But some scientists and legal experts say the moves reflect a dangerous disregard for science in the middle of a deadly pandemic, and could be used to further weaken protections down the road.
The main type of pollution in question -- PM 2.5 -- are microscopic particles that float in the air we breathe and measure barely a fraction of the diameter of a human hair.
The current PM 2.5 standard requires air particle levels to be limited to 12 micrograms per cubic meter.
Still, the EPA decided to leave the regulations untouched.
"Based on review of the scientific literature and recommendation from our independent science advisors, we are proposing to retain existing PM standards which will ensure the continued protection of both public health and the environment," EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in an April 14 statement justifying the move.
Only one new COVID-19 infection Hawaii was verified by the Department of Health on Friday.
The new case is on Oahu.
As the number of new cases has dwindled in recent weeks, public officials have begun to relax restrictions on some businesses, but the states stay-at-home order stays in effect through May 31.
Six new recoveries were reported Friday as well. Of the 619 people in Hawaii documented by DOH with COVID-19 infections to date, 532 of them have recovered.
A mandatory 14-day quarantine rule has not kept a few hundred tourists from coming to the islands in recent days.
Cory Lum/Civil Beat
The states COVID-19 death toll remains at 16, including 11 people on Oahu and five on Maui.
Those who do not require hospitalization but have been exposed or have fallen ill with the coronavirus must stay home and self-isolate for 14 days.
To qualify as recovered and become classified by the health department as released from isolation, federal guidelines dictate at least seven days have passed since the patients symptoms began and three days have passed since their fever resolved.
Oahus cumulative infection count reached 400 on Friday. Oahu reported four more recoveries, marking 368 people released from isolation to date.
Two more people were hospitalized on Maui as of Friday, and DOH continues to monitor the health of 72 people who are hospitalized across the state, including 16 on Maui, 53 on Oahu, and one patient each on the Big Island and Kauai.
Among the other nine Hawaii residents diagnosed out of state, one is hospitalized.
A cluster of 58 infections that began at Maui Memorial Medical Center involve 38 staff and 20 patients who are being monitored by DOH, officials said.
More than 300 people have been tested in relation to the Maui investigation.
Mauis documented COVID-19 patient count stands at 116 as of Friday, and no new recoveries were reported. Eighty-four people on Maui have recovered to date.
Two more recoveries were reported in Hawaii County, with state health officials reporting a total of 60 recoveries on the Big Island among the 73 infections cases confirmed by the department to date.
Only one active case of COVID-19 remains on Kauai and the patient is hospitalized. The island has reported no new infections for more than two weeks 20 of the 21 people diagnosed to date have qualified to be released from isolation.
More than 30,296 people have been tested for the virus to date.
Antibody testing is now underway in Hawaii. Clinical Labs Hawaii began its antibody testing on Thursday, and Hawaii Pacific Health hospital officials announced shortly after that they would offer antibody testing to their employees this week.
A mandatory 14-day quarantine is still imposed on any travelers arriving in the islands. Non-compliance is punishable by a $5,000 fine or jail for both visitors and residents.
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Congress has opened a probe into Carnival Corporation, the operator of the Princess Cruises line of cruise ships, over its handling of COVID-19 outbreaks, according to a report from Bloomberg. Officials are now requesting Carnival turn over documents and communications about its coronavirus response and its plans for future improvement.
The investigation, led by the US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is specifically looking into how much Carnival executives were aware of the severity of the coronavirus outbreaks on its cruise ships and the lack of action it took during active cruises after being informed of the risks. More than 1,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases can be traced back to the company's cruise ships, and dozens of Carnival customers and crew members have since died from the virus.
The probe cites a damning Bloomberg feature story from writers Austin Carr and Chris Palmeri from last month that delves intricately into how Florida-based Carnival handled news of the COVID-19 outbreaks aboard nine of its ships. The story itself, which everyone should go read, is astonishing, featuring illuminating interviews with crew members and passengers and a lengthy sit-down with Carnival CEO Arnold Donald. It paints the picture of a company that, even in early March as the threat of the novel coronavirus become abundantly clear worldwide, did not take action fast enough to order its passengers into self-isolation and dock its cruise ships. Instead, many ships decided to let customers remain in extremely close contact with one another in swimming pools and in dining areas featuring buffets.
