This transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S. Virus particles are shown emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. The spikes on the outer edge of the virus particles give coronaviruses their name, crown-like. (Courtesy National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases).
Courtesy National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Courtesy National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases
This transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S. Virus particles are shown emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. The spikes on the outer edge of the virus particles give coronaviruses their name, crown-like. (Courtesy National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases).
Courtesy National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases
This transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S. Virus particles are shown emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. The spikes on the outer edge of the virus particles give coronaviruses their name, crown-like. (Courtesy National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases).
Ten confirmed cases: As of Monday afternoon, there were ten confirmed cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, in Pennsylvania. Almost all of the cases involve people from the eastern region of the state. One patient — a cardiologist based at a children’s hospital in King of Prussia — is in critical condition at the University of Pennsylvania hospital. As public health officials have said over and over, stay home if you’re sick, keep surfaces clean and continue washing your hands.
Schoolhouse locks: School district officials are desperate for guidance on whether they should cancel scheduled sports and other events, according to WITF’s Brett Sholtis, who covered an informational meeting convened at Penn State Hershey on Monday by U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R). “We’re coming into musical season and large group season,” said Cumberland Valley School District Superintendent David Christopher. “I’m going to have 1,500 people in my auditorium for four days at the end of the month. These are the kind of questions we’re not getting answers to.” Meanwhile, two Montgomery County school districts are closing on Tuesday out of an abundance of caution because two students and a staff person may have come into contact with the King of Prussia cardiologist mentioned in the preceding item.
A win for transparency: When Rep. Perry’s office announced the Penn State Hershey briefing on Friday, the media was told the event would be closed to press. Thanks to the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association and the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters for taking the lead in reaching out to Rep. Perry’s office and making the case for opening it to journalists. The public’s fears about coronavirus can only be calmed by ensuring the free flow of accurate information from experts to citizens via staying committed to transparency.
A break from Spring Break: Almost 400 high school students from 22 schools who were slated to show up at Kutztown University for a science competition will stay home for spring break, due to fears of the coronavirus’ spread in Pennsylvania. Though there have been no cases detected in central Pennsylvania, a school official said they weren’t going to take any chances.
Insurance offering COVID-19 coverage: All medical providers in the state that offer comprehensive care will cover testing for COVID-19, according to a press release from the Gov. Tom Wolf’s office. Testing for the virus has so far been done by the Centers for Disease Control and paid for by public funds. But labs in the state will now be able to bill insurers for diagnostic tests similar to what they do for the flu.
Staying home from work? For some, it’s not an option: In The Morning Call, Paul Muschik points out that not everyone has the ability to stay home sick from work if they are ill with the flu or, worse, coronavirus. That’s because there’s no guaranteed sick time in Pennsylvania. For many of these workers, the prospect of lost pay is more important than their health: “Their concern about missing a rent payment or being unable to feed their family outweighs their concern about spreading germs.” In Pittsburgh, though, the state Supreme Court last year upheld the city’s mandated sick pay policy, which guarantees a certain number of hours per days worked, based on company employee size.
Restricted visiting for elders: Three nursing facilities in Erie County are banning visitors unless they have family members in hospice or end-of-life care, according to GoErie. The decision is in response to the 13 deaths in Washington state that occured at a skilled-nursing home in Kirkland, east of Seattle. “It was a tough decision to make,” said Jaime Babiak, director of operations at LECOM Senior Living Center, one fo the three facilities enacting the new policy. “But these are our most vulnerable residents and we would rather be ahead of the game.”
