Coronavirus prep

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  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,055 Member
    mkculs13 wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Our state Supreme Court just struck down the governor's stay at home order. This means any business or restaurant can open up immediately.

    Not a surprise, but I am so disappointed. Madison was already ramped up this week; who knows what it will become like now?

    I'm social distancing, wearing a mask inside stores (only the grocery store, about once every 10 days; one outing to a pet store every month). I work from home and take daily walks at the dog parks, where it's easy to be at least 6 feet from others. I tried my local trail (out my door, basically) yesterday but it was too busy. Most people walking with another person (or more than 1 other) do not walk single file, although I noticed some moms with kids on bikes who did that. If everyone walked single file on their side of the trail, it would basically be 6 feet or more for the entire 3.5 mile loop. But apparently that's too much to consider. I get pretty irritated b/c it is such a simple thing to do. I passed anywhere from 75 to 100 people--outrageously above the usual, non-Covid traffic. I don't begrudge anyone the need to get outside, especially now that our weather is finally decent. But c'mon, folks; move over and walk single file when passing others. It's not rocket science.

    I'm mostly concerned about a few people in my life and all the folks who will be put at risk b/c they *must* go back to work or have no income whatsoever. The truth is that reopening greatly increases the risk for those most AT risk, and these are the same folks who will not be able to claim unemployment if they don't go back to work. What a clusterf*ck. These folks do not have a real choice and that is so, so wrong.

    I imagine my nearby state park is quite busy as well, but due to the dog poop on the main trails >.< I started using a back entrance a few years back and hardly ever see people in that section.

    I've been too busy gardening lately to go there, but maybe I'll go today as it is super nice out.
  • moonangel12
    moonangel12 Posts: 971 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    jo_nz wrote: »
    We've woken up this morning to a new level of freedom (I'm in New Zealand) - at midnight we went to "alert level 2"

    Level 4 was full lockdown - supermarkets, pharmacies and medical centres open with restrictions, and a few other essential services were running. People had to stay home, no travel, only contact with those in your home (or your "bubble")

    Level 3 was a slight easing - cafes and restaurants opened for takeaway only. Stores opening for click and collect or delivery services. Travelling within your region was okay.

    Level 2 we now have restaurants open for table service again - groups of 10 or less. Shops can open, social distancing and hygiene measures in place. School will reopen on Monday. We can now travel again - looking forward to visiting my mum who is in another region and has been alone for 7 weeks! I have been talking to her lots, and ordering her groceries for delivery as she's in an at-risk group and taking all precautions.
    There are still restrictions on gatherings, so the kids' extra-curricular activities won't be starting face-to-face just yet. That will be reviewed in two weeks as we see how the case numbers progress.

    (Those descriptions of levels are not complete lists, just a few things relevant to me)

    Funny how today, for me, is actually just the same. I guess it will help when the kids head back to school next week, but I will continue to work from home. I am looking forward to taking the dog for a walk as we'd been requested to keep dogs on leash for all walks for level 3&4, so it'll be great to let her off at the beach or river for a run - except I think everyone else in town will probably have the same idea, and my dog hates crowds.
    My daughter is super excited to see her best friend today.

    Fingers crossed (and hands washed) that our numbers stay low going forward.

    What I don't understand is, if social distancing and hygiene measures are in place and groups are limited to 10, how do schools open? This is why we don't know when schools will reopen here. We have to follow the social distance guidelines, which is 10 or less. That is not a full school bus or classroom. They are even limiting staff to 10 at a time. Parks are open, but not playgrounds(in some cities). My city opened parks and playgrounds, but not restrooms. I don't understand...are we supposed to pee ourselves?
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    That's what the other side of the tree is for:)

    My only regret about being female is due to males' ability to pee discretely in the woods :lol:
    Do a search for GoGirl. Still not the same ease as a male, but definitely easier!
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,816 Member
    As a runner, I pay attention to where construction projects can be found along the routes I run. I'm very happy when they have sanitizer in the POPs because when you're 4 miles from home in an area with no woods and only stubble in the corn fields, they can be a necessity.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    edited May 2020
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Usually they have hand sanitizer with portapotties too, although I also think that seems weird.

