Coronavirus prep

Chef_Barbell wrote: »

amusedmonkey wrote: »

pinuplove wrote: »

rheddmobile wrote: »

bmeadows380 wrote: »

My sister had worked at Lowe's for over 5 years until she got fired this past summer. She took a job with Krogers, which now may be seen as a blessing in disguise - Krogers is considered essential, so her job should be safe. Lowe's, on the other hand, would likely have laid her off.

Does Lowes not count as essential? What happens if there’s a wiring issue or the water heater breaks or the door falls off the hinges? I can think of about fifteen things that would make it impossible to keep sheltering in place that could go wrong with no hardware store.

Here's what I found:

From HuffPost: While the list may vary according to local concerns and the nature of a given event, disaster or pandemic, here is a general idea of what’s considered “essential” in emergencies, according to various governments, including San Francisco, Miami, New York state and Miami-Dade County:

• Gas stations, auto supply stores, auto repair shops and related facilities

• Pharmacies

• Grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks and convenience stores

• Liquor stores

• Restaurants (only for delivery, takeout and drive-thru)

• Hardware stores and plumbers

• Contractors and other tradesmen, appliance repair personnel

• Exterminators and other service providers

• Landscape and pool care businesses, including residential landscape and pool care

• Construction sites and engineering and architecture firms

• Banks and related financial institutions including insurance and accounting services

• Phone and computer sellers

• Community benefit organizations on a case-by-case basis

• Laundromats, dry cleaners and laundry service providers

• Healthcare providers, hospitals, clinics and healthcare operations including research and laboratory services, medical wholesale and distribution, and dentists

• Businesses that provide shelter and/or social services

• Newspapers, television, radio and other media outlets

• Businesses offering mailing and shipping services, including post office boxes

• Airlines, taxis and other private transportation providers

• Home-based care for seniors, adults or children

• Assisted living facilities, nursing homes, adult day care centers and senior facilities

• Pet supply stores

• Veterinary offices

• Police stations

• Fire stations

• Building code enforcement

• Jails

• Courts

• Garbage/sanitation and recycling services

• Public transportation (Muni, BART, subways)

• Utilities (water, power and gas, telecommunications)

• Certain city, county, state and federal offices

• Funeral homes, crematoriums and cemeteries

• Maintenance staff, cleaners, janitors and doormen

• Manufacturing including food processing, chemical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, paper products, safety and sanitary products
https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/what-are-essential-services-jobs-185047320.html

That's a longer list than we used to have (before the curfew was announced, now it's even shorter). I'm curious why liquor stores are considered essential.

Because folks need to keep their sanity... :drinker:

I’m not caught up so I’m sure I’m not the first to jump in, but guys.... there are addicts whose lives depend on alcohol. Even if you don’t have compassion for alcoholism (I certainly do), that will mean more people showing up in the hospital.

kshama2001 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/protectheflames/status/1241696164782669824?s=21&fbclid=IwAR3DsD04CV-EUp93YEdT20x9fy8k2aymlKg0z9AAERtASU9c3annmqGmf4g

This is the updated compilation of Italian Mayors losing it at people violating #Covid19 quarantine.

"I stopped him and said, 'Look, this isn't a movie. You are not Will Smith in "I Am Legend." Go home."

Most of these are mayors in the South where things aren't bad yet. Since they went to LockDown, people are treating this as a vacation, and keeping up their normal routine. Hence the mayors "taking to task" their citizens. The one that's shown the most is the mayor of Bari, who got out there and personally sent people home.

spinnerdell wrote: »

The brothels in rural Nevada, which initially stayed open with extra safeguards, have now been shut down as nonessential.

*raises eyebrow* I mean, how would you even begin to practice 6 ft minimum social distance in this case? Actually, I take that back - I really don't want to know.......lol

lemurcat2 wrote: »

But businesses that need to be open to survive are lobbying to be declared essential -- I got an email from a pet grooming place (which I have never used, I have cats and they would be horrified) that claimed pet grooming had been declared essential in NY and they they were still trying to change IL's mind, and a landscaper/yard care place I used one emailed relieved that they had been declared essential.

