W E E K L Y
" T H E A R C O F T H E M O R A L U N I V E R S E I S L O N G , B U T I T B E N D S T O W A R D J U S T I C E . " - M A R T I N L U T H E R K I N G J R . April 13 Vol. 05 C O N T E N T COVID-19 Update - 3 Johns Hopkins Spotlight - 2Local Updates - 4
MSF Spotlight: Antibiotic Resistance -5
Global Health Club members at a meeting with Derek Kilmer with the group RESULTS.
Johns Hopkins (Global Health NOW)
Spotlight
sourced by Audrey Nelson
“And Then Hunger”: The impact of COVID-19 goes beyond the deaths directly caused by
the disease. According to a series of articles summarized by Johns Hopkins’ Global Health NOW, the ongoing COVID pandemic is already threatening global food systems and supplies.
The Food and Land Use Coalition, in their call to action to world leaders, outline three broad strategies for addressing COVID’s effects on the food supply. They ask leaders to maintain open trade, supply the most vulnerable with nutritious food, and invest in “sustainable, resilient food systems” that will minimize the pandemic’s long-term devastation. Maintaining open trade involves designating more farmers as essential workers, protecting those farmers’ employment and their health and safety.
The New York Times also reported that farmers across the US in particular are struggling as a result of the pandemic. In some regions, where farmers’ customers are experiencing economic difficulties, those customers are unable to afford farmers’ crops. As a result, farmers have to burn or bury their extra crops. Even though many food banks are in need, perishable crops only last so long, and so food banks are unable to take in donations from the farmers.
Amid this economic downturn, millions are turning to these food banks, according to the New York Times article “‘Never Seen Anything Like It’: Cars Line Up for Miles at Food Banks.” There is no doubt the banks are overwhelmed. In two states, the National Guard is helping to package food and oversee distribution, and in some areas, cars are lining up for miles in order to collect food at scheduled times. Food banks are also suffering a loss of volunteers; retirees are most prevalent among food bank volunteers, and many are staying home to protect their health. And donations to banks have fallen off, due to panic buying at grocery stores and the closures of restaurants and markets. This means banks are forced to buy items they’re used to receiving as donations. In Washington state, Northwest Harvest’s bulk purchasing operation is now paying full price for items they used to pay 25 cents for.
[On Bainbridge, Helpline House is still taking donations. Wear a mask and bring donations to the back porch, Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 12 PM. If you’re in need yourself, pick up a box of food on any weekday, 12 PM to 4 PM. Spread the word!]
COVID-19 UPDATE
by Audrey Nelson
Global death toll: 114,101 (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine as of April 12th)
Global confirmed cases: 1,846,963 (JHSM “ ”)
Global recovered cases: 421,728 (JHSM “ ”)
Washington state death toll: 508 (Washington State DOH as of April 12th)
Confirmed cases in Washington state: 10,411 (WS DOH “ ”)
Kitsap County death toll: 1 (WS DOH “ ”)
Confirmed cases in Kitsap County: 129 (WS DOH “ ”)
Total tests performed in Washington state: 93,615 (JHSM “ ”)
Happy Easter and happy Passover to those of you who celebrated this past week! All over the world, worshipers adapted new traditions—churches broadcast remote services to their congregations, while families participated in Seders over Zoom. We found a Time article that details the history of religion during early pandemics, such as the 1918 outbreak of flu.
During the bubonic plague pandemic, it’s thought that the Jewish tradition of removing grains from the household before Passover saved many lives, as the plague was originally spread by rats. In 1918, newspapers published sermons on Sundays for people unable to attend church and reported on Christians delivering food to those in need. And during the AIDS crisis of 1989, a special New York City Seder provided a place to go for Jewish people with AIDS who had been turned away from their usual Seders.
Some quotes in particular resonated with the situation today. During the plague,
worshipers “prayed from their windows, or stood by their windows where they could hear prayers.” This put us in mind of people singing and celebrating from their balconies in New York, Italy, and Germany. The Time article also describes the prayer of a Prysbeterian church during 1918: that healthcare workers “may be led in their performance of duty and be strengthened by divine help, that the people may be wise and courageous.”
Whether you celebrated a holiday this week or not, we hope you’re doing well, staying strong and staying busy, and remembering the healthcare workers who work so hard to keep us safe.
Local Updates
By Minyoung Cho *sourced from Bainbridge Island Review
Although we have been enduring some challenges and uncertainties throughout the COVID-19 crisis, our local community continues to spread moments and examples of encouragement. Island Lunches
Significant progress has been made in everything from the free meal
program to the efforts made to implement online learning. The district’s Grab and Go meal program offers all students a hot-and-cold combo meal that includes a lunch as well as a breakfast for the next morning, and have passed out more than 4,500 meals over seven days.The program involves volunteers and district employees distributing meals to three lanes of waiting cars at Ordway Elementary. They gave away 800 meals in a single day last week! “That’s pretty amazing,” Bang-Knudsen said.
