I see patterns where most people don't, especially when it comes to numbers and coincidences.
Lombardy, Italy reported the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in one day. The total was 993.
I often remember people's birthday's in relation to another one I already have stored; this is five days before Mum's, theirs falls on Australia Day every year. It is also true I see continuous patterns in attitudes and situations. It is also one of the reasons I have managed to work on myself. I have come to recognise if a pattern occurs due to a past trauma or if it is genuinely how I feel in the moment. It makes for some great personal growth, the downside, is my mind is constantly wired to work stuff out.
One of the things I think about often is COVID and the effect it has had, not just on individuals, but also society. If I was dedicated enough, a research thesis with my name on it would be waiting. There's no fun in that for me, so for now, I'll just place my thoughts on the open internet and hope I might catch someone else's imagination.
Now, as I'm sure you're aware, I suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This last major reaction arose the day after I received the Astrazenica vaccine. It took me nine weeks to recover enough energy to attempt to return to work three hours a fortnight. My muscles would lose their strength after two hours of minimal walking. I would feel light-headed and wanted to pass out but always managed to make it to the nurse's station where I read a low blood pressure and normal sugar levels. Laying flat was the only thing that calmed my nervous system. I hated I was creating more work for the staff who were already up to their eyeballs in stress and PPE trying to navigate a pandemic and situations which changed everyday. I got symptoms the very next day, no doubts, nothing else to add to it. I was unable to support my own body weight and the fear of me suffering the possible side effects of a stroke, I was sent for a venous brain CT and an MRI the following day. Having a husband who was chronically ill did not make things easy at home, because I was the one who was never sick. After months of trying to return to work, I finally had to reign in my short-lived career as a radiographer, quitting in the hope I would return to some level of ability in the future. It has been four years and I struggle to sit at a computer for two hours at a time.
I wasn't the only one who suffered at the hands of the vaccine. My scientific self understands that vaccines are a small, controlled dose of the virus injected into our bodies so our DNA can recognise the threat before it becomes deadly. Even knowing what I know now about how I reacted to the vaccine, i would take it again. I truly believe, if I hadn't received the small, controlled dose, more than likely, I would have become part of the Victorian statistics which were being reported daily.
It also got me thinking about the other health crisis that afflicted our world in more modern history, the black plague. From a scientific standpoint, it is suggested the reason the plague has not attacked us in similar numbers since, is because the survivors carried a natural resistence to it and then passed it on genetically. In the first months of the COVID outbreak, Italy was the greatest affected country before the ideas of lockdown and isolation became a thing.
"The virus spread rapidly throughout these northern regions, particularly in Lombardy, which became the epicenter of the first wave. ... Daily new cases peaked at 6,557 on March 22, 2020." (Biology Insights, 2025)
The part that got me thinking, was that my Dad was raised not far from this part of Italy, in fact, his county is visible on the map above. It made me wonder if there is a genetic component which contributed. My Dad passed away the December of 2019, so I think he would have been suceptible as well, given this idea. I know, too, the aged population in Italy contributed to the death toll, but the speed of the spread through the area, suggests to my pattern-recognising-brain, there was more at play then just access. It would be an interesting study to uncover the geneology of the victims and if there was a genetic component of the spread. It also offers some comfort that the damage is contained to a degree. Please note; these are just thoughts, not established facts.
With the constant fear which plagues us (yes, that's an intentional pun) now with the possibility of fuel shortages, it seems to me, humans have learned nothing from the previous encounters of change. I am not immune. My concern however, being in a rural town in Australia, is not for my own ability to move about, but more for the lack of access to food due to the trucks being unable to move the produce around the country. Instead, I have invested in an indoor hydroponic garden and am currently growing tomato plants on my kitchen window. As it is coming into winter here, accessibility to salad items like tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce will be limited. This was my panicked solution.
So, from COVID, I have concluded, I need an indoor garden. A far stretch... sure! But sometimes one plus one equals two; other times international pandemics plus fuel shortages equals an indoor salad garden. You do the maths!
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Thanks for sharing your personal and intellectual insight. I like the mix. It prompts me to reflect on patients, friends and family who had adverse reactions. Love and respect from Ngabu (older sister)