I've got a cat that gets himself shaved once or twice a year. 3 of my 5 have maine coon in them and have that thick, long fur with a dense undercoat. 1 almost never gets mats at all; I've probably only had to cut one off of her in her 8 year lifetime. The 2nd will get them near her tail, and I sometimes have to pin her down to clip the fur in that area for hygiene reasons but that's because she is so darned fat that she can't reach that area very well to groom herself (how do you put a fat cat on a diet when she's the kind that hovers like a vulture just waiting for food while you've got 2 skittish ones that want to graze a little now and then and you aren't home all day?) Anyway, the 3rd one never bathes himself. I can probably count on one 1 hand the number of times I've actually seen this cat give himself a minor licking. He gets really grungy and since I don't have 8 arms to be able to hold him down and clip him myself, he goes to the vet and gets shaved in the summer.

moonangel12 wrote: »

My husband is considered essential, and was trying to figure out just who wasn’t included on the list He was working from home so we drove into town during his lunch to check things out (didn’t get out of the car), but yeah, most everything was open minus a few storefronts (hair, consignment, can’t remember what else). Everything else had lights on and running (mostly restaurants, pharmacies, and banks I guess).

yup; not very many places are actually under that order when you look at the list, including places of worship (cause its not like the old timers like my 90 year old grandfather won't stubbornly go to church on Sunday if the doors are open, stay in place orders or no.....)

The Beckley Crossroads Mall is closed except for Rural King and Pet Smart, and I get why places like those or Tractor Supply and such are open because of feed needs for various pets and farm animals, and spring planting and such still need supplies. And I also understand grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations and convenience stores staying open.

I also understand the need and desire to keep as many places open as possible and retain as many jobs as possible, even if the hours are shortened - I guess some sort of paycheck is better than none at all!

However, the flip side is that people are people and my life's philosophy has always been that people are stupid, and its one thing that I have yet to see proven wrong. There are a good many people in my area that don't care about the orders for social distancing; if there's a place to go, they're going to go just because. And I'm not sure really how you can control that; even if you had the police and national guard making patrols in a martial law like situation, all they have to say is that they are going to the grocery/pharmacy/pet store whatever for "essentials".

bmeadows380 wrote: »

spinnerdell wrote: »

The brothels in rural Nevada, which initially stayed open with extra safeguards, have now been shut down as nonessential.

*raises eyebrow* I mean, how would you even begin to practice 6 ft minimum social distance in this case? Actually, I take that back - I really don't want to know.......lol

lemurcat2 wrote: »

But businesses that need to be open to survive are lobbying to be declared essential -- I got an email from a pet grooming place (which I have never used, I have cats and they would be horrified) that claimed pet grooming had been declared essential in NY and they they were still trying to change IL's mind, and a landscaper/yard care place I used one emailed relieved that they had been declared essential.

I've got a cat that gets himself shaved once or twice a year. 3 of my 5 have maine coon in them and have that thick, long fur with a dense undercoat. 1 almost never gets mats at all; I've probably only had to cut one off of her in her 8 year lifetime. The 2nd will get them near her tail, and I sometimes have to pin her down to clip the fur in that area for hygiene reasons but that's because she is so darned fat that she can't reach that area very well to groom herself (how do you put a fat cat on a diet when she's the kind that hovers like a vulture just waiting for food while you've got 2 skittish ones that want to graze a little now and then and you aren't home all day?) Anyway, the 3rd one never bathes himself. I can probably count on one 1 hand the number of times I've actually seen this cat give himself a minor licking. He gets really grungy and since I don't have 8 arms to be able to hold him down and clip him myself, he goes to the vet and gets shaved in the summer.

moonangel12 wrote: »

My husband is considered essential, and was trying to figure out just who wasn’t included on the list He was working from home so we drove into town during his lunch to check things out (didn’t get out of the car), but yeah, most everything was open minus a few storefronts (hair, consignment, can’t remember what else). Everything else had lights on and running (mostly restaurants, pharmacies, and banks I guess).

yup; not very many places are actually under that order when you look at the list, including places of worship (cause its not like the old timers like my 90 year old grandfather won't stubbornly go to church on Sunday if the doors are open, stay in place orders or no.....)

The Beckley Crossroads Mall is closed except for Rural King and Pet Smart, and I get why places like those or Tractor Supply and such are open because of feed needs for various pets and farm animals, and spring planting and such still need supplies. And I also understand grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations and convenience stores staying open.

I also understand the need and desire to keep as many places open as possible and retain as many jobs as possible, even if the hours are shortened - I guess some sort of paycheck is better than none at all!

However, the flip side is that people are people and my life's philosophy has always been that people are stupid, and its one thing that I have yet to see proven wrong. There are a good many people in my area that don't care about the orders for social distancing; if there's a place to go, they're going to go just because. And I'm not sure really how you can control that; even if you had the police and national guard making patrols in a martial law like situation, all they have to say is that they are going to the grocery/pharmacy/pet store whatever for "essentials".

