One Week in Quarantine
Life has changed as we know it. As of November 2019, COVID-19 was an unheard term, as well as social distancing, as well call it. It started in Wuhan, China...a little known virus that we first heard had been spread in a meat market from an animal that reminded me of an armadillo. Then, the facts came out that this virus spread from bats to humans. The Chinese tried to downplay this virus, and a Christian doctor in China was trying to get his studies out about this virus, but the Chinese would not allow it. Now, this young, 36 year old man is dead, from treating his patients from the virus, or so we are told. He left behind 2 young children and a wife. We knew that the virus would spread, but, at first, it seemed that it affected mainly the elderly. We should have known better, as this vibrant, young, healthy doctor died from it. We hoped that it would be a small number of people affected, and that it would be contained and die out like SARS or MERS did.
Then came Iran and South Korea with large numbers of people getting the virus. The information and statistics did not start really pouring in until Italy was struck with the virus. They are three weeks ahead of us on the curve and lost 400 people in the past day. Worldwide, over 254,000 people have the virus, and Italy has surpassed China in infections. Hospitals are overrun, decisions are being made on who gets treatment, and who does not because there are not enough hospital beds or ventilators to treat these people coming in with abnormal scans, indicating pneumonia, their lungs so compromised that they cannot breathe on their own. Just today, new statistics came out that men are twice as likely as women to die of this virus. 38% of people hospitalized are aged 20-54...many more than expected from this age group. It started with a nursing home in Washington State here in the United States. Many nursing home residents died from the virus, and most of the workers became infected. The hotbeds are now Washington State, California, and New York City (having 1/3 of the cases as of now). New Rochelle, in NYC, sprang up with many cases in a one mile radius around a synagogue. This area has been quarantined.
First, travel was cut off from China. Then, Europe (except the UK)...which changed the very next day to include the U.K. Now, travel is cut off from Canada and Mexico (other than trade and essential personnel). Illegal immigrants are directly being sent back over the border instead of going into the system at all. We wonder when travel between states will be cut off. Georgia had its first death about a week ago, and now we have 13, with 420 confirmed cases. This will drastically increase, as not many people have been tested. The tests are starting to multiply now, so the rise will come as well. In the US, 14,250 cases have been confirmed, with 205 deaths as of this morning. In the world, 254,653 cases have been confirmed and 10,415 deaths have occurred.
Our kids began doing school completely at home starting this week. Joshua had already been home for 2 weeks because he had a bad cold, and they wanted anyone with a cough, or fever, or flu-like symptoms to stay home. So, this is week 3 for him. Taylor's first week completely at home was this week. Otherwise, they would be going to their hybrid schools 2 times per week. The school closings are slated to be for two weeks, with considerations ongoing. We all know that school is out for the rest of the year. We are doing our best to work from home. Joshua is struggling with focus, and Taylor is struggling with her MERLD and motivation/boredom. Doug started working from home this week. He was out all but one day last week because Joshua was sick, and so work was taking extra precautions. He got back to work on Friday last week, only to come back home for the foreseeable future.
I have been home for a week now. The last time I went out was on March 11th, Taylor's birthday, to go to Joshua's school to drop off homework, and to pick up cake for Taylor. Prior to the 11th, I really stocked up on goods...toiletries, groceries, cat litter, anything I could think of. We got a few remaining bottles of hand sanitizer from Aldi, as I sent Doug out for those. Now, hand sanitizer is nowhere to be found. Masks had been sold out for probably a month prior to this. The government took many of those, as there is a huge shortage...partly because China makes all of masks, and they turned a ship around containing many masks for their use. Trump is now enacting the Defense Act to have companies over here make masks, gowns, and gloves to provide hospitals, as some are already out of masks and reusing the ones they have. They asked construction companies to give the government their N95 masks so that healthcare workers would have some. 3M is supposed to be making more in the US as we speak. Speaking of China making everything...almost all of our penicillin, pain killers, heparin, anti-depressants, etc. is made in China. There has been much talk of making our own drugs in the US again (something I've been concerned about for a long time). This should never have happened...to let a country, who hates us and has threatened us, making most of our medicines. Even a country whom we are on great terms with, should not be making our prescription and non-prescription drugs. I hope that this will be one good thing that comes out of this crisis. The dire need for these supplies to be made here in America.
