When asked if they have COVID symptoms, some Patients answer, “What COVID? I don’t have COVID.” Others would say, “No more mask. No more COVID.” Some self diagnosed themselves with certainty that it’s anything but COVID even if the symptoms are indistinguishable. Doctor sounds foolish when Doctor includes COVID as part of the possible Diagnosis. Common response, “I know I don’t have COVID, but okay, you can test me for COVID.” Then when Patient is notified of a positive COVID result, there’s this silent pause, followed by a tone of disbelief, then disappointment and at the end of conversation, acceptance.

Some do verbally express a rise of COVID in their area and wants to be sure they don’t have it thru PCR testing. Some are genuinely concern of not giving COVID to others if they are asymptomatic or just having mild symptoms.

Something is not right. Ominous dark clouds of COVID Outbreak is forming overhead and we can’t see it. We will be in the midst of a COVID Storm by the time we are informed. Then it’s survival of the fittest and the healthiest. People will panic. People will get angry. We shouldn’t passed 2 years of COVID.

I like to be updated via my XFINITY Cable T.V. News of what’s happening in my own City, County and the U.S. in general. I was shocked that XFINITY Cable News removed the COVID Pandemic update top section and kept only Politics and War on Ukraine. Why? Is COVID over? Is it controlled? Is there a reason Media and Government wants us to be off guard from the progression of present and future outbreaks? I don’t get it at all. Isn’t Public Health and Safety important? It’s the most careless and reckless COVID Attitude and Response I’ve observed since February 2020.

We need to go out there and discover for ourselves what’s really happening. The Good, bad, beautiful, ugly, loss, miracles, familiar, unusual, the important, the life saving. There are so many things our Social Media, T.V. News and our phone newsfeeds are not telling.

It’s flowers, beautiful. The plant looked harmless. Then it kept growing and climbing on the metal Fence. At first, the Fence enjoyed its beauty, warmth, company and all the attention it’s getting from the Passersby. Then one day, it discovered part of itself have been destroyed and eaten. Fence is now screaming for help before all of itself are gone, but no one can hear it. The Fence present and future is now owned by the beautiful, innocent looking parasite it allowed to grow and take over.

As the media coverage plunges down to an almost quiescence, COVID is gaining speed in numbers. It’s already ahead of the infection race. Can we catch up? Do we want to catch up? Some will try, some will not. This is Free Will in Real Life at Real Time.

How easily have we forgotten. I’m tired, frustrated and pissed off too, but these are not enough for me to have an amnesia. At least, not at this time when I’m still needed to help, to serve, to heal, to fight, to survive.

Humanity’s Battle against COVID is far from over. My Battle from COVID is far from being “Endemic,” and so with every Nurse, Doctor and Medical Professionals in the Frontlines of every new War against Sickness and Death. We don’t get to be impatient.

News Stations and Government can not just pick and choose their truth and select what information they want the Public to know. Omission is still a form of deception. It affects People’s ability to make safe informed decisions. We can’t prepare if we are not aware. We can’t choose when we do not know we are suppose to choose.

What COVID? Joke, Sarcasm or Belief?

What happened to COVID? What happened to the Pandemic slashed “Now Endemic?” Do People realized there are new dominant COVID symptoms that no longer present with the typical respiratory and gastrointestinal flu? Symptoms are changing just like the virus DNA is changing.

The virus is now exponentially being passed around. Co-Workers to Co-Workers, Parents to their Kids, Children to their Parents, Grandkids to their Grandparents, Friends to Friends, Strangers to Strangers. Businesses and Economy will suffer once Employees gets COVID one after the other in a repetitive infection cycle loop. We will be short again of Manpower. This time, no more Government help because Endemic is no longer an emergency crisis.

No more free money. No work, no pay. No Business, Permanent Closure. Hospitals will demand payment of services from their Patients as Government COVID Funding ends. People will be in debt. Financial burden will make many lives miserable. Not everyone can afford insurance. Some have to pay out of pocket. Can you imagine how much weeks to months in I. C.U. care would cost? Hundred thousands of dollars. That in itself is horrifying.