    We also have (most) parks open but playground sections closed off. Facilities are closed, but it seems not that hard just to plan so no bathroom is needed. There are tons of local parks here, so people likely aren't too far from their homes anyway.

    Unless I'm missing something why is hand sanitizer in a porta potty weird? In most cases there is no running water available to wash your hands after using a porta potty. Hence the sanitizer is the next best choice.

    No, OF COURSE the hand sanitizer is not weird. The situation rhedd described was weird (shutting off bathrooms but then adding portapotties). What you were missing was my point, but I suppose I should have been more clear. Sometimes you just assume some interpretations are so bizarre that no one will think that's what you meant, but I should know better by now.

    I would guess the issue is you can only have one person at a time in the portapotties and the company sanitizes them, as someone else said, so if you think you NEED a bathroom facility there (I haven't seen any complaints about the lack of bathrooms here), the portapottie option might be better.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,008 Member
    Gisel2015 wrote: »
    rheddmobile wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    jo_nz wrote: »
    We've woken up this morning to a new level of freedom (I'm in New Zealand) - at midnight we went to "alert level 2"

    Level 4 was full lockdown - supermarkets, pharmacies and medical centres open with restrictions, and a few other essential services were running. People had to stay home, no travel, only contact with those in your home (or your "bubble")

    Level 3 was a slight easing - cafes and restaurants opened for takeaway only. Stores opening for click and collect or delivery services. Travelling within your region was okay.

    Level 2 we now have restaurants open for table service again - groups of 10 or less. Shops can open, social distancing and hygiene measures in place. School will reopen on Monday. We can now travel again - looking forward to visiting my mum who is in another region and has been alone for 7 weeks! I have been talking to her lots, and ordering her groceries for delivery as she's in an at-risk group and taking all precautions.
    There are still restrictions on gatherings, so the kids' extra-curricular activities won't be starting face-to-face just yet. That will be reviewed in two weeks as we see how the case numbers progress.

    (Those descriptions of levels are not complete lists, just a few things relevant to me)

    Funny how today, for me, is actually just the same. I guess it will help when the kids head back to school next week, but I will continue to work from home. I am looking forward to taking the dog for a walk as we'd been requested to keep dogs on leash for all walks for level 3&4, so it'll be great to let her off at the beach or river for a run - except I think everyone else in town will probably have the same idea, and my dog hates crowds.
    My daughter is super excited to see her best friend today.

    Fingers crossed (and hands washed) that our numbers stay low going forward.

    What I don't understand is, if social distancing and hygiene measures are in place and groups are limited to 10, how do schools open? This is why we don't know when schools will reopen here. We have to follow the social distance guidelines, which is 10 or less. That is not a full school bus or classroom. They are even limiting staff to 10 at a time. Parks are open, but not playgrounds(in some cities). My city opened parks and playgrounds, but not restrooms. I don't understand...are we supposed to pee ourselves?

    I suppose the theory is you are not suppossed to be in a park long enough to need the toilet.

    Parks were open here too but playgrounds within them were taped off. So it was ok to go for a walk or jog through the park or to sit by yourself /members of your household on a bench - but not for children ( or adults - the adults fitness equipment was taped off too) to gather on equipment or have lots of bodies touching equipment.
    Same logic as gyms, I suppose.

    Outdoor playgrounds/ fitness equipment are un taped and ok to use here now in stage 1 of road to recovery.


    Weirdly enough, they did the same thing here - left parks open but closed facilities at them - and then apparently the city noticed that people still needed to go, so rather than arrest everybody for indecent exposure, they added portapotties and posted the location of the new portapotties on the covid site! So, let me get this straight, using a fully functional restroom is unsafe, but sharing a four by four foot fully enclosed space with no way to wash your hands afterwards is somehow safe. Got it.

    Portapotties are cleaned and supplied by the rental company. Fully functional bathrooms need to be cleaned and supplied by the city or county and they probably don't have enough personnel to do that. That is my opinion, but I also agree with your reasoning.

    I'd add that portos are also designed with easy, fast sanitization among their priority design characteristics, as part of the cost-management side of the business. It's basically a plastic box, and many of them (you may have noticed) have slanting surfaces and perforated grid-surface shelves to simplify full-box hose-downs to clean. Regular park restrooms typically require custom cleaning with things like mops, brooms, sponges.

