Staying Healthy in a Pandemic

I assume that most people in the world, like myself, are assessing what is their personal risk for complications from Covid-19, should they become infected by the virus. I am one of those people I would consider to be on the cusp of risk. Being over age 60 and with borderline hypertension controlled by diet and exercise, I am at the beginning of where the curve starts to ascend for those risk factors. However, I am also very health-conscious, which I like to believe gives me some mitigation against those risks.

Fortunately in this pandemic, I have been able to live quite healthfully. My wife and I have been eating very well, having at least one big salad per day and enjoying her excellent vegetarian cooking. Being confined mostly to home, I have also taken to slightly upping my running routine back to where it was 5-10 years ago, running about five miles every other day. (And of course I keep my social distancing while running, giving a wide berth around anyone else on the road or trail with me.) Between improving my healthy life-style and traveling less (where like most, I tend to eat more), I have actually lost about 5-6 pounds since the start of pandemic.

I fully acknowledge that none of my lifestyle actions will completely mitigate against the risks, were I to become infected. So naturally, I am still hopeful for better treatments and ultimately a vaccine. In the meantime, I hope for the kind of testing, tracing, and quarantining that other countries have implemented much better than my country. And although it seems like a distant dream, I aspire to someday return to my former slightly less healthy lifestyle that allowed me to enjoy so much of the rest of the world.