Thread by @Geoffrey_Wardle

Buckle Up. This is going to be long, and it is going to be about #COVID /1

Two weeks ago, my wife came down with what we had assumed was a cold she had picked up from our 16 year old. He had been congested, had a headache, and was over it in 3 days. /2

She had a headache, congestion, fatigue, no fever, so it isn’t COVID, is it. She wanted to make sure I could sleep, so she decamped to the guest room. She has been there for two weeks. /3

Tuesday evening, I have a headache, congestion, fatigue, no fever, so it isn’t COVID, is it. I bundle up a bunch of work I can do from home and stay home several days surprised at how tired I was and how I wasn’t getting better. /4

Friday afternoon, I head to the office, wear a mask interacting with everyone in our office, staying in my office with the door closed, getting ready for the next week. I get a call informing me that I had been exposed to someone who had tested positive. /5

Saturday morning, I arrange for a rapid test.  Fortunate to have represented a health care system and blessed to be able to get care not everyone can.  Describe my symptoms to the PA, who agrees that it is probably just a cold but due to the exposure, I should be tested. /6

The PA comes back and says, “I am really surprised but you have tested positive.” /7

My wife arranges testing for her and our son.  Several days later she gets results.  She is positive.  He is not.  Per CDC guidelines and WASD requirements, he is quarantined until November 23, unless cleared by a doctor.   /8

I start coordinating deep cleaning and corporate testing with my Partner and our office manager for our staff.  But pretty much I just start sleeping all the time.   /9

Monday, I had a public hearing that I did via Zoom.  I took as much Sudafed and Ibuprofen as was advise able, suppressed my cough as long as I could, and struggled through a planning and zoning commission meeting. /10

There have been the nights that I have managed to sleep 3-4 hours, then be awake for 3-4 hours, then sleep for 3-4 hours.   /11

There have been nights that I have had 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep, wake up feeling somewhat better, but after checking emails and a few calls with clients, I am on the couch napping for 3-4 hours. /12

But when your wife is in tears after 10 days of illness because she is not getting better and she is miserable and there is nothing you can do for her because you are exhausted and unable to think, it is incredibly demoralizing.   /13

It is a week later.  We have been blessed not to need more serious medical intervention.  Is there a cough, yes.  Is there fatigue, yes.  Is there body pain, yes.  Is there congestion, yes.  Is there shortness of breath, yes.   /14

However, I have friends who are my age who are hospitalized because of it.  I have had family members hospitalized because of it. /15

I have been blessed to have a career and a profession that I can do remotely.   /16

I am grateful that my colleagues and my clients have been understanding as I am two weeks behind and who value my health. /17

Why am I writing all of this?  IT IS NOT THE FLU. /18

IT IS NOT A BAD COLD. /19

IT MAY NOT BE FATAL, BUT IT WRECKS YOUR BODY, YOUR MIND, YOUR PRODUCTIVITY. /20

I have worn a mask.  I have limited my social interactions.  So has my family.  I have tried to keep my bubble small by utilizing remote meeting technology. /21

Have I been as vigilant as I can?  Clearly not.  Do I know where I got it? No.   /22

And yet, what did we do in Ada County this week?  We defeated a county commissioner who has done a commendable job in trying to guide the health district through these difficult times in the name of FREEDOM! because she had the audacity to listen to the experts and act /23

What did I have to do the week before that? Defend a client who had been sued by an aggrieved homeowner that did not want to have the annual HOA meeting held over Zoom because he had a right to participate in person and “Zoom is not a place”.   /24

Plaintiff sued even as Blaine County was imposing an emergency order reducing in person meetings to less than 10 and the project care taker and family had tested positive for COVID19. If course the judge held the TRO hearing via Zoom  /25

What have we done the weeks before that? Watched the parents in the WASD make unreasonable demands of teachers, sue the teachers, denigrate the teachers.   /26

Watched the WASD Board seemingly spend more time trying to figure out how to make sports happen in the district, and trying to figure out how to subvert the direction of the district health department.   /27

Watched our neighbors plan large social gatherings to make sure that their kids have the opportunities that they are being “denied” and organize a recall of WASD Board because it is being too cautious /28

What have we done in the months before that? Watched a President and his closest advisers denigrate the scientists who have been working to protect us. /29

Watched a President refuse to encourage Americans to take the simple acts that will reduce contagion. /30

Watched a President refuse to use the DPA for PPE, tests and other critical materials. /31

Watched a President denigrate the infectious disease experts and listen to cranks and crackpots that tell him what he wants to hear. /32

Watched a President sideline the experts, for a radiologist that isn’t intelligent enough to realize that spouting his nonsense on Russia Today was a huge propaganda win for Putin. /33

Watched intelligent people put their own selfish interests over the social good. /34

Watched unintelligent people put their own selfish interest over the social good. /35

Watched neighbors who are health care providers, assisted living providers, critical first responders, fail to follow the scientific consensus on masks, social distancing, and other recommended behaviors. /36

Watched people that I have known, worked with, and respected take absolutely false positions claiming their freedom is being deprived. /37

There are a lot of people on social media who I have muted or unfollowed because they are not acting responsibly. /38

You want to share a youtube video because “it made you think”? But you don’t want to research why the information being shared is erroneous and why the person promoting it is questionable? /39

Then you didn’t really think, you are the sheep who has been manipulated /40

So, what is the take away? This is a disease that is incredibly destructive to productivity. /41

This is a disease that has a huge impact on lower wage service workers. You can’t stock shelves via Zoom. Microsoft Teams wont give Alzheimer patients their meds. Skype won’t pick up the trash. /42

If you want to open everything up, then go ahead. Know that a lot of people are going to get sick, a lot of people are going to have to work sick because we have no social welfare net, a lot of people are going to get people sick. /43

If you want to open everything up, then go ahead. Know that filling bars and restaurants will get a lot of people sick, will expose servers and other workers, and a lot more people are going to get sick. /44

If you want to open everything up, then go ahead. Know that our ER and Urgent Care workers are getting absolutely hammered. Know that our assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing workers and residents are getting absolutely hammered. /45

If you want to open everything up, then go ahead. Do it knowing that had we suffered pain in April, and continued to do what we were directed to do, then we potentially could have defeated this and truly been open. /46

So, if you want to open everything up, then go ahead, but don’t say the cure is worse than the disease. Because you clearly don’t know that. You are the one that is willing to trust people who don’t have your interest in mind. You are not a patriot. You are a fool. /47