The couple of people I was referring to that I suspect have had false negatives--there was a bit of collective community sighing in relief when they were told they were negative, and one said her doctor said he suspects there is a very similar virus going around. There may be, but I'm seriously wondering if some of the testing in our area isn't being done correctly, or the test itself is faulty. But I haven't voiced that, because I really don't know.

Have you been able to get retested? I strongly suspect that there have been some false negatives in our area. ETA: I am so sorry you have been so sick for so long. 😞 I hope you start to improve quickly very soon.

Bolding mine--I have seen this so much in the area where I live, and it really really bugs me. I'm not "scared," so much as I just want to be wise, and sensible, and loving to my fellowman, etc. But I've heard the "those who are scared can stay home" statement more than once, and it irritates the living daylights out of me! (Sorry, not sorry, kind of gets me on my high horse!)

A couple of my adult children live in areas much harder hit, and I live in an area much more rural, where the virus is just now beginning to seep in with "somebody knows somebody" type situations. I think it must be like how humans often react to any disaster that doesn't affect them directly--they just isolate it emotionally, think "those poor people way over there," and have trouble making the leap to local/personal realities and possibilities (or probabilities). I have to temper my desire to shout in frustration that "if you saw what my dd is seeing, you'd take this more seriously!" I temper it because there's a point it doesn't make any difference to their behavior and mindset, and they just think I'm nuts. So I quietly do what I can (though it is limited more than I would like due to local circumstances), keep as educated as possible, and hope that, despite my desire to see some arrogant people humbled, things don't get horrible here.

I missed this over the weekend. I'm so glad he is doing well. Those kinds of "incidents" are so scary!

Praying for your daughter, you, and the rest of your family. That's scary.

Well, I haven't read past this, so she or someone else may have responded. But for me, it isn't the food itself, it's the combination of foods--making sure I get enough other nutrients to keep from having meals that are too carb-heavy, keeping a healthy balance. OP, I'm still buying groceries once a week, because our freezer/refrigerator combo doesn't have enough space for the teenage appetites, so I'm mostly buying as much fresh produce as I can, then combining that with my more carb-heavy staples. If we get completely house-bound, we won't be able to keep as healthy a balance. I do try to get some canned green vegetables along the way, but they are harder to find.

Right. I was only pointing out that, while--like you said--you shouldn't just go out buying every med somebody (no matter who they are) suggests might work, it wasn't something just randomly mentioned by said somebody. There were actually legitimate medical personnel who were saying they were seeing results. I agree with you that none of us should try self-treating outside the advice of our doctors.

I read about this first in an article about a doctor using it (the hydrochloroquine treatment), I believe several days before it was mentioned in a press release. Not defending those who tried to self-treat, by any means, or suggesting following the advice of non-medical personnel; but it was publicly mentioned as a treatment in articles beforehand, so not completely randomly mentioned in the press release, as far as I know.

I didn't "like" all of these because I got tired of pushing the button, but I do "like" all of these! It's made me feel peaceful and happy reading through them. Even (especially) in difficult times, simple joys are so grounding. They are a reminder of hope and better times. Thank you all, and to the OP.

It's a beautiful day with cool, crisp air. And I finally did the dusting. It's been criticizing me for two weeks, but I just didn't want to do it and kept putting it off. I finally made myself. Now I need to go through the big stack of papers, etc., that were on the dresser, but maybe later in the day.

Not quite as rural, there are more cases in the county, but yes, that is what I am seeing and sensing.

