Tag: COVID-19

Called on account of COVID-19-the sports we won’t be watching this year

“Olympic competition has been canceled only three times in the 124-year history of the modern Games, and all three instances were because of global conflict (1916, World War I; 1940 and 1944, World War II)

Were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic, we would soon be watching the 2020 Summer Olympic games on television or, for some of you, in person.

Dr. Aletha took the photos in this post at the United States Olympic Training Center at Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2015.

By now you know that the the International Olympic Committee and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe jointly announced the postponement of the 2020 Olympics . Now the games are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021. The Paralympic Games will occur from August 24 to September 5 ,2021.

“Olympic competition has been canceled only three times in the 124-year history of the modern Games, and all three instances were because of global conflict (1916, World War I; 1940 and 1944, World War II). But never before has a Games been pushed back a year, an enormous undertaking for a global event with more than 11,000 athletes from around the globe. “

espn.com

And in other sports..

Major league baseball started its shortened season late. Basketball players are practicing in a “bubble” at Walt Disney Resort (where despite quarantine several players have tested positive for COVID-19). The NFL introduced a “mouth shield” for possible use to protect players from infection. Pro soccer teams are playing to empty stadiums where the referees can hear every critical word the players and coaches mutter. No fans are following pro golfers around the greens.

I follow my local pro and amateur sports teams, although there will likely be fewer of those to watch this year also. I admire athletes’ dedication to their sports, and especially those who achieve special recognition by overcoming great odds to get there. 

bronze globe supported on the backs of 4 athletes
bronze globe supported on the backs of 4 athletes

Water wait 

Reading a recent issue of Sports Illustrated (a rare occurrence) I discovered open-water swimming which I didn’t know was a sport, much less in the Olympics. Ashley Twichell could swim before she could walk.

For thirteen years she has worked to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic swim team and at 31 years old, she would have been the team’s oldest rookie Olympic swimmer  since 1908 , if this summer’s games had not been cancelled.  And next year, at 32, she will be the second oldest woman to ever swim on the U.S. Olympic team.

“I’ve always taken it year by year. And now I get even one more year than I was planning on.”

Ashley Twichell, swimmer

Standard of caring

Hayley Wickenheiser, retired ice hockey player, earned seven world championship golds.   She played for Canada in five Olympics. She won four Gold medals and one Silver medal. She was admitted to the Hockey Hall of Fame. She even played on a Finnish men’s hockey team. She deserves the unofficial title of history’s greatest female hockey player.

Haley sees the coronavirus pandemic from a different perspective; she will soon be Dr. Wickenheiser upon finishing her final year of medical school. She plans to practice emergency medicine.

Hayley serves on the IOC (International Olympic Committee) Athletes’ Commission, a peer-elected board that advises the Olympics’ governing body. In March 2020, she became increasingly concerned about the fate of this year’s Olympic games  as the world became engulfed in the COVID-19 nightmare.

So she took to Twitter demanding the IOC make a definitive plan to give direction to the thousands of athletes in limbo about the games. Her tweets prompted other organizations to make similar demands and by late March the games had been officially cancelled. 

Her concern came not just as an athlete. She said, 

“I couldn’t sit silently anymore, given  what I was seeing in the emergency rooms and hearing from my friends in hospitals across the country.” 

As a student she is not expected or allowed to provide direct care to coronavirus patients. But she stays busy studying, working out, giving hockey tips through Instagram, and using Twitter to encourage social distancing. 

“The calmer we stay, the more we isolate from each other…if we do our part at home and on the front lines, we have a chance to combat this as a mass group of humanity.” 

With Dr. Hayley and her generation of future physicians, I think the world’s health is in good hands.

TOKYO 2020

Fifty-seven years* after having organised the Olympic Games, the Japanese capital will be hosting a Summer edition for the second time. The Games in 1964 radically transformed the country. According to the organizers of the event in 2021, the Games of the XXXII Olympiad of the modern era will be

“the most innovative ever organised, and will rest on three fundamental principles to transform the world:

  • striving for your personal best (achieving your personal best);
  • accepting one another (unity in diversity); and
  • passing on a legacy for the future (connecting to tomorrow)”.
and while you’re here read this post about another historic Olympic event

Winning on the water-a book review of Boys in the Boat

In Boys in the Boat, the United States Olympic Rowing team of 1936 beat incredible odds to win the gold medal. But the meat of the book explores in detail how each man came to be in that boat, especially Joe Rantz.

one more thing

If the title of this post puzzles you, here is an explanation of “called on account of rain”-I didn’t know all of this either.

exploring the HEART of athletes

Thanks for joining me to meet these athletes. I hope you will explore them further and gain new inspiration for your own athletic journeys; we all have one, in one way or another.

