The breweries I was speaking of are the ones that operate on a scale similar to Cargill’s meatpacking plants and deliver product in those big panel trucks.
If there’s enough ethanol in the air to sanitize it, the effect’s probably about the same as drinking it.
I think there is a big difference in the work atmospheres between big breweries and big meatpacking plants. The former are much more automated and employees don’t work shoulder to shoulder.
They also pay better so workers aren’t cramped into crowded living conditions. Workers tend to be unionized.
The danger for beer production is more likely to the farmworkers that produce the barley and hops.
I’ve heard of numerous outbreaks among farmworkers picking fruits and vegetables, so I imagine that there could be outbreaks in the fall, among the workers at vineyards and wineries.
“Respiratory distress causes absolute panic in human beings-we can’t help”
COVID is horrible. BUT my daughter who is a nurse working with COVID patients has said that one of the unusual markers of the disease for many is that they will have very low blood oxygen rates, rates that would normally leave people gasping for breath and panicked and…they will be chatting away on the phone. Only when the patients are near death do many actually experience the panic that they should have been feeling before.
There was a NYT article about a doctor who said that he couldn’t believe that he sometimes had to ask a patient to hang up the phone so that they could be ventilated. Never in his life had He experienced that before.
I responded to @catahoula before he/she edited the initial comment about “breweries.”
And before a whole second paragraph was added to explain that they were talking about large brewing operations. I was referring to small scale brewers obviously . But did not have all the info when I initially responded.
The only time I was ever in a hospital was when I gave birth to my kids and I hated it. I couldn’t imagine to be there all by myself. I think it is something that truly bothers me about people in hospital with covid all by themselves, without their love ones to comfort them. Not something I would want for my mother or myself.
The dangers don’t come from picking the fruit. That actually is pretty safe. Where the virus really seems to spread is fruit packing plants and makeshift housing and dormitories for temporary fruit pickers. This is what is happening in our Yakima county, the fruit bowl of the US.
Hi everyone I’ve been working a lot lately. 12 meetings scheduled Today, 3 got canceled. But I managed to go to costco an hour before they closed and guess what I found? Kirkland brand disinfectant wipes! I couldn’t believe it! I was so happy. I also got bacons and eggs for the kids to make breakfast. They rely on me for shopping and I feel like I abandoned them lately. My poor husband kept hinting at me “honey the fridge looks really boring”. We have been ordering take out for dinner almost every day. But we ran out of breakfast and lunch ingredients. Don’t judge me but the kids also ordered McDonald for lunch, oops.
Around me even though everyone wears mask in the stores, among friends people are getting pretty relaxed about getting together, even though in small groups. Like people would have a family coming over, or a couple of friends, group of 5-6 HS kids get together at the beach…I think it’s going to be this way until someone close to you got sick. It’s human nature we react to events that are close and personal.
I went to a small, socially distant outdoor goodbye get together for a friend’s boss. I’ve always liked him. But they were going to have people show up in shifts and I got there and found that everyone was there. No masks on. Outdoors but not a comfort to me really. I’m crossing my fingers about this one.
At one point, friend’s FIL stood up too quickly and nearly fainted. We all got up to help him so he wouldn’t fall over. Definitely not doing anything like this again!
https://www.yahoo.com/news/people-getting-sick-coronavirus-spreading-115751594.html
People are getting sick from coronavirus spreading through the air – and that’s a big challenge for reopening
Douglas Reed, Associate Professor of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh
’ An early study from researchers at the National Institute of Health kept the virus airborne for four hours and found live virus the whole time. A subsequent pre-print study that I was part of found that the coronavirus can stay alive for up to 16 hours in the air.
‘Reports from China, Singapore and Nebraska have found the virus in patient rooms and at very low levels in the ventilation system of hospitals where COVID-19 patients were treated. The report from China also found evidence of the virus at the entrance of a department store. So far, this sampling has been done using polymerase chain reaction tests which look for pieces of viral DNA, not live virus. They can’t tell researchers if what they are finding is infectious.’
‘A paper published just last week compared the success of mitigation measures – like social distancing or mask wearing – to try and determine how the virus is spreading. The authors concluded that aerosol transmission was the dominant route. This conclusion is hotly debated in the scientific community, but this study and others do show the effectiveness of masks in slowing the spread of COVID-19.’
‘Since people can spread the virus when they are pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic, universal mask wearing is a very effective, low-cost way to slow down the pandemic…Since the primary risk is indoors, increasing ventilation rates and not recirculating air inside buildings would remove the virus from the indoor environment faster.’
Had anyone else seen that the virus can stay in the air 16 hours? I hadn’t until the above article.
Bummer, the alcohol in the air does not apparently hold.
I’m in Montgomery County, MD and we are going to Phase 2 on Friday. Believe we’re the only county in MD that hasn’t moved forward yet. Numbers here are much improved. Outdoor dining starts Friday at 5pm. We won’t be doing that.
Was in downtown DC last week for a dr appt that couldn’t be done remotely. I drove, didn’t take Metro. Parked in a near-deserted garage. Saw two outdoor COVID testing sites within five blocks of Lafayette Square. Did not venture closer than 21st and Pennsylvania. Have to save my risk exposures to urgent medical issues only.
