Rector News from the Porch Swing

In Quarantine

By Christa Hedrick

Good afternoon everyone. I’m going to tighten my focus with this blog today. I’m going to limit my thoughts to our living in the time of COVID-19.

To start with, I want to commend our town for its response to the virus. Although we are not under a national or state order to lockdown, the town is pretty much following that suggestion from the medical personnel. We have closed non-essential businesses, even though it creates a hardship. Some of the closed businesses are still functioning on a limited basis and we can still get groceries or medicine and gasoline, but precautions are being taken and taken seriously. The banks will make appointments if you need to come inside for their services, so you won’t be exposed to unknown dangers. The employees at the stores that are open are willing to help you limit your exposure as well. It is people working together. That’s what we do here.

Let me talk a little about why we are asked to do this, to stay home if you can, to keep a distance between ourselves and others if we have to be out, and whether or not the masks are a good idea or not. And why recommendations change from one report to another. I will start with the last question, because it is the easiest to answer. This is a “novel” virus, meaning it is new. Doctors are not yet familiar with all its characteristics and they are learning more with every day that goes by. And every day, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx step up and tell us what is new and give us the best information on how to keep ourselves safe. Every day is a learning experience in the life of an epidemiologist.

Another thing about a new virus is that our bodies have no natural anti-bodies that fight this virus. For our entire lives we have been building up anti-bodies as we struggled through colds and flus and viruses, but not for this one. That is what makes it so contagious and THAT is why it is so dangerous. It is not as deadly as many other illnesses we suffer through each year, but it spreads so easily, and we have no natural immunity to it. Literally everyone who comes in contact with an infected person has a possibly of retaining that virus and will pass it on to others if care is not taken. Other health problems enable it to become more dangerous and even deadly to some.

As we become older our immune systems begin to weaken so that makes everyone over 60 more prone to get this virus. We aren’t as good at making those anti-bodies as we used to be. We are also more likely to have conditions which give the virus an extra boost. You can find more information on these health risks on the website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/ .

The biggest risk factors are the contagion factor and the absence of natural anti-bodies. If you are exposed to someone positive for COVID-19, you will probably get it. How it affects you depends on how healthy you are, how old you are and how you take care of yourself. That’s why you should wash your hands whenever you touch anything anyone else has touched. That’s pretty much everything. As some people can have the virus and show few or no symptoms, it is possible for you to pick up a bag of chips that an infected person had picked up and put back down and you will be exposed to the virus. Wash your hands or wipe your hands with a disinfectant wipe to remove that infection BEFORE you scratch your nose or adjust your glasses or rub your cheek. This will keep the virus from entering your body.

It is possible for you to come in contact with someone who is showing no symptoms and does not know they have been exposed and you then have the virus on your hands or clothes and you pass it to someone else before you know you are carrying it. They can do the same thus infecting a hundred people in a couple of days or less. Some of you might never show symptoms, some might think they have a cold and recover quickly. But someone with asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, a weakened immune system, diabetes and many more conditions that weaken their fighting powers will get sick and they may get sick enough to die. Wearing a cloth mask when you go out keeps you from passing a virus to someone else. It doesn’t need to be the kind the medical people are wearing, because are not going to be touching others and you are going to wash your hands, right. Wearing a mask is good to keep down the spread of the disease when you don’t know you might have been exposed.

This quarantine is shown to work, when it is practiced by everyone, but remember it only takes one person to expose hundreds if they aren’t careful. Like it or not, we are all in this together. Staying home is not a punishment. It is a gift you are giving to the others you care about. It won’t last forever, but it will last longer if people, all people don’t follow the recommendation of the doctors and quarantine yourself.

Meals to go are available at the high school Pavilion each weekday from 7:30 - 8:30 and from 11:30 – 12:30 for all students, Pre-K through 12. Also, a food backpack distribution for Rector students on Thursday from 11:30 – 12:30. Thanks to all the volunteers who pack and distribute these meals.

City employees still report to work to keep things moving like they should You may contact the city offices for assistance by email or by phone: Rector Police Department: 870-595-2423, Rector Fire Department: 870-595-3035, Rector District Court: 870-595-9805. The Clerk will be in the office to take calls Monday-Wednesday, 9am – 2pm. To make a payment of court fines. You can send via USPS to Rector District Court 409 S Stewart St. Rector AR 72461 or make a payment online at myfinepayment.com. City Hall/Rector Water Department/Rector Street Department: 870-595-3035. Payments will be accepted: Via the USPS: 409 S Stewart St. Rector AR 72461, Drop box. Please put payments and the small side of your bill in a sealed envelope with your name and address or account number. We do not recommend paying in cash but if that is your only option, please use as exact change as possible. Any monies paid over your bill will be credited to your next month’s bill. The drop box will be emptied periodically throughout the day, thru your banks online bill paying service. The banks mail checks to our office.

You will find more information about these closings on the website: www.rectorarkansas.com .

I again want to say thank you to everyone who is reaching out to others right now. We have so many ways to communicate now with our phones and our computers and tablets. We have the ability to see and talk to each other without being close together.

Did you complete your census? If you didn’t you will get another chance. Please fill it out. Our funding for the next ten years depends on you being counted today. You do want to be counted, don’t you?

That’s it for this week. I am always updating the Rector website. Please take a look at the web page and let me know if there are updates or that need to be made. I do take suggestions and criticism fairly well. www.rectorarkansas.com . It’s your page for your town, so give me your input.

What else is going on that you would like to see in this column? Give me a heads up and I will share it with everyone else. Email: porchswing@newwavecomm.net . Phone number (870) 595-4997.

God bless our troops.

Thank you to everyone who is making this quarantine a little bit easier.

