Things continue to be dire--and getting worse. At this moment, there are 716,101 confirmed cases around the world, with 137,294 of those here in the US. There have been 33,854 deaths. We have had 2, 409 of those deaths. In Washington state, there are 4,300 cases. In Washington's Island County, where my family lives, the number is now up to 93. There are 4,643 cases in California , 98 of those cases are in the Central Valley, where I live.
A respiratory therapist working in New York City posted about her horrible day. This is a war we are in and all we can do is move forward, hoping to defeat the virus someday.
But the battle is already proving more calamitous than most people ever thought it would be. As what happened in Italy and then Spain when they barred those over 60 from getting ventilators in the hopes of helping younger people who are more likely to survive, Alabama has issued a triage chart for its precious supply of respirators. The article I saw says that when things get bad, patients with things like metastasized cancers, AIDS, “severe mental retardation,” advanced dementia and “severe burns” are not to be given ventilators in favor of others who need them as well.
Ventilators are in short supply everywhere. Louisiana asked for 12,000 machines and only got 192. New York is struggling and is somehow trying to hook up two patients to one machine as a last-ditch desperate measure. The state has already ordered thousands of bag and mask kits that have to be operated by hand (can you imagine having to do that 24 hours a day?) out of desperation. The Trump Administration sent California 170 ventilators, but none of them worked.
British billionaire James Dyson designed a new ventilator and plans on rolling out 15,000 of them soon. Most will stay in the UK, but 5,000 will be sent out to help other countries around the world. Here, in the US, Ford has announced that it's working with 3M and GE Healthcare to produce medical equipment, including ventilators and protective gear. General Motors and Tesla have also pledged to make ventilators. Let's hope they can get them done and distributed sooner rather than later.
Despite all of the bad news, my friends have kept in touch. Many of them have sent notes about what is going on where they live. Others have sent things along for me to share here.
My co-worker friend Sandy sent me this video yesterday. It takes the disaster and, instead of being horrified by what it is causing, gives it a different spin, showing how we are now focusing on the things that really matter most during the time of crisis. Some of it is struck me as odd. I think those bits were lost in translation, as this is obviously a project from a non-native English speaker. But the overall point is well taken.
This morning, I received an email from my friend Michael in Florida.
"My daughter and I are doing well," he said. "Despite the craziness going on in the world, our biggest crisis so far has been running out of ice cream. I had to have a stern chat with my child about that.
"Yesterday afternoon we went out for a few hours. I contacted two of my friends that had not left their house in the last 12 days. Good on them. We met up at a local soccer field and played 'Social Distance Kickball.' The rules are simple. No one gets within 6 feet of each other and no hands on the ball or anything else. If you accidentally touched with your hands, we all stop and you get hand sanitizer. Only the people that live together are allowed to be close at any time. There was no real structure or any other rules. It's just a way to kick the ball back and forth and see other people, while still being safe. My daughter's school still has PE required. It's hard to get in five hours a week of physical activity with her. Yesterday gave her two.
"I checked the numbers this morning. We now have 27 cases in our county, up from 16 on Friday. No reports of anyone recovered yet."
I met Michael a little shy of a year ago when we were both in Italy visiting the ruins of Herculaneum.
A respiratory therapist working in New York City posted about her horrible day. This is a war we are in and all we can do is move forward, hoping to defeat the virus someday.
But the battle is already proving more calamitous than most people ever thought it would be. As what happened in Italy and then Spain when they barred those over 60 from getting ventilators in the hopes of helping younger people who are more likely to survive, Alabama has issued a triage chart for its precious supply of respirators. The article I saw says that when things get bad, patients with things like metastasized cancers, AIDS, “severe mental retardation,” advanced dementia and “severe burns” are not to be given ventilators in favor of others who need them as well.
Ventilators are in short supply everywhere. Louisiana asked for 12,000 machines and only got 192. New York is struggling and is somehow trying to hook up two patients to one machine as a last-ditch desperate measure. The state has already ordered thousands of bag and mask kits that have to be operated by hand (can you imagine having to do that 24 hours a day?) out of desperation. The Trump Administration sent California 170 ventilators, but none of them worked.
British billionaire James Dyson designed a new ventilator and plans on rolling out 15,000 of them soon. Most will stay in the UK, but 5,000 will be sent out to help other countries around the world. Here, in the US, Ford has announced that it's working with 3M and GE Healthcare to produce medical equipment, including ventilators and protective gear. General Motors and Tesla have also pledged to make ventilators. Let's hope they can get them done and distributed sooner rather than later.
Despite all of the bad news, my friends have kept in touch. Many of them have sent notes about what is going on where they live. Others have sent things along for me to share here.
My co-worker friend Sandy sent me this video yesterday. It takes the disaster and, instead of being horrified by what it is causing, gives it a different spin, showing how we are now focusing on the things that really matter most during the time of crisis. Some of it is struck me as odd. I think those bits were lost in translation, as this is obviously a project from a non-native English speaker. But the overall point is well taken.
This morning, I received an email from my friend Michael in Florida.
"My daughter and I are doing well," he said. "Despite the craziness going on in the world, our biggest crisis so far has been running out of ice cream. I had to have a stern chat with my child about that.
