[in it]

Yes take care of yourself 3Boys.

[Ggg4life]

3boys-

I'm sorry to hear this has landed on your doorstep. I'm glad you're all together.  Just know I'm lifting you all up in prayer after I type.  I will be sending out waring Angels and the hosts of heaven on everyone's behalf.  I'm praying for our MLC'rs along with restoration of all kinds.  I believe God is going to use a time such as this to stir the hearts of his children and the nations.  Many will be changed one way or the other because of this crisis.  God willing people help one another, not hurt.

May you all stay safe!! God Bless!! GGG

[Thunder]

3boys,

I am praying for all of you.  I know you guys got hit pretty bad out there.

Please let us know how things go.

Hugs

[OffRoad]

I'm not sure what to say. I was sick with what I thought was a flu at the beginning of February. I hadn't been sick like that for ten years and it took me down for two days. The aches and pains and fever and chills that send you to bed to sleep. Might that have  been the corona virus? I think likely as I live in a large city with and international airport. But I wasn't tested. My son in AZ went to the emergency room for a respiratory illness that was becoming pneumonia. They didn't test him. Was it the corona virus? Likely, but again, who knows?

Italy has a high aging rate. 23 percent of the population is over age 65, and families often live together. Young people go out, catch what they think is a cold, bring it home to their elderly parents or grandparents.

What I am seeing is that this virus hits the elderly the hardest, it's quite likely that there are a lot of people who have had it that haven't been tested, that mortality rate is really no greater than a normal flu, but the elderly are unable to fight it off well, that anyone with a compromised immune system or other diseases should be extremely careful, and that throwing everyone into a panic and into stores where there is no way to track who was exposed to what where could have been a very costly mistake. If my mother were still alive, I would be extremely careful because she was over 80. But guess what? She died anyway, through no fault of corona virus. Some of these deaths might have happened if they had caught the common cold as opposed to the corona virus. We can't know.

We now have people either working from home or sent home, alone. What if they get terribly ill? Who will know or help them? How will the person who lives hand to mouth survive? How will the small business survive? People go to work when they are sick because they can't afford not to. If one of those people is a nurse, or a cleaning crew member and either go from one location to another....there you go.

This reminds me of the wildfires in my region. There was plenty of time to get people to safety, but no plan in place to do so. The fires burned up to people's back yards without any warning, when those fires had been burning for HOURS all night long. It was no surprise they were coming. The resulting evacuation was a mess. Many homes were lost that didn't need to be due to foolish city "regulations" that did not allow the nearby military base to help.

There were so many better ways to avoid the spread, but you'd need an actual action plan for that. No travel from where you live to another country. If you need to get to your home country, then you are quarantined when you get there for whatever the incubation period is (and strangely, no one has said how long that is). If you have been on a plane that had been anywhere international within the past (whatever the incubation period is), you are quarantined. That would have been a simple start. How about those poor people on the Holland America Amsterdam? Not one has Corona Virus now (as of the last report). But after trying to navigate an unfamiliar city, and taking hours of flights through several airports home, how many of those 70,80, 90 year olds are still going to be healthy, do you suppose? As a point of philosophical discussion, it's almost a biological culling of the infirm. Accidental or no?

I think the issues at hand are that there is no vaccine for the elderly or easily susceptible, there is limited hospital space for severe cases, and that also means that (I would think) a lot of surgeries that can be put off will be (and that is a hit on funds for the hospitals), and that the medical profession is also running scared for fear that if they do X someone might get the Corona Virus and blame/sue them (Personal opinion based on the crazy that I just experienced with an OB/GYN). I do think the media has made this far worse than it needed to be. I am please to see many people sharing their rolls of toilet paper. . I, personally, can sit here for about 6 months if I have to because that is just how I shop in general.

I hope the rest of you stay well.

[MyBrainIsBroken]

29 million Americans infected, 280,000 hospitalized, 16,000 dead including 105 children.

2019-2020 influenza statistics as of 2/21/2020

In a typical year less than half of all Americans get a flu shot.

9464 cases, 155 deaths, 64 critical

Coronavirus, yesterday, since 1/19/2020

[Treasur]

As a general principle, I'm more inclined to believe large groups of international scientists over politicians. What I am reading suggests that the coronavirus does represent a real threat. Mortality rate is probably more like 1% bc a lot of folks have a mild case without reporting/being tested, true enough....but that is still ten times the rate of normal seasonal flu. And it has a higher transmission rate than say SARS did and probably a longer incubation period when people are infectious without knowing it. And 1% of millions is still a very big number.

I guess what my logic also says is that, as a general rule, politicians like Mr Johnson here in the UK don't like trashing the economy bc it doesn't make them look good  . Same for Mr Trump. So if they are doing so, it is rational to believe they have hard number projections about the risk that the rest of us don't have regardless of ones political leanings. Do people sometimes panic or exaggerate in these kinds of circumstances? Of course. But we all know the power of denial too.

The best advice I have seen so far is to flip it on its head and behave as if you knew you were a carrier as opposed to focusing on protecting yourself from others....and to change your behaviour accordingly. There is very little we can do about some things but focusing on that and the basic advice about hand washing etc, we can do. Basic stuff to keep your immune system boosted and manage your anxiety. Gratitude and support for our healthcare workers who are on the front line. And I have checked out where I can donate blood locally as Brain suggested too.

I'm sorry 3 boys that this has touched you and your family and we are praying for you all to make a speedy recovery. And thank you for quarantining yourselves to protect others.

[Songanddance]

This I found to be an interesting read. 

Love the fact that the lesson the article mentions is to Tell the Truth.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/opinion/coronavirus-1918-spanish-flu.html

[xyzcf]

The article Songanddance posted is very good. I had to subscribe (it is free) to the NY Times to read it.

It's been one week since I made the decision to stay in my home. What the article states and what I can see, is how do I sustain this isolation for an extended period of time?

I have my dog which I am really grateful for but she is quite old and not well. She's been my constant and beautiful companion for 9 years and I hope she can stay with me a bit longer.

Also, we are so lucky to have the internet to be able to communicate with others! I also live in a beautiful state and my walks each day outside are great.

I limit how much time I watch the news, but stay up to date with what I consider the place where I obtain my information from, the CDC website. I listen to smooth jazz , classical or religious music and have a glass of wine before dinner.

I read HS 

Thank you all, my virtual friends for sharing your information and valid concerns here. Stay home. It may have to be for longer than we would like but then, there will be recovery and a whole big world to enjoy once again!

Psalm 46 was sent to me by a friend..it gives me hope.

 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 8 Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

[OldPilot]

29 million Americans infected, 280,000 hospitalized, 16,000 dead including 105 children.

2019-2020 influenza statistics as of 2/21/2020

In a typical year less than half of all Americans get a flu shot.

9464 cases, 155 deaths, 64 critical

Coronavirus, yesterday, since 1/19/2020

EXACTLY

[Nerissa]

29 million Americans infected, 280,000 hospitalized, 16,000 dead including 105 children.

2019-2020 influenza statistics as of 2/21/2020

In a typical year less than half of all Americans get a flu shot.

9464 cases, 155 deaths, 64 critical

Coronavirus, yesterday, since 1/19/2020

EXACTLY

It is t surprising that US citizens don’t truly know what advice to follow with the misinformation coming from the corrupt administration and its acolytes really.