Love in the Time of Coronavirus (#3)

[Trebla]

20 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Weeks ago, but it’s all BS. It can pass surface to surface, so not shaking hands with my coworkers doesn’t change the fact that they have to hand me dozens of files they’ve been touching. It’s like not shaking hands after a basketball game while sweating on each other for 2 hours. So dumb!

Yeah, I suspect that it's more about making the patient feel safer. I can only imagine the strain on the health care industry right now as people are finally starting to realize that it's actually serious. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

33 minutes ago, 3CityApache said:

Similar measures here in Poland, 51 cases and just reported first death of a 57 yo female with other diseases. According to rumors they're going to close all shopping centers and supermarkets bigger that 250 square meters, and we already have a kind of apocalypse in the shops.

@Tywin et al. I'm afraid no health system in the world is prepared for this.

Indeed. I didn’t exactly cover myself in glory mathematically yesterday, but I believe a .25% infection rate would account for nearly every hospital bed in the country. Now obviously every infected person wouldn’t need to go, but if 1% of the population gets infected….JFC. And as I say that, think about Germany, and how the Chancellor said a majority of Germans will catch this.

[JGP]

19 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Trudeau will do it by telephone or teleconference.

Meeting officially cancelled.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

43 minutes ago, Trebla said:

Yeah, I suspect that it's more about making the patient feel safer. I can only imagine the strain on the health care industry right now as people are finally starting to realize that it's actually serious. 

The benefits are largely to make people aware of their behaviors, but I can’t see it helping all that much, otherwise the healthcare experts wouldn’t be touching their faces as they tell us not to touch our faces. It may have a calming effect too, but that will be short lived.

Imagine being on a NYC subway and having a spontaneous coughing fit….

[Frey family reunion]

d

[Derfel Cadarn]

Feeling kind of crap past couple days, bit lightheaded today, but no cough or fever. Sone tightness in chest past cpl days, dont know if a symptom? Hopefully just another winter thing (I’ve had runny noses all winter).

off work this week and next as annual leave anyway

[Ormond]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

Weeks ago, but it’s all BS. It can pass surface to surface, so not shaking hands with my coworkers doesn’t change the fact that they have to hand me dozens of files they’ve been touching. It’s like not shaking hands after a basketball game while sweating on each other for 2 hours. So dumb!

Says the person who's buying bottled water.

There is no way people are actually going to be able to 100% eliminate all contact with surfaces or things that might have the virus on them. But it would seem to me that every lessening of contact would make catching the virus somewhat less likely, so avoiding shaking hands will reduce the chances at least by a small amount even if it doesn't get rid of most of your possible contacts. 

[Gaston de Foix]

2 hours ago, Trebla said:

Were there any emails about shaking hands? Yesterday when I was getting up to leave my doctor visit, my doctor and I bumped ELBOWS instead of shaking hands. He said they had been instructed to not shake hands for the foreseeable future. 

Can I recommend the Indian namaste? It is a form of greeting that requires no contact whatsoever and is generally recognizable and polite.  

[JGP]

Bolsonaro tested positive.

 

10 minutes ago, Gaston de Foix said:

Can I recommend the Indian namaste? It is a form of greeting that requires no contact whatsoever and is generally recognizable and polite.  

I've starting doing the head nod/acknowledging chin tilt more often.

 

 

[Rorshach]

So Norway has just closed down. Schools, kindergarden, universities, sportsevents, cultural events, hairdressers, tatto-shops, any place that serves food or drink that cannot allow for 1 meter between guests.. yes, this is going to be a change indeed.

Fortunately, my boss decided we should work from home for at least a time. There is some work that can be done, even though most of what I do (in an archive) involves physically interacting with the material. So I can't see the work I can do from home lasting more than a week or two. Will see what happens then. 

Given that my wife works at a home for people who struggle with mental health issues combined with drug addiction, I think it's safe to say she's not in line for working from home. With schools closed my boss' decision is a godsend.

In other news, we have somewhere around 700 confirmed cases, and as of now, one death. 

[BigFatCoward]

3 minutes ago, Rorshach said:

So Norway has just closed down. Schools, kindergarden, universities, sportsevents, cultural events, hairdressers, tatto-shops, any place that serves food or drink that cannot allow for 1 meter between guests.. yes, this is going to be a change indeed.

Fortunately, my boss decided we should work from home for at least a time. There is some work that can be done, even though most of what I do (in an archive) involves physically interacting with the material. So I can't see the work I can do from home lasting more than a week or two. Will see what happens then. 

Given that my wife works at a home for people who struggle with mental health issues combined with drug addiction, I think it's safe to say she's not in line for working from home. With schools closed my boss' decision is a godsend.

In other news, we have somewhere around 700 confirmed cases, and as of now, one death. 

My mam just arrived in Norway to visit my sister, we thought she might be quarantined/turned away but she made it through. 

[Maithanet]

23 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

Bolsonaro tested positive.

Do you have a source for this, or is it just Fez posting it in the other thread?  I can't find any news report on this, and it would be a huge story.

[JGP]

Twitter is orders of magnitude faster in breaking news, but you got me there.

I'd seen it from a South American news account, which has been quickly debunked-- Bolsonaro was tested today. Results won't be in until tomorrow.

So, betting game at this point considering his proximity. 3/1 maybe? Iono.

 

[Rorshach]

4 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

My mam just arrived in Norway to visit my sister, we thought she might be quarantined/turned away but she made it through. 

