Coronavirus prep
Replies
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I just listened to last week's This Week in Virology and there were some interesting bullet points in their Covid update that I thought might be interesting to this thread. I know I bring this podcast up a lot, I'm sorry if it's only interesting to me
- A Japanese study estimated the indoor chance of transmission is 19x greater than outdoor.
- Data continues to support avoiding the 3 C's: Closed spaces, Crowded places, Close contact.
- A good guideline for behaviors that increase risk of infection: Being within 6 ft of an infected person without a mask for at least 15 minutes, especially if indoors.
- The "normal life" behavior that most likely increases your chance of infection is frequenting restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. Most likely because there is talking, laughing, yelling, and chewing and customers can't reasonably be expected to keep a mask on.
- Data is showing that while surface contact transmission is possible, it seems to be quite rare.
- Steroids (which fortunately are plentiful and cheap) are largely responsible for bringing down the fatality rate. It didn't sound like hospitalizations have gone down much (though I'm not clear on that) but if you get very sick they are much better at keeping you alive now.
- Good PPE is doing a great job of reducing infections in healthcare workers, where good PPE is available consistently.
They said if you are experiencing "pandemic fatigue" and are still sanitizing every single thing, better to stop sanitizing your mail and groceries and bleaching the kitchen 10 times a day, and focus on avoiding airborne stuff.19 -
@kimny72 -- that list is great. It also, though, makes me feel so bad for restaurant owners, gym owners and bar owners. They should be given loan forgiveness grants. I worked in restaurant management for years and I've also owned my own small business for years. I can't imagine as a business man, knowing what small margins bars/restaurants operate on, how they are going to survive until next Summer.
It's not that I don't agree with every single point that's listed, it's just clear that eating indoors, going to bars and gyms is the most dangerous things -- along with packed churches or parties, which should be obvious to all.
All of our favorite restaurants in Tucson have had to raise prices to stay afloat during Covid-19, which has ironically had a snowball effect. At least four or so have closed along with some local coffee shops (for good). Many retirees here only went to the places that offered cheap happy hour specials, which are now basically gone, because Happy Hour relies on volume to be profitable, something not possible at 50% capacity. So you see less and less people going out at all. It's very sad.
We have a very diverse economy now in Tucson but it does rely heavily on tech and hospitality for young people. The hospitality part is in shambles. The only thing keeping the real estate market super strong is everyone from Cali fleeing here to get away from high prices and wildfires.7 -
Our small-town local newspaper said our prek-8th grade school sent home 17 students with Covid symptoms this week. I'm hoping they're run-of-the-mill viruses because our area has had very few positive cases over the past few months. I guess when the tests come back, they'll find out. I would NOT want to be a parent of a young child right now.
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I would like to hear people's thoughts about the upcoming holidays and whether your "traditional" plans will be changed as a result of COVID.
My self-appointed title is the Grinch that stopped family holiday activities in 2020 by telling the family we would not be hosting Thanksgiving this year.
What, if anything, is changing for you and yours this holiday season?10 -
hansep0012 wrote: »I would like to hear people's thoughts about the upcoming holidays and whether your "traditional" plans will be changed as a result of COVID.
My self-appointed title is the Grinch that stopped family holiday activities in 2020 by telling the family we would not be hosting Thanksgiving this year.
What, if anything, is changing for you and yours this holiday season?
Honestly, right now it's up in the air for my family. I do know we are taking precautions NOW in the hopes we can see our families for the holidays. I haven't seen my 89 year old grandmother since Christmas and not sure we'll be able to see her this year unless something drastic changes.
My kids do know that we probably aren't going to go Trick or Treating if our city even allows it. They threw fits, but "got it" when I asked if they'd rather do Halloween or maybe have Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa. My mom is high risk, so ultimately, it's her decision.
We'll probably still visit my in-laws as they have already had COVID and are comfortable having us over (not going to debate that, just stating their comfort level).4 -
hansep0012 wrote: »I would like to hear people's thoughts about the upcoming holidays and whether your "traditional" plans will be changed as a result of COVID.
My self-appointed title is the Grinch that stopped family holiday activities in 2020 by telling the family we would not be hosting Thanksgiving this year.
What, if anything, is changing for you and yours this holiday season?
