My Corona Virus Diary Part 5

Today is just as grim as ever. According to the John Hopkins University coronavirus map, there are now 244,421 cases of infection worldwide. There have been 10,027 deaths and only 86,025 recoveries.

At times like this, you wonder how your loved ones are, your family and friends. I am fortunate to have many friends scattered all over. Hearing from them is reassuring. It also gives me glimpses into what is going on in their corner of the world.

Italy now has had more deaths (3,405) than China (3,132). Yikes! I have not heard from my friend Mauro or his family who live there, but I have heard from my friend Andrey. He is staying inside, but is feeling the pinch of not having an income.

"I start the second week without work," he says. "Money (is) going fast. It's very bad."

Walter, in Colombia, finally got back to me, over his "flu."

"I'm fine," he says "Apparently it was a normal flu."

I told him of the news that Colombia had declared a state of emergency over the virus. He blamed it on his "useless president who does not want to close airports (to) international flights."

"Right now Medellin (the city he lives in) is in the red zone," he says.

I again reminded him to stay inside, avoid people and to wash his hands often.

"I'm doing that and I'm asking you the same," he says. "Remember the photo you sent of the supermarkets? Here they are the same."

Still no word from Rosa (England) or Elnur (Russia) --- but I know they have far more important issues in their lives than to check in with me. But I worry.

Stateside, I've been hearing from friends all over the country. Anita, who works as a nurse in an oncology clinic in the San Francisco Bay Area, told me that things were okay there, for the most part.

"We have canceled all our non-urgent patients who have stable scans," she says. "I literally have one patient to see on Friday morning."

Although she has been working from home, apparently her manager is unhappy with this. But this health situation is not Anita's or any of her co-workers fault. Still her manager is not keen on the "work at home" thing.

"She would rather we take our pto (vacation time) and stay home, which nobody wants to do," she says.

My friend Erich, who is also in the Bay Area, called a while ago.

"Welcome to the Soviet Union," he says as I answer the phone.

He detailed his recent trip to Safeway. He said there was a line to get in (not much social distancing going on there either), as the store was only letting in a limited number of shoppers at a time.

Inside, the shelves were better stocked than on his previous visit. However, an overhead announcement kept telling shoppers that if they wanted a frozen item, they could only chose one. Fresh meat? You could only take one. Canned goods? Just one. One was the limit on everything.

"While I understand the logic and reasoning behind this decision, it does reinforce the notion that things are no longer the same," he says. "Frightening, disheartening, and a rude slug-in-the-gut of reality."

Mark is a former classmate of mine and a nurse in the emergency room in a hospital in Sonora, CA. He says his hospital is ramping up in preparation for the virus.

"Our emergency department has been nuts," he writes.  "Starting tonight the hospital is on lockdown and all patients coming in must have their temperatures taken and be checked for cough and shortness of breath.  If (they're) suspect, they will be tested for both Influenza A and B and Covid 19 and sent home (unless they are presenting with an emergent situation).  We actually have a new machine that we nurses can use to get Influenza A and B (results) in 15 minutes, so we can at least rule them out.  It's taking about 72 hours to get Covid 19 results back.  (There are) still no cases in our county, but we seem to have patients that are suspect many days."

Mark is especially anxious because he has an immuno-compromised son with a rare condition at home.

"If I found out I was contaminated, I may have to quarantine myself somehow in the master bedroom," he says.  "I just can't take any chances with Chad.  I'm an ER nurse and who knows what I'm bringing home. (We are) just waiting for the dastardly demon to appear," he says.

Others friends are also checking in. My friend Janine sent along a picture of her town Lakeport, CA now that everyone was ordered to shelter in place.

She called her little town a ghost town.

"Or should I say, not a ghost town, if everyone keeps sheltering in place and washing their hands," she adds.

Janine grows flowers for a living. Although the flower business won't be in much demand in the coming weeks and months, she still wants to stay busy with it. And maybe, like my friend Linda who delivers food to her sick friend, Janine will do something similar with her flowers and food for friends who need it.

Various teacher friends have also checked in. All are able to work from home. I've heard from Nedra in Los Angeles, Beth and Sara in Fresno.

"We are working on virtual lessons and/or putting together work packets for our kids," Beth says.

Teri, from the Salt Lake City area, checked in---shaken but not stirred by the recent earthquake. My author friend Scott Nicholson chimed in and has been following / commenting on the whole outbreak on Twitter fairly regularly (https://twitter.com/eScottNicholson). I've also heard from Michael in Florida ("The world is going to shit, but we will get through this," he says).

