we are taking a lot of steps back as far as prison goes.
TW: CDCR said they were going to send out more cleaning supplies to all prisons and make sure every prison has what they need. Are you seeing that?
KT: That’s never been a problem. The cleanliness of the place isn’t a problem. Right now I have a personal friend who had some symptoms, they didn’t even test him and they just took him to quarantine and is on two weeks lockdown with no mail, no phone, no nothing. Just to see if he has it or not.
TW: Where do they have the quarantine right now? What do they have blocked off?
KT: They have one on A yard and one on B yard and it’s one section of one building and they’re basically in the SHU [secure housing unit]. They’re like kicking off drugs by themselves. That’s their treatment and I guess the nurses are going over, but I don’t know. I assume nurses are checking on them professionally. There’s too much of a shortage of testing, but one thing about medical is they are a separate entity than CDCR, so CDCR can’t dictate what they do.
TW: Interesting. They operate differently? The warden doesn’t have a say on the medical side of things?
KT: No, medical community operates the medical community. All records are sealed and confidential. The prison has to accommodate that or else there’s a big lawsuit. I think CDCR concedes medical and there’s an agreement [between them]. According to the American government this is it and [CDCR] is only the California government, same with religion and same thing with tech. For some reason the tech, IT, here is their own entity and they suck. It takes like a month to transfer music onto our laptop [for the podcast]. It’s been stagnant. I’ve been feeling lethargic. I feel like they caged me back up and I’m really back in prison again. Pelican Bay was really doing good with their programs and everything running everyday and now it feels like this modified program where it feels like we’re just on lockdown. I feel like a lot of our minds aren’t being stimulated because a lot of us aren’t in those programs we are forced into or choose to be in.
TW: Right. It feels like pre-2014?
KT: Yes. Real shit. It feels like before and it feels like out of mind will cause more trouble. I am waiting for the ball to drop. I am waiting for something to happen. I’m almost mad that personally we’re on lockdown, but the whole fucking world is on lockdown and I can’t make more moves happen.
TW: Yeah, the irony in all of this is everything is locked down globally. How is your morale and the overall morale in the prison? Are there still positive interactions?
KT: I feel like we’re losing that. I feel like the tank is draining every single day. Guys that were motivated are losing that motivation. I see my college peers going like, ‘I don’t even feel like doing the work.’ But you don’t have that motivation no more because you’re not in front of the teacher anymore, you’re not engaging. You have questions but you can’t get an answer. I have a bleeding heart for my community in here, but it’s hard for me to help them because I have five courses and I have to study. We’re getting hella shit to read and it’s like, ‘I don’t have the time to worry about you guys because I have to get this out of the way first.’ Before all of this coronavirus I was approved to transfer to Lancaster [California State Prison, Los Angeles County]. That’s a level three. That was a big decision I had to make because that means I have to detach myself from this place I grew roots in. The process of this whole coronavirus—I’m back worrying about college and I can’t really be the catalyst to get my guys rallied up to do their work because I have to just worry about my work. So, I’ve been feeling like the morale is ‘Let’s see what happens while we are in this state of limbo,’ which is worse than staying stagnant because we’re losing the momentum, you know? We work on momentum on the programs that are on a level four yard. Without that momentum it’s like, ‘I’ll just watch Jerry Springer all day.”
TW: It’s gotta be rough going from so many programs for the first time at Pelican Bay and then, in an instant, they’re gone. For those of you that are students at College of the Redwoods, can you study together?
KT: Everything in person is shut down but we can do our own personal study groups, but we are divided. So, we only see our own dudes in our own yard and maybe another building and they’re across the fence so we can’t even have a study group out there. Also the COs [correctional officers] are really cracking down on what stuff we can bring out and they’re asking us, ‘Why were you bringing books and stuff out to the yard since programs are shut down?’ So we can’t even have that. So technically no, we can’t have a study group. We can have an impromptu one if there’s a cool CO that says it’s cool, we can sit out there.
Update 11:10 a.m.: a second email sent yesterday from College of Natural Resources Dean Dale Oliver and obtained by The Lumberjack makes similar points but does not give a specific number to the expected enrollment drop for fall beyond noting that a 15-20% drop was expected prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. We will update this story when we have confirmed the numbers below. The second email is pasted below.
Humboldt State University has issued a budget directive to take immediate action to prepare for the fall semester, including the freezing of open staff positions and the reduction of the number of academic departments, according to an email sent to faculty and staff of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Tuesday morning.
The email, sent by Interim Dean of CAHSS Rosamel Benavides-Garb, projected a freshmen class for fall 2020 of around 500 students, down from around 1,400 students five years ago and down from around 1,000 students for fall 2019.
“The scale and impact of our current predicament is grave and as a result our budgetary practice has to be reconsidered and reformulated based on the simple equation of demand and resources,” the email said. “We have become, de facto, a much smaller institution, which compels us to undertake a comprehensive reset at HSU.”
The email listed six directives, including requests to freeze all vacant staff positions, reduce the number of academic departments and develop online programs for current and transfer students to complete their degrees.
The email promised to make the process consultative and sustainable.
“We remain committed to “the student first” approach,” the email said, “and are extremely aware of the critical importance, now more than ever, of issues of social justice, equity, and inclusion in all we do.”
The full email is copied below:
Dear CAHSS Colleagues,
On April 2, the deans of all three academic colleges received new administrative directives from Interim Provost Lisa Bond-Maupin regarding the coming academic year. The directives are a call to action, issued in response to the budget and recruitment/retention reality at HSU. The Interim Provost reiterated these directives yesterday, Monday, April 6 in her Provost/VPAA Report to the senate.
As we all know, our student enrollment has been declining for several years and the institutional budget has been negatively impacted. The administration’s efforts to address the problem must now be reframed in light of new and profound challenges the current COVID-19 pandemic poses for HSU, and the CSU system in general.
We are projecting a freshmen class of 500~ students across all three colleges. Five years ago, the freshmen class numbered 1,400+ students. The scale and impact of our current predicament is grave and as a result our budgetary practice has to be reconsidered and reformulated based on the simple equation of demand and resources. We have become, de facto, a much smaller institution, which compels us to undertake a comprehensive reset at HSU.
The Interim Provost has directed the three academic deans to reduce spending and grow retention/recruitment. Her directives require our college to implement the following action areas immediately:
1. Freeze all vacant staff positions: This is indefinite or until each college develops a plan to organize staff support within colleges and across colleges.
2. Reduce the number of academic administrative units (departments): This needs to be planned immediately and be in place for this next fiscal year so we are reorganized starting fall 2020.
3. Develop online degree completion opportunities for certain existing majors in the last two semesters of their programs.
4. Develop two-year degree online completion opportunities for transfer students of certain majors beginning fall 2020.
5. Develop a partnership with CEEGE related to workforce development, responding particularly to a post COVID-19 context.
6. Integrate the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) in the development and implementation of new teaching capacity.The Interim Provost has also indicated that she expects this process to be:
The Interim Provost has also indicated that she expects this process to be:
· Consultative with unit leadership.
· Consultative and collaborative across colleges.