We would hope that the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic will place a renewed emphasis on public health and passenger safety, but frankly that has not been seen up to this point, wrote House member Peter DeFazio (D-OR) in the letter sent to Carnival announcing the investigation. It seems as though Carnival Corporation and its portfolio of nine cruise lines, which represents 109 cruise ships, is still trying to sell this cruise line fantasy and ignoring the public health threat.
Bloomberg reports that many of the customers who received refunds from Carnival were given the option to receive the credit for a future cruise, and Carnival in some cases sweetened the deal by giving out free vouchers as well. While the company suspended its cruises starting in March, some passengers and crew remain stuck on ships around the world. Our goal is the same as the committees goal, Carnival said in a statement to Bloomberg, to protect the health, safety and well-being of our guests and crew, along with compliance and environmental protection.
In addition to the House probe, Australian police last month launched a criminal investigation into how Carnival handled the docking of one of its Princess ships, the Ruby Princess, in Sydney on March 19th. The investigation is looking into whether Carnival officials misled Australian authorities about the COVID-19 outbreak aboard the ship, as Carnival customers at the time made up nearly one-third of all Australian deaths from the virus.
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (KWCH) The Finney County Health Department confirmed the second and third deathsof Finney County residents related to Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The health department says these cases include a man in his 40s with no known underlying medical conditions and a woman in her 70s who did have underlying medical conditions.
"(The) Finney County Health Department is continuing their disease investigation and notifying anyone who may have had contact with the individuals," the county says."We send our deepest condolences to both families in this difficult time as they navigate this loss."
As of Friday afternoon (May 1) Finney County has confirmed a total of 404 positive cases, and that 994 individuals have been tested
Six people with confirmed positive cases in Finney County are currently hospitalized, the health department says.
In an instance in which there are five or more confirmed positive cases traced back to a particular location or business as a source of exposure, the Finney County Health Department says it will notify the public in a news release.
The Finney County Health Department says it has recently increased testing for COVID-19.
"At the inception of our drive-through testing site, we had the capacity to test 50 people a day. Since then, we have now increased our capacity to test 140-160 people a day, and are continually looking for opportunities to increase capacity for testing," Finney County says.
The county says, "If you are experiencing a fever, cough, shortness of breath, or loss of taste or smell, or suspect you may have been exposed to COVID-19, please call the Finney County Hotline at 620-272-3600 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.:
Amid Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Governor Cuomo Announces Schools and College Facilities Statewide Will Remain Closed for the Rest of the Academic Year | Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Skip to main content
Directs Schools and Colleges to Create Re-Opening Plans that Re-Imagine Facilities to Be Approved by the State
State is Partnering with Kate Spade New York Foundation and Crisis Text Line to Provide 24/7 Emotional Support Service for Frontline Workers; Workers Can Text NYFRONTLINE to 741-741
Department of Financial Services to Require New York State-Regulated Health Insurers to Waive Out-of-Pocket Costs for Mental Health Services for Frontline Essential Workers
Announces New Targeted Efforts to Further Reduce Number of New Hospitalizations per Day
Five New Drive-Through Testing Facilities Now Open in Monroe, Erie, Broome, Niagara and Oneida Counties
Confirms 3,942 Additional Coronavirus Cases in New York State - Bringing Statewide Total to 308,314; New Cases in 48 Counties
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced all K-12 schools and college facilities statewide will remain closed for the rest of the academic year and will continue to provide distance learning during that time. The schools will also be required to continue meal programs and child care services for essential workers. The state will make a decision about summer school programming by the end of May.
Governor Cuomo is also directing all schools and colleges to create re-opening plans that re-imagine school facilities in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. These plans should consider how schools can monitor the spread of COVID-19; how to reinforce student safety; when and how to resume extracurricular activities; protocols for special student populations; steps to ensure student mental health; alternative academic calendars; among other considerations. All plans will be reviewed and approved by the state.