Former co-workers at The Fresno Bee are working from home. Another, Jenny, is recuperating from health issues she went through last year and has now isolated herself in her home until this blows over.

I've heard from friends Robin and Skye as well as the Kerner family, all in Oregon. Christa is okay, holed up in Santa Monica. Bert, who lives in Tulare County which just had its 7th confirmed case, has also checked in.

My friend Kevin in Massachusetts has sent notes as well. Today, Massachusetts' infection count jumped up another 72 cases from yesterday, with a total of 328 now.

"It is weird here, as it is there," he says "People are flooding the local banks and taking out all their cash to hide under their mattress because they think the fall of the stock market is going to close down all the banks and then everyone is going to lose their money - or they will not be able to get to their money. But that's what the FDIC safety thing is, so people won't lose their money."

Kim in Wisconsin is a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) in a hospital and also works in nursing homes. She also checked in.

"It is getting real close to me now," she says. "I floated to another hospital about 20 miles from here. They have someone in isolation until they rule it out."

She went on to talk about her regular place of employment.

"This weekend was so bad," she says. "The hospital was crazy.  (There was) a lot of Influenza A.  These are the most cases of influenza I have ever seen. No Corona (yet). I know I will get sick from something.  Being older and a diabetic, it makes me nervous."

Kim says that it is also getting intense at the nursing homes.

"The home that I work at is really cracking down," she says.  "No visitors.  I am glad. That nursing home in Washington shows how bad this bug is.  It went through there fast. I think that is what scared me the most."

My co-worker Melaney is scheduled for a C-section on Saturday. Another co-worker, Sam(antha), will be having a baby in about a month. A third co-worker will be having hers a few months after that. It is a scary time to be having children. I wish them the best. I've already told Melaney to go straight home after discharge from the hospital and barricade herself and her family in the house. If anyone wants to see baby Harlow, she can send them a photo.

My cousin and his wife in Washington are home safely and nestled securely after spending the winter being snowbirds in the warmer climates of the southwest. But I haven't heard a peep out of my half sister and brother or their mom. I hope they are alright. They and their families live in and just outside of Seattle, where the virus has really taken hold.

I ran across an article from Reuters yesterday. It says that in the aerosol droplets from a sneeze, the virus can live in the air up to 3 hours. It can live on some surfaces (particularly plastic and stainless steel) up to three days, or longer. Despite what we have been told before about not wearing a mask, I would suggest you wear one if you've got one and WASH YOUR HANDS often.

I also happened to look at a junk email ad from my pharmacy. In it, it mentioned getting flu shots and a vaccine for pneumonia. I've had a flu shot, but pneumonia? Even though I am a nurse, believe it or not, I had never heard of a pneumonia vaccination. (I guess in the world of pediatrics, pneumonia isn't usually something to worry about...) Since pneumonia is a possible side effect of the coronavirus, I thought I would be pro-active and get the shot. That way, if I do get the virus, I might have a better chance of surviving it.

At least that was my plan...

I called work to see if they were available in the employee health department. No, I was told. They only have things required for my job, like a flu shot. Swell.

 I tried to reach my pharmacy via phone to see if they had any available and how much they were. I was on hold forever before I gave up. Same thing happened at another pharmacy. I'll try to look into this more next week on my days off.

Today it was announced that about 56% of California is predicted to be infected with the virus during the next 8-week period. That is 25.5 million people. GEEZ! According to the article, Governor Newsom said we had 126 new cases in the last 24 hours. The rate doubles every 4 hours. Crazy scary.

I go back to work tomorrow, like it or not. While the news gets worse and worse, people in town seem to think they are on vacation still. I'm glad those I know seem to be taking this seriously and are staying in, hunkering down.

The artist SHAG sent out an email today containing coloring pages for those who are feeling bored while sheltering in. I include them here in case you missed them. They are very cool.

Me? On the days I'm off, I plan to read, write my blogs, keep in contact with friends and watch movies (I have about a million DVDs piled by the TV waiting to be watched).

My friend Janine in Lakeport had another suggestion to help pass the time while in lockdown:

"The jellyfish cam at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is pretty peaceful in case you run out of videos to watch," she says.

It is amazingly peaceful---and completely Covid 19-free.

I hope you and your friends, family, and other loved ones (even the four-legged kind) are safe.

Stay sheltered. Avoid people if possible. Survive this thing.



Continue to Part 6 HERE