Dr. Aletha

Click this affiliate link to learn how you can get inspired with Aaptiv workouts for fun and fitness.

find sports illustrated at barnes &noble

from 1776 to 2020-a vision for a “more perfect Union”

The United States’ healthcare system combines public health efforts with mostly private delivery of health care. Usually they coexist side by side with some but infrequent interaction. The public health emergency created by the pandemic forced them into a “union” that quickly became politicized, and unfortunately diminished the effectiveness of the response.

look for an updated version of this post on July 2, 2021

In ophthalmology, visual acuity is measured by the distance one can see compared to “normal”. 20/80 vision means at 20 feet you only see what a normal vision person can see from 80 feet. Perfect vision is labeled 20/20.

Maybe you expected 2020 to be a perfect year. I didn’t expect perfection, but I hoped it would be better than last year, when my husband and I spent 8 months mostly homebound while he recovered from a devastating ankle fracture.

But instead this year has brought

  • a contentious presidential election and an unexpected serious pandemic
  • peaceful protests and raucous riots
  • racism confrontations and reconciliation pursuits
  • health inequities battles and healthy community pursuits
Statue of Liberty
Lady Liberty lifting her torch in New York harbor
Independence Day 2020

Every year on July 4th the United States celebrates Independence Day- the day in 1776 the original 13 American colonies established an independent country.

A few years later they established a government as specified in the Constitution of the United States, to “form a more perfect Union”.

The United States Constitution

The Constitution does not specifically mention, establish, create, or endorse a healthcare system. Some phrases in the Preamble hint at it though-

  • establish Justice
  • insure domestic Tranquility
  • provide for the common defense
  • promote the general Welfare

Government sponsored health care programs

The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare

The  United States Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 to guarantee basic health insurance to all citizens.  During the last presidential campaign, President Trump vowed to “repeal and replace” this law but although it has been modified, it is still in place.

Healthcare for military service members, veterans ,and their families

During the American Revolution the fledgling government extended health care benefits to the soldiers and veterans of that war; that system evolved into the current Department of Defense military health care system which covers service members and the Veterans’ Administration system for veterans.

a Veterans Administration clinic
a Veterans Administration clinic (photo by Dr. Aletha)
American soldiers serving in Afghanistan
American soldiers serving in Afghanistan
Medicare and Medicaid

Two other government healthcare programs- Medicare and Medicaid are over 50 years old. 

Medicaid provides insurance coverage for adults and children who are unemployed or low income.  

Medicare covers disabled children and adults  and persons 65 years and older.

ELDERLY COUPLE -189282_1280
Senior adults age 65 and older use Medicare.

Department of Health and Human Services

Most of the health care activities of the federal government fall under the agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services or HHS. The Secretary of HHS serves in the President’s Cabinet.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve heard more about the HHS in the news than usual; maybe you’ve never heard of these agencies. Generally, management of a pandemic or other public health emergency falls within the work of the CDC.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–

The CDC’s mission is simple but encompasses many facets of health

“to work 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S.”

The CDC website devotes an entire section now to information, guidelines, and news about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19.

illustration showing the coronavirus which causes COVID-19

The goal of public health is to avoid or prevent health threats from becoming public health emergencies, like the COVID-19 pandemic. If they accomplish the mission, we hardly notice. But when an outbreak occurs, their work suddenly becomes visible, scrutinized, and debated.

The CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, spoke to Congress soon after the pandemic started, and his assessment of the response and funding for it were not positive. Lack of funding hampered the federal government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, he told lawmakers on March 10, 2020.

“The truth is we’ve underinvested in the public health labs,There’s not enough equipment, there’s not enough people, there’s not enough internal capacity, there’s no search capacity”

Dr. Robert Redfield, Director, CDC

The Trump administration subsequently enlisted private companies to help cut the difference. The CDC partnered with Integrated DNA Technologies to manufacture the tests under a CDC contract. IDT partnered with commercial labs, including LabCorp and Quest, for the testing.

This was reported at CNBC. at the following link.

