Eating at a restaurant for the first time since COVID-19

I have not been to a restaurant since the end of April, but tonight I had an early dinner on an outdoor patio with my family. I felt safe, although a large party of ten people came and sat at a table at least six feet from us. The staff at the restaurant wore masks and made me feel they were making our visit safe for us.

We arrived at 5:00 p.m. and left as a crowd of people came around 6:45. It was fun for the five of us to eat together and have the opportunity to chat. This restaurant has done a wonderful job of social distancing with large picnic tables spaced well on a grassy area where they can have a band playing. I don't know if this is what the medical people would consider safe for people like me, but at least this restaurant will be able to survive unless someone gets sick with COVID. 

I was concerned when the owner came over to speak to us. He did not wear a mask. The reason for my concern is that he is in close proximity to all the guests there, and he could easily be infected by one of them. If he contracted this illness tonight, his coming over to talk with us could have shed the virus on us.  I am assured I was very safe, and I believe I was, but I am leery of going out among people. I will not likely do it again soon.

Telemedicine and COVID-19

I just completed a tele-medicine appointment with my primary care doctor. I am so happy she will do this kind of thing, and she said her patients have been super happy with it. But soon the Federal Government will shut down the tele-medicine program. I don't know why. When I see her for my next appointment in late July, I will have to go inside the office. We all know that the COVID 19 will still be a problem in our area. We are not likely to have a vaccine by then.

At present, she is having patients come to the parking lot for blood tests and any kind of procedure where a face to face meeting is necessary. She said most of her patients are following the guidelines to wear masks and keep social distancing. When the telemedicine ends, she will continue to practice social distancing in the office and she and her staff will wear masks.

I was glad to have a chance to talk to her. She said I should continue to wear my mask when I am out in public or with other people. I am at high risk with my respiratory problems, diabetes, and because of my age. I knew this, of course, but wanted her medical opinion. I will isolate as much as possible and it is not easy when you want to throw your arms around your sister or friend. I am a hugger, but now I can't.

 She spoke of a patient who was in the hospital now, very, very sick because he and his pastor met outside his home with a group for Bible study. They did not wear masks or any protection. Sadly, she said that most people when they reach the ICU stage don't make it. My brother was a miracle. He survived a week there on a ventilator, but he was in good health for his age. He walked two miles every day, took his supplements, was not overweight and just took care of himself.

Dr. W. said she wears a mask anytime she is out including buying groceries.
Recently, at Wal-Mart she and her boyfriend were shopping and obeying the six foot distance, staying on the blue circles marking six feet apart when a man came right up next to her boyfriend. He was evidently one of those people who are in denial about the virus and the protections we should follow. Her friend asked the man to step back to the circle six feet away. And that is when the man became belligerent. She said, "He went off!"

Why would people act like that? I just don't understand the mindset of this kind of person. This is why I am afraid to even go out in public now. I don't want a fight, a confrontation with these people and I don't want to be near someone who is unconcerned about the health of others.

Having lost a friend to COVID-19 and almost losing my brother, I know this is a serious, highly contagious illness and not just the flu as so many people in my area like to say.

I asked her if I could get a test for antibodies since I am wondering if my illness back in late January and early February could have been this virus. She said she would not recommend it at this time because I might need to be tested later and Medicare would not pay again. She also said the early claims that all testing would be paid for and that no one would have to pay the bill has not proven to be true. It seems many of the promises that came down the pike are not being honored, and she is in a position to see it first hand. I also heard yesterday that there aren't any tests in my county. What? I thought we had plenty of tests in this country. Weren't we told that?

I felt much better after talking with her and I have a new found respect for this young doctor. Sadly, my respect for my chiropractors is not so high since neither of them will wear a mask, and one of them told me I didn't need to wear a mask because it did no good. No good for whom?

My doctor thinks much of this disregard for safety and wearing a face covering comes from early directions from CDC saying we did not need to wear masks. She thinks that was said simply because there was a shortage of masks and PPE for the medical care workers. CDC was trying to stop the public from buying up the masks. Later, Dr. Fauci changed his tune on this and now they advise us to practice social distancing and to wear masks.

I wonder if anyone would want to pass on this virus to another, possibly to someone like me who would likely die if I catch it. If not, why is it so difficult to wear a fabric covering over your nose and mouth just to insure you would not pass on a droplet from your nose or mouth or accidentally cough near someone like me. I know how often I sneeze unexpectedly, barely having time to turn my face into my elbow.

The big danger of this coronavirus is that someone could have it and not be aware, have no symptoms but be dangerous to others. Like the woman who attended the dance in Murphy, NC or the man who attended the funeral in Albany, GA. They did not know they were sick, but these two people brought in a disease that killed many other people. 

If they were still alive today, I know they would be horrified to have done this. I feel sure they would have gladly worn a mask, a cloth covering of some kind, and would have been super sure their hands were sanitized. 

If only the ignorant people who are going around with no concern for others would be as careful. I say ignorant because these people are not educated to the dangers for a large part of our population. While we are staying home, we do have to live in this world.

