by Anne Scheck
WILLAMETTE U PROF: EXERCISE ESSENTIAL
Maintaining regular exercise in a “safe home environment” is a healthy strategy during the “coronavirus crisis,” according to a group of exercise researchers that includes a Willamette University professor. “Official measures that restrict people’s movements in the presence of the coronavirus crisis do not necessarily mean that physical activity must be limited or that all forms of exercise must be eliminated entirely,” they found. Sports scientists from China, America and Denmark teamed up to take a look at the importance of physical activity during COVID-19 – Willamette Professor Peter Harmer PhD was one of them – and they concluded that maintaining an exercise routine is a good strategy during times like these. Their findings were published in early February in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.
This month, the same journal followed up by interviewing an expert in sports medicine on how that can be done under social distancing and quarantine. One precaution: Go light if you aren’t already regularly exercising. “Avoiding long and stressful exercise that you are not accustomed to might be a good idea,” said Jeffrey Woods PhD, whose research has focused on the effects of exercise on the immune system. However, “one should not limit the multitude of health benefits that exercise provides us on a daily basis just because there is a new virus in our environment.” But take precautions, urged Dr. Woods, professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Some tips: Disinfect any equipment shared between household members and wash hands with soap-and-water for 20 seconds after you return from a run or walk—you may have unknowingly touched a lamp pole or street sign during a brief stop on a jog. Maintain appropriate distances if you are walking or running with someone else.
Helpful Links for Small Businesses
A collection of links of good resources from SEDCOR on coronavirus from the Strategic Economic Development Corp. in Salem: https://www.sedcor.com/page/coronavirus
The Small Business Administration has help for small businesses, such as emergency loans: https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-newsroom/press-releases-media-advisories/sba-provide-disaster-assistance-loans-small-businesses-impacted-coronavirus-covid-19.
Willamette Workforce Partners provided this link for the most recent information on unemployment insurance eligibility and other program resources and requirements: https://www.oregon.gov/employ/Pages/COVID-19.aspx.
NOTE: This month’s issue of The Independent (in print form) is available by request but a Linking Letter sent out later this week will provide online access to the issue. Also, the Linking Letter, which will provide you with COVID-19 updates, resumes its regular city-and-county coverage in the next e-newsletter.
ADDENDUM: The City of Independence has closed the library. Here is more from the city's website announcement: Please do not return library materials during the closure. Book donations will not be accepted during the closure. You can call the Library directly at (503) 838-1811.
EDITORIAL: The Heroes Among Us
Today there is a shamrock in my window. It’s part of a game devised by a member of the Women of Independence-Monmouth (WIM), a Facebook group that anyone can join – with people far more creative than I am. The shamrocks were suggested to get us home-bound residents out into the sunshine, playing a game where we hunt for the green-clover displays in a way in which we “social-distance” yet still connect. But I’m only mildly surprised that such social innovation is taking place. Because whether it is a rampaging flood, fire or the sudden appearance of a loathsome virus, everyday heroes seem to appear here in Oregon as often as our rainbows.
Yesterday, I stopped by the Ella Curran Food Bank. I was early – the line for food had started forming. I saw one of our citizens, Patty Nevue, who helms the place, skillfully navigate the developing crowd, ensuring social distancing while graciously engaging with people who needed what was inside. And there was so much of it to give away! One glance at that bounty would have dissolved the skepticism of anyone who doubts people are good and true, here and in America at large.
