Tag: Coronavirus

Just another day in confinement; Paris, France

I woke up at 7:30 after sleeping terribly. So badly that I’d pulled the bottom sheet away from it’s nice hospital corner tuck-in. Am I anxious? I don’t think so but I’ve never slept so badly that it appears I’ve been wrestling someone or something. I get out of bed yawning as I have for the last five mornings. After making coffee and filling a bowl with fruit and yogurt, I meander to my computer to read the latest bad news. I can’t watch the news. I have to read it. If I don’t like the headline I can scroll down. I can start with the sports pages or the culture pages if I want to and then scroll upward. What I read this morning was that the President of the United States of America said he would not send life-saving equipment to any state if the Governor “isn’t nice to me”. I started crying. I’m living in a nightmare. Maybe I hadn’t really awaken. My sister said yesterday that he was favouring red states over blue. She calls him malevolent.

A part of me wanted to crawl back in bed and have a re-do. Energy just seeped away from my body. I turned the television on, went to YouTube and clicked on Walk at Home with Leslie Sansone. I’ve seen more of Leslie in the past three weeks than any friend on Zoom. I chose a Boost Walk and hoped I could march away the blues. I walked and marched and swung my arms and stomped my feet and muttered.

The fun of walking at home with Leslie Sansone

Thirty minutes later, I sat down at my computer to work. I can’t catch up with work. I felt resentful. The Guardian, every day, has a list of movies and box set TV shows that we can binge watch since we have nothing else to do. HA! If I could watch every season of MASH, I might give up on work, writing these blogs, keeping up with e-mails and all the things my publicity agent wants me to do for my book which comes out May 12. I haven’t found MASH anywhere. If you, wonderful reader, know where I can stream MASH, please let me know.

MASH is no longer on Netflix but is now streamed on Hulu

I spoke with a close friend in California the other evening. She told me how she and her daughter are taking walks and respecting the six foot distance, how check out lines at the food stores have tape on the ground six feet apart and people respect that. I seemed to be hearing that she was spending a lot of time outside of the house. I told her I’d been out three times in the past two weeks. “You haven’t even taken a walk?” No I haven’t. So I told myself I would use my hour of outdoor time today to walk over to the Bois de Boulogne and back. Then I saw an interview with Bernie Sanders who told us, the listening audience, “stay at home unless you absolutely, without a doubt, have to go out.” I don’t think a walk falls in that category. I felt paralyzed. Go out, stay in. When in doubt, leave it out. I still haven’t completely given up the idea. In my heart, I know we are being given better instructions in France than in the US but then one friend writes about being at the beach and how beautiful it is and another about hiking on a lovely trail and another describes the eery, terrible, wonder of empty streets in the middle of the day.

Coronavirus Cases: 1,210,422 view by country

Deaths: 65,449 Recovered: 251,822

Thursday, as the US announced that the limits would last until May 3 and the newspaper publishes horrifying statistics of deaths doubling overnight (New York had almost 600 yesterday), it began to sink in that there was a good chance that we’d be in confinement for a minimum of another month and likely two months. Intellectually, I knew that that was probably going to happen but acceptance is a whole other feeling. That’s probably my nighttime tossing and turning. History books will describe this time in my lifetime as “unprecedented”. To me, it’s like trying to live one day at a time with the braille method, trying to sense what is the right thing to do for my own self-care but also for my fellow citizen of Paris. Hoping and praying that what I’m doing and saying will ultimately be the best that one can do. And isn’t that what we are all doing?: the best we can do with the information we are given.

In France24.com this morning, a reporter was confirming what most of us are already suspecting–that we are in this for a very long haul. He thinks that the lockdown limits will be lifted slowly but not all at one time. He pointed out that already China is getting a second wave as people travel around again. So government administrators will have to really be prepared to advise as to how to begin living our lives outside of our homes. “The prime minister cited the possibility of easing lockdown measures on a region-by-region basis and “subject to a new testing policy – depending, possibly, on age and other factors”. It’s a scenario similarly touted in Italy – one of the countries hit hardest by the virus – where Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said that a “return to normalcy” will have to be achieved “gradually”-(France24). But it’s not going to happen for awhile.

police checking on the reason for a couple to be sitting in a British park

The Guardian says that in the UK, people are starting to rebel against the going-outside restrictions. I don’t think they get fined the way we do here in France. I’ve rebelled against limitations so much in my life but this time, I’m more scared of getting sick than of following the advised restrictions. Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, since 2018, is now live telling people if they don’t obey the restrictions and stop putting others’ lives at risk, all outdoors exercise will be banned. I think this might be called ‘lockdown fatigue’. I’m sure it is what I was feeling the other day.

