Shelter in Place - week 1

It's been a strange week at Lake Wobegon.  Woops!  Wrong lake, Michigan's a pair of peninsulas surrounded by Lakes  Huron, Michigan, Erie, and, above our Upper Peninsula, Lake Superior, but it has been a most unsuala week.  On March 23 I posted this on my Facebook page (which is public and open to all to see)
Michigan's governor cancelled as of midnight tonight all activities not necessary to sustain or protect life. https://Michigan.gov/coronavirus .  This, combined with all the other uncertainty, has made 3 (so far) programs rescheduled. I never put a cancellation clause in my Letter of Agreement. My flexibility is something I offer. (One of those cancellations would have had me drive up to Lakeview for live streaming. They have a grant and we'll reschedule, but this made the trip impossible.) I also value the flexibility storytelling allows in how it can be presented. We'll work together yet to have some High Times once we get past these current crazy Dry Times, just trust this Prohibition doesn't last as long as Prohibition did.
LoiS(urely we can all drink to that...with mocktails or otherwise!)

In the meantime I've been doing as much as I can related to our local area trying out the same idea we've seen coming from Italy with people singing.  We have a local site called NextDoor that covers a lot of territory.  A topic popped up called "Play music each night at 6pm."  I said: I'd love to do this, but we're high up on a bunny slope of a hill in a neighborhood where none of us are near enough to hear.
 

https://wwjnewsradio.radio.com/articles/play-music-on-the-porch-to-combat-coronavirus-fears

A member, Angela, suggested: 
Since we all have acreage and the houses are not near each other, we gather at my moms house (5 houses away from mine). My mom stays on her porch, some stand in the yard, some in the driveway. (social distancing). We sing the song on the day, chat/catch up for 5 minutes, tell everyone we love and miss them and then we all go back home.❤️

O.k. I wish I had seen it in time to do "Amazing  Grace" since my favorite musical instrument is the mountain dulcimer, but I started the next day when the song was "Sweet Caroline."  My reply was:
Guess the end of our driveway works. Need to find lyrics & possible chords &/or dulcimer tab as I'd like that, but a capella would probably be easier than guitar or dulcimer standing there. UPDATE: Fairly complicated song. Only guitar tab available, but folks might find a search worthwhile including that there are 2 stories about how it came to be. As a storytelling friend of mine, Loretta Vitek, uses as a signature at the end of her emails: There's always a story; it'd be a shame not to tell it!

Here's what happened:
No other driveways had singers, but I started anyway. Along came a jogging couple. She smiled & waved & I did, too. They kept jogging (not necessarily a review on my playing & singing, but confess I came darned near tears & became slightly choked up -- hey, I'm a storyteller, not a musician!)

Side comment here, that's always my standard excuse since I sometimes say I play like an Oriental Rug where there's always a flaw in it.  (The idea, I'm told, is the same as with the Amish -- proving the maker isn't claiming deity.)  

The next day the song was Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" which let me use my preferred instrument, the mountain dulcimer.  Two teenage boys came by, with one carrying a fishing pole from the nearby pond.  Can't say they were 6 feet apart, but maybe they were from the same family.  At any rate they did what teenagers do when they think grown-ups are crazy, irrelevant, or whatever. . . they ignored me.  Sang anyway and figured it was as much for me as for a possible eventual neighborhood event.

Thursday the song was Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."  As with "Sweet Caroline", the only online information was for guitar, so that's what I prepared with what time I had between Zoom conferences and other things that needed doing.  Again YouTube let me know the song a bit better.  I'm a classical music lover, know lots of show tunes, and my musical playing these days is mainly folk music.  Got all ready only to come to the door with guitar and music in hand and stop!  It was raining!!!  No way was I going to take my precious instrument and play outside in the rain.  At least with my mountain dulcimer I could play it inside my car with the windows down or at least cracked open.  Once again I figured the playing or at least the preparation was for me.  I can understand the words offer encouragement.  (Muttering to myself: just wish it would stick with folk music.)  At least people in locations with porches could still play, just not my neighborhood. 

