Coronavirus Tales : From Fiction to Reality

[bnew]

Florida man regrets doubting COVID-19 as ‘hysteria’ after infection lands him in intensive care


Jupiter man skeptical of coronavirus gets infected, changes opinion



Patient urges encourages people to take virus seriously

A Jupiter man, who admits he was skeptical that the coronavirus was real, has a new outlook after contracting the virus.

By: Chris Gilmore
Posted at 10:30 AM, May 13, 2020
and last updated 12:35 PM, May 18, 2020
JUPITER, Fla. — A Jupiter man, who admits he was skeptical that the coronavirus was a real threat, has a new outlook after contracting the virus.

Around this time last month, Jupiter rideshare driver Brian Hitchens was a self-proclaimed COVID-19 skeptic.

“I thought it was maybe the government trying something, and it was kind of like they threw it out there to kinda distract us,” said Hitchens.

He made Facebook posts downplaying the seriousness and sticking to his faith, saying God is bigger than this virus will ever be.

“I'd get up in the morning and pray and trust in God for his protection, and I’d just leave it at that. There were all these masks and gloves. I thought it looks like a hysteria,” Hitchens explained.

Fast forward to this week and Hitchens has a whole new outlook from his hospital bed at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center as a coronavirus-positive patient.

"I don’t want to see anyone go through what I went through," Hitchens said.



He recently took to social media about his experience, now encouraging people to take the virus seriously.

“This wasn’t some scare tactic that anybody was using. It wasn’t some made-up thing. This was a real virus you gotta take seriously,” Hitchens said.

This hits even closer to home for Hitchens after his wife was admitted to the same hospital at the same time for coronavirus.

"My wife’s on a ventilator. It’s been like that for three weeks, and it’s tough. It’s sad,” said Hitchens.

He and his wife are both still hospitalized at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.

Hitchens and his wife aren't able to see each other, and neither is sure when they’ll be discharged.

WPTV, Photo Submitted
Brian Hitchens and his wife are both hospitalized at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center battling the coronavirus.

https://www.facebook.com/brianlee.hitchens/posts/3241584752540091

 

[bnew]

Trump Fan Who Refused to Wear Mask at Trader Joe's Has Symptoms

Trump Fan Who Recorded Herself Refusing to Wear Mask at Trader Joe’s Now Has Symptoms



By Charlie NashMay 15th, 2020, 11:04 am
1120 Comments
Genevieve Peters, a woman who went viral for recording herself refusing to wear a face mask at Trader Joe’s last week, revealed she’s now experiencing a “sore throat and lymph nodes.”

In the video, which was uploaded to YouTube last Thursday, Peters took of her mask at the Trader Joe’s checkout and refused to put it back on when asked by a worker at the store.

“I’m in a public space,” Peters protested, incorrectly. “I’m uncomfortable wearing a mask.”

As the worker called the police, Peters complained, “They’re literally calling the police on me because I’m not putting this mask on,” before explaining she didn’t want to wear a mask because “it’s unhealthy for me.”

“I don’t want to breathe my own CO2. There’s many researchers,” she insisted. “They’re bogus rules… It’s ridiculous. There’s so much research that says we actually are in danger of having this mask, of breathing my own CO2. Do you understand that?”

“I’m not endangering you because I’m a healthy person,” Peters said.

Peters then went on to make a scene for 20 minutes, arguing with workers, before finally leaving the store. But in a bit of creeping irony that was flagged by Right Wing Watch’s Jared ****, things have taken a turn for Peters.

On Thursday, exactly one week after uploading her video, Peters uploaded another video to her Facebook page — which has over 7,000 followers — captioned, “Health Update after yesterday’s sore throat and lymph nodes.”

“Yesterday, I let you guys know that I had a sore throat and it was feeling like it was going into my lymph nodes, and the reason I posted it was because I knew I had zero fear that I will be a statistic on the Covid-19,” Peters declared. “I’m not saying I might not get it, I might get it, I mean anyone could get it, right? I mean, it’s like the flu. I’ve had the flu many times in my life. But I’ve survived it.”

