By Steve Baker

On Wednesday, February 9, 2022, Denver/Lake Norman Rotary welcomed its own Jim Minor as its speaker. Jim has been a member for 7½ years and is currently serving the club as Sergeant-at-Arms. Jim spent fifty years in the medical field. and worked as a clinical pharmacist with the United States Public Health Services. Over the last year and a half, Jim has provided the club with updated information on the status of the Coronavirus and how it affects its members lives.

The coronavirus is believed to have started in December 19 in a lab in Wahau, China and has spread to every corner of the earth. This has caused millions of people to fall victim to the virus and contribute to many deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus a global risk of spread and its impact as "very high", the most serious designation the organization can give.

Some statistics from North Carolina and Lincoln County since the start of the coronavirus are:

North Carolina: 2,518,750 confirmed cases, 21,590 deaths

Lincoln County: 23,345 confirmed cases, 144 deaths

Coronavirus vaccines have been offered since late 2020. These are a series of three shots that are given over time These shots help in reducing the possibility of contracting the virus and reducing the severity of it. The thymus gland in your body produces the cells that are used to fight infection and produces the polyclonal cells There is now an additional treatment available that uses antibodies designed to attack the coronavirus and help it from becoming as severe. This treatment of monoclonal antibodies is performed via an infusion through an IV at one of the UNC infusion centers. The criteria for receiving this infusion treatment are 1) having a positive test for covid, 2) having mild symptoms for no more than seven days and 3) being age 65 years old or older or less than 65 years of age if subject to the following: diabetes, lung disease, heart disease or other forms of weakened immunity.

Jim talked about the Omicron variant that is now become a major problem. The Omicron variant is responsible for approximately 98% of the current coronavirus cases in the world. It appears to be affecting the upper respiratory area of the body and causing milder symptoms than the previous variants. Viruses constantly change through mutation and sometimes the mutations will result into a new variant. These new variants will continue to emerge but will be monitored by the CDC and other health organizations.

Jim finished his speech talking about the wearing of masks. This has been a very controversial subject since day one of the virus. Mask mandates have been mostly a decision for the states and for the counties within the states so that one county may have its school system with mask requirements while other school systems have mask requirements for students riding in their school bus. This has created a lot of miscommunication, disagreement, and continuous press coverage.

Regarding what which is the best mask to wear, Jim spoke about the N95 mask which is a particle filtering mask. The N95 represents that it has the capability to remove 95% of airborne particles. It has a welded strapping system, a soft fit and an adjustable nose clip which means that the N95 meets the United States National Institute of Safety and Health requirements. In late January 2022, the Biden Administration was set to release from The Strategic National Stockpile, 400 million N95 protective masks to be distributed to the public for free. The Strategic National Stockpile is part of the federal medical response infrastructure and can supplement medical countermeasures needed by states, tribal nations, territories and the largest metropolitan areas during public health emergencies.

Feel free to contact Jim if you have any questions.