Rural Routes/Margot Ford McMillen

Don’t Wait to Admit COVID Danger from ICU Bed

As I write this, the holiday season is descending, COVID is spiking, and the outgoing president is acting like a spoiled child. I expect that when you read this things will be the same. And there’s really nothing we can do about situations #1 and #3, so let’s concentrate on staying healthy and insisting that our closest friends and neighbors take care of themselves.

Believe it or not, there are still folks insisting that the “novel” coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a hoax. I wrote a few columns ago about a friend who mocked me for wearing a mask. We had a silly exchange, nothing too dramatic, and I called it off before we got too deep in the weeds, so our friendship is intact. Two weeks later, guess what? He and his family all got sick and submitted to tests, which came out positive. He, the eldest, was the most sick. He now says, “It’s not a joke. It’s hard on us old people.” And, even after a month, he’s exhausted after a few hours of work.

I’m waiting for an apology, but I know I’ll be waiting a long time. So, instead, I warn him that we really don’t know the longterm effects of this disease. People have been hit with damage to lungs, heart and even brains. I tell him he should be taking it easy, not even try to work, and he has begun to pass aspects of his business on to the younger guys, who are, nowadays, all wearing masks.

In mid-November, a nurse in South Dakota tweeted a bit of an essay about her day. She said she’s seeing patients who deny the existence of the virus, even as they’re laboring for breath and even close to death. “If my five seconds of Twitter fame can help our state and bring some recognition to convince people that this is real and the reality is it might kill you, then I guess I’m just going to ride it and go with it.”

My husband, who writes obituaries for websites in tribute to friends in his musical circle, wrote one about an old fiddler who passed away after going to the hospital with COVID. A few days after the obituary appeared, the widow called and asked him to remove the statement about COVID. It was the heart condition that killed the gentleman, she said. Of course, my husband changed the obituary.

But, we’ve pondered the denial for the weeks after that phone call. Why would people feel shame or anger after suffering from this disease?

So, now it’s time to step up our games — in a personal way.

If you have a friend who denies the existence of COVID-19, don’t mock him/her. Instead, stay firm in your convictions and simply step back. Your insisting on your own safety will speak volumes.

If you have a worker who shows up without a mask, offer one. We keep a box of them by the door and hand them out happily. They’re cheap, and believe it or not, the workers are glad to get one.

If you test positive for the virus, stay home. Make a list of people who you’ve been with in an inside venue — the rule is more than 15 minutes at less than six feet of distance.

If you send holiday cards to friends, add a note to remind folks to stay safe!

The thing is, humans have known what to do about epidemics for a good long time. We recognized that diseases spread along trade routes back in Old Testament times, when leprosy was a problem. The book of Leviticus includes instructions for priests: “if the shiny spot on the skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days. On the seventh day, the priest is to examine him, and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to isolate him for another seven days.”

By the time of the Black Death in the 14th century, there was a well-established order for ships to wait in harbor 40 days before unloading. Fast forward to the establishment of villages in North America, and people isolated themselves or others for a wide variety of diseases, including a multitude of “river fevers.” Measles victims were isolated with “Quarantine” signs on their houses. By the time our grandparents came along, tuberculosis and polio had their own network of quarantine hospitals.

In other words, it’s not rocket science to keep the unhealthy separate from the healthy.

Until 2020.

Much of the blame for the current ignorance and stubborn denial of the lethal coronavirus is to be laid at the feet of the current administration, but we have become appallingly selfish about how to treat others. Now, it’s our turn to be the grown-ups in the room.

Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. She also is a co-founder of CAFOZone.com, a website for people who are affected by concentrated animal feeding operations. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History”. Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, December 15, 2020

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