In light of the Board’s decision to address the fast-growing spread of COVID-19 by suspending our Club’s meetings for at least the month of March, we wanted to share why we did so and what the Club leadership will be doing in the meantime.

Why We Made This Decision
The imperative now–for everyone–is to stay safe and healthy while taking action to promote the health and safety of others in our towns and around the world. That imperative drove our decision. We were guided, as always, by our purpose to create positive lasting change here at home, around the world and, probably most importantly, in ourselves.

The Club’s Board has been following the statements of credible medical authorities, specifically Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who seems to tell it straight regardless of the circumstances. Among our Board also are two physicians, Drs. Lana Zarlenga and Steve Baker. The first tenet of the Physician’s Oath is to “do no harm.” Given that the average age of our Members is well over 60, we quickly came to our unanimous decision—based on Lana’s and Steve’s unambiguous direction—to suspend all our regular meetings until the extent of COVID-19’s reach and physical impacts could be better known.

We were guided by a look forward into the next three weeks, rather than relying on the track of the disease over the last three. In other countries, the growth trend of infections looks to be almost exponential and, given the almost complete lack of data from testing so far in the US, we concluded that the risk of the virus probably being all around us, incubating undetected, was too great to proceed as normal.

The prospect of even one of our Members contracting the disease from a Rotary luncheon or happy hour was unacceptable to us. One infection would probably mean several more within a Club that includes many individuals deemed “vulnerable” by the CDC. Inaction would risk not only their health but perhaps that of a broader population within our towns. Those potential outcomes did not justify a complacent response.

And so we will not meet until some credible data on the track of the disease comes into focus.

What’s Happening Now
Like everyone, we are paying close attention to the news while attempting to take it all in to take effective action. Even since Wednesday when we made the decision, a slew of local and national events have been cancelled. Employees are being encouraged to work from home if possible. Gov. Whitmer has closed the schools until at least April 6th.

An ad hoc local leadership group has been convened to share information and ideas. Our Club was invited to contribute to that effort. We will keep you informed of any relevant information or decisions that group makes.

What Rotarians Can Do Now
There’s a lot of uncertainty out there, and a lot of breathless “Breaking News,” while the direction from national leadership is hesitant and contradictory. The country still lacks reliable diagnostic testing and the associated data that would allow more informed decision making. Despite all this uncertainty, there are some basic and incredibly important things for each of us to do. Click here for the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Controls on how to mitigate the spread of the disease here at home.

We recommend practicing “social distancing” for the rest of the month. We’re limiting our time around others, avoiding crowded places (especially indoors) and taking lots of walks and bike rides to slow down our pace so that we might contribute to a slowing of the spread of the virus. And we’re washing our hands a lot, too.

These actions, and others like them, are the key for all of us in Rotary now. Everyone, especially Rotarians, should be adopting an attitude of service to others as we try to protect ourselves, too. If we do, we can play a role in “flattening the curve” of the progression of COVID-19. Here’s some detailed information on that vital service, but in a nutshell we must try to avoid actions that lead to a quick and steep progression of the virus. That will overwhelm our medical resources, putting many people at risk of death. If we commit to act in ways that slow down and extend the progression of the virus on a shallower curve, our health care professionals can manage through this crisis. This is “Service Above Self” that each of us can agree to now.

What’s Next
Members from the Board will keep you updated with (much shorter) messages in the coming month. Once we get some sense of an “all clear,” we’ll resume our meetings.

Please accept our heartfelt best wishes during this stressful and uncertain time.

Stay well and God bless you and everyone you love.