@emilybee. ahh…let them eat cake…
@roycroftmom - she is in Frisco. Near Dallas.
I guess I am surprised that for up-close-and-personal services such as this masks aren’t required. Not based on location, but based on the type of service that is being rendered.
This thread is very helpful for understanding what is going on in different parts of the country.
My take on Texas is that in general they don’t like the government telling them what to do and want the freedom to decide how they lead their lives and businesses. The very reason that Gov Abbott has not required residents in his state to wear masks, etc.
Time will tell if he and the residents of Texas are making the right decisions?
Local executive orders are easily adapted to local circumstances. So Harris county, with Houston, does require masks, whereas outlying rural counties, which may be sparsely populated and have few cases, do not. It is a large state with very diverse situations.
Somewhat surprising California hasn’t recognized local differences, but maybe it is all densely populated
Thank you for posting this! I like seeing that flat line!! 
Hope we can make it go down, too!
According to the Texas Tribune:
“Escalating tensions between Texas state officials and the leaders of some of the state’s biggest cities, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office warned officials in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio on Tuesday to roll back “unlawful” local emergency orders that impose stricter coronavirus restrictions than the state has issued — and hinted that there will be lawsuits if they do not.”
Looks like the attorney general is encouraging some large cities like Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio to lessen their CV19 restrictions.
Again, maybe Texas is doing things right during this pandemic, I really don’t know but I think over the coming months we will get our answer…
Peggy Noonan has an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal: The Lockdown Class War.
Those of us who have money coming in, who have nest eggs, who are in no danger of losing our businesses or homes need to try to walk a mile in the shoes of those who don’t.
Apparently people in my corner of MA have declared the pandemic to be over. H just went to Walmart for some things and then tried to go to Lowe’s. Both parking lots were so full he decided not to park and go in. He said it was just like a normal Saturday morning before this all started. I think the weather turned nice and people have had enough.
@Hoggirl, no mandatory mask rules in Frisco. But that doesn’t mean that stylists are not wearing masks or requiring their clients to do so. Plenty of them are choosing to do this. I would personally not go to any salon that did not have a mask policy.
My salon has not yet re-opened, but my stylist said when they do, everyone will be wearing masks.
I consider myself half-Texan, having lived there for almost 30 years- and it’s a place I love. In my current job with this health crisis, Texas was certainly a big issue for me since as we progressed, each county had a different Order with which my company had to comply. And those different orders were construed differently by each enforcement agency. It was interesting to say the least.
Texas will be fine, and, yes, it is not a state that likes heavy-handed government. As I said before, though, I’m getting very little incidents of violence and mask fights out of Texas- it’s Michigan and Maine that are the issue.
I watched The Polio Crusade on American Experience, then the first part of a NOVA special on vaccinations.
Just trying to wrap my head around what everyone had to live with in roughly the first half of the 1900s — common infectious diseases that had no vaccine & where the severity of illness (outcome of getting infected) varied widely.
Yep, if you were born in 1900, you were in for a world of hurt:
@Nrdsb4 - I wouldn’t categorize where my cousin goes to get her hair cut as a “salon.” It’s honestly where I think of more men going to get their haircut - as my dh does. A walk-in place where you take the next available stylist/barber. I think she realized that, because she wears her so short, she could get it done to her satisfaction much more cheaply than she could at a “salon” type place.
So, my assumption (rightly or wrongly) is that it may depend on demographics of the customers of different types of places.
I wish she wouldn’t have gone. Or would have gone somewhere where stylists are wearing masks. She has been very careful until now. I do think there is some assumption (by many) that “It’s all over now - wheeeee!”
I expect my stylist to wear a mask whether the state mandates it or not. I’ll wear one too, out of respect for her.
States can choose to mandate or not, but peer pressure might help more than heavy handed enforcement. In some areas there will be peer pressure not to wear masks, and I expect infection rates to be higher there.
