Coronavirus prep
Replies
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Most places here have the sanitizer available for you to do it yourself (which I prefer) rather than someone standing there doing it for you.6
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(Not glove-hoarding, BTW. My local hospital system was taking donations of unopened boxes of gloves at first, so I donated the unopened one of the big 2-pack I'd recently bought at Costco for crafts use, but kept the open one. Not using them often any more, but have them ready, including a small bag of them in the car, just in case. Suspect using gloves to avoid getting paint on my face/clothes is good practice for not spreading viruses to my face/clothes, though not a perfect analog.)
I don't think there's currently a shortage, is there? I got a bunch of them because my cat is taking a medicine that you rub into his ear wearing gloves, and so I ordered a package of gloves before picking up the medicine, only to learn that a glove was provided with the medicine. I don't use gloves, so would be happy to donate the box I bought if someone wanted it, but I don't think anyone does anymore.0 -
(Not glove-hoarding, BTW. My local hospital system was taking donations of unopened boxes of gloves at first, so I donated the unopened one of the big 2-pack I'd recently bought at Costco for crafts use, but kept the open one. Not using them often any more, but have them ready, including a small bag of them in the car, just in case. Suspect using gloves to avoid getting paint on my face/clothes is good practice for not spreading viruses to my face/clothes, though not a perfect analog.)
I don't think there's currently a shortage, is there? I got a bunch of them because my cat is taking a medicine that you rub into his ear wearing gloves, and so I ordered a package of gloves before picking up the medicine, only to learn that a glove was provided with the medicine. I don't use gloves, so would be happy to donate the box I bought if someone wanted it, but I don't think anyone does anymore.
No idea. Just a bit of pandemic nostalgia (?!) on my part, I guess. 😆 There are rumors that some of the local hospitals are short on some things again, but I haven't checked their web site here to see if they're once again desperate enough to accept donations from the public. Everything useful I had went to them (or the local robotics club for face-shield making) back at the start, anyway.2 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »rheddmobile wrote: »My "risky" behavior is that I do go into stores and do my own shopping. Am I shopping like pre-COVID (which might have included "window shopping" behavior in stores, or even going to the grocery store more than once a day)? No. I have chatted with my 29 yr old daughter about this and she considers my actions of going into a grocery store risky and I am typically blocked from visiting for at least a week after. My logic on the safety is that I actually know/recognize the majority of staff in the grocery store, from Pre-covid, and they are all still there. Those workers that I have chatted with on this topic, have been working in the store throughout the pandemic and have never been sick (or so they believe). And please understand that these conversations include people that do have what qualifies as visible preexisting conditions (sex, age, weight). My thoughts are that if my grocery store were that dangerous, these individuals would have all had COVID at least once by now.
As for delivery and store pickup, like @rheddmobile, in May I tried a Peapod delivery (items missing), quickly added an afternoon whole foods pickup (got items but not what I would have chosen), tried for Peapod pickup the next day for remaining missing items (again missing), got disgusted and went into the store from the parking lot. There on the shelves were the "missing items" as well as items I regularly purchase at that store but were not offered online. I filled another whole cart. It was at that point that I began doing the in person shopping for my parents, daughter's family, as well as myself for the next two months. Eventually, daughter went back to her own way, and parents learned how to online shop on their own and we happy with what they received. While I do shop in store, I do limit the frequency that I shop, and I chose best days/time of day for least number of customers. I do not go into the store if there is a line waiting to go in, since that means the store is already at max capacity, and I come back another time. Heading into xmas, I did have to do store pickup for groceries during the week before, but I preemptively shopped the week before for the majority of items. Store pickup went fine for the limited list, but of course two hours after pickup I remember that one or two items I forgot to order and there is a $35 order minimum......
I believe quickly shopping while all people are masked, in a large building with lots of airflow, is probably moderately safe. However I would caution you not to assume your workers are fine. A study (can’t remember where? Boston?) which tested all grocery store workers found that 20% had Covid without knowing it and the largest risk factor was not whether the worker was cautious but whether they had a customer-facing job. You work with customers, you get sick, no matter how careful.
