covid 19-a sad thanksgiving story

COVID 19-A SAD THANKSGIVING STORY

this story i am about to tell doesnt have to happen this thanksgiving
this story i am about to tell probably doesnt happen next thanksgiving
but
sadly it will multiple times this thanksgiving

the positivity rate is the percentage of covid 19 tests done that are positive
here are some rates for different areas
mississippi 86
wyoming 77.2
south dakota 48.2
texas 23.4
arkansas 14.5
california 6
new york 2.9
santa barbara 1.9

up to 15% of covid infections require hospitalizations

in sweden where they dont really do anything 90% of the covid 19 deaths are in the elderly
a form of euthanasia of the elderly 
they have the worst statistics in europe
they well are sort of what south dakota is doing
note south dakota is the worst place to be in the world right now for covid 19 infections

a negative covid 19 pcr nasal swab just means that you have a negative covid 19 pcr nasal swab at one point in time
even if its negative you still may have covid 19 since it has a false negative rate of 10-20%
the quicky covid 19 tests are less accurate
their false negative rates can be from 20-50%
so these tests can give you a false sense of security 
a slight pun there

you can walk out of the testing site and get infected anytime

to be safe you should do a covid 19 pcr nasal swab two weeks before thanksgiving

then quarantine yourself for two weeks

then
when you get to where you shouldnt be going you should quarantine yourself for one to two weeks 
then get another covid 19 pcr nasal swab
if its negative then you do your thanksgiving visit you shouldnt be doing anyway

i know

there is not time to do all of this 
thats the point 

1 in 5 of yall will travel to visit someone for thanksgiving
even though the cdc and folks are asking you not to do it
why 
just read this thanksgiving story below i wrote to illustrate what could happen to your family

the names and locations have been changed to protect the innocent people who got infected

jane doe a 20 year old premed student at the university of south dakota decided the monday before thanksgiving that she would fly home to spend with her parents and family in santa barbara
she was not ill so she got a covid 19 nasal swab pcr that was negative
see above for what that means
remember one half of the covid 19 tests being done in south dakota are positive

after testing she goes to a bar to have a drink with friends before she flies home
unmasked since they dont believe in that in south dakota
she didnt know it but her good friend who was there had covid 19 but had no symptoms
that sat at a small table together laughing and singing having a good time

so she left the worst place in the world for covid 19 to see us where we have one of the lowest covid 19 rates

the next day she got on a plane with a mask on 
she had to change planes to get to santa barbara
the lines at tsa were crowded and everyone was too close for comfort

she arrived eventually to santa barbara where she was picked up by us her parents
we told her she had to wear a mask all the time even around us and had to quarantine the next few days until thanksgiving

at the thanksgivng meal were her two parents that were in their late 60s
her elderly grandparents who were in their mid 80s
a nephew who just had a transplant 3 months ago
an uncle who had finished chemotherapy and radiation a year ago for cancer
an uncle who was obese had hypertension and diabetes
two younger than her teenage siblings

we all had a good time
she left on sunday to go back to school on monday morning

she called us on tuesday she was running fever coughing had body aches
she was covid 19 pcr positive

alas she infected us all

about mid december all ten of us got sick

by christmas day i was in the hospital in icu
by mid january i was on the ventilator and later died
my wife she did get to kiss my forehead before i died

my wife she also ended up in the hospital in icu but later was discharged but still has a lot of residual damage to her lungs and her heart

janes two grandparents both died around the time i did ending up on the ventilator right before they died
they didnt get to say goodbye to each other

janes uncle also ended up in the hospital on all of those meds trump got
he recovered without residual symptoms

janes other uncle ended up in the hospital on christmas day 
he was eventually discharged on home oxygen

janes nephew who had the transplant spent a few weeks in the transplant hospital but has recovered

janes younger siblings were quarantined for two weeks
they both tested positive though for covid 19

so 
when you think of traveling to visit your at risk family this thanksgiving

please think about this story i just wrote

it is insane to not be safe
within a month they will start giving covid 19 vaccines that are 90+% effective to front line people 
then eventually to all of us
for my wife she and i we hope to get it maybe late spring or early summer

for those who dont plan on getting it
thanks for not helping us all out
i hope you have trouble sleeping at night for not doing your part

we both look forward to a family thanksgiving next year

so
its all up to us now to make this covid pandemic all end

the organicgreen doctor