Covid 19: February-March-April 2020

Late February 2020

I am hearing rumors of this virus that was “taking over China.”  They are saying it had originated from a city named Wuhan, and that it came from live animals sold at a “Wet Market.” It was quite possibly a bat (currently the only flying mammal). Lots of Chinese were getting very sick with it, and China was beginning lockdowns. There are rumors that China had known about it since January (or maybe December) and had said nothing about it to “save face.” There are also rumors that the virus had originated in a lab. But at this point, it is just chatter. No one thinks it will come to the U.S.  However, if it does, we will deal with it.

At the end of February I spent a week in California with good friends Sandee, Grace and Gay. We were all oblivious as to what was soon to come.

March 2020

I am really beginning to hear a lot about this “coronovirus.” I had my nails done on March 10.  While there, I asked my manicurist if she was worried about it, and if there were any cases in Vietnam. She didn’t know of any, and wasn’t concerned about it. I scheduled another appointment for April 6. (I’d end up cancelling it toward the end of March).

I hear that the first known case of the virus was here in Washington, brought in by someone that had traveled back from China. Subsequently, several people became ill at a care facility in King County (near Seattle). They became infected due to community contacts. At the time the person was unaware that he had the virus.

There is talk that schools and businesses could soon be closed. Day by day, the news is changing. It begins to dawn on me that this is something serious.

March 13 and then March 23

The pandemic, now described as “COVID 19” or simply “COVID,” is spreading in Washington.

On March 13, Governor Jay Inslee directed that all schools in Washington close down until March 23. It was prevalent in the Seattle area (King County). This was the week before Spring Break. Governor Inslee  subsequently issued a statewide “Stay at Home Order” that began on March 23.  Life, as we knew it, had changed.

At first, Lynn and I continued seeing son Brian, his wife Vicki, and the grandkids. But we hunkered down the rest of the time, caught up in the fact that we were in the designated risk group due to our age and my asthma. A week later (toward the end of March), we thought …. well, maybe we need to REALLY SOCIAL DISTANCE. Plus the Governor is adamant that we only be with our household members. This did not mean extended family, dinner parties, etc. So Lynn and I decided to fully comply, and “social distance” ourselves from all of our family and friends. For the most part, the mechanics of adjusting to our daily life restrictions wasn’t too hard for us, given that we are introverts. However, it was tough not spending time with our kids and grandkids and we aren’t looking forward to that lack of connection.

I am now starting to do some research and am paying more attention to current events. I decided to avoid cable TV and social media (although I am not always successful), and focus on the President’s and Washington State Governor Inslee’s press conferences,  the WHO, Washington Department of Health, and CDC.

I am listening to The Politics Guys , and Coronavirus: Fact VS Fiction podcasts.

I am also keeping a journal in my phone’s Notes application. The following statements keep me grounded and focused:

The selflessness of one to benefit the many. Sovereignty. Relax privacy issues during a crisis as it is temporary. …..WHO press conference

In the end it will be impossible to know if we overreacted and did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under-reacted or did too little.

Good enough never is.

Social Distancing and Other Guidelines

Social distancing is now defining who we are as people, albeit in varying degrees.  I am coming to understand the way social distancing works. What it means and why it’s important can be difficult to grasp.

What is known at this time is that it can take up to 14 days for an infected person to show COVID 19 symptoms. So if someone was infected on March 31st, they might not even know they are infected until April 14th. If this person stays home, following the stay at home order if they can, they will prevent a continuing spread among the population and possibly only their household will become infected, which can be controlled as well. That is why this process can take weeks and it is vital people stay at home if at all possible. If, however, an infected person can’t or doesn’t stay home, the person could come in contact with many which makes contact tracing more difficult.  I am hearing that the complication is that a person may not know they are infected. Some people either don’t get symptoms right away or get mildly sick (thinking they have a cold). So … the likelihood of infecting others increases. In a short time, the footprint can get quite large.

Following social distancing guidelines helps those that are in essential jobs such as medical professionals, public safety, etc. They are our front-line heroes. Being careful will decrease the likelihood of them becoming infected.

Also, other behaviors such as washing hands for 20 seconds, wiping down surfaces, and keeping hands away from face were strongly recommended. The sort of hygienic decisions we should be making anyway.

Lynn and I made a commitment to keep our “footprint” as small as possible.

