her precautions. And hope for the best.
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Does she know how to get online and video chat with friends or play online games like bridge or Lexulous?
My kid is an ED doc in the Seattle area, has diagnosed several cases of COVID19 (Fully gloved, face masked, face shielded, and gowned.) She and another doctor friend had had a vacation scheduled this next week. Wouldn’t you think from the news that the situation is desperate and they cannot spare doctors? Apparently not the case.
They were going out of state to a National Park, the great outdoors. But now they have been told if they travel they will need 14 days quarantine upon return. That’s right, if they leave Seattle, the major epicenter of COVID19, then they cannot work upon their return? Seems backwards to me. I could see other states wanting them to stay away, though.
Many of the people who say “my rights override your rights” may not want to post it that publicly or obviously, since that can draw negative attention. But also, in China, your rights are subordinate to the government’s rights and interests*. So any videos advocating anything other than staying home to avoid getting others sick (what the government wants) were either not made, or quickly censored.
*See Article 51 in http://www.npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/englishnpc/Constitution/2007-11/15/content_1372964.htm .
@momofsenior1 - I am sorry for your loss.
Does she know how to get online and video chat with friends or play online games like bridge or Lexulous?
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Idk about the online games, but she does know how to FaceTime, has a FB account, etc. She isn’t the best at online navigation, however.
@momofsenior1, I’m so very sorry for your loss.
@Nhatrang, I’ll pm you. Dh and I both went to Cal and don’t live too far away. Would be happy to help if I can.
Our disappointing news of the day…D2 is an engineer and was scheduled to take her professional exam in April. Has been studying for months–she said possibly 100 hours to date and found out today it was cancelled. Only offered 2x/year so she can’t take it until October. She’s dyslexic. So proud of all she’s accomplished but multiple choice is not her forte so she was working really hard. She knows it’s not that big of a deal in the scheme of things but did call us right when she found out so we got carried along with her initial reaction. Still, we all know it’s minor relative.
My parents are 77 and 78. Mom goes to the gym 3x/week and isn’t about to stop. Dad goes out quite a bit, too. Both take BP meds, but in good health. He is quite the computer guru; she doesn’t know how to turn it on. Both very stubborn.
I live in a very, very small rural area. I’m heartened by how quickly, about 24 hours, my FB feed went from “we’re fine” to “maybe we will be fine, but we need to get onboard for the elderly or compromised”.
My state currently reports 16 cases and 72 tested. 72? The slowness in testing is getting to me.
DH’s fed agency did a stress test on whether everyone could work from home via the VPN today. Got a phone call a little while ago that said they’ll be open next week, but folks can take unscheduled leave or telework. He is self-isolating at home but has no symptoms. DH returned from Germany last week and flew to Charlotte and back last weekend for my brother’s funeral. Is particularly concerned about my medical issues, which these days include a bad cough which we think is a side effect of my chemo (which we now know I can’t stop taking), and since he takes Metro and is around lots of people, is trying not to be a disease vector.
The good part is that he is suddenly cleaning up after himself – dishes, laundry, changing the sheets, the bathroom… We are also eating our way through our chametz.
I was in GA for a week for the funeral and drove the 600 miles home yesterday, only stopping to gas the car once (with gloves). The one restroom I visited was hands-free.
My dad, a former Army surgical nurse, is 83 and has gone to the pool three times this week, plus church w/hand-to-mouth communion, astronomy club, the post office, grocery store, and pharmacy. Has no intention of staying home and thinks I’m overreacting.
I called Georgetown Univ. Hospital this afternoon to see if I should still come in for my echo and pulmonary hypertension doc appointments on Monday and the nurse laughed when I asked about any precautions I should take and if I should reschedule. My appointments are five hours apart – not enough time to go home. I intend to sit in my car in between appointments and do some quilting.
We have masks, gloves and antibacterial supplies here already. It’s part of my life, plus we got a/b wipes and hand sanitizer for when we visit S2 in his current country. Not every place has flush toilets.
Jumping on the alcohol train. I’ve asked visitors after baby to consider bringing me Coronas.
I’m not much of a drinker but this has been an especially long and filled 8 month+ period to go without alcohol.
My friend in her 70s/80s with severe COPD has been in large crowds in FL (farmer’s mkt and a festival) and was going to keep doing so when she started to feel peaked and wondered if she may be starting “a little cold.” I worry about her but really hope she’s ok. I called to check on her but no answer.
She normally seems quite level headed but doesn’t want social distancing at all.
My D got sent home early today from her first real job with benefits. She doesn’t even know whether she’s going back in next week. Her work cannot be done from home. The company supports the film industry and all productions, especially location shoots, are postponed. She says most are postponed for 2 weeks and many TV shows are cancelled for the rest of the season. I am very very worried she will get laid off since she is a new hire. At this point she doesn’t qualify for any paid time off.
The economic repercussions are going to be really bad.
