I just can't wrap my head around how wearing a mask in public is such an affront to personal freedoms that we can't make that more required across the board. That's an argument I see in my local Facebook group all the time and it just makes me so angry. What a small thing we can all do that really does not bother anyone, yet it's too much for some people to continue doing? Going "back to normal" and reopening but making masks optional doesn't make any sense.
Why can't we stage openings in areas that seem to be doing ok, bit by bit, with accommodations and changes to create a new normal until this is over? Why does it have to be so all or nothing? Right now our grocery stores allow in a certain number of people at a time, aisles are one way to allow for better spacing, people are expected to wear masks. What about that is so egregious that we need to just fling open the doors and re-open everything back to pre-covid levels? And if you're able to WFH now, why can't you keep doing it in a month? What difference does it make at this point?
The article I posted yesterday shows how much of an impact the closures had in Seattle vs. New York. It was pretty eye opening.
(And I do have a dog in this fight, since beau's entire livelihood is shut down and this could cause him to go bankrupt at some point if things don't start re-opening slowly. But that doesn't mean I think he should risk his life and the lives of our neighbors to open a wine bar right now.)
mommyatty, agree it's all based on vents being available.
My 5 year old told me she saw the neighbor girls hugging and they really shouldn't do that until the virus is over. Also, why are they playing together? Ugh!
campermom, it’s a rough situation, but sounds like some schoolwork help has to go for you to get your work done. We’ve been trying to catch up on schoolwork after dinner in the evenings, and still don’t get it done completely everyday. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this!
covergirl82, just to clarify, I definitely don’t believe in conspiracy theories around COVID.
My likely unpopular opinions have to do with how we should start to reopen some things that are easier to socially distance in areas where the numbers of cases and deaths have flattened and hospitals have plenty of resources available. I don’t feel like this should be an unpopular opinion, but it seems to be on social media.
sdlaura- and I agree. In places that have testing and are making data-driven decisions, I think it makes sense to relax a bit. But like twinmomma said, it seems to be all or nothing. California and Washington have likely peaked, and you have actual freaking data to show that, and actual freaking data to know if you need to retreat. The middle of the country is still in the middle of it, and we have no widespread testing. At all. Zero. But Gov Asshat here is like “Go see a movie! Eat at Cracker Barrel! Lick playground equipment! Yee haw!” Then, we won’t know if it’s getting worse until our hospitals look like NYC. He has literally said hospitals need to keep 25% of their capacity open for COVID patients. And if that fills up, I guess then we will know we made a whoopsie.
Here, where we are opening up most things while our numbers are still rising (utterly not in accordance with CDC guidance), people are rioting because salons, bars, and gyms can’t open for 18 more days. Salons are where the CDC says the biggest risk is since you have close, prolonged contact with a stranger.
Post by supertrooper1 on Apr 28, 2020 10:19:28 GMT -5
My UO is that masks aren't going to do a thing if people can't figure out how to use them and stop doing other things that harm the population. I watched a guy at the grocery store a few weeks ago with a mask on. I actually got a dirty look from him because he thought I was too close, even though I was keeping my distance. But I watched him pick up probably 20 apples and put them back before he picked his couple apples. Things like that won't stop the spread even if we keep things shut down.
Thanks sdlaura . It just sucks for so many people all around. I’ve really been in a funk this week. I need to be more grateful.
campermom, This might be an unpopular opinion, but I firmly believe that NO, you don't have to be more grateful. Things can suck and you can be in a funk. And just because someone else's suck and funk is different, doesn't make yours any less real. So, funk away. Let yourself have some time to grieve and freak out if you need to. Bottling it up because you think your suckiness isn't as worthy as someone else's isn't good.
We are at a breaking point in our house right now. My work is suffering, DH's is not - or at least not nearly to the same extent.
The nature of our work is different. DH is on video conferences all day, which the kids very easily know not to interrupt. My work is more.. work. It's 90% research/analysis/writing. And I need to focus, but I'm very easy for them to interrupt, because they don't realize they're interrupting. So every 3-4 minutes, I'm.. interrupted. It's a trip downstairs, helping, back upstairs. And then I have difficulty getting back into a groove, and it drives me batty. And about the time I start to dig in again there's.. an interruption. There's a reason I work with my door closed, even in the office.
Dh makes a big show of telling them "stop bugging mom, I'll help you, you just have to wait." But wait... 30 minutes? 45 minutes? By the time they've waited that long, they've moved on to kindle or video games.
And the times that he is there ready to help and be hands on? Is usually when I've blocked out my schedule to dedicate to it. Or he wants to take a family walk or something.
That being said, I have gone multiple whole days "working" with nothing to show for it.
