Coronavirus

It seems that every couple of years a new virus emerges that causes panic throughout the world.  Thus, this year when the Coronavirus was first announced to have impacted the lives of those in mainland China, I didn't give it much thought.  We had already survived Eubola, Sars, and the Swine Flu during my time as a parents.  One more strange named Asian flu didn't seem that scary to me.

My feelings on the subject have changed in the past few days, however, as the virus has infiltrated more than just California in the United States.  Over the weekend there were deaths reported  at a nursing home in Washington state.  Even though the patients were elderly with compromised immune systems, the thought that it was now spreading among those that had not traveled outside of the country greatly raised my concern.

Since there are now three cases diagnosed in the Sarasota/Tampa Bay area I let Meg know that I might want to cancel our Spring Break trip to Florida.  With all of the tourists in and out of the Orlando area I have become extremely worried about the virus.  The state of Florida has also announced that they will  quarantine all travelers that demonstrate signs of the Coronavirus including those with a fever or cough.  The idea of being stuck in isolation out of state for two weeks has made me even more nervous.

Meg was extremely upset after I talked to her today.  She had been looking forward to our trip since we first discussed it last fall.  Even more disappointing for her was the fact that Cal wasn't going to have to change his plans.   He was driving and wasn't traveling with a 51 year old woman, thus his risk was greatly reduced than those of us who were flying through an international airport.  He and Meg were both in the lowest risk group with only 1% of Coronavirus patients being in the 15-25 year old age group, but I wasn't.  Thankfully, Meg and I don't have to decided today.  After talking it over with Doug, the three of us have agreed to wait until next week to make the decision.  That would give the state of Florida time to gather more information.  Either way I decided to jump on the bandwagon and stock up on recommended travel supplies just in case.   Pretty sure that all of the Heinisch children thought that I was crazy before, but my current shopping trip only added to their assumptions.