    I'm not saying the porto companies use hose-down to clean them at remote sites - don't know, and probably varies by company - but "easy to clean" is a design criterion, for sure. When you frequently send your plastic box out (under normal circumstances) to places where massive crowds are drinking beer and ***-ing all over the inside of the box, you're gonna want that feature. :lol:
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    rheddmobile wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Usually they have hand sanitizer with portapotties too, although I also think that seems weird.

    We also have (most) parks open but playground sections closed off. Facilities are closed, but it seems not that hard just to plan so no bathroom is needed. There are tons of local parks here, so people likely aren't too far from their homes anyway.

    What strange paradise do you live in where they have sanitizer with portapotties? I’ve used a lot more local portapotties than I care to at races, and I’m lucky to see toilet paper! I’ve learned to carry a wad of paper in my waist belt. Sometimes they have handwashing stations with foot pumps set up nearby, but not sanitizer.

    As a transplant from the South to the Midwest, I've personally observed that it was very rare for me to see a portipottie with hand sanitizer in Tennessee/Arkansas, but not uncommon for me to see them now.
  • eccentricplaza
    eccentricplaza Posts: 115 Member
    I'd like to add a perspective to the face mask issue.

    Where I live in the states we are in phase 1. People can go to the beach and restaurants. I went to a restaurant, as the clientele you can't really wear a mask while dining. Also, there was maybe 1 waitress who wore her mask properly. Everyone else was either showing their nose (even the top part of the mouth! mask was too loose) or touching the mask to readjust it, and grabbing the front of the mask to pull it off and breathe deeply. So, IMHO sometimes masks are giving a false sense of security when the habits regarding them are more important. Don't touch your face, mind where you're breathing, and wash your hands so you don't transfer germs.

    It's been 10 days. There's not any concerning spike in cases, the stores do not require people to wear masks to enter, the hospitals asked people to not neglect their "elective" procedures (a lot of heart issues, there is a lot of older people in the town just north of me) which consist of heart surgeries. People are avoiding the hospital in fear of catching CV. I know in March I was terrified when I had to transfer from a small birth center to a hospital when a hiccup happened during my labor. I'm okay.

    I'll also add that I do live in a "city", but it's not urban. It's suburban. I think people are frustrated when they're in places like where I live, but are being lumped into the same situation as major cities. The reasoning I've heard is to dissuade city dwellers from fleeing and spreading it because there's no incentive related to freedom.

    But if there's a 2-3 week lag, we'll see what happens starting 4 days from now. Hopefully it'll be as expected or better—small increase in cases, but no frightening spike. Not all counties opened up, the two that were worst hit are (from what I last heard) still closed.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    edited May 2020
    rheddmobile wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Usually they have hand sanitizer with portapotties too, although I also think that seems weird.

    We also have (most) parks open but playground sections closed off. Facilities are closed, but it seems not that hard just to plan so no bathroom is needed. There are tons of local parks here, so people likely aren't too far from their homes anyway.

    What strange paradise do you live in where they have sanitizer with portapotties?

    Chicago. Portapotties around here normally have it, and I've seen it with them when doing races in other parts of IL, as well as WI and IN and WA. (I did a marathon in New Orleans, but have no memory of whether they surprisingly did not have it, I was too brain dead after to remember anything.)
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 7,554 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Of course in IL liquor and recreational marijuana retailers have been deemed essential and open through all of this.

    I think liquor has been deemed essential in every state with closures. I know it was the case here in MN as well.

    Random thing I read from someone on Facebook was the cigarettes and alcohol are currently not being sold in South Africa. The person admitted he and others were spending a 300% mark-up on illegal cigarettes.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,215 Member
    edited May 2020
    I am sure that some of you are already aware of this information.' but Just in case you are not, here it goes..

    [b]CDC releases warning about Covid-related pediatric syndrome
    [/b]
    From CNN's Maggie Fox

    The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory to thousands of doctors across the country Thursday, advising them to be on the lookout for a troubling new syndrome that may be associated with Covid-19 infection.