Yeah I don't consider grocery shopping in a large Walmart or similar especially risky. I almost always use self check anytime even before Covid so have limited contact with employees.
I haven't used self check since Covid because I noticed that no one was cleaning them between customers and there is a lot of screen-touching required at each transaction. At least the debit machine (and other areas) gets wiped down by the cashier at a regular checkout and I'm using tap with my card anyway so there's no common surface touching at all. I think almost all checkouts here have cashiers behind plexiglass now.
I don't use the self checkout because it is any safer from a sanitation point of view. I use it because I am fast and can check myself out faster, unless I have a full basket. As for it being dirty, @ythannah you are right that they do not sanitize between guests but they no longer sanitize the shopping carts anymore either. So once I am inside the store, it is up to me to protect myself. Working method is single credit card in my pant pocket for easy access and sanitizing wipes/gel/spray for my hands. All and all, I think I am in better shape than the person wearing gloves inside the store to make themselves "safer" but they continually touch their face and mask with their gloved hands. At least I am not fooling myself. I believe my actions have better logic to them.
I see. Carts and baskets are still sanitized here. And I find the self checkout a lot slower because I have to answer a ton of questions on the screen and there's quite a lengthy pause before you get to the next screen -- all of which is done verbally with a cashier. Produce is a PITA, and you can't use coupons without calling for an assistant. Plus I'm not as adept at finding the bar codes for scanning as a cashier is!
If that were my experience, I wouldn't do it either.1 -
(Not glove-hoarding, BTW. My local hospital system was taking donations of unopened boxes of gloves at first, so I donated the unopened one of the big 2-pack I'd recently bought at Costco for crafts use, but kept the open one. Not using them often any more, but have them ready, including a small bag of them in the car, just in case. Suspect using gloves to avoid getting paint on my face/clothes is good practice for not spreading viruses to my face/clothes, though not a perfect analog.)
I don't think there's currently a shortage, is there? I got a bunch of them because my cat is taking a medicine that you rub into his ear wearing gloves, and so I ordered a package of gloves before picking up the medicine, only to learn that a glove was provided with the medicine. I don't use gloves, so would be happy to donate the box I bought if someone wanted it, but I don't think anyone does anymore.
No idea. Just a bit of pandemic nostalgia (?!) on my part, I guess. 😆
LOL
I suppose I should check with local hospitals as I haven't opened the box and have no use for it. Or if not, offer it up on NextDoor.2 -
I just checked our local hospital website and they are still asking for mask donations but nothing else. Because I used to work there, I know what they use; PAPR for high-risk situations and paper or cloth masks for everything else. What I have, P100, they don't use, but I would wear it if I had to go in.
I like to use gloves when I'm disinfecting items before bringing them inside my house, fewer harsh chemicals on my skin. It reminds me to pay attention to what I'm touching, plus there's no worries about contaminates under my fingernails.1 -
The coronavirus relief bill (US) has finally been signed!5
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NSW Australia.. this week death toll up 1 to 54.
Sadly, a man in his 70s died earlier this week from respiratory complications following a COVID-19 infection diagnosed in March. He was a household contact of a locally acquired case. Although his death is considered to be related to COVID-19, he had recently tested negative, was no longer infectious and posed no risk to the community.
This is so scary to me.. just goes to show that surviving it at the time might not mean you'll survive it long term. 😔10 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »rheddmobile wrote: »My "risky" behavior is that I do go into stores and do my own shopping. Am I shopping like pre-COVID (which might have included "window shopping" behavior in stores, or even going to the grocery store more than once a day)? No. I have chatted with my 29 yr old daughter about this and she considers my actions of going into a grocery store risky and I am typically blocked from visiting for at least a week after. My logic on the safety is that I actually know/recognize the majority of staff in the grocery store, from Pre-covid, and they are all still there. Those workers that I have chatted with on this topic, have been working in the store throughout the pandemic and have never been sick (or so they believe). And please understand that these conversations include people that do have what qualifies as visible preexisting conditions (sex, age, weight). My thoughts are that if my grocery store were that dangerous, these individuals would have all had COVID at least once by now.
