Adjective:
(of a disease) prevalent over a whole country or the world.
| synonyms: | widespread, prevalent, pervasive, rife, rampant, epidemic; |
Noun:
an outbreak of a pandemic disease.
"the results may have been skewed by an influenza pandemic"
I really didn't think we'd be getting right into Pandemic Planning at kura so early. I thought maybe we'd hit global Zombie Apocalypse first... but no. This is real.
I was in a state of panic yesterday.
I spent a lot of time in bed - worried, concerned. Sleepy.
Today, I got back into action mode. Lots of things were completed at school but there is still this overarching sense of impending doom to calculate and maneuver around.
My current thoughts are a resounding: We got this! But my internal conflict says... Do we? Like actually, do we?
It makes me think about how lucky we are here in New Zealand. We'd heard about it late last year, on into the beginning of this year.
One of my Y12 students even did her speech on this subject. Only slightly ironic that we'd then have a global pandemic on our hands...
Still, all the planning in the world couldn't prepare us for this. At present we have sixty-six confirmed cases of Coronavirus. This man in the video below is so clearly spoken, so relaxed and calm in this growing sense of panic that the rest of us are feeling. People are panic buying toilet paper. TOILET PAPER. Yes.... And not just here, either. All over. Sure, hand sanitiser and bleach sold out quickly too. They've only recently put a limit on how many loaves of bread you're allowed to buy. My friends are having trouble buying bags of flour. It makes me a tiny bit more appreciative of being gluten free.
Underneath all this bravado and my own sense of supposed calm. There is an overwhelming worry and concern for the people I love and care for. My immune-compromised colleagues are allowed to work from home this week according to Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health guidelines.
We're at Pandemic Alert Level 2 here in NZ. Our schools won't close until we are at Level 4. This is in itself quite a stressful time. We are on the frontline: teachers, nurses, doctors.
What are the symptoms again?
Coronavirus has spread fast. From Wuhan, China and then on throughout the rest of the world. We closed our borders relatively quickly. Thankful to have the cousin Jacinda as Prime Minister. She has truly helped keep the virus at bay. People traveling were meant to self-isolate. I'm guessing the 66 cases are people who did the travelling.
We are yet to move to community transfer. When that happens... I guess we'll be rising to the next Alert Level.
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Italy has become the new epicentre of the virus. It is awful to think of the beautiful places I travelled to and visited in 2018 having their beautiful people getting sick and dying from this disease. Apparently the canal waters are clear. The sediment has not been disturbed. Fish and swans can be seen in and on the canal waters. Even dolphins have returned.
Some are saying that this is Mother Nature's way of putting us all into a time-out. Perhaps this is true. We were going to end up this way at some point, why not now?
It's hard to say what might happen next.
All I do know is that I have to keep a calm face and encourage my colleagues to do the same.
We're all in this together. Solidarity. Sick?
Whatever it means - we have to keep moving.
It is scary though to think of my students getting sick and coming to school, sick and then that virus transferring to others.
Usually when I start thinking of next possible situations, the worst possible situations, I feel a sense of dread, panic and fear.
At least with this pandemic of Coronavirus... I know the realities. Everyone I know and love could die. This might be a really morbid thing to say - sure. But I've actually never felt more calm. Because this is literally the worst thing that could happen.
And yet, I think the panic lies in what to sort out first. Which priority is more important?
Which task on my to-do list needs to be actioned first?
I was in a state of panic yesterday.I spent a lot of time in bed - worried, concerned. Sleepy.
Today, I got back into action mode. Lots of things were completed at school but there is still this overarching sense of impending doom to calculate and maneuver around.
My current thoughts are a resounding: We got this! But my internal conflict says... Do we? Like actually, do we?
It makes me think about how lucky we are here in New Zealand. We'd heard about it late last year, on into the beginning of this year.
One of my Y12 students even did her speech on this subject. Only slightly ironic that we'd then have a global pandemic on our hands...
Still, all the planning in the world couldn't prepare us for this. At present we have sixty-six confirmed cases of Coronavirus. This man in the video below is so clearly spoken, so relaxed and calm in this growing sense of panic that the rest of us are feeling. People are panic buying toilet paper. TOILET PAPER. Yes.... And not just here, either. All over. Sure, hand sanitiser and bleach sold out quickly too. They've only recently put a limit on how many loaves of bread you're allowed to buy. My friends are having trouble buying bags of flour. It makes me a tiny bit more appreciative of being gluten free.
Underneath all this bravado and my own sense of supposed calm. There is an overwhelming worry and concern for the people I love and care for. My immune-compromised colleagues are allowed to work from home this week according to Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health guidelines.
We're at Pandemic Alert Level 2 here in NZ. Our schools won't close until we are at Level 4. This is in itself quite a stressful time. We are on the frontline: teachers, nurses, doctors.
What are the symptoms again?
Coronavirus has spread fast. From Wuhan, China and then on throughout the rest of the world. We closed our borders relatively quickly. Thankful to have the cousin Jacinda as Prime Minister. She has truly helped keep the virus at bay. People traveling were meant to self-isolate. I'm guessing the 66 cases are people who did the travelling.
We are yet to move to community transfer. When that happens... I guess we'll be rising to the next Alert Level.
Italy has become the new epicentre of the virus. It is awful to think of the beautiful places I travelled to and visited in 2018 having their beautiful people getting sick and dying from this disease. Apparently the canal waters are clear. The sediment has not been disturbed. Fish and swans can be seen in and on the canal waters. Even dolphins have returned.Some are saying that this is Mother Nature's way of putting us all into a time-out. Perhaps this is true. We were going to end up this way at some point, why not now?
It's hard to say what might happen next.
All I do know is that I have to keep a calm face and encourage my colleagues to do the same.
We're all in this together. Solidarity. Sick?
Whatever it means - we have to keep moving.
It is scary though to think of my students getting sick and coming to school, sick and then that virus transferring to others.
Usually when I start thinking of next possible situations, the worst possible situations, I feel a sense of dread, panic and fear.
At least with this pandemic of Coronavirus... I know the realities. Everyone I know and love could die. This might be a really morbid thing to say - sure. But I've actually never felt more calm. Because this is literally the worst thing that could happen.
And yet, I think the panic lies in what to sort out first. Which priority is more important?
Which task on my to-do list needs to be actioned first?
To Do...
- Ensure all classes in my department have Google Classroom set up
- Ensure that all students have access to wifi, data or other means to complete their work
- Check in with the immune-compromised teachers in my department. Are they okay? Will they be working at home this week?
- Talk with immune-compromised students via email. Check that they are ready, and set up for learning at home
- Reassure students and teachers that it will be okay...
- Find out more information of how dogs can get sick from the virus...
- Buy more echinacea tablets ---- don't be overwhelmed if you can't find any...
- Try not to panic buy....
- Talk to Nan often and see how she's doing
- Create Zoom lessons and use Screencastify
- Prep resources that can be used online and offline
- Talk with students and check they're prepped at home with food and safe places
- Carry out duty at school -- enforce 2 metre separation where needed
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