Category Archives: Health & Medicine
The First Thanksgiving
Americans revive spirit of first Thanksgiving by carrying disease to new areas
“I was watching a PBS special about the Pilgrims,” one American said, “and they spent their entire first winter in Massachusetts before Thanksgiving just watching their family members die. They carried them out to the woods, propped them up against trees and left them there to give the illusion that the settlement was guarded. That wasn’t something we incorporated into our Thanksgiving before, but it’s never too late to start a new tradition.”
From a delightful piece in the Washington Post. Behind their pay-wall, I think. But here’s the link.
I like pumpkin pie as well as the next guy but let’s face it: Thanksgiving –and Xmas for that matter– are made-up holidays. Like Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day and all the rest. Mostly about selling stuff. So putting family at risk for some cranberry sauce? Just selfish. I’ll celebrate “thanksgiving” on the day people start getting vaccinated.
Instashield
I’ve long admired the face shield worn by Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. So I ordered a couple for Barb and me. I like this model because it slips onto the bill of a cap which makes it easy to wear.
More and more health care pros are recommending eye protection for indoor situations and while Barb and I have been able to avoid being indoors, a situation might come up where it’s unavoidable. We would, of course, be masked behind the shield. Ounce of prevention = pound of cure.
Fearless or foolish?
The photo below was taken this morning at the Coffee Zone in Jefferson City, MO. My favorite pre-Covid hangout. Zero masks. Our county has 5,426 confirmed cases. 88+ on Friday. 38 deaths so far and an infection rate of 7%.
Your money or your life!
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “The Missouri Senate has postponed a special legislative session focused on limiting COVID-19-related lawsuits after a COVID-19 outbreak within its ranks.”
Lots of COVID denial in Missouri even as our cases soar. No mask mandate for us, thank you very much. So the classic Jack Benny bit seems apropos.
COVID-19: “Wear a mask or I’ll infect you and make you really sick or kill you! What’s it going to be?!”
MISSOURI LEGISLATOR: (long pause) “I’m thinking! I’m thinking!”
Ted Cruz virus guarantee
I was really hoping my Trumpster friends were right about this. Alas. Two weeks after the election, 256,000 cases in U.S.
Denial
A South Dakota ER nurse says her Covid-19 patients often “don’t want to believe that Covid is real. Their last dying words are, ‘This can’t be happening. It’s not real.’ And when they should be… Facetiming their families, they’re filled with anger and hatred.”
Dying words: “This is not real!”
“Assumption of intelligent life”
“I’ll sometimes ask people why they’re not wearing a mask, a risky proposition in itself. Here in the Bible Belt, many say they’ve put everything in God’s hands. But the gift of free will was predicated upon an assumption of intelligent life.”
The pandemic doesn’t care about your personal freedom
“Our patience was the weapon”
“Citizen contact tracers”
(KMIZ TV) “The Cole County (MO) Health Department said in a Thursday morning news release it restructured how the department handles contact tracing. The new process instructs residents who have tested positive, to be their own contact tracers. […] Previously, health department staff reached out to people who may have been exposed to COVID-19. Now, that responsibility is in the hands of Cole County residents. […] The department said this was done in an effort to cut down on wait time and cut down on residents who may be unknowingly transmitting the virus.”
Sounds like the health department is overwhelmed. And “starting next week the department will no longer report active cases.” Uh oh.
So, we we won’t know how bad things really are? As for relying on friends and neighbors to let me know they might have exposed me to the virus… yeah, right.