We have close to 65,000 people infected in NY, over 2,450 people have died so far, many in Brooklyn. This is JUST in NY. I posted these photos the other day. Even with everything going on, one of my friends told me she let her 18 year old daughter leave her home and take her car to visit her friends bc she was going stir-crazy. Another friend is upset that her daughter will not have a real graduation but a virtual ceremony. The photos are upsetting so do not look if you get easily upset.
People are dying so quickly. They are okay one moment and within a few days are deceased. This Brooklyn hospital had so many deceased and no more refrigerated units that they were just wrapped and left in the hallway.
SO PLEASE PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING. Yes, it is very hard to live like this but there will be a day, I don't when, when I will wake up and hear that they found a medication that seems to be working. But not right now. It is scary because it is hard to buy food. But it is what it is.
Maimonides Hospital has taken the patients from their hospital that DO NOT have the virus and have set up a hospital in the Cancer Center. Many doctors from and technicians and nurses from the Cancer Center are now working at the Hospital so I get it. Right now, I am still getting my meds and for now that will be enough.
I have to go out to get milk. I wear gloves and my mask. People are out but there are long lines down the block to get into a store and even then there are restrictions on what you can buy.
It is very isolating but also very scary. I seen that the UK Prime Minister was tested positive for the virus. Then last night, I seen he was in intensive care. I worry less about missing my injections than I due catching this virus bc I know I won't be coming home if I do.
This is our reality and so I get very angry with my friends that complain that their child is bored and needed to get out a bit or that they will have to have a virtual graduation. Well, these people had no family near then when they passed. I had to stop watching the news non-stop. I do put on in the morning but they said social distancing is making a big difference. It is very odd way to live now, but we do what we must.
31 Replies
•
Dear Anne Marie,
I can't imagine how stressful and frightening it must be to be in the epicenter of this crisis. I'm so sorry! I'm hopeful that things will begin to improve soon, but it'll probably a long while before folks like us can feel comfortable.
I appreciate you sharing the photos...it's one thing to read or hear about the situation, but the mind and gut react a very different -- more appropriate way -- to the images.
I'm concerned that you're heading out to the store. I know there are folks in your area who are eager to help out by bringing groceries, etc. My daughter told me about one group recently formed on social media-- I actually think it was posted here recently? -- invisiblehandsdeliver.com/.
Needless to say, I agree re: social distancing, and I think nearly everyone is complying (well, in your area...maybe not in mine (e.g. drove past a church yesterday with 100 cars in the parking lot!!!). The girl who's visiting with friends is obviously just plain wrong. It's probably illegal.
But I'm sympathetic to everyone's disappointments, big and small. A prom, a graduation, a trip, lunch with friends, etc. I do think we all still have the right to "grieve" the loss of our plans/dreams. I liken it to us having MBC...Yeah, if someone complains about a cold, or broken bone, or whatever, I might think to myself "Well, I can top THAT!!!" :), and, bizarre as it might sound, I have folks in my "circle" who seem more devastated by relatively minor issues than I am about MBC...Go figure! But I don't want to dismiss their heartache...they're entitled to it and really feel it...
Please do stay well, take care, and let someone bring you your milk!!! (here's the group again! invisiblehandsdeliver.com/ ).
Love, Lynn
• in reply to
I looked and that is specifically for the elderly who cannot even leave their homes because they cant walk. I can still walk and carry things. There are thousands in desperate situations, much worse than mine and I remember that. I would not utilize such a group bc there are those who need them more than me.
It is raining out and looks empty. I think I am going to get dressed, with my mask and gloves and walk down the block. Maybe, just maybe, I may score and get bottled water.
More MTA workers have now died than first responders so they don't want to work anymore and if they have more than like 10 people on the bus they are not even stopping.
I hear you! I went to get milk today, and I was one of a handful wearing a scarf over my mouth and nose. Outside the store, people were SQUEEZED TOGETHER waiting for a bus.
Most of these naysayers are young and feel impervious to the bug. They don’t recognize the risk that they are asymptomatic and could spread the virus without knowing!
