Podcast Transcript: COVID

Today, I share with you my week as a nurse during the Coronovirus scare.

What is COVID-19? It is Coronavirus Disease discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and as you know, it has spread in other countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Italy, and the United States.

How am I affected as a head of household? I had to stock up necessities to last 30 days. I made time to do this last night, avoiding the crowd, and at the end of my work week.

As a nurse, Two nursing events are canceled, one here in Denver, the other in Indiana. The one in June for the Philippine Nursing Association of America is not canceled yet.

One nursing event of only 25 people is not canceled. This is my Philippine Nursing group in my state. We were able to do some fundraising to benefits, nursing students.

At work, many of us have to pitch in working extra hours to accommodate the already busy season without COVID. Our masks are running low.

As a resident in Colorado, I am affected in the sense that many places are closed. Rec centers, parks, schools...temporarily for two weeks.

The store shelves for antimicrobials, paper products, and baby wipes are bare. Yesterday, I bought the last dozen eggs the store had out.

You have heard of this social distancing and avoiding crowds to slow down the spread of COVID. The threat is real. We all need to pitch in to slow it down as we are already busy in the hospital.

We cannot afford a rapid spread and a big rise in hospitalized patients. So far, we have resources and help to care for the sick now. The threat will not only affect respiratory patients but also other hospitalized patients be it surgical, cancer, heart patients and the rest.

Keep healthy. Keep clean. Wash your hands. If you are strong but have the symptoms of a cold, cover your mouth and distance yourself.

Let’s be thankful it is not so bad yet here in the US. But we can do better and fight the spread.