Joshua and Doug went to a lab on Tuesday to get bloodwork done on Joshua. This was a risk that we were very nervous about. I prayed about it, and we decided that if the lab was busy, they were to leave. Thank the Lord, the lab was EMPTY, and they were able to get in and out quickly. Joshua has been having hives for over a month, which started with Strattera use for ADHD. We tried giving him Zyrtec, Claritin, and Benadryl to stop the hives, but they would just come back the next day whenever he would get too warm, or take a shower, or sit in the bathroom upstairs, which is really warm. We are praying that they did not get any exposure from this. It was not an easy decision, but we want to know if there are any underlying medical concerns, namely autoimmune, going on so that we are in the know. He has gone today without hives. This is the first day since February 20th, that he has not gotten hives. This is huge! We hope that it continues, as Atlanta is starting to get quite warm, and it will be difficult to keep him inside all summer if it continues. Speaking of summer, we don't know if the pool will be able to open, or Taylor will get to be on the swim team. Will we have a summer vacation? Will we get to see our family this summer? All questions that we don't have answers to. We don't know if they will shut down travel between states, so we have discussed the possibility of bringing Doug's dad, Bobby, who is 87, here to GA, if that should happen.
So many unknowns. Right now, toilet paper is a hot commodity, and chicken...Grocery stores have many empty shelves, so we have been told. I have only online shopped since my last trip on the 11th. We are set to pick up groceries from Kroger on Sunday. This will be the first time we have used the store pick-up option. I have already ordered groceries for my parents at the Kroger in Plymouth. They are mostly staying home, but have walked into two grocery stores, and went through the Wendy's drive through today. I pray that no one in the family gets this dreaded virus. Our parents are of the age that it would be devastating to their bodies, and we don't know how we would fare either. Much to pray about. The Lord knows the number of our days, and I am trying not to fear. The Lord tells us to "Fear not" and hence, I am trying. I must admit, that CBD oil has helped in the evening, when it hits at times. So many unknowns. Right before the quarantine, we had visited The Howard School, as a possibility for Taylor for next year. We decided that this was not the right school for Taylor as their values and teachings do not line up with ours. She would love to be in a 5 day school if we could find one that was Christian and could help with her language disorder. But now, homeschooling is likely to continue for another year, at least, while this virus runs its course.
Until tomorrow...
Then came Iran and South Korea with large numbers of people getting the virus. The information and statistics did not start really pouring in until Italy was struck with the virus. They are three weeks ahead of us on the curve and lost 400 people in the past day. Worldwide, over 254,000 people have the virus, and Italy has surpassed China in infections. Hospitals are overrun, decisions are being made on who gets treatment, and who does not because there are not enough hospital beds or ventilators to treat these people coming in with abnormal scans, indicating pneumonia, their lungs so compromised that they cannot breathe on their own. Just today, new statistics came out that men are twice as likely as women to die of this virus. 38% of people hospitalized are aged 20-54...many more than expected from this age group. It started with a nursing home in Washington State here in the United States. Many nursing home residents died from the virus, and most of the workers became infected. The hotbeds are now Washington State, California, and New York City (having 1/3 of the cases as of now). New Rochelle, in NYC, sprang up with many cases in a one mile radius around a synagogue. This area has been quarantined.
First, travel was cut off from China. Then, Europe (except the UK)...which changed the very next day to include the U.K. Now, travel is cut off from Canada and Mexico (other than trade and essential personnel). Illegal immigrants are directly being sent back over the border instead of going into the system at all. We wonder when travel between states will be cut off. Georgia had its first death about a week ago, and now we have 13, with 420 confirmed cases. This will drastically increase, as not many people have been tested. The tests are starting to multiply now, so the rise will come as well. In the US, 14,250 cases have been confirmed, with 205 deaths as of this morning. In the world, 254,653 cases have been confirmed and 10,415 deaths have occurred.
Our kids began doing school completely at home starting this week. Joshua had already been home for 2 weeks because he had a bad cold, and they wanted anyone with a cough, or fever, or flu-like symptoms to stay home. So, this is week 3 for him. Taylor's first week completely at home was this week. Otherwise, they would be going to their hybrid schools 2 times per week. The school closings are slated to be for two weeks, with considerations ongoing. We all know that school is out for the rest of the year. We are doing our best to work from home. Joshua is struggling with focus, and Taylor is struggling with her MERLD and motivation/boredom. Doug started working from home this week. He was out all but one day last week because Joshua was sick, and so work was taking extra precautions. He got back to work on Friday last week, only to come back home for the foreseeable future.
