Latest statistics: New London County now has 16,753 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 80 people are currently in the hospital and 364 have lost their lives. That’s 10,105 new cases since December 6 when I last reported. I’m kind of surprised that I haven’t thought of updating the statistics for almost 2 months.
Connecticut’s positive test rate is now 3.64%. 9% of Connecticut’s residents have had their first dose of vaccine. I’m getting antsy. So far individuals over the age of 75 can make appointments to receive their vaccinations. Waiting impatiently for it to be 65+ for Tim and who-knows-when for me (being only 64)…
Connecticut has had 7,020 deaths since the pandemic began. We lost 8,500 in the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. I hope we don’t match or go past that number before this is over. 😟
I’ve been having trouble with one of my eyes. I had a flasher episode for several days late in December and when I got a clear bubble shaped floater a few days later I decided to put my fear of COVID-19 aside and headed to the ophthalmologist. I went back for a one month check on Thursday and everything is looking okay so far. The doctor said the month and the year following a flasher episode is the danger zone for damage to retina. So I have to go back in three months for another check. In the meantime, the floater looks less like a bubble and more like a blob of diffused light. She says the floater is actually shaped like a horseshoe.
Tim says his floaters are dark specks. I mentioned this to the doctor and she said the clear ones are more serious. But she’s cautiously optimistic that the situation has resolved itself.
At first I was finding the floater too distracting to do any reading but my brain seems to be getting used to the mysterious blob and sometimes now I don’t even see it. So I started reading a wonderful story, The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, which my daughter and son-in-law gave me for Christmas. It’s been a long time since I’ve read any fiction and this reminds me of Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, but set in medieval Russia rather than medieval Norway. I’m loving it so much!!! It’s a wonderful distraction from the pandemic and the weather.
Am feeling a little better and decided to connect with one blogger friend – I chose you. The covid numbers are awful everywhere. My husband and I are both over 75, but no vaccine and no shot – perhaps for a long time. I too am having eye problems, but will not go until I have a covid shot. Must go 60 miles to Lt. Rock. Still too dizzy to go anywhere anyway. Good luck on your eye problems.
Peggy, how nice to see you again — I have missed you! 😟 I’m glad to hear you’re feeling a little better and hope things continue to improve. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to how the vaccines are being distributed. Tim’s brother and his wife (both 65+) got theirs in North Carolina but Connecticut is still 75+ and there you are in that group and still no shot. Sigh… I guess I’m lucky, my ophthalmologist is only 2 miles away. I hope your eyes can wait until you can make the trip to see yours. Wishing you luck, too!
Have missed blogging. Glad to connect with you. No, there is nothing normal about how each state handles covid vaccine distribution. Hope we all get our shot soon. Take care.
You, too. May we all remain safe, patient and hopeful. ♡
I hope your eye problem continues to resolve itself. No vaccine for me anytime soon, either. My husband is 65 and a teacher so he could get his now but decided it makes no sense for him to be vaccinated if I’m not. I’m in the last group since I’m under 65 and don’t have any underlying health problems that I’m aware of at this point — I haven’t seen a primary care physician in over a year because mine quit her practice just before my next appointment with her and there are only two other doctors down this way and they’re not taking new patients. I did get an appointment up north (an hour’s drive) for October (soonest they could get me in). But, I’ve had two colonoscopies in 2020 so… all that is good. lol!
Thanks, Robin. I just hope they can speed up the production and distribution (safely) before all these virus mutations take hold and render the current vaccines useless. (Aren’t I the pessimist?) Wow — an hour away for a primary care physician! And I thought I was traveling a great distance at 15 minutes away for the one that I like. Tim’s is only 5 minutes away. I’ve had a few telehealth appointments with him for poison ivy and a sinus infection but I only went to the office once in September to get a flu shot. I was very nervous at the ophthalmologist’s, especially when the assistant mentioned what she did to prevent her glasses from fogging up when she was working out at the gym. Great. We were both wearing masks but still…
I don’t know if I would call you a pessimist, Barbara. A realist seems more suitable, but maybe I think that because I feel the same way. My inner control freak keeps on top of all the developments and it doesn’t look particularly good at the moment. I would have been nervous about the assistant, too. Gyms are not a very good place to be right now.
