Coronavirus prep

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  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    Italy is on it's second wave right now. Summer COVID cases were way down and everyone got complacent. The government does not want to go into another total Lockdown, and so are tightening up restrictions in hopes that they can stop the upward trend. Walking around central Rome on Sunday, it was shocking to see how many businesses were closed (totally gone) on a busy street. I would say a third of storefronts were abandoned.

    Masks are mandatory everywhere, even in the open, unless you are running or biking, or very far from anyone else. The fine is a minimum of $400 --max $1000. I'm seeing mask compliance at 95% just walking around. Even young people in a group were wearing them. I'm sorry for teens (and everyone) because it's a real pain, but seeing them make the sacrifice and consider other people who are fragile just made me so grateful to them. Our vaccine is in production and should be ready by Christmas. Of course it will take awhile to see if it really cuts down on cases and deaths. Flu vaccines should be ready soon and there's a big push to get it. My husband and I got the one-time pneumonia vaccine last week.

    It was on the news yesterday that 4 guards at The Vatican tested positive.

    From what I see, most people are in compliance with face coverings. They are mandatory in public.
  • SModa61
    SModa61 Posts: 2,828 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    SModa61 wrote: »
    SModa61 wrote: »
    Massachusetts Governor Baker announced that he is not canceling Halloween this year, and this is what he said. “And the reason we’re not canceling Halloween is because that would have turned into thousands of indoor Halloween parties, which would have been a heck of a lot worse for public safety and for the spread of the virus than outdoor, organized, and supervised trick-or-treating.”

    He’s probably right, but if I had a child that age, I’d probably arrange some kind of virtual trick or treating event. Let them dress up, get treats they want, and hope for back to normal next year. Make it a special day and avoid possible exposure to other people you have no idea whether or not they’ve been exposed. It’s sad, but so many people have had to lose out on special events this year. With all the holidays coming up, a lot of occasions are going to be very different for many of us. 😷

    In my neighborhood, houses are on a minimum of a acre of land. I am going to set up at the end of the driveway, with large table, pre-quarentined treat bags and sanitizing stations. Hopefully parents with be responsible for monitoring their kids the rest of the time. Hoping for no rain!

    Very good. Many people of course don't have that luxury of living on an acre of land. There would be those on small lots, and some in cramped apartments in high-rise buildings. Recipe for disaster in COVID times.

    All very true, I just put that description out there before getting bashed for being outside and offering Halloween the best I can. Interesting thing is that even on non-COVID years, parents drive to our neighborhood and park and have their kids walk the loop. Our street is shaped like a "P" and I am on the loop so kids get a lot of houses but arrive back at the parents car. Last year on a school night was 76 kids. I have no idea if those kids are from my town or driven in from other towns. I am preparing 100 bags, and hoping to not be tempted by leftovers.
  • oocdc2
    oocdc2 Posts: 1,361 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    SModa61 wrote: »
    Jumping in on the mask usage thing. Like kshama, I live primarily in Massachusetts. Here, you are not getting in a store without a mask. Grocery store, walmart, and other large stores, have a monitor at the door checking for masks, and counting bodies so as to not exceed numbers. I went into a Marshalls a few days ago, and not only was there a monitor, but she had a whole supply station of sanitizers, and such (maybe even spare masks). I went into Walgreens yesterday. Another customer made it into the store about 4 feet before the clerk was yelling across the store. The man started apologizing and pulled his mask from his pocket and put it on.

    Ironically, over the summer we "Massachusetts" people were being shut out of Maine (unless could meet their restrictions), because we were so dangerous. Well the whole thing was rediculous from my point of view. Since we have a private home there, we were were able to go up, meet their guidelines, and could observe. When we did go out, there was hardly anyone was wearing masks, Social distancing was rare. I saw people entering stores with no mask and finally one time I asked the monitor about the previous person with no mask. He said they won't stop them because they will be accosted. In contrast, here in Massachusetts, I did a walk early this morning without a mask (we are relatively rural here). As I went through the wooded cut through, a woman was coming the other way. I stepped off the path so we would have at least 5 feet in the open air for the half second we passed. She veered an additional 5 feet off the other side of the path to stay away from me. That is the norm that I see here. Hmmm, Massachusetts vs Maine. And they were worried about us. Yes, Maine made it through the summer relatively unscathed, but the tourist industry was sorely hurt. I think they might have done equally well if they just actually inforced the mask, social distancing type policies, and allowed tourists in to support their businesses.

    Wal-Mart in TN has people at the door also, but they are just standing there. Theoretically they probably are supposed to make sure people wear masks, but I see mask-less customers walk right past them without getting stopped.

    At our local Walmart, when they were enforcing/encouraging the mask mandate, people would enter the store with a mask, then take it off as soon as they were past the entrance.

    Wow, that is so crazy how different it is by location. People here have worn them everywhere since march. Even 70% of the people I see running/walking/biking who are outside and not near anyone are still wearing them.