As for delivery and store pickup, like @rheddmobile, in May I tried a Peapod delivery (items missing), quickly added an afternoon whole foods pickup (got items but not what I would have chosen), tried for Peapod pickup the next day for remaining missing items (again missing), got disgusted and went into the store from the parking lot. There on the shelves were the "missing items" as well as items I regularly purchase at that store but were not offered online. I filled another whole cart. It was at that point that I began doing the in person shopping for my parents, daughter's family, as well as myself for the next two months. Eventually, daughter went back to her own way, and parents learned how to online shop on their own and we happy with what they received. While I do shop in store, I do limit the frequency that I shop, and I chose best days/time of day for least number of customers. I do not go into the store if there is a line waiting to go in, since that means the store is already at max capacity, and I come back another time. Heading into xmas, I did have to do store pickup for groceries during the week before, but I preemptively shopped the week before for the majority of items. Store pickup went fine for the limited list, but of course two hours after pickup I remember that one or two items I forgot to order and there is a $35 order minimum......
I believe quickly shopping while all people are masked, in a large building with lots of airflow, is probably moderately safe. However I would caution you not to assume your workers are fine. A study (can’t remember where? Boston?) which tested all grocery store workers found that 20% had Covid without knowing it and the largest risk factor was not whether the worker was cautious but whether they had a customer-facing job. You work with customers, you get sick, no matter how careful.
Yeah I don't consider grocery shopping in a large Walmart or similar especially risky. I almost always use self check anytime even before Covid so have limited contact with employees.
I haven't used self check since Covid because I noticed that no one was cleaning them between customers and there is a lot of screen-touching required at each transaction. At least the debit machine (and other areas) gets wiped down by the cashier at a regular checkout and I'm using tap with my card anyway so there's no common surface touching at all. I think almost all checkouts here have cashiers behind plexiglass now.
I usually prefer to use the self checkout because it's less interaction close to another person and less handling of the food by another person. In addition, due to having to go frequently due to half of my food being fresh fruits and veggies and only shopping for myself, I usually only have a small hand basket of items to check out so it's usually faster. Contact tracing has shown that surfaces are a low risk of transmission, so I'm not as concerned about that as I was in the beginning. When the pandemic first started, I was disinfecting any packaged items I brought home and/or putting items in the garage fridge to quarantine for a few days. Now, I am just sure to sanitize my hands as soon as I get to the car, before taking out my keys or taking off my mask.6 -
kshama2001 wrote: »The coronavirus relief bill (US) has finally been signed!
Finally indeed, but only after attention seeking fanfare.16 -
The_Enginerd wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »rheddmobile wrote: »My "risky" behavior is that I do go into stores and do my own shopping. Am I shopping like pre-COVID (which might have included "window shopping" behavior in stores, or even going to the grocery store more than once a day)? No. I have chatted with my 29 yr old daughter about this and she considers my actions of going into a grocery store risky and I am typically blocked from visiting for at least a week after. My logic on the safety is that I actually know/recognize the majority of staff in the grocery store, from Pre-covid, and they are all still there. Those workers that I have chatted with on this topic, have been working in the store throughout the pandemic and have never been sick (or so they believe). And please understand that these conversations include people that do have what qualifies as visible preexisting conditions (sex, age, weight). My thoughts are that if my grocery store were that dangerous, these individuals would have all had COVID at least once by now.
As for delivery and store pickup, like @rheddmobile, in May I tried a Peapod delivery (items missing), quickly added an afternoon whole foods pickup (got items but not what I would have chosen), tried for Peapod pickup the next day for remaining missing items (again missing), got disgusted and went into the store from the parking lot. There on the shelves were the "missing items" as well as items I regularly purchase at that store but were not offered online. I filled another whole cart. It was at that point that I began doing the in person shopping for my parents, daughter's family, as well as myself for the next two months. Eventually, daughter went back to her own way, and parents learned how to online shop on their own and we happy with what they received. While I do shop in store, I do limit the frequency that I shop, and I chose best days/time of day for least number of customers. I do not go into the store if there is a line waiting to go in, since that means the store is already at max capacity, and I come back another time. Heading into xmas, I did have to do store pickup for groceries during the week before, but I preemptively shopped the week before for the majority of items. Store pickup went fine for the limited list, but of course two hours after pickup I remember that one or two items I forgot to order and there is a $35 order minimum......
