Holy Thursday, Self-Isolation Day #27
Please continue to pray for my husband's mother D. on a ventilator in ICU with confirmed COVID-19. We very much appreciate it, even though we are choosing not to give detailed, blow-by-blow health updates in this public forum.School . . . followed by outdoor play . . . It feels like (a pleasant) Groundhog's day every day here!
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| First grader reading |
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| Butterfly proudly drawn by four-year-old! |
Our neighbors were getting a new driveway and watching the cement mixer this morning provided excitement.
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| "Don't worry about me, Mama, I have a helmet on!" |
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| Source of photo |
Today is the day we learned that we have poison ivy on our new-to-us property. Two evenings ago, I had enlisted the help of my 7- and 9-year-olds to help me weed out (by hand, without gloves) a lot of "volunteer plants." When our landscaper stopped by today, he informed me that those plants (of which there are many left) are, in fact, poison ivy. (Identification article here!) So far, none of us have a rash, so here's to hoping we won't get one this time!
This evening, our parish priests generously prayed a pre-1955 Holy Thursday Mass of the Last Supper and live streamed it for all to appreciate.
Bonus Reading for Posterity
- I can't find the article now, but within the last week I was reading that it is advisable for to close toilet lids before flushing (always advisable!) because this coronavirus may transmit via aerosolization of plumbing water. The article went on to say that the earlier SARS virus did just that and was confirmed to have infected people in far-apart apartments from each other via the toilets. So, this article sure caught my eye today, as scientists are studying sewage to estimate the level of herd immunity to COVID-19 currently: Massachusetts sewage suggests more than 100K coronavirus cases in state: MIT lab. Similarly, studies are being done of California about why its numbers are so much lower than expected and whether that is because of herd immunity from much of the population catching coronavirus months ago: New study investigates California's possible herd immunity to COVID-19. Good news about herd immunity would be that this virus is much more highly transmissible than thought, milder for most of us than thought, and the death rate is much lower than thought.
- More mainstream voices are questioning publicly how coronavirus is being managed in this country. I have truly tried to avoid posting conspiracy or black helicopter type of articles, the videos of empty hospitals, but now there are increasing voices of concern that are more mainstream, educated, reasonable people. Meet the former NYT reporter who is challenging the coronavirus narrative. Our state governor, apparently, thinks we need stricter lockdown measures starting this week: Gov. Roy Cooper signs executive order further restricting ‘essential’ businesses
- Our local priests have gone to great lengths to get us the sacraments and so far have not received negative attention from civil authorities, unlike this pastor and his elderly population in their cars: WATCH: Police Raid Church’s Drive-In Service, Issue $500 Tickets to Entire Congregation
- Heartwarming story to boost our spirits: Canadian priest volunteers to be incarcerated rather than leave inmates
- Good fruits of a slower pace of life: Coronavirus is providing the course correction kids desperately needed
The study you mentioned about herd immunity is very interesting! Our community had an illness similar to corona months ago, with many having sore throats and breathing issues. Only time will tell!
ReplyDeleteThere was a Newsweek article in the past week that showed the tweets of the mayor of San Francisco next to the mayor of New York City. (Link: https://www.newsweek.com/resurfaced-tweets-show-new-york-san-francisco-mayors-strikingly-different-coronavirus-messages-1496431) London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco (which has a HUGE Chinese population and many ties to China) was warning people to be careful, stock up on prescriptions, and to plan for a possible disruption in life. They started sheltering in place a full week ahead of New York City, and the message was always that people needed to be cautious. I'm from the Bay Area, and it was like this in San Jose (my hometown) as well.
ReplyDeleteBill deBlasio, the mayor of New York, was the opposite. He was telling people to get on with their lives and get out on the town despite the threat of Coronavirus, even suggesting places to go.
Both have incredibly high population density, and San Francisco's is so bad that it surpassed Manhattan 20 years ago in terms of rent per square foot, so we can't blame New York's higher death count on that. The difference was in how the two mayors reacted. This isn't a political issue in the slightest. Bill de Blasio messed up... BADLY.
That may be true about how the two mayors handled it, but I'm also seeing increasing voices looking at early herd immunity in California.
DeleteDated Dec. 11, 2019: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article238254449.html
Dated April 11, 2020: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-11/bay-area-coronavirus-deaths-signs-of-earlier-spread-california