“And the reason I put it out there is I wanted to show that if you start feeling symptoms, there is zero panic. Zero panic. Why? Because I’m healthy. Healthy people can get sick… It doesn’t mean the end,” she continued, adding, “There’s bacteria, there’s viruses, they’ve been around for millions of years, really, and the most important thing is that our body is equipped for that.”

“It has what we call an immune system. So when I was feeling sick yesterday, I knew that all I had to do was boost my immune system,” Peters concluded, before showing off an array of natural remedies she had acquired.

A sore throat is on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) list of coronavirus symptoms.

On her Facebook page, Peters describes herself as a “Rabid Lover of America, Freedom, the Constitution and the GREATEST PRESIDENT Donald J. Trump!”

 

[bnew]

Egyptian dad dies of COVID-19 after branding pandemic fake news on social media

Egyptian dad dies of COVID-19 after branding pandemic fake news on social media

Doctors at the Sheikh Zayed hospital in Cairo intubate a patient. Egypt has reported over 10,000 Covid-19 cases so far. (File/AFP)

Updated 15 May 2020
Mohamed El-Shamaa
May 15, 2020 03:31

• After contracting the virus he posted to social media admitting his mistakes, explaining the serious nature of the COVID-19, and calling on people to stay at home.
• Mohamed Wahdan on Tuesday and will be buried in his home village of Taha Shobra

Cairo: An Egyptian dad who posted a video on social media claiming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak was fake news has died after contracting the virus.

Tourism worker Mohamed Wahdan, 29, failed to heed World Health Organization and Egyptian Ministry of Health warnings about the global threat posed by COVID-19, dismissing it on Facebook as a story fabricated by the US to damage the Chinese economy.

In his post on March 16, Wahdan, who lived with his wife and daughter in the Munefeya governorate north of Cairo, urged his fellow Egyptians to carry on with their lives as normal. He also criticized food hoarders and the closure of gyms while acknowledging the need to take precautionary measures against COVID-19.

However, soon after downplaying the seriousness of the virus, he started showing symptoms and was admitted to an isolation hospital south of Cairo after testing positive for COVID-19. By that time, he had already infected his brother and father with the virus.

Two days after being taken into hospital Wahdan’s health started to deteriorate but when he was able, he posted videos on his Facebook page admitting his mistakes, explaining the serious nature of the virus, and calling on people to stay at home.

“I was told to stay at home and not to go out, but I didn’t take such warnings seriously as I was pursuing a false life,” he said. “Please do not take the virus lightly because it is a fatal disease that destroys every part of your body.

“Hunger will not kill you. Do not risk your life. The disease is spreading in Egypt especially in Munefeya. Unfortunately, my siblings contracted the virus from me. Stay in your homes because this is a lethal disease. Please kindly pray for me from your hearts that I be cured soon of the virus. God bless you all.”

In Wahdan’s last post before he died, he could barely talk. His friends announced his death on Tuesday and his funeral was held in his home village of Taha Shobra.

On May 4, after his father had tested positive for COVID-19, Wahdan took to Facebook and said: “Please pray for my father Nady Wahdan who is currently in the chest hospital, because he has coronavirus. He is in bad shape. Please, God, help us through this. I wonder who will be next?”

After becoming infected himself, Wahdan started posting online videos from the quarantine hospital, despite sometimes being unable to talk due to fever, to document his suffering and warn others of the dangers of the disease. In one, just before his death, he said: “I am dying.”

A friend of Wahdan described him as an athlete and someone who always enjoyed good health. The pal, who wished to remain anonymous, told Arab News that Wahdan’s father was in hospital in the city of Shebein El-Kom and his brother, Bahaa, was receiving treatment elsewhere. He said both were in a stable condition but had not been told about Wahdan’s death.

Mohamed Allam, vice chairman of an isolation hospital in the Egyptian city of Matrouh, said the fear and panic Wahdan had shown in some of his posts, were due to the constant pain and fever he had been experiencing.