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The Governor also announced the state is partnering with the Kate Spade New York Foundation and Crisis Text Line to provide a 24/7 emotional support service for frontline health care workers. Those workers can text NYFRONTLINE to 741-741 to access these emotional support services.
The Governor also announced that the State Department of Financial Services will require New York State-regulated health insurers to waive cost-sharing, including deductibles, copayments and coinsurance, for in-network mental health services for New York's frontline essential workers during COVID-19. DFS will also issue an emergency regulation to prohibit insurers from imposing cost-sharing for telehealth and in-person mental health services rendered by in-network providers on an outpatient basis to frontline essential workers eligible to be tested at one of the State's drive through or walk in COVID-19 testing sites.
All schools and colleges will continue to provide distance learning, meal delivery and child care servicesfor the remainder of the school year.
The Governor also announced new targeted efforts to further reduce the number of new hospitalizations per day, which has remained steady at approximately 1,000 over the last several day. This new effort will gather additional information and data from hospitals about the individuals who are being hospitalized for COVID-19, including if they are essential workers, where they work, how they commute, where they live and other demographics. This specific information and data from the hospitals will be used to come up with a new strategy more tailored to the reduction of new daily hospitalizations.
The Governor also announced five new drive-through testing facilities have opened and are now accepting patients in Monroe, Erie, Broome, Niagara and Oneida Counties. Residents who would like to be tested at these facilities must make an appointment by calling 888-364-3065 or online atcovid19screening.health.ny.gov. Information about the location of these new facilities is located below:
"It's critical that we protect our students from this virus, and given the current circumstances we are in we do not think it is possible to put the necessary precautions in place that would allow us to re-open schools this academic year,"Governor Cuomo said."All schools and colleges will continue to provide distance learning, meal delivery and child care services for the remainder of the school year. And in the meantime, we want schools to start developing a plan to re-open with new protocols that incorporate everything that we are now doing in society and everything that we have learned from this pandemic. This has been a hardship on everyone, but our educators across the state have done a phenomenal job stepping up to make the best of this situation."
Finally, the Governor confirmed 3,942 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 308,314 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 308,314 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:
County
Total Positive
New Positive
Albany
1,204
39
Allegany
35
0
Broome
299
15
Cattaraugus
49
2
Cayuga
51
3
Chautauqua
35
2
Chemung
123
1
Chenango
99
1
Clinton
61
2
Columbia
202
32
Cortland
28
0
Delaware
61
0
Dutchess
3,002
48
Erie
3,481
162
Essex
28
0
Franklin
15
0
Fulton
75
4
Genesee
154
1
Greene
139
8
Hamilton
3
0
Herkimer
60
2
Jefferson
61
0
Ill. (KWQC) - Officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday 3,137 additional cases of COVID-19.
They also announced 105 additional deaths.
- Adams County: 1 female 60s- Clinton County: 1 female 80s- Cook County: 1 female 30s, 1 male 30s, 2 females 40s, 1 male 40s, 2 females 50s, 1 male 50s, 5 females 60s, 13 males 60s, 5 females 70s, 10 males 70s, 9 females 80s, 12 males 80s, 5 females 90s, 2 males 90s- DuPage County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 80s, 3 males 80s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s- Jackson County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s- Kane County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s- Lake County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s- Madison County: 1 female 70s- McHenry County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 100+- Sangamon County: 1 female 80s- St. Clair County: 1 male 60s- Whiteside County: 1 female 90s- Will County: 1 male teens, 1 female 60s, 2 males 60s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 90s
Currently, the Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting a total of 56,055 cases, including 2,457 deaths, in 97 counties in Illinois.
The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years.
Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have processed 14,821 specimens for a total of 284,688.
In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a boon to cybercriminals: With unprecedented numbers of people working from home and anxious for news about the virus outbreak, its hard to imagine a more target-rich environment for phishers, scammers and malware purveyors. In addition, many crooks are finding the outbreak has helped them better market their cybercriminal wares and services. But its not all good news: The Coronavirus also has driven up costs and disrupted key supply lines for many cybercriminals. Heres a look at how theyre adjusting to these new realities.
