Deaf schools and organizations keeping an eye on coronavirus
What is the sign for coronavirus? I’ve fingerspelled it in all of my reports, and it’s quite a long word to fingerspell. I’ve seen a sign being circulated in the deaf social media community, and I feel comfortable to use it because it has been widely used.
This is what the sign looks like. It makes perfect sense because the word “corona” is from a Latin word that means “crown” or “halo.” The virus has spikes on it. So this is the sign I’ll be using.
There are now over 250 cases in the U.S. There is constant breaking news updates with the coronavirus.
I asked “The Daily Moth” reporter Renca Dunn to collect information on how deaf communities, schools, and organizations are responding to the outbreak. Here it is.
RENCA DUNN:
I have collected some information and will list them here.
I will start off with going from the West Coast to the East and how they have responded. I have a list here in front of me.
The first is Washington state, one of the affected areas.
One person who works for Microsoft said that many teams have canceled their events and some were specifically told to work from home. King County (the Seattle area) declared a state of emergency and asked everyone to work from home if their job allows it. It seems to be very serious in that area.
Now we will go down to Vancouver where the Washington School for the Deaf is -- a community member said that the school remains open and does have a plan if something happens.
Moving towards the Northern California area where California School for the Deaf Fremont is, they said that CSDF is working closely with the California Department of Education and the state and county departments of public health as the situation evolves. Right now there are no plans to close the school.
Further down in Southern California where California School for the Deaf Riverside is, a community member mentioned that the school remains open as of now.
I checked with Iowa School for the Deaf since that Deaf school is right next to Omaha, Nebraska which is one of the most well-known places for their medical centers and research. ISD is working closely with the Pottawattamie County Public Health Department and the Iowa Department of Public Health to ensure the health and safety of students and staff. There are no plans of closing the school as of now.
Now, let’s move to Washington, D.C. where Gallaudet University is located. The university is responding with their Crisis Leadership Team and other university officials to monitor the coronavirus outbreak closely and are establishing procedures. Gallaudet is also restricting all official travel to China. They are offering counseling and psychological services. In addition with Gallaudet’s announcement, they mentioned that Gallaudet will be vigilant against any incidents of racism or xenophobic reactions against Asian or Asian-American individuals.
I also checked in with NTID/RIT- they have information posted on their website. Like Gallaudet, they are also monitoring the coronavirus outbreak closely to make sure the students and staff are safe. They have a task force team to handle this situation. There are no plans to close the university right now. On their website, you can see all the procedures and responses to various concerns.
I also looked into Lexington School for the Deaf website as New York is one of the affected states too. The school remains open. They are working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York Department of Education. They also posted a letter on their website from the NYC Health Department about how to practice flu prevention. If anything changes, they will post it on their website.
So that’s how Deaf schools and universities have responded.
Alex:
Thank you Renca for that report. We see that most schools and organizations are keeping an eye on what officials say, which makes sense.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/world/coronavirus-news.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage