While some angry Oregonians protest “stay at home” orders and call for re-opening the economy, those who have actually been diagnosed and hospitalized, such as Redmond local Michael Wilder, suggest that everyone continue to follow orders around preventing the spread of novel coronavirus.
After roughly one month of social distancing and abiding by Gov. Kate Brown’s “Stay Home Stay Safe” orders, some Central Oregonians are ready to get back to work.
As Wilder soon witnessed firsthand, listening to government guidelines can quite literally be a matter of life or death.
A recent Facebook post, written by a Bend local on the subject of re-opening the economy and getting children back to school reads, “Fear is a powerful motivator and hard to throw off. Leaders are clinging to their original decisions when the situation has clearly changed. Instead of changing with the situation, they are doubling down on the original data. I’m afraid we have reached a point where we are hurting more than helping – especially in areas with little to no virus activity. It’s time to re-evaluate our situation.”
Many Oregonians commented on the post, weighing in on the current circumstances and either fighting for a reclamation of “freedom” or insisting that it is far too soon to throw in the quarantine towel and return to normal, day-to-day living.
Meanwhile, Redmond’s City Hall was the site of a demonstration on Friday, in favor of re-opening the state’s economy.
“Time for all of us to get back to work. If people are scared to leave their homes, they can stay, but 90% of people have nothing to fear; it’s like getting a cold,” wrote one Facebook commenter.
But for Redmond, Oregon local and COVID-19 survivor Michael Wilder, his experience didn’t resemble the common cold—not at all.
As he puts it, “Oregonians tend to have a strong independent streak. We don’t really like the government telling us what to do.” Though as Wilder soon witnessed firsthand, listening to government guidelines can quite literally be a matter of life or death. The otherwise healthy 38-year-old recently came out the other side of a near-death experience with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
“The symptoms came in a two-phase series, really,” he told the Source Weekly. “First I developed a very high fever, body aches, joint pain… a striking pain in my temple. These symptoms lasted for around a week. I felt on the up-and-up when the symptoms started to subside, and I figured I was pulling through the other side. However, the following Saturday I started having trouble breathing. On Sunday morning the breathing issue was more significant—I could still carry a conversation, but I was really struggling to breathe. I checked into the Redmond Hospital and was transferred to St. Charles in Bend. They tested me [for COVID-19], and while it took four days to get the test results back, I was presumed positive because all of the symptoms lined up. Nobody was surprised when the CDC responded and confirmed that I was positive.”
Wilder was moved to the Intensive Care Unit, where he was put on 9 liters of oxygen. “The doctors and nurses told me that if I had come in any earlier, I would’ve been turned away,” he said. “And if I came in any later, it would’ve been really bad. As far as near-death experiences go, it turned out as well as it possibly could have.”
Wilder’s symptoms lasted for a two weeks total, and he was advised that he could stop self-quarantining 72 hours after the last of his symptoms were resolved. His wife and children, who were exposed before he was admitted to the hospital, were advised to self-quarantine for 14 days after their last exposure to his active symptoms.
While many who lack firsthand experience dismiss the virus as a non-threat and nothing more serious than the flu, Wilder is proof positive that even healthy 30-somethings are at risk of death if they don’t have immediate access to professional medical care.
“It isn’t about getting sick or not getting sick, it’s about having someone there to help you breathe when you can’t breathe. It’s about not all getting sick at the same time,” Michael Wilder, a recovered COVID-19 patient from Redmond, Ore.
“It’s not something to freak out about,” said Wilder. “But it’s absolutely not something to dismiss. The healthcare system is swamped. They aren’t trying to drum up business. There was some shortage of PPE for the nursing staff while I was there, though I will say I was really impressed by how they prevented that from impacting my care. It isn’t about getting sick or not getting sick, it’s about having someone there to help you breathe when you can’t breathe. It’s about not all getting sick at the same time. For me, the symptoms got very serious very quickly. Respiratory symptoms are scary. I highly recommend following the guidelines implemented by healthcare professionals. If you’re having trouble breathing, check yourself into the hospital. It’s a really big deal. I encourage people to take it seriously.”
Currently, the state seems divided on whether or not to continue taking protocol seriously. There are those who believe most of us have already had the virus without even knowing it, those who believe that the inevitable suicides that will coincide with economic collapse will outweigh virus-related deaths, and those who believe that a second wave will inevitably wipe out more people than this one if we re-open the state too soon.
While Central Oregonians might be growing more and more restless as the weather grows nicer and the days grow longer, one thing is for certain: historically, we accomplish more when we work together than when we fight with one another. “It’s our responsibility to listen to healthcare professionals,” Wilder added.