One of the more common and perennial cybercriminal schemes is reshipping fraud, wherein crooks buy pricey consumer goods online using stolen credit card data and then enlist others to help them collect or resell the merchandise.
Most online retailers years ago stopped shipping to regions of the world most frequently associated with credit card fraud, including Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Russia. These restrictions have created a burgeoning underground market for reshipping scams, which rely on willing or unwitting residents in the United States and Europe derisively referred to as reshipping mules to receive and relay high-dollar stolen goods to crooks living in the embargoed areas.
A screen shot from a user account at Snowden, a long-running reshipping mule service.
But apparently a number of criminal reshipping services are reporting difficulties due to the increased wait time when calling FedEx or UPS (to divert carded goods that merchants end up shipping to the cardholders address instead of to the mules). In response, these operations are raising their prices and warning of longer shipping times, which in turn could hamper the activities of other actors who depend on those services.
Thats according to Intel 471, a cyber intelligence company that closely monitors hundreds of online crime forums. In a report published today, the company said since late March 2020 it has observed several crooks complaining about COVID-19 interfering with the daily activities of their various money mules(people hired to help launder the proceeds of cybercrime).
One Russian-speaking actor running a fraud network complained about their subordinates (money mules) in Italy, Spain and other countries being unable to withdraw funds, since they currently were afraid to leave their homes, Intel 471 observed. Also some actors have reported that banks customer-support lines are being overloaded, making it difficult for fraudsters to call them for social-engineering activities (such as changing account ownership, raising withdrawal limits, etc).
Still, every dark cloud has a silver lining: Intel 471 noted many cybercriminals appear optimistic that the impending global economic recession (and resultant unemployment) will make it easier to recruit low-level accomplices such as money mules.
Alex Holden, founder and CTO of Hold Security, agreed. He said while the Coronavirus has forced reshipping operators to make painful shifts in several parts of their business, the overall market for available mules has never looked brighter.
Reshipping is way up right now, but there are some complications, he said.
For example, reshipping scams have over the years become easier for both reshipping mule operators and the mules themselves. Many reshipping mules are understandably concerned about receiving stolen goods at their home and risking a visit from the local police. But increasingly, mules have been instructed to retrieve carded items from third-party locations.
The mules dont have to receive stolen goods directly at home anymore, Holden said. They can pick them up at Walgreens, Hotel lobbies, etc. There are a ton of reshipment tricks out there.
But many of those tricks got broken with the emergence of COVID-19 and social distancing norms. In response, more mule recruiters are asking their hires to do things like reselling goods shipped to their homes on platforms like eBay and Amazon.
Reshipping definitely has become more complicated, Holden said. Not every mule will run 10 times a day to the post office, and some will let the goods sit by the mailbox for days. But on the whole, mules are more compliant these days.
KrebsOnSecurity recently came to a similar conclusion: Last months story, Coronavirus Widens the Money Mule Pool, looked at one money mule operation that had ensnared dozens of mules with phony job offers in a very short period of time. Incidentally, the fake charity behind that scheme which promised to raise money for Coronavirus victims has since closed up shop and apparently re-branded itself as the Tessaris Foundation.
Charitable cybercriminal endeavors were the subject of a report released this weekby cyber intel firm Digital Shadows, which looked at various ways computer crooks are promoting themselves and their hacking services using COVID-19 themed discounts and giveaways.
Like many commercials on television these days, such offers obliquely or directly reference the economic hardships wrought by the virus outbreak as a way of connecting on an emotional level with potential customers.
The illusion of philanthropy recedes further when you consider the benefits to the threat actors giving away goods and services, the report notes. These donors receive a massive boost to their reputation on the forum. In the future, they may be perceived as individuals willing to contribute to forum life, and the giveaways help establish a track record of credibility.
