Coronavirus ~ COVID-19
 

Coronavirus ~ I never thought we would be facing this pandemic , but we are.
I have pulmonary fibrosis since 2014 and I've been fighting lung cancer since 2015 and I won't let this virus take me. I just canceled all my cancer screenings I had scheduled for this month and I won't leave the house. I'm very scared knowing it could kill me. I don't want to be a statistic to this virus. I go back and forth on how this virus started, I listened to the medical facts , on the news . Part of me wants to believe them and another part of me thinks it could be an act of terrorism , which we end up being pawns in the games of some very evil corrupt leaders of country's. I am torn between wanting to be brave and face this virus by going out into the public or use my common sense and stay away from the public because I am at high risk.

What are your thoughts ? How are you handling this upset in our lives ?

I recently spent hundreds in supply's and food, for myself and family. My daughter is my caretaker, I don't want for her to have to be in the stores as frequent as she has had to be on a regular basis. The university's have been closing , students racing to get home . I live in a very busy area with the Boston Marathon next month which may be canceled. A conference at Bio-Gen in Cambridge , Ma. exposed the virus to hundreds several already testing positive. The way this virus has escalated makes me think if it wasn't an act of terrorism. We will never know for certain.
(((((((((((((( everyone ))))))))))))))

God bless us all ,

Im not freaking out yet...

Only taking precautions for what needs to be done.. And no im not hoarding TP or wipes etc... That's wrong to do that on so many levels.

Wash wash wash hands is key.

Masks wont help nor will other stuff its just preventative measures for some folks.. Most masks are made in other countries anyways. If need be i will make my own.

I understand it's been classified officially a "pandemic"

Maybe a mask wont prevent the virus from entering but the point is that a mask might prevent you from touching your face, on average, 20 times a day and that's where the real benefit is...and wtf is wrong with masks being made "in other countries"?

I’ve been washing and disinfecting my hands so much my skin is peeling. I feel like I’ve turned into a germ o phobe overnight.

They are made in countries that have a huge impact on the industry. I dont think you wanna wear a mask that could have possibly been produced by someone with the virus...you dont know if they have it, if they do or dont wash their hands etc.

I'm a bit of a germophobe anyway, so I've got a good supply of hand sanitizer. I never realized before how many times a day I touch my face, though. It's a lot. I've become self conscious about it in front of my coworkers.

As I wrote in the zombie thread, I'm going to stop eating in restaurants and ordering takeout for awhile. I stocked up on some cooking essentials. It will be better for me anyway.

I'm hoping our boss approves a work-from-home plan - but that's mainly just because I want to work from home. We have a small office of only five people, and each of us has our own office. One of my coworkers does have kids, though, and I don't like how they spread germs everywhere they go.

I saw in another thread and on the news that Tom Hanks has it.

Sad to say, but if a popular American celebrity has it maybe that will get Americans to wake up and pay attention to this.

If we could get adequate testing in this country, I am sure the positive cases would be exponentially larger. So many people with their head in the sand…

Eat good, sleep good, wash your hands.

Question and comment for my sister-femme-friend, Ocean:

Ocean, I wondered too if this covid-19 virus epidemic was a biological warfare type of thing, *But*, what if the covid-19 virus could be a by-product of global warming? That is what I have been wondering myself. Viruses mutate and find ways to survive, just like any species might evolve out of sense of survival. Do you think it's a possibility? Maybe?

I work in a high contact work place venue where people with privilege travel to all sorts of destinations, near and far (domestic or international). As a rule, our work campus places a high priority on health safety, due to any viral outbreak (etc). If one doesn't feel well, one does not go to work. In fact, since this particular outbreak of covid-19? Many employers have flexed schedules for staff/employees so they can work from home (for those who can).

We practice good hygiene, it's a must. Working in a high traffic work place venue requires good hygiene practices.

I also, in response to your post Ocean, keep my cupboards stocked and keep cleaning supplies and other sun-dry necessities well stocked too. More so, since the covid-19 virus became a run-away freight train issue.

I am hyper-aware of cleanliness and keeping our work place in as clean shape as possible. None of us want to contract this illness. It's super concerning. I know I can't miss work for extended periods of time due to any serious health crisis/illness. I don't have spare income to hurdle a financial issue which threatens to cost me everything I might have in emergency income for any unforeseen or unintended consequences of experiencing a health crisis.