Thank you for your kind words, Robin. It’s nice to know you feel the same way about staying safe and that I’m not the only one with an inner control freak. I’ll feel better in a week if I don’t get sick in the meantime… (It’s been a nerve-wracking 6 days since the appointment…)
I started recording numbers in an excel document for home and where we were traveling since last summer. This morning’s check and comparing to a month ago is staggering. I know it is hard to stay positive but stay positive we must. I hope your eye stays calmed down and hopefully resolves itself. I’m hoping when we get home in Maryland April, it’ll be time for us to get ours. We were able to snag an appointment for my husband’s parents (in their 80s) yesterday through the announcement of Giant Foods Pharmacy, and my dad got his through the VA hospital. My daughter got hers two days ago at work (she’s a nurse) and my son-in-law (an EMT) was supposed to get his today. They are all in Delaware. Down here in Florida, they did have first come first serve for elderly, it’s since changed because the elderly were getting into fist fights and cane swinging for people butting in line and all the frustrations of standing in line for hours. If we can laugh…..I’m staying away from those groupings. 🙂
I’m trying so hard to stay positive, Donna! I need to get outside and get some endorphins, this week without a walk has not been good for my mental well-being. How interesting that you’re recording the COVID numbers. My only record is when I make note of them in a blog post. But, every morning since March 15 Tim & I have recorded our weight, blood pressure and oxygen levels (he had a pulse oximeter left over from after a surgery). I think having to go outside of my bubble and into a building to see the ophthalmologist made me feel too vulnerable. Maybe I’ll feel safer in a couple of weeks if I don’t get sick. I’m so glad your parents-in-law and your dad got their vaccines. That must be a huge relief! My daughter got hers on Friday, too, because she works in health care, although she doesn’t interact with patients. She felt kind of uncomfortable about that but the more people who can get it, the better. I saw what was happening in Florida on the news — those poor people! I’m glad we have appointments in Connecticut, even if we seem to be as slow as molasses in January. Oh, look! Tomorrow it will be February — maybe things will speed up! 🙂
I’m sorry about your eye issues, but glad you were able to get to the doc. I’d totally disheartened by the Covid-19 deaths everywhere, but fear we’ll match the 1918 Flu numbers soon enough. As for reading fiction, I’m trying to do more of that, too. I didn’t read much in 2020 but have committed to doing more this year, starting with fictional stories to distract me while waiting for this all to end.
It is so disheartening, Ally. Sadly, I share your fear we will match the number of deaths in 1918-1919. You know, it was the strangest thing, after our new president was inaugurated I started to feel a strong desire to read an epic tale, a good long story in a setting long ago and far away… It seems connected somehow, although I haven’t figured out how yet. I’m really delving into this one and it seems to be just the antidote to stress the doctor would have ordered. 🙂
Hang in there.
Thank you, Sarah, you, too. I’m sorry I haven’t been over to your blog lately — somehow I got unsubscribed and didn’t realize you were posting recently. 🙁 And just now I had trouble subscribing again and it took me some time to figure out I had to sign in to WordPress again before being allowed to follow/subscribe. Sigh. I hope I’m back on track now… Be over to visit soon…
Thank you for the effort. I had a similar problem with yours but got
To worked out a few weeks ago. Sometimes technology seems to have a mind of its own.
That it does… I hope we stay connected now!
These COVID numbers can be very depressing, can’t they? And what they don’t tell us is, these aren’t statistics — they’re people. Somebody’s spouse, parent, friend. And now the mutations are rearing their ugly heads, causing folks to wonder if the vaccinations will be in time or even effective. Sigh. I wish we’d beat this thing back in the warm months — it’s hard enough being inside let alone having to fret over our health. Hope the vaccines roll your way soon … and that your eye issues resolve successfully!
Thank you, Debbie! When I listen to the stories of the people who have died of this it breaks my heart. There are so many orphans and widows now as the virus spreads so quickly through families and it seems our vulnerable communities are bearing the brunt of the losses. Sometimes I think I’m feeling a kind of survivor guilt as I sit here safely (I hope) in my bubble with all my basic needs met. I hope this experience will make the world more aware of and more interested in the well-being of all its people.
Reading is such a comfort. I am glad to hear your eyes are allowing you to do so.
Going to the Docs is really not something I would want to do either, particularly at this time. But when it has to be done …
We had a big snowstorm yesterday and I spent the day reading my book! It was a wonderful respite from all the stress, visiting a place long ago and far away with its own set of challenges. Hopefully I won’t have to think about the doctor again until April…
Sometimes the weather really can be our friend! I love the sound of curling up with a book for the day!
I hear you …. the less you have to think about the Doc, the better.
Might as well make the best of things, right? 🙂 Or, as my mother used to say, we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
Absolutely! I love your optimism and perspective on life, Barbara!
🙂
Sobering numbers indeed. 🙁 We have been so fortunate in so many ways here in Australia, with just one new case on the weekend, when a quarantined worker contracted the virus from an incoming traveller. Before that case, I think we went about three weeks with no new cases.