Post by librarychica on Apr 28, 2020 10:54:34 GMT -5
I got an email from summer day camp, session 1, implying confidently that they’ll be opening in June and are implementing the CDC daycare guidelines and other precautions. I was fully expecting the first half of camp to be cancelled so stay tuned for Library’s amateur epidemiologist hour: summer camp safety! Sure to feature waffling, calculations of lost deposits, and excessive googling and possibly charts.
Hugs to everyone around! This whole thing just sucks - plain and simple. I don't think just opening everything back up with no precautions is the way to go, but I agree that we can't live in the bubble of our homes forever. There has to be a middle ground. I'm coping as well as I can mentally - but I fear losing my shit on my family, which isn't fair to them. Everyone is trying their best! One of my coworkers said something interesting. He believes we are going to end up with a reverse stay-in-place, where those most at risk of covid infection and complications will be the ones to hunker down while the rest of the population get back to opening up the economy with certain precautions. The only problem is that there is a small part of the population where it is impossible to know that you can have severe complications until you get it (I'm talking about the seemingly healthy young adults whose bodies go haywire and attack their organs). I am grateful that we live in a day and age that we can work from home in some instances and have news and data at our fingertips. And easy access to that data can be dangerous too. If there is one thing that I learned from grad school, it is to get your data from multiple sources and evaluate them critically (especially for conflicts of interest). It is up to each state to determine the best course of action and we are already seeing a variety of plans come from that. In PA, the governor has outlined criteria to reopening by region. Our stay-in-place order was set until May 8th, but will go until the new criteria are met. One good thing is that golf courses, marinas, and private campgrounds are opening on Friday, which is a step in the right direction. I'm hoping that incremental steps over the next month or so will get us to our new normal and buy some time to a vaccine, herd immunity, and/or new treatment options.
mae0111, yesterday was a crying mess for my DD too. She hates zoom meeting with her class because all they do is talk about what they did over the weekend, show and tell, or what their big plans for the weekend. Just listening to the kids talk about going to XYZ, visiting ABC, playing with friends, etc. makes my blood boil. Plus all the teachers think it is cool that DD gets to go to work and has an office and they all make a comment and right now DD hates having to come to work with me. I can't successfully WFH. Today I'm entering books for paper bag guy which is literally 3 paper bags full of receipts and statements that we have already spent 5 hours sorting and his stuff reeks so no I don't want to drag it home and try to work from my very tiny desk at home. The poor kid has been nowhere since March 13. She comes to work and goes home. We let her run and ride her scooter around the block but she has stopped doing that because there are too many people out and it makes her uncomfortable. She misses gymnastics and her gym sisters the most. This morning she told me "D school" (her school) work is just stupid but she will do it because I'm asking her to do it.
OR doesn't have shelter in place but has basically stated you should stay home and mostly everything is shut down. It has been very interesting watching some big retail stores switch up their business model so they could open up and be essential. A lot of the small spirit distilleries have switched to making hand sanitizers. What I don't understand is that they closed playgrounds but dog parks are open. The playgrounds are being taken over by the homeless and the homeless advocates are screaming foul if the police kick them out of the parks. If I can't take my kid to the playground then no one should be allowed to camp out and turn the playground into a temporary house. I will admit OR seems to be doing a good job tracking cases. We are getting reports of how many people have recovered from COVID and are death totals seems to be very low %. There also has been reports that the two big university science departments labs are helping with testing which I think is great use of their resources and I'm hoping they are getting paid to do this work.
Add me to the overwhelmed list. I have two audits going at the same time along with all my other regular work. I'm further behind from being sick, my house is a mess, the kids don't listen and I still feel like crap.
I officially snapped when my MIL texted to ask what we are doing for fun today. They've been doing so much stuff around the house, getting outside and you know, when are we going to come see it? What am I doing for fun and when will we visit!? Are you kidding me? We have SAH orders, I'm sick, working full time and trying to care for kids. I am officially a fun hater and I wish she could have a little empathy.
k3am, I wish she wouldn't! She always texts both DH and me. I've been taking the approach that DH responds to his family but I couldn't help myself today. We aren't having a picnic over here and we won't be coming over anytime soon.
DH is meeting with his therapist tonight. They took a month long break to let things blow over but she called and scheduled and he agreed. DH hasn't believed in all of this and his therapist didn't want him to break in the first place but I was insisting. He left me a message reminding me of it a few minutes ago. I just texted asking for him to wear his mask the entire time for our safety. He hates wearing his mask but she has a tiny 8x8 office and who knows if she is sanitizing between appointments let alone every other factor.