I believe quickly shopping while all people are masked, in a large building with lots of airflow, is probably moderately safe. However I would caution you not to assume your workers are fine. A study (can’t remember where? Boston?) which tested all grocery store workers found that 20% had Covid without knowing it and the largest risk factor was not whether the worker was cautious but whether they had a customer-facing job. You work with customers, you get sick, no matter how careful.
Yeah I don't consider grocery shopping in a large Walmart or similar especially risky. I almost always use self check anytime even before Covid so have limited contact with employees.
I haven't used self check since Covid because I noticed that no one was cleaning them between customers and there is a lot of screen-touching required at each transaction. At least the debit machine (and other areas) gets wiped down by the cashier at a regular checkout and I'm using tap with my card anyway so there's no common surface touching at all. I think almost all checkouts here have cashiers behind plexiglass now.
I usually prefer to use the self checkout because it's less interaction close to another person and less handling of the food by another person. In addition, due to having to go frequently due to half of my food being fresh fruits and veggies and only shopping for myself, I usually only have a small hand basket of items to check out so it's usually faster. Contact tracing has shown that surfaces are a low risk of transmission, so I'm not as concerned about that as I was in the beginning. When the pandemic first started, I was disinfecting any packaged items I brought home and/or putting items in the garage fridge to quarantine for a few days. Now, I am just sure to sanitize my hands as soon as I get to the car, before taking out my keys or taking off my mask.
Agreed, as long as I don't touch my face, I don't really care if everything is being sanitized. I just want as few people as possible to breathe on me. I use hand sanitizer when I leave the store and then way my hands when I get home. I mean, I try to touch as few surfaces as possible as well just in case I have a brain fart and rub my eye or something, but my focus is avoiding people, not surfaces
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kshama2001 wrote: »The coronavirus relief bill (US) has finally been signed!
Finally indeed, but only after attention seeking fanfare.
I’m far from a defender, but, there’s a lot of blame to go around. The posturing and rhetoric went on for months by congress. According to what I’ve read, no one in congress read the 5500 page bill they passed. Not an unusual occurrence by all accounts.
We keep a bottle of hand sanitizer, Colorox wipes, and spare masks in both our vehicles. I also have a mini container of hand sanitizer I keep in my pocket. A sign of the times, my daughter got a couple of mini bottles of hand sanitizer and a mask with snowflakes on it in her Christmas stocking this year.6 -
missysippy930 wrote: »Both my husband’s prescriptions and our dog’s prescriptions are call when you arrive, pay when you call, and they bring it out to your car with the prescription and receipt. No one is allowed inside the facilities. When our dog has an appointment, you call when you arrive. The vet tech comes out and gets him. After the vet sees him, the tech calls and gets payment then brings him out to the car. Then the vet comes out and talks to us. Our dogs had a couple of issues this year and has been to the vet 3 times during covid.
This is similar to what we did when our dog hurt his leg -- they checked him in outside, I went home, and then I did the consults with the doctor over the phone. I was a bit worried about it (because I am a worrying dog "mom"), but it went really smoothly. Our little guy made a full recovery, we just have to keep him off of beds now because he wants to jump off and won't use the dog stairs.7 -
missysippy930 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »The coronavirus relief bill (US) has finally been signed!
Finally indeed, but only after attention seeking fanfare.
I’m far from a defender, but, there’s a lot of blame to go around. The posturing and rhetoric went on for months by congress. According to what I’ve read, no one in congress read the 5500 page bill they passed. Not an unusual occurrence by all accounts.
We keep a bottle of hand sanitizer, Colorox wipes, and spare masks in both our vehicles. I also have a mini container of hand sanitizer I keep in my pocket. A sign of the times, my daughter got a couple of mini bottles of hand sanitizer and a mask with snowflakes on it in her Christmas stocking this year.