· Sustainable by creating new retention and recruitment opportunities.
The deans of the three colleges have already begun discussing the directives. I have also initiated planning within CAHSS, in collaboration with the three associate dean fellows, and will continue to discuss budget with the chairs. We will move forward together, exploring multiple budget management opportunities to make our colleges strong and resilient in the face of present and future challenges. We can also regard these adjustments as unique opportunities to explore new and exciting programs to attract and serve our ever-diverse student population in a shifting and challenging workforce environment. We remain committed to “the student first” approach and are extremely aware of the critical importance, now more than ever, of issues of social justice, equity, and inclusion in all we do.
Sincerely and in solidarity,
Rosamel
Email from CNRS Dean Dale Oliver:
April 6, 2020
CNRS Faculty and Staff
Dear Colleagues,
Earlier today Interim Provost Lisa Bond-Maupin sent out her report to the HSU University Senate in preparation for Tuesday’s meeting. Included in her report was a call for collective action to prepare for fewer students and fewer resources in the next academic year. I’ve pasted the relevant section of the Provost’s report below my signature.
Current estimates indicate we could have 20% fewer students in Fall 2020 that we had in Fall 2019. This reduction is significant, and we must plan over the next weeks and months so that those students who start or continue with us in the fall experience high quality, engaged learning that will prepare them well for STEM professions and advanced study.
Three items from the Provost’s report that I want to highlight are personnel, administrative re-structuring, and online education.
Personnel: Although we will be finishing out the two faculty searches currently underway, and ensuring we have sufficient temporary faculty to deliver our curriculum, all other hiring is frozen for the moment, including those which are currently vacant and those which will soon be vacant due to expected retirements. Through improving business processes, realigning and reorganizing staff positions, and targeting professional development we will find a way to support our educational enterprise without hiring additional personnel. This work will be both necessary and challenging, and require collaboration with relevant unions and careful consideration of multiple factors.
Administrative restructuring: At the Dean’s level we were already planning a partial re-assignment for Associate Dean Rick Zechman to manage the marine lab while marine lab director Brian Tissot transitions from full-time director to FERP faculty. We are also being asked to reduce the number of administrative units in the college, meaning that some departments will be merged or reformed. This work will be done in close collaboration with the CNRS Council of Chairs and the other two academic deans.
Online Education: There are some programs in CNRS for which one of the following scenarios might make sense: provide an online degree-completion option for a group of students who have a year or less left to complete their degree; provide a degree-starter program for a group of first year (or transfer) students to get started with HSU from home during the fall 2020 semester, and then begin on campus in Spring 2021; provide more online sections of general education courses for undeclared students or majors from outside CNRS. For the moment, I recommend that faculty discuss within their departments whether one or more of these scenarios might be appropriate for their program.
For this week I am collaborating with the Provost’s office, with the other academic deans, and with a working group of CNRS Chairs to create possible models for administrative restructuring that can then be discussed among all of the CNRS chairs the following week. Relatively soon I will also set up a mechanism by which input can be given from across the college.
We face a significant challenge as a college and university over the next few months and years, but I am confident that we will find solutions that serve our students and the citizens of California well. My confidence rests solidly on the incredible talent, dedication, and creativity of our faculty and staff, whom I am proud to serve.
Best wishes, safety, and health to you and your families,
Dale R. Oliver, Dean
College of Natural Resources and Sciences
From Interim Provost Lisa Bond-Maupin’s report to HSU’s University Senate, April 6, 2020
Realignment of Spending with Reduced Revenue
In addition to supporting instructional continuity and Academic Master Planning, our division leadership is turning our attention to budget planning for next fiscal year and beyond. Prior to COVID-19, our enrollment picture for next academic year was apparently trending toward a 15-20% fall-to-fall (one year) student headcount decline. We were likely headed toward a reduction to the HSU budget for next fiscal year that was double that anticipated when the URPC created its annual budget recommendations to President Jackson. While the college-going enrollment impact of the pandemic is unknown for all in higher education across the nation, it is clear that the CSU and HSU will experience further decline in student enrollment. Given the enrollment challenges felt across the state, it is likely that impaction at our southern campuses will be lifted. It is highly likely that more students will choose for financial and other reasons, in the shorter term at least, to remain at home or closer to home to study.
While we await the release of up-to-date enrollment projections and budget information, Academic Affairs is implementing a few immediate strategies toward student retention and recruitment on the heels of the pandemic and toward further reducing our spending. As we do so, we are guided by the URPC principles and our own commitments to meeting the instructional needs of our students and protecting employment. In addition to continuing to adjust our academic offerings for Fall, immediate strategies also include:
• Working with each dean and director to reduce budget allocations for FY 21
• Freezing hiring in all open staff positions for now and planning to absorb staff attrition
• Working collaboratively with staff within and across colleges and budget units in Academic Affairs to reimagine and reorganize our staff support
• Working collaboratively with department chairs and faculty to condense the number of separate academic administrative units in the colleges
• Working within the Office of the Provost to realign and reorganize staffing
• Identifying academic programs ready to continue to offer upper division major courses online into next year and beyond to: a) help students in their final semesters to study from home and complete their degrees, and b) offer new transfer students an opportunity to complete their degrees online
• Identifying a COVID-era retention specialist in Academic Affairs who will support the continued offering of all existing retention efforts in a virtual format and will work in collaboration with ODEI to implement inclusive retention practices at a distance.
Each one of us will be implicated in and needed for this work. It is tough and unavoidable at this time. Each one of us has a very important role to play, now, more than ever in maintaining close connections with our students, helping them to problem-solve their educational needs and connect to resources and to stay connected to HSU. We need our students. And I think we are finding in their response to our transformed instruction – they need us. This powerful connection will ultimately move HSU through and beyond this tough moment in our collective history to the future we envision. Thank you.
HSU student athletes share grief at abrupt endings
Humboldt State University and the California Collegiate Athletic Association canceled sports for the spring semester back in March due to COVID-19. Student athletes have been left to deal with the aftermath.
Mariah Kalamaras is a graduating senior and a member of the HSU softball team. The softball season came to an end less than halfway through.
“This was my last season playing a sport that I truly love, and to have it cut short so abruptly is devastating,” Kalamaras said. “I felt like the world was ending.”
Following the NCAA’s decision to cancel winter and spring championships, the current sports landscape has been flat, with professional sports also forced to come to a halt. Fortunately for spring athletes, the NCAA will be granting eligibility relief, provided students remain enrolled while participating in athletics.
Sydney Oliver is a senior and captain of the HSU club cheer team. Although the basketball season had already wrapped, the cheer club would have continued to meet for practice through the end of the academic year.
“I have dreamt of walking across that graduation stage since I was a little kid.”
Sydney Oliver
“It’s kind of sad that I can’t see my teammates and help influence them to do better, as well for them to push me,” Oliver said. “Because we did a lot of working out together.”
Senior athletes were in for another disappointment when HSU also canceled the 2020 commencement ceremony. Kalamaras said she felt like she’s missing out on a rite of passage.
