The point is that they are businesses, like dog groomers, landscapers and cleaning people. They are not essential - and ** can choose not to open **. Which is what I said. People can also choose not to shop there, just like people can choose not send their dog to the groomer, or have landscapers or cleaning people come to their homes or businesses. So the virus doesn’t spread.
That’s one way of looking at it. Another way to look at it is – people are getting sick on a campus WITHOUT students. Imagine what may happen if you add 30,000 people to the mix.
True… I’m also making some summer travel decisions based on what I’m reading about behaviors in different parts of the country. I have crossed some potential destinations off my list, if I read people aren’t wearing masks or practicing SD.
Is it your view that the whole country should just stay at home until the virus goes away or there is a vaccine?
It’s more like 50,000.
I don’t know how much contact tracing Austin is doing. I hope they do tracing here. IT would be very interesting to know how those custodians acquired the infection… My best guess is, they contracted it from family members at home.
Where is the evidence that landscapers or cleaning people have been a source of virus spread?
I’ll be looking for the data on which states see continued SAH behavior after restrictions are lifted. I’m a little surprised at the level of increased activity I’m seeing locally, but have no idea if that’s an anomaly or what’s happening across my state.
If what I’m seeing is representative, I think we’ll have a greater increase in cases than earlier predictions and that we’ll need to go back to SAH sooner rather than later. Will be interesting to see the data.
I’m not as worried as much about where the custodians picked up the virus as I am how many students and professors they could infect on campus if/when school reopens.
The Maine CDC director said it simply. “One case can quickly become many. It’s like when you drop some glitter in your basement. The next thing you know, you’re finding it in your attic and you have no idea how it got there.”
Except for essential workers (health care workers, pharmacies, grocery stores) yes, that is my view. We should not be opening up until we have either a vaccine or a proven therapeutic remedy.
I see no point in opening everything up and then closing everything down. That will just bring more deaths and more damage to the economy.
We are at 91k+ deaths and counting.
@msjhop
Looks like MS had 27 new deaths yesterday, which I believe is the highest one day death toll so far. And no footnote regarding prior deaths.
I’m worried about students and faculty becoming infected if school reopens. That is why I wonder how the custodians became infected. Was it from surfaces they touch while cleaning? Was it from family members who work in customer-facing jobs?
Found this interesting site thru a link on the Johns Hopkins site. Looks like a keeper.
How We Reopen Safely
Tracking states as they make progress towards gating criteriahttps://www.covidexitstrategy.org/
eta: apologies if someone posted this earlier
But probably in a partisan way, based on pre-existing support or opposition. I.e. opinions on COVID-19 and the response to it will become another partisan issue, rather than a public health issue (it already has been going that way).
Much of that news is of “protester” restaurants, with “protester” customers. But that does not mean that “protester” customers and others who want to go back to eating in restaurants will fill restaurants to previous levels if they all fully opened up again.
So no Amazon (not essential), cleaning people, landscapers, dog groomers, restaurants (not essential), hair salons, schools, white collar businesses etc… for 1.5 years or more. Got it.
I like in Wisconsin in the Milwaukee suburbs. I don’t go out often and for the most part have groceries delivered or do curb side pick up. Our state suddenly opened recently and today I made a quick run to a small high-end grocery store and did a curb side pick up at a large Target like store. At the grocery store I would say about 1/2 of customers and all the employees were wearing masks. At the other store the parking lot was quite full and I think I only saw one person wearing a mask as they headed in. Going to be super interesting to see what the next few weeks brings!
You can watch the movement graph here (select state of interest) over the next several weeks (although the latest movement data seems to lag a week or so behind the latest update, which may be up to a week behind the current date).
https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america/florida
For example, Florida people greatly reduced mobility (-57% on 4/6-4/8) despite lesser and later government restrictions than in many other states. It has been on an upward trend since then (-39% on 5/10), though there did not seem to be a jump when the stay-home order ended on 5/4.
For comparison, Alabama bottomed out at -38% on 4/7-4/8, and was at -15% on 5/11, while DC bottomed out at -69% on 4/6 and was still at -69% on 5/10 (did get up to -67% in between). Michigan, where there were well covered protests, bottomed out at -66% from 3/30-4/15 and was at -51% on 5/10.
Can we all get behind working on a vaccine against glitter infestation? 
And what would you do about the unemployed workers? The non-essential business owners? The rents and mortgages? The food supply? The utility bills? The schools and universities? The states, cities and towns whose tax base is down?