BY TONY SALIMBENE
Tales from a Global Pandemic
#1
Caveat Emptor. Buyer beware.
Ok, I fell for the American
Flag tube masks. I ordered
direct and a back-up
from another company before
I remembered Amazon
star ratings! Now I know
why some of you folks don’t
do computer.
So I get two emails in various
forms of English confi
rming the order. Made in
USA they said? Close inspection
of the different emails
refl ected the same order
number! I doubt I’ll ever see
the orders. The companies
BTW are Bandamo and Star
Shields with cool ads still
all over the computer. Wait,
another company, same cool
pictures! I should say in
journalistic fairness, they
may be very busy and under
staffed (sure, right.)
I guess like “price gouging”
some will still go for the
money. What good will it do
them if it’s ever the end?
Lesson: Go with something
like Amazon which at
least has tracking, product
ratings and comments from
customers. The ugly masks
I didn’t want will be here
Thursday.
Until Next Time: Dog
food, kids toys, a virus and
now giant bugs! Thanks,
China.
BY AL D’ANGELO
If you needed more proof of
the Bronx being treated like
second-class citizens just look
at the recent allocation of NYC
small business services. Councilman
Mark Gjonaj, who is
chairman of the committee for
small business, informed the
community at a recent board
meeting that money was allocated
to help small businesses.
There are about 200,000 small
businesses in NYC, 18,000 are in
the Bronx, that’s 9 percent of all
city businesses.
Why then, Mr. Mayor are
we receiving 1 percent of the
loan allocation of $49 million?
Mr. Mayor, you gave out 100,000
protective masks, we have the
highest rate of infection, and the
largest parks in NYC, but I guess
we’re not worth protecting because
we received nothing. The
borough that has suffered the
most during this pandemic is
again getting the short end of
the stick. Every elected offi cial
should be outraged by the treatment
given to this borough. Why
isn’t our local media outraged,
why are our congressional representatives
more interested in
making a name for themselves
in Washington than representing
the people who elected them.
When do we smarten up and
stop voting with our eyes shut or
worse, not voting at all?
We must hold every elected
offi cial in the Bronx accountable.
Why do they continue to
allow our neighborhoods to be
inundated with homeless shelters
and group homes? Why do
they allow our educational system
to be the worst in all fi ve
boroughs? Why is the health of
Bronxites the worst in the city?
Why are our streets unsafe to
raise families? Why do we get
the same promises each election
year and nothing changes?
We need our elected offi cials
to be proactive; they are all gifted
speakers but it’s action we need.
I think it’s time for the Bronx political
delegation to join together
regardless of party affi liation or
personal prejudices and come
up with a unifi ed plan to put
this borough fi rst. Our borough
president was a fi ghter for the
Bronx but has been AWOL for
the past two years. He’s leaving
politics but he can’t leave fi ghting
for the people who put their
trust in him.
BY MARY JANE MUSANO
I hope everyone is staying
safe and healthy. Most of us
know by now that to protect
ourselves and others from
this awful virus we must practice
social distancing by staying
6 feet away from others,
wash our hands vigorously
for 20 seconds and wear a face
covering when we are going to
be close to other people. Those
things are quite clear but
there are many things that
are not.
So, how long do you have
to self-quarantine if you have
contracted COVID-19? According
to all of the medical authorities
you must self-quarantine
for 14 days. After that,
the waters get a bit muddy.
We don’t hear much about the
details of that directive so I
decided to call the NYC Department
of Health to get this
important information.
I spoke to one of the doctors
in charge of their
COVID-19 directives. He explained
it this way. If you contract
COVID-19 you must selfquarantine
for a minimum
of 14 days whether or not you
have symptoms. Let’s say you
develop symptoms on the 10th
day. Then you must extend
your quarantine for 7 more
days from that day. So your
quarantine would be 17 days
instead of 14. Also, if you have
a fever you must be fever free
without medications like Tylenol,
which reduce fever, for
three days to end your quarantine.
I thought this explanation
was helpful but it wasn’t
as complete as I had hoped it
would be.
Knowing it can take longer
than 14 days for this virus to
leave your body so that you
are no longer contagious, I
asked the doctor if a negative
test was required to release
yourself from quarantine. He
said that it was not but then
stressed that it was crucial
that people be aware that even
after quarantine it may be
possible to spread the virus,
hence the importance of social
distancing for everyone.
Self-quarantine is crucial
to stopping the spread of the
virus but there is confusion
as to exactly what self-quarantine
means. The doctor explains
it this way. You must
stay in your home in a place
that is away from your family,
like a bedroom or basement.
You must not go outside
or have contact with people
until your quarantine is over.
People may not visit you even
with a mask or with social distancing.
We must remember that
this is a new virus and there is
so much that they do not know
despite the all-knowing face
that is presented to the public.
This is why we must listen to
what the medical authorities
say but do our own research,
ask questions and abide by
what makes sense to us.
Here is something to contemplate.
We keep hearing
that we will not be back to
normal or even a new normal
until there is a vaccine. Well,
there is a fl u vaccine and
yet thousands of people die
from the fl u each year, which
makes it not as effective as we
would like. The reason for its
lack of effectiveness is that
there are many fl u strains
and it is impossible to know
what strain will be arriving
each year. So, they take an
educated guess! We are discovering
that there is more
than one strain of this virus
as well, therefore the effectiveness
of the vaccine, when
it is developed, will likely be
the same. So, don’t expect a
vaccine to be the answer and
remember that with all medications
there are side effects
and for vaccines, some of
those side effects can be quite
serious.
Some smart doctors and
scientists are fi nally realizing
that the best way to defeat
this virus is to fi nd ways
to boost the immune system.
Some of the proposed treatments
are said to do just that.
But we do not have to wait.
We can do things right now
that will boost our immune
systems. Eat lots of fruits and
vegetables, organic if possible.
Remove sugar from your
diet. Exercise.
Research what supplements
may be good for your
situation. There are many
supplements that have been
proven to fi ght viruses. Topping
the list is zinc, vitamin
C, vitamin D3, quercetin and
a host of others.
Hopefully, we will resume
our civic meetings very soon.
Until then, please stay safe!
BRONX TIMES R 62 EPORTER, MAY 8-14, 2020 BTR
CIVIC CENTER
Waterbury LaSalle
Community
Association
CIVIC CENTER
Morris Park
Civic Association
CIVIC CENTER
American Legion
Post 253
Call 718.260.2555
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