“I have dreamt of walking across that graduation stage since I was a little kid,” Kalamaras said. “To hear the song, wear the gown, to hear your name and to hold that diploma high into the air and say, ‘I did it! I made it.’ It makes all the sleepless nights, all the hard work on the long road trips, all the class time, and all the stress worth it.”
The shutdown has also had significant impacts on the daily lives of student athletes. Students have gone without school and sports—and work, for some—but they’re also encouraged to avoid gathering with friends to comply with social distancing.
“Now that it’s not an option to see them, it’s kinda like you wanna see them,” Oliver said. “As opposed to when it was an option and you could see them anytime, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I’ll see them tomorrow.’”
“Since all of the classes are online, it’s basically on us, the students.”
Gabrys Sadaunykas
Students are also now forced to finish their semesters online. As a kinesiology major, Oliver wasn’t stressing the change.
“I like my subject, so it’s not hard for me to still be passionate about it,” Oliver said.
Other students are less enthusiastic about the shift online. Gabrys Sadaunykas is an international student from Lithuania and a basketball player at HSU.
“Since all of the classes are online, it’s basically on us, the students,” Sadaunykas said.
Although Sadaunykas’ season was already finished, he’s stuck here until the end of May.
“Of course, it’s hard, because all of my friends are back with their families and I’m here by myself basically,” Sadaunykas said. “But it’s a nice place. I like Humboldt—it’s got a lot of nature.”
Not for the reasons athletes were expecting, COVID-19 has created an unforgettable 2020 spring season.
“It has taken so much away and although I understand that this global shutdown is necessary, it doesn’t make it hurt any less,” Kalamaras said. “I won’t be able to play my sport at this high level ever again. I won’t get to walk across a stage to show the world I got my diploma. I don’t get to go out and experience all [of] this great place I have had the privilege to call home the past two years.”
A reminder of the few things we know that help prevent the spread of COVID-19
I received a text from a housemate recently recommending we all drink hot liquids and think happy thoughts to get us through the COVID-19 pandemic. Sadly, happy thoughts and hot liquids won’t save us.
In the midst of a pandemic, it makes sense that people will seek home remedies—they can give you actionable measures to take to try to inoculate yourself against COVID-19. But peddling bunk medicine like a medieval plague doctor only makes things worse.
Random herbs, hot liquids and happy thoughts do nothing against COVID-19 (neither does weed). What can help stop the spread of COVID-19 are these much less sexy things you’ve probably already heard, adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Social distancing. Hang out with yourself for a while. The crushing introspection may seem scary, but who knows, maybe you could learn something about yourself. The CDC gives suggestions on how to cope in this stressful time.
Frequent hygiene. Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Sanitize doorknobs in your home. Sanitize your debit or credit card if you’re grocery shopping. You might even go so far as to ask to scan your own groceries at the checkout stand.
Don’t touch your face. According to disease expert Michael Osterholm, the virus behind COVID-19 chills out in the throat and lungs, and it likes to get in your body through your eyes, nose and mouth. Your hands provide an Uber ride for the virus straight into your system.
Also, cover your face. The CDC have shifted course and now recommend people cover their face with a cloth mask in public, especially in high-risk areas like grocery stores or pharmacies. If you have a sewing machine, here’s how to make your own mask. If you don’t have a sewing machine, the CDC provides a video on its site on how to make a mask out of any old cloth and a couple rubber bands.
Keep your body healthy. Eating a well-balanced diet, getting enough sleep and exercising all maintain a healthy immune system.
Find a new hobby. Don’t allow depression to set in from all the time spent indoors. Netflix is nice, but it’s not a hobby. Try reading, painting, knot-tying or bread-making. Blogger Matt Gilligan compiled a list of 19 inexpensive hobbies for self-quarantining.
Connect with your friends and family. Don’t gather with people in person. (No group hugs.) Instead, take advantage of your phone and call up your friends and family. For a more socially stimulating experience, use FaceTime or Zoom to have a video chat. Invite all your pals and make it a virtual party. If you happen to be posted up in a house with a friend, try to hang out with them rather than hiding away in your room.
We have no cure for COVID-19. A vaccine, by all accounts, remains a long way off. If you end up with the coronavirus, we only have treatments that can relieve symptoms as suggested by the Mayo Clinic, like Tylenol, cough syrups, rest and fluid intake.
I’m no stranger to distrusting authority or being suspicious of science—I grew up in Southern Humboldt and wasn’t vaccinated until I was a teenager. But for the sake of yourself and the rest of the world, put your suspicions aside and have a little faith in the only proven measures we know against COVID-19.
Alpha Psi Omega attempts a comeback with new students and adviser
Humboldt State University’s theatre fraternity is trying a comeback to campus (or it was, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak). Alpha Psi Omega intends to allow students to increase funding for competitions and student-directed shows.
Rae Robinson, the faculty adviser for APO, said the return of the fraternity excited her.
“The first chapter was like 1919 or 1920,” Robinson said. “There have been a few different departments as long as there has been Humboldt State.”
Robinson said APO was reinstated when she arrived at Humboldt State 14 years ago. APO had a few years of club work, but the group of students interested in the fraternity graduated. APO went dormant.
“We want to pull all of our performing art students together so we can all support each other better.”
Jaiden Clark, APO president
“Those kids graduated, the MFA was dissolved by the university, and it went under the radar for a while,” Robinson said. “Last year we had a new group of incoming students and they said, ‘We want a theatre club again,’ and I said, ‘We have Alpha Psi Omega.’”
APO President Jaiden Clark said they’re passionate about creating change within the theatre department by unifying performing arts students through APO.
“We want to pull all of our performing art students together so we can all support each other better,” Clark said. “We want to make more connections with more clubs around the school like the improv club and the circus club.”
APO’s fundraisers will allow students to determine how the money is used instead of the theatre department allocating funds. The fundraiser money will allow for student competitions and student-operated shows.
“School-wide enrollment is down, and as far as I understand, the school can’t afford to hire another faculty member to the theatre department. We need the students to feel empowered to do more.”
Jaiden Clark
“They don’t give us the money that we need in this department,” Clark said. “Neither have any schools in any theatre department that I have ever been to. So the students are going to pick it up.”
Clark said the theatre department is low in faculty members, and having a more unified body of performing arts students would better support the students.
“We lost a lot of faculty all at once,” Clark said. “School-wide enrollment is down, and as far as I understand, the school can’t afford to hire another faculty member to the theatre department. We need the students to feel empowered to do more.”
Professor Patrick Ulrich, assistant adviser for APO, looked forward to working with the students to reach their goals.
“I would like to work directly with the students,” Ulrich said. “Making money for their goals, serving their community, getting our name out to everybody and really just having an avenue for an honors fraternity.”
APO would give the students freedom to advertise themselves how they see fit.
“It really is in the hands of the officers,” Ulrich said, “who are all students.”
Since March 15 HSU has sent out over a dozen emails on their response to COVID-19
Here is a summary of emails Humboldt State University has sent out since March 15.
