Whitehall-Coplay Press

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) announced March 11 that several of its operating rooms will close to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

“COVID-19 is now in our community, and the disruption it has caused is unprecedented. When dealing with crisis situations as an emergency physician, the most valuable lesson I learned was: Do not panic. Fear is our enemy,” said Brian Nester, President and CEO of Lehigh Valley Health Network.

With the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) closing ArtsQuest’s SteelStacks’ and Banana Factory venues through March, the Bethlehem nonprofit has launched online concerts, movie talks, “Toddler Storytimes” and “Improvised Standup.”

The content is available on a new ArtsQuest@Home webpage: www.artsquest.org/athome, and on ArtsQuest social media.

“Over the past week, our staff has been busy working on ways that we can continue to bring the arts and live programming into everyone’s homes,” said ArtsQuest Chief Programming Officer Patrick Brogan.

A “Muhlenberg College 2020 Pennsylvania Public Health Poll: Coronavirus Report” found that 74 percent of Pennsylvania adults were either “very concerned” or “concerned” about the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States.

The poll was conducted March 2 - 16.

During the time of the survey, the percent of Pennsylvanians “very concerned” or “concerned” about the spread of the coronavirus increased from 67 percent between March 2 - 10 to 81 percent between March 11 - 16.

Other key survey findings:

Time is sure flying by at Camp Jefferson, as week six has come to an end. We had some fantastic weather during the week and a great field trip.

On Monday, exciting games like Fastest in the West and dodgeball were enjoyed by everyone. Some campers were enjoying the day by staying cool and making bracelets with colorful string, while other campers chose to play a basketball game against the counselors, which was definitely a sight to see. All of the campers were able to enjoy a great day at the pool and snack stand with their friends.

LV MUSEUM:

New York Times bestselling-author Peter Stark will recount George Washington’s formative early career in a lecture and book-signing for his recently-released book, “Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America’s Founding Father,” 1 p.m. Nov. 17, Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, 432 W. Walnut St., Allentown.

Q. My five-year-old son likes to play hide and seek, but it has started to become a problem because he will hide without telling me, whether at home or at the store. I become frantic trying to find him. He doesn’t always answer me when I call him, and I become afraid that he has gotten lost or that someone has taken him. When I do find him, he just laughs. I can’t get him to stop. What should I do: Put a leash on him when we go out?

Dear Jacquelyn,

Leaving a voicemail message makes me uncomfortable. I don’t know what to say and how much information to leave. Many times, when I hear the dreaded recording, I just figure, I’ll try again later when they’re there. When I do muster up the courage to leave a voicemail message, I tend to stumble a bit or I feel like I’m rambling on. How much information do I really need to leave? Any tips would be appreciated.

Q. My five-year-old daughter’s new best friend comes from a family with same-sex parents. I am stuck on how to begin to answer questions she may have about this. Can you help me with some pointers on how to handle the discussion?

The first reaction from the panel was that there is an assumption that the daughter is going to have questions about her friend’s parents.