Even those who adhere strictly to suggestions and mandates are not completely safe from the spread of the virus.
“I want to add that we were following all of the recommended guidelines,” said Stephanie Wilder, Michael’s wife. “We were working remotely, we would only leave the house to go to the grocery store. Just because you get sick doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. If you do get sick, the CDC will ask you to provide a list of everywhere you’ve been within the past 14 days. It’s invasive, people might not like it. But it’s our responsibility to keep one another safe.”
This article appears in Mar 25 – May 20, 2020.
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It is unfortunate that a fringe group, egged on by a con man in the oval office, has gotten a lot of free publicity for putting themselves and others in danger at Redmond City Hall last week. Their selfishness disguised as “patriotism” shows they don’t give a shit about their community.
This article suffers from some bad ‘both sides’ bias. “There are those that believe …”.
There are “those that believe” that the earth is flat, too. You don’t give equal weight to every weird theory out there. You might mention it exists, to be fair, but that current science discredits it.
The time has come to systematically start opening back up. We have the data and as a society are obviously able to do whatever necessary to beat this. If, big if we see things going bad we shut it down again.
The comment above by Mickey, is a problem. This is not a political issue, we are all in this together. Time to stop the hate and talk intelligently with each other to move forward, progress.
People still have to pay there bills sorry but that’s the facts. I’m a USMC veteran. I put my life on the line for on a daily basis just to get training to defend your freedoms. Me and my brother’s and sister’s in the armed forces understand risk, selflessness, and sacrifice. But we all have to get paid all of those things come after our familys wellbeing. We all need water, power, food, and fuel to go get these things. They cost money!!! That is earned at work. We have school lones ,house payments ,tool payments ,car payments and other bills adding up to $3,200 a month. The $1,200 for me and the wife and $500 for my 16 month old stimulus comes to $2900 but My wife is layed off and I’m trying to work from home. we work on cars so someone has to bring in cars or go get theme. We also don’t have a well yet so we have to leave to haul water every 2 days. An then there’s a baby milk diapers baby wipes (oh wait you idiots bought them all!). Now explain to me how I can stay home and how i can pay next month’s bills. Will the government send me another check. You know they get there money from Income Taxes Right!
OK I too have had Covid 19, I was case 23 confirmed in Deschutes County. I was also taken to St Charles and received excellent care and support. Although I am at “high risk” because of my age and other conditions, my case proved to be a mild one and I was discharged after 2 nights. Contrary to Wilder’s claims, the health system is not and was not overwhelmed. There were spare beds on my floor, and no shortage of PPE. The intital response of the government was a good one, to quickly take action to stop the spread, to educate us on how to take care of ourselves and minimize the risk. It has worked, now we need to bring balance and good judgement to the current reality. We know now that the elderly (who are not usually in the work force) are at most risk, and the young , fit and employed are at the least. Surely now we should differentiate between these 2 populations, get the kids back to school, their parents back to work, while we continue to protect the elderly and high risk group?
Donald Trump makes this political every day with his bizarre campaign rallies disguised as daily briefings. When fringe protesters rally while carrying confederate flags–as has been documented in photos in parts of the country–they make this political. When a group allied with Betsy DeVos finances the astroturf in Lansing, Michigan, that makes it political. When so-called protesters use these rallies as an opportunity to brandish automatic weapons–as has also been documented in photos–that makes it political. Yes, we are all in this together, even while Trump continues to divide.
People clamoring for opening up—when medical experts, epidemiologists who know their stuff, are saying strongly that this would be a mistake—are being used as tools by monied interests connected directly to the Trump administration. Whether they know this or not. It is shameful that this kind of lethal manipulation is occurring and that some segments of our populace fall for it. Lives being offered up to serve those who operate with a “money is more important than lives” credo.
We have an economic issue that is due to the government’s botched job of meager stimulus checks (mine still hasn’t arrived), the loan process not working (applied the first day and still can’t find out the status), and relief to big players, but not to the rest of us.
Yes, we need to have income to deal with the necessary action to keep people safe in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. How about addressing the problem by taking obvious steps such as having 3 months of our mortgage payments moved to the end of our mortgage contracts, and then passing that relief onto renters? Same thing with utilities, etc.
Shift the economic burden off of those that are struggling the most. We are a wealthy country. Maybe build a few less bombs right now.
Sgt Mac,
You r so right on evetything u said. We all need to get back to work, pay our bills, mortgage, etc. Especially small business’ such as salons. The government will be running this country if we let them folks. That will be called COMMUNISM. Wake up people.
Red-baiting. That oughta help. Salons? What’s the rallying cry: “I want a haircut!” Your money or your life? I choose life.