Coronavirus COVID-19 Makes Your Vote More Important Than Ever!
Here’s How To Do So Safely
By Susan Francis with input from Erica Green
Coronavirus coverage is now going more viral than Donald Trump’s tweets (!).
But what are the facts as of today, and how do they affect our ability to vote?
As let’s be clear, voting is more important than ever. Our President has actually dangerously denied facts offered by the CDC (for example, that testing is available everywhere—it’s not!, that this disease will prove to be minor, it’s not!, etc.). In so doing, he has also endangered our markets, investments and pensions.
As of today, though more testing kits finally are out (approximately 3 million by the end of this week), we are still woefully short of the desperately needed large scale testing being done in North Korea (10,000 tests/day), Italy and more.
Our President cut the pandemic response staff at the federal level several years ago, while he gouged the budgets of both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Health (NIH), leaving these leading organizations scrambling to respond to the largest, most infectious and deadly pandemic threat we have had in decades. Yesterday, as both Sanders and Biden have cancelled large upcoming rallies for the sake of public health, Trump continued to hold his own.
Have we ever felt the need for more effective leadership more? We should also remain aware that this is a critical wedge issue this election season. No member of any party wishes to be left unprotected from pandemic.
As a result, we all need to vote… more than ever.
But how should this health threat govern voting behavior?
Here is a brief guide to how to vote safely, who should be cautious in how to vote, voting precautions, and basic coronavirus facts. PLEASE read voting recommendations carefully and at least scan the rest as this contains information you may not yet have heard.
A) SAFE VOTING GUIDELINES
We are not at this time in any quarantine here. It is safe to go vote, especially if you observe the precautions below. PRECAUTIONS, NOT PANIC, CAN CREATE SIGNIFICANT SAFETY AND PREVENTION!
2) We highly recommend early voting for all. While there is only a week until our primary on Tuesday, March 17, each passing day limits viral spread. Go vote soon. Here is a list of our early voting locations. Also consider going during off-peak hours, early or mid-day.
3) As of now it is also safe to vote on primary day. Again, consider off hours if possible, and observe the precautions below. Polling Location Lookup
4) Currently, hand sanitizer will be available for all voters. Election judges will also be given hand wipes, and the Election Division is working on placing them in somewhat more removed locations from the incoming flux of voters. Voting locations may be removed from senior centers. More changes may be forthcoming; we will keep you notified. We are fortunate that our excellent county clerk, Jean Kaczmarek is working with health officials and enacting these precautions to stay on top of voter safety.
B) WHO SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION, AND HOW TO VOTE
There are a variety of categories of concern; we start with the highest risk:
1) If you have recently had foreign travel, particularly to China, Italy, North Korea or Iran (but do know that the virus is now in most parts of the world), use the precautions we note below.
2) If you are coughing or sneezing, wait for symptoms to subside before voting, most especially if you have a fever.
3) If symptoms are not gone by next Tuesday but you do not have fever or shortness of breath, you can wear a mask to your voting location. NOTE: those symptoms may not be coronavirus at all! Simply take precautions, we do not want to increase illness or impair immune systems in general at this time.
4) Statistics show (see references below) that the following are most at risk and may wish to protect themselves in public locations such as polling places:
- Those over 80 are most at risk.
- Risk also increases over age 60.
- Those with other illnesses, most especially asthma, diabetes, heart disease, cancer or any auto-immune disease are most at risk, regardless of age (though risk also increases more if together with the age ranges above).
- If you have been exposed to anyone with symptoms, even if you do not have symptoms yourself, you are more at risk. See precautions below.
C) PREVENTIVE MEASURES
1) Good old-fashioned hand-washing is critical. And do it right! Use soap and water for at least 20 seconds (sing the Happy Birthday song to yourself twice). Get under fingernails. Rinse, dry, throw away paper towels fast.
2) While you can also use hand-sanitizer or wipes (and carry them with you), they must have at least 60% alcohol content to be effective.