Strange how some people think they’re somehow immune especially young people...although my girls are the opposite and worry about me....which can actually annoy me a bit but I would rather them be considerate than just ignoring the guidance and spreading the virus
Unfortunately, although the majority of people that die are those with any type of respiratory illness (asthma, COPD, etc.) or people with lowered immune systems which include people other than cancer, they are now seeing a trend, although in much lower numbers, of younger people who appeared to be in perfect health dying from this. This virus is still confusing to them, I believe. See below (I cut and copied):
""While older people remain the most vulnerable to succumbing to complications from the novel coronavirus, younger patients — including those with no preexisting conditions — can also become seriously ill with the disease and even be killed by it.
At least 759 people under the age of 50 have died in the U.S. from the virus that causes COVID-19, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. At least 45 of those deaths were among people in their 20s and at least 190 among people in their 30s, the paper said.
Even patients under the age of 20 have not been spared. The Post said at least 9 people in the U.S. who were 20 or younger have died because of the illness."
They need to be careful not just because they can spread it (as can we without having any symptoms) bc now they themselves can catch it.
What is scary besides the obvious, is trying to get food. In Brooklyn, even volunteer nonprofit agencies are running out of food and volunteers.
Where I live many stores are just closed down. They are stopping buses so unless you have a car (I dont), you are screwed.
Even trying to order food is impossible where i live because many of the restaurants have chosen to just shut down completely. The ones that are open do not deliver to my area because it is too far.
I’m in UK but have got food supplies from Amazon...jars of lovely beans...bags of nuts and raisins boxes of meusli and some veggie burger mix...I’m not a vegetarian but these things are nutritious and keep for ages
Amazon is booked for like a month (at least to US), Peapod which I used to use all the time is booked now until April 21st. I dont know how you find a time slot. You go on and all the slots are booked for two weeks straights and they don't even open up new dates for you to place an order.
One man said you have to stay up at night and keep trying and keep refreshing to even get a time slot within the next four weeks.
Meanwhile peapod as a "valued member" LOL....gave me a coupon for $25 off my next order which is hysterical since I cant even get a time slot. They said they are not accepting new members (I had a membership) and many things that people want are not available.
Even Walgreens...Rite Aid....CVS...anything you want to order online such as soap, shampoo, Unisom sleep capsules....all out of stock online and ONLY some of the items they have in stores but I have to take a bus to get there.
It is crazy. I just want it to end. Although I think people in NY and NJ will keep their fear ingrained as will the poor doctors and nurses who will suffer from PTSD like soldiers.
Dr. Faruchi said that he doubts Americans will continue to shake hands in the future. That will be a thing of the past.
Funny but Bill Gates said in a speech years ago that our biggest threat would be a virus that would wipe out 1/3 of the world. This was years ago.
I always feared a nuclear war.
I used to laugh at those doomsday people (Netflix has a documentary called Doomsday Preppers). People who were so fearful about a nuclear wear or something like this that they have underground shelters with air filters, two years worth of food and water in case of something like this. I used to think they were nuts. Who is laughing now?
You take thing for granted...just walking into a store and buying a few bottles of water, some tp and a cake or something.
They showed people in Walmart at the beginning of this in NJ. Women fist-fighting and pulling hair and kicking each other fighting over a four roll pack of toilet paper. That is scary.
Luckily, what we are going through now brings out the best in some people and the worst in others.
Totally agree, Barb! Hope you are safe and healthy!! ❤️❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻
I understand your fear and I certainly understand being upset that your friend let her child go out. The only way this goes away is if everyone stays home and if necessary to go out they practise social distancing. I live in a small place yet we are one of two hotspots in my province simply because people aren’t listening. We by no means have the amount of cases NY has but the fear and the frustration are the same. I simply don’t understand how these people think and why they believe they are invincible. We have the same amount of people aged 20-45 sick as we do 45-70. It isn’t just the old and vulnerable that catch this. Please take care and try not to watch the news. I know that is difficult to do but I find the news raises my anxiety a lot. Always here if you need to talk.
• in reply to
The social distancing helps keeps the numbers lower. Once people stop doing that or assume it is not really that serious, it is then that the number of people infected rise dramatically. One person can infect up to 10-20 people. From that one man in New Rochelle who was found to be infected although he had not traveled to any outside country, within 26 days, it went into the hundreds and then thousands. It just shows you how quickly this can spread.
