Update from The House of Plague, Day 66

[elisi]

Via shadowscast:

Watch on YouTube

Mount Everest is Visible From Kathmandu, Nepal for First Time in Living Memory

'Weird as hell’: the Covid-19 patients who have symptoms for months
Researchers keen to work out why some people are suffering from ‘long tail’ form of the virus

Lockdown Penguins get a day out!
Quarantine has caused everyone to go a little stir crazy, even the residents of the Kansas City Zoo. So several of the penguins decided to go on a field trip to the Nelson-Atkins, which is still closed, to get a little culture.

I’m in awe of this protest. pic.twitter.com/FkLwFAsLR2

— Alexander Chee (@alexanderchee) May 2, 2020

(Direct link: https://twitter.com/alexanderchee/status/1256412678542839808)

And finally Cold War Steve's (latest) masterpiece - click through, the details are incredible:

pic.twitter.com/x6N8QzTTZL

— Cold War Steve (@Coldwar_Steve) May 20, 2020

(Direct Link: https://twitter.com/Coldwar_Steve/status/1263199867574386688)

Comments

[wolfy_writing]

Penguins! Little waddle-people in tuxedoes looking at art!

That is an excellent protest!

[yourlibrarian]

his experience of Covid-19 featured a new and disturbing symptom every day, akin to an “advent calendar”

Well there's a picture.

“There is a whole other side to the virus which has not had attention because of the idea that ‘if you are not dead you are fine.’”

I've said this about the media for decades now. It drives me nuts how only death counts seem to matter in any crisis, as if people with lifelong effects aren't an even bigger part of the story since theirs is ongoing, not finite.

Speaking of pictures though, that's fascinating about Kathmandu Valley and their lowered pulmonary problems (plus the view!)

[beer_good_foamy]

The Archbishop of Sweden posted on Twitter this morning: "Today is the day we remember that even Jesus decided to work from home."

[shadowkat]

Regarding COVID-19 sufferers with symptoms for months?

Yeah, that's my Aunt - she's been sick with it for three months. Yet test negative, because Texas has a horrible test. Her weird symptoms? Liver problems, heart problems, migraines, and fever.

Also someone on my neighborhood facebook page reported that they'd had a fever for three months and just wanted to be three of it.

I'm also wondering if I had a version of it in November - I had a cough that did not go away until March - it was horrible, and not bronchial. And came and went. I'd come to work and hack for half the day. Now it's gone. (Of course I could just be allergic to my work place and should remain working from home.)

Regarding the Penguins in the museum - that's the art museum from my home town or the town I lived near and in from 1978-1996 or thereabouts. I used to do summer art programs at that museum, and wandered about drawing various pieces of art. Also my friend Wales interned there for a pit - writing up pieces on Dali and other artists before she moved to the east coast.

[watervole]

Rather scary about the long term symptoms.

[elisi]

Yeah, that's my Aunt - she's been sick with it for three months. Yet test negative, because Texas has a horrible test. Her weird symptoms? Liver problems, heart problems, migraines, and fever. Also someone on my neighborhood facebook page reported that they'd had a fever for three months and just wanted to be three of it.
I guess it's better than being on a ventilator and on death's door, but that's not really a huge positive. Also, it's just weird. And now there's the kawasaki-like variant too. I wonder what it'll look like in autumn. /musing out loud

I'm also wondering if I had a version of it in November - I had a cough that did not go away until March - it was horrible, and not bronchial. And came and went. I'd come to work and hack for half the day. Now it's gone. (Of course I could just be allergic to my work place and should remain working from home.)
Unless you went to China on the sly, it's unlikely. ;) Allergic to something at work is probably more plausible... Good luck with it.

Regarding the Penguins in the museum - that's the art museum from my home town
!!! It looks like a gorgeous museum. <3

[elisi]

It's weird, isn't it? Better than the alternative, but we know so little about what it does...

[elisi]

LOL

A+ tweet!

[elisi]

Penguins! Little waddle-people in tuxedoes looking at art!
I love all the penguin content!!

That is an excellent protest!
Isn't it just? There should be more.

[elisi]

Well there's a picture.
A cornucopia of malaise.

I've said this about the media for decades now. It drives me nuts how only death counts seem to matter in any crisis, as if people with lifelong effects aren't an even bigger part of the story since theirs is ongoing, not finite.
I hear ya. But nuance is difficult. Sensationalist stuff is a lot easier.

Speaking of pictures though, that's fascinating about Kathmandu Valley and their lowered pulmonary problems (plus the view!)
Pollution bad! Don't know how they'd fix it in the long term, but I hope they find a way.

[watervole]

There's quite a few illnesses that have long term effects. Post-viral syndrome isn't new, just not widely known.

[shadowkat]

Unless you went to China on the sly, it's unlikely. ;) Allergic to something at work is probably more plausible... Good luck with it.

Well the virus could have gotten on a plane and came to NY. I was working out of the Air Train building - this is where people come from JFK to get buses, subways, and trains to the city - avoiding expensive cab rides.