A dense Fog rose rapidly from the Sea and swallowed Ocean Beach. Fog so thick that the Ocean can’t be seen from the road, and from the beach, the City seems to have disappeared. There is something off and odd to what’s happening. And my Gut feeling tells me it will be bad, really bad. But who I am? I’m just a bedside Healthcare Worker whose voice will only reach a few. I’m not famous. I’m not popular. I’m not the CEO. I’m not Elon Musk or the Kardashians. My opinion and observation will be subdued by the louder, more popular ones. Regardless, I will keep trying if there is a possibility that it can save one life.

Clinics and Emergency Rooms are seeing an increase in positivity but this time Patients are presenting with common Seasonal Allergic symptoms like nasal drip, nasal congestion, sore throat and cough with or without fever. Some presents with 1 isolated symptom like fever only, headache only, sore throat only. The loss of taste and smell are less common.

Average COVID daily Deaths in the U.S. is 340 per day, that’s about 124,100 average new COVID Deaths every year not including Surges. Acceptable? Just the Normal Mortality Rate of being Endemic? Answer should be No, but we settled because we are told to settle at these numbers.

We accepted that 340 deaths per day is better than having 2,000 deaths per day like the peak of last 2021-2022 Winter’s Surge. We agreed with a number that still involves Human Lives. We should strive for Zero like other countries in the World. But looks like Zero is an impossibility now. We’re past achieving Zero.

1,006 Americans died of COVID Thursday and Friday. That much in 2 days. It will just go up and down daily. It will not turn zero, not in a very long time. Influenza since it’s Pandemic long time ago has not stopped killing People year after year. Graph from JHU 5/6/22.

We decided to make a COVID Pandemic short cut for convenience, but like the Movie Final Destination, Death will come back and claim what’s his, if not in the first Million, then the next Million. There are consequences for skipping the finish line.

Top 3 Leading Cause of Death in the U.S. 2020, 2021 and 2022: Heart Disease, Cancer and COVID. And COVID long term complications can lead to more Death from Heart Disease and Cancer. Still mild? Still not a concern long term for all those that already got infected? Personally, I’m not worried of the now symptoms if I get COVID as I’m vaccinated, but I am worried of what it does to my body in 5-10 years now that I’m 51 with active Asthma, Borderline Pre-Diabetes and possibly Hypertensive. Our bodies deteriorates and degenerates with age. It’s expected Science, Anatomy and Physiology.

Everything and everyone goes downhill with aging even with aesthetic Plastic Surgeries and the healthiest lifestyle. On a cellular level, we can’t say a 20 year old body is the same as that a 40 year old. Immunity and Infection Defenses included.

We need to question who are this real People that continues to die from COVID. Are they vaccinated, unvaccinated, middle age, young, elderlies, immunocompromised? What are the co-morbidities that makes the mild symptoms turn deadly? How come 30 percent or more of the dead are obese? How does being overweight increases my risk of getting serious COVID? I don’t have the answers when the answers stopped coming. I guess, I have to find out for myself. I may have to experience it myself.

Our Safety will be in Silent Mode and Secrecy.

Our Boss, Supervisor or Manager will not tell us that we have been exposed by a Co-Worker or a Patient. They will let us think we got it from the community. They don’t care if we are infecting our Family and Friends because we are unaware of our contact with a Person with COVID.

A good Friend and Co-Worker concerned of possibly infecting those she worked with called me to observe myself for the next few days as we were in close contact the last 4 days. She turned COVID positive last week. Our Boss is silent because of confidential health information legal policies. But a sick employee has the right to tell those she may have infected. It’s the right thing to do. Just like telling all of one’s partners once diagnosed with STD like HIV or Chlamydia.

Half of my Work Staff called out sick for more than a week, only one warned me and others who are not sick yet. Silence from my Co-Workers. Silence from my Boss. Silence from People I trusted as Friends. I’m suppose to just pretend this is normal when it’s the first time I’ve seen this ever happened in my entire Nursing Career. Normal, when this is the first time Pandemic infiltrated my Workplace making it unsafe for both Employees and Patients on a daily basis? Likely, this is happening across all Healthcare Facilities in America.