Here, in Italy, you need permission to go many places that are still open. The permission is downloaded from internet and you need to print it with all your data, and where you are going--example: bank or your doctor, or work. If you are stopped by the police, you must produce the document and they will sometimes call to verify that you really have that appointment. The fine runs from $400--$3000. My husband announced that he was going to the bank the next day. I said "I hope you've got your permission slip filled out" He replied "But I have an appointment". I said " Good, then get that paper filled out". This is a very smart man. Sigh. I told him that if he was stopped, it was like throwing money out the window.

I had trouble sleeping last night and woke up with a headache. I cannot imagine how the people of New York are feeling right now. Cuomo said on Tuesday that they anticipate needing 33,000 more ventilators. That number may be down to 26,000; I don't know. But the solution has been in the hands of one person for weeks--order the manufacture of ventilators and PPE. Americans could have produced hundreds of thousands in the time we have known about this, and still could have produced thousands when Cuomo asked for them. But nothing. Nothing from our administration. The only conclusion I can draw is that he intends to let people die. Someone please tell me I am wrong, and explain it to me. I'm sick about this.

All parks in my county are closed. ☹️ I can't go run the track

mkculs13 wrote: »

oocdc2 wrote: »

mkculs13 wrote: »

I had trouble sleeping last night and woke up with a headache. I cannot imagine how the people of New York are feeling right now. Cuomo said on Tuesday that they anticipate needing 33,000 more ventilators. That number may be down to 26,000; I don't know. But the solution has been in the hands of one person for weeks--order the manufacture of ventilators and PPE. Americans could have produced hundreds of thousands in the time we have known about this, and still could have produced thousands when Cuomo asked for them. But nothing. Nothing from our administration. The only conclusion I can draw is that he intends to let people die. Someone please tell me I am wrong, and explain it to me. I'm sick about this.

Not getting political about it, just a general observation. In all walks of life, there are people who have the experience and executive functioning skills to respond well and appropriately in a crisis, like taking appropriate safety measures and helping others: we see them on the news all the time.

Some folks just don't have those tools: we see them on the news all the time, too. The only thing the appropriate people can do is support each other and set boundaries as best as can do for those who are not. It's not ideal, but it's what we have.

Thank you; that's helpful. I'm still wondering why those with the skills are not having more of an impact on those without.

What's really frustrating is that it seems the decision not to order manufacturers to convert to producing necessary items was made at least partially because some affected companies lobbied against it. There are corporations volunteering though, like the auto industry. Hopefully as it becomes clear this situation will not resolve quickly on it's own, more companies will realize there is greater cost in business as usual than there is in pausing business as usual and contributing. Unfortunately I'm not the least bit surprised self preservation is the primary driver of most corporations' behavior, even in such dire times

On the state level, there are limits to what you can force citizens and companies to do. But I would hope state govt and public health officials are lobbying corporations that do business in their state to contribute.

Here in VA, our increased cases seem pretty reasonable in light of increased availability of testing, and reported deaths are at 13 I think. Most activity is still in clusters in more populous areas. UVA got their own covid-19 test approved - they can process a good amount of them daily with about a 2 hour wait for results, and have been shipping them out to other hospitals across the state. They say they are currently working on getting the wait time down under an hour. I'm really hopeful that with VA holding back the spread as well as we have so far, and several research-focused healthcare systems in state, they will be better prepared and stocked when and if we get a surge.

Out here in rural central VA, the stores have not yet restocked, and there are still semi-crowded stores at the popular shopping times, I think because the empty shelves still have folks in desperation mode. I try to go @ 9AM after any senior hours but hopefully before any rush. I pulled into the parking lot of one store, saw all the damn cars, and got right back on the road. Just looking for fresh items, and I'd like some rice and some more pasta, both of which are hard to come by right now.

I go into work twice a week for an hour or so, and downtown Charlottesville is pretty much a ghost town. I try to take a walk around town when I'm there for a little variety to my walks around the apartment complex. If I could get a bit more control over my anxiety, the introvert in me would be otherwise enjoying this social distancing thing! But it's tough to ignore the reasons for it for very long.

GaleHawkins wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

GaleHawkins wrote: »

snowflake954 wrote: »

Update from Italy---things in the North are a bit better. New cases are down for the second day in a row. Deaths are still high. The people coming out of this that have been on ventilators have been in the hospital for a month. It's a long process, hence the overload in the hospitals.

Now, we're having small towns crop up with clusters of infection. They are quickly all quarantined, the town is isolated, and everyone is tested. More and more nursing homes are centers for the virus.

We have been in Lockdown 2 weeks now. Next week will tell the tale.

Russia has sent 100 doctors and supplies, Cuba has sent doctors, China has sent doctors and supplies, Germany has sent ventilators,The States has just sent help (hope we'll be repaying you down the line if this lets up for us).

Many small factories have started making masks and hazemat suits. We should all have masks next week.