Last year, because my son lives in San Diego, we had him and all his friends here for Thanksgiving. And two dogs! Three of them are best friends from Cincy and all lead their companies in Solar Sales. The company liked all of their work ethics so much they started recruiting all of them and paying for them to move to SoCal. I think with my daughter, we had like 10 or 11 people here for Thanksgiving.
This year, it will just be my son. I won't lie, we're worried about him. He's boring as hell for a 26 year old, and I mean that in the best of ways. He's all about work and his old dog. But his friends are way more social and at least one of them doesn't really buy the science. We are considering telling him to socially distance from his friends for at least 10 days prior to coming home. If he's not willing to do that for us, we may revoke the invitation, as much as that would hurt.
The good news is that all of our kids aren't bar types any longer. I think they all grew out of that stage years ago.10 -
Traditional thanksgiving and Christmas dinner get togethers with my sisters and their families aren’t happening (41 people). My daughter, husband & I will celebrate together. We live in the country, so we don’t get trick or treaters anyway, but in the off chance I won’t have any yard lights on. 😢 Hopefully, 2021 will be better 🤞🏻8
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MikePfirrman wrote: »hansep0012 wrote: »I would like to hear people's thoughts about the upcoming holidays and whether your "traditional" plans will be changed as a result of COVID.
My self-appointed title is the Grinch that stopped family holiday activities in 2020 by telling the family we would not be hosting Thanksgiving this year.
What, if anything, is changing for you and yours this holiday season?
Last year, because my son lives in San Diego, we had him and all his friends here for Thanksgiving. And two dogs! Three of them are best friends from Cincy and all lead their companies in Solar Sales. The company liked all of their work ethics so much they started recruiting all of them and paying for them to move to SoCal. I think with my daughter, we had like 10 or 11 people here for Thanksgiving.
This year, it will just be my son. I won't lie, we're worried about him. He's boring as hell for a 26 year old, and I mean that in the best of ways. He's all about work and his old dog. But his friends are way more social and at least one of them doesn't really buy the science. We are considering telling him to socially distance from his friends for at least 10 days prior to coming home. If he's not willing to do that for us, we may revoke the invitation, as much as that would hurt.
The good news is that all of our kids aren't bar types any longer. I think they all grew out of that stage years ago.
It is so hard. I would absolutely ask that he distance himself from his friends in the 2 weeks prior to visiting. I don't think it's a big ask.
Obviously it's not allowed right now due to facility rules, but I'd distance ourselves from everyone for 2 weeks if it meant I could hug my grandma. Not even kidding. I'd have the kids home from school and learning virtually, groceries curbside, etc etc etc. if it meant I could see her in 14 days.10 -
MikePfirrman wrote: »@kimny72 -- that list is great. It also, though, makes me feel so bad for restaurant owners, gym owners and bar owners. They should be given loan forgiveness grants. I worked in restaurant management for years and I've also owned my own small business for years. I can't imagine as a business man, knowing what small margins bars/restaurants operate on, how they are going to survive until next Summer.
It's not that I don't agree with every single point that's listed, it's just clear that eating indoors, going to bars and gyms is the most dangerous things -- along with packed churches or parties, which should be obvious to all.
All of our favorite restaurants in Tucson have had to raise prices to stay afloat during Covid-19, which has ironically had a snowball effect. At least four or so have closed along with some local coffee shops (for good). Many retirees here only went to the places that offered cheap happy hour specials, which are now basically gone, because Happy Hour relies on volume to be profitable, something not possible at 50% capacity. So you see less and less people going out at all. It's very sad.
We have a very diverse economy now in Tucson but it does rely heavily on tech and hospitality for young people. The hospitality part is in shambles. The only thing keeping the real estate market super strong is everyone from Cali fleeing here to get away from high prices and wildfires.
Got an e-mail from our gym today. It included a graphic from a trade organization. Claim was of 2300 gyms that provided data they had close to 50 million check ins with an infection rate of .0023% and no evidence that positive cases originated in the gym since this has been going on.
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https://washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/23/houston-coronavirus-mutations/?arc404=true
How and why things evolve still amazes me.3 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »@kimny72 -- that list is great. It also, though, makes me feel so bad for restaurant owners, gym owners and bar owners. They should be given loan forgiveness grants. I worked in restaurant management for years and I've also owned my own small business for years. I can't imagine as a business man, knowing what small margins bars/restaurants operate on, how they are going to survive until next Summer.