For the Immunocompromised, the Elderlies with Co-Morbidities, be extra careful when at a clinic or hospital lobby or at a pharmacy because COVID sick now sits and stands next to non-COVID sick everywhere. It won’t be surprising to get COVID 5 days after seeing a Doctor or picking up your prescriptions. This would become normal and normal as time goes on. It’s the risk we have to take or forced to take achieving “Endemic,” and COVID Fatigue.

More recent important questions have risen up with the New Variants and which Population it is targeting. Yes, there is a target group but I will leave that to you to Research.

America will surpass 1 million COVID Death mark this week. Should this be an important Public Health Safety News? Should preventative measures be a goal to slow down the next million of deaths from happening?

The 6th U.S. COVID Wave is here, and no one knows what’s happening or how big it can explode. No more surveillance. No one will be prepared when the Emergency Siren will be activated. We can’t be victims again of another Pandemic Fiasco of 2020 when our Government Leaders and Experts kept health and life saving information from us.

I told a close Co-Worker that we need to watch each other backs as slowly, one by one, we are getting COVID in our own workplace. It’s just a matter of time.

Mild, moderate, severe, however the symptoms, the point is COVID won. Our bodies are no longer ours to control. The virus can mutate inside our cells and DNA however it wants. Within 10 years, our bodies can develop chronic diseases, acute fatal to debilitating clotting diseases and cancer we shouldn’t have if we are living an active and healthy lifestyles. Long term sequelae, COVID manifestations may not be mild or asymptomatic.

My Mask hasn’t fully retired. Some places like Work requires it for my own protection and others.

2 weeks ago, wearing a regular mask I confirmed with an elderly female Patient reason for Doctor visit where she wrote, “Allergies.” She replied, “It’s Allergies,” then she stared having a series of dry cough. I told her, “Sorry to interrupt, I need to get something quick.” I then hurriedly went to wear my N95 mask and face shield. I returned to her room and proceeded with, “Sorry again. And what are the symptoms of your Allergies?” She then added, “Well, for 2 days I have this worsening cough and sore throat. My nose keeps dripping and congestion. And my right ear hurts.”

While Patient was telling me this, she kept removing her mask to cough and sneeze on a tissue paper. Thousands of infectious microscopic droplets were floating in the air, ready for its next Human Host. My PPE saved me, but I don’t know if the old Man with her was able to evade the airborne virus. Female Patient confirmed COVID positive the next day.

A week after, the old Man with her got COVID too, but his is worse with rapid progression to shortness of breath, likely Viral Pneumonia. He was told to go to the Emergency Room. Doctor was very worried because he doesn’t believe it’s serious. Will he survive? I don’t know. It is up for the Patient to decide whether to seek advance hospital critical care or not. 1-2 days longer may be too late. I remember the old Man’s face smiling and laughing when I told him to wear the mask always because he needs to be healthy to take care of his wife who was sick.

For a moment, I honestly believed the old Man will be spared from COVID because I’m told COVID is now harmless and so mild that I shouldn’t be worried for myself, for my Patients and Co-Workers. I’m told at work to treat it like it’s just Flu. I should have followed my Gut feeling and own personal observations. Even those I know are trying to omit information that will put me and others in harms way. Silence is an implied work FYI, and it is getting into my nerves because it’s like I’m suppose to both act smart and stupid in a work that involves People’s Health, Life, Comfort and Safety.

I take my Time, Moments and Memories seriously. I think my Son does too. Friday, he decided he needs a day off from School and have a me time recovering from an ankle sprain injury doing P.E. It doesn’t look broken but ankle is tender and he was limping last night, unless he was just adding some acting to the injury to be more convincing. I didn’t question his decision. I knew pretty well the importance behind it. He doesn’t have to explain why he needs it. I understand and totally get it.

They cut the Mother Tree. Many years after, a new Baby Tree grew on its remaining trunk base. It’s Hope, it’s Miracle, what else can they be?

Moral lesson to an old story? Enjoy life while we can and spend more time with those we love. Be informed. Go out there and discover the truth we are being denied of. Follow your own gut feeling. Listen to your senses. Talk to Friends and Family in the Health Field. They won’t lie to you. Be prepared while also having fun. We could be both Smart and Adventurous. Stupid and a Fool? Well, it’s also an option too in a Free Country. I am one sometimes when totally unaware of the truth or just making very bad decisions.