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Rector News from the Porch Swing

In Quarantine

By Christa Hedrick

Good afternoon everyone. I’m going to tighten my focus with this blog today. I’m going to limit my thoughts to our living in the time of COVID-19.

To start with, I want to commend our town for its response to the virus. Although we are not under a national or state order to lockdown, the town is pretty much following that suggestion from the medical personnel. We have closed non-essential businesses, even though it creates a hardship. Some of the closed businesses are still functioning on a limited basis and we can still get groceries or medicine and gasoline, but precautions are being taken and taken seriously. The banks will make appointments if you need to come inside for their services, so you won’t be exposed to unknown dangers. The employees at the stores that are open are willing to help you limit your exposure as well. It is people working together. That’s what we do here.

Let me talk a little about why we are asked to do this, to stay home if you can, to keep a distance between ourselves and others if we have to be out, and whether or not the masks are a good idea or not. And why recommendations change from one report to another. I will start with the last question, because it is the easiest to answer. This is a “novel” virus, meaning it is new. Doctors are not yet familiar with all its characteristics and they are learning more with every day that goes by. And every day, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx step up and tell us what is new and give us the best information on how to keep ourselves safe. Every day is a learning experience in the life of an epidemiologist.

Another thing about a new virus is that our bodies have no natural anti-bodies that fight this virus. For our entire lives we have been building up anti-bodies as we struggled through colds and flus and viruses, but not for this one. That is what makes it so contagious and THAT is why it is so dangerous. It is not as deadly as many other illnesses we suffer through each year, but it spreads so easily, and we have no natural immunity to it. Literally everyone who comes in contact with an infected person has a possibly of retaining that virus and will pass it on to others if care is not taken. Other health problems enable it to become more dangerous and even deadly to some.

As we become older our immune systems begin to weaken so that makes everyone over 60 more prone to get this virus. We aren’t as good at making those anti-bodies as we used to be. We are also more likely to have conditions which give the virus an extra boost. You can find more information on these health risks on the website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/ .

The biggest risk factors are the contagion factor and the absence of natural anti-bodies. If you are exposed to someone positive for COVID-19, you will probably get it. How it affects you depends on how healthy you are, how old you are and how you take care of yourself. That’s why you should wash your hands whenever you touch anything anyone else has touched. That’s pretty much everything. As some people can have the virus and show few or no symptoms, it is possible for you to pick up a bag of chips that an infected person had picked up and put back down and you will be exposed to the virus. Wash your hands or wipe your hands with a disinfectant wipe to remove that infection BEFORE you scratch your nose or adjust your glasses or rub your cheek. This will keep the virus from entering your body.

It is possible for you to come in contact with someone who is showing no symptoms and does not know they have been exposed and you then have the virus on your hands or clothes and you pass it to someone else before you know you are carrying it. They can do the same thus infecting a hundred people in a couple of days or less. Some of you might never show symptoms, some might think they have a cold and recover quickly. But someone with asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, a weakened immune system, diabetes and many more conditions that weaken their fighting powers will get sick and they may get sick enough to die. Wearing a cloth mask when you go out keeps you from passing a virus to someone else. It doesn’t need to be the kind the medical people are wearing, because are not going to be touching others and you are going to wash your hands, right. Wearing a mask is good to keep down the spread of the disease when you don’t know you might have been exposed.

This quarantine is shown to work, when it is practiced by everyone, but remember it only takes one person to expose hundreds if they aren’t careful. Like it or not, we are all in this together. Staying home is not a punishment. It is a gift you are giving to the others you care about. It won’t last forever, but it will last longer if people, all people don’t follow the recommendation of the doctors and quarantine yourself.

Meals to go are available at the high school Pavilion each weekday from 7:30 - 8:30 and from 11:30 – 12:30 for all students, Pre-K through 12. Also, a food backpack distribution for Rector students on Thursday from 11:30 – 12:30. Thanks to all the volunteers who pack and distribute these meals.

City employees still report to work to keep things moving like they should You may contact the city offices for assistance by email or by phone: Rector Police Department: 870-595-2423, Rector Fire Department: 870-595-3035, Rector District Court: 870-595-9805. The Clerk will be in the office to take calls Monday-Wednesday, 9am – 2pm. To make a payment of court fines. You can send via USPS to Rector District Court 409 S Stewart St. Rector AR 72461 or make a payment online at myfinepayment.com. City Hall/Rector Water Department/Rector Street Department: 870-595-3035. Payments will be accepted: Via the USPS: 409 S Stewart St. Rector AR 72461, Drop box. Please put payments and the small side of your bill in a sealed envelope with your name and address or account number. We do not recommend paying in cash but if that is your only option, please use as exact change as possible. Any monies paid over your bill will be credited to your next month’s bill. The drop box will be emptied periodically throughout the day, thru your banks online bill paying service. The banks mail checks to our office.

You will find more information about these closings on the website: www.rectorarkansas.com .

I again want to say thank you to everyone who is reaching out to others right now. We have so many ways to communicate now with our phones and our computers and tablets. We have the ability to see and talk to each other without being close together.

Did you complete your census? If you didn’t you will get another chance. Please fill it out. Our funding for the next ten years depends on you being counted today. You do want to be counted, don’t you?

That’s it for this week. I am always updating the Rector website. Please take a look at the web page and let me know if there are updates or that need to be made. I do take suggestions and criticism fairly well. www.rectorarkansas.com . It’s your page for your town, so give me your input.

What else is going on that you would like to see in this column? Give me a heads up and I will share it with everyone else. Email: porchswing@newwavecomm.net . Phone number (870) 595-4997.

God bless our troops.

Thank you to everyone who is making this quarantine a little bit easier.