MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2022, PI DAY (COVID-19)

 MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2022 PI DAY (COVID-19)

On Thursday, March 12, 2020, I was in a dress rehearsal for the Williamson County Symphony Orchestra for our concerts on Friday, March 13, and Saturday, March 14.   

BUT - our actual dress rehearsal started about an hour late.  The first hour was an acrimonious debate about having our concerts or not.  A Coronavirus was suddenly canceling everything.  There was a story out of Washington State of a choir that was rehearsing and almost all the members came down with this virus (later identified as Covid-19).  Seemingly somebody in the choir had this airborne virus and through singing had put the virus droplets into the air and the rest of the choir breathed the virus in.  

Here we were - an ensemble where the winds (woodwinds and brass) definitely put sounds into the air by blowing through our instruments.  The strings were off the hook on this issue as their sounds come from their bow swiping across their strings.  As a tuba player, my breath flowed through my values and slides and out into the air - although my bell pointed upwards.  Maybe trumpets and trombone players were more direct as their sounds went straight out their bell.  The French Horn’s bells pointed backward.  Probably the flutes, clarinets, and woodwinds didn’t disturb as much air, but there was still air moving through their instruments.

Almost overnight the world closed up.  

Somehow some businesses (most notably grocery stores) stayed open.  There was a lot of information and a lot of misinformation.  Were face masks good enough?  Could I still catch the virus if I had a mask on?  If I had the virus could I be spreading it if I had a mask on?  I needed to wash my hands frequently and use sanitizing hand fluids and keep at least six feet away.

BOOM!!

My church closed up, most retail stores closed.  Of those that were open, security people were outside limiting the number of people who could be in the store and checking if people had masks.

I’m sure all of us have stories to tell.  

One story was that somehow there wasn’t enough toilet paper.  (How toilet paper and the virus are related, I’m not sure).  I had a friend who somehow was out of toilet paper and was desperate.  She was running from the very limited list of open stores to find some.  Even my friends from Wisconsin were saying they were out of toilet paper.  (I was going to suggest they drive over to Green Bay to the paper factories that made the majority of American toilet paper - but I didn’t suggest it).

My local HEB grocery store was a lifeline to the community.  I remember going to get a few grocery items and the line outside the building was about half a block.  (I decided I could wait).  The next time I went to HEB, there was a line of about four people waiting, but then the check-out lines were very long (especially with six feet separation).  In effect, the employees of HEB and the few other places that were open were on the front line.  Their people could pick up the airborne germs as they worked.  Some workers refused to work for fear of the virus.

People got sick, people died.  There were home remedies - some maybe were helpful and many maybe weren’t helpful.  Some horse medications were touted as being about to stop the virus.  Such quick fixes flourished in a worldwide pandemic.  

A recent report in The Lancet showed that 18.2 million people have probably died because of COVID-19.  (The article suggests underreporting in third world countries like Bolivia). A report in the New York Times says about 964,000 people died in the United States, with about 80 million people having the disease.  (That figure seems high as the population of the United States is about 320 million - so about 25% of the population had Covid to some degree. 

A January 28, 2022 report by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) said:

“During October–November, unvaccinated persons had 13.9 and 53.2 times the risks for infection and COVID-19–associated death, respectively, compared with fully vaccinated persons who received booster doses, and 4.0 and 12.7 times the risks compared with fully vaccinated persons without booster doses.

(Extrapolating a little - unvaccinated persons had a 53.2 times risk for COVID-associated deaths!!  WOW).

****

I’ll admit I was a little reluctant on the vaccine.  Other diseases in the past normally took years for a valid and effective vaccine to become available to the general public.  How could a vaccine that took about seven months to develop and test be valid?  It must be “smoke and mirrors”.  Even with the oversight of the CDC and reported effectiveness rates in the 90% range it just seemed too quick.  

But, science and pathogen understanding has advanced greatly from the 1950s polio vaccine.  The SARS outbreak in 2003 in Toronto advanced the research.  (And, as I understand it, SARS and COVID are related).  Big Pharma had been criticized (mostly for their prices), but this was a case where worldwide pharmacists and scientists worked together to develop and test a new vaccine. 

*****

I know friends that died from this plague.  I know friends that spent months (that’s right - months) in intensive care hospital rooms on this (and recovered - RS).  Others had mild cases and have recovered.  

I did have an advantage.  I live alone.  And, while I did get out of my apartment, I tried to keep separated and tried to wear a mask.  

Could the pandemic have been handled differently?  Maybe (I’m not sure how and that is not my area of expertise).  

We are now ebbing back.  Soon “normal” will return (and people are calling it the new normal).  Is humanity better because of the pandemic?  Is your life different because of the pandemic?

More tomorrow!!

Karen

March 14, 2022 

Pi Day (3.14)