There was a huge flu outbreak when my mom was in a skilled care facility. No one…including immediate family…was allowed to visit for a full week.
In Michigan now. Going out to eat with one of my sisters. My 90 year old mother wants to go since it’s like 60 today but doesn’t want to take a chance of getting anything. She gets meals on wheels since home from the hospital for now. My other sister that lives close to her was out of town for a few weeks.
At the school Michigan everything seems normal for now. Taking my son out for a birthday lunch with some relatives if they drive up (not to far)… Then back to Chicago.
Not sure spraying alcohol will destroy books. Alcohol evaporates fast. It is not like water if that’s what you are thinking. At any rate, to me, sheer work of spraying every page will be what stops me, not that I don’t value library books.
@Iglooo Three reasons to stock up on canned/frozen food: getting quarantined, getting sick, supply chain issues. I went out of town last weekend. Bought a few things before I left, told H to buy more when I was away. I flew and worried things were changing so quickly I’d arrive home and be quarantined due to passing thru a major airport. It didn’t happen, thankfully.
H scoffed and bought kind of weird things, things he likes like jarred gefilte fish and sardines. Meanwhile, he has many friends in Israel who are getting quarantined as they return from travel abroad. Now he is on board.
We aren’t panicking. We are still going out, just washing our hands more often. We bought about three weeks worth of basics, stuff we would have had on hand back in the days when the kids were at home. As empty nesters, we keep less in the pantry.
I’d like to fine tune my supplies now and add wine and junk food.
Went to the grocery store yesterday. There wasn’t much TP (only small packages - I didn’t get any). I didn’t look for Purell, but I got a small thing of Clorox wipes and I got a bottle of Clorox (not for virus but for cleaning our grout). I actually asked the pharmacist about the “zinc tablets or whatever it is we should maybe have for the virus,” and he said they should be on aisle whatever… I looked there and didn’t see anything I thought was it, and didn’t bother to ask again.
We had a small party at our house last night, guests 55-80, and I was actually a little surprised how unconcerned everyone was. Lots of travel plans, and nobody was planning to cancel (soonest was a trip to Mexico for son’s wedding this month). People were not doing as much hand washing as I was, and we were a hug fest. As I was the primary server, I felt compelled to be extra careful.
Today I may or may not go to the gym. That is the one adjustment in life I’ve been contemplating.
Still not convinced. Unless you live in a condo as @oldfort does, you can get them delievered if you are quarantined. If you are sick and can’t shop, often you don’t want to eat. Third, supply chain. I can’t see Campbell soup ever running out but may be I haven’t lived long enough yet.
It makes sense that if one lives in a high rise with one or 2 elevators, that the management will have to do a super thorough job of disenfecting the elevators, the buttons, etc.
So, I got confirmation from the hotel that they will waive the cancellation fee if there is an issue with our college reunion due to the virus, so I went ahead today and booked the flights (the fare ticked up yesterday but went back down today). I noticed that the fare to Chicago we booked a few weeks ago for the half marathon in July has dropped by $30/ticket, and I thought I’d snared a great deal when we booked it in February. Oh well.
Sooo… the virus is in the area where I used to live, where I currently live and where my s’s (DIL’s and GD) live. Not much I can do but be careful with hand washing and sanitizer. I expect my work will drop off as likely many clients will cancel. Might be getting an. unplanned holiday. I did order som e alcohol from WalMart (its to be picked up at the nearby store tomorrow) as I ran across a container of aloe vera so can make more sanitizer if needed, and I assume I can return it down the road if I don’t need/use it.
So, most library books were not just returned the day you took them off–just go to the not new shelves. Help your library circulation and give those older books some new life. 
Hand sanitizer is flammable. I wouldn’t recommend the spray type of hand sanitizer either. Liquid form of alcohol does evaporate from the skins, but evaporation is a gradual process, so the surrounding area won’t be filled with alcohol vapors.
That will be another way, check the last circulation date. See, there’s always a way. Life doesn’t have to stop. We just need to be a little smart about it.
We are in IL with six cases so far and I don’t see anyone in our town changing anything. We had to wait an hour for a table at a restaurant in our town last night. We are going to my uncle’s 80th birthday party later today with probably 50 other people. No one that I know of has underlying health issues although some will be in their 80s (but healthy).