I am sending wellness wishes for your own health safety, my friend, in the coming days and weeks ahead. :rrose: :tea:

C Virus
 

I just found out that 3 days ago in BC our first death occurred from the virus. An elderly gentleman living in a nursing home. Our diagnosed total is 77 with the virus as of today.
We need to keep clean hands, masks and away from unnecessary crowds. I do hope that not too many more people will pass from this virus but I know it is a pandemic and we need to look out for ourselves and our loved ones.

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(((((((((katzchen)))))))) so many reasons have run threw my mind as well. They don't know for sure W.H.O> that is . I have so many emotions running across my mind, it's like a traffic jam lolol it's 2 a.m. and I can't sleep. playing a game relax's me ~ :)

My daughter's college is shutting down. The students are sent home this weekend and there is no return plan. It's her senior year. She is devastated. So many things she has worked for and planned for and now it's all an abrupt end with no senior showcase, probably no graduation ceremony, and it means she loses her job too.

I'm working closely with CDC and public health at work trying to keep our housing programs safe but there's only so much I can do. The women who live there are out going to work, riding buses. They have to. They still have to go to work and school and medical appointments. It's only a matter of time before our building will end up in quarantine. We're trying to set up emergency plans, especially for our domestic violence shelter, for if staff have to leave. Apparently national guard is helping in some situations so I need to find out more about that.

Health Officials Testify Before House Committee—Live
 

Health Officials Testify Before House Committee—Live

Coronavirus expert Dr. Fauci and CDC head Dr. Redfield testify before House

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so many students and their friends & family's are affected, here as well the colleges and university's are closed, but most important (((((( easygoingfemme))))))) ty for your efforts and dedication for people in need. my daughter is a CNA and a Hospice caregiver , she is masked and gloved when taking care of her clients b4 the virus as well in some delicate situations ~ I am very proud of her. The family's of her clients have expressed their thanks and appreciation for her work. Ty again :) we need people like you.

I got the state regulations for long-term care facilities in Washington today. It is where my mother lives, to say they are strict is an understatement. I understand it is necessary but it will be hard on her as well as me.

I live in California and the county put out an extensive set of general guidelines for everybody today. I watched the news conference on YouTube and almost immediately afterward the state emergency app on my phone lit up. It looks like many other states and cities had similar news conferences today.

Our orange leader managed to make such an ass of himself last night that he pissed off the entire European Union. Again. That just made the stock market that much worse, as if that were possible, and he has apparently exposed himself to the virus a couple of times.

Wait. Maybe that part is OK…

Nope. Pence. I wonder if we could hold elections early. :thinking:

Pence was with the orange on in Mar A Lago and shook the hands of the same infected people the orange one did. Nancy Pelosi's time may come.

The Prime Minister's wife has been diagnosed with this virus, they had already decided to self isolate when she was feeling some symptoms. My workplace has 2 identified cases, my tower is not affected and the building has disinfected the floor in the other tower and those people on the floor are in self isolation.

I am fortunate that should they decide to close the office we can work from home, but honestly I feel like my workplace is the safest place to be. They are super diligent in cleaning and providing us with the supplies to take care of our desks.

Although this virus is scary, what I fear more is the economic havoc it will have on everyone. I personally am not panicking but am certainly being proactive in my care.

My college has been shut down. Us instructors have been told to start modifying our courses to be online until further notice. All of our mid-term grades are due on the same time frame. However, out offices are still open. nothing like a twist to end the semester.

Katie Porter educates the CDC ...
 

The Covid-19 virus has unexpected testing impacts already. I read tonight, a NYT's article, how people cannot get the test help they need, even after ER doctors tell them they need to get tested because they simply don't 'meet the criteria' for the health threat when seen by medical professionals.

That's got to be super scary.

Today at work, we noticed impacts such as the work population not being as high as it normally is. I also heard from random people at work that when they didn't have supplies on hand, on their specific floor and that janitorial had limited supplies (which is unheard of, seriously, they always have overstock), they shopped at local stores for tissue, sanitizer, paper towels, etc and not one store had any to buy. That was as of today. I was like, "Wow".

Here's that link to the article I read, just minutes ago, published by the NYT's (LINK).

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the store shelves here are empty as well. Trump knew in enough time to get us testing kits and products we will all need . He will go down as the president that didn't do what he should have done threw a pandemic. what a bio he has ~ impeachment, inadequacy , liar . add sentiments here lolol

Our parking deck at work is looking pretty sparse.

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I'm scared as heck to look at my 401K account.

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I'm working from home now, and so will everyone else in my office within the next week.

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I tried to warn my boss we should not sign any long-term (9 months out) contracts for hotels, as we are hearing public health officials say it will be 18 months before they have a vaccine ready for the public. We will just end up paying deposits for sleeping and meeting rooms that we can't get back. Her reply: no one is talking about stuff a year away right now, don't worry about it. Arrrrggghhhhh! She is so short-sighted.