March 17: HSU informed students of its efforts to supply students with reliable laptops from the library as well as internet access for students without a reliable connection. HSU provided a list of locations where the university’s Eduroam Wi-Fi connection is strongest, as well as a list of services that are providing free Wi-Fi services during the COVID-19 crisis.
March 19: HSU informed students of Humboldt County’s shelter in place order. HSU confirmed that essential employees would be asked to continue to work on campus, and all others would work by teleconferencing. In a second email on the same day, HSU confirmed rumors that commencement, originally planned for May 16, would be canceled. HSU asked in a now-closed Google form for creative alternatives to celebrate graduation.
March 21: HSU released a more detailed email regarding its policies related to essential employees and payroll. Positions listed as essential included public safety, information technology, the library, University Center, health center, Oh SNAP!, residence life, dining, facilities management, research continuity, business services, payroll and mail distribution. HSU announced that its payroll department would be working on creating digital timesheets for employees working from home and that emergency pay would not be in effect as it was during the blackouts of the fall 2019 semester.
March 23: HSU revealed its guidelines on returning to campus. HSU asked students returning to Humboldt from areas with community spread or international destinations to self isolate for at least 14 days before returning to campus. HSU also advised students who are feeling ill to contact the Student Health Center at (707) 826-3146 before visiting the center.
March 24: HSU asked that students who live in on-campus housing and were on any of these three flights to contact Housing and Residence Life at (707) 826-3451:
March 16: United flight #5827 from Los Angeles Airport to Arcata
March 18: Delta flight #4124 from Seattle, Washington to Medford, Oregon
March 18: United flight #5555 from San Francisco Airport to Arcata
March 26: HSU announced that the library would close on Friday Mar. 27 in response to the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
March 27: HSU extended the deadline for changing the grading mode of classes to May 9. HSU said it’s looking into expanding the number of courses that can be switched to credit/no credit, as well as lifting restrictions on the number of courses that can be taken as credit/no credit.
March 30: HSU announced the closure of Siemens Hall’s computer labs and the University Center to reduce transmission of COVID-19.
Although N95 face masks are the only masks proven to protect against COVID-19, companies and people across the nation are rushing to their sewing machines to help produce protection for frontline healthcare workers.
New York City Governor Andrew Cuomo asked companies to shift their operations to make face masks and ventilators at a press briefing March 20.
“I’ll fund a new business if you can make these products,” Cuomo said. “I’m trying to make these products. If you are in this line of work, we need masks. If you are making clothing, figure out if you can make masks. I’ll fund it.”
Deaconess, an Indiana healthcare provider, has also asked the public for help to produce masks. They released a video tutorial in which they show how to sew a surgical face mask that complies with the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention guidelines.
Hand-sewn masks compliant with CDC guidelines are permitted to be used by healthcare workers, but the masks are still considered a last resort by the CDC.
Considering the dire circumstances, a homemade mask is better than no protection at all. Here’s how to hand sew a face mask (all photos by Rachel Marty):
Materials needed:
Materials Needed
Two pieces of 7-inch elastic
Two sheets of 9-inch by 6-inch tightly woven and recently-purchased cotton
A sewing machine
Pin the two sheets of cotton fabric together and start sewing around the perimeter, leaving a quarter of an inch for the edge.
At every corner, stop and place the end of the elastic in between the seam, making sure you place the straps horizontally on the 6-inch sides. The straps should go behind the ears, not vertically, or the straps will rest above your mouth and chin.
Make sure to leave your perimeter undone. Leave an inch or two so you can turn it inside out.
Turn inside out.
Make three tucks on each side of the mask and pin them in place. Make sure they are going in the same direction on each side.
Again, sew around the perimeter of the mask, leaving a quarter of an inch on the edge. Repeat twice to make sure it’s secure.
Photographer and Sports Editor Thomas Lal captured these scenes from around Arcata on March 21 at the end of spring break at the beginning of Humboldt County’s shelter in place order.
The storefronts on the Arcata Plaza look out on mostly empty streets.An employee sits at a computer while a sign advertises that the business is still open during the first week of a shelter in place order.The shelves in the Arcata Safeway.The Humboldt State Library.A lone person walks through the mostly empty parking lots at Humboldt State University.The Humboldt State Library.The Humboldt State Library.A single person works at the Humboldt State Library.A carton of eggs sits on the shelves at the Arcata Safeway.A lone person stands just off of the Arcata Plaza.An employee puts up a sign in the door of the Jitter Bean on the Arcata Plaza.
Locals react to HSU students bused back to Humboldt from coronavirus-afflicted areas
A bus chartered by the Humboldt State Homeward Bound program picked up 31 HSU students March 21 from San Francisco and Los Angeles—two cities where the coronavirus has become more and more prominent—and brought the students back to Humboldt.
Lost Coast Outpost posted an article about the bus March 24. The Facebook post for the story has 433 comments as of March 29, many of which are critical of HSU.
“This is beyond irresponsible of HSU,” one comment reads.
“And one more reason we feel GREAT about not sending our kids to HSU,” reads another.
Sarah Ray, an environmental studies professor, defended the students.
“Quite a few of our students live here and have moved here and have their lives here and they were visiting family,” Ray said. “So, just like we would expect and hope that kids and students who are from Arcata and the area—we would fully respect and appreciate that they would want to come home and be home with their families once their classes got cancelled in this really frightening moment—it’s reasonable that students would want to go where they’re most comfortable and feel at home.”
She went on:
“There’s also a lot of research out there about how many students across the nation going through this exact problem are not safe at home, and this might be a safer place for them,” Ray said.
“I feel like it’s not a simple solution to just say, ‘Go back there,’ because many of these students live here.”
Xochitl Andrade, HSU English and biology major
Grant Scott-Goforth, communications specialist for HSU, explained the precautions implemented on the buses returning to HSU.
“The buses were partially full so that people could have social distancing on the buses while they rode,” Scott-Goforth said. “And then, obviously when they return, we’re asking everyone to shelter-in-place, to quarantine if you’ve been exposed or been to an area with exposure, and to contact the Student Health Center or hospitals with concerns about health.”
As much as HSU wished it could’ve been in command over which students came and which students left Humboldt, there was no way to do that. Of course, as Scott-Goforth asserted, the coronavirus situation is nothing to sneeze at.
“I think it’s terribly unfortunate and I’m very sad for them and I feel very protective of students because it’s what I do.”
Sarah Ray, HSU environmental studies professor
Xochitl Andrade, an HSU senior majoring in English and biology, said the situation is complicated.
“I feel like it’s not a simple solution to just say, ‘Go back there,’ because many of these students live here,” Andrade said. “They may have no where else to go if they were told to go back. We don’t know if they were just visiting friends or family. And for those who don’t have any family to go back to, what are they supposed to do?”
While Andrade agrees that the students should be quarantined, she said she thought HSU knows what it’s doing.
Ray hoped the harsh words toward HSU students from the Lost Coast Outpost article weren’t representative of the Arcata community.
“I think it’s terribly unfortunate and I’m very sad for them and I feel very protective of students because it’s what I do,” Ray said. “I would like to think that it’s only an extreme, fringed, vocal, internet types of social media people who are saying those kinds of things. The vast majority of the university, especially the community and many people in the community—that’s not the kind of sentiment I see.”
