All Systems a Go.....

Let me begin by saying that the closest I come to an MD is when my doctor calls and badgers me to come in, kicking and screaming, for my yearly physical. I have no medical training, hell, I BARELY passed chemistry in high school and had to take biology twice. But I am a vociferous reader and skeptical to a fault. I don’t speak out of turn and I work very hard at not talking out of school.

That being said….

After hours of reading, I – and I alone – learned a few things.

A: The WHO declared this a pandemic just yesterday. BUT, this only means that a pandemic is declared when a new disease for which people do not have immunity spreads around the world beyond expectations. It does NOT mean that things are out of control. It means only that immediate action is needed. It’s more a call to action than a call to panic.

B: tens of thousands of people who’ve gotten the virus have fully recovered.

C: most people who get the virus will experience what experts are calling “Mild symptoms”. Headache, fever, chills, fatigue…flu symptoms. But that’s the problem. Because people aren’t feeling severely awful, they’re out and roaming about. That’s why this has gotten so ugly. People are just thinking they have a cold, so they’re figuring they can power through it and out they go traipsing around. Incidentally, all of those symptoms generally clear up within five or so days.

D: Common sense hygiene is absolutely key in staying safe and healthy. Wash your hands, stay home if you feel sick, keep your hands away from your face

People are scared...hell, I’m scared. Even as I write this, there is a kid in my classroom who’s sneezed twice. There’s a part of me that is fighting the urge to dive under my desk, to take his paper from him with barbecue tongs, and set it to fire in the garbage can. BUT! That’s just not logical. So, I’m not trying to downplay people’s fears, but I think there’s so much misinformation out there that things are getting away from us.

Insofar as the Expo, I do want to say a few things:

First, here at EDE2020, we are absolutely, 100% committed to the safety and well-being of our guests and attendees alike. We would never, ever risk anybody’s safety for the sake of a “The show must go on” attitude.

As of right this minute 7:51am EST on the 13th of March 2020, everything is moving forward with Earp Division Expo 2020. There are still 84 long days until the official kick off of #EDE2020 and just about anything under the sun could happen in that time. We know that you guys are coming from all over the world and that you've already started buying plane tickets and reserving rooms and putting money out there in order to be able to attend. And that's a huge factor in why we are desperate to make sure that #EDE2020 stays the course.

All of us, Shanna, Emily and myself are keeping an eye on things on each of our sides of the world. Here in NY, we seem to be panicking a bit at the moment, we’ve closed all colleges and university to all but distance learning and there’s rumor that we teachers in my district are going to be trained on distance learning. Seems a bit much, but again, better safe than sorry, I'm inclined to say. That aside, we are keeping an eye on restrictions and recommendation, mandates and suggestions from the governmental agencies. Insofar as our respective areas, Emily is keeping an eye on the European side of things and following the news there and Shanna is keeping up on the local side of things out on the West Coast

We know that as more events get cancelled and places close that it only makes people feel more unsure and more unsettled by its very nature, but if you look at it another way, while it's terribly inconvenient and worrisome, it's also a really good thing. These are events and places and people that feel that in order to keep people safe and keep people from spreading this around, they are working to head this problem off at the pass. We know that's been proven to work and right now, that's what we have.

I would like to say that we will have a definitive answer for you tomorrow about the future, but we will not know anything for certain until the beginning of April. That's the best that we can tell you.

OK...some housekeeping stuff:

Insofar as the Marriott:

In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), Marriott International is reinforcing recommended measures on appropriate hygiene standards and following the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), applicable guidelines of the global and local health authorities, and taking relevant health and safety measures. The wellbeing of our guests and associates continues to be of paramount importance. Additional information on COVID-19 is available on the WHO and CDC websites.

More information from Marriott can be found at:

https://marriott-re-2019ncovc.com/

Information regarding their cancellation policy:

https://news.marriott.com/news/2020/03/11/marriotts-updated-statement-on-novel-coronavirus-covid-19

And, for those of you who are curious, This article from Money was published just yesterday (March 12, 2020):

https://money.com/coronavius-hotel-reservations-refunds-cancel/

Furthermore, for information on the coronavirus, itself, you can find information from:

CDC Guidelines:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html

Information from the World Health Organization (WHO):

https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus

And lastly, an article that helped settle my brain a little bit from the Huffington Post:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-facts-anxiety-panic_l_5e67e66fc5b68d61645c20bc

Folks, we care. We honestly do. Stay safe, stay positive, and most importantly, stay sane.