The Dow is rallying a little.

I'm in isolation as of about an hour ago. Busy day getting everything in place. I didn't get cash, so hopefully society will not collapse, in which case I'm doomed anyway. I do have to go pick up a couple of scripts next week, but I can do it through Walgreens drive through window. No face to face contact.

Exhausting. Everybody is out doing the same thing. I voted early. The election workers weren't taking any precautions, so I swabbed my hands with an antiseptic wipe when I got back in the car. Starbucks workers had gloves and masks. They looked pretty scary, but I'm sure not criticizing.

I had to cancel an ultrasound appointment I had forgotten that I even had until I checked my calendar this morning. It's not urgent and just not worth it.

Well, knock on wood and fingers crossed that everyone stays healthy.

People at work are wearing homemade masks.

Still no decision on whether to make it work from home or not.

Today was crazy here. Literally hour by hour schools shutting down and having really intense meetings about what policies to put into place reflecting that. As of now we have cancelled all community meetings that we hold in our building and no one is allowed visitors- residents or staff. Daily check ins and health screenings for all 95 residents. Come Tuesday it will likely be down to only essential staff in the building which would be myself, one person on maintenance, one on front desk, a director and our CEO. My daughter moves back home tomorrow, unsure when or if she'll get to go finish her senior year of college. It took three days to get someone from Public Health who had time to talk to me about what protocol we follow if someone in house tests positive. Turns out they don't have a plan. I know National Guard is helping in some places in lockdown so I'm trying to see if they will come to us to drop off food if the building is quarantined.

I work for a consortium of 16 colleges. (Basically we help them do some things as a group that saves them money, and we apply for and administer grants for them.) They are all going nuts trying to figure out what to do. There are so many questions to consider, like: what if students come back from spring break, one of them tests positive, do they have to quarantine that whole dormitory? The whole campus? All the students in that person's classes? Basically they just don't have the resources to do that. So pretty much across the board, they are telling students to go home, and to not come back from spring break. They are working desperately to find a way to let all the students finish up their courses online. There are a lot of questions with that, too: for instance, accrediting agencies (SACS in the Southeast) have not approved all of these courses for online instruction.

I do know, however, that all of our schools are trying very hard to find solutions for their students. Some will do a better job than others, I'm sure. But they are all taking it seriously, and seem to have the students' situations at the forefront of their concerns. I hope your daughter's school will, too - I feel sure that they are very likely to.

Yes, they are moving everything to online. It will be interesting. It's her last semester and she is way over on required credits so she has been taking classes like hip hop dance, ballet, glass blowing... I am not sure how that translates to an online class. We shall see.

I hope that if graduation is cancelled that they invite the students back later to have a proper graduation. My daughter homeschooled for middle and high school so she never had a real school graduation experience and as much as she never wanted to be in a real school school she wants that graduation experience at one point in her life.

I am off work early tonight, due to attendance at our work campus being 70% down. People are opting to work from home (for those who can). On the drive home tonight, NPR featured local updates for our metro area and our Governor (Kate Brown) has signed off on closing schools for the next two weeks, which leaves thousands of kids without meals that they would ordinarily get at school. We have a stark divide between the people who are high income earners vs the people who barely get by (living pay check to pay check, in some cases it's more dire).

I also read, moments ago, that the first case of Co-vid 19 is bench marked to have appeared on November 17th of last fall (Patient Zero). So here it is, nearly six months later and it's almost like it's a "little too late" (…).

It's good that Nancy Pelosi has a bill ready to pass that will provide two weeks of paid time off, for those who have been affected by being exposed or who actually have been diagnosed (It's not clear to me, the parameters of help), but it's a start and I hope it helps spur a more vigilant effort on correcting the Medical Industry and other important aspects of what happens to people when you have a massive health crisis that FMLA just doesn't seem to help (etc).

I am being super vigilant with sanitation practices and being aware of risks that might not be so obvious to the careful eye.

All I can think of is that this epidemic is an epidemic that will topple not only anybody's life but across the entire spectrum of daily life activities (earning a living, one's health, etc).

Oh, and I got a call from my therapist's office and the CEO of the clinic personally called each participant receiving therapy at the clinic I go to and they've cancelled appointments for the next two weeks... so they can self quarantine, clean the entire building, etc. Social distancing - is what I think they are advocating. Putting as much distance between oneself and any risk or exposure.

