Coronavirus Affects (Not Infects) Family, and Community

This 2015 picture is of mom and dad (left), Aunt Rosie (now deceased picture front right), Marcia and Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary (far right end).  Mary and mom are sisters, Mary being two years older than mom.  Rosie is the wife of their older brother Kenny, who was three years older than Mary.  Of the eleven children of Grandma Cline, Mary, Mom and the youngest of the family, Paul, are the only ones left.
 

Mary and Jim moved into an Assisted Living Center in Elk Grove California (southern suburb of Sacramento) this past Saturday.  On Monday, that Center went into a quarantine situation due to one of the residents being diagnosed with the COVID-19 Coronavirus...that person, a 97 year old female, passed away on Tuesday.  According to a news report today, none of the facility's other 143 patients are yet suspected of being infected.

The quarantine consists of trying to keep the residents in their apartments, having meals delivered to each apartment, and no group gatherings or activities.  Visitors are not allowed in the building, but residents can leave if they want or need to (such as doctor's appointments, or wishing to go live with a relative for a few weeks.)

Mom, who lives in an Assisted Living facility in Roseville (northern suburb of Sacramento) has not reported any cases at her place, but they too are taking some precautions. They still gather for meals in the dining room, but other group activities are canceled for now, and visitors need to stay within the residents apartment.

In the state of Washington, as of Thursday evening, 22 deaths are associated with the Life Care Center of Kirkland near Seattle. It’s been 13 days since this Life Care Center went on quarantine. Sixty-three residents have been infected...I could not find out how many of the 41 remaining infected residents are at the facility, in hospitals, or what.  Just because you are old and catch the virus does not mean you are going to die...but chances are higher for the elderly especially because many have underlying illnesses which has weakened their immune system.

 

Coronavirus has been around for a long time...but this new Coronavirus, COVID-19, is new.  Dad, pictured above in the ER the day before he passed away, was diagnosed with Coronavirus OC43, which is one of the viruses which causes the common cold.  His immune system was so shot that his lungs and heart could not handle this virus, leading to complications, which quickly took him away from us.  

There is much hype going on in the world over COVID-19.  I think over time history will show that COVID-19 is just another form of cold or flu that the world will need to deal with.  There is a huge probability that a vaccine will be created quickly which will keep this virus in check for the next flu and cold season next winter.  Countries of the world have decided that the best way to keep this virus in check for now is to keep its spread as small as possible.  Here in the US/Canada the NBA, NHL, NCAA have canceled their seasons.  Golf and NASCAR are still happening, but with no crowds.  Baseball's Spring Training has been suspended, and opening day has been moved back by two weeks.  Disney is shutting down all of its parks here in the states starting Sunday, and stopping new cruises from starting up until further notice.  The list goes on and on....

What all this means is that businesses and jobs will take a huge hit.  Next week the PGA's Valspar Championship takes place in Palm Harbor, just yards away from where we store our motorhome.  Restaurants, Hotels, Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, Bars, Tourist Sites are all geared up for around 150,000+ visitors.  The Valspar Championship raises lots of money for charity, around $2.5 million last year.  This year, as of today's announcement, will be a BUST!

Today on my way to do more work at the motorhome, I stopped by a McDonalds for a Diet Coke (all drinks are just $1).  It was exactly noon...I was the only car in the two lanes to give orders, but when I drove up to the window to pay there were two cars which has already paid awaiting their orders.  The parking lot had many empty parking places.  I typically avoid going to this McDonalds after 11:30 and before 2:00 due to the lunch rush...today there was no lunch rush.  I noticed fewer cars in the large Walmart shopping center and the Publix Shopping Center across the street.  Yesterday we met Marcia's brother Dean and wife Caryl at Mama Maria's for lunch.  We arrived at 11:30, left around 2:00.  They had about 1/4 of their tables in use at the most.  Many people are not going out to eat, not visiting tourist sites, stocking up on hand sanitizers, TP, Kleenex, and food.  Hunkering down at home is the thing to do right now for many.  Our church sent out a Facebook reminder about the Internet Live Stream of our services for those who understandably don't want to get out into the public.

It is going to be a tough 2-6 weeks.  Eventually people will get fed up with staying home.  The economy will pick back up.  Many experts are saying that by Summer, COVID-19, like the flu and cold, will slow way down until the next flu season.  Baseball, Golf and NASCAR will again have people in their stands.  The NBA, NCAA, NHL will have asterisk in their books showing why they did not complete the 2019-2020 Season.  Mickey Mouse will again have visitors, and cruise ships will come and go each week from the many ports.  Local businesses will again see normal use, those businesses which are able to survive this slow down.

As for Marcia and I...we are doing just fine.  We take the same precautions as we do with the flu each year because neither of us get the flu shot.  The last time I got a flu shot, back in the '70's, I ended up with the flu.  In my lifetime I have lived through the following pandemics (defined : prevalent over the world)---

Asian Flu (1957–1958) outbreak of avian influenza that originated in China with estimates of worldwide deaths ranging from 1 million to 4 million depending on source, and it is estimated that 70,000 died in the US.

Hong Kong Flu (1968–1969) which killed an estimated one million people worldwide.  People over 65 had the greatest death rates with US deaths of around 33,800.

Russian Flu (1977–1978) primarily affected people born after 1950, because the older generation had protective immunity resulting from prior experience with this strain. The 1977 virus was similar to other A/H1N1 viruses that had circulated prior to 1957. The virus was included in the 1978–79 vaccine.  Few deaths occured since this was primarily in young people.

Swine Flu (2009–2010) CDC estimated there were 60.8 million cases, and WHO stated that "199 countries and overseas territories/communities have officially reported a total of over 482,300 laboratory confirmed cases...that included 6,071 deaths", but later increased the estimated number of deaths to 284,500 people, about 15 times the number of deaths in the initial death toll, with 12,469 deaths in the US. 

I survived those pandemics, and I expect to survive this one.  Our thoughts are prayers are with my Aunt and Uncle, Mom, Euleda (Arny's mom), and other friends and relatives who are at that age where this COVID-19 is so deadly.  

NOTE: The local golf tournament has now been canceled.