Coronavirus Diary Day 13: March 25, 2020
The News is Exhausting
Have I really been writing about Coronavirus for 13 days?
I’m afraid I have. Ryan has been home from school for 13 days. The Hubs has
been working at home for 13 days. And the dog has been absolutely up my ass for
13 days.
It’s raining today, which makes things even more
complicated, because the dog is 11 months old and full of energy. I’ve taken
him for a few walks around the neighborhood, and I’ve kicked a ball to him in
the backyard. Both activities end with me cleaning mud from his paws, from the
kitchen floor, from the couch my crotch. Today, it’s more frustrating than
usual.
The news is exhausting. I’ve been trying to avoid it for the
last few days. Even The Hubs has tried to avoid it, and he’s a news junkie.
But you can’t ignore it all together. Like, we need to know certain things.
Truthfully, this is the first day since all of this began
that I’ve been feeling a bit… discontented, agitated, embittered? I’m
not sure exactly how to describe it. My chest occasionally feels tight, and I
have a headache and runny nose. I find myself wondering if this is the start of
Coronavirus. Of course it isn’t. It’s clearly paranoia. After all, my
social distancing skills have been stellar. But I’ve hit the grocery store a
few times in the past 13 days, so yanno.
I mean, I’ve had some delightful moments in my day, too.
I’ve exercised. I’ve texted with friends. I’ve talked with my parents, who are
feeling a little better, so they claim. At this moment, I’m writing in
the kitchen, looking into Ryan’s new makeshift workshop, which is a portion of
our living room that has been cordoned off with various pieces of furniture to
keep the dog out. In this workshop, Ryan is building Adirondack chairs. The
chairs will eventually go into our new sunroom. Construction stopped on the
sunroom this week, because it’s a non-essential job. Who knows when it will
resume, but someday, it will contain Ryan’s Adirondack chairs, built during the
lock-down. We’ll look at each other and say, “Remember that time?” All of these
things make me happy.
Now for the shit part (sorry). It’s time for numbers. Feel
free to leave here. This part is meant to be used retrospectively, as in… at a
later date when humanity is feeling better, out of quarantine, and back to
work. It’s important to know that testing for COVID-19 is very limited. It’s
also very different in various parts of the world, and even parts of the USA.
So these numbers only reflect confirmed cases, meaning people who have actually
been tested. People have been tested because they had known exposure, or
they were very sick with symptoms, or they were in high risk groups, or they
were health care workers, or they were professional sports players.
Anyway, a lot of sick people just quarantine themselves – without a test –
until they recover. Other folks are asymptomatic carriers. So the actual number
of humans walking around with Coronavirus is definitely much, much
higher than these numbers reflect. Therefore, it’s an inaccurate measurement. And
honestly? It’s all bullshit, but here you have it.
Worldwide COVID-19 Confirmed Cases:
461,688 (That’s 292,132 more than 10 days ago)
Deaths:
20,850 (That’s 14,334 more than 10 days ago)
Active:
327,039
Recovered:
113,799
In the USA, there are currently over 64,107 confirmed
cases of COVID-19. Ten days ago, there were 3,000 cases. Also in the USA, there
are 893 dead. Ten days ago, there were 61 dead.
In Pennsylvania, there are 1,127 confirmed cases, of
which 342 are in Philadelphia.
New York has been the hardest hit, which shouldn’t
surprise anyone. As of this morning, there were 30,811 confirmed cases in New
York State, of which 17,856 are in NYC. At least 285 people have died in the
state.
The Hubs and I have property in Upstate New York. We go
there for summer vacations, the winter holidays, and various other long
weekends throughout the year. We’ve always joked that – in an emergency such as
this one – we would retreat to our house in Upstate New York. We could be
secluded from the world and create our own little ecosystem.
But Essex County is sending a clear message to people like
us: Don’t come here. They simply don’t have the resources to handle an
outbreak. We’ll put ourselves and others at risk. Which is fine with me, by the
way. I’ll wait it out right here, in my own little Philadelphian Coronavirus Petri
Dish, thankyouverymuch.
Italy and Spain are experiencing dire, dire circumstances.
To physically type the numbers onto my keyboard makes me feel slightly nauseous,
so I won’t.
And then there’s the United Kingdom, which finally
jumped on board yesterday with formal social distancing regulations. Ironically,
Prince Charles announced today that he has Coronavirus.
Soooooo anyway, today is Wednesday, which is Hump Day, which
means? Tomorrow is Thursday. That’s what we need to hold onto, people. Tomorrow
is coming. Whether we like it or not.
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