Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

A friend just pointed me at this site that matches people who want to be vaccinated with otherwise-unclaimed doses, and avoids the problem of people queuing outside in the cold for those doses.

They ask for your zip code*, date of birth, what industry you work in, and whether you have any of several medical conditions. The FAQ says I might hear from them, but only if I am in a group that is eligible for vaccination, and nobody who is higher priority, lives near me, and has signed up and is available.

The site is called Dr. B. Probably nothing will come of this, but it's free, and I see no reason not to sign up.

*Yes, it's US-only.

I had a little bit of sore throat yesterday, and a bit of cough a little while ago, and my temperature is slightly above normal. Any other year, I'd be thinking "just a cold" and going on about my business unless I was uncomfortable. Now, I have to assume that I might have the coronavirus, and even a mild case can be contagious.

Even if I feel entirely well tomorrow and thereafter, the self-isolation now goes to April 12th.

ETA: On the one hand, I'm not in the group they're counting as "older adults" for things like those early shopping hours. On the other, that exercise room I only got to use once before the coronavirus seemed relevant is in the Belmont Senior Center.

Also, since adrian_turtle didn't get sick, and warn me of possible exposure, until a few days after I saw her, I did have a few interactions with people other than cattitude. Not a lot, but I did go into one shop on the way home from visiting her, and I think at least two in the intervening week.

It's a little weird to realize that the best thing I can do right now, possibly for myself and certainly for other people, is a lack of action. Stay home almost all the time, and avoid coming within two meters of anyone except cattitude if I do go outside.

It seems as though "doing nothing effectively" isn't a good translation of the Taoist concept of wu wei, but Chinese or not, it's what most of us are being asked to do.

To those of you with essential jobs who are going out and doing them during the pandemic: thank you.

We're pretty well supplied for not going out for a week: I'll run out of yogurt and have to eat cereal for breakfast, and Cattitude might run out of cold cuts and breakfast on hard-boiled eggs, but this is barely a nuisance. I probably have another dairy milk for my tea, and if not there's soy milk.

So far, cattitude, adrian_turtle and I are fine. This is more general.

( cut in case you'd rather not read about this )

I have finally found a list of what "underlying conditions" increase the risk from COVID-19. This is from the US Centers for Disease Control. (I'm not sure how far I trust them about the number of cases, but for the moment I'll take their word for this.)

Appendix A: Underlying medical conditions that may increase the risk of serious COVID-19 for individuals of any age.

• Blood disorders (e.g., sickle cell disease or on blood thinners)
• Chronic kidney disease as defined by your doctor. Patient has been told to avoid or reduce the dose of medications because kidney disease, or is under treatment for kidney disease, including receiving dialysis
• Chronic liver disease as defined by your doctor. (e.g., cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis) Patient has been told to avoid or reduce the dose of medications because liver disease or is under treatment for liver disease.
• Compromised immune system (immunosuppression) (e.g., seeing a doctor for cancer and treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation, received an organ or bone marrow transplant, taking high doses of corticosteroids or other immunosuppressant medications, HIV or AIDS)
• Current or recent pregnancy in the last two weeks
• Endocrine disorders (e.g., diabetes mellitus)
• Metabolic disorders (such as inherited metabolic disorders and mitochondrial disorders)
• Heart disease (such as congenital heart disease, congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease)
• Lung disease including asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (chronic bronchitis or emphysema) or other chronic conditions associated with impaired lung function or that require home oxygen
• Neurological and neurologic and neurodevelopment conditions [including disorders of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerve, and muscle such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy (seizure disorders), stroke, intellectual disability, moderate to severe developmental delay, muscular dystrophy, or spinal cord injury].

This is from a longer set of guidelines on which events and gatherings to postpone or cancel.

I'm glad I got my MRI Wednesday and my drug infusion Thursday; MGH announced yesterday that they were cancelling all elective surgery and procedures for the next three weeks, and other local hospitals are likely to do the same. (The timing was sheer luck--I booked that infusion months ago, and on my way out they handed me my next appointment date, in September.)

We're waiting for nothing to happen in the sense that each of us individually can hope that this outbreak will pass us by, and that there's no defined endpoint: no point at which the experts, or the people making decisions, will announce that we can go back to our normal lives.

I went to adrian_turtle's last night, as usual. I stopped for groceries on the way there, and saw the Stop and Shop staff busily restocking shelves of canned goods. They were very low on root vegetables, but I found the yams, and there was plenty of cabbage.

Adrian and I had a good time, despite worrying about the coronavirus news. (There's no reason to think either of us is infected, this is a broader concern.) Before leaving her place this morning, I called Quebrada bakery and confirmed that they were open. I decided I could stretch social distancing as far as standing in front of a counter to order and pay for pastries. The buses were uncrowded and still on their relatively frequent schedule. Nonetheless, my plan is not to go anywhere beyond walking distance until Tuesday, when I have a doctor's appointment. (More routine follow-up stuff, but I do need to see her.)

I spoke to my mother just now; she has a ticket to fly back to London tomorrow, after which she will be self-isolating for two weeks. Given that she buried her sister two days ago, she probably wouldn't have wanted to do much even if the world had been proceeding as normal.

I guess I will be doing more Duolingo French. I can keep up with my exercises, since I do them at home anyhow, and it would do no harm to at least tidy my desk.

I am dealing with two health issues that mean I have to think about hand-washing. I can't just remember to wash my hands, I have to remove my wrist brace first. (The brace is washable, but I can't wash my hands properly with it on.) And then apply more lotion to my fingertips, because all the hand-washing is hard on my already-fragile skin, and tiny open wounds are both painful and a possible source of infection.

I realized that one thing I can do to touch my face less is to use lip balm in a tube (chapstick) rather than the little jar of the stuff I like better. This way I don't have to remember to apply hand sanitizer first, if my lips need that help while I'm on a bus or train, or just left the supermarket, or otherwise haven't washed my hands in the last little while. (I don't normally worry about this, but these are not normal times.)

The World Health Organization is issuing daily coronavirus situation reports, addressed to researchers, doctors, and the general public. The first page is an executive summary: updated numbers of cases, risk assessments, and four short paragraphs about what's in the rest of the report.

Today's report includes a page on clinical management of patients with COVID-19, more detailed surveillance data, an article on preparedness for healthcare professionals, and recommendations and advice for the public. As of 1 March 2020, they're saying "If you are not in an area where COVID-19 is spreading, or have not travelled from an area where COVID-19 is spreading, or have not been in contact with an infected patient, your risk of infection is low."