# Covid-19: As an RN, I thought that I would try to separate the guesses from the facts.



## Terri (May 10, 2002)

This is being widely discussed in Chat, but not all of us go there and so I decided that it should be addressed here as well. Because, while it is not usually life-threatening for young, healthy people it *IS* dangerous for people over 50 who have health problems. People with diabetes or high blood pressure or asthma or other health problems can be severely affected and may end up needing hospital care.

Also, COVID-19 is NOT “just another flu virus”. For some of us this will be much more dangerous
............................................................................
To start with: how to NOT get it if it is currently in your area!

1. Avoid crowded places if you can. It is better if you do your grocery shopping early in the morning or late at night: the stores are at least half-empty and then you will not be standing in long lines next to a lot of people who might be ill. Remember, if a person has a light case they might not have any symptoms all, but they are still capable of infecting the person next to them. So avoid crowds, because your neighbor might not even know that they are ill.

2. Masks. There is a lot of misinformation regarding masks! The most commonly available masks are light-weight things that will decrease your chances of getting COVID-19 but not prevent it entirely. (I heard that this tip originally came from China: or so said the source that I heard it from).

THIS IS IMPORTANT! To properly wear a common style of mask: The metal strip of the so-popular light-weight masks have a metal strip that goes over the top of your nose. Pinch the metal band so that it fits the bridge of your nose while tugging the bottom so that the bottom fits below your chin.

To remove the mask, remove it by the ear pieces or the head band and not by the front of the mask! The front might be contaminated and you do not want contaminants on your hands.

3. THEN wash your hands with soap and water BEFORE YOU TOUCH YOUR FACE. Because you will have been touching the check out counter, the nozzle as you fill your car with gas, etc and who knows who touched it before you? And the COVID-19 can enter at your eyes and nose. So after you take your mask off, wash your hands with soap and water. And, also wash the handle when you turned the water on, because your possibly dirty hand touched that as well. It only takes a quick swipe with a soapy hand

4. Do not touch your face while you are in town. This thing can and will enter your body if you scratch your eyes or nose with a contaminated hand.

5. The above advice is from medical experts, but, I have one tip that is purely from me: I do not know who touched the raw produce last. I believe that I will start washing the bell peppers in soapy water, peeling off and discarding the outer leaves of lettuce, etc. Better yet, most of my raw produce will come from my garden.

THE SYMPTOMS

1. The most common early symptoms are a fever and a dry cough. This might be a cold but it might not. And, the sufferer is contagious BEFORE the symptoms set in, as well as after they feel better!Nobody is certain for how LONG they are contagious after they feel better, though


2. That this is just another flu. No, not really: COVID-19 is far more contagious, and while the death rate for young and healthy people is pretty low, us older folk have a higher death rate than the flu does. The only reason the flu has a higher death rate is because the flu is everywhere and COVID-19 is NOT everywhere..... yet.

3. WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE! Nope. Not hardly. They are still guessing at the death rate, but it looks like it MIGHT be about 3%. They are still trying to figure out the death rate. The illness has not yet spread enough in the USA or other countries to be sure of the death rate.

And, alas, that is the limit of my knowledge. There is a lot that is NOT known about it right now. The above is what I was able to find out from my most trusted sources.

Notice please that I have not given instructions on how to treat this. I am NOT practicing medicine without a license: the above is nursing care and knowledge only. I can tell you to treat the symptoms, which is ALSO nursing care, but I cannot talk about the treatment of the actual illness, as I do not know it myself. Treating the actual illness takes the knowledge of a doctor and not the knowledge of a nurse.

Lastly, as a 65 year old female with 2 chronic illnesses, if/when this thing hits my area I intend to stay home. Because this sounds like something that I do not need to get, and I would rather not get exposed if I can help it. To that end I have bought cat food and chicken food, and at my physical next week I will ask my doc for a prescription for 3 months worth of meds, instead of my preferred 1 month worth of meds


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

1. I posted earlier today I think shopping should be done first thing in morning when store 1st opens. Later in the day the chances of droplets or mist containing the virus will be greater, as will the possibility of live virus on surfaces. Overnight, hopefully all or at least most of the viruses will fall to surfaces and die.
2. If you decide to wear a mask, you should also wear eye protection and gloves. Wash hands before putting on mask, gloves, eye protection as well as after they are removed.

By the time there is a report of COVID-19 in your area, it has likely been circulating for 2-4 weeks.

