Pandemic Positivity

No, I'm not talking about positive test results. We'd have to actually be testing the public to have any of those! What I'm talking about are positive moments and looking on the bright side amidst this pandemic, social distancing, and sheltering in place.

Of course I'm worried about people's lives and health. I'm worried about the economy. I'm worried about going stir-crazy. At the same time, these new circumstances are revealing a lot of good in the world. Have you noticed the different ways that people are connecting through social media? The general kindness that people are showing to others? I have.

These are some of my favorite bright spots during Covid-19 social distancing and isolation:

• Live Music! SO many artists and musicians are performing live on social media. I've attended several very intimate living room concerts with some amazing artists in the past week via live or recorded videos on Facebook or Instagram and I LOVE IT. Music is a balm to my soul.
• Literature! Actors and celebrities are recording themselves reading novels, Shakespearean sonnets, and poetry and posting those videos on social media. 
• BOOKS! I'm having a hard time actually sitting down to read, still, I am overwhelmed by the amount of digital and audio books that have recently been made free on multiple platforms. Also, my library has a wide range of (always free) e-books and audiobooks. Also, the fact that my library is closed means I get to hold on to my actual library books waaaaay past their original due dates! 
• Not getting dressed on days I don't go in to work! (I don't need to explain that one, do I?)
• My calendar is suddenly very empty. I don't have to shuttle my children back and forth and back and forth. I don't have to rush and show up late, cram shopping trips between extracurricular activities, or squeeze in social gatherings. I don't spend time wondering, "Should I feed the pets dinner early, now? Or will I be home at a decent hour to feed them?"
• Creativity!!!! I actually have time to write in this blog! Wow!
• Flexible bedtime! Since I am sleeping like crap, it doesn't really matter if I go to bed early and lose hours to tossing and turning, or if I stay up until midnight finishing a book and then zonk out hard for five solid hours of actual sleep. The results are pretty much the same. As a result, I'm finding that my bedtime and resulting morning get-out-of-bed time are shifting later and later. 

That's all for now, maybe I'll add more later. Please comment with some of your favorite bright spots amidst this pandemic and shelter in place! 

Pandemic Pandemonium

To recap:
Ten days ago our city declared a local emergency and it was decided that our school district would cancel all schooling for a month, through the end of Spring Break. Seven days ago my county, along with several others in the San Francisco Bay Area, created a Shelter in Place order, asking people to stay home unless receiving or obtaining essential services. Four days ago the governor of California declared a similar Stay at Home order for the entire state.

Everything is happening very quickly.

I haven't been shopping in eleven days. When I did go last, I went to three different stores in one day to find all of the different supplies I wanted. It was stressful. People were freaking out leading up to the spread of this virus, and the grocery store parking lots were JAM PACKED the day before our local Shelter in Place went into affect. I get it, I do. At the same time, I've been avoiding all stores in hopes that the general pandemonium will subside and I can do semi-normal grocery shopping again, soon. I'm planning on waiting until at least the end of the week before I go into a store again. We are very privileged to have a house with lots of cabinet space for food storage, an extra freezer, and the income to afford buying in bulk and our electricity bills. I'm not going to run out of flour, sugar, powdered milk, or pasta soon, thanks to my years of obedience to the Mormon church's counsel regarding food storage in case of emergencies. I AM going to run out of fresh fruits and vegetables in a few days, and that simply will not be tolerated.

At the time of my last post, my daughter had a fever. It only lasted that evening, she has had a stuffy nose and a bit of a sore throat off and on since then. No cough. We're all doing fine at my house. Maybe we all have Covid-19 and don't know it, but, that could be true for anyone right now. That's why many states all over the nation are following in California's footsteps and asking their residents to stay at home!

I am still full of rage that testing for this virus is not widespread. The wealthy and affluent can magically be tested if they feel fatigued or a bit under the weather. Meanwhile, people are ill with coughs and fevers and told that tests are not available and they should stay at home unless they have labored breathing. We are sending countless healthcare workers to work every single day and expecting them to return home to their families without being tested, despite KNOWING that this virus is transmitted by asymptomatic carriers.

As a society, we are flying blind when it comes to just how many people have this virus and as a result we have self-entitled people waltzing around, ignoring the guidelines for social distancing. I suspect these people don't understand the science behind viral infections and the evidence is not in their faces enough for them to realize the impact of their actions. Sadly, that impact is hitting us harder and harder every day.