“May you live in interesting times.” That is a Chinese curse. (There is actually no record of this being a Chinese saying or curse but an English saying from a translation. No one has ever found what it is supposed to have been translated from.) These are indeed interesting times, times when each one of us has to be creative, self-motivated to care for ourselves and others. Getting our high on being with others isn’t going to happen. The crowd euphoria of singing and dancing at a club isn’t going to happen. Taking a long hike in the beauty of our natural world isn’t going to happen. We have been challenged to find ways to entertain ourselves and our loved ones and live within the parameters set by our governments. I wish for everyone that they find their best selves within and call on that being hourly to stay safe, stay well, stay inside, wash your hands and don’t touch your face.

A bientôt,

Sara

I made a mistake

I really hate to say I was wrong but I was wrong. My friend, Jocelyne in Oakland, after reading yesterday’s blog, sent me a wonderful article: Flattening the Curve: A Conversation About the Pandemic With an Epidemiologist and Infection Control Specialist by Boaz Hepner. https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/blogs/312890/a-conversation-about-the-pandemic-with-an-epidemiologist-and-infection-control-specialist/ It is a long read but worth every minute. Boaz lives in Los Angeles and the epidemiologist that he interviews is also in Los Angeles. She says a number of times that her answers pertain to that area and the timing is not the same for every area of the world.

I can sum up her advice in a one sentence: wash your hands often and don’t touch your face. The wearing of gloves she says is not only not necessary but can actually make things worse. She emphasised that the virus is transmitted by droplets. The droplets are heavy and do not stay in the air. They quickly fall to the ground. So the keeping 6 feet distance almost insures that even if a person sneezes or coughs and doesn’t do it in an elbow, it won’t go that distance. She says the virus stays on paper an hour or two and both the mail and packages are packed a couple of days before arrival. She agrees that the virus will stick to door handles and elevator buttons but their life is a couple of hours. If you touch either without wearing gloves: wash your hands and don’t touch your face. Wear a mask only if you are sick and absolutely have to go out–there is no alternative. But the N95 that everyone is after is pretty useless, she adds. A good mask should seal off you nose and mouth.

Read the article, I believe you will be well-informed by a scientist and not have to continue to read opinions from people like me!!!

My friend, Barbara here in Paris, asks why I titled yesterday’s blog: Day 20. She rightly said the confinement started two weeks ago today which makes it Day 15. I said Day 20 because a week before Macron imposed ‘le confinement’, he asked all French people to stay indoors, wash their hands and stay 2 meters apart if they went out. I took it seriously. A lot of people didn’t. In fact, it’s been a month since I self-quaranteened when I got a cold. So in my mind, it’s Day 20 since we were first asked to voluntarily stay indoors!!! And now it’s day 21.

Thank you for your forgiveness. This is a very serious disease and I will be more careful what I write in this blog.

A bientôt,

Sara

Paris–Day 20

Around the world 720,000 cases of Covid-19 have been reported. Of those 34,000 people have died. Here in France, there are 40,174 reported cases and 2606 deaths. I hear people saying ‘just a little bit more time then we can go back to normal” I think that is wishful thinking. Not only will we not go back to anything but it’s my belief that we are in for some huge changes. This is all evolving organically. I think we will be living with some form of the virus for a year or two. Most people my age, the 70 and over group!, aren’t going outside unless they absolutely have to. But, we in Paris, have developed a marvelous sense of humor. Funny cartoons, songs, videos are going from phone to phone and it’s hard not to smile.