    Yes, we do it by habit now, not just by enforcement. I was in a doctor's waiting room a few weeks ago and saw a lady enter. She was actually very confused as there was no enforcement at the door. Turned to the rest of us to ask what the requirements were. Like "Where's the sanitizer station?" "Where's guy with the temperature gun?" "Why was no one at the door to insist I had my mask on?" She didn't say all those words, but that was her disposition. That's real-life at just about every place we visit now. And no one objects or protests.

    Where do you live? Is there a house available? That sounds amazing!
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    SModa61 wrote: »
    Jumping in on the mask usage thing. Like kshama, I live primarily in Massachusetts. Here, you are not getting in a store without a mask. Grocery store, walmart, and other large stores, have a monitor at the door checking for masks, and counting bodies so as to not exceed numbers. I went into a Marshalls a few days ago, and not only was there a monitor, but she had a whole supply station of sanitizers, and such (maybe even spare masks). I went into Walgreens yesterday. Another customer made it into the store about 4 feet before the clerk was yelling across the store. The man started apologizing and pulled his mask from his pocket and put it on.

    Ironically, over the summer we "Massachusetts" people were being shut out of Maine (unless could meet their restrictions), because we were so dangerous. Well the whole thing was rediculous from my point of view. Since we have a private home there, we were were able to go up, meet their guidelines, and could observe. When we did go out, there was hardly anyone was wearing masks, Social distancing was rare. I saw people entering stores with no mask and finally one time I asked the monitor about the previous person with no mask. He said they won't stop them because they will be accosted. In contrast, here in Massachusetts, I did a walk early this morning without a mask (we are relatively rural here). As I went through the wooded cut through, a woman was coming the other way. I stepped off the path so we would have at least 5 feet in the open air for the half second we passed. She veered an additional 5 feet off the other side of the path to stay away from me. That is the norm that I see here. Hmmm, Massachusetts vs Maine. And they were worried about us. Yes, Maine made it through the summer relatively unscathed, but the tourist industry was sorely hurt. I think they might have done equally well if they just actually inforced the mask, social distancing type policies, and allowed tourists in to support their businesses.

    Wal-Mart in TN has people at the door also, but they are just standing there. Theoretically they probably are supposed to make sure people wear masks, but I see mask-less customers walk right past them without getting stopped.

    At our local Walmart, when they were enforcing/encouraging the mask mandate, people would enter the store with a mask, then take it off as soon as they were past the entrance.

    Wow, that is so crazy how different it is by location. People here have worn them everywhere since march. Even 70% of the people I see running/walking/biking who are outside and not near anyone are still wearing them.

    I think it tends to vary based on whether you are in a location that was hit hard early or not. There's pretty good indoors mask compliance here and somewhat outdoors (with people social distancing), but we were hit hard early (although not as much as NY/NJ).
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    SModa61 wrote: »
    Jumping in on the mask usage thing. Like kshama, I live primarily in Massachusetts. Here, you are not getting in a store without a mask. Grocery store, walmart, and other large stores, have a monitor at the door checking for masks, and counting bodies so as to not exceed numbers. I went into a Marshalls a few days ago, and not only was there a monitor, but she had a whole supply station of sanitizers, and such (maybe even spare masks). I went into Walgreens yesterday. Another customer made it into the store about 4 feet before the clerk was yelling across the store. The man started apologizing and pulled his mask from his pocket and put it on.

    Ironically, over the summer we "Massachusetts" people were being shut out of Maine (unless could meet their restrictions), because we were so dangerous. Well the whole thing was rediculous from my point of view. Since we have a private home there, we were were able to go up, meet their guidelines, and could observe. When we did go out, there was hardly anyone was wearing masks, Social distancing was rare. I saw people entering stores with no mask and finally one time I asked the monitor about the previous person with no mask. He said they won't stop them because they will be accosted. In contrast, here in Massachusetts, I did a walk early this morning without a mask (we are relatively rural here). As I went through the wooded cut through, a woman was coming the other way. I stepped off the path so we would have at least 5 feet in the open air for the half second we passed. She veered an additional 5 feet off the other side of the path to stay away from me. That is the norm that I see here. Hmmm, Massachusetts vs Maine. And they were worried about us. Yes, Maine made it through the summer relatively unscathed, but the tourist industry was sorely hurt. I think they might have done equally well if they just actually inforced the mask, social distancing type policies, and allowed tourists in to support their businesses.

    Wal-Mart in TN has people at the door also, but they are just standing there. Theoretically they probably are supposed to make sure people wear masks, but I see mask-less customers walk right past them without getting stopped.

    At our local Walmart, when they were enforcing/encouraging the mask mandate, people would enter the store with a mask, then take it off as soon as they were past the entrance.

    I think some did that here too, but even when there was a county ordinance requiring masks, I observed people walk right past the Wal-Mart door employees without a mask.

    There are some people that do that here too and I assume just about everywhere. The municipal stance is that the store should inform them about the mask bylaw, but not try to physically enforce it by preventing them from entering the store. The teenager working part time at Walmart isn't paid enough to have to bounce nutjobs.

