Corona Letters #25

Dear Fellow Quarantiners,

I usually do my Q & A on Fridays but yesterday I was tied up doing all those things that one does these days.  You know all those busy, busy things that we all find ourselves doing right now.

This snowy morning I am lucky that the esteemed Dr. Lee has agreed to do another interview with me.

Me:  Good Morning Dr. Lee!  Thank you for agreeing to meet me on this snowy morning.  The commute must have been positively treacherous!

Dr. Lee:  Happy to be here.  Where else am I going to be?

Me:   You've been sending me a lot of links to articles about the futility of disinfecting all our groceries as they come into the house.   What's up with that?

Dr. Lee:  Well, mostly I'm tired of wiping down all our groceries, or "quarantining" them in the corner of our dining room before putting them away.  But it's also reflecting how SARS-Cov2 (that's the technical name for the virus) is spread - through airborne droplets.  It's not likely that someone who is SARS-Cov2 positive actively coughed or sneezed on the box of Cheerios that you buy.  I suppose it's good practice to wash produce, but that's probably a good idea anyway.  I think you're more likely to be put at risk just being near someone who is sick while shopping at the grocery store. My advice - don't go to the store too often, and wear a mask.

Me:  So, my mother just told me that she wants to go to the grocery store.  Not a good idea?

Dr. Lee: As someone who may be more susceptible to complications and poor outcomes from Covid-19 disease, I would say - ooh, risky.  I wouldn't say "absolutely not!", but I would say be very cautious, and sensible.  Wear a mask, practice good social distancing, go to the store when it's likely to be de-densified.  Or order groceries on-line.

Me:  Um.  You were supposed to say that she absolutely should NOT go to the store.   She's going to read that as permission to go shopping.   Are you trying to kill my mother?

Dr. Lee:  Ummmm.... of course not!  It is a really tough dilemma, though.  I know that at this moment, much of the US (and the world) is still in the midst of the crisis, and the curve hasn't yet flattened.  The best thing we all can do is to stay home, and limit further spread of the virus, in order to give our healthcare system a chance to help those who are most in need.  But it's also not realistic for everyone to do that, and even for those who are fortunate enough to be able to work from home, being cooped up for this long is a challenge.  I guess as far as killing your mom... I mean having your mom go to the grocery store - maybe it's a question of "do I NEED to go to the store?"  Now's not the time to risk serious disease just because you're craving a bag of cheese puffs or a box of donuts.

Me: As you state above, it is not realistic for everyone to stay at home all the time, and there are some very real economic implications at stake here.   The options are being weighed in every corner of the world right now whether to open things up a little bit in order for the economy to recover, or to keep everyone safe at home.   The powers that be are quickly trying to figure out the mathematical equation for "least destruction possible" with the intersecting lines being health and economy.    Right now, many countries are starting to see a downward trend of this virus, is there an ideal point where we can start opening things up where the health repercussions won't be completely devastating?  Or is that too hard to predict?

Dr. Lee:  Like I said above, this is a tough dilemma.  I'm not sure that we want to be a society of Mrs. Havershams, all holed up in an attic and scared of the world.  We've got to open up some day, somehow.  I think we ought to heed the advice of real experts - epidemiologists, healthcare professionals, virologists, with a mix of economists.  Dr. Fauci, the WHO, me...  On the other hand, there are two things which we should absolutely reject - people who are claiming that the virus isn't so bad and calling for an early return to "normal", not understanding that current measures are actually helping to limit even worse outcomes, and people who think it's okay to sacrifice some portion of the population for the greater good of the economy.  The latter aperçu is often blathered by politicians or celebrities who are not at all at risk, fully understanding that minorities and other marginalized populations will bear the brunt of the sacrifice.  Not cool.

Me:  First of all, I believe it's Miss Haversham.  Let's not forget she never had the pleasure of getting married and experiencing wedded bliss, especially the delight of spending EVERY damn day with your beloved during a quarantine.
Do you think the economy will reach a point where we have to open up a bit and risk/sacrifice the lives of some in order to prevent falling into a recession or depression that will certainly effect the lives of others?   A recession/depression is just another kind of plaque isn't it?  That can have equally disastrous outcomes?

Dr. Lee:  First of all, I believe it's "affect", not "effect".  And no, a recession/depression is not a plague.  To be honest, I'm not sure than opening things up will return the economy - or our society - back to things exactly as they were before the virus.  And doing so prematurely will surely exacerbate the pandemic - and the impact on our economy.  Maybe all of this is pointing to more systemic weaknesses in our economic or political foundations.  Or maybe this will just trigger a new fashion craze for masks.  We will have to open things up eventually, but I hope we do this after thoughtful and honest discourse, understanding that the world will likely be a different place.  Just saying "f**k it, let's just open up the beaches and the bars and the ballparks, and let a few people die" is idiotic.

Me:  It is also idiotic to correct your wife.  Just sayin'.  Alright, I think we need to wrap this interview up.    But before we go, just for the record, after you just opined that we don't need to disinfect our groceries so diligently did you or did you not just spend some time this morning disinfecting the dog?

Dr. Lee:  He smelled bad and looked gross.  If you bring home smelly and gross groceries, I'm disinfecting it.  Just sayin'.

Me: I think that's a wrap.  Thanks for your time Dr. Lee.  It's always a pleasure to have you as a guest here.   BTW, you could run less risk of me bringing home smelly groceries if you did the shopping.
Just sayin'

Dr. Lee:  What am I, your mom? I'm not going anywhere near that viral circle of hell!

Me:  Alrighty then.  Everything is clear now.   I'll just send your Mom to the store for us ;)

Thank you for joining us here today.  We know you are all probably busy doing all the things.   We appreciate you taking the time to read our bored out of our minds blather.  Join us next week when we take a shot of whiskey between each question.

Hope everyone is healthy out there!

Deb