(WWJ) On this episode of In Depth from WWJ, host Rob St. Mary follows up with a nurse who tested positive for COVID-19 who is now cleared to return to work, despite her cough and fatigue. We also take a look at how funerals and religious observances are changing in the time of coronavirus. A local HR consultant talks about how businesses and employees can work together during this crisis, this after he was stuck on a cruise ship earlier this year during to virus. And the Detroit-area author who wrote the book “Birdbox," adapted into the wildly popular Netflix film starring Sandra Bullock, talks about his work, what he’s reading right now, and some tips on how to handle the anxiety we are all grappling with these days.
Still Coughing But Cleared for Work
On last week’s episode, a nurse who came down with a case of COVID-19 talked about how she was feeling, what lead up to her diagnosis, and how her hospital system was handling the issue as the first cases arrived in early March.We have decided to withhold her name and any identifiers to her hospital system to project her job since she is not authorized by the hospital to speak and some companies have sanctioned or fired health care professionals for talking to media or posting photos, videos, or personal stories on social media.
On Tuesday she had four phone calls with different leaders within her hospital. After those calls, and not having a fever or any medications for 72 hours, she was cleared to return to work. She will go back on the job Wednesday.
“I guess I’m back to normal… I don’t have all my stamina back and I have a residual cough, but other than that, I’m OK,” she said.From a personal standpoint, the nurse said she’s dealing with one big issue – loss of smell that is effecting the taste of food.
“(My son and I) are picking food that have interesting textures because tomatoes are just wet and cold, pizza is just warm and mushy. I can detect salt and acid. That’s probably why orange juice tastes good because at least I get some kind of burning sensation on my tongue,” she said.The nurse said she hopes her sense of smell and taste return. But, she’s read posts from other health care workers who have also been infected by COVID-19 who recovered several weeks ago and they have the same issue. She didn’t want to speculate on why this is, but noted that some early research shows this strain of the virus could have crossed into the brain and changed things neurologically. But, more scientific study needs to be done.
But, is she still contagious? The nurse said she doesn’t really know.
“I don’t think anyone has any idea how long anyone is contagious for? The only think they ask is that I wear a mask when I’m at work because of the cough,” she said.
The nurse said she also plans to limit her interactions with her co-workers are a precaution during her 12-hour shifts.
So, since she’s been through this, is she protected from another dose of the new coronavirus? She said it’s still unclear because the study into this virus, which has no vaccine or no FDA approved drugs to help fight it, is so new.
“The hope is that you have immunity to it. But is it like the immunity that we have for the flu where you catch Flu B this season and you don’t get Flu B for the rest of the season but you could still get Flu A for the rest of the season,” said wondered.
As for returning to work, she said she’s looking forward to seeing how processes have changed over the last ten days or so since she started to show symptoms.
Overwhelming Hospitals – Overwhelming Cemeteries
In Spain, ice arenas are being used as emergency morgues. In Northern Italy, local funeral directors ran out of coffins. In New York City, refrigerated semi trailers are being used to store the dead and the public health department said there a plans to bury some people, temporarily, in city parks in an effort to handle an overflow of the dead claimed due to COVID-19. Locally, Lynch and Sons has been in the funeral business since 1948 running seven locations in Metro Detroit. Paddy Lynch is an undertaker with the family business.
For Lynch, his funeral homes will be not hosting large gatherings for anyone who dies from any cause in order to keep “social distancing” and limit the spread of the virus. As for those people who die from COVID-19, Lynch said his staff can handle their burial or cremation arrangements. But, there will be no embalming and no funeral service for people who die from the virus since Lynch said the protocol is to get them in the ground or cremated within 24-hours. But, the big issue locally will be capacity at where the dead go to take their final rest.