“They mix up the menu; it’s not just the same thing day in and day out...Not a huge surprise, but the pizza option on Friday is probably the most popular.”
He recalled the families who pulled up for meals; in some cars, children held up homemade signs with phrases like “Thanks — This is awesome.”
“It was such a two-way street; both the kids and the parents were so excited to see school staff, but the school staff were excited to see the kids and the parents. It lifted people’s spirits.
Rotary Steps Up
One of Bainbridge Island’s biggest and most beloved community events — the Rotary Auction & Rummage Sale — has been cancelled due to COVID-19, the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island announced Tuesday. But these cancellations will not be the last announcement we hear from our local clubs and organizations. The Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island donated $50,000 this week to the Bainbridge Community Foundation for its emergency fund. The Community Response Fund is set up to provide financial assistance to our nonprofit organizations in times of a crisis, and is awarding grants to nonprofits that need additional funding during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Our community is facing an unprecedented situation,” said Ed Gilbert, president of the Bainbridge Rotary.
“Our club immediately took measures to ensure we were meeting the pressing needs of the community.”
This gift from Rotary is one of the first times the club has given financial support for operations; money raised by the
organization is usually devoted to capital projects, such as earlier grants to the Bainbridge Public Library and the Waypoint Park. Foundation officials said the Community Response Fund has already received generous donations from individual donors, as well as Town & Country Markets. Furthermore, this foundation has already contributed more than $118,000 for urgent health and human services needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s times like these I’m proud to be a member of the Bainbridge community,” said Jim Hopper, the foundation’s executive
director. “I’m watching our community come together at a critical time and local nonprofits are working overtime to support those in need. It’s been a tough time for everyone, but we know we can count on the community for help.”
MSF Spotlight: Antibiotic Resistance
The world of medicine and science is like a cart on a roller coaster. Over the past century, the roller coaster cart of medicine has been on the incline. Vaccines, genetic research, new technologies and antibiotics have saved many lives, rocketing the cart towards the sky of health. But somewhere up this incline, this cart got jammed and began to slowly move backwards. The mechanical error? Antibiotic resistance. The world of medicine is beginning to move back in time because all of a sudden, diseases we used to kill using antibiotics with little worry, are becoming a lot more scary. Bacteria have found a way to mutate and evolve around antibiotics to become superbugs. Antibiotic resistance is a problem the million lives will be lost because of antibiotic resistance per year. Médicines Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) is on the front lines of this issue.
Médicines Sans Frontières (MSF) has implemented a strategy to battle antibiotic resistance. This strategy aims to detect, treat and prevent antibiotic resistance. To prevent antibiotic resistance, doctors apart of the MSF team try their best to ensure their hospitals have strict hygiene. This prevents the spread of infection between patients and the spread of
antibiotic-resistant bacteria as well. MSF doctors are also trained on how to correctly
prescribe antibiotics. This helps prevent over-prescribing. Over- prescribing is a large factor in bacteria gaining resistance. The doctors try their best to use narrower antibiotics to treat bacteria and only use broader antibiotics in life or limb- threatening emergencies. MSF has a team of health care professionals with expertise in the area of prescribing antibiotics (like infectious diseases specialists, infection control experts, and pharmacists). This team is a part of an antibiotic stewardship program. This team reviews antibiotic prescriptions, monitors prescribing practices, and investigates suspected antibiotic-resistant infectious outbreaks in the hospitals.
To detect antibiotic-resistant bacteria, MSF is working to expand access to microbiology-based diagnosis. Access to tests that tell if an infection or pathogen is resistant is crucial for treating the patient and preventing the apocalypse of superbugs. MSF has created a tool so under-privileged countries can have access to microbiology-based diagnoses. This tool is called “MiniLab.” MiniLab is an all-in-one, simplified, small-scale, clinical bacteriology laboratory that MSF doctors can use to carry out antibiotic resistant bacterial tests. This mini lab can be transported and set up easily and also can be used by doctors with not as much training. The tests done by the MiniLab can be done in even the most remote of places with extreme heat and limited electricity. Another tool MSF has created is an app called ASTapp. ASTapp is an app that uses image processing and artificial intelligence technology to interpret lab tests that test for antibiotic resistance. These results also help MSF doctors choose the appropriate antibiotics for their patients. Antibiotic resistance is a daunting foe, but it is no match for healthcare workers at Médicines Sans Frontières.