By the way WWJ radio, which posted that idea of Play Music on the Porch to Combat Coronavirus Fears said:

Play a song. That's it. Tonight's song will be posted at 8 a.m. every morning on our social media.
Play it loud and proud to spread the message. This isn't the end. We're together in this and we'll get through it.
Have a guitar? Play it. Can you wail? Let's hear it. Break out your high school band clarinet.
Hell, just step on your porch and wave at the neighbors so you feel like part of a community again.
Not a musical bone in your body? Hold up your phone with the song playing on itunes or You Tube.

Somehow I think it has all been worth it, just wish I had a longer time to prepare and the songs were less pop music, but then what do I expect, Beethoven's Fifth?  That would be what I hear on my radio.

Right now I'm sure we all would like  reason to smile and here's my favorite Beethoven story.

While strolling through the Währing cemetery in Vienna a tourist noticed a large hole in the ground.  Looking closer he saw steps leading down into the earth.  He decided to see where they went.  Down, down he went until he saw a bit of candlelight ahead.  Going to it he was surprised to see Beethoven himself, surrounded by papers, and scratching away on them.  The tourist asked, "What are you doing?"  To which a grumpy Beethoven replied "Decomposing of course!"

Stop that groaning!  Let's take our humor however we can find it.

On Friday I felt as grumpy as old Ludwig himself.  The song was our national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner."  All right there are lots of good stories about that song, but I knew I'd be singing it a capella.  Then when 6 rolled around the national briefing was just beginning.  I hate settling for a selection of what was said, rather than seeing the whole thing and making my own decisions about it.  Instead I sent a grumpy comment to the radio station.  No, I didn't state my preference for type of music, just how it went out in the "boonies" where I live and that the timing might be the reason there haven't been more people out at 6.  

I know one size never fits all and this week's "Shelter in place" is bound to be different in all types of locations.  For my family I phoned some special girls and told them two stories to match their requests.  My favorite mermaid tale was posted way back on March 12, 2014, the first of three stories presented here and collected by Thomas Crofton Croker of Irish stories.  The other story was requested to be spooky.  Again I chose my favorite and it, too, is Irish.  I'm still searching for a Public Domain version to give here, but so far I've only been able to find "Mary Culhane and the Dead Man" in the 1973 book by Molly Bang with the fairly innocuous sounding title of The Goblins Giggle and Other Stories.  The title is misleading.  Finally I guided them in making a story using bits they contributed.  An appointment was made for next Friday and I suggested they help their mother with their school work since "she's been out of school a long time!"  Then I gave them all a bit of an extra assignment in Government, saying we've been hearing their working on school from home might not help them move to the next grade and/or they might have to go to school in the summer to make it up!  Suggested they look up their Michigan State Senator and State Representative (not their U.S. Senators and Representative) and request something be done to avoid these problems, possibly by testing out of their grade.  Of course I also mentioned the many stories to be found here!

Beyond all of this, I'm grateful for that Executive Order allowing me to walk my Beast, a "Malamutt" who's got the best of the genetic background for a Malamute and a Siberian Husky.  The other day we were still able to hike that golf course I mentioned last week at the introduction to the story of "The Coming of Spring."  We were parallel to the nearby road with the leafless trees & bushes forming a separation.  Two women walking apart were picking up trash on the road.  Saw my boy and shouted across how gorgeous he is.  He always gets those comments from "his fans" when he's seen.

Even with "Shelter in place" it's amazing how many cars passed us on the dirt roads Friday.  (The traffic is precisely why that golf course is so appreciated.)

And now to close with these words of wisdom found on the internet:
"If you self-quarantine for your family's safety, please be smart. I can't afford to buy fifteen baby shower presents in December."