A small sandwich shop on the ground floor of our building just reopened for takeout. Rome is still doing OK. Unless we have an explosion of cases. It's been 2 weeks now and that's encouraging, but if it happens, it will in the next few days.

Sorry about New York. You guys are strong. You'll come through.

Thanks for the detailed up date that does give some peace of mind about our future. I found the article below encouraging in all of the gloom.

https://timesofisrael.com/israeli-scientist-youre-not-going-to-see-millions-of-people-die-from-covid-19/

"Okay, so let me first say that I am not a physician, nor am I an epidemiologist, and I may not even be considered a virologist per se."

Okay, then.

"This is a disease that mostly afflicts the elderly, not that one does not care about the elderly. But to people that are not classified as elderly, this generates a respiratory tract infection that is not very severe . . ."

Except this doesn't seem to be true. A 36-year-old high school principal in New York has died. A 59-year-old chef has died. A 34-year-old in Los Angeles has died. 26% of the children who tested positive in Spain had to be hospitalized (as of three days ago).

This guy doesn't seem to know the basics of how this is impacting people, I think there are better sources available.

We are looking forward to reading your better sources.

I think we are all taken back with how many younger people had unknown preexisting health issues making the impact of COVID-19 worse.

I agree with this scientist instead of you about we are not going to see millions die from COVID-19.

How do you know that everyone hospitalized under sixty had a previously unknown underlying condition? You're moving the goalposts here because your source said specifically that "to people who are not classified as elderly, this generates a respiratory tract infection that is not very severe." You don't even agree with your own source here.

You're putting your trust in someone just because they're a scientist, even though they admittedly have no special knowledge of medicine and no specific research done on this virus. Knowing science generally doesn't make someone an expert on all topics related to medicine. The best scientists (and doctors) know what they don't know and they don't use their expertise on another topic to pretend to certainty they can't possibly justify.

I am not arguing that millions will die. I am arguing that I don't buy this guy's expertise and I think it's irresponsible for him to tell people this is no big deal.

GaleHawkins wrote: »

snowflake954 wrote: »

Update from Italy---things in the North are a bit better. New cases are down for the second day in a row. Deaths are still high. The people coming out of this that have been on ventilators have been in the hospital for a month. It's a long process, hence the overload in the hospitals.

Now, we're having small towns crop up with clusters of infection. They are quickly all quarantined, the town is isolated, and everyone is tested. More and more nursing homes are centers for the virus.

We have been in Lockdown 2 weeks now. Next week will tell the tale.

Russia has sent 100 doctors and supplies, Cuba has sent doctors, China has sent doctors and supplies, Germany has sent ventilators,The States has just sent help (hope we'll be repaying you down the line if this lets up for us).

Many small factories have started making masks and hazemat suits. We should all have masks next week.

A small sandwich shop on the ground floor of our building just reopened for takeout. Rome is still doing OK. Unless we have an explosion of cases. It's been 2 weeks now and that's encouraging, but if it happens, it will in the next few days.

Sorry about New York. You guys are strong. You'll come through.

Thanks for the detailed up date that does give some peace of mind about our future. I found the article below encouraging in all of the gloom.

https://timesofisrael.com/israeli-scientist-youre-not-going-to-see-millions-of-people-die-from-covid-19/

You're going to find all sorts of people jumping on the bandwagon, giving predictions of how this is all going to play out. No one really knows yet. There are too many variables. The virus seems to attack certain countries and not let go. Even within a country some areas will be harder hit than others. The numbers are all over the place, and many cases and deaths are uncounted. In the end, all the data will tell the tale. So please take all these articles with a grain of salt.

mkculs13 wrote: »

I had trouble sleeping last night and woke up with a headache. I cannot imagine how the people of New York are feeling right now. Cuomo said on Tuesday that they anticipate needing 33,000 more ventilators. That number may be down to 26,000; I don't know. But the solution has been in the hands of one person for weeks--order the manufacture of ventilators and PPE. Americans could have produced hundreds of thousands in the time we have known about this, and still could have produced thousands when Cuomo asked for them. But nothing. Nothing from our administration. The only conclusion I can draw is that he intends to let people die. Someone please tell me I am wrong, and explain it to me. I'm sick about this.

Manufacturers have increased production and others are converting lines to help with production...but it's not like flipping a switch and all of a sudden ventilators and PPE equipment comes rolling off these lines. Also, these companies supply a global market, not just the USA. It's a global market and global demand for a global crisis.

It's not quite as easy as snapping one's fingers and getting production to match worldwide demand. Not particularly a fan of this administration, but they're pretty limited in what they can really do here. The only thing they could really do is basically take control of the US stockpile as an emergency and distribute them where they see most fit...but at current, there would still be shortages around the country.