Here's To The Essential Workers...!

[leew3]

Great thread Murph, thanks for starting it up. I have a good friend who is a prison guard and has had pneumonia several times in the past few years. She has to go to work and is terrified most days as she's not a good candidate to survive corona virus. They don't have any cases in the population yet, but again they're not testing any of the inmates either.

[rokdog49]

Anybody still having to be in close contact with large numbers of people has my sympathy.
I can fully understand how stressful that would be. I pray for all of them.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by leew3

Great thread Murph, thanks for starting it up. I have a good friend who is a prison guard and has had pneumonia several times in the past few years. She has to go to work and is terrified most days as she's not a good candidate to survive corona virus. They don't have any cases in the population yet, but again they're not testing any of the inmates either.

I'm close to a guard as well.

And I worry about people who have to work with sums of cash also.

It's just a tough situation.

[Coop47]

My sister is a pediatric nurse and I'm very concerned for her safety. The shortage of proper equipment to treat infected people is a real problem.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

My wife is a certified pharmacy technician. She spends her days swimming in the sea of public bacteria and infection. She's home today with what looks like the flu.

Bob

Hi Bob - how is your wife doing today? Tell her we all appreciate the work she does.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Hi Bob - how is your wife doing today? Tell her we all appreciate the work she does.

She seems a little worse than yesterday. The fever persists, but her expert opinion is that she is not ready for the hospital. Tomorrow she'll get in touch with the doc. Thanks for your concern! She appreciates your care.

Bob

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

She seems a little worse than yesterday. The fever persists, but her expert opinion is that she is not ready for the hospital. Tomorrow she'll get in touch with the doc. Thanks for your concern! She appreciates your care.

Bob

Bob, I wish all the best for you and your wife. Being on the front lines is definitely risky, which is why I referred to them as "heroes" in an earlier post somewhere in this section of the forum. Unfortunately, many more will likely be similarly affected before this is over.

Tony

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

She seems a little worse than yesterday. The fever persists, but her expert opinion is that she is not ready for the hospital. Tomorrow she'll get in touch with the doc. Thanks for your concern! She appreciates your care.

Bob

Best of luck, Bob. Keep us posted.

[Acousticado]

Hope your wife, and you, will be fine, Bob.

[steveh]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Yes, and in many of those cases in today's covid-19 world those workers can't choose to isolate at home because they need to money, so stocking the food shelves it is. Thank-you to those people.

Refusing to isolate, for whatever reason, helps spread the disease.
"Chosing" not to isolate is effectively "chosing" to spread a potentially lethal disease to others.

[Dru Edwards]

Loblaws, a major grocery chain in Canada and the country's largest food distributor, has just announced a 15% raise for all their employees retro active to a couple of weeks ago. Kudos.

[Photojeep]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Loblaws, a major grocery chain in Canada and the country's largest food distributor, has just announced a 15% raise for all their employees retro active to a couple of weeks ago. Kudos.

Would that all such stores do the same!

Best,
PJ

[Bob Womack]

Thanks for the kind words and thoughts, folks!

Just a few notes to let you know how medical providers are responding to this: My wife called in to the doctor today and explained her situation. The front desk lady explained that their triage starts right at the phone call. She began a series of questions that were designed to classify my wife's status in regards to COVID-19. Once the attendant got the info, she offered two options: a remote tele-appointment via computer or phone, or a unique form of office appointment: They offered to allow my wife to drive up in her car and be seen by the doctor while sitting in the car. We chose the tele-appoinment option and will be connecting via their website later today.


Bob

[Bob Womack]

So the virtual appointment went fine. Because of her fever the doctor said we must test, and then assume "yes" until proven "no." My wife went over to the parking lot and was swabbed by the doctor who was kitted up in full infectious disease gear. It will be a week before we have results. SURPRISE. Meanwhile, we are in quarantine and are supposed to obey the six-foot rule and sleep in separate rooms. I have no idea how that will work, but we are considering our approach. We've slept spoon-up until last night. We've informed our bosses. My boss was extremely casual and supportive about it. Thank goodness I'm already working from home.

Crushing the curve,

Bob

[Jim Owen]

Bob,
I’m sorry. I know a little bit about the lag between tests and results (scanxiety). But I can’t imagine how the 6-foot rule would work in a spousal world.