Voicelessness and Emotional Survival > Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board
Coronavirus
Twoapenny:
It's a shame you have to wade through the site to work the numbers out, Hopsie, it does make it a more difficult task to do. Our local authority have come up with a method that works really well for me. They have a daily dashboard that shows the number of diagnosed cases in the last week for our county and then the three counties that border it (as a lot of people go back and forth for work and leisure activities). Underneath the weekly case numbers they record the weekly death rate - very clear and easy to read. Then you can click on other boxes that take you through all the other data; daily rates, national numbers, excess deaths, Covid deaths - really as much information as anyone might need. They also do a map that just uses colours to show where the highest numbers of cases are (and for us at the moment it's the University town which, thankfully, we are about ninety minutes away from). For me that works well; the weekly numbers just give me an idea of how it's going (and at the moment they are dropping a little each day) and they update daily at 4pm. I find more detail than that a bit much for my brain to manage; at the moment our immediate area has very few cases (I think it was less than twenty at the beginning of the week) and that makes me feel reassured.
I do agree that governance has been and is a huge issue; it's a shit show here and even die hard Conservative voters are up in arms about Johnson and the way he's handled this. I can understand why people just do their own thing. I guess with my son's health problems I've been more aware of what could happen and more willing to take steps to keep him safe. I think a lot of people have never been seriously ill or disabled and just don't know what it's like, or understand how little support you actually get in real life if you end up permanently unable to work. Even those with money behind them quickly find it's all gone when their income drops to zero. It's been a big shock to the system for everyone, I think, although in different ways depending on circumstances. I'll be heaving a big sigh of relief once it's all gone.
Hopalong:
What bugs me is that the health region website initially used a nice color-coded bar graph that showed the numbers directly. For some reason they've replaced it with a squiggly graph that requires hovering over a tiny point to get the daily case count. Just weird.
"...understand how little support you actually get in real life...." (when unable to work due to disability).
I so agree. I think that applies to just about every single structure that protects the vulnerable. Or purports to. And I think people buried in structural and bureaucratic systems that are so unwieldly wind up losing part of their humanity...the empathy that would drive them to legislate more humanely.
But that's not a simple subject and I'm trying to simplify my wee brain to keep myself serene. I don't know how FT activists contain their anger, frankly. But I do know that helping the right side eases the pain.
I guess it's another example of: Ask the universe for what you want, as long as you release the outcome. Asking takes different forms for different folks: donating, persuading, voting, volunteering, marching, going to jail for your convictions. I'm on the cowardly end, lousy at direct confrontation. But I'm mostly at peace about it.
That goes back to being kind to myself and being my own friend, I think. Takes discipline and effort to deny the critical inner voice a bullhorn in my head, but I think it's gotten softer over time.
I think yours has too, Tupp.
hugs
Hops
Twoapenny:
I think simple, good quality information is so important just now. It's all been handled so badly that every decision now will be the wrong one. A friend and I were talking this afternoon and whatever your situation, this is going and will go badly for a lot of people. The friend and I are in similar situations - both have disabled kids and are both able to stay indoors for the most part, so that's what we're doing. But I spoke to someone else I know (casual acquaintance) and both she and her husband have lost their jobs due to the Covid situation. They're alright for money for one more month but if one of them doesn't get a job in that time they're in big trouble, and long term they both need to be working in order to be able to pay their mortgage and associated costs. Simple information at least gives you an idea of your personal risk level and what you can or can't do. Such a shambles.
But in other news, cases have dropped in our county again today. I'm assuming there was a big jump because of the Uni going back, but that they've all isolated and so the numbers haven't continued to grow. The figures are weekly but updated daily so the number going down is a good thing, and still no recorded deaths. That's heading in the right direction. Not so in other parts of the country but for now I'm counting my blessings - we had sun today as well! So nice.
Twoapenny:
Big drop in local cases again today and the current ones are still mostly centred around the University town (which we aren't anywhere near). I'd hazard a guess that our chances of catching this at the moment (providing we stay close to home and continue to take precautions) are probably no higher than the chance of some other awful disease or accident coming our way. Not that it will make me start rushing about sans mask and many other parts of the country are in a dreadful state but I feel more comfortable at the moment. Slight concern is that they're not testing which is why numbers are dropping but I've no way of knowing that so no point worrying about it. Have had two people I know personally affected now though, and that does bring it closer to home. Previously it's been friends of friends or someone's work colleagues mum or something like that but just this week one friend in contact with someone who tested positive so now isolating for two weeks (no symptoms yet but staying in just in case) and another friend had a case in the care home her dad's in - locked down fast so it was contained to one case and no-one else got ill but it's closer to home than it was and that's a worry for everyone. But overall in our little part of the world it's looking okay xx
Hopalong:
For me, day-to-day changes or dribbles of news on the virus have lost meaning. Anecdotal stuff doesn't get me to conclude much. I'm just grasping that the overall, global, national trends are UP for this fall and winter. (It's true here but most individual places are just drops in an infected pond, given mobility.)
It's time to double down on all the precautions as cold weather comes, is my understanding. Hunker down again and try to contol the yearnings for "normal." It's new normal now, period. The time it changes is the time after we've all taken a well-proven effective vaccine. And Covid-19 may be with us always, like a serious disease that may rise again among the unvaccinated. (Vaccines even for the flu are not 100%. We all imagine 100% safety about many things...it's human nature.)
What I've heard that makes sense to me is that the largest incident of spreading is actually from family or friend gatherings. People are so pent up for socializing and yearning for contact that they're dropping their guard.
It's hard. It's a real test. Some will dig in and find the inner resources and patience to come through healthy. Some just won't or can't.
But life always has beauty, always has meaning, and always has happiness within it. I admire you a lot, Tupp, for finding those over and over again. I intend to too!
Hugs,
Hops
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