I have to watch the news to a certain degree. I am now getting scared of not being able to get food soon. I still have enough to last another week. They tell us to order in food and tip well because the delivery people are taking a chance even though they are masked up so you know that they are desperate for money if they are willing to take this job.
Unfortunately, many restaurants in my area have chosen just to completely shut down rather than even do delivery.
Thanks for sharing, people need to stop moaning because anyone can get it and sadly die so it's important to stay in as much as possible. Here in the uk our PM Boris Johnson is in ICU with it and other politicians in London have had it, although suddenly president Trum is best buddies with Boris (not sure where he got that from) on a Thursday at 8pm we all clap to show our support for NHS. Sorry your having a tough time in NY hope it improves soon sending love and prayers, keep safe
Hi,
The situation is very worrying for us all. It is hard to watch the news, so I try to limit it each day. It sounds like watching the news is having a very negative affect on you, so perhaps it would be best for you to also limit what you watch, as it is just increasing your anxiety. Please accept help from friends who may be able to drop some groceries off for you. You mentioned a friend from Staten Island who stopped by recently. Maybe she would be willing to come by again? Your mental health and wellbeing are just as important as your physical health. So just not having COVID-19 is not enough. If there are support services, perhaps on a voluntary basis, in your area then I would look into them. The Prime Minister recently asked for volunteers and many thousands came forward to help out with errands, groceries, medication collection and so on. I hope there are similar schemes where you live.
Take care,
Sophie
• in reply to
Many organizations that still have SOME volunteers left now are requiring that you try to get to a food center yourself. They do NOT have enough volunteers to go door to door unless they are referred from social services and are disabled and cancer is not disabled in this sense. People in wheelchairs, single parents with a severely disabled child. I do not have a car and buses have stopped in my area bc many of the MTA personnel that were driving their buses or working on the buses and trains and trying to clean them are now becoming infected and they just don't have enough people. The below is NYC and the boros alone, not even counting the entire state. Many in NYC rely on the trains and buses to get around bc many don't have cars especially those that live in the City itself.
And the point is I spent all day yesterday trying to call places and it seems they are all closed or cannot even prepare an order NOR can you place an order to even be picked up for at least a week to two weeks. You start to realize how this affects every aspect of one's life.
My friend cannot come from SI to bring me food. Her sister who lives in the downstairs apt. of her home had had a surgery a month ago and now is severely sick but she cannot be taken to a hospital (even though she works at one) so my friend now has to watch over her besides her own two kids.
Facts:
"At least 41 transit workers have died, and more than 6,000 more have fallen sick or self-quarantined. Crew shortages have caused over 800 subway delays and forced 40 percent of train trips to be canceled in a single day. On one line the average wait time, usually a few minutes, ballooned to as high as 40 minutes." You cannot get on a train or a bus unless you are able to sit a far distance from someone else.
• in reply to
Hi,
I'm so sorry to hear that. Is there anyone else in one of the neighbouring apartments who could go shopping for you? I would do it if I lived there. You should be considered a priority case.
Or how about calling the supermarkets directly and explaining your situation? You should be able to get what you need some way. I really hope you get what you need soon.
We've had train and bus drivers die over here too after contracting COVID-19.
Take care,
Sophie ❤
• in reply to
Thanks, but no. Many people are my floor were elderly and already gone from their apartments because they families came and took them since home aides stopped coming.
Cancer here in NY is not really considered a disability for these purposes. They are talking elderly that cannot walk or tend to themselves.
I realize you do not get how it is here in NY. The supermarkets. You go to their site and they say you may wait an hour or longer on a line and they are rationing. People were getting into fist fights over everything. Only two rolls a toilet paper for one person. Only two loaves a bread. Only one gallon of a milk. One two packages of meat.
Cancer....They would laugh at me. They does not get me any better treatment. Believe me here in NY there are many many ill people with compromised immune systems that do not have cancer. MS, COPD, asthma.....People that can't walk, or single parents that cannot take their disabled child who is in a wheelchair out of their apartment. Cancer is not a disability for these times at all. It would not even get me into a hospital if I thought I had it. You have to have a fever of at least 104...they just don't have the room. Every hospital....built a hospital in Central Park, hotels, Jacob Javits Center which is where is a trade show exhibition hall. Any space is being used for virus victims.
