Our Club President and Board have temporarily suspended our club meetings through April 13 following guidelines from the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and recommendations from Rotary International, Rotary District 6460, and state and local health authorities, which all suggest that reducing social contact will help reduce the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The Covid-19 virus (image provided by the US Department of State.gov) is a new virus that is spread through coughing, sneezing, and contact with affected surfaces. It  is highly contagious and can be fatal, especially in older individuals with serious health conditions. Because of the spread of coronavirus to large numbers of individuals across multiple countries, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic. It has been documented in numerous countries, across the United States, and in Illinois, including Springfield. Governor Pritzker has temporarily closed public and private schools, restaurants, bars, and other public venues across the state to reduce crowd sizes and spread of the virus. The University of Illinois system and other colleges and universities have transitioned to online classes. We are doing our part to protect the health and well being of our members and that of other people in our community by temporarily suspending our meetings. The Board has also implemented a plan to reduce the financial impact on Maldaner's from the temporary suspension of our meetings. The Board will decide in mid-April whether it is safe to resume our meetings in April. We will be rescheduling many of the speakers slated for the period of closure later this year. In the meantime, we are launching a new e-Newsletter to keep you engaged and informed.