COVID SIDE OF LIFE. Day 24: Strangers in the Night

Image: pt.quizur.com

 

Pandemic Log: Wednesday, 8^th April 2020

Since the lock down began a few weeks ago the streets around our neighbourhood have started to get more desolate, and I have noticed some sketchy men wandering around at night.

Last night, when I was out waking my dog I saw a man walking towards me. He was behaving very erratically and looked threatening, but as I turned onto the street, he kept going up the avenue.

From the corner of my eye I spotted a young woman walking alone in the same direction that the man had just walked off in; instinctively I doubled back towards the avenue.

Sure enough the man had started to menacingly block this woman's path. Clearly scared she crossed the street to avoid him but he proceeded to follow her;,crossing diagonally so that he could stay a few feet ahead. As she proceeded, he moved to block her path again. She said something and then turned and started to walk faster, and he picked up his pace to follow her.

Again she began to cross the street and again he followed; now openly chasing after her.

At this point I picked up my dog and walked into the middle of the street, to meet her halfway, and said to her, "Walk with me."

She was visibly shaken but grateful as we started walking together. He had again followed and was now approaching us head-on. She told me that she said to him that she was not carrying money, but that he just kept coming at her. I told her that, I had noticed him behaving erratically.

As we walked past him, I put myself as a buffer between him and the girl and looked him in the eye, at that point he mumbled something about looking for someone and then crossed and skulked away.

She kept thanking me and saying me how grateful she was, and how she never felt unsafe on the Upper West Side before. I told her I was happy to walk as many blocks as she wanted, but after about three blocks when it became clear that he was not turning back, she told me she was fine.

She thanked me again, and I told her it was not necessary, but added that I had seen a lot of strange folks wandering around out at night and it was probably better to walk during the day, for now.

Nobody should feel unsafe walking our streets at night, but these are strange times...

 

 

COVID SIDE OF LIFE. Day 13: King Lynch

 

Pandemic Log: Saturday, 28^th March 2020

COVID SIDE OF LIFE. Day 9: Covid Takes Gotham

Pandemic Log: Tuesday, 24^th March 2020

A Panamanian friend sent me this cartoon. It has been circulating among her friends as the virus has started to tighten its grip on Panama; impacting young and old, healthy and infirm with impunity.

This cartoon felt appropriate for New York City, also known as Gotham, as we were informed yesterday by the White House task force that the New York region has now become ground zero for Covid-19 infections in the country.

According to the CDC, the infection or “attack rate” for folks living in the greater New York metro region is at one in 1,000 people, which is eight to ten times higher than the rate of infection anywhere else in the US; making New York the new global epicenter for the virus. 

Right after we finished watching the White House briefing, Murphy followed through with inimitable timing to cement his Law and explain why its has been around for centuries.

My wife’s friend who lives across the street, texted to tell us that her husband has symptoms and four people in their building tested positive. This simply put the exclamation mark on the fact that Covid was not only wandering freely through our neighborhoods but now actively knocking on doors on our street.

New York now accounts for 5% of all cases, worldwide. The total number of confirmed cases as of today stands at 23,000. The Governor believes that we have not yet seen the peak of this infection and that is likely to occur sometime between 15^th April and 1^st May. 

The good news is that these facts have made New York the cynosure of all eyes and aid nationally, and our state will get higher priority for everything from Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers, to much needed ventilators for high-risk patients. 

The army corps of engineers is hard at work turning The Javits Convention Center and other local venues into 1000 bed hospitals, which will be operational later this week. 

What can you do to help? STAY HOME. 

Especially, if you are older, or of any age with underlying health conditions, you must not leave your home under any conditions. For the rest of us, the more time we spend indoors, the less chance the virus has of spreading and infecting our friends and neighbours.

 

COVID SIDE OF LIFE. Day 7: Sunday Bloody Sunday

Pandemic Log: Sunday, 22^nd March 2020

Our first Sunday with New York on lock down did not feel slow or lazy but more like a surreal dream that for the moment feels never ending one.

At 9am our laundry lady was on the phone asking us to bring our clothes in because her boss decided to close the laundromat; starting that evening. They had remained open in the first days after the September 11^th attacks, during the great Manhattan blackout and through the 2008 financial crisis but were defeated by an invisible an insidious virus. 

When I asked if someone had gotten sick, she said that was not the case and that all the employees had lobbied to remain open, but the owner was adamant that he did not want to risk anyone getting ill. 

Just last night millions of Manhattanites had breathed a collective sigh of relief, when the Governor issued an executive order stating that all non-essential businesses would be required to close, but classified laundromats as an essential service; allowing them to remain open along with hospitals, pharmacies, delis and grocery stores.

This is probably a hard thing for most people to get their head around but many people in this city, especially those who live in walk-ups and pre 1970’s buildings do not have a washing machine in their apartment or laundry services in their basement. 

Granted that running out of clean underwear might not be at the top of anyone’s concerns, but it does become an additional inconvenience for many of us who will now have to add hand washing clothes to our list of things to do.

 

COVID SIDE OF LIFE. Day 5: Six Degrees of Covid

 

Pandemic Log: Friday, 20th March 2020

Woke up this morning to find this text message waiting to greet me; before my first sip of coffee.

The day I met my friend for lunch, you ask? Friday 13^th of course!

I am not someone who panics; in fact I am the person everyone seeks out in a time of crisis. Yet, for some reason, perhaps due to Covid-19 news overload, I read the text as saying that my friend’s colleague and his girlfriend had tested positive.

Needless to say that almost automatically the pain I felt in my lymph nodes, the day before, suddenly took on greater urgency. What was yesterday clearly a symptom of seasonal allergies took on a more ominous dimension.

I woke my wife up and said “good morning jaan, you will never guess the text I got this morning.”

After discussing it, we decided that I would call our GP and get his guidance on how I should proceed.

My GP’s office manager said I should self-isolate and wait for him to call me after 7pm that evening. I had no intention of trying to get tested for Covid-19 because I knew there was a shortage of tests, and people who are visibly sick with far more severe symptoms need them.

As the day progressed I started to feel soreness all over my body and also began to feel feverish. The power of suggestion with the passage of time is quite remarkable.

By the evening I was genuinely feeling like my energy levels had dropped, while the pain in my throat persisted. My doctor did not call that evening, so I went to bed reasonably sure that I did not have Covid-19 but not entirely convinced just yet.

In the morning, I re-read the text with a fresh set of eyes and noticed for the first time that the co-worker and his girlfriend had not in fact tested positive; they had just exhibited symptoms.

A few minutes later my doctor called.

I explained the situation to him, confessing that I might now be putting 1 and 3 together. He assured me that I had done the right thing and explained that unless I was also experiencing pain in the center of my chest, shortness of breath and running a fever of 101 degrees or more, it was unlikely I had Covid-19.

Further, he said that since I was also past the four to five day limit, when symptoms start to show-up, the odds were even lower. He added it was still worth keeping an eye on and to keep him posted if anything changes.