I want to see the numbers on people with cancer, cardiac issues, etc. to see what kind of effect COVID has had on their diagnosis and treatment, including those who aren’t diagnosed in a timely manner. Expect that will be a longitudinal study down the road – it’s a bit early to assess at this stage.
As a home beer brewer, I can assure you there is no ethanol in the air while brewing. There are lots of yeast spores though, but I don’t think that will help vs the virus.
Ethanol is created during distilling when higher proof alcohol is made by boiling a fermented liquid, not when beer is brewed which simply fermentation not distillation.
My country’s government has released a tracing app they want at least 60% of the population to download. It’s open source, anyone can use it, modify it, offer improvements etc. I’ve downloaded it, but no interesting notifications so far. I’m sure some are still afraid that it’s all a ploy by Bill Gates to have them all microchipped (yes, really, that’s a thing) but you’ll never reach the lunatic fringe and hopefully they are and will remain a fringe.
I’m a public sector worker and all departments have been asked to volunteer employees for secondment to the contact tracing teams at the health department, if necessary. 8 hours of online training, then either working from home, from your regular office or on site at the health department. I’ve put my name on the list, but again no interesting developments yet.
I saw a graphic at the Guardian which showed which European countries had introduced which measures at what point. My country, which has done so surprisingly well, was actually the second to last to lock down, just before the UK, which has done horribly and is still doing badly, and it wasn’t even a real lock down, with people free to leave their houses to shop for essential goods and exercise and with most workers still allowed to go to their workplaces, lots of “emergency” offerings at daycares and elementary schools for kids of essential workers, and generous definitions of “essential”. However, we were the earliest to test, trace and isolate, and never abandoned that even during “lockdown”, and are ramping it up still more, see above. Indoor and outdoor dining, schools, all workplaces, public transport - its all opened up, but with masks and distancing. And still the numbers are going down. I’m not bragging, I’m not in government. I’m trying to give you all hope - these measures all work and aren’t crazy restrictive but you gotta do them, not engage in magical thinking.
And nothing protects the elderly and vulnerable as well as keeping the numbers down. Nothing.
Places/events at which lots of people get drunk, sing and shout (Oktoberfest!) are still closed or banned. I am worried about artists, event managers, venues…no good solution yet but keep the numbers down, try up opening cinemas and concert halls with masks and hope. Life is not as before, but I believe we can make it good for the next year or so, as long as we keep up a community spirit and don’t flout the rules.
Well, I’m not really concerned about getting the virus. My work shut completely I own but then 6 days later opened back up for a very important project. Myself and a co-worker were tapped to come in and work on that project. Out of @ 2,000 employees about 8 of us in total were called in. We were deemed essential. If my life is/was able to be put at risk so easily in the very early stages of this then at this point it’s much easier now that more is known to realize I have a very slim chance of dying or even having real complications (my personal risk assessment). If I get it I will/would certainly stay away from others. I also have a son that just started working as a cashier at a Dollar General. I am not worried much about him either.
The reality is there are many, many essential employees out there ensuring that do many others can “hide” away from the virus. Without us essential workers that couldn’t happen for long. I have no choice but to work. If I don’t, I don’t get paid and couldn’t get unemployment. I don’t mind working. I’m not scared. I wish that more that have decided to stay isolated because they don’t want to catch the virus would lighten up on those that have to keep the country going because we don’t care as much about it. We have been out every day interacting with others. We have still kept the lights on, etc.
Enjoy that you have the ability to lock yourself in your bubble. Realize though that there are many that have been out and if we’re good enough to keep the country going we don’t want to be locked in during our time off.
Do home beer brewers have more success making sourdough starter? Is it the same kind of yeast?
I think there are two important answers to this:
and
@ucbalumnus used the term “variolation” a couple of pages back. I looked it up:
“Variolation or inoculation was the method first used to immunize an individual against smallpox (Variola) with material taken from a patient or a recently variolated individual, in the hope that a mild, but protective, infection would result. The procedure was most commonly carried out by inserting/rubbing powdered smallpox scabs or fluid from pustules into superficial scratches made in the skin. The patient would develop pustules identical to those caused by naturally occurring smallpox, usually producing a less severe disease than naturally acquired smallpox. Eventually, after about two to four weeks, these symptoms would subside, indicating successful recovery and immunity. The method was first used in China and the Middle East before it was introduced into England and North America in the 1720s in the face of some opposition. The method is no longer used today. It was replaced by smallpox vaccine, a safer alternative. This in turn led to the development of the many vaccines now available against other diseases.”
It’s funny, I was getting a little OCD (or maybe just being thorough, who knows), sanitizing my car pedals, sanitizing groceries with hydrogen peroxide, which is a PIA. Holding mail on a counter for a day. Nothing crazy, but tiresome. I started wondering if getting teeny tiny exposures over time might help build some sort of resistance, a kind of desensitizing for the immune system.
I have not read anything about this so the variolation idea was interesting. I am still doing most of my rituals, so I just used that idea to comfort me rather than actually change my behavior. It doesn’t feel like OCD if I am relaxed!
Always find your insights and perspectives from Germany interesting.
Unfortunately, the USA has been much like the UK in having lock downs that weren’t really lock downs and also doing a very poor job at testing, tracing, isolating. Hence, we are where we are. I guess America is “great” at spreading Covid-19.