Ahh----snowflakes.6 -
Masks and sanitizer... the new socks and underwear of Christmas gifts :laugh:12
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Target self checkout sanitizes between customers.
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The_Enginerd wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »rheddmobile wrote: »My "risky" behavior is that I do go into stores and do my own shopping. Am I shopping like pre-COVID (which might have included "window shopping" behavior in stores, or even going to the grocery store more than once a day)? No. I have chatted with my 29 yr old daughter about this and she considers my actions of going into a grocery store risky and I am typically blocked from visiting for at least a week after. My logic on the safety is that I actually know/recognize the majority of staff in the grocery store, from Pre-covid, and they are all still there. Those workers that I have chatted with on this topic, have been working in the store throughout the pandemic and have never been sick (or so they believe). And please understand that these conversations include people that do have what qualifies as visible preexisting conditions (sex, age, weight). My thoughts are that if my grocery store were that dangerous, these individuals would have all had COVID at least once by now.
As for delivery and store pickup, like @rheddmobile, in May I tried a Peapod delivery (items missing), quickly added an afternoon whole foods pickup (got items but not what I would have chosen), tried for Peapod pickup the next day for remaining missing items (again missing), got disgusted and went into the store from the parking lot. There on the shelves were the "missing items" as well as items I regularly purchase at that store but were not offered online. I filled another whole cart. It was at that point that I began doing the in person shopping for my parents, daughter's family, as well as myself for the next two months. Eventually, daughter went back to her own way, and parents learned how to online shop on their own and we happy with what they received. While I do shop in store, I do limit the frequency that I shop, and I chose best days/time of day for least number of customers. I do not go into the store if there is a line waiting to go in, since that means the store is already at max capacity, and I come back another time. Heading into xmas, I did have to do store pickup for groceries during the week before, but I preemptively shopped the week before for the majority of items. Store pickup went fine for the limited list, but of course two hours after pickup I remember that one or two items I forgot to order and there is a $35 order minimum......
I believe quickly shopping while all people are masked, in a large building with lots of airflow, is probably moderately safe. However I would caution you not to assume your workers are fine. A study (can’t remember where? Boston?) which tested all grocery store workers found that 20% had Covid without knowing it and the largest risk factor was not whether the worker was cautious but whether they had a customer-facing job. You work with customers, you get sick, no matter how careful.
Yeah I don't consider grocery shopping in a large Walmart or similar especially risky. I almost always use self check anytime even before Covid so have limited contact with employees.
I haven't used self check since Covid because I noticed that no one was cleaning them between customers and there is a lot of screen-touching required at each transaction. At least the debit machine (and other areas) gets wiped down by the cashier at a regular checkout and I'm using tap with my card anyway so there's no common surface touching at all. I think almost all checkouts here have cashiers behind plexiglass now.
I usually prefer to use the self checkout because it's less interaction close to another person and less handling of the food by another person. In addition, due to having to go frequently due to half of my food being fresh fruits and veggies and only shopping for myself, I usually only have a small hand basket of items to check out so it's usually faster. Contact tracing has shown that surfaces are a low risk of transmission, so I'm not as concerned about that as I was in the beginning. When the pandemic first started, I was disinfecting any packaged items I brought home and/or putting items in the garage fridge to quarantine for a few days. Now, I am just sure to sanitize my hands as soon as I get to the car, before taking out my keys or taking off my mask.
And quite timely, this showed up in my news feed this morning.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/28/948936133/still-disinfecting-surfaces-it-might-not-be-worth-it5 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »Masks and sanitizer... the new socks and underwear of Christmas gifts :laugh:
Oooo, yeah, but my sister-in-law gave me a few masks from a high-end athletic store, and they are so comfortable. I have to be masked all day at work, and these are so much nicer than the cheaper ones I had been using.10 -
Fun facts from the last This Week in Virology:
Dr. Griffin (who does the updates) got his first Moderna shot and experienced no side effects. Wanted to remind everyone that while the side effects get the press, far more people will be unaffected than will have any noticable side effects.