It's not that I don't agree with every single point that's listed, it's just clear that eating indoors, going to bars and gyms is the most dangerous things -- along with packed churches or parties, which should be obvious to all.
All of our favorite restaurants in Tucson have had to raise prices to stay afloat during Covid-19, which has ironically had a snowball effect. At least four or so have closed along with some local coffee shops (for good). Many retirees here only went to the places that offered cheap happy hour specials, which are now basically gone, because Happy Hour relies on volume to be profitable, something not possible at 50% capacity. So you see less and less people going out at all. It's very sad.
We have a very diverse economy now in Tucson but it does rely heavily on tech and hospitality for young people. The hospitality part is in shambles. The only thing keeping the real estate market super strong is everyone from Cali fleeing here to get away from high prices and wildfires.
Got an e-mail from our gym today. It included a graphic from a trade organization. Claim was of 2300 gyms that provided data they had close to 50 million check ins with an infection rate of .0023% and no evidence that positive cases originated in the gym since this has been going on.
Well, first of all, look at the source. It's a gym association. I wouldn't trust their numbers for anything.
Then, they are claiming that they know .0023% of people coming into gyms are infected. How precisely do they know that? Thermometer checks? Are they doing Covid-19 tests at the door?
I didn't disagree with you because you're simply passing information along (and I, for one, appreciate that), but I find this information highly questionable, mostly just because I can't figure out how they would possibly know these stats.
I'd love to know more insight into how they found out the positive cases. Self reporting?8 -
My husband and I already decided that all the holidays will be on our own this year. We like to keep on breathing on our own for a while longer. My husband will be 81 next month (with some underlying conditions that could be exacerbated if one of us catches the virus), and I am 76; we need to be careful.
One of our kids and his family (4 of them with middle school children) live in another state and the kids do interact with other children although I don't think that the parents do. It will be a Skype interaction between us.
The other child and his family (also 4 of them with university age kids) live in California but 3 hours away from us, and neither of us is interested in catching the virus. We may take a day drive in December to his house to drop presents and see them from the garden; but that is all.
Our friends are also up in age and we only interact thru the phone or internet. So it will be a different kind of celebration this year. If my children complain about keeping apart during the holidays I remind them of the heart ache and "inconvenience" of having to deal with our health and the restrictions of hospital visits. Besides the extra work that our unexpected dead would cause them, clearing a very large house.
It is hard and heartbreaking but the alternative is worse.15 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »@kimny72 -- that list is great. It also, though, makes me feel so bad for restaurant owners, gym owners and bar owners. They should be given loan forgiveness grants. I worked in restaurant management for years and I've also owned my own small business for years. I can't imagine as a business man, knowing what small margins bars/restaurants operate on, how they are going to survive until next Summer.
It's not that I don't agree with every single point that's listed, it's just clear that eating indoors, going to bars and gyms is the most dangerous things -- along with packed churches or parties, which should be obvious to all.
All of our favorite restaurants in Tucson have had to raise prices to stay afloat during Covid-19, which has ironically had a snowball effect. At least four or so have closed along with some local coffee shops (for good). Many retirees here only went to the places that offered cheap happy hour specials, which are now basically gone, because Happy Hour relies on volume to be profitable, something not possible at 50% capacity. So you see less and less people going out at all. It's very sad.
We have a very diverse economy now in Tucson but it does rely heavily on tech and hospitality for young people. The hospitality part is in shambles. The only thing keeping the real estate market super strong is everyone from Cali fleeing here to get away from high prices and wildfires.
Got an e-mail from our gym today. It included a graphic from a trade organization. Claim was of 2300 gyms that provided data they had close to 50 million check ins with an infection rate of .0023% and no evidence that positive cases originated in the gym since this has been going on.
I stopped by my gym today. The first thing I saw were giant portable air handlers around the place, which is a good start. Masks are also now mandatory, which wasn't true when they first re-opened. They have the machines six feet apart. They have cleaning stations everywhere and the staff reportedly cleans every 30 minutes. (Though, it's the airborne contagion that worries me.) The clerk said they've had one reported case since they re-opened working on three months ago.
My county in Pennsylvania is "green" and reports positive tests steady at 3.4% of those tested and 240 new cases this week. (I had to check that twice: remember when we would have been pleased with that as a daily number back in April/May?)