Brians Club one of the undergrounds largest bazaars for selling stolen credit card data and one that has misappropriated this authors likeness and name in its advertising recently began offering pandemic support in the form of discounts for its most loyal customers.
It stands to reason that the virus outbreak might depress cybercriminal demand for dumps, or stolen account data that can be used to create physical counterfeit credit cards. After all, dumps are mainly used to buy high-priced items from electronics stores and other outlets that may not even be open now thanks to the widespread closures from the pandemic.
If that were the case, wed also expect to see dumps prices fall significantly across the cybercrime economy. But so far, those price changes simply havent materialized, says Gemini Advisory, a New York based company that monitors the sale of stolen credit card data across dozens of stores in the cybercrime underground.
Stas Alforov, Geminis director of research and development, said theres been no notable dramatic changes in pricing for both dumps and card data stolen from online merchants (a.k.a. CVVs) even though many cybercrime groups appear to be massively shifting their operations toward targeting online merchants and their customers.
Usually, the huge spikes upward or downward during a short period is reflectedby a large addition of cheap records that drive the median price change, Alforov said, referring to the small and temporary price deviations depicted in the graph above.
Intel 471 said it came to a similar conclusion.
You might have thought carding activity, to include support aspects such as checker services, would decrease due to both the global lockdown and threat actors being infected with COVID-19, the company said. Weve even seen some actors suggest as much across some shops, but the reality is there have been no observations of major changes.
Interestingly, the Coronavirus appears to have prompted discussion on a topic that seldom comes up in cybercrime communities i.e., the moral and ethical ramifications of their work. Specifically, there seems to be much talk these days about the potential karmic consequences of cashing in on the misery wrought by a global pandemic.
For example, Digital Shadows said some have started to question the morality of targeting healthcare providers, or collecting funds in the name of Coronavirus causes and then pocketing the money.
One post on the gated Russian-language cybercriminal forum Korovka laid bare the question of threat actors moral obligation, the company wrote. A user initiated a thread to canvass opinion on the feasibility of faking a charitable cause and collecting donations. They added that while they recognized that such a plan was cruel, they found themselves in an extremely difficult financial situation. Responses to the proposal were mixed, with one forum user calling the plan amoral, and another pointing out that cybercrime is inherently an immoral affair.
Tags: alex holden, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Gemini Advisory, Intel 471, money mules, reshipping mules, Snowden, Stas Alforov
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 30th, 2020 at 2:20 pmand is filed under Ne'er-Do-Well News, Other, Web Fraud 2.0.You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.
If youve been marking the pandemic by the pileup of cautious reopenings and rescheduled events, you might think that an end to this global disaster is in sight. Event planners for the Kentucky Derby and Bonnaroo already have new opening days on the books in September. The Olympics are scheduled to start in Tokyo on July 23rd, 2021. Theres just one problem: if anyone says that they know exactly when this pandemic will be over, they are lying.
No one can see the future. The virus is an unknown player, and the best minds on Earth cant do more than make educated guesses about what comes next and when. Hell, we didnt even notice the blood clot situation until just recently.
I know. A guess is not comforting when youre dreading another week of monotony in the same four walls. End dates are comforting. Reopenings are comforting. Contemplating a future that looks a lot like our cozy, crowded past is way more comforting than our isolated present. But lets not confuse comfort for truth.
When bowling alleys and tattoo parlors reopened in Georgia on Friday, the pandemic was not over. It wont be over when the stay-at-home order in Michigan (maybe) lifts on April 30th or if the stay-at-home order in the Bay Area actually ends on May 31st.
The dates politicians are throwing around are not finish lines. They arent guesses at an end date for this pandemic, either. Shelter-in-place orders are just time-outs. We have no sure-fire treatments for the virus, no vaccine, and a limited supply of health care workers. To keep as many people alive as possible, weve done the only thing we can do to slow the spread: weve hid from each other.