I don't know if I'm on information overload or what. But is anybody else a little confused by mixed messaging? It seems that over the past few days I'm picking up on a lot of "Oh, it really isn't going to be so bad," conflicting with "This is what is actually happening, and it's horrible," and it's making me feel more confused as to what to expect. We live in an area where everything has been slower to take off--responses and cases. Maybe it really won't get too bad here, because we've had more time to prepare, population density is less, etc. But people haven't been great until this week to actually follow distancing and staying home guidelines very well. I'm watching figures, but with lack of testing, then lots of testing, then ??--it's just hard to follow what the real situation is. ETA: A couple more things: I read about the chloroquine treatment, and how it is very promising, and how it's just anecdotal, and how it should be used, and why it shouldn't, and it drives me nuts. Then there is the confusion I refer to above, and I'm getting the feeling, especially here, that people are becoming really impatient over it all. Maybe because I've taken this seriously all along, I find it disturbing that they will be saying, "See, it was all just a big overreaction so that gov't/whoever could tank our economy and cause everybody to panic so they could take away our liberties, and the virus wasn't anything as bad as they said." Then it will cause that suspicion which seems pretty rampant to grow even more so. So...I don't want to be right and have a bunch of people sick and dying here--not by any means! But I don't want the conspiracy theorists to mock (even more than they already are) and grow even more confident in their theories. Am I even making any sense at all?

Interesting testing at UAB: https://www.al.com/news/2020/04/uab-testing-new-coronavirus-treatment-on-its-sickest-patients.html

The only curbside pickup I do is for Walmart. While they do not allow tipping, I do try to make sure I show my appreciation for what they are doing. Well, that was before all this. I'm not doing curbside now due to lack of availability of so many of my usual things. If I go in, I can substitute things that they would not know would be an acceptable substitute.

I just read an article--and now don't know where it was 😞 --that doctors are seeing heart failure a lot, and are trying to figure out how the virus is related; i.e., they think someone is having a heart attack and has blocked arteries, only to take them in and there are no blockages and a positive covid test. They are currently sharing information to try to figure out if the virus is directly attacking the heart or ?? (I was quickly scanning, and I'm not sure I caught all that correctly, but I found it a sad but interesting twist.)

Our boys are older, but every year I just put some candy for them (and us!) in small Easter themed tin buckets. I picked up some Easter candy on my last grocery run. However, dh and I got into the candy yesterday. Maybe we can restrain ourselves these next few days...

This is also true where dd is. They have been instructed to wear their street clothes for their own protection.

I don't have figures. Gas is definitely down--I don't miss the running around for school and practices, etc. Food is at least the same, if not more, with everybody home, due to more snacking. I've had a few online orders--haircutting supplies, which are expensive for good quality; an iron skillet I'd been planning to buy but went ahead because was afraid the price would go up when I read the plant had closed. I haven't added it up, but the take-out ordering has gone up. We're trying to be careful, but we do really really want to get something from outside more often. It's a hard impulse to fight, lol! ETA: Oh yeah, I forgot about not getting haircuts until I read that below. That's a good bit of savings which should cover the initial purchase of the grooming equipment. And the grooming equipment will continue to give...

But, but, but... you aren't actually wearing high heels! 😳 I'm shocked and don't know what to think of the tennies... 😉 ETA: cross-posted

Interesting. I didn't even think it was available in the U.S.

Yeah, as to the efficacy of it against TB, I have no idea. Due to positive TB test results, several of us later have had to do INH protocols in the U.S., and the healthcare professionals have to get x-rays occasionally instead of the TB tests, because they will always be positive. I don't know whether it's worth it or not, but for the ones who were newborns in those countries, they would have gotten the vaccines because, if I remember correctly, they were mandated by law.

The BCG scar is more like a little circular dent, maybe about the size of a flat-head nail in width. The smallpox scar is larger and round, a little smaller than a dime, but not as much of a dent--flatter. When I asked in the U.S. about the BCG vaccine, everyone (medical personnel) kind of scoffed about it, saying it wasn't effective and they didn't give it. However, when we were overseas, it was a standard part of the vaccine protocol. We didn't fight it. Then when one ds was an infant, I asked the pediatrician about the rest of us. He said he would strongly recommend it. So who should we listen to? We went ahead and followed the pediatrician's recommendation because we were living in a TB-prone country, and the doctors there had a lot of experience in that context. Whether that will help protect us now, years later, and under different circumstances, I don't know, but I sure hope so!

Ds has done a couple of classes--he really enjoyed them and learned a lot! They were related to the film industry--can't remember which ones he took, though.

This is also true for my dd. NYC