What was your COVID news for the day?

[gailwinters]

We had the first confirmed case in my county yesterday, but considering that only 3 people have been tested, I feel sure there are more cases. The individual is a rector at one of our largest Episcopal churches and wasn’t tested until he discovered that someone else who had attended a conference with him had tested positive. He did feel ill after returning from his conference, went to the doctor, was diagnosed with pneumonia and sent home. We were told he has already recovered.

Well, the priest who has tested positive apparently felt good enough to carry out most of his official duties before being tested. He officiated over a funeral and a wedding on the same day, spoke and gave communion for two Sundays, attended several meetings at both his church and an interfaith gathering, and served as a participant in a Bar Association gathering at the Court House.

The personal aspect for us is that one of his parishioners works in close quarters with my DSIL. In fact, my SIL said he was sitting beside him when the news came out about the individual being infected.

So, out of an abundance of caution, we cancelled plans to have dinner with DD and DSIL tonight. It appears that the co worker has not been exposed to the infected individual since February 26, but could have been exposed to someone who had been in contact with him.

We feel a little over cautious, but we are both in the vulnerable age group, and honestly, my daughter sounded relieved that we came to this decision.

 

[ivinsfan]

Well, the priest who has tested positive apparently felt good enough to carry out most of his official duties before being tested. He officiated over a funeral and a wedding on the same day, spoke and gave communion for two Sundays, attended several meetings at both his church and an interfaith gathering, and served as a participant in a Bar Association gathering at the Court House.

The personal aspect for us is that one of his parishioners works in close quarters with my DSIL. In fact, my SIL said he was sitting beside him when the news came out about the individual being infected.

So, out of an abundance of caution, we cancelled plans to have dinner with DD and DSIL tonight. It appears that the co worker has not been exposed to the infected individual since February 26, but could have been exposed to someone who had been in contact with him.

We feel a little over cautious, but we are both in the vulnerable age group, and honestly, my daughter sounded relieved that we came to this decision.

We need to reset our cautious meters.Glad you did not do dinner with family but I certainly would not call that "an abundance of caution" . You need to stay completely away from them for 2 weeks, that's common sense.

 

[ivinsfan]

First case reported at Orlando international Airport - a TSA worker. I would have thought that would be among the first places to generate cases.

At 8am I passed a woman coming home from shopping. Her entire trunk was filled with TP. Wonder where it came from. When she saw me she looked a little furtive and closed the trunk.

At 9am stopped at Publix. I only notice what is missing from aisles I have to walk through. Bread was already decimated - they opened at 7am.

the question is did he get it at the airport or bring it to the airport? Not good either way..

 

[rodi]

MIL's memory care unit closed to non-employees yesterday. BIL visits daily so he knows all the staff. A staff member will do facetime calls between them as a favor.

Step mom's assisted living has closed the dining room (residents can get tray service) and all activities. No outside guests. Step mom plans to continue her bridge group undercover... in her 1 br unit, since they are no longer allowed to use the common areas.

Library announced yesterday morning that they would be closed starting tomorrow (monday). I ran out and got 2 books. Forget toilet paper I am stockpiling books.

Younger son had piano lessons yesterday - talked to the teacher about how she's handling this - she said she's just using a boatload of hand sanitizer. I had wiped down the piano and the chair she uses with lysol wipes prior to her arrival. Trying to protect her. Made sure son washed his hands thoroughly before the lesson. She sat a bit further away than usual. She said she and her husband hadn't been able to find toilet paper - I sent her home with 2 rolls. LOL.

I'm still doing my morning beach walk with the dog... but since the beach is very uncrowded at sunrise, I'm not increasing risk for myself or others.... more than 6 feet away from everyone.

 

[gailwinters]

We need to reset our cautious meters.Glad you did not do dinner with family but I certainly would not call that "an abundance of caution" . You need to stay completely away from them for 2 weeks, that's common sense.

