2020.10.21 12:21
I share some of the communications with the friends in 'Eastern' Europe which went through the first wave relatively well through the year but they seem to get a hard hit this time through the second wave. Isn't it strange? Why and how it could happen?
Worrying,
BB Lee
Addendum
Hungary:
From: Győző Szolnoky <szolnokygyozo@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2020 3:55 AM
To: ByungBoong Lee <bblee38@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Helloooooooooooo
Dear BB and Marietta,
Thanks for the update! Yes, you are absolutely right, we stay on the safe side. So far there are no confinements in Hungary so life goes on normally however we confront tremendous number of infected persons and death toll is too high.
Our kids go to prímary school every day and it is more efficient than online éducation especially for Győző Jr., who has just started his school caesar.
I keep followíng and enjoying your posts on Vasculab and they are obviously the comments of an experienced and wise man's view.
I wish you all safety and intact health!!!!
Warmest regards,
Gyozo
-----------------------------------------
From Slovenia
From: Andrej Sikovec <sikovec@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2020 3:53 AM
To: BB Lee <bblee38@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Voščilo
Oh dear BB and Marietta,
I thought about you several times. We overcame the first wave very quickly in two months. Then the summer started with sporadic cases then in the beginning of Oct. the real outburst with 9 hundreds positive per day. Now we are still not locked down but we expect it soon. So in my clinic we operate around the hour also on weekends in two op. room to operate on as many patients as possible.
I had one close contact with the SARS2 positive patient and I was tested negative. So so far so good.
I am happy to hear that you are both well. Be careful as much as possible. I hope that this epidemic will go away as it arrived and we will travel again and meet us again.
Best wishes to Marietta and you!
Yours,
Andrej, Anne and Gaber
----------------------------------
From Slovakia
From: Andrej Džupina <a.dzupina@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2020 4:14 AM
To: BB Lee <bblee38@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Helloooooooo
Dear Professor,
Thank you very much for your recent access to all the priceless materials.
The second wave is spreading really fast. In fact the Bardejov district has the most new cases in the whole country in the lastest days event though it does not have the most inhabitants (https://korona.gov.sk/en/coronavirus-covid-19-in-the-slovak-republic-in-numbers/)
I think that USA has far more worse numbers but to be honest our healthcare system is more vulnerable to any mass spread disease than the one USA has. At the moment the capacities in the hospital are not full yet, but there are talks that lot of healthcare professionals are infected and there will be a mobilization of doctors/nurses from outpatient clinics to the hospital.
SO we will see. I am still working at the National Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases and my parents are so far O.K., but since Bardejov is the most affected so far roughly a quarter of their employees were tested positive and are at home. And a fresh news is that my father has also a symptoms starting today (38,3°C, dry cough and headache) so we very likely suppose that the infection hit us all as well.
I wish you good health to you and your family and hopefully that this state will very soon get back to normal.
Best regards,
Andrej
--------------------------
From Poland
From: Arkadiusz Jawien <ajawien@ceti.com.pl>
Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2020 7:58 PM
To: BB Lee <bblee38@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Helloooooooooooo
Dear BB,
how nice to hear from you my dear Friend!!!
I am happy to hear that you are doing well.
I, my wife and all family is also doing well. However, the virus is doing its job and attacking everything what is around. My Department is almost closed, because 70% of my nurses and 40% of my doctors are sick. Last week we had to empty my Department, make a general decontamination of all patients rooms as well as doctors and nurses.
Today I have 2 first patients again and we restore our activity although we very much suffer because of lack of medical personel. So I am almost 24 hours a day on call.
I hope we will manage this situation better than before. Fortunately, family is doing well…..
We wish you and Marietta to safely complete house arrest and come back to a normal life.
All the best to you, take care and be in touch,
Arko and Sophie
2020.10.21 13:07
2020.10.21 18:22
그러니 설령 코로나19 백신과 치료제가 나온다 해도 이 위기는 끝나지 않을 것이라고 했다. 곧 또 다른 바이러스가 퍼질 것이고, 위기는 반복될 수밖에 없다는 암울한 전망이다.
[출처: 중앙일보] ['코로나가 바꾼 세계' 석학인터뷰] 제레미 리프킨 "이젠 회생의 시대, 韓 그린뉴딜 너무 약하다"
2020.10.22 08:32
Correct, Dr. Ohn!!!!
I am so depressed with the fate mankinds are facing altogether now! A sort of natural punishment?
Indeed as Dr Lee HJ lamented, we humans are all heirs to the same suffering wherever and whichever country we were born and live!!!
So the life is going on regardless of such natural disaster and we all seem to need to learn how to live with it.
As a matter fact, I got two more letters this morning and one from Athens shared his scary experience through the first wave- he was the only one who escaped from Coronavirus infection among entire department so that he had to close his surgery department for over two weeks ( this gentleman, George Geroulakos was a leading member of the Imperial College group, UK and now went back to Athens as the big chief to lead entire Greek surgery team, saying "---For the moment I am safe, hoewever 2 patients, 2 trainees and my secretary all had COVIT and our Department in Athens closed to any new admissions and from seeing outpatients for 2 weeks. So far it seems taht I have escaped coronovirus and I hope that this will not change till I get vaccinated.-----" ).
Now he is really worrying about the second wave hitting Eastern Europe close to Greece.
BB Lee
2020.10.22 19:50
Some more updated story from Slovakia;
From: a.dzupina@gmail.com
To: bblee38@comcast.net
Sent: 2020-10-22 6:17:11 PM
Subject: Update from Slovakia
New updates to COVID-19 in Slovakia,
whole country is coming to a three week "light lockdown" that means only essential food stores will remain open.
A nationwide antigen test will take place next weekend (whole population of Slovakia shall be tested in two days).
Me and my father are both in quarantine (separately) as we both have been tested positive (both PCR and Ag tests). So far our symptoms: 38°C fever, dry cough, headache and weakness.
Wish you good health and I hope you will not get infected at all.
Best regards,
Andrej
To me, it seems to spread like wildfire! Hope we do not take same path as they do!
Worrying,
BB Lee
Thank you so much, Professor, for sharing the real war time life stories.
By reading those letters I couldn't help feeling like
indeed all of us are in the world war against the virus
reminding me of the feeling I had when I once read "The Winds of War"by Herman Wouk, 1971,
a story of a middle class family disrupted by the World War II.
Reading those letters also remind me of the first impression and the
unforgettable feeling that I had 3 days after my arrival at Albany, NY, 1965,
and started my rotating internship,
i.e. we humans are all heirs to the same suffering wherever and whichever country
we were born and live, making all of us feel the compassion to all humans
who are suffering.