I wasn’t prepared for the school year to end so abruptly
I’m no good at saying goodbye. Give me no time to prepare, and I think I’m even worse. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden end of the rest of my in-person senior year in college, I’ve had to say goodbye to several friends and colleagues with little warning.
This abrupt ending has thrown me off. I hate to whine, but I wasn’t ready to part ways with so many people. It takes time to reflect on others and consider what I want to say when I might never see them again.
No goodbye is easy, and no goodbye ever feels adequate. But it takes a while for the reality of a goodbye to settle in. The natural buildup of expectation over the course of the last semester of college, which Dan Chiasson wrote about for The New Yorker, helps to ease the transition between college life and post-college life.
Of course, not getting to say a proper goodbye is small potatoes compared to more serious issues people are facing right now, like losing jobs, homes or loved ones. Those things are awful, but they don’t make the little things suck any less.
Of course, not getting to say a proper goodbye is small potatoes compared to more serious issues people are facing right now, like losing jobs, homes or loved ones. Those things are awful, but they don’t make the little things suck any less.
In day-to-day life, it’s easy to let the specifics of what you appreciate about someone go unnoticed. Saying goodbye, for me, requires a bit of excavation into those little things. With some time, I can at least have a couple words to say. Even if what I say is inadequate, something is better than nothing. A couple words can signal a greater appreciation I might be trying to articulate.
In my most recent goodbyes, I’ve tried to give thanks to the person for whatever they’ve done that has made them worth a goodbye in the first place. I try to let them know what I think of them. Then I probably wish them luck. And finally, I might just say “bye,” which is too small a word to encompass all the emotion in a parting of ways.
There’s nothing wrong with any of that. It just hasn’t felt adequate. And it hasn’t helped that we’re supposed to be avoiding getting too close to anyone. Hugs or anything like them are off the table.
Maybe all I’m really getting at is that saying goodbye is one hell of a difficult task, and doing so right now almost feels cruel. Being a true digital age child, I browsed the internet for tips on saying goodbye and got some vague ideas and a suggestion to give the person a memento—which, again, doesn’t seem smart right now.
But no matter how much you prepare, goodbyes are always going to hurt.
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations, you get my cliché takeways: if you have the chance, make your goodbyes worthwhile. Take time. And if you don’t have to say goodbye to someone yet, treasure them, and let them know how much you appreciate them as a friend or colleague or whatever else.
You never know when the world might be struck by a pandemic and you have to say goodbye without warning. Be grateful and appreciative and let those that matter know it. Oh, and wash your hands and stay the hell home as much as possible.
Mirage of safety causes mask supply to plummet and xenophobia to reemerge
The emergence of everyday people using surgical masks amidst the COVID-19 pandemic has caused mass misinformation and the perpetuation of xenophobic ideas.
Myth: Surgical masks make you immune to COVID-19
Typically found on hospital workers and sick personnel as a safety barrier, surgical masks are almost regarded as invincibility devices, protecting the body from outside pollutants and threats. The implied purpose of surgical masks is to protect patients from the secretions of a doctor’s mouth or nose during surgical procedures or to protect doctors and nurses from infected patients. Either way, a basic surgical mask prevents the exchange of bodily fluids, not air particles. Surgical masks are often mistaken as invincible shields against all viruses and bacteria.
Surgical masks show no evidence of prohibiting the inhalation or contraction of the virus that causes COVID-19. The COVID-19 virus particles are too minuscule to be stopped by a surgical mask barrier. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “most facemasks do not effectively filter small particles from the air and do not prevent leakage around the edge of the mask when the user inhales.” In no way do surgical masks prevent or obstruct contaminated air.
While surgical face masks are virtually pointless against COVID-19, N95 filtering facepiece respirators are different. These masks are personally fitted to the face and “filter out at least 95% of very small (0.3 micron) particles, capable of filtering out bacteria and virus particles,” according to the CDC. These masks are typically worn by hospital and treatment personnel that come in direct contact with infected patients. N95 masks prevent the inhalation of micro-particles.
Truth: Surgical and N95 masks are running low
Due to the personal fitting of each N95 mask, they begin to degrade overtime depending on their usage, storage and environment. The assigned expiration date and high demand due to the current pandemic has resulted in an unexpected shortage in supply. Doctors are now reusing their masks, but they risk contamination due to degrading components affecting the protection and performance of the mask. Government administrations are requesting N95 donations as well as demanding some occupations to give up their assigned mask for medical workers.
While N95 masks are needed most, surgical masks are running low as well. Infected patients wearing masks benefit surrounding parties by limiting exposure of emitted particles into the air. The pandemic panic has misinformed the public to go buy surgical masks when patients and medical workers need them most.
Myth: DIY masks provide reliable protection
YouTube and social media platforms are advertising do-it-yourself face mask tutorials in response to the shortage in surgical mask supply. The misinformation has continued as people attempt to protect themselves with faulty protection materials. Bras and bonnets to sandals and plain cloths are being cut and trimmed to replicate surgical face masks. But, as previously mentioned, surgical face masks provide no protection against COVID-19 virus particles. Any alteration of store-bought or recycled material will have the same, if not less, protection against COVID-19 than a surgical mask.
Truth: Mask usage has reignited xenophobic ideas
Surgical masks provide zero protection from contracting COVID-19, but they have effectively reignited xenophobia. It’s completely normal for the mind to want to assign a face to an infected COVID-19 individual or picture what a threat would look like out of caution. Assuming someone wearing a face mask has the virus and extending that assumption past the mask, to their race or ethnicity, is disgusting, racist profiling. In a time of crisis, people should be exercising neighborly behavior and picking one another up, not perpetuating racist, profile-based assumptions on others in an attempt to accuse others of the chaos. It’s unproductive and invasive.
Lock yourself indoors and pretend these films are strictly fiction
With a deplorable excuse of a federal administration lying through their teeth about having the situation under control, it’s starting to feel like the world is descending into the plot of an apocalyptic or dystopian film. Fortunately, there are quite a few films to compare with the current state of the world.
1. Equilibrium (2002)
Equilibrium (2002). | Image courtesy of Miramax
“Equilibrium” is a brilliant 2002 futuristic thriller starring Christian Bale in a fascist police state mandates daily medication that eliminates all feelings. “Sense offenders” that refuse their medication are rounded up and disposed of in ovens, and books and other forms of media that might inspire emotion are burned. Subtlety is not this film’s forte, but that’s to be expected when it also boasts brilliantly-staged action sequences where Christian Bale uses his guns as all-purpose weapons. It’s “The Giver” meets “1984” meets “The Matrix.” The fighting style is referred to as “gun-kata,” and its efficiency and balance reflects the tightness of the film’s storytelling.