For other pet / animal households, have you also been stocking up on their food? I swear we’re awash with kibble, and I’m thinking of just piling up the bags to use as an end table or something.
On the human side, we’re mostly introverts, so it hasn’t been a hardship on the social distancing side. My head feels like it’s breaking from the mental lists I’ve been compiling for everyone, though. Have bought and mailed things to both kids, bought and dropped things off for my mother, bought and squirreled things away here for husband, dogs, and myself. Been a sounding board for both adult kids as they made and filled their shopping lists.
Everyone in my family is on board with the distancing. One of my kids went “out for drinks” with friends – all of them via videochat.
Any profession that depends on people being together in person and is optional will likely suffer loss of income or job. Examples include those in travel, hospitality, restaurants, event services (e.g. sports games, concerts, weddings, funerals, etc.), theme parks, retail (other than groceries, pharmacy, and other “essentials”), and production and supply chains for all of these. Health care professionals who do not give treatment for COVID-19 (e.g. dentists, optometrists, and their supporting people, as well as some physician specialties) may see cancellations as well. Obviously, many of the services of a school or college that are required when students go to class in person (and live in college dorms if the college is residential) are needed much less when they convert to distance education.
Retail of groceries, pharmacy, and other “essentials”, and health care professionals who do give treatment for COVID-19 are seeing increased work, while some of their number are diminished by having to self-isolate due to possible exposure. At schools and colleges, those implementing and supporting distance education have more work.
The forced experiment of large scale remote work may (if “successful”) lead to an increased trend toward remote work and business trends that depend on it (e.g. hot desking, more jobs in lower cost countries, etc.).
Social isolation may have non-economic repercussions as well. Loneliness may be increased, with attendant mental health issues (consider residents of assisted living places who can no longer see their relatives and friends in person, or even go out for a walk). Less social contact with other people and less travel away from one’s home locality may lead to increased fear and dislike of the “other” (perceived as a contagious disease threat), leading to even nastier politics than there are today.
You bet!! I bought an extra bag of the special urinary tract health cat food one of my cats needs and a crapload of cat litter. If I don’t have these items on hand… god save the Queen. It is going to be a Chernobyl over here if my cats don’t get what they need.
Got a call from a long lost lung MD friend. He is thinking of posting some tips for copd patients about covid-19 on a website for copd patients and wanted my advice on how to proceed.
We chatted awhile and I suggested he share his draft with the lung MD who is on the board, whom he and I both know. He will be writing something up, sharing it with me and our mutual lung md friend.
I think it would be helpful and will likely post it on my website too.
He also mentioned that he bought a case of N-95 respirators last year and he went and gave a bunch of them to the local fire department near him.
Younger S’s HS is now closed (with distance learning) until after spring break (April 6). Realistically I’m not expecting it to resume this school year (finish is early June).
I got an email from my gym, the Y, saying that they were staying open, but people at higher risk shouldn’t come. Not mentioning anything about refunding fees for people they had just told not to show up, mind you.
I was so mad. First of all, they know everyone’s age, so they already know who is over 60 and therefore at heightened risk; they could have been proactive about refunding money to people who, they say, shouldn’t be there but who they are continuing to charge membership fees.
But secondly, they are admitting that they’re at heightened risk of spreading disease. So, this organization, which is supposed to be all about community, is concerned enough to warn me that I shouldn’t go there and catch a contagious disease, but not concerned that someone else might go there and catch a contagious disease and give it to me at the grocery store?
This gym is across the street from a hospital that has had one Covid-19 death already and has several Covid-19 patients in intensive care. Seems like a likely place for an infected-but-not-yet-symptomatic doctor or nurse to work out at. So many places are shut down. They should close. #FlattenTheCurve
We no longer have a pet, but the Humane Society in our old home (where we adopted our cat who was with us for 18 years) sent out some advice:
One of my kids went “out for drinks” with friends – all of them via videochat.
I love that!
On another note my heart is breaking for all of the faculty and staff in New York whose schools are not closing. NYC has the highest infection rate in the country (Westchester and New Rochelle are essentially NYC) and the Governor refuses to close the schools. The governor is also directing all cafeteria/food service workers in the state to continue working to provide food for students. This negates social distancing. If Cuomo doesn’t shut these schools down soon he won’t have enough employees to provide the childcare and meals he is prioritizing.
We are all going to have to be inconvenienced, help ourselves, hopefully help neighbors and family members but we have no choice. The government can not do this for us.
Consider reaching out to neighbors who may be older or otherwise at high risk and asking if you can pick things up for them at the grocery or pharmacy if you are going out. I checked on one of my neighbors and found out that her husband had moved into a local nursing home a few weeks ago. They have been married more than 60 years. She told me she had visited him every day, even sleeping there some nights. Two days ago she was told she could no longer visit him. She says she cried herself to sleep that night. I’m inviting her to lunch this week at our house (and will maintain social distancing) This is an opportunity to be sure our most vulnerable friends and neighbors are not forgotten.