Oh, I absolutely agree. That’s the plan!

 

[Ronstar]

Saw on FB that all Illinois state parks and natural areas are closed indefinitely. There go my hiking spots.

 

[cathy63]

... Forget toilet paper I am stockpiling books ...

I know the feeling. SD County libraries are not closing the buildings (yet), though they have cancelled all events. They also have a much better e-book collection than the city's library. As long as the Overdrive servers stay up I'll have enough to read for the duration.

 

[NW-Bound]

My wife just talked with the neighbors across the street, when seeing them out front.

They said they believed the virus scare was overblown, and all these restrictions were unnecessary and costly. The wife said she heard this outbreak was already dying out.

They are in their 30s.

 

[Sunset]

My wife just talked with the neighbors across the street, when seeing them out front.

They said they believed the virus scare was overblown, and all these restrictions were unnecessary and costly. The wife said she heard this outbreak was already dying out.

They are in their 30s.

Boy they are going to regret that line of thought when they go to buy TP

Maybe they are correct, and it's just a trick to have us stay home and fill out the Census

 

[Rianne]

Saw on FB that all Illinois state parks and natural areas are closed indefinitely. There go my hiking spots.

Champaign County Forest Preserve District until April 12.

 

[Mmm Rrr]

Curious if flour and yeast are still available, because it is pretty dang easy to make bread, especially with a $70 bread machine that does all the work for you.

I was grocery shopping on Wednesday in Eastern Washington and there was plenty of flour and yeast. I had a giant pack of yeast and some a/p flour in my freezer already, but bought a couple of small bags of bread flour.

Yesterday I was wishing I had bought bread, so I whipped up an amazing pan of focaccia, ate some and froze the rest.

I'm probably going to come out of this pandemic 25 pounds heavier!

 

[Potstickers]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4709532/

I knew someone years ago who was blinded by prescribed dosages of chloroquine for malaria acquired while working for the Peace Corps overseas. Apparently this is still going on. Either way I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

I took Plaquenil(chlorquinine) years ago. The rheumatologist required a thorough eye exam with a visual field test initially and then every six months thereafter to identify any changes. As soon as a decline in the visual field was noted, you get pulled from Plaquenil. I used it for years without any trouble whatsoever.

It was a miracle drug for me.

If it turns out to help those experiencing severe COVID-19 symptoms, that would be great.

 

[statsman]

My wife was actually able to convince her brother and his wife (both in their early 60s) to not fly out from CA to TX to visit us the end of this month because of COVID-19. They've already flown to Canada for a funeral and flown through SFO, Newark (NJ) and DC the past several weeks. They've also ushered a couple of events and have attended church multiple times. We will likely reschedule the visit for early fall after the summer heat here in TX has started to dissipate.

 

[savory]

This is a well done video that puts the danger of coronavirus into clear perspective. It was made for Bluffton, OH and uses their small town as the example of what will happen at different rates of infection and how it differs from the flu. It made things much clearer for me and influenced me to take the maximum precautions.

https://vimeo.com/397657805?fbclid=IwAR1R-5UUyvvR21ffGUL8Ms6Jo-CHb6NfmlaGkErAni4fB9CkYkmKop6lI1Y

 

[ivinsfan]

My wife was actually able to convince her brother and his wife (both in their early 60s) to not fly out from CA to TX to visit us the end of this month because of COVID-19. They've already flown to Canada for a funeral and flown through SFO, Newark (NJ) and DC the past several weeks. They've also ushered a couple of events and have attended church multiple times. We will likely reschedule the visit for early fall after the summer heat here in TX has started to dissipate.

Convince them heck, with a travel history like that, I'd have said you can knock on our door, but we won't let you in.

 

[REWahoo]

A couple we've known since college (I've known her since early childhood) have planned for several months to come for a visit The first week in April. She called on Friday to wish DW a happy birthday and the two of them had their usual 45 minute phone conversation.