So...I'd like some feedback if I'm crazy for considering returning to the gym. Please be kind, though.1 -
Though I'm contemplating the gym (see above), we're not going anywhere for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Not only are there medically compromised members of my family, but we'd have to quarantine ourselves for two weeks--there are 33 states at the moment on NJ/PA's lists.1
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GaleHawkins wrote: »https://washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/23/houston-coronavirus-mutations/?arc404=true
How and why things evolve still amazes me.
I'm amazed too. The good news is, at least so far, it's way more contagious but much less deadly. The strain that hit NYC early was way more deadly than the one that hit the West Coast. Most of my clients (at least currently) are in NYC and I get a bit agitated when I hear how bad they did there. It was already there, the most deadly strain from Italy, before anyone knew it. And I see comments all the time on social media that aren't either accurate or fair about NY (or NJ to be fair). It's not a Red State/Blue State thing, it's a United States thing. Trying to avoid politics altogether, but the whole idea that one political party's Governors did a terrible job is maddening. FL and TX might overtake NY in deaths before it's all said and done (they are on pace to overtake). AZ had the highest per capita in the world (and has surpassed Italy in per capita deaths, BTW). AZ has been overtaken by ND (and SD, I think, but they aren't testing) with the highest per capita cases. CA rates are soaring again as well. I honestly thought that they would since they locked down so early. Lots of partying and young folks there. No Governor can control what young people are going to do and that's mostly who's spreading it currently.
To be honest, no states have done a perfect job controlling it. But consistency of messaging, whether it's been a Red Governor or Blue Governor, has meant the best possible response for their states. The ones that have asked their citizens to mask up and socially distance themselves have done as good as possible under terrible, tragic circumstances.8 -
hansep0012 wrote: »I would like to hear people's thoughts about the upcoming holidays and whether your "traditional" plans will be changed as a result of COVID.
My self-appointed title is the Grinch that stopped family holiday activities in 2020 by telling the family we would not be hosting Thanksgiving this year.
What, if anything, is changing for you and yours this holiday season?
For the past seven or eight years I've been driving about two hours (optimally -- holiday traffic often pushes it closer to three hours) to spend holidays with my sister's family (three generations, two households), but I'm fairly certain I'm giving that a pass this year if an invitation is even extended (it didn't happen at Easter).
There's no way in two months they're going to finalize a vaccine, have it approved, and distribute it widely enough to reduce transmission risk sufficiently to make me comfortable socializing indoors with a half-dozen other people indoors for several hours. Not to mention possibly having to stop en route to use a public restroom.
If the weather is mild, I may get together for an outdoor mid-day meal with a relative who lives locally. For anybody who remembers, this is the one who thought he had come down with covid a couple of days after we dined together earlier this month -- he called me last week to say he had been tested and the results were negative.10 -
hansep0012 wrote: »I would like to hear people's thoughts about the upcoming holidays and whether your "traditional" plans will be changed as a result of COVID.
My self-appointed title is the Grinch that stopped family holiday activities in 2020 by telling the family we would not be hosting Thanksgiving this year.
What, if anything, is changing for you and yours this holiday season?
At this point, nothing different. Thanksgiving and Christmas don't tend to be huge gatherings...typically my wife's parents and my mom and her boyfriend and sometimes my sister and my stepmom. We didn't full stop seeing family back in March when this all started here, so we don't intend to now.
The only minor change is that my inlaws had intended to go to the east coast to see my wife's sister and my BIL, but canceled that and will be here instead.
I don't anticipate any changes unless the situation here changes drastically. Frankly, we have a very low infection rate and while I've wholeheartedly supported our governor, the goal posts for "gating criteria" for opening keep changing and it's getting old. It's feeling like less "flatten the curve" (we've been more than flat for months now) to eliminate the virus completely which isn't really going to happen.3 -
hansep0012 wrote: »I would like to hear people's thoughts about the upcoming holidays and whether your "traditional" plans will be changed as a result of COVID.
My self-appointed title is the Grinch that stopped family holiday activities in 2020 by telling the family we would not be hosting Thanksgiving this year.
What, if anything, is changing for you and yours this holiday season?
I didn't get together with family in 2019, so no change.
ETA: It is likely my son and I will both eat turkey this year at home, where we both live anyway.
