Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, April 25, 2020

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 25, 2020 

COMPASSION CONNECTION DIGNITY

Food Pantry Reopens on Tuesday, April 28

Friends in Deed is an interfaith organization that provides supportive services to meet basic 
human needs, so our homeless and at-risk neighbors can rebuild their lives.

We are very happy to announce that our Food Pantry will reopen on Tuesday, April 28. We will be 
distributing our food on the usual Food Pantry days, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 10:00a to 3:00p, 
and Thursday, from 10:00a to 1:00p. We will be distributing pre-packaged bags at this time and for the 
foreseeable future.

If you are interested in helping us serve not only the community that used our food pantry before the 
coronavirus outbreak, but also all of those affected by it (unemployed, hours cut, no paycheck), we need 
to keep our food shelves stocked. Please click on Friends In Deed – Needed Foods to find out what we 
need. While the “Gold Items” are always in demand, even during normal times, we need all shelf stable 
foods at this time. If you have any questions, please email Tim, pantry@friendsindeedpas.org, or Stacey, 
pantryassociate@friendsindeedpas.org.

DONATIONS ONLY ACCEPTED ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, FROM 8:30A TO 4:00P

LA COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTS TWO 
DUARTE SENIOR HEALTH FACILITIES HAVE 
CASES OF COVID 19

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is reporting that two senior 
healthcare facilities in Duarte have patients and/or staff that have tested positive for 
COVID-19. The two facilities that have reported positive tests are Santa Teresita Nursing 
Home and the Monte Vista Healthcare Center. The City and County are working 
closely to prevent the further spread of the virus into the community at large. Approximately 
1/3 of Duarte’s population is over 55 and the community is home to nine different 
senior living facilities. These include nursing homes, 55 and over housing, and 
assisted living environments. 

To ensure the safety of this demographic and the community at large, County public 
health is providing daily interactions with a Public Health Nurse to communicate with 
the staff to provide regular infection control recommendations including insuringon 
site staff is properly trained and has the necessary equipment to prevent the spread. 
Specifically, actively identifying and isolating possible COVID patients, monitoring 
healthcare personnel regularly for possible exposure, and preparing to successfully 
manage, if necessary, a larger outbreak. 

Overt changes in facility operations will include symptom screenings such as temperature 
checks for all; limiting access points to the facility, ensuring all facility personnel 
and visitors regularly wear face masks throughout the facility, with medical grade 
masks reserved for healthcare professionals and residents that are COVID-19-positive 
or assumed to be positive.

For the community at large, the County’s “Safer at Home” order continues to provide 
guidelines that, over time, are slowing the spread of COVID-19 in the region. For 
this reason, wearing face masks when leaving home to perform essential activities, frequently 
washing hands, staying home whenever possible and practicing safe physical 
distancing are just as important now as ever before.

For additional information on the status of the virus in Duarte or the County at large, 
visit the LAC DPH website at http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/coronavirus/ 


HOW LONG DOES THE 
CORONAVIRUS LIVE 
ON SURFACES?

The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 mainly 
spreads from person to person. When someone 
who is infected coughs or sneezes, they 
send droplets containing the virus into the air. 
A healthy person can then breathe in those 
droplets. You can also catch the virus if you 
touch a surface or object that has the virus on it 
and then touch your mouth, nose, or eyes.

Coronavirus: What you Need to Know

The coronavirus can live for hours to days on 
surfaces like countertops and doorknobs. How 
long it survives depends on the material the 
surface is made from.

Here's a guide to how long coronaviruses -- 
the family of viruses that includes the one that 
causes COVID-19 -- can live on some of the 
surfaces you probably touch on a daily basis. 
Keep in mind that researchers still have a lot 
to learn about the new coronavirus that causes 
COVID-19. For example, they don't know 
whether exposure to heat, cold, or sunlight affects 
how long it lives on surfaces.

Metal 

Examples: doorknobs, jewelry, silverware

5 days

Wood 

Examples: furniture, decking

4 days

Control Spread of Coronavirus

As COVID-19 spreads, what habits should 
we practice in our daily lives to avoid infecting 
others? WebMD’s Chief Medical Officer, 
John Whyte, speaks with U.S. Surgeon General 
Jerome Adams to address common questions 
and misinformation about this virus.

