The accusation of 4,924 additional deaths seems oddly specific. Nor does the third most populous state having the third highest death count seem all that damning. I suspect it will take more than one disgruntled former employee to get us to Cuomo levels.Originally Posted by JaneV2.0
My impression is that the enmity of the media seems to have done the Governor more good than harm thus far.
My mother told me about several people I know who are themselves hospitalized for covid or have relatives who are. All are in their 80's or 90's.
I noticed WMUR in New Hampshire reports daily covid deaths by age bracket and county. The other day there were two - one a man over 60 and in a different county a woman over 60. I think this type of information has helped people assess their risks and act accordingly - get vaccinated if they are older (they lead the nation in vaccination rates) and avoid excess fears in others.
Stumbled across a sad, but not tragic, story about some friends of ours while reading the news today. Chad and Tom are at the fringe of our social circle, much closer friends to some of our other friends than to us although in pre-covid times they had been to our place once or twice for barbecues and we ran into them from time to time if we were out for happy hour or whatever. We'd heard last spring that Chad had moved out because of concern that he might bring covid home and risk Tom's life. I had no idea, though, that Chad had become infected and seriously ill, or that they had remained apart for over a year.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/ar...d-16107280.php
JP: I could only read the first few lines and then I hit a paywall.
DH and I went out to a restaurant for the first time since 3/14/20 with Mom, Sis, Sis's boyfriend and Mom's best friend. We are all vaccinated except for Sis's boyfriend, who just became eligible this week. It was fun to get together. Restaurant wasn't empty but definitely not crowded.
Enjoy it! Ontario is in lockdown again until mid-May due to rising numbers and overlaoded ICU's but outdoor patios are open, I think. Not sure that I would go there, though.
As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
Jp1, that is a sad story i deed about those two men.
Immediately hit the pay wall, but even the article title is so sad!
To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer." Mahatma Gandhi
Be nice whenever possible. It's always possible. HH Dalai Lama
In a world where you can be anything - be kind. Unknown
It's weird, I don't subscribe but could read it, but you and my sister both hit paywalls... Here's the text of it:
What happened was a monumental upheaval in the couple’s lives. With the advent of the pandemic, Chad’s career as an ER nurse at Kaiser Richmond was directly threatening to Tom, who has respiratory issues and an immune system disorder that could have made COVID-19 fatal.
So, starting in February 2020, Chad, 49, lived alone in motels for months on end, including during the summer when he contracted the virus and was on oxygen for six weeks.
Meanwhile, Tom, 59, never left the house, ordering all his food and supplies. “It was just like Howard Hughes, all the fear and terror knowing there was something right outside that door that almost guaranteed would kill me,” he said.
The couple never saw each other in person the whole time. They stayed connected via constant FaceTime calls, but it wasn’t the same as cuddling on the couch. Both endured loneliness and isolation.
Now thanks to being vaccinated, the Bakers are reunited. Their saga, which took a toll on them physically, financially and emotionally, encapsulates some of the many ways the pandemic upended people’s lives and forced them to adapt in ways they never expected.
The most catastrophic hit was to Chad’s health. He is now a COVID long-hauler — someone afflicted with lasting ill effects from the virus.
In July he spiked a fever, felt weak and had shortness of breath. The hospital notified him he’d been exposed to COVID-19. A subsequent positive diagnosis was not a surprise.
As a critical care nurse, Chad was able to provide his own care, including managing his supplemental oxygen. With hospitals overwhelmed, he hoped not to become an in-patient. Instead he holed up at a Pleasant Hill hotel.
“I was crazy sick,” he said. “Getting up and walking to the door for the DoorDash or UberEats drop-off was pretty much all I could muster.”
He developed a cascade of complications. There was sudden onset insulin-dependent diabetes, a documented COVID side effect that still continues. There was brain fog, which also continues.
He contracted post-viral sinusitis, an aggressive bacterial infection that didn’t respond to antibiotics or steroids, forcing him to administer IV antibiotics to himself every eight hours for several weeks. Eventually it required surgery.
The onset of wildfires that shrouded the region in smoke made things worse. “I was already having so much shortness of breath,” he said. “I would sit on the couch with an air purifier on my lap.”
He went back to work for a couple of weeks in the fall but his oxygen levels were too low to continue. Then he spent a couple of months on modified duty, including making outreach calls to COVID patients.
Tom was a constant presence on FaceTime, helping advocate for Chad to his medical team.
“I just lived the fear,” Tom said. “It was high anxiety, feeling so helpless, knowing he was isolated in a hotel room.” He had already lost a partner to the AIDS epidemic in 1992.
“I don’t know how both of them survived this,” said Andrea Walker, a nurse colleague in the Kaiser Richmond ER. “They were apart for so long. It was really heartbreaking to see.”
The ordeal was also a huge financial drain.
Chad paid for his hotel rooms out of pocket for many weeks, battling with Kaiser for reimbursement, as The Chronicle reported at the time. Eventually the state offered a Hotels for Health Care Workers program that covered room costs. But the trade-off was constant moving as prices changed.
Tom, a healthcare administrator, was recovering from a stroke and between jobs when the pandemic hit, so he has no income. Chad has been receiving worker’s compensation.
They consumed their savings and are now getting some support via a GoFundMe campaign.
Even after eight years together and seven years of marriage, the couple now must relearn cohabiting.
“When Chad walked in, as powerful as it was to see him, it was terrifying at the same time,” Tom said. “I had not had human contact with anyone for 14 months.”
They’ve fallen back into the comforting rhythm of snuggling on the couch with their “fur babies.”
Tom is learning to cook low-carb dishes appropriate for a diabetic.
“I’ve never seen so many vegetables fit into one pot,” said Chad, who feels like he’s healing from being able to sleep in his bed and eat home-cooked meals.
The dogs are ecstatic. “I woke up the other day and Gus was on top of my head like a yarmulke,” Chad said.
He’s eager to get back to work, although with his many debilitating conditions, it is not clear when that could happen. “I can’t tell you how much I miss being at the bedside and helping people to feel better,” he said.
Tom, who ironically ended up being the healthier one, is filled with gratitude.
“All of Chad’s commitment to keep me safe during the pandemic— what a love story,” he said.
I can scroll around the pay wall. The wall is still “there” but I can scroll and read underneath.
Hopefully Chad feels well enough that they can get out and work in their garden. In the pre-covid world every spring they posted a feast of gorgeous pictures from it on facebook.
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