I think you should stop posting about NY expecting any handout or has received any aids it didn’t deserve. Just for the record NY pays the 2nd highest federal taxes and have received lowest aid/covid patient.
We flattened our curve by following guidelines set out by our state government, no thanks to our federal fearless leader.
NYC has 5 boroughs and people live all over those 5 boroughs. There is no centralized place where people could walk to (avoid public transportation) to be picked up by company transportation. If they have to get on public transportation to get to a place to be picked up then they might as well take it all the way to work.
Based on the the tests NY has done, 20% of general population have been tested positive, but essential workers are at 15%, which means the masks and PPE they are wearing is helping.
It sounds like you have not followed all that NYC did and how successful it was at dealing with being such a hard-hit location. I think NYC largely laved itself.
A as another option if you know you are likely to have moisture is to use a face shield (I posted a link on the mask making thread). They are simple and inexpensive and keep working even when wet.
I do know that, @oldfort. Native New Yorker, remember? You ( and I, back when I lived there) deserve way more for your taxes
I saw D2 for the first time since March today because she wanted few things from my apartment for her new place. It was very hard not to hug her.
Got a new refrigerator delivered today. Old was was dying and not cooling food adequately and 18 years old so had to be replaced. It was a bit stressful to have people come into our home. They were here longer than I thought they would be because of some technical issues involving taking off and putting on the doors of both the old and new fridges and more. The guy who initially came here didn’t have a mask on and wanted to come into our house! I asked him from the window if he had a mask and let him know I’m immune deficient. But that didn’t strike a lot of confidence. Still, they appeared to have pretty good masks on. We had all windows open and a virus filtering air filter (IQ Air) on full blast and all of us had on masks. I sprayed down the fridge and all surfaces they touched and the floor. I think the chance of us getting sick from the is statistically about zero. However, even so, not having had people here other than us in so long, it felt strange. DH’s inclination throughout all this has been to get closer to people than he should. He did several times today.
We tipped $20 each and they were happy at the end. Very glad the new fridge is here. It has 3 cubic feet more than the old one did without taking up noticeably more space. Better design than the old one.
This is what I have a hard time to imagine. When DS leaves our house does he have to shelter in place two weeks before I can ever hug him again? That must be very hard.
Just came back from 2 very different experiences. We went to an event that had an outdoor and indoor component. Mostly young folks- and not a mask in sight :(. There was some food and drink involved. We brought our own acrylic glassware and utensils. Then stopped at Whole Foods to pick up a few things- almost everyone had masks. And they had hand sanitizer by the gallon!
I get it, and I am sorry to hear it. My area, aside from a few tables here or there, just isn’t well set up for outdoor dining. With social distancing, even the one or two places in my town that do have patio dining will only have about four tables in operation. Closing parking lots or streets - for our area - means the food would have to travel an absurd distance from kitchen to table. That’s when the weather and humidity cooperate.
I was looking forward to “dining out” this weekend, but we decided to stick with take out again tonight. It just seems like a bother to find a place where I get lucky to get a reservation, only to have less than ideal weather or have to guard my food from bugs. Each week I can’t help but think that all this extra take out packaging has to be very bad for the environment.
The good news is that opening is happening respectfully and orderly. We can see people holding slightly-too-large gatherings in their own homes and yards, but restaurants and stores aren’t packed with more than permitted under reopening guidelines. Unlike the “booked through July” stories in the news, hair salons around here actually have appointments available… three hour wait for Great Clips to three-to-four day wait at some of the more upscale places.
DD reports far fewer people on the bike trails, even though we have had two days of gorgeous weather. There are a lot more cars on the street these days.
IDK. Maybe they think it’s better to have it (masks) be voluntary. Maybe having it be a requirement would open up can of worms & cries for “enforcement”.
I am dreading the re-opening of NYC, where I work. I’m a phase 2 worker, but I can do my office work from home and have been for 2 1/2 months. The courts I work in are not opening to the public any time soon and gosh only knows when there will be a jury trial. However, my boss, who can walk to the office, thinks we should all come back because we have offices with doors! What about public transportation? D and her fiance are still out of state and have decided to give up their apartment in Manhattan when the lease ends. They took it so they could both walk to work and both of their employers have said they don’t have to go back to the office till 2021. IF i have to go to the office, I am going to suggest to my boss that I work 2 - 3 days in the office and the rest at home. The boys are willing to drive me to the city on a Tuesday and pick me up on Thursday evening. In the interim, I can stay at D’s apartment. It’s almost a 2 mile walk each way and it’s a 5th floor walk-up but I will do it if I have to in order to keep my job. The lease is up in October, so that gives me almost 4 months to figure out what to do.
On another note, S21 came home from college and H and I have been quarantined to our empty rental property across town. The boys come by every day or so to bring us supplies and the mail, but we all wear masks and I haven’t been able to hug my college graduate yet. He looks like a hippie and when I commented on it, he pointed at H and said, what do you expect, my barber shop is closed! H cuts all of our hair, including his own.