People with good vitamin d levels are somewhat protected against the flu, so getting your vitamin d level up may be helpful.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

that's when my son shops on the way to work at 7.(he never ever liked crowds which is probably a good thing now) for the bit he has to shop for that he doesn't get from me. dog food and whatnot~Georgia i hadn't heard that about the vitamin D but i do take that and vit E i take in copious amts. also a zinc tablet every day.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

newfieannie said:


> that's when my son shops on the way to work at 7.(he never ever liked crowds which is probably a good thing now) for the bit he has to shop for that he doesn't get from me. dog food and whatnot~Georgia i hadn't heard that about the vitamin D but i do take that and vit E i take in copious amts. also a zinc tablet every day.


Vitamin D and Zinc were the 2 I have seen mentioned.


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## MrSteve (Aug 28, 2019)

Im 64, retired and got myself in a sticky wicket. Live on 5 acres in what was once out in the country till people started bui lding around me. Why i don't know. Anyway i need to stay home as much as possible anyway just to save money. No real big changes here for me. I dont really shop for groceries. Ill buy the bulk frozen veggies, bulk popcorn, cans of beans basically and sometimes, sardines. Did buy two cases of jumbo chicken legs, 40 pound case for $15 each a chicken processor was selling in a parking lot in a town fairly nearby. Im diabetic and have a hip nerve problem that makes walking difficult. Havent had the flu in years. The last time i did was when i had taken a flu shot. Now im taking vitamin d and cod liver oil plus other various and asundry additives. My nose has been completely stop up and ill put mentholadium under my nose at bedtime and when i wake up in the morning my nose is completely clear. Dont know why it works but seems to work for me.


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

I agree with all you said, Terri.

The word "yet" in this line touches a big unknown:


Terri said:


> The illness has not yet spread enough in the USA . . .


I suspect that before it's all done, most everybody in the US will have been exposed to it---unless somebody comes up with a vaccine.

Social distancing only drags out the process. Remember: It all started with just a few infected persons (maybe 1 person); so as long as there are a few infected people remaining somewhere, it can and will spread.

By the way, some news reports indicate that a person can get it more than once:
https://in.news.yahoo.com/eight-us-sailors-coronavirus-hit-020200549.html


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

So, where is @MoonRiver he has been absent for 30 days..................
Not a lot has changed for me as for as normal routine since I very seldom went out and my dog likes me. One death in my county, 80 plus-year-old with health issues. looking at the Ga. stats, about 200 of our 1600 are over 90 years old and under 55 are very few.
I don't wear a mask when I go out but don't kiss strangers, yet.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Sure Covid 19 is here and we are all been or being exposed same as always with a C variant no vaccine coronavirus pandemics as we have every decade or so .

What we all have to do is separate logical safe guards from the.unknown of the corona frenzy and "coroney baloney" being circulated in mainstream and internet social media.

A recent favorite of all flavors of the media sources is to compare currnt mortality numbers in the U.S. to the deaths of 1918 without mentioning that the U.S. population in 1918 was around 103 million and now over 330 million.

the 1918 Spanish Flu had just over 680,000 deaths while the current Covid has less than 90,000 deaths in the U.S with more questions as to the tallying.

Yes there is a risk and common sense and gradual exposure to strengthen herd immunity and if they can come up with a safe vaccine for the more vulnerable health wise is logical , however we all have to sort out the fear mongering media , fear scammers and the snake oil market scammers.

Here locally, a woman bought face masks she saw advertised 15 for $50 plus shipping and handling and a RN told her she was ripped off because the cheap masks were only worth about 30 cents apiece and she could have a better mask at home using a $1 handkerchief and two large rubber bands.

My mother even fell for a opportunistic scam from the American Kennel Club for a cheap mask with dogs and bones on it for $15 and a dollar of the purchase goes to front line PPE. She got mad when I reminded her that she is already a dues paying and yearly donating member of the AKC and our maintenance man gave us both a 5 count box of N95 masks from the stock he keeps for his mold clean up work and attic and crawl space crawling/ dust sawing work for us to use as we social distance as we go outside to get sun and gradual exposure to increase our immunity.

When I told her that the N 95s were better and had she given the $15 to $20 to the county PPE fund they would get it all, she sneered and said they aren't as cute.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Well, cute is important!

Seriously.


i wash my "cute" masks as they are made with fabric, and I believe that I will bake my disposable masks in the oven for a few minutes to sterilize them


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Here is another statement by a medical worker who we (we having four kids working in the health care field including two physicians, an RN, and an EMT) agree with. The author is Joshua Ross.

_Ok, so, here’s some venting and some explaining and if you don’t like it, I honestly don’t care. Move on and good day to you.