Parker - The Coming of Spring - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

The vernal equinox started in the U.S. Thursday, March 19 making it official, spring has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere with day and night roughly equal in length.  The Old Farmer's Almanac's website tells us the last time spring appeared this early was 1896, but don't get too excited, it's always either March 19, 20, or 21.  Three options, but it's also interesting that it won't happen again on March 21 until 2101.

Different people have different ways of feeling that spring has arrived in their area.

Alexas_Fotos / 21121 on Pixabay

This week I saw one in front of me.  I live near a golf course, but am not a golfer.  That course has been great for walking with my dog while winter closed it to golfers and days have been short.  Looks like I won't be able to walk it much longer as the lawns were looking green, flags were out at the holes, and the grounds crew had obviously been busy.  I guess you could switch the quote from The Field of Dreams to "If you groom it, they will come!"  Since a foursome is under the current suggested maximum of ten for social distancing, I suspect golf fanatics, known for even risking being struck by lightning, will take to the course.  Can't say for sure, but there's a snow and/or rainstorm working its way across the country.

Robins are often pointed to as a sign of spring.  Since they arrive even while snow still returns to Michigan, they're not a very reliable sign.  Michigan's first people, the Anishinaabe, also eagerly awaited spring's return to our mitten-shaped state.  Henry Rowe Schoolcraft  recorded some of those stories and the link to him here takes you to some, including one about our official state bird, the robin.

Stories travel.  The Anishinaabe tale of "Peboan and Seegwun" is such a favorite I've given it here twice!  Did our area's First People over on the western end of the Great Lakes influence the Seneca,  who were the farthest west of the eastern First People of the Iroquois Confederation.  The Seneca were located south of Lake Ontario, at the opposite, eastern end of the Great Lakes.  Did the Seneca influence our own "People of the Three Fires?"  I know the two nations weren't always friendly, but there's obvious similarity to our area's story in the tale recorded by Arthur C. Parker from Aurelia Miller one probably chilly January day in 1905 and published in his Seneca Myths & Folk Tales.  Whether you compare it to "Peboan and Seegwun" or not, I believe the imagery of the Seneca characters will stick with you because we all hope winter is ending and we are seeing "The Coming of Spring."

If you're looking for educational value, comparing the Seneca tale to "Peboan and Seegwun" is great for kids, but really that sounds like school.  Why spoil it?  Let's go back to that Old Farmer's Almanac article which asks "How Do YOU Celebrate the Vernal Equinox?" then answers it with Observe nature around you! and comes up with seven ideas to do it.

Their ideas aren't incompatible with "social distancing" and even work if you are in quarantine.  Then when spring showers (or late snows) start, come back inside and read as March is Reading Month!
******************

This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, "Keeping the Public in Public Domain."  The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated.  I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20th century.  My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them.  I hope you enjoy discovering new stories.  

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my regular posting of a research project here.  (Don't worry, this isn't dry research, my research is always geared towards future storytelling to an audience.)  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my other postings as often as I can manage it.

Other Public Domain story resources I recommend-

• There are many online resources for Public Domain stories, maybe none for folklore is as ambitious as fellow storyteller, Yoel Perez's database, Yashpeh, the International Folktales Collection.  I have long recommended it and continue to do so.  He has loaded Stith Thompson's Motif Index into his server as a database so you can search the whole 6 volumes for whatever word or expression you like by pressing one key. http://folkmasa.org/motiv/motif.htm

• You may have noticed I'm no longer certain Dr. Perez has the largest database, although his offering the Motif Index certainly qualifies for those of us seeking specific types of stories.  There's another site, FairyTalez claiming to be the largest, with "over 2000 fairy tales, folktales, and fables" and they are "fully optimized for phones, tablets, and PCs", free and presented without ads.
  
  Between those two sites, there is much for story-lovers, but as they say in infomercials, "Wait, there's more!"

