May 20, 2020
When did the human race become so fearful of the flu?
Throughout the times, we had plenty. More or less, one flu virus every year. Some strains were bad and killed millions. Some strains were mild and killed only in the tens of thousands. But year in and year out, people die from the flu.
2020 is the year of Covid-19. A big bad flu. Killing in the hundreds of thousands. Mind you, not in the millions of the flu of 1918.
I work in a memory care assisted living facility, a smallish one. We do not have that many residents. About 50.
About four weeks ago, we had our first Covid-19 case. A sweet, very elderly gentleman that had been on hospice care for the past year or so. A month prior to his testing positive for Covid-19, he developed pneumonia.
During that month, we sent that gentleman to the hospital twice. Both times, the hospital tested him for Covid-19. The first test came back negative. The second test was positive.
The hospital sent back our sweet gentleman to us, Covid-19 positive and pneumonia with him. Ten days later, he passed away, at the hospital we had to send him back to when he experienced difficulties breathing.
About four days after we got our Covid-19 positive gentleman back from the hospital, three residents started showing some symptoms. I am sure you guessed it, all three of them were Covid-19 positive. Only one of them developed symptoms severe enough to be sent to the hospital. She got better, was ready to come back home, then passed away while taking a nap.
We then had five more cases. Symptoms were ranging from mild fever to severe diarrhea. One more resident passed away.
Then three more cases that were caught only after a spike in body temperature was detected.
The facility employs about sixty workers. To date, about ten tested positive. Only one had a really hard time.
Monstrous body aches, total loss of appetite, extreme fatigue. She is 65 years old. I spoke to her today. She is ready to come back to work, feeling stronger every day.
The other positive cases, both residents and workers, are walking around fine and dandy. The first day or two were tiring, but not much worse than what bad allergies’ days feel like.
Of course, the workers can not come back until 14 days are passed and a negative test result is shown. They take it as a forced vacation, not too happy about it.
The residents, bless their hearts, do not know better and complain that they are bored.
I wonder, if all of us, both residents and workers, are tested, will we all be found positive for Covid-19? I hear that it is highly contagious. And even though we wore our masks, and gloves, and gowns, and washed our hands, we were still spending our days, or nights, together. We were all exposed to the virus.
But then I wonder, is it really that contagious? A third of us are definitely positive. Why not all of us?
And then, is it really that dangerous? Three deaths are a lot. But then, it is not more than what we usually experience in a two-month period. Our residents are, after all, very old.
I am so confused. The news talks of Covid-19 as if it was the end of the human race. We are told time and again to stay home to stay safe. All the reports are about the number of cases, the number of deaths, the closing of schools and businesses, the projections of doom and gloom.
And I have been going to work every day. We all have. We did not have a choice. We are essential personnel. Without us, our residents would not have been fed, bathed, changed.
And what I see, what I experience, is that Covid-19 is not worse than any other flu. Like with any other flu, some will be hit harder than others. Some will barely have any symptom. Some will die.
What should I believe? The news? My everyday life?
Well, maybe Covid-19 is really the big bad flu that everyone wants to talk about, and maybe we, this assisted living facility workers are just lucky.
Or maybe we know how to fight the virus. Or maybe not. But we have been passing a recipe around to combat Covid-19 as there is no cure available. Interested?
It is easy enough. Should you experience any symptoms, make a tea of your choice, add a lot of lemon, honey, garlic, hot pepper sauce, and drink as much of it as you can stomach. All of these are nature’s antiviral drugs. Available Now at any grocery store, no FDA approval pending.
Personally, I like my licorice mints. Who knows, maybe they are the ones that protected me?
Katrin L.
Continue reading. Part 3.
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