Coronavirus

[lighter]

My friend is on antibiotics for double pneumonia, but holding her own.  She's not been hospitalized.  Her 2 sons haven't been dx'd with COVID, but the doc said they're likely asymptomatic and infected.  No one seems to care.  No one is tracing contacts.  No one is enforcing quarantine.  No one is following up.  The oldest son left yesterday.... he's likely spreading the virus.  The doc said it's unlikely people can be in that close proximity, in a household like that, and not get COVID.

I was relieved to hear she's recovering.  Unhappy to see what a miserable job the US is doing with controlling COVID.

My sister and niece were required to qaurantine in Canada for 2 weeks under penalty of fines and prison time.  People are doing pop in visits to check and enforce quarantine for people traveling to and from the USA.  I wonder how they're handling those dx'd with COVID.  Better than we are, it's assumed.

Hops, if my Georgia friend were to pass away, I believe her children would want to know her wishes, if she's not already made them known.  She was planning to visit the monks and purchase her site, but she had to move first.

Maybe she wrote it down, like you said, Tupp.  I haven't brought it up, bc I don't think she's frightened right now.  I don't want her to be frightened.  She knows she has many of the problems associated with poor outcomes for COVID patients.   

Lighter

[Meh]

Its sad but yes people are just letting it run it's course but still if people have it they should be diagnosed so they can stay home. So many people just don't care.

The situation is past the containment option and yet it's no reason to be careless.

[sKePTiKal]

I don't think this can be contained - anymore than the common cold virus can be. Too many doctors & nurses observing the strictest protocols are getting ill. So many of the tests are coming up false positive or false negative... asymptomatic as a descriptor may not even be accurate. Drives me a bit nutz. But even the docs I know are hard pressed to nail down a diagnosis - with thorough testing. And there are - from the same docs - lots of head-scratching questions about why some of their elderly patients with underlying conditions are recovering, while heathy younger people are quickly succumbing.

Makes me think this virus is mostly harmless - UNTIL there is certain genetic feature that is the switch for the virus to turn deadly. But no; no one knows yet if there is such a thing (the researchers ARE looking; genetic research takes awhile).

The only thing I know for sure, is that our location/lifestyle has been preventative. Exactly what variable it is - number of people in a smaller geographical area or what - that makes the probabiity for getting sick go up, I've not no ideas. And I DO think about it a lot. Masks don't seem to be a guaranteed preventative; but I still wear mine in certain places. After working for years in a large campus building with lots of students/faculty in and out of it - and also open to the public, I've suspected HVAC systems of spreading germs for a long time... but no, there's no proof of that either. Maybe it's just a higher percentage of oxygen exchange in our rural location that's helping my state keep our numbers so low.

[Twoapenny]

I think more rural areas are doing better, Skep, certainly here the towns and cities are much worse than the coastal and rural areas.  I think just more space and I wonder if people in more rural areas tend to stick to their own 'groups' more than city dwellers are able to (in the sense that they're probably not sharing public transport and public toilets in the same way that city fold would be).  It is a head scratcher.

There was a paper out here just recently that one group of researchers think some people have better T cell immunity - built up through the common cold and 'normal' flu - which apparently Covid is a part of.  They think that might be why some higher risk people are getting better while some fit and healthy ones aren't.  Not proven at this point, though - I'm not sure anything is at the moment.

We have just been in to town on the bus for the first time in four months and I'm really not keen to repeat it too often.  They've done a good job of arranging the library to make it safer but most shops just don't have the room.  The pubs and cafes are all packed, there's loads of holiday traffic on the roads (vehicles overflowing with camping stuff and loads of caravans) and it just isn't possible to always keep away from people, however careful you are.  We didn't go near the shops so I don't know if people are wearing masks much or not but it's not possible to wear a mask when you eat and drink so whether wearing it in a shop is going to help with so many in pubs like that I just don't know.  I'm very, very glad that I don't have to work somewhere like that and equally glad that we just don't have to go out very much.  It was nice to go to the library though, son got a book about coping during a Virus Outbreak!  It's a fiction one and kind of like a puzzle in a book; different scenarios are described and you have to pick an option.  That takes you to a different chapter and you work through it like that.

Lighter how is your friend getting on, is she starting to feel better now? xx

[lighter]

Oh,  what a delight, Tupp. To have your new box set, a nice visit to the library... sounds like they figured out how to stay safe, and son really enjoying himself.... doing well..... flowing: )

My friend has good and bad days.  It's all over the board, but she sounds pretty good.