Enforcement will be tough in some places. Your stylist can refuse to cut your hair, or you can refuse to visit an unmasked salon. Grocery clerks are not trained as bouncers, though, so we all will end up shopping with unmasked people. I don’t want to put too much pressure on shop owners to risk violence from people who don’t wear masks.
Next up will be the cell phone videos of police officers arresting people who refuse to mask up. The most strident mayors and governors are going to have to stand behind those officers. Unlike some mayors who direct police to do things and then let them hang out to dry when it turns out some Americans don’t like taking orders from anybody.
Remember Alice’s Restaurant. “What are you in for?”
If they are so foolish to not protect themselves and others, they certainly deserve what ever they have coming to them. I will have zero sympathy for them or their loves ones who will be infected.
Actions have consequences.
I ordered from this site for my son after seeing them listed in a couple of different articles:
https://losangelesapparel.net/products/3-pack-cotton-mask. He said they fit securely without feeling stuffy.
Back to observations- yesterday ordered food from a new taqueria that is on our Main Street downtown. I ordered online, drove and parked in front, called and they brought it out and put it on the backseat on my car through an open window. The city has set up pickup spots in front of the restaurants, this is on a street that normally allows no parking. The city is considering closing the street to traffic and allowing restaurants to put tables on the sidewalks once in house dining reopens.
Thursday my H met up with a friend to walk on the beach. My H said the beach was packed with people sitting on the sand. He said it was like summer Saturday, he felt a lot of the people were from surrounding counties that don’t allow lounging on their beaches. Our county never restricted beach use aside from not allowing volleyball.
The county north of me has put in restrictions for out of county visitors in preparation for the holiday weekend. They don’t want vacationing in their county.
My D lives in Northern California and she said yesterday that as she drove on Hwy 80 she had a lot of traffic all going away from the Bay Area and up towards Sacramento and Tahoe. She said from her observation it looked like many were headed out for recreation in counties with less restrictions. She felt that people are definitely getting out more. In her county masks are suggested but not required. Her preferred grocery store requires masks and cleans carts as you go in. A few days ago she went to a Walmart neighborhood market and she said it was a terrible experience. No clean carts available, she had to go get one from the parking lot. Grouchy staff and many people with no masks on. I would think Wal-Mart has a policy but it’s only as good as the manager enforcing them.
So which state is reopening (based on movement of mobile phones; government restrictions at the time also listed) fastest and slowest, as of 5/4, according to https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america/alabama ?
State Mobility on 5/4 Lowest mobility
Arkansas -26% (EFC,GR,BC) -34% (3/31-4/10,EFC,GR,BC)
Alabama -20% (EFC,GR,BC) -38% (4/6-4/9,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Georgia -29% (EFC,GR,BC) -49% (4/5-4/9,EFC,GR,SAH,BC)
Idaho -29% (EFC,BC) -46% (3/31-4/5,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Iowa -25% (EFC,GR,BC) -42% (4/5-4/11 EFC,GR,NEBC)
Kansas -29% (EFC,GR) -45% (4/2-4/9,EFC,GR,SAH)
Mississippi -21% (EFC,GR,BC) -37% (4/6-4/10,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Montana -20% (EFC,GR,BC) -46% (4/2-4/8,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Nebraska -27% (EFC,GR,BC) -40% (4/7-4/13,EFC,GR,BC)
North Dakota -20% (EFC,BC) -44% (4/4-4/9,EFC,BC)
Oklahoma -23% (EFC,GR,BC) -40% (4/2-4/10,EFC,GR,NEBC)
South Carolina -25% (EFC,GR,BC) -40% (4/5-4/12,EFC,GR,BC,SAH(4/7-5/4))
South Dakota -18% (EFC) -40% (4/8-4/11,EFC,GR)
Tennessee -26% (EFC,GR,BC) -42% (4/3-4/10,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Wyoming -16% (EFC,GR,BC) -35% (4/8-4/14,EFC,GR,BC)
California -48% (EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC) -55% (4/8,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
D. of Columbia -67% (EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC) -69% (3/31-4/11,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Hawaii -49% (EFC,GR,SAH,BC) -56% (4/2-4/11,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Maryland -55% (EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC) -62% (4/8-4/9,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Massachusetts -60% (EFC,GR,NEBC) -64% (3/31-4/14,EFC,GR,NEBC)