I have been home for a week now. The last time I went out was on March 11th, Taylor's birthday, to go to Joshua's school to drop off homework, and to pick up cake for Taylor. Prior to the 11th, I really stocked up on goods...toiletries, groceries, cat litter, anything I could think of. We got a few remaining bottles of hand sanitizer from Aldi, as I sent Doug out for those. Now, hand sanitizer is nowhere to be found. Masks had been sold out for probably a month prior to this. The government took many of those, as there is a huge shortage...partly because China makes all of masks, and they turned a ship around containing many masks for their use. Trump is now enacting the Defense Act to have companies over here make masks, gowns, and gloves to provide hospitals, as some are already out of masks and reusing the ones they have. They asked construction companies to give the government their N95 masks so that healthcare workers would have some. 3M is supposed to be making more in the US as we speak. Speaking of China making everything...almost all of our penicillin, pain killers, heparin, anti-depressants, etc. is made in China. There has been much talk of making our own drugs in the US again (something I've been concerned about for a long time). This should never have happened...to let a country, who hates us and has threatened us, making most of our medicines. Even a country whom we are on great terms with, should not be making our prescription and non-prescription drugs. I hope that this will be one good thing that comes out of this crisis. The dire need for these supplies to be made here in America.
Joshua and Doug went to a lab on Tuesday to get bloodwork done on Joshua. This was a risk that we were very nervous about. I prayed about it, and we decided that if the lab was busy, they were to leave. Thank the Lord, the lab was EMPTY, and they were able to get in and out quickly. Joshua has been having hives for over a month, which started with Strattera use for ADHD. We tried giving him Zyrtec, Claritin, and Benadryl to stop the hives, but they would just come back the next day whenever he would get too warm, or take a shower, or sit in the bathroom upstairs, which is really warm. We are praying that they did not get any exposure from this. It was not an easy decision, but we want to know if there are any underlying medical concerns, namely autoimmune, going on so that we are in the know. He has gone today without hives. This is the first day since February 20th, that he has not gotten hives. This is huge! We hope that it continues, as Atlanta is starting to get quite warm, and it will be difficult to keep him inside all summer if it continues. Speaking of summer, we don't know if the pool will be able to open, or Taylor will get to be on the swim team. Will we have a summer vacation? Will we get to see our family this summer? All questions that we don't have answers to. We don't know if they will shut down travel between states, so we have discussed the possibility of bringing Doug's dad, Bobby, who is 87, here to GA, if that should happen.
So many unknowns. Right now, toilet paper is a hot commodity, and chicken...Grocery stores have many empty shelves, so we have been told. I have only online shopped since my last trip on the 11th. We are set to pick up groceries from Kroger on Sunday. This will be the first time we have used the store pick-up option. I have already ordered groceries for my parents at the Kroger in Plymouth. They are mostly staying home, but have walked into two grocery stores, and went through the Wendy's drive through today. I pray that no one in the family gets this dreaded virus. Our parents are of the age that it would be devastating to their bodies, and we don't know how we would fare either. Much to pray about. The Lord knows the number of our days, and I am trying not to fear. The Lord tells us to "Fear not" and hence, I am trying. I must admit, that CBD oil has helped in the evening, when it hits at times. So many unknowns. Right before the quarantine, we had visited The Howard School, as a possibility for Taylor for next year. We decided that this was not the right school for Taylor as their values and teachings do not line up with ours. She would love to be in a 5 day school if we could find one that was Christian and could help with her language disorder. But now, homeschooling is likely to continue for another year, at least, while this virus runs its course.
Until tomorrow...
Update: latest news tonight reports that there are now over 17,000 US cases...
Interestingly, the Chinese government in the past week started putting propaganda in their state media that claimed that the US Army had planted the virus in Wuhan, China. This is their attempt to divert attention internally from their mishandling of the virus and initially covering up and downplaying the virus. Much distrust in their statistics exists, and many questions are still unanswered about how many people truly died in China. For a period of time, there was widespread vocal opposition and anger openly expressed in China, which is quite unusual for it not being squelched immediately.
ReplyDeleteEntered by Doug Harding on March 20, 2020
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