I think if you open, you have to open schools. Otherwise how can you expect parents to work? I'm decidedly undecided on the issue. I'm also much less affected than other people. I can work safely from home, DH is watching the kids, and life in general has been going reasonably well for us.
Today has been a tough day though. I think we are really running out of things to do with DD. She just kind of wanders around the house.
I don’t think you have to open schools, but they might open up daycares to other than essential kids and start exploring camp options. Our schools get out prior to May 30. It’s the only year I am happy my kids started so early in August. Only 4 more weeks of elearning!
traveltheworld, I have resigned myself to the fact that schools aren't opening for the rest of this school year, so neither are workplaces. I'm honestly fine with WFH long-term, assuming that some kind of childcare/camps/schools open at some point - and I think a lot of people could continue to WFH until we have a vaccine to reduce the likelihood of a major second wave of cases.
I'm more interested in other social institutions/parks/beaches/public pools/small stores and restaurants, etc. reopening/relaxing restrictions and keeping social distancing protocols in place at some point soon. We just need a little bit of relaxing to keep everyone from going nuts.
Post by traveltheworld on Apr 27, 2020 17:56:46 GMT -5
sdlaura, I think there should be some relaxing - like if you interact socially with extended family or a small group of friends, and you are not in a high-case area, that should be ok. Otherwise people are just going to start breaking down and ignoring the official guidelines.
I am excited for those things to open up. Realistically is a Kohl’s less safe than Target? Not really. Obviously a wrong cough can cause a problem with shoppers but most of the spread is among employees.
I’m not advocating putting anyone at risk. Once it’s safe enough to do so, open up, wear masks, social distance. I’ve seen some companies when an employee has it confirmed then shut down for 2 weeks. That might be a better way to handle it instead of just ignoring the problem and letting it spread like some grocery stores and meat packing plants around here have done (and I understand they are essential for food supply chain), but that could be a way to open and minimize employee transfer as well as taking temperatures which sounds so dystopian, and I know lots don’t run a fever, but it’s a tool.
We were all sick at work in November/ December from a bad cold, and it all started with a lovely co-worker women who is the literal sweetest, but never takes sick days. If she had just stayed home for a week none of the rest of us would be sick, and one was in the hospital. We all have plenty of sick time and accommodating managers. I realize not everyone has that. But we have to shift that mentality in America from suck it up to stay home. and mandatory paid sick time.
I'm just hopeful schools open in fall. And open open, not the fantasy "12 kids per class, staggered start times, etc" our governor has been talking about because that's pretty impossible, and if that's the standard, we will never reopen. If small class sizes - which we all KNOW are ideal for more than just health/safety/coronavirus prevention - couldn't be made to fit into a budget before, I'm not sure how they will now.
If things calm down this summer, I think schools will open. However once they are open, we almost immediately get our first cold. If that is covid-19 returning then I think they might shut down again. If it doesn’t happen we keep going. That part I don’t really have a research answer to because it’s kind of how the virus acts, and that is what everyone is learning about now.
Post by librarychica on Apr 27, 2020 18:08:32 GMT -5
I am curious what our governor will do. I’m in Florida, our SIP expires Thursday (though my county has been under one for longer than the state) and I expected he would lift it based on past statements, but now he is praising our county, which got ahold of its outbreak firmly much faster and stricter measures than the state, and has started preaching caution. So I hope he keeps the restrictions in place longer and allows the more affected parts of the state to catch up to the flatter numbers here. I am hoping he doesn’t say “county by county” because people will just drive over county lines. Amateur me says 4 more weeks and then gradually roll back in June. Our kids have been home since mid March and my employer sent like 85% of us to telecommute at about the same time but we have only been statewide SIP for maybe 4 weeks?
My employer appears to be signaling that we will be staying home to telecommute, out of the way of the essential site employees, for the long haul.
Hi, my name is Library, and my hobbies include restaurants, going to work, touching my face, and amateur epidemiology.
Everyone is praising Cuomo now, but yeah it was so mishandled in the beginning from both the governor and mayor and all the infighting with the health department.
Honestly, I think the most annoying thing about this is the... dum dum dum.. "fake news."
At this point, I don't know what news is fake vs. what news is real. There is legitimately no "good" data on anything.