ETA again: My son = Midnight. He's a cat. He is also 14 and that makes him an old man that doesn't want to deal with anyone else coming into his home.18 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »@kimny72 -- that list is great. It also, though, makes me feel so bad for restaurant owners, gym owners and bar owners. They should be given loan forgiveness grants. I worked in restaurant management for years and I've also owned my own small business for years. I can't imagine as a business man, knowing what small margins bars/restaurants operate on, how they are going to survive until next Summer.
It's not that I don't agree with every single point that's listed, it's just clear that eating indoors, going to bars and gyms is the most dangerous things -- along with packed churches or parties, which should be obvious to all.
All of our favorite restaurants in Tucson have had to raise prices to stay afloat during Covid-19, which has ironically had a snowball effect. At least four or so have closed along with some local coffee shops (for good). Many retirees here only went to the places that offered cheap happy hour specials, which are now basically gone, because Happy Hour relies on volume to be profitable, something not possible at 50% capacity. So you see less and less people going out at all. It's very sad.
We have a very diverse economy now in Tucson but it does rely heavily on tech and hospitality for young people. The hospitality part is in shambles. The only thing keeping the real estate market super strong is everyone from Cali fleeing here to get away from high prices and wildfires.
Got an e-mail from our gym today. It included a graphic from a trade organization. Claim was of 2300 gyms that provided data they had close to 50 million check ins with an infection rate of .0023% and no evidence that positive cases originated in the gym since this has been going on.
I stopped by my gym today. The first thing I saw were giant portable air handlers around the place, which is a good start. Masks are also now mandatory, which wasn't true when they first re-opened. They have the machines six feet apart. They have cleaning stations everywhere and the staff reportedly cleans every 30 minutes. (Though, it's the airborne contagion that worries me.) The clerk said they've had one reported case since they re-opened working on three months ago.
My county in Pennsylvania is "green" and reports positive tests steady at 3.4% of those tested and 240 new cases this week. (I had to check that twice: remember when we would have been pleased with that as a daily number back in April/May?)
So...I'd like some feedback if I'm crazy for considering returning to the gym. Please be kind, though.
I had a full physical about a week before the gyms opened in my area. I asked the doctor if I was stupid to go (I'm in my 60's). Dr said go for it. I'm going a few times a week, equipment is spread out, staff is cleaning and they give you a spray bottle and cleaning rag when you go in. The ceilings in the weight room and cardio/general movement area (prowler track, etc) are probably 30 feet high. They have had 100,000 check ins at the 2 facilities owned by the same organization since reopening end of June and 0 cases traced back to either.
I see a fair number of people I know are medical professionals in there.
Just my observations.6 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »@kimny72 -- that list is great. It also, though, makes me feel so bad for restaurant owners, gym owners and bar owners. They should be given loan forgiveness grants. I worked in restaurant management for years and I've also owned my own small business for years. I can't imagine as a business man, knowing what small margins bars/restaurants operate on, how they are going to survive until next Summer.
It's not that I don't agree with every single point that's listed, it's just clear that eating indoors, going to bars and gyms is the most dangerous things -- along with packed churches or parties, which should be obvious to all.
All of our favorite restaurants in Tucson have had to raise prices to stay afloat during Covid-19, which has ironically had a snowball effect. At least four or so have closed along with some local coffee shops (for good). Many retirees here only went to the places that offered cheap happy hour specials, which are now basically gone, because Happy Hour relies on volume to be profitable, something not possible at 50% capacity. So you see less and less people going out at all. It's very sad.
We have a very diverse economy now in Tucson but it does rely heavily on tech and hospitality for young people. The hospitality part is in shambles. The only thing keeping the real estate market super strong is everyone from Cali fleeing here to get away from high prices and wildfires.
Got an e-mail from our gym today. It included a graphic from a trade organization. Claim was of 2300 gyms that provided data they had close to 50 million check ins with an infection rate of .0023% and no evidence that positive cases originated in the gym since this has been going on.
I stopped by my gym today. The first thing I saw were giant portable air handlers around the place, which is a good start. Masks are also now mandatory, which wasn't true when they first re-opened. They have the machines six feet apart. They have cleaning stations everywhere and the staff reportedly cleans every 30 minutes. (Though, it's the airborne contagion that worries me.) The clerk said they've had one reported case since they re-opened working on three months ago.
My county in Pennsylvania is "green" and reports positive tests steady at 3.4% of those tested and 240 new cases this week. (I had to check that twice: remember when we would have been pleased with that as a daily number back in April/May?)
