2020.03.18

Official Numbers:

• 214,894 confirmed infected
• 8,732 confirmed deaths
• 83,313 confirmed recoveries
• 81,102 China
• 35,713 Italy
• 17,361 Iran
• 13,910 Spain
• 12,327 Germany
• 9,052 France
• 8,413 Korea, South
• 7,769 US
• 3,028 Switzerland
• 2,642 United Kingdom
• 2,056 Netherlands
• 1,646 Austria
• 1,550 Norway
• 1,486 Belgium
• 1,279 Sweden
• 1,115 Denmark
• 889 Japan
• 790 Malaysia
• 712 Cruise Ship
• 657 Canada
• 568 Australia
• 464 Czechia
• 452 Qatar
• 448 Portugal
• 433 Israel
• 418 Greece
• 372 Brazil
• 336 Finland
• 313 Singapore
• 299 Pakistan
• 292 Ireland
• 275 Slovenia
• 260 Romania
• 258 Estonia
• 256 Bahrain
• 251 Poland
• 250 Iceland
• 238 Chile
• 227 Indonesia
• 212 Thailand
• 203 Luxembourg
• 202 Philippines
• 196 Egypt
• 171 Saudi Arabia
• 164 Iraq
• 156 India
• 147 Russia
• 145 Peru
• 142 Kuwait
• 133 Lebanon
• 119 San Marino
• 116 South Africa
• 113 United Arab Emirates
• 111 Ecuador
• 105 Slovakia
• 100 Taiwan

Laziness Update

I was really lazy again today, and so I don’t have very many updates for you today, and I forgot to save sources. This is all I got:

• I FINALLY FOUND HOSPITALIZATION RATES BY AGE GROUP. Right here, page 5. Now, this is statistical modelling, and not direct observational data, as far as I know. But still, insofar as Imperial College London trusts this modelling, this is extremely good news
• US Administration news: The US invoked the Defense Production Act, which I believe lets them just commandeer factories to produce things. He’s also claimed he’s going to Yangbux people $1000 in the mail to help them through these trying times. Finally, moratorium on all evictions and foreclosures, which even to my cold libertarian capitalist heart, seems like a wise policy given the current crisis
• The US and Canada are closing the border to all non-essential travel. It is unclear if I could go back to be with my family at this point, even assuming it was safe to engage in long distance travel

Personal Update

So… I have been sick for nine days now. For the first half, cold symptoms (congestion, cough) followed by a few days of 101-102 fever. Fever broke on Friday and since then I’ve felt like I’ve been recovering, with three exceptions: I haven’t been able to eat anything, I’ve been incredibly sleepy, and I’ve had a really bad headache that persisted for days after the fever ended. As of this morning, I’m still coughing some shit out of my throat but my appetite came back and I can stay awake.

Now, I was describing this to some coworkers (in a bit more detail) and they appear to be convinced that I have caught the coronavirus. They claimed my symptoms matched some personal story they read from someone who tested positive. So I got to thinking about this. The lack of dry cough + the mild course of disease made me think that this wasn’t Corona (but don’t worry, I’ve been self-quarantining out of caution). But, three things have felt very unusual to me:

• Despite taking obsessive levels of precaution, and not being exposed to anybody who was visibly sick, I somehow caught this
• I infected somebody else a day before I started showing symptoms (don’t worry, she’s also ok)
• I have never experienced this level of fatigue in an illness before. Maybe for one day in the peak of fever, but for a week afterwards? I keep reading that fatigue is a serious indicator for this disease

I’m now unsure, but perhaps I caught this? Today is day 9 of my illness. Most case reports of cases that go severe take a dramatic turn for the worse on day 9 or 10. I guess I’m not fully in the clear yet, but I have experienced no breathing problems and my SPO2 has been at 97% the whole time.

I have no way of knowing if I had the coronavirus or if this was just a weird flu. They don’t really have tests available where I am and I doubt they will be able to provide them to low-priority cases like me for months. For the near future, I’m going to assume I did have it for quarantine purposes (and stay away from other people for another two weeks). And for personal purposes, I am going to assume that I did not have it (as in, I am not going to assume I’m immune now).

I have encountered now several other people I know who are presenting the symptoms of early coronavirus. So the idea that I could have caught this is not impossible. I guess I won’t know for a while. But the good news is that today is the first day in two weeks that I’ve felt normal, and it is so good.