The email list for storytellers, Storytell, discussed Online Story Sources and came up with these additional suggestions:            

         - David K. Brown - http://people.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/stories.html

         - Karen Chace - http://karenchace.blogspot.com/search?q=public+domain

         - Richard Martin - http://www.tellatale.eu/tales_page.html

         - Spirit of Trees - http://spiritoftrees.org/featured-folktales

         - Story-Lovers - http://www.story-lovers.com/ is now only accessible through the Wayback Machine, described below, but Jackie Baldwin's wonderful site lives on there, fully searchable manually (the Google search doesn't work), at https://archive.org/ .  It's not easy, but go to Story-lovers.com snapshot for October 22 2016  and you can click on SOS: Searching Out Stories to scroll down through the many story topics and click on the story topic that interests you.

       - Tim Sheppard - http://www.timsheppard.co.uk/story/storylinks.html

       - World of Tales - http://www.worldoftales.com/ 
           - Zalka Csenge Virag - http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com doesn't give the actual stories, but her recommendations, working her way through each country on a continent, give excellent ideas for finding new books and stories to love and tell.

     
You're going to find many of the links on these sites have gone down, BUT go to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to find some of these old links.  Tim's site, for example, is so huge probably updating it would be a full-time job.  In the case of Story-Lovers, it's great that Jackie Baldwin set it up to stay online as long as it did after she could no longer maintain it.  Possibly searches maintained it.  Unfortunately Storytell list member, Papa Joe is on both Tim Sheppard's site and Story-Lovers, but he no longer maintains his old Papa Joe's Traveling Storytelling Show website and his Library (something you want to see!) is now only on the Wayback Machine.  It took some patience working back through claims of snapshots but finally in December of 2006 it appears!

Somebody as of this writing whose stories can still be found by his website is the late Chuck Larkin - http://chucklarkin.com/stories.html.  I prefer to list these sites by their complete address so they can be found by the Wayback Machine, a.k.a. Archive.org, when that becomes the only way to find them.

You can see why I recommend these to you. Have fun discovering even more stories!

Croker - Fairies or No Fairies? - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

I'm writing this on "Friday the 13th", it will be posted on "Pi Day" (3/14), then comes the "Ides of March" -- not Julius Caesar's favorite day, I'm sure there's some sort of a designation for the 16th, but it's not well known, and then on the 17th is St. Patrick's Day.  With the current cancellation of St. Patrick's Day parades and all the remaining chaos connected with the Coronavirus, COVID-19, we could use a bit of humor, maybe Irish humor.  I prowled the works of Ireland's pioneer folklorist, Thomas Crofton Croker, and can just imagine him gathering this over a pint at a 19th century pub in southern Ireland.  (It comes from his Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland.  If you want the whole book, which I've earlier featured in two stories here, that link is to the book on Project Gutenberg.)

Photo by Jared Burris on Unsplash of a bar in Galway, Ireland and probably similar to 19th C. 

My copy of Croker's work didn't include this concluding drawing, but the Project Gutenberg edition is from the 1844

A New Edition.

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS, AFTER DESIGNS OF THE AUTHOR AND OTHERS.

So have a drink of your favorite beverage, watch out for mushrooms, and don't lose your sense of humor whether you are Irish or Irish for the day!
*****************

This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, "Keeping the Public in Public Domain."  The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated.  I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20th century.  My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them.  I hope you enjoy discovering new stories.  

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my regular posting of a research project here.  (Don't worry, this isn't dry research, my research is always geared towards future storytelling to an audience.)  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my other postings as often as I can manage it.

Other Public Domain story resources I recommend-

• There are many online resources for Public Domain stories, maybe none for folklore is as ambitious as fellow storyteller, Yoel Perez's database, Yashpeh, the International Folktales Collection.  I have long recommended it and continue to do so.  He has loaded Stith Thompson's Motif Index into his server as a database so you can search the whole 6 volumes for whatever word or expression you like by pressing one key. http://folkmasa.org/motiv/motif.htm

• You may have noticed I'm no longer certain Dr. Perez has the largest database, although his offering the Motif Index certainly qualifies for those of us seeking specific types of stories.  There's another site, FairyTalez claiming to be the largest, with "over 2000 fairy tales, folktales, and fables" and they are "fully optimized for phones, tablets, and PCs", free and presented without ads.
  