There were lots of people traveling from China in the fall. That's how Europe got it. The virus got on a plane and came to the UK, Europe, etc.

And there are a lot of people traveling to and from China on business.

What makes you think the virus didn't get on a plane back in November? I know it could have - my niece was going to school with people who were traveling back and forth to China in the fall. They were sending their friends and family members face masks.

[ETA: I think you just skimmed the article you linked to? Because it contradicts you. "Even with this Nov. 17 case identified, doctors can't be certain the individual is "patient zero," or the very first individual to have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, and there's a chance even earlier cases will be found, the SCMP reported." In other words, versions of this virus may have been around before then. They don't know and you don't either.]

[elisi]

Post-viral syndrome isn't new, just not widely known.
I wish we didn't need to know about it. :(

[elisi]

Sure, we can't know exactly what happened, or when. I'm just thinking that if you were some kind of Patient Zero, surely several people around you would have gotten ill too? So I am hoping it was just a regular (horrible) cold/chest infection. And from what I can gather, the longer version of the virus keeps manifesting in different ways rather than being the same thing, reappearing.

Although again, we still know very little. I am not trying to argue, just ponder.

Whatever the case is, I am sorry you were ill. And I hope you stay well from now on. <3

[shadowkat]

I'm just thinking that if you were some kind of Patient Zero, surely several people around you would have gotten ill too?

To clarify?

No,no,no... you misunderstood what I wrote. Stop doing that!

I wasn't saying or indicating that I was patient zero. I never stated that, not sure how you got that from what I said? Ugh, it's so easy to misread and misunderstand things on the internet. That's the source of the miscommunication/misinformation right there. For some reason you leapt to the assumption from my comment that I got something at work in November = Patient Zero. And that no one else around me had it? WTF? Of course they did - I got it from my co-workers.

Right now - we don't know who patient zero in the US was. But it wouldn't be me. You keep misreading my response. LOL! Of course I wasn't patient zero, don't be silly.

What I was trying to communicate - is that there was a weird respiratory virus that went around my work place in November. The entire floor was sick with different versions of it - and had a wide variety of symptoms, then it disappeared around Feb. We all thought it was a version of the flu or a respiratory illness. We did not know what it was. I know who I got it from - I got it from a co-worker, who has the same real life name as mine, and had it two weeks prior to me, we talked a lot. And my cubical mate had it. Everyone on my floor had some version of it. One woman was out for two months with it - pneumonia. Another person had heart issues and was out for two weeks. The co-worker I got it from and I - had a dry deep chest cough that did not go away for three months.

We called it the respiratory virus - there was no information on it. It popped up in my work place around November and disappeared around January, with varying results.

It could have been anything. I don't know. No one does. But it was weird, and we all had it. Not just one person.

Then when news of the coronavirus hit - no one has had that in my workplace, but we know people with it. And were all bewildered.

[shadowkat]

Still pondering the source of the misunderstanding. I think what happens when we read or listen to others - is another storyline is going through our heads at the same time and that interferes somehow with what is actually being said. We get all this information fed to us, distractions, etc - and often it is hard to just see or hear what is being said. And there's a tendency to jump to conclusions or read things into it, such as our own subtext.

This is what I wrote: "I'm also wondering if I had a version of it in November - I had a cough that did not go away until March - it was horrible, and not bronchial. And came and went. I'd come to work and hack for half the day. Now it's gone. (Of course I could just be allergic to my work place and should remain working from home.)"

This is what you appear to have read: "I was the only one who came down with a weird thing in November and no one else had it."

But re-read what I wrote - I did not say that. If anything I indicated the opposite. I had it at work - and wondered if I was allergic to my work place - indicating I got it at work. Or that it was nothing at all.

Reading carefully, I think is really hard. I misread posts all the time. But I also have a reading disability so am hyper aware of the tendency to do this - and re-read. That said, I should have caught the misunderstanding with your first response. (It doesn't help that I leave out words at times and misspell. )

98% of internet fights and arguments are the result of miscommunication and misreading. We have a tendency to bring in our own subtext, I think and this causes problems. Also, I've noticed people read less carefully now - and skim everything, skipping over crucial words and not getting the meaning.

[elisi]

I was mainly being a little tongue-in-cheek. Not suggesting that you were the actual Patient Zero (which you couldn't be anyway, but hence the 'unless you went to China!').

And wondering if anyone else got sick - which clearly they did, and it sounds very odd. I can see why you were wondering.

[elisi]

It's partly the lack of all the additional communication (hand gestures, facial expressions etc), which means that things can easily be misread. Note to self: use more emojis!

Also, you reminded me of this particular strip of Dinasaur Comics, which would help a great deal.

Being a Pollyanna, I do my best to go for the most positive reading. (For personal communication, certainly.) I don't like arguing, much preferring to find common ground - if possible. Or to clear up misunderstandings. <3

[shadowkat]

Except you keep pissing me off. ;-) Resulting in the exact opposite of your intent. It's hilarious actually.

[elisi]

Well if we end up laughing, that's certainly a better result than most internet interactions! :D