I hope all of you are progressing on your own journals. Feel free to comment on this one, perhaps recounting incidents in your own life.
Last night, because I have been reluctant to take her on as many walks as usual, the dog wet the bed, badly enough to require changing sheets and mattress pad. Not much got on the mattress itself, but enough so that we had to clean and leave it uncovered to air out. That meant that we had to inflate the air mattress for my wife and I slept next to it on the couch.
It’s days, now, since I was concerned that I was getting sick. I suspect it was allergies but we did isolate me, as best as possible, in the apartment for 24 hours. Now, I am up and about once more, getting back to regular activities—which now include daily washing with a spray disinfectant that includes bleach, of all doorknobs, light switches, countertops, and anything else in the apartment that we regularly touch. This all happens under my wife’s supervision; cleaning is something I always like to put off, but we cannot afford that, not now.
We know, as everyone does, that we need to be acting as though we are contagious, staying out of the way of others for the sakes of those others. And hoping others are doing the same for us. It’s all of us together who are going to get through this at all, all of this acting out of concern for others and hoping they are thinking the same for us.
Our neighbors, whose son-in-law died from COVID-19 recently after a week on a ventilator, have more illness than anyone knew. The daughter is ill—we knew that—but so is her father, our friend, who is in his seventies. He has not been sick enough to go to the hospital, thank goodness, but is still at home, now getting better, as is his daughter.
A friend’s daughter—they all live in Syracuse—is also ill, though the test came back negative. All of her symptoms, though, are of COVID-19. And now her boyfriend is having upper-respiratory problems. Uh, oh. These next few weeks are going to be difficult as more and more people we know fall ill. I just hope the numbers will be small.
Yesterday, we combined walking the dog with purchasing gloves and masks, things we had been resisting but that now seem at least important symbols of concern and, even though they are signs of distancing, of solidarity. Wearing masks and gloves, though they seem to simply be protections of ourselves, are also protections of the rest of our community, should we be the ones who are sick. It bothers me, when I am on the street with the dog, that I have to walk into the street to avoid other pedestrians when the sidewalks are narrow. It seems like an insult and I have to remind myself that it is a show of respect for the other.
I wonder if, once this is over, we are all going to have difficulty walking in crowds the way we New Yorkers had been used to doing. This whole thing is changing all of our lives; only later will we be able to catalogue how. One thing I am expecting is a change in hair styles, especially for men. Being unable to go to barbershops is making longer locks more and more common. We are going to get used to them again, and then they will become the style.
On a lighter note, I have been spending time training Sherman, one of our cats. So far, I have gotten him to sit on command, to touch my index finger on command, and to hit my fist with his paw on command. He isn’t yet perfect, still sometimes thinking he can do the actions and get a treat instead of waiting to be told, but he is getting better and I am beginning to think about what I want his next task to be. Follow this link to see him: https://youtu.be/OeWQ9tt0h6c.
I remembered one thing. I was on the way to the supermarket a few days ago, from Flushing to Manhattan, to new jersey. I was in the car and saw many people running, playing badminton and sports together in the park. None of them began to wear masks, without any protection. In Soho, I also saw many people walking, and they did not wear masks. This let me know why the number of cases increases day by day
You are right to wonder!
My mother called me a few days ago. She is in China and she is very worried about the current situation in the United States. The number of coronaviruses diagnosed in the United States has reached the highest in the world. She told me a lot about the death of patients in China who have too many coronavirus patients and hospitals who cannot be treated because of scarce hospital beds. I told her not to worry about me, I knew she would worry about me. Because this matter is very serious and uncontrollable. But I have no choice. If I choose to fly back to China now, the probability of getting coronavirus on the road will be higher. I can only stay at home, if not without food, I will not go out. The number of cases in the United States continues to rise, and many people go out without any protective measures. What we can do is probably not to go out at home and protect ourselves and our family. In addition, I saw the news and the British Prime Minister entered the intensive care unit. I think this virus is really terrible. Many doctors in China have died because of this virus. Is it because the hospital can’t take them in? I do n’t think so, it ’s because the virus is too strong, and it ’s difficult to cure despite the best treatment. Because you do n’t know when you will be infected with this virus, and the incubation period of coronavirus is very long. Some people find it difficult to find that they have been infected with the virus during the incubation period, and indirectly transmitted it to others.
Those are interesting comments. We can learn from them.
shortage of masks,gloves,hand sanitizer, and disinfectant sprays led me to slowly dig into my work bag. I usually tend to keep my work bag fully stocked with these essential things due to the fact that i am so exposed to pretty much all this bacteria and diseases at the hospital. slowly but surely as the days passed and the whole pandemic slowly started to inflate i seemed to find myself stopping at different hospitals after dropping off patient to the emergency room looking for masks and gloves. Shortage of equipment led EMS workers doctors, and nurses reusing masks for weeks and weeks on. I can relate to this topic because still to this day I am reusing the same two masks for the last 2 weeks of work. trying to stretch the life and use of the only equipment I had left
shortage of masks,gloves,hand sanitizer, and disinfectant sprays led me to slowly dig into my work bag. I usually tend to keep my work bag fully stocked with these essential things due to the fact that i am so exposed to pretty much all this bacteria and diseases at the hospital. slowly but surely as the days passed and the whole pandemic slowly started to inflate i seemed to find myself stopping at different hospitals after dropping off patient to the emergency room looking for masks and gloves. Shortage of equipment led EMS workers doctors, and nurses reusing masks for weeks and weeks on. I can relate to this topic because still to this day I am reusing the same two masks for the last 2 weeks of work. trying to stretch the life and use of the only equipment I had left
You should be furious! I know that my friend, a doctor, is.