Covid 19 plan: Taking precautions, listening to experts
This week, without trying, I have become a member of a select group, a group on the lips of television personalities and big time health cognoscenti.
I am one of the elderly with comorbidities who are most likely to get a really bad case of Covid 19 should it migrate to our area … which it most probably has. This is not an honor that I have sought. I have been advised to stay home, to stay away from crowds, supermarkets and small children who, being vessels of pathogens even before this pandemic, might infect me and my spouse. He, the spouse that is, is just as old as I, actually he’s four months older, so this applies to him and his cronies, too.
I have also been advised not to take a cruise … Darn it and I was all set to take a Windjammer adventure to small islands in the Caribbean to go snorkeling or, alternately, a Windstar cruise to Monaco to practice saying, “faites voutre jeux” at a roulette table. Now I’ll have to stay home and play solitaire on my computer.
I and all of those who are similarly identified, have been told not to fly. That doesn’t seem to be a problem, since staying away from crowds will keep me away from my second attempt at the DMV where I planned on getting my new “enhanced” driver’s license which I would need to fly if I was going to fly, which I am not.
So how do I plan to adjust to the limitations onmy glamorous senior schedule? First comes supplies for my semi- self-quarantine.
From what I’ve heard, hand sanitizer and toilet paper have replaced the milk, eggs and bread that we stock up when there are weather emergencies. I have plenty of soap to wash my hands, but the toilet paper is another issue. It may become a super necessary commodity given any gastrointestinal problems. So far, Covid 19 hasn’t affected the electrical supply, so whatever I stock up on doesn’t have to be shelf stable, although no one has said how long I will have to hunker down at home. Will it come down to canned corn and beets?
I have, in my own way, started making lists of productive things that I can do while in seculsion. Among them are cleaning stuff that I mostly ignore until I absolutely have to clean them, e.g. my pantry, all of the light switches and baseboards, corners throughout the house and the underside anything that has an underside. There is the basement, but even self-quarantine doesn’t require self-punishment. And does this mean that I can’t rake leaves or do other nasty cleanup in the garden?
There are books I can read. “Rats, Lice and History” recounts how pathogens have paved the pathway to conquest, e.g. how typhus decimated populations and the political changes that wrought. Another cheerful book in the same vein is “Plagues and Peoples” … Let’s all sing Yersinia pestis as we read how infections have brought down empires and changed the face of government. Strangely enough, I am reading “The Elegant Defense, the Immune System” for my health and wellness book club which may not be able to meet because of the want of health and wellness.
Yes, I am making light of something that is a serious subject. A pandemic, no matter how constituted, is as powerful as any army, any weapon. Even more powerful are the many ways that people can interpret what is happening. From an assertion that all of this is a political plot to ignoring warnings about contamination and spread, there is no shortage of bad ideas.
If we went to school in the U.S., we were exposed to basic science that should have given us the tool kit to evaluate what is happening and how to respond. Never underestimate, however, the rise of troglodytes, who prefer to make things up, to encourage unnecessary drama, overcharge for stuff and confuse what sensible people should do. If you needed an electrician, would you ask your hairdresser to fix the wiring in your house? Of course not. But who do we believe when something as serious as a highly contagious virus is in the population? Maybe the hairdresser or the electrician? And what about those who have boycotted the beer Corona? I am at a loss for words to describe this idiocy.
I am relying on the scientists and the doctors who know what they are talking about. I am not seeking advice from my plumber or my lawyer, as talented as they are. I may check in with my financial advisor, but not about medical issues. He’s a very nice young man, but his input, though related to the effect of the virus on the economy, is not relevant to my health … OK, maybe my mental health.
I am washing my hands, staying away from crowds, from people who are sick, making sure that I have basics at home should I be required to self-quarantine and keeping my eye on those who have the experience and expertise.
Ann Ferro is a mother, a grandmother and a retired social studies teacher. While still figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up, she lives in Marcellus with lots of books, a spouse and a large orange cat.
