Coronavirus ~ COVID-19

[nycfem]

NYC is still off the charts high with COVID, now over 200K tested positive in NY with 11K deaths. NJ right by us has 69K positive, and to give perspective, every other state has less than 30K tested positive. We haven't left our apartment building in a month, and even inside here we utilize gloves, masks, wipes, etc. Everything takes extra long because we do it so carefully. And yet... people in NYC who we know who are being careful are still getting sick which I think points to how prevalent it is here as well as how easy it is to get in an area with such a high prevalence of the virus. Every day without getting sick feels like a success!

Our hospitals are a mess. If you google "nurse Elmhurst hospital video" you can get a sense of what the hospital scene is like here. Collectively in NYC everyone is avoiding hospitals unless they are at the point of almost dying. A few blocks from me in Central Park there is a huge makeshift tent "hospital" that takes spillover since all the hospitals are full. Many nurses and doctors are not skilled in the areas that they are working in out of the desperation for anybody to help. And lack of protective gear is a huge issue.

Over 50 people from my school system have died. Thanks Cuomo and Diblasio for pushing to keep schools open for an extra two weeks when we all already had active positive cases in our school buildings. My friend who works for the subway / MTA had 80 of her colleagues die. Lack of space for bodies is leading to temporary park burial, which is very unsettling. I had my friend in Ohio send me toilet paper because there is often no way to get the basics of things locally- online and deliveries to this area are just depleted. Groceries are just whatever one can get delivered, with several weeks wait, and often are not even available. Amazon cup of noodle soups work well for us.

We are still busy working remotely though it's hard to focus when we keep learning people around us are sick. My student population is especially hard hit (East Harlem) because so many are living in small spaces with many people and in shelters. NYC living, in general, is not ideal for such an easily contagious virus. Still, BB and I are grateful to have jobs that allow us to work remotely and to have our small, cozy apartment with our three cats to love up.