The viruss effects have not been, as some proposed, a great equalizer. The less you have, the harder youre hit. The federal government has mostly failed at leading a coherent response to the pandemic. Doctors are clashing with the FBI over PPE, then running into the ER with whatever they can scrounge up. Governors are hitting up their private-jet-owner friends to have masks flown in from China to equip their hospitals. Nurses at other facilities are resorting to wearing garbage bags in an unsuccessful bid to avoid contracting the virus on the job.
People who are already vulnerable are getting hit the hardest. Death rates have soared in black communities already slammed by other public health crises. On the Navajo Nation, experts worry that water shortages are contributing to the viruss continued spread. The virus has raged through cramped homeless shelters and through the communities that cant afford to distance themselves. Its become very clear to me what a socioeconomic disease this is, an ER doctor working in Elmhurst, Queens told The New Yorker. People hear that term essential workers. Short-order cooks, doormen, cleaners, deli workersthat is the patient population here. In some US prisons, the vast majority of inmates are testing positive for the virus, leaving incarcerated persons in fear for their lives. One inmate, Sterling Rivers, grimly observed that Our sentences have turned into death sentences in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Our failures around the coronavirus are systemic failures of public policy.
Those failures have left the health care system struggling to cope, plunged society into a well of uncertainty, and sent the economy cratering. Thanks to an inconsistent and often incoherent government response in the US, we now face an uncertain timeline for both economic and health recoveries. Twenty-six million people have filed unemployment claims.
And so some governors will call an end to stay-home orders in the hopes of resuscitating their economies. In Georgia, South Carolina, and parts of Tennessee, that time came on Friday. Other states, like California and New York, are taking a longer view, gradually easing some restrictions on movement while enforcing new requirements masks on, low temps, cant lose.
As cases decrease, restrictions will relax. But once we let our guard down, well likely see resurgences of cases, once again straining health resources leaving us with no choice but to close ourselves off again. Thats whats happening in parts of China now, where new outbreaks of the same disease have emerged. The open-and-shut economy will likely continue as cases ebb and flow.
There are paths to victory, but as Ezra Klein notes at Vox, these arent plans for returning to anything even approaching normal. Victory over the virus will involve a lot of things that we dont have yet. Scientific discoveries will help defeat the virus but science cant do it alone. Public policies will play a huge role, and even with firm health guidelines and speedy scientific developments, it will take longer than we want for us to truly eke out a win.
What does a win look like? It will take widespread tests of everyone who might be sick and careful quarantining of anyone who tests positive. It will take armies of contact tracers to trace down anyone who might have been exposed. These low-tech interventions are the best thing weve got while we give researchers the time they need to come up with other solutions.
Scientists will labor over vaccines and treatments, but the overwhelming majority of their trials will turn up nothing useful. Theyll also keep trying to understand the virus and our bodies complicated response to it, in the hopes of developing legitimate antibody tests. Eventually, we may discover something that destroys the virus without wrecking our bodies. But none of that is ready today.
The end is still likely to be a long way away, as journalist Ed Yong writes in The Atlantic: The pandemic is not a hurricane or a wildfire. It is not comparable to Pearl Harbor or 9/11. Such disasters are confined in time and space. The SARS-CoV-2 virus will linger through the year and across the world.
Consider this a rebuilding year. It might even turn into rebuilding years, depending on our progress. Our brightest prospects vaccines and treatments are still in the minors. Even antibody testing isnt ready to be called up to the big leagues, at least not yet.
This is a long game, and focusing on the victory celebrations like New York City Mayor Bill De Blasios plan to throw the biggest, best parade to honor health care workers wont get us to the end.
If we focus on what victory looks like instead of what it takes to get us there, were going to keep being disappointed. Well feel defeated every time a drug fails in testing. We cant let it get to us like that. The parades, the ballgames, the worship services that were looking forward to, those will be there once this is over. What weve got to ensure now is that when we get to reopening day whenever it is that our concert halls and stadiums and spiritual homes are filled with as many of our human siblings as we can possibly save.
It still sucks when the goalposts move from April 15th to April 30th, then to May 15th. It feels like were Charlie Brown and the end to this is a football that Lucy keeps pulling away. But when it comes to the virus itself, the clock isnt the statistic that matters. These are the ones that do: numbers of tests, numbers of new infections, and numbers of bodies in the morgues.