On Facebook, Allam said: “This does not necessarily happen to everyone. In a few cases the pain is extreme, and the fever goes on for days causing much more pain in the body and affecting a patient’s state of mind. Panic in such cases will not make things any better.

“No one should face the beginning of the disease while in a state of surrender thinking that they will eventually die. Only God knows when we will die. There are very high rates of recovery. Of course, the disease has defeated some people but still, they are few.”

 

[bnew]

New York barber cutting hair 'illicitly' during lockdown tests positive for coronavirus

New York barber cutting hair 'illicitly' during lockdown tests positive for coronavirus

May 14, 2020, 2:56 PM EDT
By Janelle Griffith


A barber who continued to cut hair at a shop in New York over the past few weeks in violation of the state's stay-at-home order has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to the Ulster County Department of Health and Mental Health.

In a statement Wednesday, the county health commissioner advised anyone who received a haircut in the past three weeks at a barbershop on Broadway in the city of Kingston, about 20 miles north of Poughkeepsie, to seek testing for the coronavirus. The statement did not identify either the barber or the shop.

Nonessential businesses have been closed since March 22 under an order issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that is set to expire Friday, when certain parts of the state that have met public health metrics will be allowed to begin a phased reopening.

Under the order, barbershops, beauty salons, nail salons and other businesses that provide personal care services are not allowed to be open and operated to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"We are taking extraordinary measures to try and minimize the spread of this dangerous disease," Ulster County Health Commissioner Dr. Carol Smith said. "Learning that a barbershop has been operating illicitly for weeks with a COVID-19 positive employee is extraordinarily disheartening."

"As much as we would all like to go out and get a professional haircut, this kind of direct contact has the potential to dramatically spread this virus throughout our community and beyond," Smith added.

 

[CarbonBraddock]

corona on some 'it was real enough for georgie' shyt with some of these folks

 

[bnew]

Texas church cancels masses following death of priest possibly from coronavirus

Texas church cancels masses following death of priest possibly from coronavirus
Five other members of the religious order also tested positive for COVID-19.
By
Meredith Deliso
May 18, 2020, 9:35 PM
7 min read

​

Priest dies as parishioners from his church test positive for coronavirusTexas recently recorded its highest number of new cases in a single day.
A Texas church has canceled public masses following the death of a priest who was suspected of having the coronavirus.

Holy Ghost Parish in Houston had resumed masses on May 2, just as Texas started to loosen its stay-at-home restrictions. But the parish canceled services indefinitely as of May 14, a day after one of its priests, Father Donnell Kirchner, passed away, church officials said.

The Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Houston is seen here.
The Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Houston is seen here.KTRK
Five other members of the church's religious order also tested positive for COVID-19.

In an update on its website, the church said it was possible that Kirchner had contracted COVID-19 and that "one or more of the community might have been exposed" to the virus. The cause of death is unknown, but Kirchner was diagnosed with pneumonia before passing away at home on May 13, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said.

Kirchner shared a residence with seven other members of the Redemptorists religious order, who following his death were all tested for the coronavirus. The church stopped mass while awaiting the test results.

MORE: Texas COVID-19 cases rise, governor's office says more testing being done
Over the weekend, the church announced that three members of its Redemptorists religious community had tested positive for COVID-19 so far. On Monday evening, the Archdiocese announced that a total of five members had tested positive for COVID-19, including two priests who had been active in masses since May 2.

"If anyone has attended masses in person at Holy Ghost Church since the reopening, we strongly encourage you to monitor your health for any symptoms and be tested for COVID-19, as a precautionary measure," the church's pastor, William Bueche, said in a statement.

The members who tested positive are asymptomatic and are in quarantine in the parish's residence along with the rest of the community, church officials said.

