I haven't posted about it for 2 days because it gets depressing. All I will say is there have been 19 deaths, with 31 health providers between 3 of the hospitals helping with testing have tested positive, and 736 positive cases now.
Now, for the main reason for my post. I have a happy article. A man who turned 104 today (and celebrated it with immediate family) is the survivor of 2 Pademics - 1918 and Conavirus.
www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2020/04/oldest-coronavirus-survivor-oregon-veteran-lives-to-celebrate-104th-birthday.htmlWorld’s oldest coronavirus survivor? Oregon veteran lives to celebrate 104th birthdayBy Fedor Zarkhin | The Oregonian/OregonLive
An Oregon veteran who celebrated his 104th birthday Wednesday could be one of the oldest people in the world to survive the new coronavirus.
William Lapschies, among the first Oregonians known to have the disease, has been declared free of the virus, said daughter Carolee Brown.
“He is fully recovered. He is very perky,” Brown said. “And he is very excited.”
Not only is Lapschies thriving, he basked in the attention as Brown and other immediate family members clustered in the morning outside his window at the Edward C. Allworth Veterans’ Home in Lebanon.
They brought balloons and a double-layered cake. “Because he loves chocolate,” Brown said.
The gathering didn’t rival Lapschies’ 100th birthday party that drew 250 people, but this one was every bit as special and all the sweeter for her father’s good health.
“I finally made it,” Lapschies said as Brown, her husband, daughter and son-in-law finished singing “Happy Birthday.”
A light blue surgA caregiver had brought Lapschies out in a wheelchair to sit a proper distance away from the small semi-circle of people, but he still held forth, wearing a World War II veteran hat and dark blue jeans.
“Woooo,” he exclaimed with raised curled hands.
Lapschies (pronounced Lap’-shees) had a hard time hearing the family, but he was sharp and in a good mood. He spoke slowly. He laughed at just about everything.
The wind picked up on the cold and drizzly day and stray balloons detached, flying sideways before rising into the sky above the veterans home. One balloon rolled past Lapschies’ feet and he tried to kick it. Another balloon flew into his hands before it sailed toward his daughter and granddaughter.
“That one’s gonna hit her in the head!” he said.
Staff members brought out two blankets to wrap him up, putting his “Quilt of Honor” with star patterns in the colors of the American flag on top.
Asked how he kicked the virus, Lapschies paused, serious for half a beat.ical mask hid half his face but his eyes crinkled at the corners to show he was smiling as he talked to his family in a courtyard outside the nursing home’s common area.
“Oh, it just went away," he said, laughing again.
Soon it was time to return to his room.
“Bye-bye,” he said, his voice trailing off as a worker rolled him back. “Wooo!”
***
Amid the torrent of harsh headlines that come with every new day in the age of coronavirus, Lapschies’ recovery offers a glimmer of hope.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is particularly dangerous for elderly people and for people with underlying medical conditions like diabetes and heart disease.
Two of 15 residents at the veterans home who tested positive have died, as have dozens of people associated with an assisted living community near Seattle. Nearly 30 senior care homes in Oregon have reported at least one coronavirus case.
Somehow, Lapschies made it. While U.S. studies show that up to about 27% of people over 85 with the coronavirus don’t make it, news reports from around the globe point to a handful of hardy survivors like Lapschies.
A 95-year-old Yamhill County man, also a veteran, has survived. A 101-year-old man in Spain has survived, as have two 103-year-old women, one from China and one from Iran.