Things have gone quiet

3/2/2020

Things have gone quiet on the covid-19 front and I don't like it. We now have 6 dead as of my last check here in the US. A nursing home is where the outbreak happened! This is an absolute worst case scenario. The virus is going to tear through those poor people. We are finding out that first responders did not have proper protective gear. 2 people who were released from that damn 14 day quarantine are now confirmed to have the virus. Doesn't SOUND like things are too quiet to me. Yet we hear nothing today about plans to deal with things or anything else for that matter. We have now been told that CDC will no longer tell us how many they are testing or where. No, I don't like the look of this at all.

Where are the quarantines? We have confirmed community spread in three states and NO response. Some idiot today actually tried to tell me that we can't have quarantines in the US because of the economy. Another said we couldn't have quarantines because people would flip out. So the solution is to just do nothing? I think the people are going to flip out a lot more when the hospitals are overrun and basic supplies stop showing up because everyone is too sick to work! Same argument for the economy! It's going to be a lot worse when supply chains fail because we let the virus run loose and nothing can get done. I get that we are past containment but we need to slow it down to give the system time to adapt. But NOPE! Travel is up, still no tests and the virus can spread at will.

I keep hearing from people about the "great response" to covid-19. WHAT response?! We restricted foreigners who had been to China in the last 14 days. We temperature screened the US citizens coming from China....and...that's about it. It's an absolute embarrassment when South Korea can test tens of thousands and even puts in a testing drive through but we can't get working test kits to health departments? We are letting people WITH the virus "self quarantine" in cities all over the US! Cause people are totally going to stay home and not get bored and decide they aren't sick, right? Even Italy quarantined outbreaks! I guess we are "thinking" about putting travel restrictions on flights from Italy, Iran and South Korea. Oh goodie, when can we expect to see that? And they are going to keep letting US citizens keep flying in and out just like before aren't they? I am so beyond frustrated!

So what?! WHAT have we done? We have no protocols for people who might be sick to get tested and treated without infecting others. We have no protocols for all the non medical first responders to wear protective gear. Hell, we even found out that when they were evacuating people from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the flight staff didn't have protective gear either! I see video after video of police and fire fighters helping to take covid-19 patients out of buildings to an ambulances and they have nothing on but their regular uniforms! The schools are still open in the outbreak towns, public gatherings are not only still on, but the Washington state health dept. went out of their way to TELL people not to avoid large gatherings! Just keep on going to those concerts and parties, yo! You'll be fine!

I'm in the twilight zone! Or maybe I am dead and this is hell! I'm dead, this is hell, and there is a virus that can spread via deadly fart cloud! Oh, didn't hear about that one? Doctors in India AND China said that because the highest viral load is in the intestinal tract, that infected patients with diarrhea can infect others up to 200 meters away via, what was the term they used? Infectious fecal plumes! THAT was it! What the hell is this bug! Oh my god I am laughing so hard right now! It's not funny. I know it isn't but what else can I do?...

The media is continuing the anti mask crusade but everyone has just about figured out that it's because there are not enough masks. I mean, even if the mask doesn't completely stop the virus it keeps you from touching your face and blocks droplets.

Later:

I just found out that the first person confirmed in New Hampshire works at a hospital. The same one I had my back surgery in. It's only 40 miles away now. Though to be honest it was probably already here.

Someone just shared a video from Iran. It was...horrifying. So many dead! A man shot it to show the truth about the situation there. This was just 1 hospital but there were more than 50 bodies wrapped in black cloth all over the floors and on tables. THIS is what happens when the virus gets out of control. The people of Iran are crying out for help and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it. I send messages to WHO desperately hoping they will help them but they don't even post the real numbers! The DOCTORS in Iran are saying that 1000 have died but because they can't test, these people go uncounted by the world at large. I have seen so much death and suffering on this project. It has taken a toll on me and I know that I am not the same person I used to be. My heart is broken for all of it. So much didn't need to happen. So much more is yet to happen. I am done for the day. I am going to go read and forget all this until tomorrow. Stay safe people.