I am sitting at my desk looking out at all the forsythia in bloom. The daffodils are also in bloom and there are so many all around the garden and the school. Yesterday, the governor announced new requirements for the public. Stay home except for emergencies; people over 70 stay home. Get outside for exercise keeping a 6-foot social separation; people over 70 walk alone. 100% of the nonessential workforce is now required to be home. While the President spins out of control in his ability to address the needs of the country he continues to spin new discussions that create distractions from the reality of a failing health system, deteriorating economy and the need for federal legislation to respond to the requests of local government. He has declared with certainty the availability of drugs to attack the virus, blamed Europe for acting too slowly, blamed China for starting the pandemic, offered help to Iran and North Korea, and taken pleasure in a negative result of his own test for COVID-19. His smile of self-satisfaction on camera is enough reason not to watch his press conferences. These have become his own propaganda platforms.
I am almost at a place in my packing where I am no longer really living in my house. I've taken down pictures, started packing dishes, thinking about the last things to go in the dumpster, and now the challenge of figuring out how to recycle so many unwanted, but perhaps still useful things. In another place and at another time I might just put it all on the curb and hope someone will take it. Perhaps that opportunity is down the road.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Pandemic Day 24
March 21, 2020
Today is the 24th day since the first case of coronavirus was diagnosed in NYC. It was a man in New Rochelle and soon after New Rochelle was put into a one-mile radius zone restriction. Today the governor says that it helped and the spread in Westchester has slowed down. New York City has been the epicenter of the virus in NY State, but the data is difficult to use as a measure of spread since it is tied to the amount of testing going on in any area. NYC has been given many more testing sites than other parts of the state and so the numbers keep increasing. Today there are over 4000 cases in the state. The death rate has stayed around 1%, lower than it was in China and Italy.
The City is on a shelter-in-place order; only essential businesses are open and only those workers and first responders are allowed to go to work. The health care profession is suffering from an overwhelming need and inadequate supplies and hospital beds to care for everyone needing care. Students on spring break have been the hardest group to harness; they continue to show up at beaches to play and slowly the beaches are all closing. Unemployment is up to 20%.
I have been thinking about the privilege of being safe and having my needs met during a crisis like this. Even of having the luxury of taking my car to anywhere I need to go to leave the City if necessary. Here's the start of my list following the model of Peggy McIntosh's white privilege list.
Today is the 24th day since the first case of coronavirus was diagnosed in NYC. It was a man in New Rochelle and soon after New Rochelle was put into a one-mile radius zone restriction. Today the governor says that it helped and the spread in Westchester has slowed down. New York City has been the epicenter of the virus in NY State, but the data is difficult to use as a measure of spread since it is tied to the amount of testing going on in any area. NYC has been given many more testing sites than other parts of the state and so the numbers keep increasing. Today there are over 4000 cases in the state. The death rate has stayed around 1%, lower than it was in China and Italy.
The City is on a shelter-in-place order; only essential businesses are open and only those workers and first responders are allowed to go to work. The health care profession is suffering from an overwhelming need and inadequate supplies and hospital beds to care for everyone needing care. Students on spring break have been the hardest group to harness; they continue to show up at beaches to play and slowly the beaches are all closing. Unemployment is up to 20%.
I have been thinking about the privilege of being safe and having my needs met during a crisis like this. Even of having the luxury of taking my car to anywhere I need to go to leave the City if necessary. Here's the start of my list following the model of Peggy McIntosh's white privilege list.
- I can stay in my house in isolation from others and have a library of books to read, music and my violin and piano.
- I can stay in my house in isolation and access the internet and all it's power to connect and inform me.
- I can walk to the grocery store or deli to get food.
- I can order food for take out with a credit card and not have to meet the delivery person to pay them.
- I can get in my car and drive alone to anywhere I choose. I do not need to use public transportation.
- I can go out in my garden and have an outdoor space for leisure and nourishment and peace.
- Even if there were other people in my house there are many rooms and it would not be difficult for each person to find a private space.
- I have relatives who are doctors that I could call if I needed a medical opinion.
- I do not need to go to work to ensure I have money to pay bills or have my needs met during this crisis.
- I can afford fresh food and have access to fresh food and I know how to cook.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
The center of the storm - the center of the COVID-19 pandemic
The "storm" has been gaining strength in NYC since the first case was diagnosed on Feb. 27, 2020, close by in New Rochelle. The coronavirus had already spread rapidly through Wuhan, where it was first identified, and other parts of China and Italy. In the weeks since Feb. 27th the cases in New York State have risen to 1500 people with more than 800 in NYC. We are advised to stay home, stay six feet from people when with them, avoid physical contact and stay in small groups or no groups at all. Children have been identified as carriers who do not usually show symptoms and so the most at risk group (over 60 with health issues and over 70) is discouraged from being around the youngest group.
There are drive-through testing tents being set up in major cities. A positive move to identify as many cases as possible, but one more way that inequity rears its ugly head. To drive through you need a car, you need gas to get to Long Island and you need to drive or have someone drive you while putting them at risk of contracting the virus. This is how the first case spread quickly to the cases outside the man's family and quickly turned into 85 cases during the first week after diagnosis. Hospitals are nervous that at its peak there won't be enough beds, but those who can't make it to a drive-through will risk not getting tested or end up in the emergency rooms as well. We knew our health system was broken, but the evidence is so clear now that it is being tested to its limits.
Schools and colleges are closed, movies, museum and theaters are also closed and restaurants and bars are limited to take out and delivery. The economy is struggling to stay out of a recession and many people are unemployed from the jobs that kept them afloat day to day. Many businesses are also at risk. The bars have missed out on St. Patrick's Day, one of their biggest days of the year. The parade has been cancelled and the Kentucky Derby delayed. Professional sports has called off the rest of their seasons and the Final Four has been canceled.
I feel like we are in the center of a storm and will need to wait until the coast is clear to step back out into daily life and see what the real damage is. Let's hope that as we try to piece life back together that we gain a new perspective, new priorities and a clearer vision for positive change.
There are drive-through testing tents being set up in major cities. A positive move to identify as many cases as possible, but one more way that inequity rears its ugly head. To drive through you need a car, you need gas to get to Long Island and you need to drive or have someone drive you while putting them at risk of contracting the virus. This is how the first case spread quickly to the cases outside the man's family and quickly turned into 85 cases during the first week after diagnosis. Hospitals are nervous that at its peak there won't be enough beds, but those who can't make it to a drive-through will risk not getting tested or end up in the emergency rooms as well. We knew our health system was broken, but the evidence is so clear now that it is being tested to its limits.
Schools and colleges are closed, movies, museum and theaters are also closed and restaurants and bars are limited to take out and delivery. The economy is struggling to stay out of a recession and many people are unemployed from the jobs that kept them afloat day to day. Many businesses are also at risk. The bars have missed out on St. Patrick's Day, one of their biggest days of the year. The parade has been cancelled and the Kentucky Derby delayed. Professional sports has called off the rest of their seasons and the Final Four has been canceled.
I feel like we are in the center of a storm and will need to wait until the coast is clear to step back out into daily life and see what the real damage is. Let's hope that as we try to piece life back together that we gain a new perspective, new priorities and a clearer vision for positive change.
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