"Yesterday afternoon we went out for a few hours. I contacted two of my friends that had not left their house in the last 12 days. Good on them. We met up at a local soccer field and played 'Social Distance Kickball.' The rules are simple. No one gets within 6 feet of each other and no hands on the ball or anything else. If you accidentally touched with your hands, we all stop and you get hand sanitizer. Only the people that live together are allowed to be close at any time. There was no real structure or any other rules. It's just a way to kick the ball back and forth and see other people, while still being safe. My daughter's school still has PE required. It's hard to get in five hours a week of physical activity with her. Yesterday gave her two.
"I checked the numbers this morning. We now have 27 cases in our county, up from 16 on Friday. No reports of anyone recovered yet."
I met Michael a little shy of a year ago when we were both in Italy visiting the ruins of Herculaneum.
At this time, one year ago today, I was in Russia. My traveling companions (Erich and Ricki) were in England. We were to meet up again on the 30th, when I flew to England. From there we went on to Italy for a couple of weeks. It is crazy to think of those adventures now with all that is going on there.
(In lieu of traveling yourself, you can take a virtual tour of Europe while you are shut in and follow along with us on last year's trip HERE. Along the way, you'll meet Elnur, Rosa, Mauro and his family---friends that I've mentioned in these diaries, as well as Michael.)
Michael's story about the game of Social Distance Kickball was brilliant. It was good exercise, fun and it enabled he and his daughter to socialize while still staying safe.
Something else someone may wish to do in their down time is create a short film. Dread Central and Epic Pictures are have a contest for a short film that has something to do with the outbreak. The films can run between 30 seconds to a full two minutes. Of course, as this is sponsored by a horror website, the movies need to be horror-ish (not that this virus isn't horrifying enough...). The winner scores $500. The deadline is April 6.
My friend Christa lives in Santa Monica. She is originally from Switzerland and has family near the Swiss-Italian border. She sent me this note:
"My nephew in Switzerland forwarded this to me," she said. "This is a famous Italian song from the 70's. The band gave the copyright to the hospital in Bergamo, where yesterday alone 800 people died. This means every time you listen to the song, the royalties go to the hospital. YouTube pays the owner by click. Enjoy and help. Rinascero means "I will be reborn," Rinascerai - you will be reborn."
The disaster that Italy is facing is something we in California are trying to avoid. Our governor put the state in lockdown after the 10th COVID 19 death. Italy waited until they had 827 dead to do so. My friend Sarah sent me an article from The Sacramento Bee about this, and the hope that we will keep the number of cases down (and keep our hospitals from being overwhelmed) in the process. The chart is a little outdated, as I know we had at least two deaths (one in Madera County and one in Tulare County) since it was published.
I just hope those in lockdown take this seriously. But from what I have seen, most are not --yet. Only when things get really bad here will they understand the gravity of the situation. The others who are sheltering in place, I applaud you. I just wish there was some way our state could enforce the shelter in place laws more thoroughly. Still the number of deaths is down. The trajectory is lower than that of Italy's. Hopefully these measures, although largely ignored by some, really will help in the long run.
Other areas are bracing for this thing to hit and hit hard.
My friend Kevin in Massachusetts sent me this note:
"Two policemen in my local Stoughton police force has already been diagnosed with corona and five others likely have it too," he says. "It looks to be spreading in my little burg like crazy -- so it will be a matter of time for me -- if not already.
"I am just being bleak and dire. I am staying safe and sheltering in place, as it were, but who knows if I am a carrier already? Sometimes people have it and don't even know they have it, due to weak symptoms. Also, look at how celebs like Tom Hanks and his wife - they had it, but they never really looked sick and now they've already flown home from Australia back to California, and they basically are fine. Even Canadian Prime Minister Macron's wife who had it, now basically doesn't have it anymore. And others, could be carriers and don't really show symptoms and then it's gone."
That is all the more reason to shelter in place. Those who have it may think they are perfectly fine and spread it around unknowingly.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been the voice of reason and science for the White House during this whole crisis, said he expects the US to have millions of cases of the virus and between 100,000 to 200,000 deaths, and that may be an underestimate.
My friend Kim is a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) that lives in Wisconsin, where there are 1,119 confirmed cases of the virus. She sent me this update:
"I just got done with work," she said. "Getting into work is like getting into Area 51. We have one door and we have to get our temperatures taken and all that fun stuff.
"The surge plan was introduced yesterday. Scary. We have had a new case in my County now. And another in Oconto County, which is close. I can not believe that Trump thinks by Easter we can all go on like nothing has happened. CRAZY! I guess that was so nice of him to give us that money in the mail... if we are all still here to spend it. Put that money towards the respirators that New York needs quickly! I keep trying to be positive, but it is getting hard.
"So many people I know were sick for over a month in December and January. Including me. Was that Corona? Was it around sooner then we thought?"
It will be months before this is over, possibly longer. Just hunker down and shelter in place. Avoid people and wash your hands often.
A co-worker friend (Anna) sent me this video yesterday. It has some language in it, but it drives the point home in a humorous way. Give it a watch. It has a message and will leave a smile on your face.
Stay safe. Stay well. Stay ALIVE.
This is NOT "the flu."
CHEERS!
Continue to the next part HERE.
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