Covid-19 – What The Experts Might Not Be Telling You

The Coronavirus. AKA: Covid-19.

Is there anything else on our minds these days?

Well, aside from the stock market crash of March 9, 2020. But, that is another story. Of course, they’re related.

It’s so strange that something so incredibly tiny as this coronavirus could be wreaking such tremendous havoc in our lives.

But, it is.

And, nobody ever heard of it until January.

 

Plus, they keep showing us this disturbing image. This microscopic virus is reminding me of a spiked wrecking ball.

But, in actuality, it is soooo tiny that at the scale of this image on my laptop, a single strand of human hair would be the length of a football field. Well, something like that. I read that it would take a thousand covid-19 viruses to reach, width-wise from one side of a human hair to the other.

 

@paul_siewert on unsplash

Difficult to imagine how 1,000 could line up along the width of a single strand of hair.

 

Here is another view of Covid-19, the novel coronavirus.

Of course, we all have our eyes glued to the news. And, it’s not very good.

Many of you know that I live in Westchester, County, New York.

 

At this moment in time, Westchester County has one of the highest concentrations of people who’ve contracted Covid-19 in the US.

 

The epicenter is the city of New Rochelle.

New Rochelle, as the crow flies, is about 4 or 5 miles from me.

However, the first victim, a man from New Rochelle, was taken to my local hospital I’ve been at a few times.

Lawrence Hospital; it is only about 600 feet away from where I live.

 

 

The left dot near the top of the image is my building and the right dot is the hospital. You may recall that I ended up here a few summers ago. And, I checked myself in again after I bashed my head in.

Oh, I have an unbelievable update with a new image of the killer light. You’ll see it in the post linked to above.

And, by the way, I’m feeling terrific these days. Thank God!

 

However, let’s go back to the covid-19 story of a man who ended up at my neighborhood hospital.

 

Above is the epicenter of the outbreak in New Rochelle, a one-mile radius. The area outlined in dark gray is the containment area.

If you notice, on the left side of the image are two Xs. The red one is where I live. The blue one is the location of Lawrence Hospital.

 

Below, an alarming quote from an article in the New York Times:

 

(note: I would link to it, except that they state the man’s name, which I do not condone. I believe that he’s entitled to his privacy.)

 

“Over his four days at NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, N.Y., Mr. [Name Not Disclosed] came in contact with dozens of doctors and nurses, the workers who brought his food and cleaned his room, the porters who helped move him around and the respiratory technicians who made sure his ventilator was working. And other patients, too.
At least eight workers have been tested, and one was confirmed to have the virus, the authorities said last week. Many more, including doctors, are in quarantine, although the hospital would not specify a number.”

 

My heart goes out to this man, his family, and friends. And, also to the dedicated professionals working at Lawrence Hospital. I have been there three times since moving here and always received excellent care. Of course, this man had no idea that he was carrying this pathogen and potentially spreading it to dozens of others. However, that is what happened.

 

Of course, covid-19 is very worrying. However, the reality is, there’s a high probability that hundreds of thousands if not millions of us will get it.

 

The chances of it killing us are not overwhelmingly high, however. The people at the highest risk have underlying health conditions.

There are measures we can take to do our part to stop the rapid spread.

 

To that end, the Governor of the New York State, Andrew Cuomo, ordered the deployment of the national guard to help fight the outbreak of the microscopic coronavirus in the New Rochelle containment area.

 

I don’t know.

 

I think maybe the gov should’ve deployed Molly Maids instead?

 

Very funny, Laurel. Except, it’s not funny.

 

I agree. It’s not. But, that never stopped me from trying to bringing levity to a dire situation. It’s how I deal with the difficulties we all have. And, experts say that stress is a factor that can make one more susceptible to illness. So, let’s try to keep laughing and enjoying our lives.

 

And, yes, the national guard is doing other things besides cleaning. I do know that. :]

 

The governor also instituted a drive-through testing center. That, I think, is an excellent idea.

However, it is concerning to see the amount of hoarding going on. And, I’m also thinking about the amount of bleach that might be going into our water system. Is that going to create another problem?

Probably.

We need to be mindful and not go overboard.

Above is a bleach-free disinfectant with excellent reviews, I found on Amazon.

I tried to find anything with bleach. EVERYTHING is sold out.

 

So, what can we do to help ourselves during these difficult times? What can we do to get our minds off of covid-19?

 

Well, I’ll tell you what helps me. Whenever I’m in a place I don’t like; I take myself out.

If not physically, then in my mind.

Someplace pleasurable, of course.

And, often, it’s in the realm of fantasy.

As some of you know, I always go to youtube to look at my favorite ballet dancers.

And, the other thing I love to do is look at homes for sale.

Remember when I was fantasizing about a classical home in Florida?

 

Well, since I’m already in New York, I decided to fantasize about my dream home in New York City.

Manhattan.

 

I did live there from 1979 – 1991.

I figure, since money is no object, haha, I might as well go for the best that money can buy. Right?

Remember, when I found this incredible beauty in Paris?

 

Well, naturally, I got sucked into this for way too long today. So, I’ll just cut to my favorite.

 

It’s this place that’s for sale at 30 Grove St. in the heart of the Greenwich Village section of New York City.

 

Above is an older photo of the house before the renovation.

 

And, here it is today. Doesn’t it look smart with the black painted window frames? I am reminded of this post when we talked about whether it is a good idea to paint frames black or not. I think with red brick; it’s always a good idea.

 

Let’s go inside the house.

 

Ahhh, the beautiful windows and two-story living room have sold me.

Alas, it’s on the market for 28 MILLION dollars!

Ouch. Let’s see. How many of Laurel’s Rolodex will I need to sell? lol

 

The catwalk is my favorite part of the house.

 

And, yes, the house is very open, but somehow I don’t mind it here.

For more about how to fix open floor plans, go here.

 

When I saw the master bedroom, I knew the decorating looked incredibly familiar. And, then I saw in the listing that the design is by Mariette Himes Gomez and her daughter. Mariette is one of the 20 designers I wrote about several years ago that I would hire. It’s probably 30 designers now!

 

And, a view of the magnificent staircase.

 

Above and below shots of the lovely patio

 

 

Below is a cool video of the property

 

30 Grove Street, New York, NY 10014 Isaac Ganz Real Estate

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed that! I could’ve kept going for another month or so…

 

In closing, I want to leave you with some hopefully sage words during these trying times.

There is a lot of crap on the internet.

However, not all of it is.

Here are links to:

 

the Center for Disease Control.

and

the World Health Organization.

 

You can be sure that these groups have the latest and most accurate information available.

Also, I found a fabulous video given at a TEDx talk by Alanna Shaikh from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. I found it to be helpful and informative.

 

And, Google has begun a campaign to remind us of personal hygienic measures we all need to remember.

 

And, to leave y’all on a happier note. Please check out this week’s fabulous Hot Sales.

Serena & Lily has their ENTIRE site on sale, but only through Monday the 16th at 11:59 PM.

Please stay safe and healthy.

xo,