ABOUT

Plastics 

Examples: packaging like milk containers and 
detergent bottles, subway and bus seats, backpacks, 
elevator buttons

2 to 3 days

Stainless steel 

Examples: refrigerators, pots and pans, sinks, 
some water bottles

2 to 3 days

Cardboard 

Examples: shipping boxes

24 hours

Copper 

Examples: pennies, teakettles, cookware

4 hours

Aluminum 

Examples: soda cans, tinfoil, water bottles

2 to 8 hours

Glass 

Examples: drinking glasses, measuring cups, 
mirrors, windows

Up to 5 days

Ceramics 

Examples: dishes, pottery, mugs

5 days

Paper 

The length of time varies. Some strains of coronavirus 
live for only a few minutes on paper, 
while others live for up to 5 days.

Food

Coronavirus doesn't seem to spread through 
exposure to food. Still, it's a good idea to wash 
fruits and vegetables under running water before 
you eat them. Scrub them with a brush or 
your hands to remove any germs that might be 
on their surface. Wash your hands after you 
visit the supermarket. If you have a weakened 
immune system, you might want to buy frozen 
or canned produce.

Water

Coronavirus hasn't been found in drinking water. 
If it does get into the water supply, your local 
water treatment plant filters and disinfects 
the water, which should kill any germs.

Coronaviruses can live on a variety of other 
surfaces, like fabrics and countertops. One 
study tested the shoe soles of medical staff in a 
Chinese hospital intensive care unit (ICU) and 
found that half were positive for nucleic acids 
from the virus. But it’s not clear whether these 
pieces of the virus cause infection. The hospital’s 
general ward, which had people with milder 
cases, was less contaminated than the ICU.

Source: COVID-19

FREE TESTING SITES SGV

The City of Los Angeles, in partnership with 
the County of Los Angeles and CORE (Community 
Organized Relief Effort), is providing 
free COVID-19 testing to Los Angeles County 
residents.

For the general public, testing is currently 
available only for people with symptoms, such 
as fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Anyone 
with COVID-19 symptoms can now book 
a same or next day appointment.

For certain critical front-line workers, testing 
is available even if you are not experiencing 
symptoms.

1. El Monte - San Gabriel Valley Airport 
(4233 Santa Anita Ave., El Monte, CA 91731)

2. Pasadena Testing Site (1001 Rose Bowl 
Dr., Pasadena, CA 91103)

3. Glendale Memorial Hospital (222 W. 
Eulalia St., Glendale, CA 91204)

All Things By Jeff Brown

 Buddhists are taught to meditate on their own deaths-to visualize the end. and reflect on the 
inevitable. Reminding yourself of your mortality isn’t a morbid exercise: it serves as a spiritual 
face slap, meant to heighten your appreciation of the current moment, to put small worries and 
irritations in perspective, to wake you to the reality that our time here is limited. The coronovirus 
pandemic is not a drill; it has brought great suffering and death to humanity. But if we are 
to extract any value or meaning from the scourge, it must be in the clarity it can provide about 
what really matters. Hiding out from the virus at home is terribly frustrating. Still, I've notice a 
greater sweetness in everything not denied me. My love and appreciation for my cellmates, my 
wife, Karla, and my dog, Teddy, have enhanced despite the 24/7 togetherness. Our grown daughters' 
texts and phone calls are even more precious than before, bringing little heartburns if relief 
and affection. Fondness floods me when I see friends and coworkers faces on Zoom. Food-even 
third day leftovers- is more delicious now that I acquire it at some risk, without the certainty 
it will be there tomorrow. The buds, blossoms, and birdsongs of spring are more thrilling this 
year, their promise of renewal more desperately needed. The other day, as I was bicycling to get 
some air and light(and slow my inevitable decay),I found that every runner and cyclist I passed 
gave a cheery wave rich in fellow feeling. One woman jogger smiled at me, a stranger, with such 
genuine warmth I was startled. "Hi" she called out as I rolled by, in recognition of our shared 
predicament: escaped prisoners trying to wring some joy from a spring day. How can we fell 
gratitude at this dark time, amid a planet wide crisis unlike any in our lifetime? How can we not? 
Nothing, we've been reminded, is guaranteed. Nothing should be taken for granted. By William 
Falk, Editor of "The Week" Reflecting on Earth Day 2020


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com