After they hung up I told DW I was glad they had decided to cancel - wrong. DW said they were still planning to come unless we told them not to. Thanks for making me be the bad guy...

He is 74 and still working in a factory shipping department. She retired a few years ago and suffered a stroke last year which left her very frail. Plus, she is diabetic, allergic, and in overall poor health. IOW, she's a prime candidate to become a Covid-19 fatality while he continues to be exposed to numerous people every day, increasing his chances to catch the virus.

If they haven't figured out by Friday that driving 350 miles to spend a 3 day weekend with us is probably not a good idea, I'll call them and explain why I think that's the case.

 

[Alan]

Over here folks over 70 will be advised tomorrow on social distancing and in the coming weeks told to stay at home for an extended period.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51895873

Every Briton over the age of 70 will be told "within the coming weeks" to stay at home for an extended period to protect themselves from coronavirus.
When it happens, they will be asked to stay home for "a very long time", Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
The government is to release social distancing advice for elderly people on Monday - but they will not yet be asked to self-isolate for long periods.
Fourteen more people have died from the virus, bringing deaths in the UK to 35.

 

[Born2BRetd]

Good news for a change! Chloroquine, which is used to treat malaria, looks to be effective in treating COVID-19. Faster recovery and shorter hospital stays. May also be prophylactic.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/...JAGbdfF67WuRJB3ZsidgpidB2eocFHAVjIL-7deJ7/pub

I understand it was used in China and South Korea and is being used now in a number of places, including Europe.

Thank you for posting this study. It looks promising.

My husband took chloroquine to treat Babesia a co-infection of Lyme disease.

 

[Walt34]

This is a well done video that puts the danger of coronavirus into clear perspective. It was made for Bluffton, OH and uses their small town as the example of what will happen at different rates of infection and how it differs from the flu. It made things much clearer for me and influenced me to take the maximum precautions.

https://vimeo.com/397657805?fbclid=IwAR1R-5UUyvvR21ffGUL8Ms6Jo-CHb6NfmlaGkErAni4fB9CkYkmKop6lI1Y

Thank you for posting that. The math gets downright scary.

 

[Another Reader]

Take 2 on news of the day. Governor Newsom wants everyone in California over 65 to self-isolate. Can anyone make me a fake California license showing my age as 59? I need to get gas and go to the grocery store next week and don't want to get arrested...(J/K)

 

[NW-Bound]

You have to scare people enough so that they will self-isolate.

How do you do that without being accused of fear-mongering?

 

[fh2000]

Take 2 on news of the day. Governor Newsom wants everyone in California over 65 to self-isolate. Can anyone make me a fake California license showing my age as 59? I need to get gas and go to the grocery store next week and don't want to get arrested...(J/K)

I believe I heard >=65 AND with respiratory issues. But, if all 65+ stay home it would help too. I am 64 so I am still free to roam.

He also ordered all bars, wine tasting be banned since those are non-essential. Restaurants should accommodate 50% and less capacity.

 

[Another Reader]

You have to scare people enough so that they will self-isolate.

How do you do that without being accused of fear-mongering?

Too little, too late. My larger concern is that there is no real understanding of the supply chain and how fragile it is. We are seeing that now. I'm prepared for the apocalypse, but what about my neighbors in their mid-70's?

Anyway, I guess the real news is that the people in charge are finally taking this seriously, even if they have to chase it.

 

[Another Reader]

I believe I heard >=65 AND with respiratory issues. But, if all 65+ stay home it would help too. I am 64 so I am still free to roam.

He also ordered all bars, wine tasting be banned since those are non-essential. Restaurants should accommodate 50% and less capacity.

"In addition, Newsom asked the state's 5.3 million residents who are 65 or older to self-isolate at home."

From SF Gate.

 

[RobbieB]

Had another bowl of black garlic ramen at the local chinese place. It was nearly full.

Glad to see the lack of fear -