Coronavirus prep

lemurcat2 wrote: »

Worst death day yet here (IL) with 125 additional deaths. Total new cases are down a bit with 1140.

That brings IL's total to 25,733 positive, and 1072 deaths. Chicago alone has 10,642 cases and 414 deaths. The rest of Cook County has 7445 cases and 308 deaths. My zip code alone has 253 cases (number of deaths not reported). To put that in perspective, my zip code is roughly 2.5 miles x 2.75 miles, so under 7 square miles. That works out to about 37 known cases per square mile. Right now, about 17% of statewide cases are being hospitalized, and about 5% of known cases are in the ICU. They are now saying they are finally able to test enough to test anyone who believes they have symptoms (even without a doctor's referral), so I expect the total number of cases to go up but the percentage of cases that end up in the hospital and ICU to go down.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

spiriteagle99 wrote: »

(snip)
One of the issues people had with the Michigan Governor, as I understand it, is that she made purchasing seeds and plants illegal. I understand the problem of trying to keep people from going out shopping, but now is the time to plant seeds for gardens. Some things can't wait until July. Hiring someone to mow your lawn was also forbidden, which hurts people who can't do it themselves.

Two things:

1. In my understanding (sitting in Michigan, and having actually read the executive orders as well as some analysis, I believe this not to be strictly true. Big box "department" stores, ones that sell a diversity of things including a range of essential ones (groceries, hardware) have been ordered to close access to areas selling certain products (including plants/seeds). This was in response to problems with what amount to recreational shoppers wandering the stores and looking at, maybe buying, all kinds of nonessential items, increasing human contact in various ways by doing so.

Plants and seeds are still available by mail, and in my understanding in some cases from smaller retailers (so far) who are required limit traffic in a different way based on floor space and concurrent customer counts. (I have friends who have bought seeds very recently in these circumstances locally).

2. In most of Michigan, it is not the time of year to plant gardens, in the way that the average person does it. Most people wait to plant until at least the average last frost date, and very many traditionally wait until Memorial Day weekend. Some do start plants indoors, but it's far less common, and some of those who do, are seed-savers.

(I'm in the central mid-Southern part of the state, near Lansing, one of the warmer zones, but not the warmest anywhere statewide. Our average last frost day (50% probability) is somewhere in the May 4-10 range. There are certain things that dedicated gardeners (a minority) would normally plant out now, such as peas and greens. Most casual home gardeners simply don't bother doing that. I know many such gardeners, and used to garden here myself for over a decade, at different times on either the casual or dedicated end of the scale. Some true plant nerds may be troubled, but frankly quite a few of them order seeds by mail from specialty sources anyway, vs. picking them up at Home Depot or Meijer, which tend to specialize in crappy but inexpensive seeds not tailored to our climate.)

Once you filter out the seed savers, and the folks who would've used specialty mail-order sources, the number of people who'd genuinely plant this early is fairly small. I grant that this population is probably larger out-state (such as the farther North, where partial-subsistence gardens are more common), and Covid cases are also less numerous, so a sense of aggrievement in those areas may be more understandable. Those folks may also be more reliant on big-box stores as a source.

Things are difficult and controversial here, and certain people/groups are using partial truths, sometimes even falsehoods, to paint a picture. It's good to be careful. Some people ignore authoritative sources of information, and rely on biased ones. Some people have poor reading comprehension (current interpretation of the executive orders as I understand them requires understanding how major points in an outline-style presentation relate to minor sub-points below them, and perhaps even to how one date's order modifies an earlier one.)

I'm not even 100% confident of my interpretation of the current executive orders, but certain retailers are behaving in line with what I wrote above, and as of when I last looked (couple of days ago) there had been no countering clarification to the executive orders. That may change.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

Worst death day yet here (IL) with 125 additional deaths. Total new cases are down a bit with 1140.

That brings IL's total to 25,733 positive, and 1072 deaths. Chicago alone has 10,642 cases and 414 deaths. The rest of Cook County has 7445 cases and 308 deaths. My zip code alone has 253 cases (number of deaths not reported). To put that in perspective, my zip code is roughly 2.5 miles x 2.75 miles, so under 7 square miles. That works out to about 37 known cases per square mile. Right now, about 17% of statewide cases are being hospitalized, and about 5% of known cases are in the ICU. They are now saying they are finally able to test enough to test anyone who believes they have symptoms (even without a doctor's referral), so I expect the total number of cases to go up but the percentage of cases that end up in the hospital and ICU to go down.

In a city setting, putting that in "cases per square mile" is pretty daunting, IMO . . . and those are just known cases. I didn't go back to read, but I assume your area is still rationing testing to some extent, so mild or asymptomatic cases might not be in the "known cases" numbers.

If one were thinking about that as "what if we were wandering freely in those few blocks, how likely we meet one of them" . . . yikes. I know there are a lot of people in that space, but the "not wandering freely" part seems pretty important.

nutmegoreo wrote: »

KrissCanDoThis wrote: »

nutmegoreo wrote: »

KrissCanDoThis wrote: »

Speaking of reasons..

