We Live in Each Other’s Shadow: Social Distancing is Our Social Responsibility

March 14, 2020 by Dr Amanda Dylina Morse, PhD MPH in Communicable Disease, Emergency Preparedness, Health & Healthcare

As you may know, a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 has been spreading, causing a disease that epidemiologists have named COVID-19. The disease is new (so the majority of people aren’t immune), spreads easily from person-to-person, and can cause severe illness in the elderly and medically fragile. The spread of the disease to so many people in so many places has led the World Health Organisation to declare the spread COVID-19 a pandemic.

The situation is very, very serious, but there are lots of steps you can be taking to keep yourself healthy. At this stage, Public Health is also needing us to keep our communities healthy through actions we call “social distancing.”

Preparing not Panicking: Finding Good Information in a (Potential) Pandemic

February 29, 2020 by Dr Amanda Dylina Morse, PhD MPH in Communicable Disease, Emergency Preparedness

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses (like influenza viruses are a family of viruses) and circulate in our communities every year. They usually cause mild, flu-like illness. Notable exceptions to this were SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome). This coronavirus is new to humans and so public health scientists are still learning a lot about it. Like other coronaviruses, this one seems to be a zoonotic infection and crossed into humans from an animal—likely bats.

COVID-19, like its coronavirus brethren, causes fever, cough, and breathing difficulty. Public health scientists estimate 80% of people who come down with COVID-19 would experience mild symptoms and not need hospitalisation. Several cases in Washington State alone have managed their own illness without hospitalisation. While most people will have very mild illness, some people may get quite ill. Public health scientists expect that most of the severe illnesses will be in patients who are older. They also expect that most deaths will occur among older individuals.

Why They Stay: The Challenges with Evacuating Communities in an Emergency

September 17, 2018 by Dr Amanda Dylina Morse, PhD MPH in Social Determinants, Environmental Health, Emergency Preparedness

As I write this, Hurricane Florence is devastating the Carolinas on the east coast of the United States and, as with previous storms, there are questions flying about why people in the evacuation zone have chosen to remain in their homes and “shelter in place.” Although many people leave when local authorities declare their home inside an evacuation zone, there are always some people who remain despite the warnings. Why do they stay? Don’t they know they’re in danger? Don’t they care?

The short answer is that evacuating is complex and can be very, very expensive for the person leaving. Paying for gas (if you can get it before the stations are emptied), booking hotels, renting a car (if you don’t have one), and getting time off work are all major financial concerns for many, many Americans. Whether you shelter in place or evacuate, you may need to buy food, water, and supplies like batteries. If you have pets (as most Americans do), that’s another expense to accommodate since the hotels which take pets (not all do) generally charge a hefty fee for each night they stay.

It’s not possible for me to share all the personal and structural challenges to evacuating communities from disaster zones, but my hope is that this post provides some insight into why so many individuals remain in the path of natural disasters.