Someone sent me this poem:

Pandemic
What if you thought of it as the Jews consider the Sabbath— the most sacred of times? Cease from travel. Cease from buying and selling. Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world different than it is. Sing. Pray. Touch only those to whom you commit your life. Center down.
And when your body has become still, reach out with your heart. Know that we are connected in ways that are terrifying and beautiful. (You could hardly deny it now.) Know that our lives are in one another’s hands. (Surely, that has come clear.) Do not reach out your hands. Reach out your heart. Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils of compassion that move, invisibly, where we cannot touch.

Promise this world your love— for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, so long as we all shall live.
    — Lynn Ungar  3/11/20

Walking home from shopping. Complete emptiness

I went out on Saturday to do food shopping. I don’t have to go far, just to the corner to get most everything I need. I’m wearing gloves but I stick them in my pocket until I leave the apartment building. Then, it suddenly occurred to me that I am assuming people have my best interests in mind. People are scared and probably not thinking clearly. How do I know they are wearing gloves when they push the elevator buttons? If I walk up the stairs on my way back, what makes me think the person before me wore gloves or didn’t sneeze on the handle. I don’t. I’m the only one who can take 100% care of me. My sister reminded me to wear gloves when I pick up the mail. She recommended leaving it outside for 24 hours. I asked and learned that the virus can live on paper for 48 hours. So I’m using gloves to also open my mail and packages and not taking the packaging to recycling until a good 48 hours has passed. I don’t like shopping with gloves on. I’m a tactile person and shopping for vegetables and fruit this way is terrible. But it may also save my life so…..I’ve learned to follow instructions.

rue de rivoli, paris

It has been recommended that Paris stay in “le confinement” until the end of April. Macron is reticent to do that. So it’s been extended two weeks and then “on verra”. The fine for being outside without our ‘passport’ has gone from 135euros to 200euros and then 3750euros for repeated offences. After the 4th offence, it’s 6 months in jail. From The Local:

Nice, France

‘Starting Friday March 27th, 2002, the Eiffel Tower pays tribute to people rallying around amid the covid-19 crisis by playing thank-you notes and encouragements to stay home. The City of Paris tells us that the Eiffel Tower will pay tribute to all people rallying around amid the Covid-19 crisis, playing thank-you notes and encouragements to stay home every evening from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. A tribute the Eiffel Tower was already paying by extending the sparkling session every night at 8 p.m. for 10 minutes. From now on, starting from 8 p.m. a “Merci” [Thank You] will be played on the Eiffel Tower to thank health caregivers, police officers, firefighters, agents of the City of Paris, paramedics, soldiers, cashiers, garbage collectors, store keepers, deliver men, volunteers, helpers, associations, and Parisians, all those rallying around amid the Coronavirus pandemic.’

The word “Merci”, the French word for ‘Thank you”, is emblazoned on the Eiffel Tower as France’s coronavirus death toll continued to climb, in Paris, Friday, March 27, 2020. Health workers fighting to save lives in France from COVID-19 have received a huge show of gratitude, from the Eiffel Tower. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A startling fact is being reported. Since the pandemic began, since the real slow down of society started, airplanes stopped flying, cars stopped going everywhere, trains are virtually still, pollution in major cities is reversing itself, going backwards. Even if they have limited opportunities to enjoy it at the moment, Parisians have rarely breathed cleaner air. “The air in the Paris region was 20 to 30 percent cleaner in the first days of nationwide confinement two weeks ago, compared with usual levels the same period, air quality monitor Airparif reported Tuesday. The monitor said the decrease was due to a 60-percent drop in the level of nitrogen dioxide in the air: 41 percent when confinement began last Tuesday, 62 percent on Wednesday and then 64 percent on Thursday and Friday.” rfi.

A bientôt,

Sara

Dr. Abdu Sharkawy

Another blogger that I read wrote this on her blog today. She found it posted on one of the ex-Pat Facebook pages available to all of us over here. It is so wise that I have to post it myself:

“I’m a doctor and an Infectious Diseases Specialist. I’ve been at this for more than 20 years seeing sick patients on a daily basis. I have worked in inner city hospitals and in the poorest slums of Africa. HIV-AIDS, Hepatitis,TB, SARS, Measles, Shingles, Whooping cough, Diphtheria…there is little I haven’t been exposed to in my profession. And with notable exception of SARS, very little has left me feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed or downright scared. I am not scared of Covid-19. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread the world over and continues to find new footholds in different soil.  I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. But I am not scared of Covid-19.