3) Avoid casual hugs, kisses and hand-shaking. Italy’s case rate increased exponentially because such gestures of affection are so common there. Now, the elbow bump is the international rage!
4) Learn to avoid touching your face, especially if you have been in public places. The virus enters through mouth, eyes and nose. This can be a hard habit to break, stay aware!
5) Notice when you are out how often you
- hand over a credit card or cash… and receive it back
- touch a key pad or screen
- open a door, grab a cart, and more.
- You can use a Kleenex, then dispose, during these actions and/or learn to hand wash or carry effective sanitizer or wipes after such exposures. And again, don’t touch your face!
6) You can also use gloves (you can take them to voting booths, inexpensive latex are available) and face masks HOWEVER public health officials are asking that you do not over use or bulk purchase any of these as they need to be saved for medical professionals. We had not mass produced these items in advance! You cannot find hand-sanitizer anywhere in Seattle now (due to panic buying), which does not help those who stock piled, much less those at risk. Most face masks are more effective for keeping the virus in, so you can wear them to voting booths if you are coughey/sneezey and without fever. Make sure masks cover your nose and chin. MASK NEED TO BE SAVED FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS, DO NOT USE THE CASUALLY.
7) POLLING PLACE PRECAUTIONS: Given all the above, wear a mask if you have flu symptoms (without fever), you can wear gloves if you wish, but dispose them immediately after, you can carry hand-sanitizer or wipes (to help keep up supplies at the polls), you can use a Kleenex to hold a pen or a form and to dispose thereafter.
8) Avoid large crowds/gatherings when possible.
D) IMPORTANT BASIC FACTS ON CORONAVIRUS
1) The heart of the concern with coronavirus is that it is extremely infectious. Right now, epidemiologists believe that each person infected with pass it to 1.5 to 3.5 other individuals (who/what those .5 people are, we don’t know, but science does!)
2) This virus spreads through water droplets. Fortunately, it does not have air borne contagion like such diseases as measles. It is carried through body fluids such as saliva, blood and urine. It can, however, live for at least 12 hours on surfaces.
3) Approximately 80% of those who are infected with coronavirus will get ill, as with the flu, and recover. Some will have mild symptoms, some will be severe and some will not even know they had it.
4) Coronavirus can be contracted 2 weeks or more before it develops. Symptoms may develop anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks.
5) Coronavirus can onset suddenly, with no symptoms at all one day, serious illness the next. Do not assume you don’t have it after exposure, even if you feel fine.
6) While the mortality rate is of concern (the World Health Organization just announced it to be at 3.4%, as opposed to the flu, at .1%), those in the categories of significant risk, above, are most at risk.
7) Unlike other forms of influenza, children appear to be less at risk from coronavirus. Even those below age 50 are less at risk; however, precautions are still critical for those groups. Most importantly, younger ages can still carry the virus to those more at risk.
8) People do not die from coronavirus itself but conditions it may cause such as pneumonia, kidney failure, heart malfunction, etc.
9) Therefore, WATCH particularly for high fever and serious shortness of breath and/or chest pressure, and seek medical help if those conditions occur.
10) Public health officials are asking that we do not flood our unprepared and over-burdened health system unless you have serious illness. Please call your doctor’s office or an urgent care or ER to report symptoms and ask if you should be seen unless you are in a health crisis as above. You are still unlikely to receive a test for coronavirus locally now and for the foreseeable future, symptoms alone will diagnose. PLEASE SELF-QUARANTINE IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS, AND ASK FRIENDS OF FAMILY TO HELP MONITOR YOUR CONDITION.
IN CONCLUSION:
Here is what is best about all of these measures:
They will allow us to both vote and live safely in a time of crisis.
Most of all, it may be US who keep this virus from spreading. If we observe the above precautions, we will be providing an enormous public health service for our country.
Go vote democrats, and go stay safe.
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