Later, I turned on a video address from an emerging star of our time: Nancy Messonnier MD, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She has calmly and methodically kept on delivering us key information, never wavering when she was blasted for her assessment of COVID-19 by some in our government – and time has proved her accuracy. “Everyone has a role to play in protecting our family members, friends, colleagues and neighbors who are most at risk,” Dr. Messonnier said. “Know what’s going in your community,” she added. “Let’s work together to protect each other.” Thank you, Dr Messonnier. And Happy St. Patrick’s Day in the greenest place this side of Ireland. -end-
WILLAMETTE U PROF: EXERCISE ESSENTIAL
Maintaining regular exercise in a “safe home environment” is a healthy strategy during the “coronavirus crisis,” according to a group of exercise researchers that includes a Willamette University professor. “Official measures that restrict people’s movements in the presence of the coronavirus crisis do not necessarily mean that physical activity must be limited or that all forms of exercise must be eliminated entirely,” they found. Sports scientists from China, America and Denmark teamed up to take a look at the importance of physical activity during COVID-19 – Willamette Professor Peter Harmer PhD was one of them – and they concluded that maintaining an exercise routine is a good strategy during times like these. Their findings were published in early February in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.
This month, the same journal followed up by interviewing an expert in sports medicine on how that can be done under social distancing and quarantine. One precaution: Go light if you aren’t already regularly exercising. “Avoiding long and stressful exercise that you are not accustomed to might be a good idea,” said Jeffrey Woods PhD, whose research has focused on the effects of exercise on the immune system. However, “one should not limit the multitude of health benefits that exercise provides us on a daily basis just because there is a new virus in our environment.” But take precautions, urged Dr. Woods, professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Some tips: Disinfect any equipment shared between household members and wash hands with soap-and-water for 20 seconds after you return from a run or walk—you may have unknowingly touched a lamp pole or street sign during a brief stop on a jog. Maintain appropriate distances if you are walking or running with someone else.
Helpful Links for Small Businesses
A collection of links of good resources from SEDCOR on coronavirus from the Strategic Economic Development Corp. in Salem: https://www.sedcor.com/page/coronavirus
The Small Business Administration has help for small businesses, such as emergency loans: https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-newsroom/press-releases-media-advisories/sba-provide-disaster-assistance-loans-small-businesses-impacted-coronavirus-covid-19.
Willamette Workforce Partners provided this link for the most recent information on unemployment insurance eligibility and other program resources and requirements: https://www.oregon.gov/employ/Pages/COVID-19.aspx.
NOTE: This month’s issue of The Independent (in print form) is available by request but a Linking Letter sent out later this week will provide online access to the issue. Also, the Linking Letter, which will provide you with COVID-19 updates, resumes its regular city-and-county coverage in the next e-newsletter.
ADDENDUM: The City of Independence has closed the library. Here is more from the city's website announcement: Please do not return library materials during the closure. Book donations will not be accepted during the closure. You can call the Library directly at (503) 838-1811.
EDITORIAL: The Heroes Among Us
Today there is a shamrock in my window. It’s part of a game devised by a member of the Women of Independence-Monmouth (WIM), a Facebook group that anyone can join – with people far more creative than I am. The shamrocks were suggested to get us home-bound residents out into the sunshine, playing a game where we hunt for the green-clover displays in a way in which we “social-distance” yet still connect. But I’m only mildly surprised that such social innovation is taking place. Because whether it is a rampaging flood, fire or the sudden appearance of a loathsome virus, everyday heroes seem to appear here in Oregon as often as our rainbows.
Yesterday, I stopped by the Ella Curran Food Bank. I was early – the line for food had started forming. I saw one of our citizens, Patty Nevue, who helms the place, skillfully navigate the developing crowd, ensuring social distancing while graciously engaging with people who needed what was inside. And there was so much of it to give away! One glance at that bounty would have dissolved the skepticism of anyone who doubts people are good and true, here and in America at large.
Later, I turned on a video address from an emerging star of our time: Nancy Messonnier MD, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She has calmly and methodically kept on delivering us key information, never wavering when she was blasted for her assessment of COVID-19 by some in our government – and time has proved her accuracy. “Everyone has a role to play in protecting our family members, friends, colleagues and neighbors who are most at risk,” Dr. Messonnier said. “Know what’s going in your community,” she added. “Let’s work together to protect each other.” Thank you, Dr Messonnier. And Happy St. Patrick’s Day in the greenest place this side of Ireland. -end-
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