Yes, I am unsure about how that will play out in the coming days. Today's actions were drastic, all the more so because the government's response has been ... passive up until now. 

Whether they'll quarantine your mam here, or send her home, or nothing at all - who knows?

[Guest]

It's now in Oklahoma City, and the Utah Jazz player who tested positive is the likely vector. 

Another member of the Utah Jazz visited an OKC area high school before the test was confirmed positive. The hotel where the Jazz team was staying has been closed.

And people are still not taking this thing seriously.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

1.  Duke withdrew from NCAA tournament consideration (good for Duke, btw, because NCAA was saying it would go forward but was going to test each player before games.  What a waste of tests).

2.  Broadway shut down.

[DanteGabriel]

3 minutes ago, The Great Unwashed said:

It's now in Oklahoma City, and the Utah Jazz player who tested positive is the likely vector. 

Another member of the Utah Jazz visited an OKC area high school before the test was confirmed positive. The hotel where the Jazz team was staying has been closed.

And people are still not taking this thing seriously.

Gobert and the rest of his team practiced at a local college while in town for the Celtics game last week, so they're taking their own precautions.

Meanwhile my workplace has told us all to work from home for the next month. I expect we'll keep my son home from preschool as well, so my days are getting a lot more interesting. My wife, however, is a medical professional and will keep reporting to work. We're quarantining ourselves from visiting her parents, who live in a retirement community.

I wish we didn't have a gang of stupid, incompetent, lying grifters managing this thing.

[RhaenysBee]

2 hours ago, Corvinus said:

If your vet appointment is this week, then yes. If it's sometime in the next 2 weeks, maybe decide closer to the date. And is this just a regular check for the dog, or does the dog require medical attention? If latter, I don't know about you, but I would risk way worse to see my dog treated. And follow up question, why so far to go to the vet? Are city vets that expensive?

We don’t have an appointment, the vet is open on weekdays from 5-8pm. The reason for the visit is that added to his existing health issues (dislocated discs in the lower spine area, allergy and related skin symptoms that renew periodically) I have noticed his lower abdomen is bulging and hangs lower than it should. It is quite visible after he feeds but barely noticeable when he walks or runs. No idea what it is but I’m concerned about it, and another steroid treatment for his spine is due every half year anyway.
As for the follow up question, not at all, it’s really not about money. I suppose I just didn’t describe the locations well enough, the vet is not far away, it’s 30 minutes from my home town where the dog is (he’s a family dog and lives at my mother’s house). It’s closer and easier to access than city vets, it would be a nightmare to get him to one of those. 

1 hour ago, Fez said:

I'd say it depends on what your dog needs. If my cat had an emergency, I'd absolutely take him to the vet; fuck the virus at that point. I honestly care more about his health than mine; and the odds of me infecting anyone else if I got sick are very low at this point. I'd just bring lots of hand sanitizer and gloves with me. If it was just a regular check-up, I'd probably reschedule.

As for where to shack up in a quarantine, there's a ton of variables there to consider. I might be safer going back to my hometown (although the logistics of getting there would be rough, especially with the cat), but the stress of living with my dad again would literally overwhelm me. Everyone has there own decisions to make about what's important to them.

I do have sanitizer with me at all times and I don’t think there’s more chance of contracting the virus on a train than on public transport. 

The question of quarantine is even more difficult. My sister doesn’t know what she wants to do either, if we both travel back to the country... well the combo of me, my mother and my sister can be a lot. Staying here together (just me and sister) is possibly even worse. She obviously won’t be left alone anywhere so the one remaining option is that she goes and I stay alone. That would be an adventure. I’m introverted enough to not mind being alone, but complete isolation and the drama and the stress... I don’t know. I also don’t know where the hell my father plans on staying but I hope he thought about it and I hope he won’t be alone, I really don’t want him to be alone. 

1 hour ago, Cas Stark said:

Can you rent a car?  That would keep you off of public transportation and isolated.  You could if you wanted spray down a rental car to help prevent any transmission.  

I will only tell you what I would do, which is go to the country, where you are more isolated and there is less population density so less chance of virus spread.  Cities can get crazy pretty quickly if things should go toward a worst case scenario.  So, unless you are part of one of the high risk groups, I would think that being separate is more beneficial than having close access to medical assistance that you probably would not need.

Ah no, I’m not a very good driver, I would sooner get car service, don’t think it’d be more expensive than renting. 

Yes, that makes sense, actually. 

1 hour ago, Fragile Bird said:

Dumb question here - should I be changing clothes after I've been out and washing what I wore?

I don’t think so, I doubt it can stay alive on your clothes long enough. But I have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure there are professional opinions on the matter out there. 

[Fez]

There seem to be wildly inconsistent reports of how long the virus can last on surfaces, but most seem to agree that its at least a few hours for most surfaces. When I got home yesterday to be safe I did get changed and put those clothes in the laundry; and immediately washed my hands yet again. But I dunno if that actually helps at all.

[Buckwheat]

1 hour ago, Gaston de Foix said:

Can I recommend the Indian namaste? It is a form of greeting that requires no contact whatsoever and is generally recognizable and polite.  

 

51 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

I've starting doing the head nod/acknowledging chin tilt more often.

I am partial to that "elbow nod" Pat and Mat tend to do (just the last part of the gif, I cannot find one where they don't shake hands first).

 

Jokes aside, here is a website that regularly posts statistics about the situation: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR2WhtIvODVjwxZEszArsVM0ypi0ZJvQ3SVjdnjuyl9ViV2IZPnIdKS5rto