2. Snowpiercer (2013)
Snowpiercer (2013). | Photo courtesy of RADiUS/TWC
Did you like Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning “Parasite” from 2019? If so, you might enjoy one of his previous masterpieces. In “Snowpiercer,” Earth is in the midst of a new ice age, leaving humanity to survive within the confines of a train that runs on a perpetual track. The train spins its wheels around the icy remains of the former metropolitan homes of the billionaires responsible for the crisis in the first place. An extreme contrast in quality of life lingers on the train, which continues to spin its wheels until a rebellion begins. “Snowpiercer” is another brilliant deconstruction of the class divide and inequity that reminds us that we all live in a capitalist country.
3. Looper (2012)
Looper (2012). | Photo courtesy of Alan Markfield, Looper, LLC
From Rian Johnson, director of the best Star Wars film, comes an exciting thriller in which time travel is possible, but outlawed. Gangsters send victims back in time to be killed by a hit man until he becomes the target. Unlike most time travel films, this one accepts and plays around with many of the potential paradoxes of time travel and stages scenes only possible in films with time travel. It takes great advantage of the strengths of its cast, as all Rian Johnson films do, and is a whole lot of fun, as all Rian Johnson films are. All of them.
4. Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). | Photo by Giles Keyte, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
OK, this one takes place at the time that it was made, and isn’t particularly dystopian, but to be fair, it’s about a group of rich vigilantes, who already killed the entire Obama administration in the previous “Kingsman” film, “The Secret Service.” Thus, they are indirectly responsible for the Trump presidency, which is a major part of the plot of this film. Now investigating a foreign cartel with a monopoly on drug trade, they discover the cartel’s plan to poison cannabis users and hold the planet hostage so that drugs will be legalized. In the real world, this would just mean that Big Pharma takes a huge share of the market and kills their business. But in the Kingsman world, it means a healthy helping of flashy action helped out by an Elton John appearance.
5. Planet of the Apes (1968)
Planet of the Apes (1968). | Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Before the Andy Serkis trilogy and the underwhelming Tim Burton effort was the original 1968 classic, “Planet of the Apes.” It watches more as an extended “Twilight Zone” episode than a futuristic adventure film, and it is superbly well-crafted, with intricate and detailed sets. The chemistry between the humans and the apes is a wonderful tone balancing act that offers plenty of ideas on race relations. And its brilliant twist ending goes down as an all-time classic.
All classes to go online for the rest of the semester and other plans, plus a translation
Humboldt State University informed its students March 12 through email that classes would be going online following spring break. Concerns of spreading COVID-19 led the California State University system to suspend face-to-face instruction. HSU initially said it would be shifting to online classes March 26 until at least April 17. But in a March 17 message from President Tom Jackson, HSU announced classes would be taught online for the rest of the semester.
Jackson’s message said all exams, labs, field trips and in-person meetings are canceled. HSU encouraged students living on-campus to return home if possible. However, HSU promised it would not displace students living on campus.
Other notes from Jackson’s message included: non-essential student employees will work from home. Campus will close to the general public. Most of campus will close, with the exception of the Student Health Center, the University Center and the library, all of which will remain open with reduced staff. Finally, HSU said it will review alternatives to celebrate commencement.
HSU has also launched a web page with resources for working from home. HSU plans to provide laptops for students without computers and internet hotspots for students with no internet at home. Programs like the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite and SPSS are expected to be available on HSU’s remotely accessible virtual lab and for downloads to personal computers. Multiple phone and internet companies have also agreed to waive late fees, not cutoff service and open up internet hotspots.
HSU began updating students and staff through emails starting Feb. 24, when it informed them of the single case of COVID-19 confirmed in Humboldt County. They continued to provide updates weekly on how HSU would be handling a potential pandemic. The week before students were meant to head home or hunker down in Humboldt, HSU ramped up its online communications.
HSU suspended all international and non-essential domestic travel March 10 for the remainder of the spring semester. In a March 11 email, they defined essential domestic travel as travel for academic credits that are necessary for graduation and cannot be postponed or substituted.
Through several emails on March 11 and March 12, HSU canceled all instruction from March 23-25 to allow faculty to prepare for online classes. HSU then canceled all intercollegiate and club sports.
HSU canceled non-essential events on and off campus March 13. Essential events—following HSU’s previous definition of essential—are any events done for academic credit necessary to meet a graduation requirement that cannot be postponed or substituted.
On March 15, HSU noted the closure of local K-12 schools, and how that may affect staff and faculty. HSU later advised faculty aged 65 and older, or those with underlying health issues that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19, do not come to campus. HSU will arrange telecommuting for adaptable positions, but anyone not able to work remotely will be placed on administrative leave at their current rate of pay and for their normally scheduled work hours.
Humboldt State University President Tom Jackson’s March 17 Message to Campus:
Message from President Tom Jackson on Plans for the Semester
Dear Campus Community: Over the last week, I have had the privilege of observing the amazing work of so many people in their efforts to assist others. The work by all of you to not only protect yourself, but to care for your family and our students is beyond remarkable. We are a very caring Lumberjack Family and I thank you.
Things are changing rapidly and these updates are subject to change based on the fluidity of this situation. Every day, nearly every hour it seems, we are asked to pivot and address a new challenge in our efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Our guiding light remains the health and safety of our Lumberjack Family while also helping our students to progress in their education. At times these efforts may appear in conflict, but they are not. At the root of all we do is our humanity and our underlying willingness to do what must be done.
The time has come for HSU to implement a number of additional contingency plans and bolster our COVID-19 precautions. While there are no known active COVID-19 cases in our County at this time, and there have been none on campus, these additional precautions are consistent with recent federal and state health directives. In short, we must now do more to protect the health and safety of our campus and local communities.
HSU will operate virtually through the end of the semester.
Beginning today, we will shift as quickly as possible to virtual operations. Non-essential employees, including student staff, are to work remotely (telecommute) once they have received direction from their supervisor. Please continue to work with your supervisor on your work assignments and technology support needs.
It is important we reduce the number of people on campus. We encourage students who can return to a home off-campus to do so. We will not displace students who are facing housing insecurities or homelessness. More information will follow.
From Monday to Wednesday, March 23-25, the faculty will prepare for a complete shift to virtual instruction by Thursday, March 26. All professional development and preparation activities will now occur remotely. For the remainder of Spring 2020, all instruction is to be virtual and the primary operational state of campus is to be virtual. There will be no face to face meetings, events, instruction, exams, instructional labs, field trips, live performances, or small group seminars.
We have closed all access to campus facilities to the general public.
Most campus facilities will be closed to the campus community, including all sports and recreation facilities. We have also suspended all intramural and recreational activities for students. Any services remaining open for students – such as the library, student health center, and university center – will be operating with reduced staffing and must implement social distancing.
As a campus we must continue to carefully practice social distancing techniques for those essential individuals who remain on campus, including students in our residence halls who truly have no other place to reside, and the food services and other staff who are supporting those students.
Lastly, and sadly, we must review other ways to celebrate degree recipients instead of the traditional Commencement. We are a very creative campus and we will find alternative ways to celebrate our students’ success.
There are many questions to be answered, and we will do our best to answer them in a timely way. We will share more information soon as we prepare campus to shift to virtual operations.
