Friday, the 13th. The world is a frightening place today. We’ve been hearing ews about a new virus that started in China and spread throughout Asia and the Middle East and then headed toward Europe. Several European countries are already inundated with cases and deaths. The virus is referred to as COVID19 (COronaVIrus Disease 2019).

The first case in the US was confirmed in Snohojish County WA on January 20. The patient had traveled recently in China but didn’t report being exposed to anyone with the virus. The first death in the US was February 29.

The first case in NC was reported in Wake County on March 3, allegedly an individual who had visited somone in an assisted living facility in Washington State. The second was reported three days later in Chatham County, apparently someone who recently returned from a visit to Italy, which has been severely affected. There are as yet no deaths reported in NC.

The virus is extremely contagious with a death rate of about 2 percent. Persons most at risk are those older than 60 (some say 65) or with underlying medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure. Since I fall squarely in that demographic, I will have to be very careful. I don’t want to be in a position where someone gets to decide if I’m “worth a respirator” or “too old and too fat and too unhealthy for it to be worth it.” There’s been a lot of discussion about the situatio in Italy, where so many people are sick that they drew a line and non one above age 80 gets a respirator. Oh, the evils of socialized medicine. Here it won’t be age, or at least no age alone. I’m willing to bet it will be money.

Anyway, today was my last normal non-quarantine day. I went to a friend's to do laundry (still no functional washer at my house), then went out to dinner with some other friends. I came home, washed my hands carefully, and bi off all my fingernails.

GRAPHIC: CDC Public Domain