Written and published on 25 March 2020; updated on 15 June 2020

• COVID-19 INFECTION MAP FOR THE UNITED STATES AS OF 25 MARCH 2020
• USE OF ALCOHOL AND OF PRESCRIPTION AND NONPRESCRIPTION DRUGS MAY WEAKEN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, INCREASING THE SEVERITY OF COVID-19 SYMPTOMS
  • Importance of Strengthening the Immune System
• INFECTION WITH HIV / AIDS MAY WEAKEN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, INCREASING THE SEVERITY OF COVID-19 SYMPTOMS
  • Los Angeles COVID-19 Peak Predicted for 9-12 Days From Now
  • How Mayor Garcetti’s Prediction re Rise in California COVID-19 Cases Has Fared
• POSSIBLE FACTORS: HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS, CANADIAN CITIES NEAR NORTHERN UNITED STATES BORDER, AND MERCHANT MARINE
  • Thoughts on High-Rises and the COVID-19 Infection in New York State
  • Thoughts on Possible Involvement of Canadian Cities Such as Toronto and Vancouver
  • Thoughts on Possible Involvement of the Merchant Marine in Infection of United States International Ports

Dear Ones,

I did some research today on the cause of the configuration of the current COVID-19 infection map in the United States …

COVID-19 INFECTION MAP FOR THE UNITED STATES AS OF 25 MARCH 2020

Link: “Where COVID-19 Has Been Confirmed in the U.S. | Statista,” as of 25 March 2020, Sources: Johns Hopkins University, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) … https://www.statista.com/chart/20978/coronavirus-cases-us-map/ … Creative Commons

As can be seen from the above map, some of the most affected states are New York, New Jersey, California, Washington State, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Georgia. Colorado, and Texas.

Least affected as of 25 March 2020 were the uppermost two tiers of states that were not near the Pacific Ocean or the Great Lakes.

USE OF ALCOHOL AND OF PRESCRIPTION AND NONPRESCRIPTION DRUGS MAY WEAKEN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, INCREASING THE SEVERITY OF COVID-19 SYMPTOMS

I see by my research today that the use of alcohol or opioids (including heroin, cocaine, and prescription morphine) can weaken the immune system, increasing the severity of the effect of COVID-19 infection.

From the map, I see that most of the United States is involved in drug use, the least affected states being North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Texas.

Image: “Drug Overdose Deaths per 100,000 Population by State, US 2016,” by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, in Wikimedia Commons … https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64480913 … public domain …

DESCRIPTION: Dark red represents the highest drug overdose death rate.

Importance of Strengthening the Immune System

I have read that the COVID-19 statistics from China show 81 percent of those who are infected are asymptomatic [which I feel may mean not that they are asymptomatic, but rather that they do not present with symptoms that indicate the need for intubation] …

Link: “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Epidemiology, Virology, and Prevention,” by Kenneth McIntosh, MD; Martin S. Hirsch, MD; and Allyson Bloom, MD, updated 12 June 2020 … https://www.uptodate.com/contents/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19?source=history_widget ..

I feel that lack of symptoms must have to do with the strength of the immune system; so whatever we can do to make our immune systems stronger, as the wave or waves of COVID-19 sweep through our particular state, would be very helpful.

For instance, I find that drinking filtered water with buffered vitamin C mixed into it every other day is very helpful in bolstering my immune system when I feel a cold coming on; this might be helpful for early symptoms of COVID-19 as well.

I also saw somewhere online that consumption of vitamin D might be helpful; and just in the general course of preventive health care, taking a daily vitamin and mineral supplement is recommended by many Western medical doctors.

In the case of people whose lifestyle includes the use of recreational drugs, the good news is that withdrawing from use of these drugs prior to the onset of symptoms might improve the chances of having only a mild response to COVID-19 infection.

INFECTION WITH HIV / AIDS MAY WEAKEN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, INCREASING THE SEVERITY OF COVID-19 SYMPTOMS

As well, I have read that autoimmune diseases such as HIV / AIDS can weaken the immune system, increasing the severity of the effect of COVID-19 infection.