  Between those two sites, there is much for story-lovers, but as they say in infomercials, "Wait, there's more!"

The email list for storytellers, Storytell, discussed Online Story Sources and came up with these additional suggestions:            

         - David K. Brown - http://people.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/stories.html

         - Karen Chace - http://karenchace.blogspot.com/search?q=public+domain

         - Richard Martin - http://www.tellatale.eu/tales_page.html

         - Spirit of Trees - http://spiritoftrees.org/featured-folktales

         - Story-Lovers - http://www.story-lovers.com/ is now only accessible through the Wayback Machine, described below, but Jackie Baldwin's wonderful site lives on there, fully searchable manually (the Google search doesn't work), at https://archive.org/ .  It's not easy, but go to Story-lovers.com snapshot for October 22 2016  and you can click on SOS: Searching Out Stories to scroll down through the many story topics and click on the story topic that interests you.

       - Tim Sheppard - http://www.timsheppard.co.uk/story/storylinks.html

       - World of Tales - http://www.worldoftales.com/ 
           - Zalka Csenge Virag - http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com doesn't give the actual stories, but her recommendations, working her way through each country on a continent, give excellent ideas for finding new books and stories to love and tell.

     
You're going to find many of the links on these sites have gone down, BUT go to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to find some of these old links.  Tim's site, for example, is so huge probably updating it would be a full-time job.  In the case of Story-Lovers, it's great that Jackie Baldwin set it up to stay online as long as it did after she could no longer maintain it.  Possibly searches maintained it.  Unfortunately Storytell list member, Papa Joe is on both Tim Sheppard's site and Story-Lovers, but he no longer maintains his old Papa Joe's Traveling Storytelling Show website and his Library (something you want to see!) is now only on the Wayback Machine.  It took some patience working back through claims of snapshots but finally in December of 2006 it appears!

Somebody as of this writing whose stories can still be found by his website is the late Chuck Larkin - http://chucklarkin.com/stories.html.  I prefer to list these sites by their complete address so they can be found by the Wayback Machine, a.k.a. Archive.org, when that becomes the only way to find them.

You can see why I recommend these to you. Have fun discovering even more stories!

Public Gatherings vs. Coronavirus?

This week Grease opens!  (I'm also publishing this early in case YOU can come.)

I look forward to friends seeing a truly epic show.  It has a large cast complete with a rocking band at a very flexible facility.  If you saw the movie, you will enjoy seeing it live!  If you didn't see the movie, expect a delightful trip back in time.

Added to this I'm in another show, Godspell, the 2012 version, whose rehearsals must wait for some of us to get back to it.

I limit my time involved in shows to stop it taking away from my storytelling business and, yes, it is a business and one where I frequently am a time traveler bringing "History as viewed by the 'average' person."  (Note to self: the slideshow on my Historical Programs page seems to have disappeared.  Re-do it with a new pictorial format a.s.a.p.!)

I strongly believe there's a HUGE difference in the impact of LIVE performance and recorded shows or storytelling.  It's because of this I'm taking seriously some of the ways Coronavirus is starting to impact our travel and gatherings in theatres, schools, churches, athletic events, and more.  I really don't want to indulge in scaring people, but even the Olympics may be affected.  Digital conferencing is taking the place of meetings and conferences.  The stockmarket, always reacting to any potential impact on business, has magically transformed Bulls into Bears.

On Storytell, the email list for storytellers, hosted by the National Storytelling Network, the discussion has begun with two interesting posts of articles by doctors.  As with anything potentially flat out fiction or misleading, I went to Snopes.com and searched Coronavirus.  The topic already has more pages than can show on one screen.  I strongly recommend using the Search feature there on whatever you may hear before spreading misinformation which can be the internet form of a pandemic.