This has easily been the longest 2 months of my career, and, for that matter, my life. COVID-19 has changed everything. The way we live, the way our kids learn, the way we work. It has trashed the economy, exploded unemployment, and harmed businesses, many of them, sadly, beyond repair. But here’s the deal: it’s real and it’s here and it’s still spreading.

As a healthcare worker, I’m exhausted. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. As a manager in the the healthcare industry, it’s been one of the longest, most stressful things I’ve tackled.

First off, the truthers and the conspiracy people and the protesters, you’re not helping.........._

_
*edited to fair use snippet length by Terri
*edited by request of poster to add a batter link: 
https://www.facebook.com/joshua.ross.902604/posts/10163548970305128_


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

Yeah, I surely don't want corona virus and I am not a wacko conspiracy theorist, but there is NO doubt that the left is using the situation to push their socialist agenda.

First the government shuts down businesses, then the employees get laid off and business owners go broke, then the government prints trillions of fiat dollars and passes them out like candy at Halloween.

Now Pelosi has pushed out a House bill to give more trillions of dollars away---including free money to illegal immigrants. According to what I read, the bill would also allow tons of additional immigrants into the US at a time when unemployment is at an historical level.

The previous big socialization of the US came during FDR's reign to "get us out of the Great Depression":
_



When Franklin Roosevelt became president (1933), the nation was experiencing the worst of the Great Depression, and he started several programs to alleviate the economic pain and get the country's businesses going again. His presidency saw the beginning of the end for the gold standard, the initial Social Security payments and a great growth in government involvement in the economy.

Click to expand...

_Rest assured: The left has noticed how easily Americans accept increases in socialism during a crisis. And the more serious the crisis, the further to the left they can push their agenda. And, yes, the national media is a willing accomplice.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Folks have got to stop making this political! There is nothing political about people suffering and dying!

Here in my area of Mexico I read the daily posts about the age of those that died yesterday. There's a whole bunch of babies on that list daily that are under 5 years old. The pendejos that refuse to wear a mask and refuse to social distance killed those babies as sure as if they had shot them personally. There's also lots of folks that are in the 'low risk' age range on the list of the dead. Also everyone seems to be ok with Grandma dying. Since when is it acceptable for certain types of people to die?!!

I am at high risk due to being in end stage kidney failure, diabetes, asthma and having a rather lousy immune system all my life. I have been isolating in my house. Anything that comes into the house gets washed. I have everything delivered as I don't go out to stores. I have worked out a nifty system where they leave stuff in the back of my truck. I have a small box taped into the bed of the truck where I leave their tip. 

Lately I have been selling off stuff in preparation to move back to the US. I have security cameras so I can see everything that happens outside. They tell me when they are coming to pick up the item. I put the item outside then watch them in the cameras. They leave the money in the box. I have sold a lot of stuff this way! I haven't been cheated yet. I have opened the door and said hi to one or two that I know personally with them standing at least 10 ft away. Them wearing a mask and me wearing a mask. 

The point to this rambling on about how I give and receive items is that we are inventive and we can come up with ways to keep ourselves safe. I wish I was more technically astute as I have all kinds of ideas for inventions that might help.

Oh, something I almost never see mentioned.....wash your glasses when you come home! They are right there on your face and you touch them more than you think.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

The link below contains fully referenced facts about Covid-19, provided by experts in the field, to help readers make a realistic risk assessment. The link has regular updates below)

*“The only means to fight the plague is honesty.” Albert Camus, La Plague (1947)

https://swprs.org/a-swiss-doctor-on-covid-19/*


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

TxMex said:


> Folks have got to stop making this political! There is nothing political about people suffering and dying!


Politicians make the trickle, and it always trickles down.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

An update on what we now know. 

A Dr John Campbell has a popular youtube: he says that there are more people who have it but show no symptoms than they had thought. He says that that means that it will be VERY hard to get the illness out of the community. So it looks like we will be dealing with COVID for the next few months at the very least.

He is a retired teacher of nursing with a PHD, not a medical doctor, but I have found him to turn out to be correct more often than either the CDC or the World Health Organization.


Now on to the treatment front: ZINC is a known antiviral, and I have ordered some on-line. The thing is, zinc will NOT kill COVID, it keeps it from reproducing. That means that it can help prevent things from getting worse, but, the virus that is already in your blood stream will still be attacking you. For that reason zinc is best taken when you first know that you are sick. 

And, Dr Campbell says that Hydroxychloroquine is ALSO an antiviral that ALSO prevents virus' from reproducing. He thinks that they should run tests that gives hydroxychloroquine with zinc to sick people in the EARLY stages, but this is not being done. Right now tests subjects pretty much have the full-blown illness.

