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Saturday, February 29, 2020

I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad.

I have the coronavirus. And it hasn't been that bad.

I am in my late 60s, and the sickest I've ever been was when I had bronchitis several years ago. That laid me out on my back for a few days. This has been much easier: no chills, no body aches. I breathe easily, and I don't have a stuffy nose. My chest feels tight, and I have coughing spells. If I were at home with similar symptoms, I probably would have gone to work as usual.

I caught the virus on the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship that was quarantined outside Yokohama for 14 days, at the end of a 16-day cruise I took with my wife, Jeri. When I left the ship a couple of weeks ago, I felt fine. We checked our temperatures throughout our quarantine. Jeri and I got a swab test for the virus. Our temperatures were normal; they'd get the swab results back in 48 hours. Our test results had not arrived before we boarded buses for the airport, where two U.S. government planes waited for us.

As we took off from Tokyo, I had a bit of a cough, but I chalked it up to the dry air in the cabin. I felt pretty tired - but who wouldn't, in our situation? I dozed off.

When I woke up, I had a fever. I made my way to the back of the cargo plane, where the Air Force had set up a quarantine area cordoned off with sheets of plastic. They took my temperature. It was over 103 degrees. So I took a seat in the quarantine area and fell back asleep until we touched down in California, at Travis Air Force Base.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came onto the plane and said that three of us who had been cordoned off would fly to Omaha (with our spouses, if they wanted to come along). The CDC had a quarantine location at the University of Nebraska's hospital. We arrived on Feb. 17, greeted by a fleet of ambulances and police cars. Officials put me on a stretcher and wheeled me into a van, which made for a very dramatic scene. I easily could have walked despite my exhaustion.

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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tell that to the 2000 plus who have died ... “that it wasn’t that bad”

Anonymous said...

Not to underscore the seriousness, but the mortality rate of those under 50 is less than .3%

Anonymous said...

7:09, How many have died from the traditional flu this year? It's no worse but the left is going to try to make it worse than ebola.

Anonymous said...

Seems that this is like everything else, affects people in different ways, some die, some dont.

Anonymous said...

709 no one wants anyone to die, I believe the point here is that just like the flu people get sick and yes some die but most don’t they just have to get be smart and take care of themselves, right now with all of the hype you would think we are living through the Black Plague all over again. There are more people dying on the streets of San Francisco

Anonymous said...

The vase majority of those people are from mainland China....still feel like socialism is a great idea. This person obviously got medical care who's to say if they did or not. Even if they did their death might have been due to other complications to other non related ailments.

Anonymous said...

It seems from this person’s testimony that corona virus affects people pretty much as any influenza; some get very sick, some die and most do not. Still have not seen, heard or read anything yet that warrants all the panic. Help me, What am I missing?

Anonymous said...

I am glad he said it wasn't that bad. People dying seemed to be very old (in their 80s) or had another illness. It is not the same for everyone. Panic should not set in. He stated he could have walked but it was made a dramatic scene.

Anonymous said...

According to an editorial published by the New England Journal of Medicine on Friday the corona virus that is causing all the panic, may be no worse than a severe flu. No case with anyone at age 15 or below has been diagnosed with it. In addition, less than one percent of those coming down with it have died. This mortality rate pretty much coincides with the impact of any previous severe influenza.

Anonymous said...

This bio weapon was released to reduce populations. The targeted group are the elderly {over 50} because this will significantly reduce healthcare cost of the socialist programs such as china has and what bernie bots here want {they think it will be free care, lol}. Unfortunately those generations remaining will be saddled with the tax amounts governments are addicted to getting. Think 70% as it settles down, you see md legislating over 50% increase just this year. Its your choice to know.

Anonymous said...

Key words "so far." Check back in and let us know how you're doing in another month, if you're still alive.

LastMohican said...

While everyone is in a panic about the coronavirus (officially renamed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization), there's an even deadlier virus many people are forgetting about: the flu.

Flu season is hitting its stride right now in the US. So far, the CDC has estimated (based on weekly influenza surveillance data) that at least 12,000 people have died from influenza between Oct. 1, 2019 through Feb. 1, 2020, and the number of deaths may be as high as 30,000.

The CDC also estimates that up to 31 million Americans have caught the flu this season, with 210,000 to 370,000 flu sufferers hospitalized because of the virus.

LastMohican said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Key words "so far." Check back in and let us know how you're doing in another month, if you're still alive.

February 29, 2020 at 9:59 AM

Oh, you're one of 'those' that believe everything they see and hear. That's a dangerous way to live.