We’re doing ok. I understand people wanting to re-open, but it scares me. I didn’t go to tanning, nail and hair salons before COVID-19 and I doubt I ever will in future. I try to patronize local businesses by curbside pick-up, but I have gone into a couple of stores in my area, which is in Phase 1 and wasn’t thrilled. Stop and Shop was the best at cleaning, Ace Hardware was best at social distancing, though some people stood too close to the clerks.
My family has been so careful in trying to avoid exposure that I am afraid we will get whacked by round 2…
Stay safe all and enjoy the day…
Just saw a FB post with our governor (CT), the mayor of Stamford, and a couple other people standing elbow to elbow, no masks. SMH.
D1’s bank doesn’t want anyone to take public transportation to work even when they are open. They have offices in NJ, Brooklyn, Manhattan. They are having essential workers go to those offices if necessary, but are letting most employees work from home.
I would have to take public transportation to go to work and we are not required to in even when our office is open.
We are finding that most of us are able to get our work done from home. I think once we are back to normal, we will continue to work from home most of the time and only meet up once or twice a week. This will definitely cut down on our carbon footprint and make our environment better. It is really a silver lining of this pandemic.
My region (Cap District) is going to Phase 2 in a week (or so) and it makes me nervous, too. It hasn’t been nearly as bad here as downstate, but there is nothing preventing large outbreaks here if we aren’t careful and don’t maintain what we’ve accomplished thus far.
I won’t be rushing back to my salon as I’m not going anywhere that my hair needs to be perfect for, and I gave myself a mani and pedi.
I can eat outside on my deck or patio in nice weather. Don’t need a restaurant to do that.
Haven’t seen my kid since March and no idea when we will. But we talk on the phone way more now than before CV, and FaceTime - which we never did. I didn’t even hug him the last time I saw him which was March 7th at a Bat Mitzvah. That was when everyone thought bumping elbows was okay, so that’s what I did when I saw him and when he left to go back to his home.
I’m also way more in touch with my sister, nieces, nephews-in-laws and my 1st cousin’s and their kids. We text constantly now. So many text threads with a lot of people on them.
My D works for Google and they sent out details about returning to the office. Most people won’t be there throughout 2020, but they are going to try to get 30% of people back by 2021. People are going to get assigned specific days and will have to check in with security. And all of the usual stuff, like getting your temp checked, wearing a mask, and all desks 6 ft apart. All of the “Googley” things are gone. Most of the food, gyms, and any other amenities will no longer be part of their culture.
I was surprised to receive a jury summons for federal court in early July. I’m already on my county’s civil grand jury which is an exemption but I wonder if they will really have in-person jury selection that soon.
So, in Israel, we had done a great job containing the virus – but now seem at risk of a second wave, with over 100 new cases in a day (it had been down to single digits a week ago). Much of the increase comes from a single high school, but students and teachers at other schools have been diagnosed as well, sending all of the staff/students who came into contact with them into quarantine.
My conclusions: We did not have an increase, and in fact cases continued to steadily decline, even after a number of restrictions had been lifted. Reopening parks and other outdoor areas, allowing people to have picnics and outdoor prayer services, permitting people to host small groups of friends or family at their homes, even reopening hair salons, retail stores (at limited capacity, though this wasn’t well-enforced), and take-out service at restaurants and food stands (it had been delivery only for over a month), did not cause any harm. Neither, it seems, did opening schools on a limited basis - only the younger grades, with fewer kids in class at one time.
What we weren’t ready for: reopening schools at full capacity-and, presumably, anything else that would bring large groups of people into extended indoor contact with one another. We just opened restaurants and bars at pretty near full capacity, so I’m not optimistic about what the next two weeks will bring, even with a good system of testing, contacting tracing, and quarantine set up.
In a larger sense, our experience confirms my sense that there is a real middle ground here, where restrictions can be relaxed in ways that meaningfully improve people’s lives, but gradually and with the understanding that there may be limits for some time.
It is unfortunate that in the US, things are so politicized that I can’t see common sense winning out.
Interesting. More suggestive evidence that high-school-aged students spread the virus. Presumably college-aged students do too. It would have been nice to discover that in addition to typically having less bad cases, teenagers are bad at spreading the virus. Oh well.
I wonder why Israel’s experience with schools is so different than Denmark’s.
'Following a one-month lockdown, Denmark allowed children between two to 12 years back in day cares and schools on April 15. Based on five weeks’ worth of data, health authorities are now for the first time saying the move did not make the virus proliferate.
…
In Finland, a top official announced similar findings on Wednesday, saying nothing so far suggested the coronavirus had spread faster since schools reopened in mid-May.’
What is the mask situation in Israel? Are people wearing them or not?