Michigan -55% (EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC) -67% (4/3-4/10,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Nevada -49% (EFC,GR,SAH,BC) -58% (4/2-4/9,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
New Jersey -57% (EFC,GR,SAH,BC) -64% (4/8-4/10,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
New York -62% (EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC) -66% (4/6-4/12,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Rhode Island -48% (EFC,GR,SAH,BC) -57% (4/3-4/14,EFC,GR,SAH,BC)
Vermont -49% (EFC,GR,SAH,BC) -58% (4/5-4/12,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
Washington -49% (EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC) -56% (3/30-4/4,EFC,GR,SAH,NEBC)
EFC = educational facilities closed
GR = any gathering restrictions
SAH = stay at home order
BC = any business closure
NEBC = all non-essential businesses closed
TL = travel severely limited
I’m not sure about that. It might appear that way?, but maybe people have different risk tolerance? IDK
One of my brothers is a lung transplant recipient. Being on anti-rejection drugs which suppress his immune system, plus the other health problems that crop up with time as a consequence of being a recipient…you’d think he would be the poster child for “Do NOT leave your house until there is a vaccine!” I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say if he gets infected with SARS-CoV-2, he’s a dead man.
When this all went down in March, I offered to get his groceries for him or help him figure out how to order delivery or curbside pick-up. Nope. He said he was perfectly comfortable putting on his mask, washing his hands a lot, and going to the grocery store himself.
I was VERY surprised when he told me he was going to drive up to see his GF. She lives about a 6-7 hour drive away, and they take turns visiting each other almost every weekend. The visits have continued.
He is NOT ignorant. He DOES believe in science. He is just making different choices than I might make if I was in his shoes. He knows exactly what he is doing. Since transplant, he knows each day is a gift and he is on borrowed time. He wants to spend each and every day living how he wants to live it, on his own terms.
There is no way he is going to stay home locked up in his house until there is a vaccine.
I don’t insult him or argue with him or think he deserves to get sick and die.
Belated report from southern Palm Beach County, Florida. It has been a while, so this is a random series of observations.
Gyms are still not open, nor are beaches (officially), but retail is reopening and so are restaurants, I believe limited to 50% capacity. Last night, we ordered out from a Greek restaurant from which we hadn’t ordered before. Picking up the order, we were surprised to see a few groups of people eating in the dining room. Not very busy - this is the slow time anyway for this part of Florida - but it was nice to see some normalcy returning.
My S21 is getting together with his friends today for the first time in a long while. About 8 of them will be hanging out, mostly in a house, and they plan on going to grab a bite to eat out later. At least one of the kids’ parents had been very strict about staying in over the last 8 weeks or so, but it seems like people have had enough of the enforced social distancing and isolation.
My 90+ year old inlaws seem fine, we have spent every Sunday for the past month with them in their relatively smallish condo, cooking and eating together as a family again. They have had some private care help for 4-6 hours a day for the past year or so, and there has really been no way to enforce strict social distancing or “quarantine.” We are very grateful that they are through the first part of this crisis. We had a few scares when we couldn’t bring my FIL to the hospital for unrelated to COVID-19 problems, but thankfully all has turned out well.
Last vignette. I finally relented in the last two weeks or so and started wearing a mask when I went grocery shopping despite my belief that they really do very little in the context of brief interactions with people even in enclosed spaces. On Monday, I forgot my mask, and walked into my local chain grocery, did a little shopping, and then apologized to the cashier for not having my mask that day. She just lowered hers, smiled, and said “no big deal, the Governor and [the store] are no longer requiring masks - only for your protection if you want to wear them, it’s up to you.”
Traffic here is increasing every day, the familiar sounds of car horns are blaring again, the tennis teams are slowly reforming back to their old strength, barber shops are open and gyms and beaches should open any week now. Life goes on…