Traffic moves along Interstate 10, April 30, 2020, near downtown Houston during the coronavirus pandemic which shut down much of Houston's economic activity.
Traffic moves along Interstate 10, April 30, 2020, near downtown Houston during the coronavirus pandemic which shut down much of Houston's economic activity.David J. Phillip/AP, FILE
Gov. Greg Abbott's stay-at-home order, which was in effect April 2-30, exempted churches, congregations and houses of worship. The Archdiocese had suspended all weekday and Sunday masses starting March 18, though it allowed churches to remain open for private prayer at their own discretion.

After the state's stay-at-home order expired on April 30, the Archdiocese allowed parishes to resume mass on May 2 as long as they followed state guidelines, including having all congregants wear masks and sit in alternate rows. The timing coincided with the state's phased reopening, starting with retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls on May 1.

According to the Archdiocese, in-person attendance at the 900-seat Holy Ghost Parish had been "closely controlled," with the Sunday masses never exceeding more than 179 people.


However one former member of the Holy Ghost parish expressed disbelief at the Archdiocese's decision to allow mass.

"It flies in the face of all medical advice from our community," Houston resident Tiffany Tyler said in a Facebook post. "I believe it was an irresponsible decision and that the outbreak in this parish will not be the last."

Harris County has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Texas, with 9,635 cases in the county and city of Houston combined, according to the Harris County public health department. Texas has seen a steady rise in cases and fatalities since reopening. On Monday, the state had 48,693 confirmed cases, up from 909 the day before, and 1,347 deaths, a one-day increase of 11.


The state continued its phased reopening Monday, with some personal service businesses, childcare services and offices able to open. On Friday, bars and recreational facilities like bowling alleys will be permitted to reopen at up to 25% capacity, and restaurants will be allowed to increase their dine-in capacity to 50%.

COVID-19 cases have been linked to other places of worship as states begin to reopen.

A church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, suspended in-person services last week after a case of COVID-19 was linked to it, according to ABC affiliate WTVC. The local health department was investigating three cases tied to the church, WTVC reported. Gov. Bill Lee allowed houses of worship to reopen May 1, with limited capacity and face masks recommended.

More than 180 people may have been exposed to the coronavirus at a May 10 religious service held in violation of California's stay-at-home order. An attendee at the service in Butte County tested positive for the virus the next day. California began reopening select counties, including Butte, this month, but public gatherings of any kind are still not allowed under the state's stay-at-home regulations.

 

[bnew]

GOP sheriff who refused to enforce lockdown says he got COVID-19 at campaign event


​

On Wednesday, the Phoenix New Times reported that Mark Lamb, the Republican sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, has announced he tested positive for COVID-19 and will submit to quarantine.

“Unfortunately, as a law enforcement official and elected leader, we do not have the luxury of staying home,” said Lamb in his statement. “This line of work is inherently dangerous, and that is a risk we take when we sign up for the job. Today, that risk is the COVID-19 virus. On Saturday, I held a campaign event, where it is likely I came into contact with an infected individual.”

In late April, Lamb had told the Phoenix New Times that he could not enforce state lockdown orders on coronavirus because he considered them unconstitutional: “In tough times, tough decisions have to be made. I’m looking at two laws in each hand [and] going with the one that’s 200 years old rather than two days old.”


Arizona has seen a surge in coronavirus cases following the rolling back of stay-at-home restrictions by GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, and health experts have stated the end of restrictions is directly responsible.

 

[DoomzdayzV]

u are p*ssy we get it

 

[Originalman]

OP...I guess they found out....it was indeed a fact...

 

[null]

u are p*ssy we get it

 

[bnew]

Coronavirus Arizona: Tempe man hospitalized with COVID-19 after sharing drinks at bar


'I didn't take this seriously': Tempe man with COVID-19 says he regrets sharing drinks in bar

Audrey Jensen March 27, 2020

After five hours of shoveling rocks into his family’s backyard, Jimmy Flores, 30, met up with his close friends at the bars in Scottsdale on a Saturday night in June.

"This bar was super packed. I was kind of concerned because I was like, man, everyone's tight, they have limited cups. Some people were sharing drinks, it was weird," said Flores, who also shared drinks with his friends at a bar in north Scottsdale that night.