Coronavirus testing delays caused by lack of funding for public health labs

National Institutes of Health– NIH

The National Institutes of Health, part of the Public Health Service,

  • supports biomedical and behavioral research with the United States and abroad,
  • conducts research in its own laboratories and clinics,
  • trains promising young researchers, and
  • promotes collecting and sharing medical knowledge.

And within the NIH is the NIAID– the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which has been an invaluable source of guidance as the United States and the world works to understand and manage this new infectious disease.

Strategic Plan for COVID-19 RESEARCH

  1. Improve fundamental knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19
  2. Support the development of diagnostics and assays
  3. Characterize and test therapeutics
  4. Develop safe and effective vaccines against SARS-Cov-2

Read the full report at the link.

President Donald Trump Visits NIH
President Donald Trump visited NIH on March 3, 2020 and toured the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Vaccine Research Center (VRC) to learn about research on a vaccine for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. From left: VRC Deputy Director Dr. Barney Graham, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, VRC Director John Mascola, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, President Trump, and VRC Research Fellow Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett.
credit NIH, public domain
Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2
This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (orange)—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (green) cultured in the lab.
 
Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIH

Food and Drug Administration– FDA

The FDA joins the pandemic response by

  • reviewing and approving diagnostic tests for the coronavirus
  • protecting consumers from fraudulent products for COVID-19.
  • issuing Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for ventilators
  • sampling and testing of respirators for importation

As of June 26 there are 153 currently authorized tests under EUAs; these include 129 molecular tests, 23 antibody tests, and 1 antigen test.

There are currently no FDA-approved products to prevent or treat COVID-19. Consumers concerned about COVID-19 should consult with their health care provider.

COVID-19 Diagnostic Test Attire
FDA Commissioned Corps officer RADM Estella Jones, DVM, OCET Deputy Director and Co-Chair of the FDA Animal Welfare Council, oversees Commissioned Corps officers as they practice proper fitting of protective items. Healthcare workers testing patients for COVID-19 novel coronavirus infection must wear specific protective gowns, gloves, ventilation masks, and full facial shields as shown, and must replace these items after each patient is tested. credit FDA, public domain

Occupational Safety and Health administration-OSHA

OSHA is part of the United States Department of Labor. OSHA’s administrator answers to the Secretary of Labor, who is a member of the cabinet of the President of the United States.

Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1970 to

ensure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.

For the pandemic response, OSHA offers guidance on

  • returning to work
  • preparing workplaces for COVID-19
  • worker exposure risk to COVID-19
  • for specific industries including airlines, farms, retail, corrections
  • use of respiratory protection equipment

This page on the OSHA website explains the

key differences between cloth face coverings, surgical masks, and respirators.

important laws that administer and regulate both private and public healthcare.

The Affordable Care Act- ACA
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-HIPPA
Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act- EMTALA
Americans with Disabilities Act-ADA
Family Medical Leave Act-FMLA
replica of the Liberty Bell at Disney World, Florida

Let Freedom Ring

In the Declaration of Independence, the founders of the United States created a nation based on the “self-evident truths”  of  “Life ,Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” and to promote “Safety and Happiness” . 

They didn’t mention “healthcare” either, maybe because in the late 1700s medical practice was more superstition than science.

Surgery was rudimentary due to no anesthesia and infections frequently proved deadly due to no antibiotics.

No one had even imagined, much less identified the human genome, and viral DNA-what was that??

I wonder if they intended their new government to spend so much time and money providing and regulating health care –most of which was not available or even imagined at that time? 

Public vs Private-not a perfect Union

The United States’ healthcare system combines public health efforts with mostly private delivery of health care. Usually they coexist side by side with some but infrequent interaction.

The public health emergency created by the pandemic forced them into a “union” that quickly became politicized, and unfortunately diminished the effectiveness of the response.

But despite the lack of coordination and cooperation between all levels of government and private citizens, our health care professionals, in both public health and private medical practice stayed true to their calling. Many risked their own lives to care for COVID-19 victims. Others sacrificed time and finances to lead the pandemic response in their communities and on social media- maybe not perfectly, but definitely UNITED in resolve to lead, help, and heal their fellow citizens through this unprecedented health emergency.

Let’s celebrate!

woman holding a sprakler
Let’s celebrate ! This photo and featured image from stock photo site- Lightstock.com (affiliate)

Sharing and celebrating the HEART of health

Dr. Aletha 

a woman in a red, white, and blue shirt
Me, a few years ago, showing my patriotic spirit by posing in red, white, and blue