Lots of Hoarding

People are hoarding  toilet paper, cleaning wipes, hand sanitizers and soaps, and other paper products. People are looking for masks, too. Stores are doing their best to stock their shelves and keep their equipment safe. Lynn was bringing hand sanitizer home with each shopping trip. I wonder if I will end up giving some of it away.

Mid- to the End of April

West Coast governors are collaborating on the best way to relax social distancing when safe, since their COVID 19 case stats are generally in lockstep. I think this was good … working together seems to make more sense.

OK …. I Am Done!

People are becoming more outspoken and agitated. Some of this is due to people being bored, tired of staying at home, or suffering due to unemployment or business closure.  A month is one thing, but now people need to go back to work as their circumstances become crippling. People are starting to take sides, and they are using social media to voice their opinions.

People began arguing that COVID 19 was “just another flu” and that there were more cases and deaths from the flu. Guess we will know how true that is as time goes on.

The WHO started getting a bad rap on social media and President Trump (POTUS) is expressing his anger at them. A lot of this has to do with the overall consensus that China was slow in notifying the world about this possible pandemic. President Trump has now withdrawn all funding for WHO, as they were perceived to be sympathetic to China. I’m not sure how I feel about this; not enough unbiased information to convince me either way. Is it a political move to redirect responsibility away from POTUS? I don’t think the timing is good to withdraw, though. During a new pandemic? Really?

Trump Trumpets

POTUS is tweeting his support of Open Up protestors and Go Back to Work statements. It’s understandable how this resonates with those that are suffering economically. I have to remind myself that I have the luxury of a steady retirement income.

A flurry of fake news is also beginning, such as criticizing Bill Gates and accusing him of all sorts of high crimes; debunking Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birks (both part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force); blaming whatever could be blamed on the Republicans or the Democrats, depending on the politics of the blamer; and promoting narratives put out by politically-motivated sources and other doctors. I am choosing to not pay attention to any of this.

Billions in small business loans and other help for small businesses passed Congress,  and an economic stimulus was released. This is a miracle, considering that consensus is not part of either party’s agenda these days.

A power struggle is occurring between the POTUS and the Governors. My opinion is that this is due to the unhelpful and sometimes destructive statements put out in press conferences by POTUS, along with his many tweets.  The governors focus on what will be needed to allow businesses to gradually open up, while encouraging social distancing, which appeared to be working. They are following the guidance provided by the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Washington Governor Inslee keeps saying that the stay at home initiative is based on science and must be followed. And, the members of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force also say this. The President is making comments that are political in nature, and I am seeing on social media that he is inciting people. I am deciding to focus on the Governor as my “guiding light” and am only going to listen to POTUS press releases in order to know firsthand what he and his advisors are saying. Below are some quotes that influenced my thinking:

Trumpianism: 

…”We bought a tremendous amount of … hydroxychloroquine, which I think is, you know, it’s a great malaria drug. It’s worked unbelievably, it’s a powerful drug on malaria. And there are signs that it works on [coronavirus], some very strong signs. And in the meantime, it’s been around a long time, and also works very powerfully on lupus. So there are some very strong, powerful signs, and we’ll have to see. Because again, it’s being tested now, this is a new thing that just happened to us, the invisible enemy, we call it.

… It’s a very strong, powerful medicine, but it doesn’t kill people. We have some very good results and some very good tests. You’ve seen the same test that I have. In France, they had a very good test. But we don’t have time to go and say, gee, let’s take a couple of years and test it out. And let’s go and test with the test tubes and the laboratories. We don’t have time. I’d love to do that.”

Trump goes on and on, promoting himself and saying the same thing over and over. He says “wait a little bit longer …. not much!” How can he say that …. and then there is the infamous disinfectant advice given at a press conference on April 23 …. yes, I heard it firsthand, what he said . . .  when he said it . . .  here’s some direct quotes:

“A question that probably some of you are thinking of if you’re totally into that world, which I find to be very interesting. So, supposedly we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light, and I think you said that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that, too. Sounds interesting, right?”

“And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that, so that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me. So, we’ll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute. That’s pretty powerful.”

Later, Trump clarified his comments after a reporter asked  whether disinfectants could actually be injected into COVID-19 patients.

“It wouldn’t be through injections, almost a cleaning and sterilization of an area. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t work, but it certainly has a big effect if it’s on a stationary object.”

Later, he said he was “being sarcastic” but it was not clear what part of that discussion he was characterizing as a “sarcastic question” to reporters.

And then there’s the full text of his sunlight gaffe: