H has a follow up appt with his ophthalmologist that he’s going to on 5/5. I plan to see if the grocery store is not crowded and go there while he has his visit, to buy fresh groceries. Generally the local grocery store isn’t very crowded and is well-stocked with more desired items.
I am grateful our state is slowly and cautiously re-opening. We still don’t have ideal amounts of PPE for our healthcare workers nor testing and having a spike that increases consumption of PPE and testing would be very concerning.
Opening everything up and having to lock down again will cause more unrest, imho.
I can report what protesters in Albany were saying in Albany on Friday.
“Carrying signs and bullhorns, the protesters alternated between insulting Cuomo and urging him to reopen the state. Standing on the base of the Sheridan statute, organizers warned of government overreach and the possibility of permanent damage to Upstate small businesses, as well as warnings about potential injury from any coronavirus vaccines and a takeover by the New World Order.”
“One of the protest organizers, Cara Castronuova, a former boxer and physical trainer featured on NBC’s television show “Biggest Loser,” said the shutdown was government overreach that infringed on New Yorker’s rights. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow speakers, Castronuova told the crowd their right to assemble and petition their government was being denied.
“I don’t care if there’s a virus, it sets a terrible precedent for the future,” she said in an interview afterward. “The state should be educating, they should not be controlling and mandating.”
Another protester, who said he was from Renssealer County, held a sign telling Cuomo to allow churches to hold in-person services again.
Watching a church service on a cell phone screen wasn’t the same as gathering together to worship, he said.”
@dietz199, It sounds like you’re advocating a gradual re-opening, with social distancing. This is what I want too, and what I expect to see in my area.
Parks are opening up here that were closed, and certain outdoor businesses are now allowed as of tomorrow. I expect restaurants serving outdoors, with social distancing, to be allowed soon, as well as other endeavors that permit social distancing. There’s an outdoor hamburger place I’d go to, if it re-opened-- except when it re-opens it’ll be jammed and I don’t want to go somewhere that’s jammed.
Also, I’m a big fan of re-purposing streets for people instead of cars. Take a lane and give it to the restaurants, so people can sit outside and eat.
In NJ only “essential” construction is allowed so the union friends of our governor can continue working. You can easily guess who does the bulk of “non-essential” construction - these people are not eligible for unemployment benefits.
The older I get the more I realize that we all are being manipulated by whatever news sources we read or listen to. These institutions are big business and definitely have their political leanings and biases. For example, I watch CNN religiously and a registered Democrat but they are certainly biased for the Democrats and are anti-Trump and republicans big time.
Just one example, how CNN handled the Kavanaugh sexual assault allegations and how they are handling the Biden sexual assault claims. You hardly hear a peep out of CNN about Biden and his accuser. It’s a story on the back burner, but would be front and center if it was about Trump/Biden.
I don’t want to start a political debate here, only point out that the media and the news is and always has been agenda driven and they are manipulating us on a daily basis no matter your news resources. It’s not just 1/3 of the viewing population as was suggested.
@dietz199 Aren’t you in CA? My daughter works at a specialty bakery in San Diego (they sell cakes, that’s it). They have never closed. They are a franchise and none have closed from what she has told me (looking at their website quickly, it doesnt look like any in CA have closed). Is your local bakery not allowed to open due to local county regulations or are they just choosing not to open at the moment?
I’m in California too. My favorite bakery closed last year, but I just looked up a local bakery. It’s open for pickup, and has been all along. You can’t go in there and enjoy coffee and a treat but they’re still selling their cakes and other baked goods. I didn’t think there was any rule against bakeries selling baked goods.
In my state (MA), we seem to be past the peak, but still experiencing high # of deaths and a shortage of ICU beds. We are weeks away from any reopening.
But there are states where their deaths and case count have never been high. The spike in deaths in MS (mentioned earlier) was 20 deaths in a single day. Tragic for those 20 people and their loved ones, no doubt. But in MA, 20 would be a drastic drop. MS is using about 6% of their hospital beds, <30% of their ICU beds. They are gradually easing up on restrictions, not a complete reopening. And the MS governor has demonstrated a willingness to take a step back and be cautious.
I really do not understand why people think the answer for MS is to fix the unemployment system. One size does not fit all.
Sure, if MA said, “You know what, this stay-at-home thing is too much trouble. Let’s just open up everything.” That would be catastrophic. But MS should not be held to the same restrictions as MA. Just doesn’t make sense to me.
I will stand by my comment earlier, based on a Walmart in MA, where a great number of employees were found to be positive. My hairdresser will wear a mask and so would I. A small store that limits the amount of people and can clean all the time, is safer than the Walmart.
We allowed large businesses to remain open as essential, but it took a while for masks and other precautions and now people are paying the price. Yet small businesses are shuttered in many places.
Okay, I had to actually check on my cupcake place…(I’m obsessed with this place because they provided the ‘cake’ at D’s wedding and make incredible GF versions of their regular products).
There VM says 'currently closed, will open Tuesday March 12th…Now March 12th was a Saturday. Maybe they mean Tuesday May 14th??? Oh that would be so great.
We are getting takeout Sushi from a place right next to the cupcake place, will take a look later this evening.
And maybe they chose to close because the bagel shop stayed open.
I can say with certainty, having a dozen of those cupcakes on hand for Mother’s Day would make a whole bunch of happy campers.
I see the opposite of what some here see. I see we are not following the national guidelines for gradual opening by having states allowed to open before they hit various guidelines for each phase/step in that opening. I don’t think that is moving the goal posts back but rushing through before it is safe to do so. I think it is very strange that some are saying we are doing the opposite of what it seems to me we are doing and wonder if this has to do with what we are reading for news sources. The national guidelines are not even as conservative as what I have read will be enough to be successful at containing it and getting the economy going, but they are stricter than what some states are doing. I think Dr. Birx’s reaction is also in line with how I’m seeing things.
Some quotes from the article (hope this isn’t quoting too many things). I’m trying to not be political, just focus on what for me is non-partisan–safe opening so we can get the economy going and save lives (i think both go hand in hand).
“I think federal guidelines are a pretty firm policy of what we think is important from a public health standpoint,” Birx replied.
“We made it very clear that the guidelines are based on very strong evidence and data,” she said. “We’ve made it clear what the gating criteria is.” ’
‘“We have to keep listening to the epidemiologists and experts, and not listen to the partisan rhetoric or these political rallies, or tweets, for that matter,” Whitmer said’
'“You see this happening around the country, as states try to open in a safe way. Unfortunately, the pressure is to do it in a not safe way,” Hogan said. “And that’s something we’re very concerned about, and one of the reasons why we’re being cautious and trying to do things in a slow, safe and effective manner.” ’
Left out title of that article which is also a good quote, ‘‘Devastatingly worrisome’: Dr. Deborah Birx decries scenes of protesters not practicing social distancing amid coronavirus’
I think that most all of us if not all want the same thing which is for the economy to be and lives to be saved as much as possible and to get things opened up as quickly as safely as possible. What that looks like is where there is some disagreement, and maybe there isn’t as much disagreement as it appears at first. I don’t think anyone here or almost anyone isn’t caring about both lives and jobs. Both are extremely important. I can’t take it all in – all the lives impacted by health-wise and in terms of the economy and jobs. It’s devastating to think about and I feel for every person who has been impacted. It’s just horrible. I post more about safe opening and not so much about details about the economy but I sincerely am very worried and upset about the economy as well. The whole situation is not good.
The unfortunate thing is that the most likely outcome in the “United” States is that both lives and jobs will be lost at a level closer to the worst case for both. The US is too dysfunctional and divided to have any consistent response, with the disagreeing actions undermining whatever possible benefit other actions could have. Keeping things shut down is not fully effective because some keep behaving in ways that continue the spread of the virus. Reopening the economy will not bring the economy back because many people are too afraid of the virus to resume normal economic activity.
Better understanding of Covid & improved treatment protocols. Readily available and proactive use of early, rapid-result testing – for example, if ALL patients showing up to an urgent care center or ED could be routinely given a screening test for Covid, then asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic people could be identified early on. If patients can be identified early, that also provides the opportunity develop an understanding of which treatment options might be effective early on to prevent development of serious complications. For example… what happens if an antiviral like remdesivir is given on day #5 instead of day #10 or #14. What will the data show about patients who receive HFNC therapy early on vs. those who arrive at the hospital already in acute respiratory distress.
So in answer to your question: I think there can and will be a difference between what questions I am asked and what decisions are made with the first contact I initiate with a health care provider when I am feeling sick. It already has changed from what it would have been several weeks ago, but I still think this is only the beginning of the process. For example, doctors need a lot more experience with early-stage interventions before they can determine which is most effective. And they are going to get that experience at hospitals that have the present resources to bring in early-stage patients and implement promising therapies, and then track disease course.
Yes, I and most folks I know have no interest to be around crowds anyone soon, with no proven effective treatments and no vaccine. Even if we are told we can go back to “life pre-covid19, many will not.
This by definition means many of us are not engaged in what had been our normal activities of shopping, dining out and traveling. That’s not coming back for many of us until there are plentiful, reliable, inexpensive tests and proven effective and pretty safe treatments.
Vaccines of course will likely take longer and we still need more info on the duration of any immunity to this virus.