I understand that the reason for all of the event cancellations and online classes is for the greater good of those who are immune compromised. For many healthy adults and kids, it is an inconvenience though. For most who people get the virus, there’s an 80% chance that it’s mild so they are having parts of their lives upended for the greater good. I just wish the government would get its act together to calm everyone down and so we can feel like the elderly and health-compromised can get what they need if they need it — and the rest of us can stop being affected by school closings, flight changes, travel cancellations, etc.
We absolutely cannot keep doing this until a vaccine is out. How long are people not going to fly? One month? Two? Throughout the summer? There is no one in the scientific community telling healthy people not to fly and go about their business.
Maybe this is warped but I’m feeling like my mom did in the 70s when chicken pox was a thing. When one child on our block got it, all of the moms wanted everyone to so we could get it, deal with it, and move on. They even had play dates so kids would be near each other! If this is going to spread, it’s going to spread. I’m not convinced this containment strategy is going to work and we are at the mercy of the government who is botching this whole thing.
I have been lurking for a day - thanks for the info - but jumping in to say that most everyone has someone they love who could be affected very badly (elderly parent, person with heart condition, person with diabetes etc…) so we have to come together on this. Also, hospitals will be flooded with these cases, which will overwhelm their ability to help everyone else. So, then everyone will be impacted.
The CDC IS telling people over 60 to buy extra supplies and stay home as much as possible “during an outbreak in your community” which is now, for me.
I’m not over 60 but my husband is close and I interact with my elderly parents and inlaws all the time. Who live here. In the outbreak.
Had a family meeting last night to discuss my mother in law who is in her mid 90’s and not in good health. She is so-so cognitively. One of her few pleasures is going to the theater and listening to the music. At first we were like, she shouldn’t go. But then my sister in law was like, what in the heck are we doing? Why are we placing her quality of life so low on our priorities. She needs to go. So she will go today.
My in-laws are still determined to go on their upcoming cruise, despite the fact that my father in law is mid-70s and in very fragile health. They, unfortunately, believe those who say it’s no big deal and the panic is a political hoax. I really hope that the cruise is canceled on them.
I’m in Tel Aviv, I see one mask every couple of days, plenty of people are in bars and cafes, abundant TP.
I was just home sick for a week with the flu. I was not in shape to order things and have them delivered or to cook. Being able to open a can of soup to eat was very good thing for me. There were things I wish we had on hand that week. My husband’s idea of grocery shopping and mine are not the same. Also, once this spreads, I will be wary of delivered foods. I mean, did you see video of life in lockdown areas of China? Would you want to eat food delivered to your home in that type of extreme condition? I want to have some supplies here so that if there were a lot of cases in the surrounding area we would not have to go to stores and would not have to have food delivered, either. We also have some health concerns, though. Maybe you don’t. If we didn’t I would feel differently, I’m sure, but I think I would still be on the cautious side of things.
CDC has the recommendation that people at high risk avoid crowds as much as possible. They also wanted to include the recommendation that people over 60 and people with health issues should not fly but the Trump administration took out that recommendation. I would also look at what places like Italy, Korea, and Singapore are recommending and doing and what China did that worked. You probably do not have serious health concerns yourself and I’m guessing are also under 60 by quite a bit. Maybe you would feel differently if you or your close family was medically fragile. Maybe would wouldn’t. I’m not thinking people should panic, and I do agree that we should assess if our own situations are as severe as the highly impacted areas and keep perspective. You are right about that. But I would say at this point none of us knows the current situation since testing is so far behind in the USA, and we don’t know where the next super spreader or hot spot will be.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html
I have heard CDC leaders say this. And I think mitigation can do a lot. What worries me is when I read people who think taking any precautions are silly. That scares me more than anything because if everyone did work together, it would really slow this down. If people think it is overblown or a hoax or whatever, it will be many, many times worse. So, I don’t feel reassured by people who blow off the concern about this. I feel more worried that America isn’t doing what it needs to do to minimize this and that the long-term result will be far worse than the impact that shorter term, strong reaction to it would have been.
If you’re concerned about library books haul our your Kindle or download the Kindle or otherwise reading app on your tablet. Check out some books from your local library and read via device. Or buy books and read on your device. You can still support your local libraries and authors that way.
@HImom please know that the comments regarding your father’s funeral are mentioned in and for your best interest - I think you know that. But I will add, while we don’t know the current Corona vibe in Hawaii, please don’t be disappointed if many of the people who so respected your father make the choice NOT to come to the service. Many people are likely to make that choice.