“What you’d seen the cemeteries start to do is limit their burials to three or four a day because they want to space people out and they have less staff, and the crematories aren’t accustomed to having to create people super quickly and in large numbers,” said Lynch.As someone who understands the emotional, spiritual, and religious meaning of funerals for the dead and the grieving, Lynch said it’s heartbreaking to how allow them at this time. In the meantime, he’s advising families to consider live streaming a small funeral now with the mind of holding a larger memorial service after the outbreak has past.
Website: https://www.lynchfuneraldirectors.com/
Passover Over the Internet
This week is Holy Week for the members of the Christian faith – a week of reflection leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This is also the start of Passover in the Jewish Faith – a time to remember the story of the Hebrew’s freedom from slavery in Egypt.
One of the most important pieces of the Passover traditions is the Seder – a special feast that includes readings from the Torah and songs usually in a community setting. But, with “social distancing” closing many houses of worship, a Metro Detroit congregation is using video conferencing technology to make this Seder unlike any they have had before while working to make it as interactive as possible.
“These moments of crisis are times when a lot of people find themselves turning towards tradition and history and saying “OK, how have we, as a people, cultivated resilience?”, said Jake Erhlich is Community Engagement Coordinator for Congregation T’chiyah – a part of the Reconstructionist Judaism tradition.
Erhlich said his mission has been to find the best ways to use video conferencing technology and its features to allow for break out sessions, side conversations and other engagement opportunities instead of just a broadcasted religious service.
Congregation T’chiyah will hold their virtual Passover Seder on Thursday evening. Website: http://www.tchiyah.org/
Trapped on a Ship, Trying Not to Sink a Business
In early February, Steve Muth of Lenawee County, his wife, their daughter and her boyfriend were stuck on a cruise ship in waters off Southeast Asia as COVID-19 started to spread outside of China. The family was on the Westerdam – a ship that took of out of Hong Kong. For about 17 days, Muth and his family were out to sea without a country to take them in. Eventually, Cambodia allowed the passengers to disembark and then fly back to their respective countries. Right now, there are at least a dozen cruise ships in the Caribbean facing a similar fate. Last weekend, Florida allowed two such ships to dock to unload passengers – some sick with the new coronavirus. Muth talked about how the U.S. and other governments worldwide need to come up with better protocols to handle these kinds of events.
“I don’t care where you are on the political spectrum, you’ve got people that need to get home and, by the way, most of those people are not sick… most of those people just want to make their way home. So, let’s triage those folks, do what you need to separate them and get them on their way home so they can get on with their lives,” he said.
As an human resources professional, Muth has consulted for companies worldwide. Right now, he said businesses should be honest with their employees as to where they are and employees should take some time for themselves during this, see it as a bit of a vacation, but find ways to make sure there’s a company to go back to by helping to “add value” to the company by doing work from home – even if it’s unpaid at this time.
Website: https://hrbones.com/
Can a Local Horror Writer Handle This Pandemic Better Than You?If you have been vacillating between feeling dread and optimism, you’re not alone. Detroit area musician and writer Josh Malerman is with you. The singer/guitarist for the band The High Strung is also a notable horror novelist. His book “Birdbox” was adapted into the popular 2018 Netflix film starring Sandra Bullock. The film became on of the most streamed items on the platform when it released, led to a raft of memes and even “The Birdbox Challenge” – stunts people posted on social media while wearing a blindfold like Bullock’s character, Malorie.
Malerman, who is a huge horror fan, said he’s backed away from reading things are too gruesome as of late.“Horror to the me is the imagination unchained, you can do whatever you want. But, fantasy in this time of anxiety of is giving me that imagination but a little bit warmer version of it,” said Malerman.
So, he’s been enthralled with the fantasy writing of Terry Brooks and movies like “Willow” and “The Lord of the Rings”.
At the same time, while his latest book – a follow up to “Birdbox” called “Malorie” – is set to land in book stores later this summer, Malerman has been writing a serialized novel free for all to read on his website called “Carpenter’s Farm”. New chapters are being published online three days a week.
You can read it and learn more about his work at https://joshmalerman.com/