Latest guidance from Gov Newsom on COVID-19 and an how the ACEsConnection community will be handling COVID-19

On Sunday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom asked people over the age of 65 and people with chronic conditions to isolate themselves at home to reduce the risk of becoming infected, asked bars, wineries, night clubs and brew pubs to close, and called for restaurants to reduce their occupancy by half.  

In his Sunday mid-day press conference, Gov. Newsom gave updates on CA COVID-19 cases, preparations of state hospitals and ventilator capacity and a new partnership with Verily to offer a pilot Coronovirus testing website in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties on Monday.

He provided additional information about limiting visitation in hospitals and congregate care facilities to only end-of-life situations.  Over 80% of CA school students will not be in school as of Monday and his team will be providing guidance for students and school staff by Tuesday.  Guidance for childcare facilities will be coming by Tuesday as well. 

Here is a link to the full news broadcast, starting at 13.32 and here's a link to CA COVID-19 updates and guidance policies; this page will be updated.

What we will be doing is what we do best:

• provide an ACEs science perspective on developments,
• provide information about what organizations are doing to integrate trauma-informed and healing-centered practices and policies based on ACEs science into practices and policies instituted as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic,
• point out the practices and policies that are working, and those that aren't (the hours-long, crowded lines for Americans returning from Europe, e.g....where was the social distancing there? And how many families were stressed AND infected?),
• encourage people in our community to keep using and spreading this knowledge of healing-centered, trauma-informed practices based on ACEs science. 
  
  

We will truly be tested, we in the ACEs movement, to walk the talk when people become depressed and angry, and to help each other figure out creative ways to make it through to the other side of the pandemic with our families, our communities, our humor, and our good natures no doubt bruised, but intact and healing. I worry about the families who don't have resources, and how the stress of this will affect them and their children. That's why we'll do our utmost to spread the word about the best practices that come out of this, and figure out how, together, we can institute ACEs science knowledge in all our communities, families and organizations. Because this won't be the last pandemic we, our children and grandchildren face. 

At ACEs Connection, we're taking a few initial steps. Although all of us already work from home (we're a virtual organization), we know that increasing connections in stressful times is extremely important (so is sleep, good nutrition, and exercise). So, we're opening up a staff "sitting" room on Zoom four days a week for 15 minutes a day — apart from our work meetings — just to sit with each other...to share inspiring anecdotes, maybe do some short mindfulness practices, or just jump and holler to get the blood moving. If you're interested in doing something like that, let us know, and we'll set one up for our entire community.

Educators, parents and other caregivers are among the people who will be challenged more than some others. As time goes on, we know that ACEs Connection members, because of their lens on the world, will develop approaches that will be important and useful. For example, as colleges and universities were closing their doors and ordering students to go home, some people realized that kids just out of foster care or students from other countries probably don't have a home to go to. They convinced some colleges to accommodate the kids who have no home, or who can't go home because of travel restrictions by keeping a dorm open for them. We'd really like you to post the ideas you hear about or you come up with for parents and educators in the Parenting with ACEs and ACEs in Education communities to help. We're sure that communities will come up with great ideas to keep their economies going (e.g., restaurants staying afloat by offering drive-through or home delivery), to keep their spirits up (e.g. Italians in urban areas singing together from their windows), and to keep their kids active (games that kids and parents can play in a park and still keep six feet apart?).  

We have some ideas up our sleeves that our staff is talking about tomorrow, including doing regular webinars and Zoom chats with people in our vast community who can give us good pointers. So far, we're looking at this in three stages: best practices...

• to keep calm when initial anxiety about the disease threatens — or does — override our ability to think calmly and optimistically about the future;
• to develop coping skills for dealing with boredom by exploring creative ways to connect with each other, and assessing skills for dealing with hoaxes and misinformation;
• and, when we start to recover from this, how to integrate the really good ideas that connect and inspire people, that make organizations more responsive, and that help solve our most intractable problems.  

Because this, my dear ACEs Connection members, this, too, shall pass.  .