He also noted that people seem concerned by the slow rollout of the first wave of vaccines. He said that these first vaccines are going to frontline health care workers during a global spike in the pandemic, so it is quite difficult for hospitals to maintain overwhelmed staffing while pulling people off duty to get vaccinated. Subsequent stages should go much faster. Hiccups in the shipping and organization are also being worked out in this first batch.
Also spoke about Vitamin D. He said there is a clear correlation between vitamin D deficiency and poor covid outcomes. Said since there is no harm in moderate supplementation, he has no problem with his patients taking vitamin D proactively, as many people should probably be doing so anyway. But he said there is absolutely no evidence that taking D once you are infected does anything, whether you are deficient or not.13 -
The_Enginerd wrote: »The_Enginerd wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »rheddmobile wrote: »My "risky" behavior is that I do go into stores and do my own shopping. Am I shopping like pre-COVID (which might have included "window shopping" behavior in stores, or even going to the grocery store more than once a day)? No. I have chatted with my 29 yr old daughter about this and she considers my actions of going into a grocery store risky and I am typically blocked from visiting for at least a week after. My logic on the safety is that I actually know/recognize the majority of staff in the grocery store, from Pre-covid, and they are all still there. Those workers that I have chatted with on this topic, have been working in the store throughout the pandemic and have never been sick (or so they believe). And please understand that these conversations include people that do have what qualifies as visible preexisting conditions (sex, age, weight). My thoughts are that if my grocery store were that dangerous, these individuals would have all had COVID at least once by now.
As for delivery and store pickup, like @rheddmobile, in May I tried a Peapod delivery (items missing), quickly added an afternoon whole foods pickup (got items but not what I would have chosen), tried for Peapod pickup the next day for remaining missing items (again missing), got disgusted and went into the store from the parking lot. There on the shelves were the "missing items" as well as items I regularly purchase at that store but were not offered online. I filled another whole cart. It was at that point that I began doing the in person shopping for my parents, daughter's family, as well as myself for the next two months. Eventually, daughter went back to her own way, and parents learned how to online shop on their own and we happy with what they received. While I do shop in store, I do limit the frequency that I shop, and I chose best days/time of day for least number of customers. I do not go into the store if there is a line waiting to go in, since that means the store is already at max capacity, and I come back another time. Heading into xmas, I did have to do store pickup for groceries during the week before, but I preemptively shopped the week before for the majority of items. Store pickup went fine for the limited list, but of course two hours after pickup I remember that one or two items I forgot to order and there is a $35 order minimum......
I believe quickly shopping while all people are masked, in a large building with lots of airflow, is probably moderately safe. However I would caution you not to assume your workers are fine. A study (can’t remember where? Boston?) which tested all grocery store workers found that 20% had Covid without knowing it and the largest risk factor was not whether the worker was cautious but whether they had a customer-facing job. You work with customers, you get sick, no matter how careful.
Yeah I don't consider grocery shopping in a large Walmart or similar especially risky. I almost always use self check anytime even before Covid so have limited contact with employees.
I haven't used self check since Covid because I noticed that no one was cleaning them between customers and there is a lot of screen-touching required at each transaction. At least the debit machine (and other areas) gets wiped down by the cashier at a regular checkout and I'm using tap with my card anyway so there's no common surface touching at all. I think almost all checkouts here have cashiers behind plexiglass now.
I usually prefer to use the self checkout because it's less interaction close to another person and less handling of the food by another person. In addition, due to having to go frequently due to half of my food being fresh fruits and veggies and only shopping for myself, I usually only have a small hand basket of items to check out so it's usually faster. Contact tracing has shown that surfaces are a low risk of transmission, so I'm not as concerned about that as I was in the beginning. When the pandemic first started, I was disinfecting any packaged items I brought home and/or putting items in the garage fridge to quarantine for a few days. Now, I am just sure to sanitize my hands as soon as I get to the car, before taking out my keys or taking off my mask.
And quite timely, this showed up in my news feed this morning.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/28/948936133/still-disinfecting-surfaces-it-might-not-be-worth-it
I read it, but I'll still disinfect everything that comes into my house. Low chance doesn't mean no chance and I want my home to stay a safe zone. I live alone, so controlling this isn't difficult.6
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