Note: This diary constitutes a return to writing essays for the Daily Kos, after a hiatus of several months. I had planned to quit, but both events that have occurred and a need to put out some hopeful news on environmental concerns and biology has prompted me to reconsider my retirement. I doubt that my diaries will be any more than a few per year, but maybe I still have something worthwhile to say. At least a number of readers have told me so. Thank you!
When I moved to a location on Puget Sound north of Seattle in 2015 I never thought that nearly five years later I would be next to the epicenter of a major pandemic in the United States and that I would be one of the most likely to die if I caught it. As was noted in Monty Python and the Holy Grail “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.”
However, scientists, including me (although I am not an epidemiologist), have warned about this problem at least since 2005. See: www.scientificamerican.com/…, www.cnn.com/…. Michael Osterholm was especially vocal about this, but the current government has dismantled the team involved in planning for future pandemics and tried unsuccessfully to cut funding for the CDC (See: www.snopes.com/…, www.politifact.com/...).
For my own part I wrote a warning a few years ago (again I am a zoologist, not an epidemiologist, and I relied on the work of real epidemiologists like Dr. Osterholm.) See: “Pestilence” at m.dailykos.com/...
The first recognized case in Washington and indeed the U.S. was a returnee from China (www.nejm.org/...), but then within a little over a month later we were hit by an outbreak in a Kirkland nursing home (www.kuow.org/...) located about 20 miles by car from where I live. Of course the death rate was high as the people living there were elderly. It was almost the worst place to have an outbreak (perhaps a densely populated slum in some parts of the world would be worse.)
Things are changing rapidly. I was going to a restaurant rarely (and Governor Inslee has now shut down restaurants and bars, except for takeout) and if I did go in person I used the hours that were least populated. I had actually started doing this at the start of the flu season, as I have been doing for years. But now I have stopped going out for coffee or going to art groups. I can still bird watch, as I have little direct contact with people in the forest or at the waterfront (although I have noticed more bird watchers of late- probably for the same reasons as mine.) I have heard that you can now drive into Seattle without taking your life in your hands, but I have no reason to go there. Generally outside of bird watching I am still getting groceries and medical supplies, but again try to go in less crowded times and then only every three days. I wash my hands assiduously and I stay at least three feet away from people- six feet if they are sniffling or coughing. I have laid in a supply of prescriptions for my wife and me and cat food for the cats, as well as what I could find that might prove useful, but I did not buy huge amounts at one time, thinking that other people needed the supplies as well as I do.
Our kids are somewhat involved in this as professionals- all are in some aspect of health or related professions. One had some experience toward the end of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, another with mosquito-born diseases in Senegal.
My best advice?* Follow health guidelines in your state and those from the CDC. Find activities that allow you to have some enjoyment, but do not involve crowds of people. Keep 3-6 feet away from other people outside of your home. Go to health care professionals only when necessary, such as when you need to be tested for the virus. If you are sick, wear a mask. Most offices in our part of Washington (and several other states) are swamped and really need to be concerned with needs, not electives. Keep prescriptions up to date, have a few weeks supplies on hand, but do not purchase huge amounts of toilet paper, hand sanitizers, or disinfectants. Keep a sufficient supply, but don’t hoard. We can get through this, although it is going to be a bit of a slog, especially with who we have in charge of the country. Panic will not help at all.
Stay safe!
* Note: As I have said I am not a health care professional and am only repeating guidelines that have been issued by professionals. These guidelines change with changing conditions so keep up with your local health care guidelines and those from the CDC, WHO and Johns Hopkins.
I will close with a reminder that beauty still exists and that we can still appreciate it even in such times as these.