What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter adequately in a post-apocalyptic world. I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for front line healthcare providers and instead are being donned in airports, malls, and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others. I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they ” probably don’t have it but may as well get checked out no matter what because you just never know…” and those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and  strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess. I am scared that travel restrictions will become so far reaching that weddings will be canceled, graduations missed and family reunions will not materialize.

And well, even that big party called the Olympic Games…that could be kyboshed too.

Can you even imagine?I’m scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise and ultimately culminate in a global recession. 

But mostly, I’m scared about what message we are telling our kids when faced with a threat. Instead of reason, rationality, open-mindedness and altruism, we are telling them to panic, be fearful, suspicious, reactionary and self-interested.Covid-19 is nowhere near over. It will be coming to a city, a hospital, a friend, even a family member near you at some point. Expect it.  Stop waiting to be surprised further.

The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and “fight for yourself above all else” attitude could prove disastrous. I implore you all. Temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society. Let’s meet this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing.

Facts not fear. Clean hands. Open hearts.
Our children will thank us for it.
#washurhands #geturflushot #respect #patiencenotpanic”
By ABDU SHARKAWYdr-abdu-sharkawy

A bientôt,

Sara

Covid-19 in France

Today, all ex-Pats were sent an e-mail by the American Embassy in Paris. “France has confirmed cases of COVID-19 within its borders.Since January 24, 2020, there have been 1412 confirmed cases in France.  There have been twenty-five confirmed deaths.The French government has reported cases throughout the country. Five “clusters” of concentrated cases have been identified in l’Oise (communes of Creil, Crépy en Valois, Vaumoise, Lamorlaye et Lagny le Sec), Haute Savoie (commune of La Balme), Morbihan (communes of d’Auray, Crac’h and Carnac), Haut-Rhin (Mulhouse), and Bas-Rhin (Strasbourg).”

Walking around Paris, nothing seems different. All my markets are open and no one seems to be stockpiling food. People are sitting outside on the sidewalks at their favourite cafes. Possibly there are a bit fewer people walking around but it’s hard to tell. The biggest indication that there is a dangerous virus is that all the pharmacies have signs saying they are sold out of masks and hand sanitiser. Even Amazon says it will take three weeks to deliver hand sanitiser. The people who have been counted as having Covid-19 in Paris are in hospitals and don’t necessarily live in Paris. Other than the Minister of Culture, who tested positive yesterday, there aren’t reported cases. “The prime minister’s office said that the rules for ministers with the virus “are the same for all French people” including acting with caution and taking measures to minimise the chances of the disease spreading.” France24.

Probably most Parisians feel extremely cautious about public transportation: the metro and the buses. People hang on to poles and grab handles from above to steady themselves. Persons without gloves touch those surfaces thousands of times a day. Wearing gloves is the best idea and figuring out how to clean gloves is smarter. As everywhere around the world at the moment, we are told to wash our hands often and for twenty seconds. Hand sanitisers come in second to hand washing.

The papers say that France is now sounding the alarm since Italy has shut down its borders. But most of all, they are asking all of us to remain calm and use good sense. Compared to what the news says is going on in the US, the French are positively snoozing. Events larger than 1000 people have been cancelled but I haven’t heard any complaints. “Having banned large public gatherings at the end of February, France will see its first match with no fans in 10 years at PSG’s stadium on Wednesday.” France24 The Louvre is open and restricting who enters. Flights to Asia have been cancelled. None of my friends have reported cancelled flights. It’s a wait and see attitude.

I have reservations on the Eurostar to go to London March 25-29. I think the only reason I would cancel is if I thought that, for some reason, I couldn’t get back into France. So I guess the next two weeks will be very telling as to how France and her people will handle this.

One thing of note: my home town, Oakland, California, has allowed one of the Princess Cruises to dock at the Oakland port (5th largest in USA). Listserves that I’ve read have people extremely worried/angry as to why the Oakland City Council would allow that. One person, ONE PERSON, wrote how proud they were of Oakland that it would offer its hospitals and emergency services to help the people who have been quarantined on the ship.

The next chapter will unfold soon,

A bientôt,

Sara

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