My own cancer center is now a hospital for those who DO NOT Have the flu and had to be taken out of the Maimonides Hospital to add room so that now Maimonides Hospital ONLY has flu victims.
• in reply to
Oh, I see. I thought there might be at least one person nearby who could help. I hope that you will be able to find a way to get what you need. I'm thinking of you.
I’m very worried about our PM and it just shows how anyone can get seriously ill
I’m appalled at your friend letting her daughter go visiting...totally irresponsible...I miss my girls too but have seen one of them at the stables but we kept apart and rode out separately
You have to obey the rules no matter how annoying they appear
I read that the Prime Minister is now sitting up in his hospital bed, so it looks like he will recover from COVID-19. Let's hope he, and others who have been affected, will soon recover.
Yes I read that this morning...I don’t watch TV news but read the Times every day...so relieved for Boris...I do really like him and he’s worked so hard for us
Talking of newspapers...there’s been some letters from readers about avoiding getting Covid-19 from their papers...one person reads the first two pages outside the front door without touching it !! Then brings it inside...someone else microwaves theirs?!... never crossed my mind...I think it’s a bit extreme though
I don't watch the news that much either, but I like to just see what the latest is. Yes, it does look like Boris Johnson will pull through. I feel for his family. They must be so scared right now.
Some people are microwaving their newspaper?! Wow! That sounds a bit extreme. Kim just said we can't walk with family members we don't live with, even if we keep 2m apart. The four of us just got in from a walk in the woods, keeping a distance from my dad and brother. I was also meant to take my oldest brother out on Saturday. I'll have to call his home and cancel. Ugh! This is really hard.
That’s what I was thinking too. My dad and brothers are all vulnerable and in need of help. I just feel like my hands are tied. My dad and brother just stopped by to drop off a bottle of milk. They still get their milk delivered and were not expecting the milkman to make his rounds today, so they bought some and gave us an extra bottle.
After they had gone shopping in Sainsbury’s they walked over to the river (right by the car park) and were questioned by the police and told to go home. I had warned my dad about that, but I don’t think he believed me. At least he was not fined.
People here in NY, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, are washing down their canned goods and boxed cereal and such. They say it is more important to wash down the counter top that you are cleaning them on. The virus can stay on your counter for a few hours.
May seem extreme to you, but not really extreme. I get my mail and open it with my gloves. I still have wipes that I used to wipe down boxes and canned goods then clean my counter top. The virus lives longer than you think.
When I go down to laundry room, I use my gloves and then throw them out again. They said to only use ONE mask just a few times and then throw away.
The main piece of advice is to constantly washing your hands and avoid touching your face. I have Dial disinfectant soap in my bathroom, shower and kitchen but that is running low.
Anything you even want to try and order from Walgreen's, CVS, Rite Aid (large retail drug stores chains), they are out of almost everything that you need.
I just want to wake up one day and hear they have a drug that looks very promising. Law firms and other large companies are now starting to lay off people (furloughs) they are calling it bc they realize they cannot continue to pay people full salary.
But say in New York, Unemployment is ONLY $430 per week (in NY LOL), that they now are adding an additional $600 per week so that they will get getting $1,430 per week for now 33 weeks. You cannot feed a family on $1,600 per month and pay rent.
Problem is that nobody has gotten the UE yet. This is worse than after 9.11 or the recession we had.
A tiger at the Bronx Zoo was confirmed with the virus. Apparently, a first. But apparently, his keeper had the virus and passed it on to the tiger. The tiger was not feeling well, and they obviously had to sedate it and tested it and sure enough it had the virus. They are finding more and more things every day.
Good news that our PM is out of intensive care and now in a normal ward ! Get well soon Boris !
I used to buy the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday but I have just taken up their offer of 30 days for £1 online paper as was worried about the virus and who had handled it .
I read that the virus can live on plastics and stainless steel for up to 3 days and a day on cardboard / paper ! I empty all my amazon deliveries out of their cardboard outside ,wearing rubber gloves and then wash them after ! I wash my hands so much now I need to use a good moisturiser ... I bought a 500 ml pump dispenser of Eucerin advanced repair lotion for very dry skin , online at Amazon (it’s fragrance and paraben free ) and it does the job really well !