I do hope your eyes improve and you enjoy reading your book. 🙂
The success Australia and New Zealand have been having keeping the virus from spreading there is often featured on our news programs. You all have reason to be grateful for the measures your leaders took and the cooperation of your fellow citizens in complying with restrictions. I wish we had been so wise.
I am enjoying the book and am looking forward to the next two because it is the first of a trilogy! 🙂
Oh how I love book series, and trilogies! I always find I have far too many questions after finishing a singular novel. I’m reading the Harry Potter series now, and can hardly wait to start reading the next book when I’ve finished the last. 🙂
I know what you mean. I hope this trilogy won’t leave me hanging — I have to know what Vasilisa Petrovna will do next! I’ve never read Harry Potter or seen the movies but my daughter and Tim’s cousin’s children were very big fans. 🙂 How many books in that series?
My English teacher when I was in my junior year recommended “Kristin Lavransdatter” to me. I loved it, and have read it at least once more. So glad I know at least one other person who knows this book.
I can’t tell you how excited I was to read your comment, Liz! You’re the only person I know who has read “Kristin Lavransdatter” and has read it twice, as I have. 🙂 Have you read “The Master of Hestviken,” also by Undset, too?
Barbara, I am sorry both about your eyes and the high number of covid cases in your area. Disheartening…may both improve soon. I am feeling quiet these days but read this post yesterday and bought the book you suggested. Loving it so far! Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for your sympathy and good wishes, Kathy. ♡ That was quick getting the book — does your bookstore have curbside pick-up? I’m glad you’re loving it. Do you remember “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey? Another book we both read. 🙂 Oh my, I just looked up and it’s snowing again… Magic.
No, our nearest bookstore is over 90 miles away. I ordered it for my iPad and am truly engrossed. And yes–The Snow Child was lovely! Guess we both like the winter magical themes. 🙂
Ah, I might have guessed that was how you got the book so quickly. 🙂 I forget how far out in the middle of nowhere you are. 😉 Winter is enchanting, even when I was a child I sensed that. I’m almost finished the book and have ordered the next book in the trilogy. Happy reading!
[I am almost a week behind in Reader and scrambling to catch up.] The stats on deaths, hospitalizations and now this new variant are just staggering to me too Barbara. I am 64 and will be 65 in April, but I am not going to get a shot until I know there is a second one available. Here in Michigan, there are multiple instances where the second shot is not available and today on the news they weighed the possibility of “mixing and matching” – if you started with Pfizer, was it acceptable to have Moderna as the second shot? The pros and cons – really?! Why not do it the way it was intended? There is no rhyme or reason to any of the vaccine rollout but thank goodness the new administration has stepped up to the plate before many more deaths occurred. The Johnson & Johnson shot and its less-than -great efficacy is worrisome as well. Thank goodness for our diversion of walking in nature … I have a lot going on at work and have been late leaving work, then I try to catch up on the news before coming here. Not so great. Too much going on to keep my mind still enough to enjoy a book right now.
I heard something about that mixing and matching, sounds dicey to me. But I’ll take whatever vaccine becomes available to me first. Do you need appointments in Michigan? I’m glad we have appointments here so things should move along in an orderly fashion. One would hope… Yesterday a group of 10 people from New York, over 70 years old, but who didn’t live or work here in Connecticut, made appointments at a CVS, took the one and a half hour ferry ride over from Long Island, and showed up to get a vaccination. (New Yorkers who work in Connecticut are allowed to get their shots here and vice versa.) When they couldn’t prove they worked here they were denied the vaccine and they made a scene and the police had to be called to get them off the property. In their defense, they said the CVS website took their zip codes and still directed them here. Not sure what to believe! Yes, thank goodness for our nature walks!
Our rollout has not been smooth and the three county executives squabbling about “he got more” … it is not good and we have not yet gotten them to CVS yet. I’d be all for that happening as there is a CVS right by me and I get my flu shot there every Fall and got my pneumonia shot there last Fall as well. That’s some story … we should have anticipated the entire rollout would not go smoothly. Our nature walks do help keep us going – I did not go today though due to bitter cold and they never plowed or salted the roads and it is snowing again.
Hang in there, Linda! We’re waiting for another 6-8 inches of snow to begin falling this morning. I hope it will be all snow for a change! A short trip to CVS would be a blessing for us, too.
Wow – you hang in there too Barbara … that’s a hefty snowfall and I’m complaining about another two inches, but they never plowed or salted the last 4.2 inches of snow that fell Thursday night. The roads are slippery and I didn’t want to risk walking. You’re having a lot of hunkering down lately.
Looks like we got about 6 inches. Two more storms predicted for Wednesday and Friday. What’s happening??? No snow in January and now this chain of storms… How strange that they’re not plowing in your neighborhood — I wonder what’s up. I agree, best not to risk walking where it’s slippery.