Message from Club President Regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Hello all. It has been recently brought to my attention that some long-time regular players of the club are staying at home due to the concerns of the outbreak. Casual Chess Club and Jersey Mikes both understand that this measure is reasonable, and naturally we want everyone to be healthy, so we can continue playing chess for the enjoyment of the game, and have an occasional sandwich. Even though we cannot “force” people to stay at home, it will be understood that some players will still show up to play. However, as the outbreak continues and concerns grow more massive, we will update you on our course of action.
The club will be celebrating its 8th year next month, and I would personally love to see this club thrive through this time of uncertainty. I will continue to go to the Tuesday night meetings and keep a close eye on attendance. I personally have an idea to implement, but at this time, I have decided to monitor club attendance every week. I will follow up to this next month.
Thank you for visiting the Club’s website, and for being a member of the club!!! May your checkmates be many and your blunders be few.
– Chris Watkins, President of the Casual Chess Club
The attached letter is from Jersey Mikes regarding their approach to COVID-19.
Posted by Ed Magik on behalf of Peter Stein
I just received word that Jersey Mike’s management has decided to close tomorrow, the 17th. Please take notice of the signs posted to direct you to Dotty’s, approximately 100 footsteps towards the back of the strip mall, where we will meet for chess, behind Jersey Mikes. Dotty’s is a bar and there will be no one under the age of 21 permitted to join us. I apologize for this inconvenience. – Chris
Two excellent YouTube channels for comprehensive, clear, and timely information on COVID-19:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF9IOB2TExg3QIBupFtBDxg (Dr. John Campbell)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG-iSMVtWbbwDDXgXXypARQ (Dr. Roger Seheult)
Just look for the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) updates which are quite frequent.
Dr. Campbell just announced some very good news – the lockdowns in China and Italy are working! I fully expect us to eventually go on national lockdown as well. Until then or some other “all clear” from the CDC we should practice voluntary isolation to the greatest extent possible. This is a temporary phase that we’ll get past. Please lets be responsible and safe so that we all can continue to enjoy Casual Chess Club camaraderie for many years to come.
Pete – That’s good news indeed. I as well as millions of other people are now unemployed because of this. Mike (not Jersey Mike, but another one) just sent us an email about gathering at chess.com on Thursday night – a measure to keep the club still going.
Chris
There are other good news as well. Las Vegas has already opened one drive thru testing station (unfortunately it’s totally overwhelmed) with more becoming available soon (Walmart, Walgreens, CVS). The best news of all comes from a recent Trump press conference. The Coronavirus task force has announced their focus on promising treatments based on Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine (Chloroquine is a safe anti-malarial that has been around for 50+ years!). A recent Hydroxychloroquine trial had a 100% success rate in shutting down the virus, i.e. blocking virus replication. Trump has been effective in cutting red tape so that the FDA can fast track these treatments. I think it’s very possible that an effective treatment could be made available en masse by end of April. A vaccine is a ways off, but an effective treatment in conjunction with the arrival of hot weather and rigorous isolation could whip this thing so that it’s just a bad memory by the end of summer. Lets just follow the safety recommendations, keep our cool, and hunker down for now.
Here’s a video with a superb discussion/summary on Chloroquine as per my previous comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRgnQs6D1u8
As mentioned in the video Hydroxychloroquine goes by the brand name Plaquenil. Not surprisingly there already seems to be a shortage. Even if you can get your doctor to write a prescription it may be a while before it gets filled.
FYI, I’m treating myself with Zinc+Quercetin, the potential Zinc+Ionophore treatment mentioned in the MedCram videos. Does it work? I have no idea and make no claims. Since the human body greatly benefits from Zinc+Quercetin anyway and there is no known downside I reason that it’s better safe than sorry even if one isn’t COVID-19 positive. Zinc and Quercetin supplements are readily available on Amazon. I bought ZincCitrate which is cheap, but Citrate can cause digestive distress. ZincPicolinate is more expensive, but may be a better option for some. As always YMMV.
Regrettably there still seem to be some club members who either don’t get it or harbor a “damn the torpedoes” attitude. The Las Vegans among us who are being responsible are faced with yet another complication – how do I know whether my symptoms are COVID-19 or not? This is a very relevant question because Las Vegas frequently is the nation’s hot spot for allergies. We’ve had an allergy alert of “very high” for the last 3 weeks which has been making me and many others miserable. Those who have extreme allergy symptoms might get panicky and think it’s COVID-19. Everyone please watch this superb video which does a great symptom comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjWut_NRZII
As we all have more time on our hands there is no reason not to watch this video. The information might save lives and at a minimum will offer peace of mind to those anxious about their symptoms.
I hope this humor can encourage the spirit of the club since a pandemic has seem to stop most of us in our tracks.
Yes, I like it. In case some of you don’t understand the humor, the pieces are practicing Social Distancing. In regards to the Pandemic, we can only “meet” at chess.com on Thursdays. Mike will send out an email to the group whenever he organizes the next tournament, which for the last 2 weeks has been held on Thursday night at 6 o’clock (PST.) with the link to join.