The next day, Flores said his body was sore before going to bed, but he shrugged it off as being tired from working and drinking. Then, Flores woke up in the middle of the night with a temperature of 103 degrees.

"I texted my buddy and said, "I think I'm getting the flu.' He goes, 'That is scary because I am too,'" Flores told The Arizona Republic.

After testing positive for COVID-19 the week of June 8, Flores said Maricopa County Department of Public Health employees were able to trace the new coronavirus to a bar in north Scottsdale.

Bar with outbreak not named
Flores said the department asked he not share the name of the bar when they initially assessed him.

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health said on Wednesday that they do not routinely ask people not to share the name of a place where they may have been exposed to COVID-19 and that there may have been a misunderstanding.

"We don’t know what happened in that particular circumstance. We do everything we can to protect people’s confidentiality, and there may have been a confusing message there," said Rebecca Sunenshine, medical director for disease control at the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, at a Wednesday press conference.

"I want to be very clear that when we do contact the contacts of a case — so somebody that we know was exposed to a case when they were infectious — we never tell that contact who they were infected by. And so maybe there was some confusion with that. But we certainly don’t have a policy of telling people not to name a particular place, because that is part of our community efforts."

Sunenshine also said that after doing the contact investigation and finding out where someone was exposed, they encourage the person to communicate with the people who were exposed.

“We ask them to communicate with those people, because they can often communicate with them much faster than we can actually get to them by phone," she said.

Flores said on Wednesday that, to his understanding, he was not supposed to name the bar.

"The health department did not inform me to say nothing — they recommended me to let them handle the establishment communication and to keep the specific location private for now until more information was collected," Flores said.

He said he still does not want to name the bar for fear of legal repercussions.

Hospitalized for a week
He was admitted June 15 to Banner Baywood Medical Center with COVID-19 and pneumonia after experiencing body aches, nasal congestion, fatigue, headaches, chills, sweating, shortness of breath, and other symptoms, according to Flores.

Flores is one of the thousands of confirmed new COVID-19 cases in the month since Gov. Doug Ducey lifted the stay-at-home order in Arizona, which saw an increase of a record 3,591 new cases reported Tuesday. Face masks became mandatory across Maricopa County within the last week to help slow the spread of the virus.

Once at the hospital, doctors used an oxygen tank to assist with Flores' breathing and gave him a mixture of antibiotics and a corticosteroid for treatment.

Flores also had to learn a coughing technique and lay on his stomach to help with breathing.

No visitors were allowed in the hospital while he was admitted and he went days without being able to eat a full meal or get a full night's rest, Flores said.

His friend, who is 41, also tested positive for COVID-19, but he did not have to be hospitalized, Flores said.

Tubers float down the Salt River during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mesa, Ariz. on May 16, 2020. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey lifted his stay-at-home order Friday, the 15, and the day after Salt River Tubing reopened with some guidelines in place to promote safety during the pandemic.

Since contracting the virus, Flores started posting updates of his journey on his Facebook page to raise awareness. His initial post was shared more than 2,000 times.

"When I did the initial post that went viral, I got a lot of people that were kind of like, ‘Did you boost your post? Are you pushing a narrative?'" Flores said.

"That wasn't meant to be political. It was supposed to be me ... saying, 'Hey, I didn't take this seriously. I was like you. I didn't think I was gonna get COVID. I didn't believe in COVID because I didn't know anyone that got it. ... and I got it in the worst possible way."

Flores said he visited public places during the pandemic that were more secluded than the bar he contracted the virus from, "but the biggest thing was just sharing drinks ... I hate doing that anyways, so I should have never done that," he said. "I wasn't wearing a mask, I was still giving people hugs."

After more than a week in the hospital, Flores was discharged home Monday, but breathing is still a challenge and he is taking multiple medications, he said in his most recent Facebook post.