I am staying home and can't complain about that. But I need to go to the post office and the grocery store sometimes. No one in Ingles grocery store had on a mask the last time I was there. I was told, "It is hard to work in a mask." Well, I thought, tell that to all those in the medical field who wear them every day. I'm sure they would prefer to not have to wear a mask, and all the PPE, but they do it trying to save their own lives and the lives of others. 

We are all frustrated and feel our lives are out of our control. We want to be like we were before this monster virus hit our land, but we will likely not ever be the same. I feel sure my life will not go back to the way it was. I have cried and I have screamed my frustration and anger. I have talked with a therapist and talked with my family, and we are all in the same boat. We have to just wait and hope our leaders will do what is best for all of us so we don't have to die. And we have to hope our fellow man will think about all of us as he goes blithely through his day.

As my niece said today on our Zoom visit. "This will pass one day."

Look at the cute mask Corie Pressley wore when she came to help me. I think she is a fashion plate in this. Someone should start a site just for cute masks. Corie would be a winner, I'm sure. 

My readers, how are you coping and what do you think?


https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/verify-viral-image-about-masks-gets-the-numbers-wrong-but-the-idea-right/507-ff915e39-5a79-483d-86b7-98ecc796c8e5

Coronavirus caused a national emergency and some hoarding

On Friday, March 13, the nation was declared in a National Emergency due to the Coronavirus which has been named a pandemic because it is affecting and killing people all over the globe.

I am in the high risk group so I am extremely careful about where I go and what I do.  I have been called a germaphobe for some years now. Because my immune system is not the best, I carry my home-made sanitizer, alcohol and water in a spray bottle. I use it liberally and all the time. I don't have OCD, but I am careful.

At a restaurant today, I read the menu and gave my order, then sprayed my hands. After my meal, I handed my card to the waiter. When he returned with it, I put it away and sprayed my hands again. Overkill? Maybe, but I don't want to take a chance on getting sick.

When I get into my car I spray my steering wheel, gear shift and keys as well as my hands. At home I wash my hands carefully and for twenty seconds or longer.

At home in the coming week, I will isolate myself. I have food and what I need in my freezer, my pantry and refrigerator, so I hope there will be no need to go out.

The local community college where I just began teaching a weekly writing course is now closed. My local librarian at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC called to let me know that all events that were planned for March have been cancelled and that includes an afternoon writing class on dialogue set for March 26. I will soon be contacting those who have registered and sent their fees. We will postpone the class or cancel, depending on the instructor and those who planned to attend.

When I first heard about the panic and how people were buying loads of toilet paper and paper towels, I could not understand. But, today my niece reminded me that many of those mothers were planning for four or five people home all day every day as businesses closed and schools closed. And no one can say how long this will last. Some were shopping for parents or elderly grandparents who must stay home to protect themselves.

I worry about my older brother who was just hospitalized with severe respiratory illness and heart failure. I worry about my dear cousin who lives in an assisted living facility down in south Georgia. She is in her nineties and has heart problems. I wonder what precautions are being taken there.

Some say there is no need to be concerned. They go about their business paying no attention to warnings to use sanitizer, practice social distances, wash their hands, etc. Even if someone is young and is not likely to die from this virus, he can spread the disease to others, to someone like me who is not young and doesn't have their immune system. The secret to stopping a disease such as COVID-19 is keeping it from spreading. But young people are still gathering at bars, drinking and dancing, and how many are spreading this virus that might seem to only be a cold?

This is a time when we should all think about ourselves, but we must also think about our neighbors, our friends and even strangers. No matter how divided we are on politics and other matters, this is the time for everyone to work together to stop the spread of this dangerous disease. 

A friend told me about someone, who is older, and has found that two of her fifteen clients were exposed to a person with the virus. These two clients were in her office just days ago and did not know at the time they had been exposed. Now she will quarantine herself and pray that she doesn't come down with it and that she has not passed it on to others.

It seems that often this virus has been spread at church, especially in church choirs. My sister and brother-in-law sing in their church choir and were happy to hear that the church has suspended services for this Sunday. I know I would not attend church at this time because it is impossible to keep the social distance needed to protect yourself.

This reminds me of a family story.
Back in the 1920s, many of my aunts and uncles moved from north Florida to Tampa, St. Petersburg and surrounding area. That part of Florida was booming. My uncle Charley was a young man who was trying to earn a good living so he could get married and start his family. He made his way down to Palmetto, Florida where his sister, Oleo (Oley)and her husband, had begun a business. They hired Charley to work in their butcher shop.

No one was prepared for what was coming. Charley became ill and was diagnosed with smallpox, a deadly disease with no cure. It has been eradicated today with the smallpox vaccination which I remember having when I was in first grade.

Thousands of people died from smallpox. Charley was quarantined, and with no home of his own, he lived in a barn and his sister brought his food to him there. The good news was that Charley survived. But Oleo and Willie's butcher shop did not. Because Charley worked there and had smallpox, health authorities closed the store. No one was allowed inside, not even the owners. The meat spoiled and everything Oleo and Willie owned was lost.

That was only one of the many challenges that faced Oleo in her life. But those stories are for another time.  

I hope you, my readers and friends, will be safe and unharmed from this virus. Don't panic, but do be careful and come back here next week. Tell me what is on your mind in the comment section below.