DH is meeting with his therapist tonight. They took a month long break to let things blow over but she called and scheduled and he agreed. DH hasn't believed in all of this and his therapist didn't want him to break in the first place but I was insisting. He left me a message reminding me of it a few minutes ago. I just texted asking for him to wear his mask the entire time for our safety. He hates wearing his mask but she has a tiny 8x8 office and who knows if she is sanitizing between appointments let alone every other factor.
campermom, no freaking idea. The 1 time she asked me to come and sit in I found her to be an old lady quack. I actually think DH has been doing better without seeing her each week. At least his mood has been steady. He has been seeing her for almost 4 years...
I got an email from summer day camp, session 1, implying confidently that they’ll be opening in June and are implementing the CDC daycare guidelines and other precautions. I was fully expecting the first half of camp to be cancelled so stay tuned for Library’s amateur epidemiologist hour: summer camp safety! Sure to feature waffling, calculations of lost deposits, and excessive googling and possibly charts.
I was really behind in this thread. I had more than 3 people to tag for hugs, so how about creepy internet hugs to all!
In terms of the antibody herd immunity debate I had to look up what happened during the 1918 pandemic (because of course I did). Herd immunity is supposed to be 60% or higher. The Spanish influenza only infected 30%. I wasn’t a super fan of the whole open it up to healthy adults because there are many who are hospitalized who are perfectly healthy and that 20-40 age range. But even if we did, doesn’t mean it would get up to the point of being helpful anyway.
I try not to listen to biased news and avoid politicians except for their orders. I’m trying to limit it to more scientific information or at least a reputable publisher. Beware the sources that pretend to be someone else.
I know our numbers are not perfect. There is a lot of this that is regional. We have 3 top scientists and universities modeling for us, so I trust that. And I try to avoid paying attention to the political fighting.
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.
covergirl82, just to clarify, I definitely don’t believe in conspiracy theories around COVID.
My likely unpopular opinions have to do with how we should start to reopen some things that are easier to socially distance in areas where the numbers of cases and deaths have flattened and hospitals have plenty of resources available. I don’t feel like this should be an unpopular opinion, but it seems to be on social media.
Sdlaura I think we’re sheltering in place at my parents’ house in the same county as you. Unfortunately Tijuana is having an epidemic and US citizens who suspect that they have COVID-19 are coming back to the states for medical care and testing. Zip codes 91954 (Otay) and 91911 (South Chula Vista) are hot spots at the moment. My parents are in an adjacent zip code and I am doubtful we are out of the woods unfortunately. I suggest being very careful and not letting your guard down in public cuz this virus is infectious.
sakoro, hi to someone local! South County is definitely not out of the woods, I agree. But we haven’t had a single new documented case in Encinitas or Carlsbad (combined population ~ 200,000) in over two weeks, and zero deaths here yet. So it definitely feels like a different world.
San Diego County is bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island and nearly the size of the state of Connecticut, so there’s a lot of variation within the county in terms of seriousness. If you are farther south - I hope you are staying safe!
covergirl82, just to clarify, I definitely don’t believe in conspiracy theories around COVID.
My likely unpopular opinions have to do with how we should start to reopen some things that are easier to socially distance in areas where the numbers of cases and deaths have flattened and hospitals have plenty of resources available. I don’t feel like this should be an unpopular opinion, but it seems to be on social media.
Sdlaura I think we’re sheltering in place at my parents’ house in the same county as you. Unfortunately Tijuana is having an epidemic and US citizens who suspect that they have COVID-19 are coming back to the states for medical care and testing. Zip codes 91954 (Otay) and 91911 (South Chula Vista) are hot spots at the moment. My parents are in an adjacent zip code and I am doubtful we are out of the woods unfortunately. I suggest being very careful and not letting your guard down in public cuz this virus is infectious.
Hello “neighbors”!
The other areas that appear to be hotspots (when you look at the break down by zip code) are locations where there are hospitals. So while the higher numbers in those areas are probably somewhat do to people crossing for healthcare, the other part is people who don’t give the hospital an address so they use the hospital zip code for the records. They have talked about it a couple of times on the daily county health briefing.
I just... don’t know how anyone is finding “unbiased” news. Anywhere. Ever. It’s all biased, it just depends on the slant. And there’s always a slant.
There are some better than others. There is a scale of the slant. There are some that aren’t even news that people are looking at ultra far out on either side. Also seeing the slant recognizing the slant is helpful. I tend to triangulate a little. Recognizing what their potential agenda is.
But you’re right people shouldn’t have to dig that deep and do that much work just to figure it all out. Even scientific papers and doctors can be suspect and there isn’t time for peer review on this topic because it’s all happening so fast. I try to take everything with a grain of salt.
Ultimately I’m looking at what other countries are doing, some farther ahead in the pandemic than us. And somehow I ended up down the hole of historical pandemics. In terms of history I was enjoying some National Geographic articles.