“A cough is not a cough anymore, people’s senses are heightened,” said Manhattan-based Dr. Marilyn Jackson. “We have never seen anything quite like this in our lifetime. I am not in the ER, but I am dealing with dozens of patients who are positive. Some are in the ICU, and I stopped counting when I got to 20. They range the gamut in age.”
“This thing is deadly, please, please stay at home,” Assemblyman Charles Barron implored. He continued, “Inez and I are staying home in quarantine, taking lots of vitamin C, drinking lots of water, getting plenty of rest, and thinking positive. We here have no more symptoms, but we are not yet out of the woods. But we are close—about 80-90%. But we don’t have any more symptoms.”
The Barrons both tested positive last month and have spent the last few weeks battling the virus. Charles was in the ICU at Brookdale for several days, and his oft-times visiting wife Councilwoman Inez was diagnosed days later.
“We’re stronger now,” Assemblyman Barron added. “I’m planning to be fighting for Brookdale and all the other hospitals in the city to get what they need for our community. But, Inez and I will be staying home, at least for another month. Actually, EVERYONE should stay in for another month. Y’all better stay indoors, it’s the right thing to do is to stay at home. We all need to be in the house for another month. There is nowhere to go anyway.”
Councilwoman Inez Barron elaborated, “I’m doing very well. Not 100% yet, but I’m asymptomatic, following all the guidelines by the health care professionals. I’ve not been out of the house in three weeks. I’ve been to the front door when friends and neighbors have dropped things off, but I have not even been in my backyard. I’m staying at home.”
Speaking about folks who are still not social-distancing or wearing masks and gloves, the still coronavirus-positive Barron urged, “I hope people are not out there spreading this disease, not contributing to it, and not contracting it. We have overwhelming health issues in our community. There are disparities with the systematic racism which has been in place since the beginning of this country. So we don’t know how many people are impacted, because our community is being denied the opportunity to get tested. But we need to have the accurate numbers, so we can get all the resources we need.”
With this under-reported bias, and the disproportionate deaths of Black and Brown people nationally in regards to COVID 19, many folks are bringing up the terrible Tuskegee Experiment in terms of the value placed on the lives of those communities.
Barron continued, “There’s a documented history of this racism. With Tuskegee we did not find out till years later what really happened. So, we do need to speak on it.”
Council offices are handling the concerns of their Brooklyn constituents. Constituents are wanting to know about their benefits and their housing. Seniors are unwilling or unable to go to their senior centers, and are, as Councilwoman Barron commented, “concerned about their lunches. Right now there is a grab-and-go system, but not all seniors can do that, or can go out due to health concerns…there is a city website asking for volunteers, medical personnel, and equipment.”
Citing that she is focusing on her faith heavily, she concluded, “The world as we know it has changed in its entirety. We as Black people need to be mindful, to hold people accountable for us to get our share of the resources to be equally considered in this society.”
The internet, grassroots conversation, and activist groups are awash with theories about how this pandemic came about, from bio-chemical warfare, to 5G agendas and impact, to a Federal Reserve/New World Order global plan. Whatever the cause and source, the result of this COVID-19 is that thousands of people are dying, not all elderly, not all with underlying pre-existing conditions. So staying protected and safe is the global guideline.
Back in New York, there are almost 50 temporary morgues—mostly refrigerated trucks around the city, and a city councilmember is mulling the idea of turning city parks into cemeteries.
“People should not be out here,” said Dr. Jackson, who has a small private practice in Manhattan. “If they have to be out, they should wear masks and protective gear. Those things are important, we are really protecting others from ourselves, other than not getting it from other people.”
Jackson explained, “I got exposed early by a patient who ended up in the ICU. She is 83, tested positive, and was released the next day. She’s fine. She’s kicking with flying colors. I quarantined myself for 14 days. I was negative, but I was able to get tested because I went to the NYU COVID Testing Center. It was a few weeks ago, and then they got overwhelmed and they began focusing on their staff. It doesn’t exist anymore though.”
If you do get examined, Jackson said they will take an X-ray of your lungs, and even if
they see what looks like the symptoms of COVID-19, “They can send you home. Even if they know it is COVID. My theory is, I was highly exposed to this person and I was negative.”
She asserted, “People at home who have at least a cough, mild shortness of breath, will get turned away from Urgent Care and hospitals.”
As for being retested once you have been diagnosed and released, Jackson said, “They are not going to retest you once you’ve tested positive. The antibodies should give you at least short-term protection.”
Still the information is not yet set in stone, she noted. “There is a pilot program in Colorado where they are looking into it.”
Jackson said that she herself had a cough, and was congested and felt achy. She recommended “a high dose of antioxidants, 1000 milligrams of Vitamin C three times a day for up to five days, and a low dose of melatonin at night.”
As she recovers from her bout of flu-like symptoms, Jackson continues to hold video visits with her patients. “On any given day I’m checking on three to five patients.”
As for the dozens upon dozens of people standing in long lines at hospitals around the city, Jackson said they are “people who are scared, people who haven’t been able to talk to anyone, not even their own doctor, or have a fever that’s high but they still are able to stand, they go and they try and get tested.” They are not assured a test though, she added, during this ongoing pandemic. “If they assess you though, you will get charged.”
She suggested that folks who want to go to a hospital, “Don’t go unless you have a fever, shortness of breath, and are really fatigued.”
The nation, she said, was not “prepared for this. We don’t have the supplies to deal with this level of contagion.”
She continued, “I have stopped counting how many of my patients are confirmed positive, at least 20, and double that are at home. There’s been nothing like this since the 1918 epidemic. We haven’t seen anything like this in our age.”
It is though, she determined, “getting better, with people donating supplies, and a growing 80,000 medical pool.”
As Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio float the notion that national epicenter New York may have reached something of a plateau or the actual apex, caution is the word.
Assemblyman Charles Barron reiterated that he and his wife will not be leaving their Brooklyn home for at least a month as they recover from their COVID 19 diagnosis.
“Please stay home,” implored Assemblyman Barron. “A trip outside can affect somebody else or yourself. My appeal to everyone is to stay at home please.”