What the Atlantic missed about our area’s virus response

The Atlantic published an article last week about San Francisco Mayor London Breed and how her early efforts kept her city from suffering the COVID-19 nightmare that engulfed New York City.

Naturally, the article has received lots of negative feedback in the Bay Area — especially here in Santa Clara County — for its depiction of Breed as singlehandedly calling the nation’s first shelter-in-place order.

Yeah, that’s not how I remember it, either.

There’s nothing new about East Coast media viewing the entire Bay Area as San Francisco, a city of about 900,000 people, surrounded by a suburb of 5 million. San Francisco — with its history, its culture and its skyline — is still what most people who don’t live here picture when they think of the Bay Area. (And we do it, too: “L.A.” seems to be the catch-all for everything between Santa Barbara and San Diego.)

But the article’s slighting of Santa Clara County isn’t its biggest sin. By exaggerating Breed’s role, it misses the collaboration among Bay Area public health officials that helped flatten the curve in the entire region, not just San Francisco. It was the public health officers of six Bay Area counties, led by Santa Clara County’s Dr. Sara Cody, who ordered the shelter in place on March 16.

And while the Atlantic makes a big deal about Breed declaring a state of emergency because of the looming pandemic on Feb. 25, it’s worth noting that Santa Clara County did so on Feb. 10.

During this crisis, there has been unprecedented — if not always smooth — cooperation among Bay Area cities and counties on topics like closing schools and parks, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry and providing financial support through initiatives such as Silicon Valley Strong. There’s been such coordination that the ragged way Bay Area counties announced face-covering orders last week has seemed downright unusual.

Cindy Chavez, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, has grown a thick skin about the South Bay playing second fiddle to our neighbors to the north. But this is no time for finger-pointing or competition among cities, she says.

“Our continued collective action is what is working and what will lead us out of this,” she said. “The message I want to get out is that by working together, we’re saving lives.”

And Cody, who consulted with public health officers Scott Morrow in San Mateo County and Tomas Aragon in San Francisco before making the historic shelterin-place decision, embodies that collaborative spirit, Chavez said.

“She is always the first one to say, ‘It’s not me, it’s all of us working together,’ ” Chavez said. “Her acknowledgement of her colleagues is very real.”

The Bay Area has managed to stay on message by speaking with one voice. The Atlantic seems to think that voice belonged to London Breed, but that wasn’t the case. It was a chorus.

SHELTER IN POETRY >> San Jose State’s Poets and Writers Coalition is moving this year’s Legacy of Poetry Day Reading and Celebration online with its “premiere” on Youtube on Thursday. And, yes, this year’s event will focus on current events with the theme, “Staying Home: The Way to San Jose,” with poetry inspired by journeys to the Santa Clara Valley or coping with sheltering in place.

Former Santa Cruz Poet Laureate Ellen Bass, who is San Jose State’s Connie and Robert Lurie Distinguished Author-in-residence for 2021, will provide the keynote. She will be joined by featured readers including Janice Lobo Sapigao, Santa Clara County’s new poet laureate; spoken-word artist Tshaka Campbell; journalist and poet Gary Singh; and former Santa Clara County poets laureate Sally Ashton, Arlene Biala and Mighty Mike Mcgee. The Legacy of Poetry webcast will start at 4 p.m.

There’s also a poetry contest the public can enter that takes its cue from the CDC’S recommendation that people frequently wash their hands for at least 20 seconds. You can submit an original poem in any style — or send in your favorite from a poet from any literary period — as long as it can be read in 20 to 30 seconds. (So T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is out, I’m afraid.)

San Jose State’s English Department will collect poems submitted to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with the tag #Best20secondpoemssjsu through May 1.

GOOD DEED DEPT. >> We obviously can’t thank our health care workers enough during this crisis, but food goes a long way. Last Thursday, Heritage Bank of Commerce in San Jose supplied about 250 meals to the emergency department staff at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. And to make sure nobody was missed, the food was divided into three deliveries throughout the day to catch all the shifts.

Also on the food front, Jim Thomas of Eli Thomas Menswear stopped by Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara with a batch of chocolate chip cookies for the staff. Now, Jim and his wife, Josephine, are recruiting their neighbors to put their ovens to use and keep the health care workers in chocolate chips.

But food isn’t the only thing that’s essential to good health — companionship, even the virtual kind, is needed by many.

That’s why Saratoga High School freshman Samika Agarwal has called on some of her friends to make video calls to senior citizens who might be feeling isolated and just want a friendly face to talk to. Samika has 15 volunteers so far who are talking to several older folks.

They also have teamed up with a company that provides home services to the elderly and two retirement communities.

If you want to get involved or know a senior who could use a call, contact Samika at samika7agarwal@gmail.com.