The pathologist whose information started the conversation was indeed correctly attributed to James Robb, "who described himself as 'one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses.' "  The letter itself provides common-sense solutions to preventing disease transmission, but what garnered the most attention was his recommendation for zinc lozenges.  Snopes confirmed his writing it, but the intention was for close friends and family only and said:

His history with coronaviruses is accurately recounted. In the late 1970s, as professor of pathology at the University of California, San Diego, Robb published some of the earliest descriptions of coronaviruses. He also published a book chapter on this class of viruses for “Comprehensive Virology.”
While Robb does recommend zinc lozenges (of any brand, he told us), he would not describe the product as the silver bullet solution to the outbreak.

 Here is his letter:

Dear Family and Friends, as some of you may recall, when I was a professor of pathology at the University of California San Diego, I was one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses (the 1970s). I was the first to demonstrate the number of genes the virus contained. Since then, I have kept up with the coronavirus field and its multiple clinical transfers into the human population (e.g., SARS, MERS), from different animal sources.

The current projections for its expansion in the US are only probable, due to continued insufficient worldwide data, but it is most likely to be widespread by mid to late March and April.

Here is what I have done and the precautions that I take and will take. These are the same precautions I currently use during our influenza seasons, except for the mask and gloves.:

1) NO HANDSHAKING! Use a fist bump, slight bow, elbow bump, etc.

2) Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches. elevator buttons, etc.. Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.

3) Open doors with your closed fist or hip - do not grasp the handle with your hand, unless there is no other way to open the door. Especially important on bathroom and post office/commercial doors.

4) Use disinfectant wipes at the stores when they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in grocery carts.

5) Wash your hands with soap for 10-20 seconds and/or use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer whenever you return home from ANY activity that involves locations where other people have been.

6) Keep a bottle of sanitizer available at each of your home's entrances. AND in your car for use after getting gas or touching other contaminated objects when you can't immediately wash your hands.

7) If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have to. The clothing on your elbow will contain infectious virus that can be passed on for up to a week or more!

What I have stocked in preparation for the pandemic spread to the US:

1) Latex or nitrile latex disposable gloves for use when going shopping, using the gasoline pump, and all other outside activity when you come in contact with contaminated areas.

       Note:  This virus is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you! BUT all the surfaces where these droplets land are infectious for about a week on average - everything that is associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious. The virus is on surfaces and you will not be infected unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed upon. This virus only has cell receptors for lung cells (it only infects your lungs). The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth via your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth.

2) Stock up now with disposable surgical masks and use them  to prevent you from touching your nose and/or mouth (We touch our nose/mouth 90X/day without knowing it!). This is the only way this virus can infect you - it is lung-specific. The mask will not prevent the virus in a direct sneeze from getting into your nose or mouth - it is only to keep you from touching your nose or mouth.

3) Stock up now with hand sanitizers and latex/nitrile gloves (get the appropriate sizes for your family). The hand sanitizers must be alcohol-based and greater than 60% alcohol to be effective.

4) Stock up now with zinc lozenges. These lozenges have been proven to be effective in blocking coronavirus (and most other viruses) from multiplying in your throat and nasopharynx. Use as directed several times each day when you begin to feel ANY "cold-like" symptoms beginning. It is best to lie down and let the lozenge dissolve in the back of your throat and nasopharynx. Cold-Eeze lozenges is one brand available, but there are other brands available.

I, as many others do, hope that this pandemic will be reasonably contained, BUT I personally do not think it will be.  Humans have never seen this snake-associated virus before and have no internal defense against it. Tremendous worldwide efforts are being made to understand the molecular and clinical virology of this virus. Unbelievable molecular knowledge about the genomics, structure, and virulence of this virus has already been achieved. BUT, there will be NO drugs or vaccines available this year to protect us or limit the infection within us. Only symptomatic support is available.