Lighter

[Twoapenny]

Oh,  what a delight, Tupp. To have your new box set, a nice visit to the library... sounds like they figured out how to stay safe, and son really enjoying himself.... doing well..... flowing: )

My friend has good and bad days.  It's all over the board, but she sounds pretty good.

Lighter

Is she doing better overall, Lighter?  I keep hearing that the long term from Covid can be tough, even if you get a mild case.  I do keep wondering if it is what I had back in December.  So many people talking about the possibility it was here earlier than we thought.  I was very unwell over Christmas - dry cough, high temp, awful chest and I was still struggling by the March, just couldn't quite shake it off.  Hard without knowing enough about any of it.  So much is still speculation.

But we have some good news - the area I am in is in the five least affected areas in the country.  Only four cases recorded last week, one the week before that.  One death.  The local population is around the 90,000 people mark so that's pretty good going.  We've had loads of holidaymakers down here but it doesn't seem to have caused a big jump in numbers.  Definitely nowhere near as bad as it was.  Some people feel it will just burn itself out.  I would love for that to be the case.  I'm still not rushing to go anywhere - health appointments, library, cinema from next month once the kids have gone back to school.  I think people are taking care.  But it's nice to feel more relaxed about it.  It feels more relaxed in general; I think the precautions have become more normal for people now so the anxiety over masks and hand sanitiser seems to have reduced.

[lighter]

Tupp:

THAT IS GREAT NEWS!  Yes!  Lower numbers are a really good thing to read, aren't they.

I have the name of a UK company selling what appears to be new 30 day wear masks that don't heat up, don't muffle sound and keep the virus from getting in or getting out... not sure if it KILLS it or not,  but friend in medical field said, exactly.  The site says they're reusable self disinfecting proven to kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria continuously for 30 days.  WHOO HOO, friend said he did the research... has the seal of approval from the right agencies.

Can you get them where you are... have them delivered?  Maybe they're somewhere close to you, on a shelf?

INVISISMART MASKS.... get the 30 day ones... ISM30,  not the 5 day ones... almost same price, for heaven's sake.  They also have shields you might find necessary as well.

I pay 10.00 in shipping and masks seem to be a little over 10.00 each, so maybe you'll find a much better deal there?

The site also says they're 4 layer surgical grade....look them up if you feel it's worth your time.

I have some ordered... back ordered, rather. 

Lighter



 

[Hopalong]

Alas, cases here are still going up every day.
And worse, the local university is opening up for fall semester.
So there's a bit of dread building about how many thousands of more vectors for spread are about to arrive.

The U. really does not care about the local community, though it pretends to.

Beyond stupid decision, as students carouse recklessly all over town and have done so forever. I just don't think some people are mature enough to restrain themselves.

More, longer, tiring, demoralizing quarantine months ahead. In the cold.

Hops

[lighter]

Tupp:

My friend seems to be doing better.  I hope she doesn't have any of the dreaded damage to her heart or lungs experienced by some.

She's in the high risk category for several reasons.

((Hops:))

It will be a dark cold winter, but we'll all be here for you. 

Lighter

[Hopalong]

I'm glad your friend is doing better too, ((((((Lighter))))).

And thanks very much for your kindness about my winter dread.
It's creeping up on me.

(Note to self: Counter-intuitive or NOT, those affected by SAD need to start using their lights in AUGUST! The brain notices a subtle change in light even when it's still hot summer outside.)

hugs
Hops

[Twoapenny]

Tupp:

THAT IS GREAT NEWS!  Yes!  Lower numbers are a really good thing to read, aren't they.

I have the name of a UK company selling what appears to be new 30 day wear masks that don't heat up, don't muffle sound and keep the virus from getting in or getting out... not sure if it KILLS it or not,  but friend in medical field said, exactly.  The site says they're reusable self disinfecting proven to kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria continuously for 30 days.  WHOO HOO, friend said he did the research... has the seal of approval from the right agencies.

Can you get them where you are... have them delivered?  Maybe they're somewhere close to you, on a shelf?

INVISISMART MASKS.... get the 30 day ones... ISM30,  not the 5 day ones... almost same price, for heaven's sake.  They also have shields you might find necessary as well.

I pay 10.00 in shipping and masks seem to be a little over 10.00 each, so maybe you'll find a much better deal there?

The site also says they're 4 layer surgical grade....look them up if you feel it's worth your time.

I have some ordered... back ordered, rather. 

