Simp tells the story:
nola.com
The time for joking about Covid-19 is over. Now is the time to keep yourself, your loved ones, and everyone else safe. And I'm devastated to say that now is also the time to mourn.
Natasha S. Ott passed on today. She was a profoundly kind, passionate, funny and loving 39-year-old woman in good health. She was a Peace Corps alumni who liked to curse... and she loved those who were fortunate enough to be close to her with every ounce of her heart.
The absolute least-interesting thing about her was the way that she died, but I'd like to talk about that here now because I'd like everyone to wake-up to the reality of what we are facing.
On Tuesday, March 10th she wrote me to tell me she was feeling a bit sick: "Like a respiratory cold. Tiny fever."
She worked for Crescent Care as a social worker for clients who are HIV positive. They sent her home, but didn't test her - she was told she was low-risk.
She wrote me the following on March 11th: "I tried to go to Ochsner today to get a flu test and they told me it would be a week before I could see my PCP. I ended up getting it at work. We only have 5 coronavirus tests at my clinic. I declined to take one so someone else could." Natasha worked for Crescent Care - an organization dedicated to providing treatment to people who are HIV positive. This organization that provides healthcare to the highest of high-risk populations had 5! coronavirus tests available on March 11th, and she elected not to use one. The flu test she did take ended up coming back negative.
Cont.