As we hear more and more about the Corona Virus I'm reminded of our trip to China in May of 2013 when Bird Flu had been reported in Shanghai and Anhui. We'd already booked our tour well before the epidemic hit and I asked my epidemiologist son if it was safe to travel to China. He told me that China is a very big country and we should be safe. So we went.
Our Air and Sea tour group was very small with just 15 travelers because so many people had dropped out.
I looked back at our album of photos and saw that we were in the Wuhan region briefly.
Wuhan was very foggy or smoggy. We flew from Shanghai to Wuhan where we were transported on a bus to Yichang where our river cruise boat was docked on the Yangtze River.
The river boat could fit 350 passengers but there were only 100 travelers due to the bird flu and economic problems in China. We were thrilled to accept the upgrade in rooms for a very, very low price.
There were more crew members on the riverboat than there were tourists and very few Chinese people.
We were told that because of the bird flu, vendors around China were not allowed to display any bird life in front of their stores.
Luckily, after the March outbreak, there were very few incidences of bird flu by the time of our May trip.
That was one of our favorite trips and we had hoped to return to China soon. Now... I guess we'll wait.
By the way I just saw this on the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) website.
This is in the U.S.! Isn't it amazing? Everyone at our house got our High Dose flu shots this year.
Have you?
POSTSCRIPT 1:
Oh dang it!
Art has caught a cold! He's very rarely sick so this is a surprise. We thought it was the dry air in Illinois, but nope. He's sneezing, has a bad sore throat, congested and just feeling lousy. He seemed fine Monday when we were walking during the Great Aloha Run, but sigh... I guess we'll go into Tripler to see our doctor today.
For now, here's my cure. A rather giant pot of chicken soup and no... that's not beer.
It's hot green tea with organic agave honey. He says it's quite soothing.
POSTSCRIPT 2:
I'm hearing that N95 flu masks are impossible to find in Hawaii now. Prices are jacked up on Amazon. Wow! I asked our daughter to keep an eye out for us in Illinois and she found some at Walgreens, but they were out of them at Target and Walmart.
Our Air and Sea tour group was very small with just 15 travelers because so many people had dropped out.
I looked back at our album of photos and saw that we were in the Wuhan region briefly.
Wuhan was very foggy or smoggy. We flew from Shanghai to Wuhan where we were transported on a bus to Yichang where our river cruise boat was docked on the Yangtze River.
The river boat could fit 350 passengers but there were only 100 travelers due to the bird flu and economic problems in China. We were thrilled to accept the upgrade in rooms for a very, very low price.
There were more crew members on the riverboat than there were tourists and very few Chinese people.
We were told that because of the bird flu, vendors around China were not allowed to display any bird life in front of their stores.
Luckily, after the March outbreak, there were very few incidences of bird flu by the time of our May trip.
That was one of our favorite trips and we had hoped to return to China soon. Now... I guess we'll wait.
By the way I just saw this on the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) website.
This is in the U.S.! Isn't it amazing? Everyone at our house got our High Dose flu shots this year.
Have you?
POSTSCRIPT 1:
Oh dang it!
Art has caught a cold! He's very rarely sick so this is a surprise. We thought it was the dry air in Illinois, but nope. He's sneezing, has a bad sore throat, congested and just feeling lousy. He seemed fine Monday when we were walking during the Great Aloha Run, but sigh... I guess we'll go into Tripler to see our doctor today.
For now, here's my cure. A rather giant pot of chicken soup and no... that's not beer.
It's hot green tea with organic agave honey. He says it's quite soothing.
POSTSCRIPT 2:
I'm hearing that N95 flu masks are impossible to find in Hawaii now. Prices are jacked up on Amazon. Wow! I asked our daughter to keep an eye out for us in Illinois and she found some at Walgreens, but they were out of them at Target and Walmart.
Here's hoping that Art gets better soon.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry Art is feeling badly. Maybe picked it up in the crowded race? Hope your cure does the trick and he is feeling fine soon.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how worried people are about the Coronavirus when the plain ole seasonal flu is so vicious. Got the flu shot though it is only about 70% effective but have also had all my pneumonia shots since that is what kills.
It's a scary world we live in though our ancestors had to deal with polio and other diseases...
ReplyDeleteI guess the uncertainty of a new virus is the problem. We know what the old flu will do and accept it.
ReplyDeleteHope Art is better soon. We all got flu shots, our small hospital is full of flu inflicted people. I did catch a rotovirus (tummy bug) that's going around. Hot green tea and honey sounds great!
ReplyDeleteI was waking up in the morning with a slight sore throat which could turn into the flu or cold so I boosted my immune system with a product called Congaplex by Standard Labs. I used to be able to get this directly from the lab but they stopped catering to people like me and would only sell to health professionals. This was the go to treatment whenever anyone in the family started getting sick or was around sick people. It's main ingredient is from the thymus gland of cows.
ReplyDeleteThis works very well for me. No cold/flu symptoms anymore. I suppose things like echinachea, honey, green tea, and vitamin C works too, so it is good you are taking care of Art so well.
You could try paint masks at a home improvement store if you can't find a medical one
ReplyDeleteI hope the flu shot this year is better then last year's. I understand it is just as poor. One of my nurse friends told me. I have never had the flu and I sure don't want it.
ReplyDeleteI've had my high dose flu shot.
ReplyDeleteHope Art feels better soon!
ReplyDeleteWe both had our high dose flu shots late last year. And we both have had the pneumonia shots, but I still need to get the new Shingrix shots. I too hope Art is feeling better soon and it's just a common cold. :-(
ReplyDeleteWe had our flu shots and so far, so good. As scary as the corona virus is, so many more people get sick with the annual flu. We all just need to stay smart and calm.
ReplyDeleteGet well wishes to Art.
ReplyDeleteThe flu is so much worse than CORVID-19.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of viruses out there. There is nothing to do for them, but treat symptoms. Once it gets to be a bacterial infection, there are meds. We've just had colds here.
We get the shot every fall, but I don't suppose that will help much with this strain.
ReplyDelete