You can see the low arc of the infection swinging round the southern edges of the United States, and also that New York State is involved in the epidemic.

Image: “Rates of HIV Diagnosis in the United States, 2017,” by United States Centers for Disease Control, 1 February 2019, in Wikimedia Commons … https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hiv-us-map-2017.png … public domain …

DESCRIPTION: Dark blue represents the highest HIV rate.

There is no cure for HIV infection, but symptoms of AIDS can be treated. The present moment may not be the right time for that though. If you are infected with HIV, then you might want to ask your doctor about whether you ought to wait on treatment until the COVID-19 infection builds up and then subsides in the state in which you live (much as I hope will be the case for New York State soon).

Los Angeles COVID-19 Peak Predicted for 9-12 Days From Now

Along those lines, I read that Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti predicts that Angelenos may see a great surge in COVID-19 infections (concomitant to the surge currently being experienced in New York)  six to 12 days from now [that would be 31 March 2020 to 6 April 2020] …

Link: “As deaths rise in L.A. County, officials issue new quarantine order,” by Sarah Parvini, Rong-Gong Lin II, Taryn Luna, and Colleen Shalby, 25 March 2020, in the Los Angeles Times … https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-25/coronavirus-california-peak-deaths ..

How Mayor Garcetti’s Prediction re Rise in California COVID-19 Cases Has Fared

On 15 June 2020, I viewed a graph of “New Reported Deaths by Day in California,” in Link: “California Coronavirus Map and Case Count” by New York Times Staff, updated 15 June 2020, in New York Times … https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/california-coronavirus-cases.html ..

I see on the smoothed graph that California deaths did indeed start rising sharply on 31 March 2020, as predicted by Mayor Garcetti. The numbers continued to increase until 23 April 2020.

As of that date, graph smoothing shows a double peak of deaths on 23 April 2020 and 27-28 April 2020. Since then there has been a very gradual decline in daily numbers of deaths.

POSSIBLE FACTORS: HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS, CANADIAN CITIES NEAR NORTHERN UNITED STATES BORDER, AND MERCHANT MARINE

On studying the drug death and the HIV / AIDS infection maps above, I found these to a reasonable degree correspond to the lower arc of the above U.S. map of COVID-19 infection.

Thoughts on High-Rises and the COVID-19 Infection in New York State

I have a few thoughts about how New York has taken the fore in terms of COVID-19 infections. I wonder if it might have to do with many people living in high-rise buildings that share common HVAC … so that infected air might be circulating throughout a building?

As you may know, I mentioned the HVAC in high-rises as a possible source of COVID-19 infection in an earlier blog …

Link: “COVID-19 and Central HVAC,” by Alice B. Clagett, written and published on 17 March 2020 … https://wp.me/p2Rkym-gZ4 ..

In the News: Better late than never …

Link: “The Virus Is An Airborne Threat, the C.D.C. Acknowledges,” in the article “Covid-19: Global Campaign to Vaccinate Likely Stalled Despite More Approvals,” in New York Times, 8 May 2021 … https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/05/07/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases?campaign_id=154&emc=edit_cb_20210507&instance_id=30469&nl=coronavirus-briefing&regi_id=114215360&segment_id=57568&te=1&user_id=e0390f85360b8c4d83d8b60e4710bf15#coronavirus-airborne-threat ..

As far as infection of Washington State and of the Great Lakes states is concerned, I wondered if trade with the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Toronto might have been a factor in their infection with COVID-19. I see no substantiation of this from the Canadian government, but it is possible there has not been as much testing for COVID-19 there, or that statistics have not yet been tabulated in that regard.

Thoughts on Possible Involvement of the Merchant Marine in Infection of United States International Ports

The involvement of the Great Lakes states in early COVID-19 infection surprised me; it made me wonder whether the merchant marine might be bringing COVID-19 from foreign ports into United States ports. The effect of the merchant marine might have had to do with the early COVID-19 infection of Washington State, California, and New York State as well.

. . . . .

Those are my thoughts for now on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blessings of perfect health and happiness to everyone! Stay well!

In love, light and joy,
I Am of the Stars

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Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The photo that is linked to is not mine.

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