The positive number of cases in my county jumped to 112 today.

Stay safe, my friends. Call your friends and family, read a good book, and wash your hands!

Pandemic

I played a board game called Pandemic years ago. That was fun. This is different.

There's a new virus in town.

Novel Corona Virus is causing quite a stir.
Just as a disclaimer: I'm a science nerd. I'm one of the people you know who has actually taken virology classes. I don't exactly remember everything from those classes, but I have retained some of that information and I just want you to know that. Anyhow...

Today is Wednesday. Five days ago, while I was at work on the afternoon of Friday the 13th, my county and my city declared a state of emergency. We learned that our school district was cancelling all school for the next four weeks. I told my lovely boss that I would need a couple of days off work each week in order to be home with my kids during this time. Then, I spent the next few nights not sleeping well, worrying about how my small, local veterinary hospital would keep afloat with all of these changes and with less staff there to help out. I also had a lot of weird anxiety dreams that involved sanitizing doorknobs and washing dirty hands.

Monday rolled around, I went to work as planned and left the kiddos with my incredible, elderly (they don't like me saying that word) parents. Midday more changes were announced. Millions of people in the Bay Area were told to Shelter in Place at their homes starting at midnight. If you need to go out to receive an essential service or provide an essential service, that's okay, as long as you keep six feet apart from everyone while in public. The rest of the time, everyone is expected to stay at home as much as possible. Fun news. It turns out the veterinary medicine is considered an essential service, so I went to work Tuesday. The hubby is working on an apartment building and construction of housing is considered an essential service, so he went to work too. My poor kids got to spend another day with my amazing (sort of elderly) parents.

Today I got to stay home, since my boss lady is understanding. I spent the entire day reading spreadsheets full of assignments and suggested applications that my kids' wonderful teachers emailed to me. I bookmarked a million websites, printed tons of spreadsheets with detailed assignments, logged in to accounts, couldn't log in to accounts, emailed teachers, finally logged in to accounts, and bookmarked those websites too. I also spent absurd amounts of time reading with my son, doing math with my son, checking in on my daughter to make sure she was reading and doing math. We watched shows in Spanish and got exercise and danced and ate healthy meals. And STILL my son didn't do enough writing because getting him to write is like pulling teeth. I even went to the school to pick up a packet (of stuff that is all online so I'm not sure why I had to pick it up!).

It all made me feel tired.

You know who else was tired, and then complained of a dry, sore throat and checked her temperature without me prompting? My 10-year old child. As the afternoon grew later, I could see that look she gets around her eyes that pretty much screams at me, "I don't feel well! I have a fever!" and sure enough, she had a fever. She isn't coughing, but her elevated temperature means that nobody wants her, or anyone who has been near her, anywhere near them. So now I can't go to work tomorrow or leave my house everrrrr agaaaiiiinnnn!!!! (That last bit might be an exaggeration.)

We wash our hands a lot, we have been sanitizing doorknobs, light switches, faucet handles, etc. for a week now. We are taking this social distancing and sheltering in place seriously. The kid probably has a run-of-the-mill cold and not a fancy new viral infection, but we can't know that, so we shall wait, watch, and see.

I called our healthcare's advice nurse line and spoke to a kind, compassionate nurse who explained to me that our county controls the parameters around testing and they are only testing people who:
1. Have symptoms of Covid-19 and have had known contact with someone who is confirmed positive for Covid-19.
2. Are really sick and in the hospital and they can't figure out why, but all of the symptoms point to Covid-19.
3. Are maybe not in the hospital but are sick with symptoms of Covid-19 AND are considered high-risk.

I'm frustrated by my country's medical system and response to this pandemic. If the powers that be are only testing really sick people despite knowing that community spread is happening and that most cases are mild, that is really skewing the numbers and giving us shit data. (I couldn't spell "skewing" and wrote it 700 ways before asking Google for help.) I don't know if we've been in contact with someone who is positive because people are not being widely tested. Also, at least two clients spat on me while talking to me on Friday. That's gross and I just wanted to make sure I included it in this post, because yuck.

I'm annoyed, a little worried, and kind of anxious.

Stay safe, my friends. Cover your mouths and wash your filthy hands.