The other day I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things, I didnt have many bags, unlike my last trip where it took me 7 trips back and forth to get everything inside...

So I'm waiting for my cab, he shows up, and immediately walks right over to my cart right behind me pretty much shoulder to shoulder to grab some of my bags.

I said "it's okay, I got them" but he took them anyway.

So I get in the car and I see no disinfecting wipes or sanitizer, no masks no gloves.. nothing.

We get to my place and after I pay him, I get out and go around to get the bags and again he gets out and comes right up beside me and grabs some bags

Again I said "it's okay I can take them" and he said no no, I will carry them to your place, and I said no, it's fine, i can handle them.

I basically had to pry my bags from his hands.

I honestly wouldnt think.. at this point that i would have to be blunt and state the obvious about social distancing... as it's been everywhere you go for weeks. So it surprised me that twice he gave no thought to himself or me..

In trying to be a gentleman he removed my ability twice to maintain my own 6 feet of space.

I dont know if he just didnt get it? Or if he just didnt care. But it's people like that, that would make it hard to reopen parts of the city or county without them just coming into that space.

I was pretty mad.. last thing I need is to catch this just before I return to work because someone else just didnt care or doesnt take it seriously enough.

All i could think was... what if he had done this for all his passengers? Then by being that close to me, shared it with me cause he picked it up from someone else.... what if I was unlucky enough to bring something home from the store and by him grabbing my bags, hes got it and now sharing it with new passengers.

I actually wrote a tiny rant about it on my main profile as a vent, and someone that is no longer a friend cause they deleted themselves, condescendingly told me that they Hope I find happiness in my life so I dont blame others.

So besides the cab driver, here is another person who seems to think violation of space and potential infection from someone else should be invited with love and acceptance.

I dont blame those who ended up with it, it spread so quickly, and it's been hard to control, but I will get mad at those who dont do their own part to work together to protect those who haven't yet. Its gonna spread enough as it is, just trying to maintain some essential services to live and work, why make it harder?

Keep your distance. Wash your hands. And those red arrows on the floor at the grocery store indicating which direction the flow of the aisle is.. follow it, dont just barge down the wrong way because you're only getting 1 thing and you dont wanna walk down another aisle just to go in the right direction. It's not hard..

Lol... so frustrating when I see things like this

Perhaps a call to the cab company as a gentle reminder, since this has happened more than once.

Oh, well no, only the once, lol you read my rant the other day I'm sure, that's who I'm talking about lol

I even looked at the date before responding, because it seemed familiar.

KrissCanDoThis wrote: »

snowflake954 wrote: »

KrissCanDoThis wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

"well at least they passed fast and didnt suffer, how long before the room is empty? We need to have it cleaned for the next resident to live in it"

...and yet, people can be so cruel.

I've had the misfortune to lose all my family members, one by one.

The things people say just defy explanation.


If you don't know what to say, say nothing.



...and yeah, this virus is Nature's way. Doesn't mean it isn't horribly painful.

I'm so sorry, that's awful.. =/
I agree, if grief and condolences are not something you excel at, the best thing you can do is not say anything.

You know... sometimes I've had situations come up where I literally have no idea how to react with words, which really sucks if I'm alone, but if I cant think of what to say, I usually shoot for what the next most appropriate thing would be, in the case of loss, I would ask if i could give them a hug.

If I'm with others, i will allow someone else to say something and use that as a learning experience, because while i work in a place where loss of family is reality, I have honestly never lost anyone before. I had to learn my empathy of how it feels, and while i am sincere, I cant imagine I'm even close to how it truly feels. I know the sadness I feel thinking about what my life would be like once I lose everyone I'm close to but I cant compare it to the reality, but I do try my best to use what I feel and learn based on only outside experience to be there for people when they're struggling.

My mother was a registered nurse and worked the night shift for many years. Sometimes she'd arrive home in the morning and say that someone had died. I was a kid and looked at her horrified, and asked if she was afraid to be alone in a room when someone died. I'll never forget her response "No, I consider it a privilege to be there at that time and comfort the family as best I can".

I have unfortunately missed deaths of residents who I grew close to. I remember one person I used to visit quite frequently when I would work and I'd stay and chat with her for a while, i remember as time went on, she became less and less interested in coming out for meals, I brought her in some home made turkey soup, and she told me that she was just so tired of living and that she was ready to go, that was truly one of those moments where I didnt know what to say because here is a person whose life has meaning and value and who I enjoyed visiting and getting to know, who has friends and family who would miss her... but also, who was i to dismiss how she felt and not also be fully present for her desires, despite what it truly was?

I wanted to tell her she was just being silly and that shes going to be here for a long time. But while that sentiment would show her I cared for her, it also would of made her feel lonely in her own feelings inside.

I put my hand in her hand and I said to her "well.. I want you to know that I have loved every minute we have spent getting to know each other and getting to serve you meals, and I will continue to do that no matter how much time that is"

She smiled and said thank you and said it was a pleasure to have someone like me. She passed away not soon after on my weekend off.

I walked out of that room tho, unsure if what I said was the right thing to say. It was an experience to learn from.