Posted on 04/11/2020 11:55:44 AM PDT by george76
There has been speculation for weeks around the possibility that the COVID-19 virus hit the United States, and possibly Wyoming, weeks before previously thought, and many more people already have had it and don’t realize it, and those people are now immune. Right now this is just conjecture, but it is worth having the discussion.
Buckrail. posted an article on April 9th about a Jackson doctor who shares this belief and has been fairly outspoken about it. Every community seems to have their own local name for it, and in Jackson they call it "that awful JH crud" that was circulating back in December 2019 and in January. In Pinedale it is often called "the Pinedale crud." It included a terrible cough that just couldn’t be shaken and seemed to last for weeks, longer than usual. It was passed off as an upper respiratory infection. There was no test for it then.
Jackson Hole gets many international tourists, including many from China. Yellowstone National Park has three million visitors a year; Grand Teton Park over two million. All the park gateway communities, including Pinedale, see a fraction of those visitors each summer.
The implications, the article says, are crucial. It means this virus may have already started working its way through Wyoming weeks to months earlier than thought and there might already be some herd immunity to it in Wyoming. The answer won’t be known until there is a test for antibodies in the blood. So it is still very important to continue all the current directives for hand washing, social distancing, and keeping sick people away from vulnerable populations.
Right now this is just a theory, but it is definitely something to think about if you are one of the ones who got awfully sick in the November/December/January timeframe last fall and are still alive today to talk about it. Once tested for antibodies, if positive, those people could immediately go back to work and our economy could get moving a whole lot faster than what was earlier thought. The people who haven’t had it could continue to self-isolate by choice, rather than by state shut-down directive, until there is either a vaccine (which may take at least a year or more) or drugs that can minimize the impacts of the effects of getting the virus.
You’re welcome! I try to both calm people and to keep them aware of the real risk. It is challenging, because people tend to react strongly in one direction or another, when the facts are somewhere in the middle.
As for casual interactions within 3 feet, I would really try to increase that distance. Or, if you must be that close to another person, don’t face him directly. I don’t know that all infected droplets from a cough or sneeze would fall to the floor within 3 feet. I do think there is value in wearing a mask—at the very least, it will remind you not to touch your face. I know they are uncomfortable—I always feel like I am suffocating in one—but do wear it if you must go out in public. I am making masks, too, for use in public. A woman whose daughter is a nurse would like me to make some masks for her, as well.
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You’re welcome! I try to both calm people and to keep them aware of the real risk. It is challenging, because people tend to react strongly in one direction or another, when the facts are somewhere in the middle.
As for casual interactions within 3 feet, I would really try to increase that distance. Or, if you must be that close to another person, don’t face him directly. I don’t know that all infected droplets from a cough or sneeze would fall to the floor within 3 feet. I do think there is value in wearing a mask—at the very least, it will remind you not to touch your face. I know they are uncomfortable—I always feel like I am suffocating in one—but do wear it if you must go out in public. I am making masks, too, for use in public. A woman whose daughter is a nurse would like me to make some masks for her, as well.]
You are most welcome.
May you continue to enjoy good health.
Yep, you are right. Covid 19 was not circulating in this country until mid-January.
[May you continue to enjoy good health.]
Our kid has a friend and ex co-worker who works in Chandler, AZ. Right there next door to Gilbert. In addition, these workers in Chandler had workers and managers travel to and from Mountain View, CA, another location with a significant Chinese population (pretty much all of Silicon Valley, really).
This friend was really ill a week or so before Christmas. Healthy young man who went to the gym a lot like our kid (at the time). Came down with something nasty, leaving him with serious breathing issues. Of course, it was written off at the time as the "flu" (not sure if this individual was ever tested for the flu).
Unfortunately, this individual likely passed this on to our kid, who was ill around Christmas Eve and Day. Of course, our kid stayed with us for 36 hours, sleeping over Christmas Eve. A day or two before the end of the year, my wife came down with something that decked her for close to a week, and left her energy-less for at least two weeks.
Whatever it was, it was contagious and nasty.
I would be willing to guess that a great portion of the population has or will show a positive for the COVID-19.
I felt very unwell early this year and didn’t think much of it.
As you probably have heard, if you’ve had it before, you might be able to help others.
“Albany Med among first to use experimental therapy to treat coronavirus
by WRGB STAFFThursday, April 9th 2020
....We’ve told you before about various organizations calling for patients who have successfully recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma for use in research - well, that may all be about to pay off. ....”
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