Cactus and Covid-19

It was another beautiful day in the desert.  Jim was up and out early because he needed to see a doctor.  I did not go with him because it's not allowed.  Unless the patient needs assistance going in, spouses are banned from the office.  Between drive time, doctor time and coming home time, it was close to three hours.  So much stuff is closed I was afraid I would not be able to find a restroom if needed, so I stayed home.   The office had a good process, check in at the desk outside, and then stay outside; they come outside and holler your name, or they call you on the phone if you're in your car.  No one was allowed to sit in the waiting room.

Later we went for a longish hike in the desert, with some up hill.  We both had pretty good hiking days.  As promised, here are some cactus.

I'm not sure what this is.  It almost looks like a baby fishhook.  If you look at the longer spines growing out away from the plant, they look like fishhooks.  That little blossom sprouting from his side is so cute it hurts me.

These are called hedge hogs, I have no idea why.  Their flowers practically glow in the sun.

More ocotillo.

Do you listen to podcasts?  I played my first one this morning.  It's done by Dr. John Mandrola, who is a cardiac electrophysiologist in Kentucky.  He touched on a couple of subjects that I find interesting.  The first was the ethics of taking people off ventilators if they're not improving (that translates to old, more than likely) and giving the equipment to someone more likely to survive.  He voiced no opinion on that.  Then he talked about how completely and totally flawed the French "study" on the efficacy of chloroquine and azithromycin is.  Many US doctors are hoarding these drugs for themselves and their families in the absence of any evidence that they work.  People with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis take chloroquine, and they can't get it anymore.  Dr. M's take was those doctors should lose their licenses.  Finally, the question of whether one actually wants a ventilator.  Many people on ventilators develop acute respiratory distress syndrome.  Once you're off the vent, you still have months of rehab, and it's likely that you'll never be the same, having decreased lung function.  It's something to think about, and maybe do that advanced directive you've been putting off.  Give it a listen, it's 13 minutes long.

There is new thinking about how Covid-19 spreads.  There is now the idea that it can spread as an aerosol.  Those are smaller particles than droplets.   The thinking about wearing masks is also changing, as in you should wear a mask if you go into a store even if you are not sick.

I've ordered double fold bias tape and pipe cleaners to make a couple of masks for Jim and me.  The pattern came from here.   I don't like to sew anymore, but we're going to give this a go.  Or we just may tie bandanas around our faces.  Arizona is under a "stay at home" order starting tomorrow, so it's not like we'll be out and about that much.

I don't know how to link to the video directly, so I'm linking to the tweet that has the video.  It's very informative about how far a cough travels vs. an aerosol.  If you're not on twitter, you should be so you can follow Dr. Dena Grayson.  She's smart.

Finally, we have this tweet from Yamiche Alcindor, who covered the president's presser today.

 It's good to have your priorities straight when discussing a pandemic with the public.