I hope these personal thoughts will be helpful during this potentially catastrophic pandemic. Good luck to all of us.

James Robb, MD FCAP

Some of that, stocking up on masks, gloves, and sanitizers, is not currently being recommended, but Doctor Robb surely was intending the information for "close friends" who were in the healthcare field.  I also found it interesting Snopes says the common cold " is caused by a virus also classified as a coronavirus."  My own punctuation for that would be "!"  They also give this tip sheet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Prevention & Treatment, but the link has a sidebar that can take you to all aspects and summary of the latest information, yes, even travel information on this virus.

I mentioned two doctors were cited in the Storytell discussion.  Doctor Robb is retired, but Juliana Grant is currently working as an infectious disease specialist.  That link is to her full blog article on the subject, but she compares it to the 1918 Flu Pandemic.  None of us were around then but can recognize it as it's often called the Spanish Flu and Doctor Grant notes the critical difference between the two is the Spanish Flu particularly affected children and young adults, while Coronavirus is most severe for older adults.  (I would add also most severely affected is anyone with an immune system deficiency, a condition that can include, for example, people in cancer treatment.  I also recommend the full Wikipedia article on Spanish Flu as it points to more effects than the somewhat simplistic comparison Grant gives in a necessarily short article.)  Her summary is what is most important here:

What can we expect?

This is not the zombie apocalypse. Core infrastructure (e.g., power, water, supermarkets, internet, government, etc.) will continue to work, perhaps with some minor disruptions. 

There will be significant economic disruption: a global recession is very possible and there will probably be significant shortages of some products. The healthcare system will be hit the hardest. The number of people who are likely to get sick is higher than our healthcare systems can probably handle.  

Daily life will be impacted in important ways. Travel is likely to be limited and public gatherings will probably be canceled. Schools will probably be closed. Expect health departments to start issuing these orders in the near future, especially on the West Coast.

The acute pandemic will probably last at least for several months and quite possibly for a year or two.

What can we do?

We can’t keep COVID-19 from being a global pandemic but the more we can do to slow the spread of the disease, the less severe the impact will be. With that in mind, here are the things you can do:

Stay calm but take it seriously. This will likely be bad but it’s not the apocalypse.

Stay home if you’re sick or someone in your house is sick. 

Leave medical supplies for healthcare workers. You shouldn’t be stockpiling masks or other medical supplies. They are needed in hospitals to keep our healthcare workers healthy.

Wash your hands. Get in the habit of frequently washing your hands thoroughly and covering your cough.

Minimize your exposure. Now that we’re seeing community transmission in the U.S., it’s probably time to start cutting back on your exposure to other people. Depending on your circumstances, consider:

• Canceling non-essential travel
• Avoiding large-scale gatherings
• Working from home if possible
• Minimizing direct contact with others including hand shakes and hugs
• Reducing your trips out of the house. If possible, shop for two weeks of groceries at once or consider having your groceries delivered. Stay home and cook instead of going to a restaurant.

Remember, keep calm and prepare. This is likely to be bad but if we respond calmly and thoughtfully we can handle it.

So why am I adding to what might seem hysteria?  That final minimal exposure section may affect the live and in-person aspects of storytelling and theatre.  A videoconference or YouTube performance does not equal live productions.  At the same time I find myself remembering the time a mother said to me after a program, while with two of her children, "I hope you don't mind that I didn't bring their brother, but he has mumps."  At the time I had never received a mumps vaccination (did it even exist then?) and my glands tended to be affected by my allergies.  I backed away and said, "Then I hope you don't mind if I don't get too close to your family."  Yes, she minded.

Frankly Dr. Robb's seven points for his initial precautions feels right for the present level, so I'll try them for now (they are common sense health measures even in the ordinary cold and flu season) and hope we don't have to change "large-scale gatherings."