And the deaths keep stacking up... Last night, on the John Hopkins University Coronavirus map's listing of deaths by country, New York City (which I realize is not a country, but is listed there separately) overtook the Netherlands for 7th place with 776 deaths. The Netherlands, in turn, shot back up to 7th place this morning, now touting 864 dead. Italy still leads with 10,779 dead. GEEZ! This is so unreal.
There are now 745,308 confirmed cases of the virus globally. The US leads with 148,049 cases. We've had 2,599 die. A poster on Twitter named @Mikel_Jollett noted that the virus arrived in the US and in South Korea on the same day. South Korea took the threat seriously (instead of blowing it off, calling it a hoax or saying it would be gone by April). South Korea has 9,661 cases and has only had 158 deaths. And yet our president says that if we can keep our deaths down to only 100,00, that would be doing a good job. UGH!
In Washington state there are 4,896 cases, with 105 of those being on Whidbey Island, where my family lives. California has 5,283 cases and has had 118 deaths. New York leads with 66,497 cases. Locally, there are now 108 cases in the area I live in. There are 43 in my county.
Things are so bad in New York that Governor Cuomo is begging for healthcare workers from other areas to come in and help them.
In other news, at least 73 residents of a Tennessee nursing home and 33 employees there have tested positive for the virus. Tennessee, like many other states, has no "shelter in place" order. Florida, where my friend Michael lives, only has county-by-county orders. The state as a whole (as are many other states) is still "open". Have these other states learned nothing from China, Italy, Spain and now New York?
There is hope on the (distant) horizon though. Johnson & Johnson expects to start testing a potential vaccine this fall. Many other companies are working on vaccines or treatments as well. Eventually something will be discovered that can help. In the mean time, hunker down, stay safe and stay alive.
With so many people out of work now and wondering how they'll pay their bills (despite the possibility of a federal relief check from the government coming), Change.org has a petition out asking our government officials to put a two-month moratorium on house/car payments for businesses as well as us common folk. Holding back evictions is one thing, but once this is over and back payments are due with no money to pay them---then what? I clicked and "signed" the petition. The link is below if you'd like to as well.
http://chng.it/dh5pJ9gHPt
My friend Mikey lives in Iowa. He checked in with me yesterday.
"So far, so good here," he said. "There are no reported cases yet in our county, but the counties surrounding ours are getting more and more.
"The last time we went to town to get supplies, the store shelves looked a little fuller than they were. The local shoe store wasn't allowing any customers in the store, but they had the shoe salesman out front letting people try on shoes in his van. It was weird. Why would people need shoes at a time like this?
"The roads had almost no traffic and the post office guy said he has been very busy since this corona thing started. I guess more people are shopping online and avoiding the stores.
"I heard that if you take a pain reliever, you have to use Tylenol? What will happen if you use Aleve? Do you know if zinc therapy will help with the symptoms? They sold out of all the vitamin C tablets and all the zinc therapy at Walmart. There also were no latex gloves. I sure hope this thing gets under control really soon."
I had commented on the rumors about the virus and its interaction with Ibuprofen in an earlier post. I looked it up again and sent him a pair of articles, both stating it was just a rumor and that Tylenol or Aleve (with Ibuprofen) would be fine.
As far as his zinc questions go, I looked those up as well. The answer is yes, no, and/or maybe depending on which article (there are several) that you care to read. In my opinion, if you've got the zinc, it couldn't hurt. (Do I have any? Hmm...)
Speaking of simple remedies for stopping or limiting the effects of the virus, a doctor friend and I both caught on to something simultaneously. President Trump has been touting something called hydroxychloroquine as a "game changer" and a simple cure for COVID 19. This med is a cousin of quinine, which is in tonic water. Could this be a simple way to combat the virus before it begins?
While proof of hydrovychloroquinine's usefulness has thus far been all anecdotal at best (but testing on it continues), articles I found online show that the quinine in tonic water does nothing to help. But, if nothing else, tonic water does help make a fabulous cocktail. Cheers!
Speaking of tonic water, I had to run to the store today. I wore my mask and was only one of 4 or 5 people wearing one. Of course I kept my distance from everyone.
The toilet paper area was still depleted. Luckily I didn't need any. No. I was on a mission for something much more important...tortillas! Oh my stars! The last time I had hit the grocery store, all of the bread had been gone and there was nothing left but tortillas. Today there was lots of bread, but...my tortillas were all gone.
It's not just any tortillas I need. I am watching my carbs, so I only eat Carb Balance tortillas. I prefer the wheat ones and they only have 3 carbs per tortilla. The white ones have 4 carbs. There were none of either. Hmm.
I just happened to cruise by the alcohol mixer aisle (How did I ever end up there? Shocking!) and saw there was very little tonic water to be had...but I grabbed a small bottle and a margarita mix (Hmm... didn't see any Bloody Mary mix---not that I drink that much when I am alone. It was just on my mind to get some).
I decided to try another store across the street. I scored two packs of the flour (hmm...) Carb Balance tortillas, but that is all they had. There was no toilet paper there either. There was a good amount of water. Everything else seemed plentiful, except hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies. Oh well. I want to try to hit Vons (aka Safeway everywhere else in the world) and see if they have my tortillas (and Bloody Mary mix...and zinc!). But that can wait.
I do have to say I never thought I'd see the day when I would be wiping down a pint of ice cream, a package of strawberries, or a store-made meatloaf with a sani-wipe before putting it away.
My friend, Dr. Susan Quigley is currently living in Fargo, ND. She was supposed to be getting married to her fiance in Southern California this week, but that is on hold due to the outbreak. Dr. Q sent me some memes (These are memes, right? I've never been sure of what a meme was exactly.) to ad some levity to our situation.
Sing this next one to the 80's pop hit "The Safety Dance"..
The artist SHAG added a new art piece for people stuck at home to color. He previously shared two others, which I also posted earlier.
I'll let you get to coloring.
Stay safe. Stay sheltered. Stay ALIVE.
And wash your hands...
CHEERS!
Continue to the next part HERE.
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Stay safe everyone!