Posted by John Dean on May 14, 2020
The Rotary Club of San Francisco convened for another “virtual meeting” on May 12, 2020. President Casey Blair (Financial Services: Private Trading | KCB Trading, LLC) called the meeting to order at 12:15 PM with over 55 participants joining via Zoom.  
 
Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) began with a “Thought for the Day”. He noted that today is the 75th Anniversary of “VE Day” commemorating the Allied victory in the European theater during World War II. Jim noted that he is a veteran, having served a total of 18 years (2 years Active, 16 years Reserve) in the US Navy, including two tours in Vietnam. He urged everyone to suggest that their children and grandchildren consider military service, as it offers an opportunity to serve our country while also providing long-term educational and other financial benefits. Jim added that his office supply firm, Patrick & Co., is open once again for business. 
 
President Casey highlighted several recent events:
 
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): The San Francisco Rotary Foundation donated funds to several pandemic-related causes. Among these programs, Dr. Lily Muldoon (Healthcare: Physician | University of California, San Francisco) spearheaded a project to secure PPE for medical professionals and first responders. As part of the project, Club members including Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | Vanguard Properties/JM Real Estate Group) and family, Tim Hornbecker (Non-Profit Management| Retired) and his wife, Bill Poppen (Banking: Management| MUFG Union Bank) and Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing | GRANTdog), Dan Joraanstad (Financial Services: Advising | Retired) and Bob Hermann (Information Technology: Management | Retired) assembled protective face shields. Lily presented a brief video from the staff at San Francisco General Hospital, thanking everyone for the PPE and for sheltering in place during this crisis. 
 
Salvation Army Food Delivery:  A number of Club members have been assisting the Salvation Army in packing and delivering meals to homeless encampments around the City. To thank the hard workers at the Salvation Army, our Club donated Blue Line pizza meals. (Story on the pizza meals will appear in a future issue of Grindings.)
 
Collage and Cocktails:  Christopher Wiseman (Event Planning | Glaucoma Research Foundation) organized a Friday evening “Collage and Cocktails” virtual event. This was a great way to stay in touch, enjoy a beverage and de-stress. Another one will be scheduled soon.
 
First Five Rotary Clubs meeting: See the last paragraph here for details and a video.
 
ALPS Bread Head Project: The Action Leadership Program for Students group at Oakland Technical High School partnered with the Bread Head Project. The students baked bread, which was then delivered to senior centers, food pantries and other charitable organizations in Oakland.  
 
Rotarian of the Month
President Casey presented Steve Lindstrom (Software Engineering | Chairish.com) as “Rotarian of the Month”. Although Steve joined the Club only recently, he has quickly immersed himself in a variety of projects. Steve is especially active with youth, serving on the Youth Services Committee and as an ALPS mentor. Congratulations, Steve!
 
Vocational Services
Vice President of Vocational Services Mary Liu announced that the Vocational Services Committee would be hosting a virtual “Nonprofit Roundtable” on May 29. This will be a Zoom meeting, and will offer a chance for those working in the nonprofit sector to share strategies and insights during these challenging times. Mary also noted that she, Christopher Wiseman, and several other Club members assisted the San Francisco Unified School District recently in a vocational program for students.
 
New Members Inducted
Vice President of Membership Dan Joranstaad introduced and inducted two new members to the Club:
 
Billy Funkhouser (Financial Services: Advising | Wells Fargo Advisors), son of Clark Funkhouser, recently graduated from the University of Kansas and is working at Wells Fargo Advisors. He is interested in becoming involved in community service and finding ways to give back to the community. His mentor is Allan Herzog (Financial Services: Advising | Wells Fargo Advisors).
 
Nancy Graydon (Development | Glaucoma Research Foundation) is Executive Director of Development at the Glaucoma Research Foundation. She joins Tom Brunner (Nonprofit Management | Glaucoma Research Foundation) and Christopher Wiseman under the auspices of the Glaucoma Research Foundation’s new corporate membership. Nancy's mentor is Lisa Christian (Development | Community Housing Partnership). Welcome to both of you!
 
Guest Speaker
Dr. Lily Muldoon introduced today’s guest speaker, Andrea Tenner MD, MPH, FACEP. Dr. Tenner’s topic was “COVID De-Coded: Pandemic Response in the Bay Area.” Dr. Tenner has worked throughout the world in various pandemics such as Ebola and SARS, as well as in disaster relief. She noted that the current COVID-19 crisis was not unforeseen: epidemiologists throughout the world have been warning of the possibility of a worldwide pandemic for years.
 
Dr. Tenner indicated that many viruses emerge from Asia, most likely due to two factors:  population density and close interaction with animals. To put COVID-19 into perspective, the SARS epidemic ten years ago only killed 800 people worldwide. By comparison, COVID-19 has already killed 80,000 in the United States alone. She attributed the lower SARS death rate to the fact that the virus was identified early, there was extensive international cooperation within the scientific community, and there was extensive contact tracing.

Dr. Tenner stated that the key to understanding COVID-19 is in the numbers: How contagious is it How deadly is it? With Ebola, there was typically a 50% - 80% death rate. Since it was so deadly, those infected typically were not able to spread it among many other people. Those infected were quickly incapacitated and died. COVID-19 appears to have a death rate between 1% - 3%. It is not particularly deadly. However, it spreads easily, and those infected often show little or no symptoms. As a result, it spreads exponentially. It is estimated that 80% of those infected with COVID-19 have mild symptoms, and only 5% of all those infected will require hospitalization.
 
Another key item is that COVID-19 is particularly dangerous for those over age 60. For those age 40 or younger, the COVID-19 death rate appears to be 1%. But consider if COVID-19 infects 30 million people all under age 40, and even 1% need medical intervention such as a ventilator or ICU bed, that is 300,000 patients. There are not 300,000 ventilators in the world.

Keep in mind that for people over age 50, the mortality rate for COVID-19 climbs dramatically. And it is even higher for those 65 and older. This practical reality (the potential for health systems around the world to simply be overwhelmed) has fueled the obsession with “flattening the curve” and reducing the infection rate.  

In San Francisco, we have had great results, far better than New York City. San Francisco started social distancing and shelter-in-place early, and the spread of the virus was slowed. New York City hospitals were simply overwhelmed. One sobering statistic: those COVID-19 patients in New York City who were placed on ventilators had a 90% mortality rate versus under 10% in San Francisco. In some New York hospitals, it was reported that one ICU nurse had to handle up to nine patients on ventilators. 
 
What must be done now?
1. Social distancing is critical. Without it, COVID-19 spreads exponentially. Dr. Tenner believes social distancing will be the norm for the next one to two years.
2. Contact tracing: Once someone is found to be infected, identify and test everyone they have been in contact with. Only then, can we isolate those infected and prevent further spread of the virus.
3. Build capacity in the system by setting up alternative care sites for low acuity patients, saving beds in hospitals for those more seriously affected.  
 
In appreciation for her timely presentation, President Casey announced that 100 children would be inoculated from polio in Dr. Tenner’s name.
 
PRLS Training 
Dora Dye (Education: Community College | City College of San Francisco) announced that Rotary’s “Potential Rotary Leadership Seminars” would likely resume soon, possibly on a virtual basis while the “shelter-in-place” continues. She encouraged anyone interested in taking on a leadership role within Rotary, or simply improving their leadership and speaking skills, to consider the program. Announcements should be coming soon on the District's calendar.
 
$20 for 20
  • Tim Hornbecker announced that he was celebrating both his 75th birthday and 60 months of marriage.  
  • Billy Funkhouser donated $20 in honor of his induction into the Club today. 
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.