So...I'd like some feedback if I'm crazy for considering returning to the gym. Please be kind, though.
I had a full physical about a week before the gyms opened in my area. I asked the doctor if I was stupid to go (I'm in my 60's). Dr said go for it. I'm going a few times a week, equipment is spread out, staff is cleaning and they give you a spray bottle and cleaning rag when you go in. The ceilings in the weight room and cardio/general movement area (prowler track, etc) are probably 30 feet high. They have had 100,000 check ins at the 2 facilities owned by the same organization since reopening end of June and 0 cases traced back to either.
I see a fair number of people I know are medical professionals in there.
Just my observations.
Yeah, the gym is a personal decision. If I were to go, and I'm not planning on it, I'd likely invest in a whole lot of masks and wear a mask. Some states are mandating that for working out in a gym. I know it sounds awful, and I would hate working out in a mask, but it beats the alternatives.
But I also know a lot of gym owners and friends that work in gyms. One guy in town teaches the most well known indoor rowing class. They are all wearing masks, which considering how hard rowing is, that's really admirable. Sounds dreadful to me, though. Some people miss getting out and I get that.5 -
This year I have an excellent excuse to avoid my family's obnoxious political get togethers. It never ends with them. You can't get a word in edgewise or even distract them by changing the subject. Massive bully behavior. The ranting and fist shaking are worse than the Covid. I'm gonna spend quality time with my husband instead.16
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Holidays and gyms?
Holidays: Usually go to my SIL/BIL's house for Thanksgiving i& Christmas. If invited, I'm sort of torn. My best judgement is "stay home" but SIL/BIL are over 80, remarkably healthy, capable for their age and living in their own big home still, but both have had some real health declines in the last year or so. Not sure how many years, and I love and care for them a lot (they've kept me kindly for the 22 years since my husband, their brother, died, in such an open-hearted way - I have no immediate family of my own). OTOH, their middle-aged kids/grandkids do a lot more social mixing than I feel comfortable with, so it's a tough call. SIL/BIL say the whole fam is being "so careful", but there's a lot of extra-familial socializing, restaurants, jobs, etc. I'll probably solo, which I don't mind for my own sake, but it's sort of heartbreaking for my relationship with them.
Gyms: Not anytime soon. I miss my spin class. They haven't started up yet, but the Y is starting to open some things. But I caught a bad cold back around February (no, not Covid!), and I'm pretty sure I got it from the sniffly sneezy gal on the next bike over, which isn't confidence building. I have weights and a rowing machine at home: it'll do.
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hansep0012 wrote: »I would like to hear people's thoughts about the upcoming holidays and whether your "traditional" plans will be changed as a result of COVID.
My self-appointed title is the Grinch that stopped family holiday activities in 2020 by telling the family we would not be hosting Thanksgiving this year.
What, if anything, is changing for you and yours this holiday season?
Both my husband and I are strictly social distancing - he gets groceries and other essentials while masked, we run outside at a distance from others, and that’s it.
My mom is also socially distanced but she’s a bit daft when it comes to understanding what to do. For example she had a repairman in her house the other day so “I wore my gloves the whole time, I didn’t take them off until hours later, after dinner.” I have explained that Covid doesn’t make you sick by penetrating your skin. Gloves make no kind of sense to protect from the air breathed by a repairman, and even if they did prevent you from touching a contaminated surface, EATING WITH THEM ON afterwards would undo any benefit. I can hear the air whistling through her ears when I try to explain the difference between aerosols and droplets and why spending time indoors with someone is bad and masks only limit risk, they don’t prevent it. She’s very intelligent and usually on top of things, this just seems to be a case of old dogs not learning new tricks. At all. Because no matter what is explained she reverts to the same way of thinking even if she seemed to get it at the time.
She’s frail and I would hate for what might be our last holiday season to be spent separately. I think we need to step up and decorate her house, cook all the food for her, and so on, and just accept that we are in each other’s bubble.
My husband’s large family in Indiana all don’t believe in Covid and want us to drive up there. Uh uh.14 -
I'm not sure what will happen this year for holiday meals. Usually we have Thanksgiving or Christmas or both with the kids and grandkids in MD, two hours away. There are several very vulnerable members of the family (over 80 and diabetic). However, there are also three kids in college having in person classes and a couple of people whose work is around a lot of other people - so they are exposed daily. Knowing my husband, who is a proponent of "I'm going to live until I die" there will be some pressure to join the family meal, if there is one. I've tried telling him I don't want him to die, but that doesn't mean he won't want to go. I have managed to convince him to wear a mask, so there is that.6
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rheddmobile wrote: »hansep0012 wrote: »I would like to hear people's thoughts about the upcoming holidays and whether your "traditional" plans will be changed as a result of COVID.