Lighter

Thanks Lighter, we're sorted for masks and are literally only going out once a week at most and we're not inside for more than about twenty minutes so I feel we really are pretty low risk now, as the numbers locally are so low.  I do feel lucky that we don't have to go out much and we're both such happy bunnies indoors I'm glad your friend seems to be doing better now, fingers crossed she continues to improve xx

[Twoapenny]

Alas, cases here are still going up every day.
And worse, the local university is opening up for fall semester.
So there's a bit of dread building about how many thousands of more vectors for spread are about to arrive.

The U. really does not care about the local community, though it pretends to.

Beyond stupid decision, as students carouse recklessly all over town and have done so forever. I just don't think some people are mature enough to restrain themselves.

More, longer, tiring, demoralizing quarantine months ahead. In the cold.

Hops

I'm sorry the numbers are going up, Hops.  It is a big worry, especially with winter coming and yes, the worry here has been holiday makers bringing it with them so I can understand the concern about University students arriving in large numbers.  The tip about using your lamp early on is a welcome reminder; I will dig mine out and start plugging it in.  I'm already noticing how quickly the evenings are starting to draw in and I know I dip quite a bit over the winter.  We should at least have a car by then so we can drive somewhere quiet to go for a walk which will at least get us out of the house each day (or even if we just go for a drive if the weather's awful).  And yes, as Lighter, says, we'll all be here for you, not the same as 3D humans I know but we'll be here all the same (lamp's plugged in and Vitamin D supplements on the go!) xx

[Twoapenny]

Hops,
From what I've heard, the locals are just about as nervous about the university NOT opening, since the students are a significant source of income. It's a real quandary. I wish it had just been done right to begin with--testing, tracing, sheltering in place based on numbers. My kids in the school system are going to have to go back, and the rest of us are going to be cooped up for the foreseeable future.

This is like a really poorly written dystopian novel.

CB

Amen to that, CB.  It's been so badly handled here as well, tens of thousands dead, many left with long term complications and we're just entering recession again, apparently.  So neither lives nor the economy saved and goodness only knows how many will be left with long term mental health damage from all the worry and stress.  Stupid people running a country less effectively than most people run their homes, it melts my brain xx

[Hopalong]

I hear you, CB.
And economic pain is horrible.
We may see a tide of homeless families unprecedented since the Great Depression, unless a new administration dips deep into military overspending and rescues ordinary people who can't make rent. Hoping and praying.

As to the students, this is a very large university attended by many many privileged kids. It also has a long and well-earned reputation as a "party school." I think locals feel resentful because in our experience, drunken loutish fraternity behavior has dominated many areas of town for many years. And their lack of judgement is scary.

If I had younguns, I would decree a fascinating year of camping--rent a van or RV or whatever, and keep their brains busy on the highway with loads of serious reading. No devices, or all devices locked up except for an hour in the evening. I think a year like that would be amazing for most youngsters and "losing" formal schooling for a year is not as great a disaster as it's made out to be.

I could be wrong but I think attachment to status quo (including mine) hobbles the imagination. But then again, there are parents who must work and who can't afford a FT daytime alternative for their kids. I just can't imagine what it's like for them, or for teachers, saddled with the responsibility for protecting kids' families from take-home deadly virus while still underpaid and worried about their own. The STRESS of all those scenarios is ungodly, ime.

So, it really as usual all depends on class. It's what you can afford for your kids, not just the list of options. Sigh.

Hugs and end of rant,
Hops

hugs
HOps

[Twoapenny]

I hear you on the class/income level differences, Hops.  It's much the same here.  Lower paid workers have had to work on throughout this, many self employed didn't qualify for help (not sure why as I didn't read up on the criteria), many have had to apply for benefits and have discovered, quite abruptly, that it's not the luxurious gravy train the papers keep insisting it is.  I'm purposely, for the first time in my life, not reading up on what might happen to people and all the personal stories of how people are being affected.  I just need to try to focus on myself and my son and not get side tracked by the things that I can't do anything about.  It just upsets me so I'm trying to avoid but yes, there's so much unfairness and I wish more people could see that having more support for people yields good results.

In coronavirus news, we've been in to town this morning to go to the library and it feels much more normal.  I think people are just getting used to it all now.  Most people have masks on, there's hand sanitiser all over the place, people are doing their best to distance.  All the shop staff are set up with visors and/or masks and it doesn't feel as weird and tense as it did.  The new normal, I think.  It is funny how quickly we get used to doing things differently.