Just Stay Home (even if it’s not legally required yet) – Day 6

I spent the morning cleaning my house. Wiping door handles with antibacterial cleaner. Scaring the dog with the Swiffer WetJet.

She hates that thing.

I am terrified that my child brought germs from California. I really hope she didn’t, but I have to act like she did.

Looking at my kid as a risk is a truly terrible feeling. I have only been hugging her from behind so we aren’t face to face and then I wash my hands.

For the entirety of their lives, I have thrown myself in front of any illness that impacted my children. I caught every single thing they brought home from daycare. Every single one.

I took care of sick kids while I was sick. All. The. Time.

My immunity is stellar as a result of all of that exposure. And elderberry. And Vitamin C. And so much kale.

[Excuses herself to go frantically knock on wood.]

Staying away from my child because she might be harboring a germ is not the way a mother (at least not this one) is supposed to interact with her kid. It feels weird and wrong.

I started to work through some of my epic stash of sweet potatoes. I gave away about 5 pounds of them so far – but I actually had some BEFORE the 12-pounds-of-sweet-potatoes situation.

I have a massive sweet potato processing situation ahead of me – my mom sent me an article with different ways to freeze sweet potatoes. I am like a homesteading pioneer over here – freezing and canning stuff. Soon I will bake bread (I will not).

I am listening to Brene Brown’s new podcast while I clean. Love her and all of her talk about bravery and vulnerability. Seems pretty relevant in these very scary times.

I saw this list of good news items the other day (I have not fact checked any of this – so consume at your own risk – but it made me feel better):

-China has closed down its last coronavirus hospital. Not enough new cases to support them.

– Doctors in India have been successful in treating Coronavirus. Combination of drugs used: Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine. They are going to suggest same medicine, globally.

– Researchers of the Erasmus Medical Center claim to have found an antibody against coronavirus.

– A 103-year-old Chinese grandmother has made a full recovery from COVID-19 after being treated for 6 days in Wuhan, China.

– Apple reopens all 42 china stores,

– Cleveland Clinic developed a COVID-19 test that gives results in hours, not days.

– Good news from South Korea, where the number of new cases is declining.

– Italy is hit hard, experts say, only because they have the oldest population in Europe.

– Scientists in Israel likely to announce the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

– 3 Maryland coronavirus patients fully recovered; able to return to everyday life.

– A network of Canadian scientists are making excellent progress in Covid-19 research.

– A San Diego biotech company is developing a Covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with Duke University and National University of Singapore.

– Tulsa County’s first positive COVID-19 case has recovered. This individual has had two negative tests, which is the indicator of recovery.

– All 7 patients who were getting treated for at Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi have recovered.

– Plasma from newly recovered patients from Covid -19 can treat others infected by Covid-19.

I hope it’s all real. I am especially interested in the use of antivirals to mitigate the actual disease. I feel like the door is already too wide open for a vaccine to save us. That feels like a next year thing so that this doesn’t happen again.

This can’t happen again, right?

Governor Wolf (PA) delayed his shut down of non-life-sustaining businesses until Monday (violent eye roll) because too many businesses applied for exceptions. Sigh.

This stuff isn’t going to work if the powers that be are weak about doing what’s right but unpopular.

I saw on my local Next Door group people begging that furniture stores are actually life sustaining (nope) and that the golf club should be reopened (another nope). I get it, it’s all disappointing and sucky. But we need to shut it all down because people keep going out and infecting each other.

Stop doing that.

I’m going to start working on this today.