We are resilient. From the Marching Lumberjacks doing what they do, to alumni making a difference in the world, to hiking in the Redwoods, to kayaking in the great Pacific ocean, we are Humboldt. This pandemic is challenging us but it will not break us. We are Humboldt, and while we may be socially distant for now we remain close at heart.
Thank you for all that you are doing. I ask you to be flexible and understanding as we work together to protect the health and safety of the campus community. You are appreciated.
Respectfully,
Tom Jackson, Jr. President
El Mensaje en Español:
Mensaje del Rector Tom Jackson sobre los planes para el semestre
Estimada comunidad universitaria, durante la última semana he tenido el privilegio de observar el increíble trabajo y esfuerzo de tantas personas que quieren ayudar a otros. El trabajo de todos ustedes, no sólo para protegerse, sino que también para cuidar a su familia y a nuestros estudiantes es notable. Somos una familia muy cariñosa de leñadores y se los agradezco.
Las cosas están cambiando rápidamente debido a la fluidez de la situación. Todos los días, parece que casi cada hora, se nos pide que viremos y abordemos un nuevo desafío en nuestros esfuerzos para reducir la propagación del COVID-19. Nuestra luz guía sigue siendo la salud y seguridad de nuestra familia de leñadores y, al mismo tiempo, el apoyo necesario para que nuestros estudiantes progresen en su educación. A veces, estos esfuerzos pueden aparecer en conflicto, pero no lo están. La raíz de todo lo que hacemos está nuestra humanidad y en nuestra voluntad fundamental de hacer lo que sea necesario.
Ha llegado el momento de implementar en HSU una serie de planes de contingencia adicionales para reforzar nuestras precauciones acerca del COVID-19. Si bien no hay casos activos conocidos del COVID-19 en nuestro Condado en este momento, y no ha habido ninguno en el campus, estas precauciones adicionales son consistentes con las recientes políticas de salud de nivel federal y estatal. En resumen, ahora debemos profundizar nuestros esfuerzos para proteger la salud y seguridad de nuestro campus y comunidades locales.
HSU va a funcionar virtualmente hasta el fin del semestre.
A partir de hoy, pasaremos lo más rápido posible a operar virtualmente. Los empleados no esenciales, incluyendo el personal estudiantil, deben trabajar de forma remota (teletrabajo) una vez que hayan recibido instrucciones de sus supervisores. Por favor continuar trabajando con su supervisor en sus tareas de trabajo y apoyo técnico.
Es importante que reduzcamos la cantidad de personas en el campus. Alentamos a los estudiantes que puedan regresar a sus hogares fuera del campus que lo hagan. No desplazaremos a los estudiantes con inseguridad de vivienda o falta de vivienda. Proveeremos más información sobre este tema.
Del lunes 23 al miércoles 25 de marzo, los profesores se prepararán para un cambio completo a la instrucción virtual, a comenzar el jueves 26 de marzo. Ahora todas las actividades de capacitación profesional y preparación se realizarán de forma remota. Durante el resto de la primavera del 2020, toda la instrucción será virtual y todo el campus funcionará de forma virtual. No habrá reuniones presenciales, eventos, instrucción, exámenes, laboratorios, excursiones, presentaciones en vivo, o seminarios de grupos pequeños.
Hemos suspendido todo acceso público a las instalaciones del campus.
La mayoría de las instalaciones del campus estarán cerradas a la comunidad del campus, incluyendo todas las instalaciones deportivas y recreativas. También hemos suspendido todas las actividades extracurriculares y recreativas de los estudiantes. Cualquier servicio que permanezca abierto para los estudiantes, como la biblioteca, el Centro de Salud Estudiantil y el Centro Universitario, funcionará con un personal reducido y se deben implementar distanciamiento social.
Como campus, debemos continuar practicando cuidadosamente técnicas de distanciamiento social. Esto se aplica a aquellas personas en roles esenciales que permanecen en el campus, incluyendo a los estudiantes en las residencias universitarias que realmente no tienen otro lugar donde ir, y proveedores de servicios de comida y otro personal que apoya a estos estudiantes.
Por último, y lamentablemente, debemos explorar otras formas de celebrar a los nuevos licenciados ya que no podrán tener una ceremonia de graduación tradicional. Somos un campus muy creativo y encontraremos formas alternativas de celebrar el éxito de nuestros estudiantes.
Hay muchas preguntas por responder y haremos todo lo posible para responderlas de manera oportuna. Compartiremos más información pronto, a medida que preparemos el campus para cambiar a operaciones virtuales.
Somos resistentes. Desde la banda de los “Marching Lumberjacks” que hacen lo que saben hacer, y los egresados que hacen una diferencia en el mundo, y las caminatas en los bosques de los gigantes rojos, hasta el paseo en kayak en el gran océano Pacífico, somos Humboldt. Esta pandemia nos desafía, pero no nos romperá. Somos Humboldt y aunque es posible que estemos socialmente distantes por ahora, seguimos estando cerca en el corazón.
Gracias por todo lo que están haciendo. Les pido que sean flexible y comprensivas/os mientras trabajamos juntos para proteger la salud y seguridad de nuestra comunidad universitaria. Todos son apreciados.
Ask Evergreen is an advice column by the students of The Lumberjack
Dear Evergreen,
How do I live in this pandemic?
Dear Concerned Citizen,
We’re living through history right now amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many ways you can prevent potential exposure while still leading a balanced life.
Educate yourself. Learn about the causes, symptoms and preventative measures of this respiratory virus. The California Department of Public Health has pertinent information you should read up on. While Humboldt County is not on the list for community transmissions, it is offering lab testing for suspected cases of the illness. The CDPH news updates page offers consistent updates.
Isolate yourself. Don’t go out unless it’s necessary. While you may want to see your friends during spring break, don’t expose yourself to others who may not be practicing precautionary measures.
If you’ve traveled home for break, be mindful of where you go out. It’s OK to not do normal spring break activities. Avoid going to clubs, restaurants, bars and breweries. It’s unlikely someone diagnosed with COVID-19 will be out in these places, but for the benefit of the doubt, you never know if they’ve been in contact with someone who has.
Protect others. You may not realize how vulnerable certain age groups are to infectious diseases. Young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to become ill. These groups are also less likely to be able to fend off illnesses, so limit interactions with the outside world for the sake of those near you in these populations.
Prepare yourself. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Practicing all of the former will help you better understand this illness and prevent further spreading. Just like after any natural disaster, awareness is heightened and preparedness begins for the next event. We shouldn’t wait for something to happen to be prepared for it the next time.
Instead, we should always be ready for anything—cautious, but not panicked. Take this time to assess your emergency plans and supplies. Don’t stock up on unnecessary items like toilet paper. Do gather important survival gear to assemble a go-bag if you haven’t already. Ensure you have enough non-perishable food to last a potential quarantine or even a self-isolation period. Make sure you have your prescriptions filled, disinfectant stocked and all other daily necessities.
Advocate for yourself. Perhaps your work has shuttered its doors and you’re worried about your next paycheck. Speak to your boss about what this pandemic means for your employment. Conserve your finances. With the stock market as unstable as it is right now, it’s wise to curb your spending. Don’t waste money on another bottle of hand sanitizer—instead, invest in the necessities.