"I'm definitely going to be a very, very, very, protective-gear kind of guy for sure," Flores said. "I'm just going to be extremely careful, but I think I'm kind of making it a mission to educate people on this and just tell my story."

His friends and family also created a GoFundMe page to help cover his medical costs. Flores said he has insurance to help with some of the costs, but will not receive the hospital bill for another week.

"I really care about people not going through this and that they have to take this seriously because it really hurts," Flores said.

 

[null]

 

[bnew]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/27/politics/reopen-maryland-tim-walters-coronavirus/index.html

Co-founder of Maryland group that protested for state to reopen tests positive for coronavirus

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN

Updated 7:28 PM ET, Sat June 27, 2020

(CNN)The co-founder of a Maryland group that protested the state's stay-at-home order and has pressured Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to ease restrictions amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic says he has tested positive for Covid-19.

Tim Walters, the organizer for Reopen Maryland, said in a Facebook live video posted Thursday that he is quarantining in his home. The US Navy veteran and former Republican candidate for Maryland's House of Delegates also said that his wife and son would get tested and they would be following the 14-day quarantine.

"I did have a hard day yesterday. I told you guys I wasn't feeling really well. I crashed later in the day, had to go to the emergency room. I thought I was actually having a stroke ... turns out I had Covid," he said in the video, continuing later: "As you can see, I'm not dying. It's uncomfortable. I would make it akin to having the flu."

In April and May, Reopen Maryland, a grassroots group, organized rallies in Annapolis and across the state to push Hogan to reopen the state's economy. The group in May also joined a handful of religious and business leaders and state lawmakers in suing the governor over his stay-at-home order.

Walters first shared he was diagnosed with coronavirus earlier this week in a series of Facebook videos, according to The Capital Gazette, which first reported on Walters' diagnosis. Walters separately told The Daily Record on Friday that he had deleted some videos in which he discussed his diagnosis because of backlash his family received.

Walters, according to the Capital Gazette, urged those he has recently come in contact with to assess their health, but said he will not provide information to state public health officials for contract tracing -- an epidemiological tool that public health officials say is key to understanding coronavirus and stopping its spread.

Walters and Reopen Maryland have not responded to CNN's request for comment.
Hogan has gradually lifted restrictions in the state, allowing gyms, casinos and malls to reopen last week, but people in Maryland are still required to wear face coverings in retail spaces and on public transportation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Americans wear a cloth face cover in public to curb the spread of the coronavirus, noting that "cloth face coverings are meant to protect other people in case the wearer is unknowingly infected but does not have symptoms."

Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, said in a statement that "wearing masks can reduce transmission of the virus by as much as 50%, and those who refuse are putting their lives, their families, their friends, and their communities at risk."

Walters told the Daily Record that contracting Covid-19 after months of not wearing a face mask has not changed his views, "because there's too much proof that masks don't work."
"I don't care if you wear a mask or not. I'm not here to advocate for that. I think the government's role is to educate us so we can make those informed decisions," he told the paper.

While Reopen Maryland protested the governor's coronavirus restrictions in May, others in the state have since joined nationwide demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice.
Hogan on his Facebook page Friday shared the Gazette's article about Walters' diagnosis, using it as an opportunity to encourage all protesters to get tested for coronavirus.

"As Marylanders have gathered to peacefully protest in recent weeks, I want to reiterate to those participating in these events that it's still important to continue to take all precautions to reduce the risks of spreading the coronavirus," the Republican governor wrote.

"Our health experts are strongly encouraging anyone who attended a demonstration or mass gathering to immediately get tested for coronavirus, and they are also advised to avoid contact with vulnerable populations," he said.

There have been 3,142 deaths due to Covid-19 in Maryland, according to data from John Hopkins University.

The state currently has over 66,000 reported cases, with nearly 500 people hospitalized, and has tested over 613,500 people, according to the Maryland Department of Health. A majority of the positive cases are among those ages 30-39, while most of the deaths have been among those 80 and over, according to the department.

 

[bnew]

Spoiler: mirror

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

Bookmarks