When the numbers of tests go up and confirmed cases and deaths go down, then our playbook will change. But it wont be the end of the fight not yet.
We play this through to the end there is no other option. Victory might look like a vaccine. It might look like a robust testing regime or a new treatment. It might look like us cobbling together a sense of normalcy and still watching for repeated outbreaks. Whatever form it takes, well fight our way there with masks, thermometers, and soap, buying some time along the way. Well adjust our playbook as the virus adapts. Well position ourselves farther apart. Well do it again, and again when the next waves of this virus come. We will be exhausted when we get there, but we will get there. But if we dont pace ourselves for the long haul, it will be that much harder to get through.
We wont be able to mark this finale in our calendars. All we can do is get through today, pushing our leaders to get the people on the front lines the resources and time they need to get us through this. We need politicians who will stop telling us the comforting things we want to hear and start acting to keep as many of us alive as possible.
My family thought I was crazy for believing I had COVID-19. Then they started getting sick, too.
The first confirmed case of the disease in the U.S. appeared in Washington State on January 21. But we are beginning to learn that many more people were infected even then, without suspecting it.
I can never know for certain, since I did not get the nasal swab for coronavirus until April, but all signs point to my being an early case of the illness that has caused our country to go into mass quarantine. I find safety in learning the facts and peace in believing we will find a vaccine at some point. But in the meantime, uncertainty and fear will dominate our national psychejust as they did for my familyuntil we start testing on a much bigger scale.
It all started when I flew to New York City from my home in Dallas in mid-January to care for my 21-year old daughter, who had become extremely ill with Dengue fever, acquired in the Caribbean earlier that month.
I had never seen an emergency room so crowded. The first time we visited, my daughter was one of four people being treated in a hallway for 10 hours. She was in the hospital for six days altogether.
On January 16, I woke up with chest tightness, chills, and a terrible cough. It felt like I was being choked. My symptoms were not debilitating, though, and I had energy to clean my daughters apartment and sit with her at the hospital.
At first, I attributed my physical symptoms to fear and anxiety for my child. I called my doctor in Dallas, who prescribed Tamiflu. My daughter got better and was released. I returned home with a cough, still laboring to get a full breath. Weeks later, I still had no energy.
Then, on February 22, my 16-year old son woke up in the middle of the night with a high fever. He tested negative for the flu but was sick for 15 days.
My husband was next. He had the same flu-like symptoms as my son, but for 20 days. Then my symptoms returnedand I got an eye infection, for good measurefor six days. After my daughter came home from college in New York in March, she got sick, too.
I began to worry. By this time, coronavirus was all over the news. Could I have gotten it in that New York ER? Could I have spread it to the rest of my family? It dawned on me that I had gone to see my niece in Longview on January 25. Three days later, she got an illness that lasted three weeks. Her flu test came back negative.
I now wish I could have been tested for coronavirus when I felt symptomatic through February, but no tests were available. Everyone assumed the virus had not spread beyond the West Coast. With contact tracing, I could have helped others. Though I was so exhausted in February, I barely left my house.
My family took an antibody test in April, after we all recovered. Two out of the five of us, including me, were positive for immunoglobulin antibodies, a sign of having been infected with coronavirus. The test cannot determine exactly when I got it. And some of us who got very sick tested negative. So much is still uncertain.
The only thing Im sure of is that my family caught this disease long before anyone knew what it was, just as our whole country did. We were lucky. We received good healthcare, and we are all fine now.
As a country, we are only going to get through the crisis the way my family did: with care, love, and a willingness to adapt in the face of uncertainty.
Carolyn Sullivan is a Plano resident and a certified mediator and life strategist with a BA in psychology and advanced studies in Domestic Dispute Resolution, as well as Dispute Resolution, from Southern Methodist University.She wrote this column for D Magazine.
IDPH: Alden Terrace in McHenry up to 120 COVID-19 outbreak cases, four deaths Northwest Herald