Our county has reported cases - in fact the EARLIEST KNOWN coronavirus death in the US - yet reports no recovered cases. So we have cases dating back to early February, but not a single reported recovery? That's... questionable.
CA statistics were horribly suppressed for a while because they weren't testing people unless the results of the test would effect the treatment. So basically the only people reported as having covid were also in critical condition.
It's understandable that the data is flawed, but it's also annoying that decisions that effect health and livelihood are being made on really shitty data.
This is my issue. Why are we not reporting how many have recovered. How many are currently in the hospital.
I don't care what the total number is. I just don't. I want to know how many active cases there are and what is the number of new cases by day.
From there I want to know how many are in the hospital and at what capacity they are.
It's fustrating that there isn't any data that shows this. This data might actually affect decisions and might convince people to stay home or let them use their best judgement.
Paranoia speaking; but I really do think our government doesn't want to give us the tools to make decisions. They want to think for us. I also think they treat us like teenagers. Don't do this because I said so type of mentally.
xctsclrx, we get every bit of that info here. Cases, recoveries, hospitalizations, vents available and used. Know what we don’t have? Testing. In my part of Texas you still can’t get a test unless you’re over 65 plus have symptoms unless you’re hospitalized. They are just now starting to open up testing centers. But you still have to be high risk and multi-symptomatic including a fever.
Also, we have all that data and aren’t using it to make decisions. Because if we were, we wouldn’t be opening up as we are still increasing all those factors (cases, hospitalizations, deaths). We just wouldn’t.
I think we should treat vents and meds like organ transplants. If you’re an alcoholic or drug addict, you have to have been completely clean and sober for over a year or you should just die. You can’t receive an organ. If you want a hair cut that badly, you should be willing to sign a card saying “I agree I won’t accept resources that could be used for someone who was careful and still got sick because I wanted to eat at a Mexican restaurant with unlimited chips instead of taking it to go.”
I’m high risk. I got screwed in the genetic lottery and have severe asthma. So if I get this, I’m likely to need that vent. So these assholes should offer to give it up. Because, you know, they would literally kill for free salsa refills.
xctsclrx , we get every bit of that info here. Cases, recoveries, hospitalizations, vents available and used. Know what we don’t have? Testing. In my part of Texas you still can’t get a test unless you’re over 65 plus have symptoms unless you’re hospitalized. They are just now starting to open up testing centers. But you still have to be high risk and multi-symptomatic including a fever.
Also, we have all that data and aren’t using it to make decisions. Because if we were, we wouldn’t be opening up as we are still increasing all those factors (cases, hospitalizations, deaths). We just wouldn’t.
I think we should treat vents and meds like organ transplants. If you’re an alcoholic or drug addict, you have to have been completely clean and sober for over a year or you should just die. You can’t receive an organ. If you want a hair cut that badly, you should be willing to sign a card saying “I agree I won’t accept resources that could be used for someone who was careful and still got sick because I wanted to eat at a Mexican restaurant with unlimited chips instead of taking it to go.”
I’m high risk. I got screwed in the genetic lottery and have severe asthma. So if I get this, I’m likely to need that vent. So these assholes should offer to give it up. Because, you know, they would literally kill for free salsa refills.
Yup. Just opened us up for limited capacity dine-in restaurants and movie theaters and AND did away with masks at the same time. FAAAAAAAAAAAAAABULOUS.
Really, buffets?! No wonder the Texas people think the rest of us are crazy for trying to relax regulations.
mommyatty, I’m sure you’ve probably already seen this info, and I’m not trying to minimize your caution in any way, but I was interested to read recently that asthma was less of a risk factor than a lot of people expected - since it was counterintuitive to me.
We are to start making up IEP meetings. I have missed 25. I don’t know how I’m going to do this, I’m already ignoring my 4 year old just so I can homeschool the other two. I don’t know how I’m going to do this.
campermom, that’s a lot of made up meetings. We have to ignore the older kids’ school work most days to get our work done. And all our 3 kids, including the toddler, watch way more TV than they should. Can you put all 3 in front of a movie every afternoon and get one or two done per day?
Oxford may have a vaccine ready for use in September. 6 monkeys injected and exposed to high levels of the virus for a month stayed healthy. They’re moving to human trials and say millions of doses can be ready in the fall.