My self-appointed title is the Grinch that stopped family holiday activities in 2020 by telling the family we would not be hosting Thanksgiving this year.
What, if anything, is changing for you and yours this holiday season?
Both my husband and I are strictly social distancing - he gets groceries and other essentials while masked, we run outside at a distance from others, and that’s it.
My mom is also socially distanced but she’s a bit daft when it comes to understanding what to do. For example she had a repairman in her house the other day so “I wore my gloves the whole time, I didn’t take them off until hours later, after dinner.” I have explained that Covid doesn’t make you sick by penetrating your skin. Gloves make no kind of sense to protect from the air breathed by a repairman, and even if they did prevent you from touching a contaminated surface, EATING WITH THEM ON afterwards would undo any benefit. I can hear the air whistling through her ears when I try to explain the difference between aerosols and droplets and why spending time indoors with someone is bad and masks only limit risk, they don’t prevent it. She’s very intelligent and usually on top of things, this just seems to be a case of old dogs not learning new tricks. At all. Because no matter what is explained she reverts to the same way of thinking even if she seemed to get it at the time.
She’s frail and I would hate for what might be our last holiday season to be spent separately. I think we need to step up and decorate her house, cook all the food for her, and so on, and just accept that we are in each other’s bubble.
My husband’s large family in Indiana all don’t believe in Covid and want us to drive up there. Uh uh.
I also had repair people in my house because certain things can't be postponed for a very long time. They were all very careful and asked COVID-19 related questions, wore masks, and so did my husband and I. We all kept our distance; they did the work and left, and sent the bill by e-mail. I cleaned and disinfected surfaces when they left.
I think that it was safer than getting together with family over the holidays, because in those situations it is very hard to keep masks on all the time and not be close to each other. Workers on the other hand, are very interested in staying healthy because they need to work, and I noticed that they take the health restrictions and recommendations more seriously than some family members.
With respect to gyms/fitness centers: I live in a gated community and both fitness centers are still closed. My husband mentioned that the main association is trying to open them with a lot of restrictions, and a 10% to 20% capacity. It will be hard to do. The centers are not very large and machines can not be moved far a part. The only thing to do will be to "eliminate" the use of some machines, and restrict the workouts and attendance. They tried that before and it didn't go very well. Fitness classes like yoga, Pilates, step up and aerobics are all canceled, and who knows when will they be open again. Activity clubs are also closed because they are indoors.
For me is not gym or fitness classes until I get vaccinated, which is not going to happen anytime soon. Sad, but necessary.5 -
Gyms: so far it's been pretty easy for me to stay away, because when my gym reopened in July, they did so with limited hours that conflict with my job during the week. I would only be able to go one day on the weekend, assuming I could get a time slot (limited capacity, limited hours, reservation required for a time slot). So I've put my membership on hold until December.
If they expand hours ... I dunno. It's just hard to feel that time spent indoors with people who are breathing heavy is a good idea. I believe they are doing the best they can about things like surface cleaning and mask requirements and limiting capacity ... but in the end, you're still indoors for an extended period of time breathing the air that just came out of someone else's lungs. On the other hand, I really miss my gym.7 -
Covid-19 prep is over at two of our Walmart's locally for the most part it seems. No staff were outside the store monitoring and people were going in and out the same doors. No one was cleaning carts or the check out lane equipment. One way aisles are all gone like pre Covid. Staff still are to wear masks. There were no free wet wipes at the door and face masks had been marked down.4
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GaleHawkins wrote: »Covid-19 prep is over at two of our Walmart's locally for the most part it seems. No staff were outside the store monitoring and people were going in and out the same doors. No one was cleaning carts or the check out lane equipment. One way aisles are all gone like pre Covid. Staff still are to wear masks. There were no free wet wipes at the door and face masks had been marked down.