Relieve yourself. Don’t forget to take your mental health into account during this chaotic time. Reach out to loved ones and check on their well-being while updating them about yours. Find some stress relieving activities for you to do as you practice social distancing. Paint something, start meditating, study a new language or even do your taxes. There are plenty of things to occupy yourself with that are both peaceful and productive.
We’re in this together.
Sincerely,
Evergreen
If you have any questions you’d like to send in, email us at contactthejack@gmail.com. We won’t publish any names and you don’t need to use one.
Students react to in-person class cancellations due to global pandemic
As spring break arrived and the COVID-19 pandemic continued its tear across the globe, many Humboldt State University students wondered what to do as HSU canceled face-to-face instruction until at least April 17. Some students stuck around while others went home. The pandemic, directly or not, has affected all students.
“I feel like it’s a very serious outbreak and people need to take it seriously. I do think it’s getting blown out of proportion in some ways and people are panicking before they need to, but it’s just something I’m kind of trying to roll with, essentially.”
Ashley Bailey, molecular biology major
Ashley Bailey, a junior molecular biology major, planned to travel home. She admitted feeling stressed.
“I feel like it’s a very serious outbreak and people need to take it seriously,” Bailey said. “I do think it’s getting blown out of proportion in some ways and people are panicking before they need to, but it’s just something I’m kind of trying to roll with, essentially.”
Kiera Price, a junior journalism major, also said she would travel home. She thought both academic and national leaders should be more vigilant.
“I feel like instead of limiting social interaction, they should do more to prepare for it,” Price said. “Like, for example, the fact that there isn’t more of a stricter way to limit survivors from coming in.”
Price recognized there isn’t a lot to be done, but still expressed a longing for something more.
Tim Arceneaux, a senior English major, looked forward to staying in Humboldt. With a sigh, Arceneaux said he understood the measures taken by HSU.
“I think the precautions that the University is taking here and all around the country make sense, but at the same time, I find them to be really frustrating,” Arceneaux said. “I hope that this issue will bring the global community together and allow people to realize the importance of universal healthcare.”
Journalism major Kiera Price on March 13. | Photo by Gabe Kim
Film major Norbert Rodriguez on March 13. | Photo by Gabe Kim
English major Tim Arceneaux on March 13. | Photo by Gabe Kim
Arceneaux said there was one key thing HSU could do to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“They could try to alert students more about the health resources on campus,” Arceneaux said. “Because I feel like at this point, it’s almost an inevitability that someone is going to contract the coronavirus, and I’m not sure exactly what health resources are going to be available to students that contract the disease.”
Norbert Rodriguez, a junior film major, had planned to travel to Southern California to visit family, but decided to stick around once the coronavirus broke out. He said he thought HSU took too long to respond to the pandemic compared to other universities.
“At the moment, there aren’t any test kits [in Humboldt], so there’s really no way of knowing that there are any confirmed cases,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like it should’ve been a bit more proactive.”
Editor’s note: St. Joseph and Redwood Memorial Hospitals have set up screening tents for patients with COVID-19 symptoms.
With COVID-19 spreading, HSU plans post-spring break response
Humboldt State University is planning for a possible partial or full campus closure in response to the spread of COVID-19.
HSU has sent multiple emails since March 4 to students and faculty communicating the steps and measures the campus is taking to address the spread of COVID-19. In addition to creating a website with updates on the virus, HSU has organized the Pandemic Planning Committee.
In the most recent email, sent out March 10, HSU suspended all international and non-essential domestic university-related travel. Communication Specialist Grant Scott-Goforth clarified to The Lumberjack that students are free to travel where they wish outside of school. Scott-Goforth said HSU would send out more messages in the coming days to define essential travel.
“The idea is that we’re creating a flexible solution, and our main goal is to ensure that we can provide services and instruction.”
Kris koczera
The Lumberjack spoke with the emergency coordinator at HSU, Kris Koczera, who sits on the PPC. Koczera said the PPC is meeting weekly, but that is subject to increase if the outbreak becomes more severe locally. She was hesitant to talk specifics due to the committee’s confidential status and the pandemic’s shifting nature.
“The idea is that we’re creating a flexible solution, and our main goal is to ensure that we can provide services and instruction,” Koczera said.
Graphic by Jen Kelly
Representatives from Dining Services, Housing and even the Dean of Students have attended meetings to address concerns about how the pandemic will impact their departments. Much of what the PPC is doing is modeled after other campuses in the California State University system and is advised by direct communication from the Chancellor’s Office of the CSU.
“We have the benefit of kind of looking at what they are doing, the timing of what they’re doing and using that as almost a case study for us to move off of,” Koczera said.
As of March 10, several college campuses including the University of California, Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, San Francisco State and Stanford have suspended most of their in-person classes and will be offering all lecture courses through online instruction services like Zoom and Canvas.
HSU has advised faculty to create a contingency plan in the event of a full campus closure. Koczera says life is first and foremost for the PPC and that they’re aiming for a fluid-but-reactive approach.
“It doesn’t matter how great instruction is,” Koczera said,” if we have no students to instruct.”
The Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services Public Health Branch has received confirmation from the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of one case of COVID-19 in a Humboldt County resident. A close contact who has symptoms is being tested as well.
This marks the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in Humboldt County. Presently, the ill individuals are doing well and self-isolating at home, while being monitored for symptoms by the Public Health Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control Unit.
Close contacts of these individuals will also be quarantined at home and monitored for symptoms by Public Health staff. With the amount of foreign travel by county residents, including travel to China, it is not surprising that a case has emerged locally. Additional cases may occur either in returning travelers or their close contacts.
“It’s important to remember that the risk to the general public remains low at this time,” said Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Teresa Frankovich. “Despite the fact that Humboldt County now has a confirmed case of COVID-19, there is no evidence to suggest that novel coronavirus is circulating in the community at large.”
Frankovich added that transmission in the U.S. to date has been among close contacts and not among the general public.
Public Health suggests the following precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and all infectious diseases, including common illnesses like colds and flu:
Stay home when you are sick
If you have a fever, stay home or go home if you are already at work or school, and stay home for at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicine).
Wash your hands frequently and particularly before eating or drinking.
Promote good hand hygiene in your home by educating household members and making sure soap, hand sanitizers, and tissues are available.
Avoid touching your face, particularly your eyes, nose and mouth.
Encourage proper cough etiquette. Cough or sneeze into a tissue, sleeve or arm. Do not use your hands.
Perform routine surface cleaning, particularly for items which are frequently touched such as doorknobs, handles, remotes, keyboards and other commonly shared surfaces.
The county’s Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control Unit will continue to provide updated information about COVID-19 to health care providers, hospitals and schools, as well as the general public.
The county’s Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control Unit will continue to provide updated information about COVID-19 to health care providers, hospitals and schools, as well as the general public.
If you are ill and in need of medical care and have been in China within the previous two weeks or have been in contact with an individual who has COVID-19, please contact your health care provider or emergency department before presenting for care. Arrangements will be made to have you evaluated in the safest manner possible for health care staff and other patients.
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