    The syndrome, called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), has been seen in children across Europe and in at least 18 states, plus Washington, DC.

    “During March and April, cases of COVID-19 rapidly increased in New York City and New York State. In early May 2020, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene received reports of children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome,” the CDC health advisory said. “There is limited information currently available about risk factors, pathogenesis, clinical course, and treatment for MIS-C.

    "CDC is requesting healthcare providers report suspected cases to public health authorities to better characterize this newly recognized condition in the pediatric population," the advisory said.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    Maybe they're thinking about other choirs/singing-breath outward bound/close proximity issues in other churches. :|

    https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-cdc-says-washington-choir-session-53-cases-2-deaths-2020-5
  • whoami67
    whoami67 Posts: 297 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Wow, just got an email from my church parent association suggesting no in person meetings until this time next year:

    "As states around the country begin to loosen guidelines and take actions to reopen, even as COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to climb, we have received many questions from congregations about returning to in-person gatherings.

    Over the past several weeks, the UUA has consulted with multiple public health officials in order to update the guidance we provided on March 12 recommending congregations stop gathering in person.

    Based on advice from experts, we continue to recommend that congregations not gather in person. We also recommend that congregations begin planning for virtual operations for the next year (through May 2021).

    [Rational included but it is long so I am using this tag:]
    Take a moment to breathe. I know this is significant.

    While there is much public conversation about "reopening," the reality is public health officials consistently predict a long trajectory for this pandemic. A majority of our congregational members, leaders, and staff members are in high-risk categories. Our care for the well-being and safety of our members and staff must be a priority in this pandemic.

    This pandemic teaches us that our actions directly impact the health and well-being of our neighbors.

    Additionally, religious gatherings are considered highly contagious events. The acts of singing, the familiarity of people across households, the multigenerational community of children, youth, adults, and seniors-the things that make our congregations so special-also create more risk for spreading the virus.

    Given that so much uncertainty and risk remain, anticipating a year of virtual operations allows for more creative long-term planning, while still being flexible if conditions change significantly. We recognize that with time, and depending on the specific conditions and recommendations of local public health officials, small in-person groups of people and limited staff activities onsite may become possible while wearing masks, observing social distancing guidelines, and following diligent cleaning practices.

    In making our recommendations, we are guided by science and our deepest held values. This pandemic teaches us that our actions directly impact the health and well-being of our neighbors and so it is imperative that we make choices that keep our congregations and larger community safer. As COVID-19 disproportionately impacts people with disabilities, Black people, Indigenous communities, Latinx people, the elderly, and essential workers, a majority of whom are women and women of color, religious communities have a moral responsibility to do all we can to reduce risks for those already at such high risk.

    Public health officials are clear. There will need to be multiple weeks of reduction in infections, adequate testing, sufficient personal protective equipment available, contact tracing programs, and perhaps a vaccine before it will be safe for many of our congregations to fully gather in person again.

    All this said, our ministries are essential services. I am moved by congregations who are increasing their services and generosity to the larger community during this pandemic. I am inspired by those who are keeping their "virtual" doors open. Many congregations have committed to keeping their services widely accessible and available to new people and visitors, while also creating more opportunities for virtual small groups to tend to the social, spiritual, emotional, and material needs of their members.

    We hope that a vaccine or an effective treatment will be found soon to change this timeline. In the meantime, being able to plan the longer horizon of virtual services offers an opportunity to be creative in planning for life-giving, essential ministry across physical distance.

    Our detailed UUA Guidelines on Gathering In Person as COVID-19 Subsides include specific questions for congregations to ask to determine risk assessment and readiness plans before beginning any moves to gather in person. We will continue to update them as more information becomes available. As always, we encourage you to reach out to UUA regional staff if you need support in your planning.

    I continue to hold you, your community, and all of our people in my heart and in my prayers. I know adjusting to this new reality is heartbreaking. I also believe congregations who continue to lean into their mission and life-saving ministry will find ways to thrive in this time. Ministry is so deeply needed. As is moral leadership rooted in community care and in science. May we keep offering this to our communities.

    Yours in love and gratitude,

    Susan

    What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? There are worse things than dying.

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