    In this case, they didn't inform the maskless customers about the mask mandate either.

    We have a county mandate about masks in places of business, and the law here is that it has to be posted, and the business can be fined if they serve someone without a mask, but the employees are not required to confront people directly.

    My husband got a dude and his wife and kid kicked out of Kroger in Collierville for not wearing masks. He wouldn’t have bothered but 1) maskless grade school age kid was screaming at the top of his lungs in the middle of the produce department and had been there 10 minutes and my husband needed produce, and 2) it was the second shopping trip in a row where he had seen this same guy without a mask - the first time he was alone, this time he had family. I guess we just shop at the same time. The first time my husband said to a passing manager, “I don’t know what your policy is about enforcing the mask mandate but there’s a guy over there without a mask,” and the manager said, “I’ll talk to him.” This time, he went and got a manager and brought him over. Manager offered free masks, was turned down, and said, “You all need to leave.” And that was all it took, dude left with wife and screaming kid trailing behind. So, apart from his nasty brat spraying germs all over the produce, victory I guess?
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    If a grade school age kid was screaming uncontrollably in a grocery store wonder if the child had special needs? In that case can't call the kid a brat, but should be left at home.

    Here in Massachusetts the messaging is that the least amount of people possible should shop. Now, I get if someone is a single parent and has no childcare and thus has to bring their child, but I don't understand why COUPLES are food shopping with a child/children.

    Years back, I briefly lived with a friend with three small children. I went with all of them to the store ONCE. After that, one or the other of us would shop and the other stay home with the kids. MUCH less aggravating!

    Yeah, here too. I live in a neighborhood with a local business district with lots of small stores, and most of them have a sign asking that only one member of a party come in at a time.
  • SModa61
    SModa61 Posts: 2,828 Member
    Wife went to the doc this week and her potassium is high in her blood. She goes back for another test this week. Doesn't sound terrible but not great either. Looks like she may have early kidney disease. Not something she or I was hoping to hear on top of everything else going on. Likely from all the ibuprofen she took years ago (that stuff should be illegal, IMHO). I suppose the good news is that she seems to be doing well for now and that the doctor caught it early. I don't think it's a false positive because she was having a lot of leg cramps at night, another sign of CKD. I've always thought she had the potential for diabetes as well. I would think the doc will test for that as well. That can cause loss of kidney efficiency as well. We'll see. Been in a depressed mood all week.

    If there's a bright side, we eat pretty close to what they recommend for CKD and really don't eat that far off for a diabetic's diet either. Hopefully we can get her blood levels under control quickly. We've already eliminated her big potassium items -- bananas, kiwis, turmeric, potatoes, tomatoes, melons, avocados and nuts -- everything she loves to eat, LOL.

    The other bright side is that I talked her into a checkup, even with Covid-19. She was planning on not going this year. It's a good thing that she did. Keep doing your health checkups, even if it's telemedicine. Many docs, like mine, had never offered that before this year. Now they do.

    Wishing you both good health!
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Got my flu shot today - first time since 1990.

    Flu shot? What's that? And I've been around long before 1990.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    so much for the "gyms are perfectly safe -- no cases traced to gyms" argument:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/10/14/canada-spin-class-coronavirus-masks/

    My gym (according to their emails and blog posts -- I'm still not going back) doesn't hold indoor classes, spinning or otherwise, due to the smaller spaces used for classes and, I assume, the shouting instructors.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,427 Member
    edited October 2020
    so much for the "gyms are perfectly safe -- no cases traced to gyms" argument:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/10/14/canada-spin-class-coronavirus-masks/

    My gym (according to their emails and blog posts -- I'm still not going back) doesn't hold indoor classes, spinning or otherwise, due to the smaller spaces used for classes and, I assume, the shouting instructors.

    Still none at my gym or any gym in my community. I use the weights, large area, high ceiling well vented, 5-6 people in a 5,000 sq. ft. area today. I've started going during the day since WFH. Many in my small city are WFH so gym not very crowded at any point in time. Some indoor classes being held there.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    so much for the "gyms are perfectly safe -- no cases traced to gyms" argument:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/10/14/canada-spin-class-coronavirus-masks/

    My gym (according to their emails and blog posts -- I'm still not going back) doesn't hold indoor classes, spinning or otherwise, due to the smaller spaces used for classes and, I assume, the shouting instructors.

    Even in Australia where there is little Covid and they are doing all the right things there has been Covid caught in gyms.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    @kshama2001 For some reason, this year's flu shot made me tired for a week.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    I was tired after the flu shot for a couple of days this year, which doesn't usually happen, but I have been blaming the shingles vaccine I got on the same day.
  • SModa61
    SModa61 Posts: 2,828 Member
    For the flu shot, I don't remember being tired or hubby complaining of that, but both of us had tender arms for 48 hours. The nurse that gave me mine, warned me that would happen before she even gave the shot.