Post by covergirl82 on Apr 28, 2020 8:25:22 GMT -5
k3am, I'm sure I share your opinions and others who have "unpopular" or "conspiracy theory" opinions. We were originally (in mid-March) told by our governor (MI) we have to SIP to give the hospitals time to prepare and get equipment. Well...hospitals are starting to layoff, furlough, and terminate employees, so I think they have more than enough capacity. Also, having worked at a health system for 10 years, there were many times during flu season that the emergency preparedness command center would open to due to high census (close to or hitting max capacity). I don't work there anymore, but DH works for the health insurance side of the company, so he still receives information, and there are very few patients at the hospital. (We have 1100 cases (total since they started counting on March 3) in our county of about 1 million people.) I think more people have had it than we know of, back to last December at least, so it's been around long enough where most people have probably been exposed or even had it and not known it. I personally think natural "herd immunity" is best until there is a vaccine or other treatment. (I watched an interview with Knut Wittkowski, PhD, on this and thought the information he shared was very good.)
Our SIP was extended through May 15, but I'm at the point where when May 15 rolls around, then I feel that people who want to continue social distancing, mask wearing, etc. may do so, and the people who want to go back to normal can go back to normal (normal, as in, not licking handrails, lol), with the caveat that employers and schools would not retaliate against anyone who chooses to stay home. And sick people should stay home until they are recovered. (I know that's super unpopular, but it's the one option that gives everyone the freedom to choose.) I certainly have compassion for people who are sick or have had someone close to them die because of COVID, but everyone is suffering or hurting in some way because of SIP and social distancing. (And if the new data/info is correct that this is similar to a "bad" flu season, and we don't shut down everything for flu season, then the SIP/closures have done more harm than good.) I hate knowing that there is more domestic abuse and more people contemplating suicide. I hate knowing that some small business owners will lose a lifetime of work and effort and won't be able to reopen.
We have SAH until the end of May with schools closed so my employer has already said that the office people will be able to continue WFH if we have kids. It will be a slow re-opening for us anyways. They've removed chairs from conference rooms and are talking about marking doors as an entrance vs. exit and having arrows on the floor for walking paths.
We haven't seen anyone for 7 weeks and I somehow still got sick. I'm guessing it was from the weekly grocery store run. I don't understand how we will contain this if we open up too soon.
mommyatty, DD1 has severe asthma and allergies and I'm keeping her in a bubble. My Doctor said she should be okay but it's not worth the risk even with the current virus I have since she's so prone to bronchitis and pneumonia.
covergirl82- as long as you agree not to use a vent or seek treatment, you should feel free to do you. And if you or your kids are part of the herd that’s thinned, then you should be good with that, right? Because that’s part of non-vaccine herd immunity that people don’t like to talk about. A lot of the herd dies while the herd is building immunity. Including healthy members of the herd.
Because if this is all a vast liberal conspiracy anyway, agreeing not to take up a vent should be a no brainer.
mellym, the asthma stuff from China, Italy, and New York indicates a slightly lower chance of asthmatics getting the virus. But if we get it, we are more likely to need extreme care including vents. But then our death rates are lower (assuming vents are available, which if you’re somewhere like Texas or Georgia just got less likely). So it’s an utter mixed bag. I’ve already told our HR I’ll invoke the Americans with Disabilities Act to work from home until this is over.
DD2 had a full-on meltdown over distance learning yesterday. I gave her a couple of worksheets and her little shoulders slumped and she started sobbing. She said it’s too hard and too much. It was one of many crying jags yesterday.
She finally said she hates all of this. She misses her friends and soccer. I guess her friends have been playing with their neighbors and she doesn’t understand why she can’t play with friends. My heart broke for her.
campermom, that’s a lot of made up meetings. We have to ignore the older kids’ school work most days to get our work done. And all our 3 kids, including the toddler, watch way more TV than they should. Can you put all 3 in front of a movie every afternoon and get one or two done per day?
the 4 year old is already on screens for me to get schoolwork done w the 3rd and 5th grader. He does downtime for 2 hours every afternoon. That’s when I am doing most of my other work, but I also have meetings w my 2 schools and dept about 5 times a week and lately those are in mornings when I’m trying to do school work. It just sucks. I am all alone.