The work ethic of Dan Patrick – Contrast between his attitude and that of Agatha Christie – Dr. Fauci’s dilemma – A cure for malaria fails when applied to COVID-19 – North Korea – China – Appalachian Trail Conservancy – Evening statistics – An afflicted friend
Some curious headlines in the news today:
Dan Patrick, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, issued a statement urging Americans to “get back to work” – working by means of tele-commuting doesn’t count, apparently – and that people over 70, the ones at the greatest risk from the ravages of the virus, will “take care of themselves.” Patrick is 69.
I wish Patrick could have accompanied me during my visit to the assisted living facility yesterday to get some first-hand knowledge of the ability of his elders to look after themselves unassisted. Most of the residents are bent in figure, halting in movement, and slow in comprehension. Hardly one in ten can get about without the aid of a cane, a walker, or a wheelchair. Visiting that place always depresses me. It is, as I believe, not a good idea to isolate oneself from the presence of younger generations, and I have stubbornly resisted all persuasions to live in an “age-restricted” community. To move into one of these is an admission that one has been exhausted by life.
It’s easy to make fun of such people or to dismiss them as of no account or even superfluous. But . . . “people like living, don’t they? . . . Even if you’re old and in pain and you can just crawl out in the sun. . . . those people like living even more than young strong people do. It’s harder for them to die, the struggle’s greater.”
The author is Agatha Christie, writer of murder mysteries. The above quotation illustrates what might be the main reason that people continue to read her books while those of other mystery writers, often much more graceful in style and less reductive in characterization, fade into obscurity; she feels very strongly that to deprive anyone of his or her allotted lifespan is a crime and deserves to be punished, whereas her rivals give the impression that they don’t care, at least not to the same degree. I wish an attitude such as Christie’s could be communicated to some of our national leaders.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters that he can’t very well jump in front of the microphone during Trump’s daily briefings to prevent him from making misstatements about the virus. I actually feel sorry for the man, but I could have told him in advance that it is simply a lost cause trying to get Trump to shut up.
Among his (numerous) other blunders, Trump has said repeatedly that chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, is an effective prophylaxis against the virus. It is nothing of the kind, and can actually be toxic if taken in the wrong dosage. An Arizona couple took a form of it that is used to clean fish tanks, resulting in both of them getting violently ill, and fatally so in the man’s case. The woman, who survived, has at any rate reached the appropriate conclusion to be drawn from this experience; in her own words, “Don’t believe anything that the President says.”
North Korea is dealing with the issue in its own distinctive fashion. The first case of the virus in the country was diagnosed yesterday. The police, following the orders of Kim Jong-un, took him out and shot him. Buried him too, let us hope, although most of the North Koreans have been very hungry lately.
China is lifting the lockdown on Wuhan, where the virus emerged. The number of new cases in the country has slowed down to a trickle and the Chinese are now, ironically enough, devoting their attention to the prevention of new cases being brought in by visitors from the outside.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has requested people to avoid using the trail because it is so heavily traveled and in particular to avoid using the privies available at various shelters. It seems like overkill; but less than a week ago I was hiking in the area close to Duncannon, PA – not the most frequented portion of the trail – and I encountered about two dozen hikers in all, most of them in a stretch between Rte. 850 and the view past Darlington Shelter (about a three-mile segment). This is the time of the year that most of the through-hikers are in the first stages of their journeys, and frankly I doubt whether such a request from the ATC will have much effect.
Statistics as of 8:45 AM — # of cases worldwide: 392,331; # of deaths worldwide: 17,156; # of cases in U. S.: 46,450; # of deaths in U. S.: 593.
Poor RK has come up with a bad case of sciatica, severe enough to confine her to her bed most of the time. I have had it myself, but in a much milder form; it lasted a couple of days and then faded. I had it when I was in my early 40s; it recurred twice, but in each case lasting only a day or so, and then I have never had a bout of it since. Possibly the amount of hiking I’ve been doing in later years has staved it away. She has promised to let me know if she needs me to run errands for her.