Fallout: The convention business could take a big hit because of the virus. Already, two big gatherings planned for Philly have been canceled, The Inquirer reports. In Allentown, public transit officials are taking steps to protect bus drivers. In central Pa., there’s a scam text going around about a coronavirus patient being treated at a Harrisburg-area hospital, while the U.S. Secret Service is warning everyone to be on the lookout for virus-related financial scams. The run on protective face masks is hurting construction workers, who also use the masks to protect their lungs from dust and chemicals. That cruise ship that docked in Oakland, Calif., yesterday had a Berks County couple aboard. All in all, they’re not suffering: “It will probably be a few more days until we leave the ship,” Jeffrey Koppenheffer told the Reading Eagle. “But we’re making the best of this situation. We still have a refrigerator full of beer and more than 200 movies we can watch for free.”
The Wuhan Shake: Across Philly, people are opting out of hugs and handshakes, and going for fistbumps and toe taps, otherwise nicknamed the “wuhan shake,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. All of this is in response to the Centers for Disease Control’s messaging that coronavirus spreads when people are within close proximity of one another. In a related article, gay men were told to stop kissing each other on the cheeks – a common way of saying hello – when greeting each other. We are living in an introvert’s dream, at this point. Or, idk, just wash your hands, people?
Stay informed about COVID-19:
The Guardian published this useful piece on the virus: Nine reasons to be reassured.
Wired took to Twitter to offer up this thread on why comparing coronavirus to the flu is a mistake. A key point: Scientists know a lot more about the flu because it’s been around for a long time. Coronavirus — specifically, the version that causes COVID-19 — is still not as well understood.
As the science and health news site StatNews put it: “we are exposed to different flu strains throughout our lives, which help us build immunity. No one had immunity to this new virus.”
Here’s another helpful StatNews piece from last week: Who is getting sick, and how sick? A breakdown of coronavirus risk by demographic factors.
Also useful, this one from The Inquirer: So you think you have the new coronavirus. What should you do now?
Finally, don’t forget the Pa. Health Department’s continually updated, one-stop resource for coronavirus information.
Joseph Darius Jaafari / PA Post
Dauphin County Prison, located in Harrisburg, Penn., charged inmates more than $2.1 million in housing fees to inmates. Interviews with inmates say that some are leaving with bills totalling close to $20,000. (Joseph Darius Jaafari / PA Post)
My work covering criminal justice issues for PA Post generates plenty of feedback, with some readers questioning why we cover prisons the way we do, and – more to the point – what exactly is the point of incarceration?
That’s a fair question, even more so when you look at the pieces we’ve published, including a story about cold conditions inside one prison, another about the costs to inmates and families for incarceration, and a piece on religious discrimination in prison commissary pricing.
“Crime and punishment” readers say we don’t focus enough on the crimes that landed inmates in jail. As one reader put it, responding to our story about an inmate being held in solitary for not cutting his hair: “Stop breaking the law a****le. Bigger issues here than a big baby not wanting to cut his hair. Good lord.”
While I do enjoy a good troll, our reader brings up a good (albeit not very diplomatically worded) point: Why are we covering prisons in this way?
The truth is that the criminal justice system is meant to do three things: punish, rehabilitate and ensure public safety.
We know that rehabilitation can work wonders if done well, equipping inmates to return home and remain crime-free. But the rehabilitative mission of prisons and jails is something the media and the public tend to forget.
And as a result, I’ve found, it’s not a priority for corrections officials. The criminal justice and corrections officials I’ve spoken with think of rehabilitation as the last priority. Recently, a Pennsylvania DOC official rolled her eyes when I mentioned rehabilitation for inmates.
Jeremy Bentham – the 18th century British philosopher who invented the panopticon (a building that allows jailers to watch inmates without them knowing it) and heavily influenced the beginning of the American penal system – said that criminals needed rehabilitation, not just segregation from society.
And since we know that 90 percent of people who go to jails and prisons are released at some point, many criminal justice reformers stress the need for smart rehabilitation behind bars. Otherwise, we’re letting people back out worse off than when they went in.
If you’re itching to get more viewpoints on this. Try out some of these older takes on the role of prison:
As always, we enjoy a spirited debate. Please use our Listening Post to add to this discussion, or raise questions about completely different topics. – Joseph Darius Jaafari
