I try to stay up on the COVID News. I do it to keep sane because I need to focus on something in these sci-fi times, but I confess this--we'll call it a hobby-- also puts me on the verge on insanity. I think the hardest part of it is its rollercoaster nature. One minute, the sun is coming back out, the next darkness is back on the land.
In Washington state, a judge overturned the state's stay at home orders as unconstitutional ruling restrictions to state residents outweighed the danger posed to them by the coronavirus. Shortly after, another judge overturned that judge and reinstated the orders that apparently 80% of the state's population were okay with in the first place. Meanwhile iudges in Wisconsin and North Carolina were also overturning orders to the delight of some and disbelief of others.
Oregon Supreme Court Says Virus Restrictions Still In Force, Halting Lower Court's Order
Yesterday news that phase one tests of a vaccine were so promising that the Dow Jones went up nearly 1,000 points.
Then I read that the success of phase one means little. An article mentioned how in 2015 a French drug company released a much anticipated vaccine for dengue that had been successful in clinical trials. It ended up making dengue worse for many of the children who received it. Detailed trials are always needed to make certain the side effects aren’t worse than the cure. This is particularly important in these times when the anti-vax movement is so loud. If people are going to get a vaccine, they need to know it is safe. I also recalled in my reading of the Spanish flu, how millions of doses of vaccine were given out to much fanfare. The vaccine targeted a bacteria, while years later, it became understood the flu was caused by a virus.
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But who cares about vaccines. I read this morning that a former head of the WHO says the disease may burn out on its own before a vaccine is ready.
Coronavirus could 'burn out naturally' so vaccine not needed, former WHO director claims
Of course, the article does mention that not everyone agrees.
The same could be said of the April news that the disease would also "peter-out" in May." Guess not.
Model predicts Covid-19 pandemic will ‘peter out’ by May, but experts are skeptical
The media is full of reports of major league and even kids sports getting ready to start up again, but here in Connecticut, even though hospitalizations continues to plummet, the governor just extended the state of emergency, and even gave police the emergency authority to enforce social distancing. He also decided not to open barber shops and hair salons.
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The COVID numbers are down at the hospital. But that was little consolation to the patient an EMS crew brought in to the decon room today with low oxygen sats, short of breath, and who is now in the ICU on a ventilator.
In the meantime, my college aged daughter has scorned her unemployment check and taken a job at a local grocery store. I dropped her off at work at 6 this morning with hand sanitizer and her surgical mask. I am proud of her. She is every much an essential worker as any of us in EMS.
And I love grocery stores and grocery store workers. It is one thing I am not skeptical about. With all the craziness, I love going to the grocery store and slowly getting my sustenance -- raw vegetables, a chicken to bake, coconut seltzer-- they even had toilet paper this week! And I always say thank you at the register, and I mean it truly.
