For the past few weeks, the latest of the coronaviruses has been spreading around the world, and around the country. As I write this, the impact on our society continues to expand, with schools and colleges closed until further notice, several countries closing their borders (including the US), and significant declarations of emergencies in states and the nation, prompting closure of many businesses as well.
As of this morning (March 15th), there are over 150,000 people infected worldwide, including 3,000 in the US, and many thousands in countries like China, Iran, Italy, Spain, and France. Over 5,000 people have died, mainly in China, where 80,000 are infected and 3,000 have died.
Locally in SW Connecticut, we've had several cases in nearby towns, but none yet in my town. They will come. Social distancing, the practice of keeping distances and avoiding large crowds, will help, but will not be enough to completely secure us from infection.
My company was one of those who early decided to have people work from home - in fact, on the day that was declared, I already had my team working from home to test our systems. We're now on Day 7 of an informal self-quarantine.
The reaction in society has been pretty intense, with some panic buying in the markets (especially toilet paper), and many people sounding off about the irrationality of everyone else :-).
Today, it hit me directly. During my morning inside bike workout, I experienced a bit of a dry cough, something that doesn't ordinarily happen. Knowing that a cough, fever, and shallow breathing are the three symptoms, I immediately took my temperature (very low at 96.8) and discussed self-isolation in my house with my wife. Oddly, she immediately agreed, and as soon as I was barricaded in my home office, she proceeded to clean everything I might have touched in the morning.
It's now been a total of about 9 hours since that happened, and I feel fine, other than the infrequent cough that seems to persist. My temperature has increased to 97.5, so still sub-normal (or about the same as my wife's temperature) so I'm hoping that I'm clean. Until tomorrow morning, I'll stay in isolation, and if nothing has progressed, I'll go back to (virtual) work and move about a bit more.
