PRESIDENT KEVIN SMITH-FAGAN (Executive Director of Fairytale Town) started his first meeting after inauguration with his usual humorous comments enjoyed by all. BILL SHUBB (U.S. District Court) put us in a good mood with the song “Ain’t Misbehaving” on his ukulele and led the Pledge. CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO! Members with musical talents were invited by PRESIDENT KEVIN to volunteer to open our next meetings.
Meeting sponsor BRIAN TURNER (Law Office of Brian H. Turner), who has been a member of the club for a little more than two years, told us of his enjoyment in sponsoring a YIP student and then about his practice in personal injury cases.
The Golf4Kids tournament is on July 31 and there are still tee times and sponsorships available, announced BRANDON MONTALVO (Morgan Stanley). Members who don’t golf can come for lunch at the burger wagon and participate in the silent auction.
Sergeant-At-Arms ALLISON CAGLEY (Friends of Sacramento Arts) said she will be leading a new reading group focusing on diversity, equity and inclusivity to make us better people. JOHN SWENTOWSKY (Photographer) will be leading volunteers to Loaves & Fishes on July 31.
Yours truly, NANCY TEICHERT (Writer) gave the invocation on keeping perspective about the worrisome rise in coronavirus infections. “Keep Calm and Carry On,” inspired the British during WWII. Faced with the Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt told us, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Wear a mask and stay safe.
Chair of the Day MEGAN WYGANT (CLARA Center) introduced our speaker Dr. Amy Rogers, an author of science thriller novels and expert on immunology. CLICK HERE FOR A CLIP OF AMY’S PRESENTATION! In February, she wrote a treatise, “The Coming Pandemic,” about the coronavirus. On her website, AmyRogers.com, she offers calm and understandable facts about the pandemic.
On the day after Gov. Gavin Newsom took steps to close down activities because of our state’s rising case rate, Rogers explained that we are entering a dangerous phase. The national 7-day average for new cases is 59,000, a significant rise after lockdowns eased up in the West and South. The pandemic is more out of control in the U.S. than in the European Union possibly because its lockdown lasted longer or was more severe, she said.
Our nation’s rise in cases is not due to more testing but an increase of the number of people with the virus, she explained. More significantly, the number of hospitalizations has increased. “We don’t want to have a New York in our neighborhood,” she said. “We cannot let our hospitals get swamped.”
The dream has been that the population will develop a herd immunity, meaning that 60 to 80 percent will have become immune through exposure and there will be less spreading of the virus. Dr. Rogers compared it to a forest fire where the number of dead trees have been thinned out. But that hasn’t happened yet.
The other hope is a vaccine. She thinks scientists will have one or more by the end of the year. But, there are caveats.
The factors are how effective a vaccine will be, possible side effects and how safe will it be to give to billions of people around the world who are not sick yet. There may be different vaccines for older people. The vaccines may need booster shots. The pandemic will not end with the flip of a switch.
Testing in Sacramento for a virus often spread by people who have no symptoms has stopped at community centers. Because of backlogs, she said, probably only people will get one if they have been exposed and it is ordered by their doctor.
People are eager to restart our economy and school is about to start. Yet, the number of cases has to go down, she said.
“The economy is crippled by the fact that the pandemic is still raging,” she explained. For the economy to recover, she said, “You have to get a grip on those cases.”
The pandemic is raging in some places yet there are huge regional variations which will create a need for different restrictions on activities in different communities.
On the question of schools reopening, Dr. Rogers said that very few children die from Covid 19. “The kids are fine. It’s about the staff and the family back home,” who may get ill, she said.
Covid 19 is a highly infectious respiratory virus that may now be less deadly because of mutations and treatment options, but it has grown more contagious.
“This thing is not going to be gone suddenly,” she said. Staying online after her speech, Dr. Rogers said that to be careful we need to evaluate the benefit of being with friends and family and weigh that against the risks. Key factors to consider are being indoors or outdoors and the distance from each other and for how long.
Staying a long time inside a small room is very risky compared to being outdoors and distanced six feet or more, she said. If you enjoyed Dr. Amy’s presentation please visit her website or consider subscribing to Dr. Amy’s blog.
As for Rotary good news, PRESIDENT KEVIN reported a gift of a new scrub hat designed with bright-colored hearts by artist Tim Collom will be given to a medical worker in her honor as a thank you gift.
CAGLEY made a gift of Magic Beans for her gratitude to distribute grants from Friends of Sacramento Arts to artists teaching online to youth.
Join us next week as our Zoom meeting will feature an exciting presentation by guest speaker Jake Mossawir, President of St. Hope, speaking about the challenges of reopening schools next month in light of Coronavirus concerns. CLICK HERE FOR MR. MOSSAWIR’S BIO.
Stay safe, everyone!