Dr. Paul and Linda Daly speak to local Kiwanis Club members on traveling during the pandemic. Courtesy photo

BY BROOKE DAVIS
Los Alamos Kiwanis Club

On January 18, Kiwanian Linda Daly and her husband, Dr. Paul Daly gave a presentation to the Los Alamos Kiwanis Club on their travels to Hawaii during the coronavirus pandemic. They were visiting Linda’s elderly mother who is in an assisted living facility.

They noted that because Hawaii is isolated, the peaks in cases have been different than on the mainland. They gave several examples of what can be done to protect yourself from the virus, especially while travelling on an airplane, including: wear a mask, get vaccinated and boosted, wash your hands, and practice isolation and testing pre- and post-travel.

Dr. Daly then described the process by which a virus can spread. “Viruses survive by infecting the cells of other organisms”, he said. “When they attack, they penetrate a cell, inject their own RNA or DNA, and force the host-cell gene to produce viral proteins.”

He said experts are “monitoring viral activity throughout the world for changes in infection characteristics. What they find may affect recommendations by international and national agencies for prevention and treatment.”