I went by Trader Joes this morning to pick up a salad for my lunch and waited more than 30 minutes to check out my single item. People ahead of me and in lanes nearby? They were buying groceries to the tune of over $500 or more (I heard one cashier voice an amount of over $1K). It was a chaotic crisis scene at that store this morning. And everyone was quiet. Patiently waiting their turn to be checked out. I can't even imagine what it was like at a nearby Walmart or The Dollar Store. One store patron was retelling how there was an actual fight at the Dollar Store over antiseptic hand gel bottles, only four were left.

did anyone catch the news on Chicago Airport ? People coming in from international flights and flights leaving shoulder to shoulder waiting to get their temperatures tested. what tests? they don't have enough .

Now that don't make a lick of sense.....having them stand shoulder to shoulder even IF they had enough tests would be utterly craziness!

HUD Secretary Ben Carson coughs into hand at coronavirus news conference today..
 

https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/u...rson-Cough.jpg


Surgeon turned U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson got throttled on Saturday for coughing directly into his hand during his opening remarks at a White House press conference addressing the coronavirus pandemic. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson coughed in his hand and then placed that same hand on the podium.

Anxiety over the economic impact. Then I watched a few chapters of Pandemic. Now I am an anxious mess.

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((((( Apocalipstic )))))) stay strong !

Ocean! :rrose:

I am trying! Thank you!!!

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Homoe I saw that my whole family commented as we were watching it. all at once we all said ewwwwwwwww I wonder if he just spread the virus. this is why its a pandemic ~

We are self quarantined as we both are at risk. There are so many mixed messages about this thing. I just wash my hands more and use hand sanitizer more. We stopped going out and will just do so when necessary. The funny thing is we went to the store and skipped the liquor store and now I'm kinda kicking myself. We will survive but it could have been a bit more fun. I worry a lot about my parents who are in their 70s but quite fit and in good health. They live 1600 miles away. I really am disgusted by the greed we as humans are showing. I'm kinda wishing we had a car so I could take supplies to older shut ins. I feel the need to help during this. Since my grandparents died, I have wanted to adopt new ones. I was lucky to have my grandparents alive into my 40s. I worry for our elderly. We have much to learn from them. I have seen every kind of post in my facebook lately. Anything from this is like the common cold to pray to Jesus for your health. I really hope that everyone takes this just a bit seriously and starts to social distance. It is for the greater good. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one as Spock wisely said. I hope everyone here stays safe and we as a planet can minimize the deaths that could occur. I would hate to be one of those Italian Doctors who has to decide who lives or dies. That's heavy on your shoulders. I sincerely hope that in this awful time we can all come together and support each other through it. And remember this stuff come election time.

I refuse to live in fear...

I've already died twice... So this shit dont scare me.

I also refuse to give into the panic, etc due to media.

I will be going in to work and Friday i will be driving to Oklahoma.

Its tiring hearing different stories online and in media about this virus... We will never know the truth or have stories, facts aligned.

So of youre not compromised... Go live life... If you are... Do what u gotta do.

Im not gonna be controlled by anyone including the government

This isn't about one person. This is about the whole country. I'm in good health and very unlikely ill get serious complications with this virus. My fear isn't for me...its for the vulnerable. Though I may remain healthy... I would hate to think my frivolousness would cause the illness of others. So when people are asked to not travel or go out in public..its, not for just one person.. it's for those that are at greater risk. Though I'm in healthcare i don't pretend for one second i know more than the experts. This is a new virus to humans..this isn't flu...this isn't SARS..this This isn't MERS...this is COVID19. To think anyone knows more than the experts is laughable and downright dangerous. If you don't care about your own health...then at least care about others.

My best friend's parents were on the Grand Princess cruise ship that had 3500 passengers on board where 21 were tested positive. Her parents are now in Georgia. Her mother was exhibiting symptoms before they disembarked and was not tested. Her mother now has pneumonia and was just put on oxygen this morning; she is barely eating. They are still waiting for test results. THIS is why we need to be vigilant about what we do. This affects those who are vulnerable. Cavalier attitudes about this is what will make this pandemic bigger than it should be.

I work in an agency whose clients all have IDD. Most of the individuals are medically fragile. Our agency cannot close as we are essential. While I do not provide direct care, many individuals and those who work directly with them come to the main office for meetings and to see the nurses. We just closed down our day program and stopped all live trainings. I have to go in. So I know I can unintentionally expose these folks to the virus if I am not careful. Exposure to a lot of them would mean certain death. I am socially isolating myself so that I can limit potential exposure. It is the least I can do for them and others in the world.