IN A NUTSHELL: what is an effective treatment? We do not know. Is this going to be over soon? Probably not

Am I going to continue to wear a mask and gloves when I go out? Yep. I have a chronic illness and I catch pretty much everything that I am exposed to. Therefor I take precautions. It helps a LOT that people are staying 6 feet away from me-it is seen as common courtesy right now- but I must do my best to stay healthy. 

My husband does not wear gloves but he does wash his hands when he comes in from town so that he does not being anything home.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

GTX63 said:


> *“The only means to fight the plague is honesty.” Albert Camus, La Plague (1947)
> 
> https://swprs.org/a-swiss-doctor-on-covid-19/*


In the interests of honesty:
1. The article states that the death rate AMONG PEOPLE WHO ARE ILL is probably no higher than the flu. Well, not quite. The transmissibility of COVID appears to be roughly 3 times greater that the flu. That was left out. It would also mean that as 3 times as many people would get COVID, then the death rate would be 3 times higher. As for the current death rate, we do not know. Because mass testing has just begun, we really do not have a reliable death rate. 

I am not going to discuss all of the 20 statements that are made: folks who are interested can look them up themselves. Some of their points are true, and some are partially true. 

I will point out that due to our difficulty in figuring out who does and does not have COVID that we have very few facts at this time.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

GTX63 said:


> Politicians make the trickle, and it always trickles down.


Folks need to quit being sheep(on both sides of the aisle) and use common sense. As my wise Granny said.... if someone tells you to jump off a bridge are ya gonna?


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

TxMex said:


> Folks need to quit being sheep(on both sides of the aisle) and use common sense. As my wise Granny said.... if someone tells you to jump off a bridge are ya gonna?


Granny got a big switch?


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## Hiro (Feb 14, 2016)

Terri said:


> In the interests of honesty:
> 1. The article states that the death rate AMONG PEOPLE WHO ARE ILL is probably no higher than the flu. Well, not quite. The transmissibility of COVID appears to be roughly 3 times greater that the flu. That was left out. It would also mean that as 3 times as many people would get COVID, then the death rate would be 3 times higher. As for the current death rate, we do not know. Because mass testing has just begun, we really do not have a reliable death rate.
> 
> I am not going to discuss all of the 20 statements that are made: folks who are interested can look them up themselves. Some of their points are true, and some are partially true.
> ...


Most scientific/medical reports when noting the "death rate" or "mortality" of a disease, unless otherwise specified, refers to those afflicted with the malady. Granted the Wuhan Flu appears to be highly communicative. One important question that is relevant is that because it is that much more transmissible or is because so many people have it and don't know it. If you have the flu or strep throat, most people know it. This one seems terribly pernicious in that so many carriers are completely asymptomatic. The worst part of that is the tests are still unreliable for asymptomatic patients. The last first hand report that I got from a major city ICU nurse had a patient they were treating for COVID because of the symptoms and progression that on the fourth test finally showed positive two hours before he was intubated. This was last week.

There is no doubt this is dangerous. But, it has been circulating in this world for some time. There are commonalities of the overall mortality rate and demographics in all of the places that provide reliable data that has a modicum of reliability.


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## andiplus8 (Nov 6, 2009)

I work in long term nursing care in the isolation unit. These are the patients that are coming in for the first time or coming back from the hospital, etc. 
We wear masks, gloves, and cover gowns. Because we work so close together and have to physically touch our patients quite a bit, we are constantly washing our hands and faces and our arms if they are exposed. 
However, we do not have the funds for appropriate masks and are wearing the cheap ones. Our gowns are hospital gowns made of cotton. We do the best we can with what we have especially because our patients are mostly elderly, but we are not as protected as we should be. 
And @TxMex I wear glasses and I never thought about washing them when I come home. I leave my shoes outside and change out of my scrubs immediately just inside the door placing them by themselves in a bag. I do all the other things to protect my family and even shower right away, but I never even thought about my glasses! Thank you! I will start doing that.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

TxMex said:


> Folks need to quit being sheep(on both sides of the aisle) and use common sense. As my wise Granny said.... if someone tells you to jump off a bridge are ya gonna?


Unlike the wuhan, common sense isn't a contagion.
There is a point in everyone's life where they should have learned to think and act for themselves; unfortunately a large portion, maybe a majority of them, choose to allow others to think for them and do their bidding. It has been this way since about the beginning, and not much has changed. There will always be those who exercise their common sense, those who choose to have it exercised for them and those who manipulate them.
My mother shared the same point with me as your granny.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Terri, I saw where you mentioned putting your mask s in the mw to heat treat them. I told my DD about this and she said she was afraid that either she wouldnt leave them in long enough to do the job, or shed leave them in too long and burn them up. What do you think about that??


