COVID-19 Update: Wednesday, August 12th

1. After 100 days of no local transmission, New Zealand has 4 cases. Currently there are only 23 active cases in the country.

2. The Big Ten Conference cancelled fall sports due to COVID. Sports included are football, cross country, field hockey, soccer and women’s volleyball. They will revisit Spring sports when we get closer.

3. There has been a 90% increase in COVID cases among children from July 6th – August 6th according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Children now represent 9.1% of total COVID cases among states that report by age.

4. There is strong evidence that COVID can cause acute kidney damage although research continues to be ongoing.

5. Mouthwash may help with more than just your breath. An article accepted but not yet published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases tested to see if mouth wash could help reduce viral load and in many types of mouthwash it did. It does not prevent the disease or even make it better, but it does reduce the amount of viral load in your mouth and throat therefore potentially reducing transmission. It’s just one more tool to slow the spread.

FINAL THOUGHTS: My state got hit by some severe storms on Monday. Property damage around the state is pretty severe. Power, internet, and cellular service were knocked out. Power has been restored but we are still without cell phone service or internet throughout most of the state. Yesterday I spent time driving around just waiting to find a little signal and crossing my fingers that it would work so I could let family know I was ok and post my daily update. At first it felt pretty silly. But a song came on the radio that reminded me that we are in this together. We rise and we fall as one. So, I am willing to feel silly for a minute if that can make things better in some small way and I believe that you are too. COVID is one small piece of what most of us are facing in our lives. Ok, maybe a big piece. But it is one piece. The rest of our trials didn’t just disappear. And it’s a lot to juggle. Sometimes we feel silly wearing a mask, or believing it is real, or not going somewhere fun we would really like to go. But those are all small ways we can contribute. Ways we can link arms (proverbially of course) and stand as one, United. I am proud to be standing with you doing this together because it sure beats being in it alone.

NOTE: until services are restored, I can’t monitor the posts or respond to questions. Honestly, my fingers are crossed that this even works today to go out. Please do post your thoughts and questions and help each other (I love the sense of community we have). I will answer anything lingering when I once again have service. We are safe and secure without property damage – but I do miss Amazon. Mom, we are ok.

Fresh images are still more than I can hope for, so I continue to recycle until I have legit internet again.