Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic (03)

A Beautiful Day  

Today, sort of a respite from the enormity of being hunkered down. It’s beautiful out! The sun is shining. There’s a breeze. And the landscape maintenance crew is mowing, trimming, blowing, and making a general nuisance of themselves.

It Gets Personal

My brother and sister-in-law stopped a few days ago on their drive back from wintering in south. They probably should have returned sooner, but one can understand their reluctance to travel to where it is still winter and the coronavirus is spreading out of control. Of course, we welcomed them with opened arms and advised them that they could remain with us for as long as they felt wanted. There was nothing that we could do to convince them that holding back might be a good idea. The urge to be at home during stressful times is quite strong.

Just Wanna Go Home

I remember that we were in Europe at the time of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Our first response was that we belonged at home. Now I wish that there might be some place where we might go to be safe. If there is such a place, how would we get there? Travel is dangerous. It means enclosing yourself with strangers who may not know that they are carrying deadly pathogens. I guess that we will stay put and continue to avoid anything that might be moving, breathing, and especially talking politics.

Testing

After my brother left, both of us felt that we should be tested as soon as possible. Fortunately, neither of us has had symptoms and, because of that, we don’t qualify for testing. Anyway, there aren’t enough coronavirus tests around and results are still taking over a week to be known.

The Challenge

An interesting challenge for our leaders is to accurately report on the spread of the coronavirus. With limited testing capacity, we only know of individual cases when someone reports their symptoms, a test is performed, and finally when test results are known. How many people are carrying the pathogen without know they have it? How many wait to see if the symptoms that they have match the profile that is know for the virus? How long does it take for a test to be available to them? Then, after testing positive, how long does it take to research and find others who are possibly infected? And, are they being tested? Or, are they simply asked to quarantine themselves?

Isolating the coronavirus is a complicated and challenging problem. It is, however, our only defense. It will take a while even if we are able to “flatten the curve.”

Tracking Map

Another Excursion

I had to go out again today. I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. There’s a drive through pick up window at the pharmacy that has many potentially dangerous points of contact. I deemed it safer to enter the building. There’s an automatic door – I touched nothing on the way in, or out. Inside, there was no other people between the pharmacist’s counter and the entryway. A clear path! 

Then, there on the counter was that little box where the pharmacist would ask me to sign the waver about being counseled for a drug that I’ve been taking for years. My brain froze because who knows how many filthy, disgusting folks had touched that electronic pen prior to my arrival. When it came time for that part of the transaction, I asked when it had been cleaned last. They handed me a disinfectant wipe and I cleaned up. 

I was home and back to safety in less than 15 minutes.