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

GTX63 said:


> Unlike the wuhan, common sense isn't a contagion.
> There is a point in everyone's life where they should have learned to think and act for themselves; unfortunately a large portion, maybe a majority of them, choose to allow others to think for them and do their bidding. It has been this way since about the beginning, and not much has changed. There will always be those who exercise their common sense, those who choose to have it exercised for them and those who manipulate them.
> My mother shared the same point with me as your granny.


Kind of as if the government is taking on the role of "in loco parentis": deciding what we must and must not do---for our own good, of course, and completely without any Constitutional basis for doing so.

------------------------------------------
_The term in loco parentis, Latin for "in the place of a parent" refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent._​-----------------------------------------


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Like the old police cliche "Tell it to the judge", it seems that increasingly government tends to just do as they choose and if you don't like it, take them to court. The issue is that they (the government) have endless resources (that you pay for) yet you have to hire an attorney and seek legal retribution out of pocket. It shouldn't be that way.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

FarmboyBill said:


> Terri, I saw where you mentioned putting your mask s in the mw to heat treat them. I told my DD about this and she said she was afraid that either she wouldnt leave them in long enough to do the job, or shed leave them in too long and burn them up. What do you think about that??


I NEVER put my mask in the microwave: I put it in the oven for 5 minutes. Because living things like virus's cannot tolerate temps of 175 for very long.

If your mask is not made of cloth you WILL burn it up. I melted one of mine that looked like it was made of paper, but it wasn't!


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Thanks, What about gargling with Listerine for killing it? OR, just kidding, Lysol lol


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

dad use to say listerine will kill anything(course that's not true) he would gargle with it every night. i do the same thing and so does both of my brothers.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Covid loves to live in the lungs, and no gargle on earth will kill it THERE!

I did order some zinc pills, as zinc fights virus's if you take it in the early stages of the illness. I figure that if I get a scratchy throat then I will start using it


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Ill get some. Im taking everything else lol. C, E Calcium Honey pills, Magnesium, Nician


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Yeah, I take a multivitamin with some of those things in there. I OUGHT to take calcium as well but I hate it so I do not.

I don't like zinc either, but if I start to cough I will take it every blessed day.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

TxMex said:


> Folks have got to stop making this political! There is nothing political about people suffering and dying!
> 
> Here in my area of Mexico I read the daily posts about the age of those that died yesterday. There's a whole bunch of babies on that list daily that are under 5 years old. The pendejos that refuse to wear a mask and refuse to social distance killed those babies as sure as if they had shot them personally. There's also lots of folks that are in the 'low risk' age range on the list of the dead. Also everyone seems to be ok with Grandma dying. Since when is it acceptable for certain types of people to die?!!
> 
> ...


You might benefit from a site called natural kidney journey. Have to join though to get info.


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## JeepHammer (May 12, 2015)

Terri said:


> This is being widely discussed in Chat, but not all of us go there and so I decided that it should be addressed here as well. Because, while it is not usually life-threatening for young, healthy people it *IS* dangerous for people over 50 who have health problems. People with diabetes or high blood pressure or asthma or other health problems can be severely affected and may end up needing hospital care.
> 
> Also, COVID-19 is NOT “just another flu virus”. For some of us this will be much more dangerous
> ............................................................................
> ...


I'm in the same boat, except for I have to do the COVID emergency delivery crap, which puts me in hot spots at one, or both ends of every trip.

I live in an idiot infested zone of the country,
A face mask here is treated like a political statement instead of me protecting myself.

I use a tight weave, cotton bandana as mask material, on an elastic headband.
It lets me bunch up the material to fill in gaps/cracks, and it extends around to my ears, and we'll down under my chin.

I look like I'm robbing a stage coach in an old movie, but it's large coverage, lots of surface area so easier to breath through.
I take it off and spray it down with 100% IPA, that is *Supposed* to kill/deactivate the quickest, and it evaporates cleanly in under 5 minutes.

Shot though the lungs in the military, COPD, Over 60, and the correct blood type that dies most often...
And I'm in and out of 'Hot' zones, so it's mask every time, alcohol on mask, hands every time, and even mist down cloths when I've been in close contact...

I'm *Hoping* I'm doing this correctly, it was 6 weeks in before we got our first 2 masks and pairs of gloves, 3 months in I got my first box of gloves...
So much for the government swearing they were going to supply us!


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

JeepHammer said:


> I live in an idiot infested zone of the country


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