April is supposed to be the worst month for this virus. Yesterday, the Washington Post reports, more than 30,000 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the US. More than 1,000 people died from the virus yesterday here as well. Amazingly, there are still states NOT on lock down. And there are people who think this is all being blown out of proportion by the media -- and then get the virus.
A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, has spent years recovering from some health issues which still partially disable him. He sent me this note last night:
"I was planning on dating a bunch, but COVID19 has delayed that," he said. "So, I’m going to chill and relax. I’m off social media indefinitely because I’m sick of it.
"F.Y.I. Peeps are freaking out irrationally. Only one in five thousand are infected here. It's absolutely absurd to wear masks. People are ignorant."
The virus keeps spreading. It is killing thousands. This person is very headstrong. He won't listen to reason---and he has so many underlying health issues. I wish him the best.
The virus is starting to take its toll peripherally in my world. My best friend's ex's husband's cousin (a female in her 40's) has died from the virus. My mother's brother-in-law's wife's daughter (from her first marriage)'s in-laws in Texas both have the virus, with her mother-in-law in the hospital on a ventilator (She is lucky to have gotten one) and her father-in-law at home fighting a fever. And this is still just the beginning. It's only going to get worse.
My friend Rich lives in Las Vegas. Nevada may be sparsely populated, but it has already had more than 1,500 confirmed cases of the virus and more than 40 deaths. Rich sent me an email yesterday to let me know he was well.
"I'm doing fine and keeping away from the zombies," he jokingly told me. "I'm lucky to have a couple of N95 masks from when I did renovations. My doctor was thankful for the unused one I gave him. I wish I had gotten more back then."
While it was good to hear from Rich and to know that he is keeping himself safe, he sent some photos that were staggering. They were shots of Las Vegas totally empty.
Yesterday, the CDC announced that people should be wearing masks if they are out in public. Masks are not so much to protect you from getting it, but to stop you from spreading it should you be a carrier and not know it. However, President Trump says he will not be wearing a mask because he thought it would be odd for him to do so when meeting world leaders. (Like that is going to be happening any time soon?) What bothers me about this is that, by his example of not wearing a mask, his die-hard followers will see that and stay maskless and potentially cause more and more infections.
On a similar note, FOX News has been handing out disinformation from the get go on this virus, saying everything from it was a hoax to even saying it was another attempt by the Democrats to get Trump out of office (The anchor that said that was actually removed later). Shameful. But FOX News owners Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch must be fearing the possible fall out over this as they have retained a huge string of lawyers after already getting sued once about this. (Just watch the video on the link page for examples.)
My friend, Robby Clinger from Pittsburgh, PA dropped me a note yesterday morning. Pennsylvania has had nearly 9,000 cases of the virus and more than 100 deaths so far. Pennsylvania just started the stay-at-home or shelter-in-place guidelines two days ago. Robby is, thankfully, safe so far.
"I'm off for two weeks or more because of the virus," he said. "I'm terrified of getting sick. I may have to see a shrink over it. I'm not kidding. I'm an emotional wreck. All the books I've read about plagues and viruses are coming true. It scares the hell out of me. Literally."
Robby is safe, but he has good reason to be scared. This is a horror novel that has come to life.
Praying on people's fears and jacking up the price of items that are necessary or perceived as being necessary during this crisis is just wrong. A while back I looked into ordering some hand sanitizer on Amazon and saw this:
The photo is perhaps too small to show you anything, but the prices were outrageous! A regular bottle of hand sanitizer was $30. A packet of alcohol wipes was $50. A set of 10 masks was $40. Cheap non-brand toilet paper was $33. Crazy and criminal.
On the brighter side of things, my friend Art in Boston sent me a link to an article detailing how the New England Patriots sent their plane to China and got a million N95 masks, 300,000 of which the team sent to New York City. Now that is team work.
Stay SAFE. Stay SHELTERED. Stay ALIVE.
CHEERS!
Continue to the next part HERE.
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