We have zero Covid in the community (Nrth QLD Australia) here and they are still doing all of the above in all the shops. I don't get it. Do they not believe in Covid or are just thinking of money? Disgusting. If I go into a shop and they run out of wipes or hand sanitiser I let them know so they can replace it. Guess you better take your own Gale. Hugs.6 -
Not sure what the holidays will bring. I've been very careful throughout this whole thing and have taken it all seriously to the tune of not having seen any of our 3 adult children since it all started(except by video chat). I'm ready to see them. But it involves 2 of them flying home and that makes me extremely nervous, to say the least.
And one of those is driving 16 hrs. in another week to attend a local wedding, which is also making me extremely nervous.
Life's not easy now, at all. But what good is it, if you can't see your own family? I'm torn.
ETA: I live in a rural state with some of the lowest Covid numbers and feel lucky it hasn't attacked our area. But I also feel our luck will run out eventually. 7 -
rheddmobile wrote: »hansep0012 wrote: »I would like to hear people's thoughts about the upcoming holidays and whether your "traditional" plans will be changed as a result of COVID.
My self-appointed title is the Grinch that stopped family holiday activities in 2020 by telling the family we would not be hosting Thanksgiving this year.
What, if anything, is changing for you and yours this holiday season?
Both my husband and I are strictly social distancing - he gets groceries and other essentials while masked, we run outside at a distance from others, and that’s it.
My mom is also socially distanced but she’s a bit daft when it comes to understanding what to do. For example she had a repairman in her house the other day so “I wore my gloves the whole time, I didn’t take them off until hours later, after dinner.” I have explained that Covid doesn’t make you sick by penetrating your skin. Gloves make no kind of sense to protect from the air breathed by a repairman, and even if they did prevent you from touching a contaminated surface, EATING WITH THEM ON afterwards would undo any benefit. I can hear the air whistling through her ears when I try to explain the difference between aerosols and droplets and why spending time indoors with someone is bad and masks only limit risk, they don’t prevent it. She’s very intelligent and usually on top of things, this just seems to be a case of old dogs not learning new tricks. At all. Because no matter what is explained she reverts to the same way of thinking even if she seemed to get it at the time.
She’s frail and I would hate for what might be our last holiday season to be spent separately. I think we need to step up and decorate her house, cook all the food for her, and so on, and just accept that we are in each other’s bubble.
My husband’s large family in Indiana all don’t believe in Covid and want us to drive up there. Uh uh.
I also had repair people in my house because certain things can't be postponed for a very long time. They were all very careful and asked COVID-19 related questions, wore masks, and so did my husband and I. We all kept our distance; they did the work and left, and sent the bill by e-mail. I cleaned and disinfected surfaces when they left.
I think that it was safer than getting together with family over the holidays, because in those situations it is very hard to keep masks on all the time and not be close to each other. Workers on the other hand, are very interested in staying healthy because they need to work, and I noticed that they take the health restrictions and recommendations more seriously than some family members.
With respect to gyms/fitness centers: I live in a gated community and both fitness centers are still closed. My husband mentioned that the main association is trying to open them with a lot of restrictions, and a 10% to 20% capacity. It will be hard to do. The centers are not very large and machines can not be moved far a part. The only thing to do will be to "eliminate" the use of some machines, and restrict the workouts and attendance. They tried that before and it didn't go very well. Fitness classes like yoga, Pilates, step up and aerobics are all canceled, and who knows when will they be open again. Activity clubs are also closed because they are indoors.
For me is not gym or fitness classes until I get vaccinated, which is not going to happen anytime soon. Sad, but necessary.
I have had pest control workers and other maintenance several times since May when I realized there was a nest of feral bees in one of my walls. It was in an interior wall even, that connects to an exterior wall with large holes around an old window. This is in a closet, so I put diatomaceous earth all over inside, blocked off cracks around the window itself, and then blocked iff cracks around the closet door, including diatomaceous earth piled high against the bottom of the door. So any bees that got in eventually died. But then several figured out how to travel through the floor under a hallway (outside the closet door) and then back up theough some cracks where different interior walls meet the floor. So I basically had a swarm that ended up convening around the bedroom light and was big enough to form a connection between different pieces and bust the breaker. I don't know what happened, but couldn't just turn the breaker back on at first. Even 12 hours later, I could only turn the breaker back on when the light switch was off. *kitten* soon as I tried to turn that light switch on again, the breaker would blow again. So I had someone repair that also. But this was in July, and I was working from June-Aug. on-site. Which wasn't really necessary for my work, but some people at the company don't care.5
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