I think I should increase my disinfecting habits....I’m no way as careful as you seem to be
Trying not to be overcome by paranoia though...not enough known about spread of this virus...don’t wear masks then maybe wear them...don’t wear gloves unless change frequently...go out /stay in... people are confused
I do wash my hands though and avoid shops if possible
Yes, it’s not easy with all the contradicting info we hear . I have become more careful in the last couple of weeks as I see the virus taking hold in our county and affecting even the young healthy .
I have always been a keen hand washer, but now I have even ordered online a ‘germ trapping snood ‘ , called the “Virustatic Shield” , to wear to my monthly bloods appointment at my GP practice ! It wasn’t cheap at £20 , but I am willing to give it a go ! It’s UK university developers claim it has a special chemical coating on the fabric which traps and deactivates viruses . If you want to find out more about it , it’s on virustaticshield.com
And as it looks like a ski snood , I could wear it when out on bike rides . We’ll see ?! Take care when out ! x
Here in NY I have two friends that work at a hospital. One works in the maintenance dept. in which she has to clean bathrooms and scrub down patient's rooms and she gets such a low salary for such a risky job at this time.
My friend's husband was promoted years ago from an ER Traumatic Nurse to getting an office and becoming the Head of the whole Traumatic Nurse department which job he has been doing for years. Both work in Staten Island at the same hospital.
They just told him the other day that they need to pull him out of his administrative position and need him to go back to working as a nurse for COVID-19 victims. They told him they would give him a refresher course but he said he does not need one, he remembers his training. He has a wife and two young sons.
His wife's mother is selling her deceased father's home so right now it is completely empty but she told him he can go to the home after work (which is close to his own home), wash his clothes, dry them and take a shower before he goes home to his family.
Even my friend who works in maintenance said they were told to immediately take a shower when they got home from work and every single day, she washes her uniform in hot water.
So I guess if they are telling them to do that, it is an extra safety precaution bc hot water kills the virus if they have it on their uniforms.
Since it seems things change day by day what they learn about this virus, it is important to continue to be vigilant. Even if you put groceries on your counter, we are being told to immediately wash down the counter top with disinfectant.
For now, with this virus, there is nothing about being too paranoid about things. It is much better to be extra vigilant right now than not. I would not read the paper either without using gloves myself but I read online primarily. I even open my mail with my gloves.
I think some people may tend to get a bit lax if they are feeling well but it is important not to do that. I see our Gov.'s brother who got the virus but not sick enough to be admitted to a hospital. He is living in his basement while the rest of his family is upstairs. His brother, our Governor, interviewed him at home while he was living in his basement.
It has been over two weeks and he said "he gets it now." He has such a high fever that comes and go, he said he felt like a train hit him, he was having hallucinations and then was shivering so much he actually cracked his front tooth. He said it is very very unpleasant and he has never felt so sick in his life and he was in top shape and healthy. He said thank God I have a wife who makes dinner and leaves it at the stop of the stairs of the basement. He said he knows he is lucky and cannot imagine those who have no help have to suffer through it.
I am so paranoid about getting it. I am constantly washing my hands even though I live alone. I would err on the side of caution than take a chance on getting it.
They said here in the US and other parts of the world, that we will change the way we do things and it is being advised (and I am sure people will be scared for months afterwards) that in the future, we will NOT be shaking people's hands anymore. Even when this (God help us) is over, the fear will linger.
You are doing all the right things ! You “get it” ! ( see above) . I am sorry you are locked away in what must now feel like a prison ...some of us have the often taken -for - granted freedom of a garden and view. But keep doing what you’re doing and remember there will be an end to all this ... start thinking about what you might do in a few months time ! And take advantage of any charity group doing food deliveries for the ‘extremely vulnerable to Covid 19 ‘ to your home in New York ( I read someone on here posted about such a service in New York ! ) . And a virtual hug ! 🤗 x
I’m in Brooklyn, NY. Where do you get your injections? I get mine at NY Presbyterian and they say they will be open for mine on 4/17. Is there a way to get them there instead?
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
New York is in such pain. Pray, pray, pray
