That’s not quite the message you want to hear, when Kelsey is with our parents in NYC, the epicenter of the covid19 outbreak in the USA. Particularly when Dad said he was going to bed early yesterday because he wasn’t feeling quite right.
I called her back. The long and short of it is that Dad stayed in bed with a cough this morning, and Mom was currently on the couch with the chills. She had called Kelsey to let her know she was sorry, but she couldn’t take care of Emerson, my one year old nephew, that day.
So now we have skin in the game, as the saying goes.
After morning dawned in NZ, us girls did a zoom meeting. Kelsey is with her one year old son Emerson in NYC, working from her apartment; Rebecca is in Chicago, trying to teach high school math in the new on-line format; Susanna is starting the uncertain vegetable growing season in Massachusetts, and I’m at home without any work to speak of in New Zealand, home schooling the kids. Dad also has brothers scattered over the eastern half of the USA. We triaged the next steps. Gosh, we should have done that weeks ago.
First off, most people with Covid19 recover.
But were Mom and Dad taking this development seriously enough? We weren’t sure. They seemed a bit fatalistic about the prognosis. Up until today Dad had been continuing his work as a factory maintenance electrician, because if you stop your job in America, you lose your health insurance.
Most people with Covid19 recover.
What were the symptoms we should be watching for that would mean Kelsey should take them to the hospital? No use being too early or too late on that call. Rebecca would call our dear friend Dr. Kennedy and find out.
Remember, most people with Covid19 recover.
Kelsey has a spare key to their apartment, and will find out where their car is currently parked, and will scout out the route to the nearest hospital.
Most people with Covid19 WILL recover.
Will Kelsey get sick as well? Or has she already had it but not known it was IT? If she goes to hospital, how do we care for Emerson? Lots of questions there, but we do have a big, warm, loyal family.
Most people with Covid19 will recover.
Most people with Covid19 do recover.
Most people with Covid19 recover.
It IS true, most people with Covid19 DO recover. In NZ, one small country for which we have very good up-to-date publicly available data, of the 1386 confirmed cases today (and that’s with more than 66,000 tests to date, so we’re reasonably certain we’re finding all the cases) there have been nine fatalities. And 728 people have recovered so far.
Give It A Burl 
We appreciate the family response, more than can be expressed. We’re awake in the new day, and although I have a mild cough, I feel better. Kathy feels slightly improved, I believe, and is not coughing. Yes, I would feel safer if I lived in NZ, but I don’t. To borrow a commonly used expression, we’re “living the dream” in Manhattan. The dream just got a little dark this year.
Also, I found the nearest ER several weeks ago, because I didn’t think we’d dodge this bullet forever. 168th and Broadway. Columbia University’s hospital. I was on the waiting list for admission to their medical school decades ago, but went elsewhere. Not St. Elsewhere.
Hi Molly! We are praying for your Mom and Dad and standing in agreement that they recover! So thankful your family is taking steps to make sure they are well cared for!
Love, Steve and Barb
Molly I’m so sorry. Please have them not wait and go get tested. I have seen people go with little to no symptoms and fly thru and I have seen them plummet fast. We now have the testing here in Ny and early treatment is showing excellent results.
I bet as a pastor you’re in quite a heart-breaking situation right now. They’ve consulted with their primary care physician, but tests aren’t available for regular people because they’re in short supply. They’re going well so far though.
Your position as a pastor must be heart-breaking right now. They’re in consultation with their primary care physicians, but tests aren’t available right now for regular citizens in NYC. They seem to be doing very well though.
I’m so sorry Molly. I’m very close (still in Ballston Spa) and very willing to help in any way that I can. Really – ANY WAY that I can.
Aw, Mrs. Gideon, thank you so much! How old are your kids these days? I remember them as kids but now they must be adults. What’s life like in Ballston Spa right now, lock down?
Aw Mrs. Gideon, that’s amazing, thank you! How old are your kids at the moment? I remember them as kids but they’ll be adults now. And how is life in Ballston Spa–is it lock down?