Coronavirus global pandemic

[rootabaga]

Essential workers still working.

I am...tech folks are essential if the business is. Luckily I don’t much come into contact with the public.

 

[Bearsyzf]

Half of the people in my work building are working from home, of course except me

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Paper masks still cost a lot. $1.50 USD in Boston.

 

[lunatic59]

Sounds like gouging. They should cost less than half that retail.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

They do. I bought some. I keep forgetting them though so I have to pay to enter a store.

 

[rootabaga]

Good news: My theatre friend is off the ventilator and has started the long road through rehab. He was so weak initially (everything atrophies when you're in an induced coma and on a ventilator!) he couldn't even sit up in bed without help. Still, he's virus-free and has a good prognosis, so thanks for the thoughts, vibes, prayers, etc.

 

[rootabaga]

I would not have thought that flying would be all that safe, especially on a full airplane, but this study suggests you'd have to fly 54 hours on a plane with an infected person to get the virus. Of course that's assuming everyone is wearing masks...properly.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ery-low-u-s-defense-study-finds-idUSKBN2702S7

 

[dontpanicbobby]

When will this first wave end?

 

[dontpanicbobby]

I hear we're in the second wave. Fells the same to me. Still working and worrying about my co-workers.

This too will end.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Here in California, things are worse than they were during the early days of the pandemic.

I fully understand that people wanted life to get back to some semblance of normal, and they were tired of being cooped up at home, and wanted to get out and do things. So we buckled under pressure, reopening many things, albeit with new restrictions but, frankly, it wasn't enough. Look where we are now. *shrug* A statewide curfew, new safer-at-home orders, high hospitalization rates, etc.

One thing I have to say is that I know this has been easier for me to ride out than for most people, i.e., I was housebound long before COVID-19 ever reared its ugly head. So I've been used to being at home, and only going out for urgent purposes (medical, dental, veterinarian appointments), doing all my shopping online, etc. For me, it's just another day!

I feel for those who are not used to this, kids especially. They're really struggling in a lot of cases. Having to adjust to at-home schooling...shoot, I KNOW that would not have worked for me. Some kids just don't do well without hands-on teaching. And their parents! Suddenly being required to add 'teacher' to their list of daily duties, a position they're not qualified to do and didn't choose.

But this too will pass... We just all need to do our part to stop the spread of this deadly disease, that's now killing thousands of Americans daily. Vaccines will happen, but they're not going to be perfect right off the bat. Patience...patience...

 

[Milo Willamson]

My Brother in law, is doing the ENT training and where he is mostly maskless, methinks, going into the classes in and out of hospitals though, I think he does wear one every once a while just because, but , including myself, not too many people especially at my side occupation, barely get in touch with anyone. Luckily I do not get too much contact while writing anywhere soon, just because I just need a huge vacation soon with them both.

 

[MoodyBlues]

My Brother in law, is doing the ENT training

So he's a physician? Doing his residency as an ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor)?

and where he is mostly maskless, methinks, going into the classes in and out of hospitals though, I think he does wear one every once a while just because

I don't know any medical professionals who are NOT wearing masks at hospitals! At ALL times. I hope you're wrong about that.

 

[Milo Willamson]

No not an OtoRhynolanrgoloisits, (Wicked I learned that word back in kindergarten, my teacher's husband was one - Very first time typing it up too..) Emergency Medical Technician, Sorry sometimes my mind's ear just get so closed off, I think he must of the mask up the duration of his training most of the time.

 

[MoodyBlues]

No not an OtoRhynolanrgoloisits, (Wicked I learned that word back in kindergarten, my teacher's husband was one - Very first time typing it up too..)

Um...yeah.... Milo, what do I always tell you? Spell-check, Milo, spell-check! I THINK the word you're looking for is otorhinolaryngologist (and, no, I didn't need to look that up Just break it down to its components: oto (ear), rhino (nose) laryngo (throat)).

Emergency Medical Technician, Sorry sometimes my mind's ear just get so closed off, I think he must of the mask up the duration of his training most of the time.

Well, I hope he's REQUIRED to wear a mask at all times while training. If not... honestly, I wouldn't trust the training. I mean, if they're unaware of why it's necessary for their EMTs to wear masks while coming into contact with other people, they can't be too good, you know? Especially patients, who are obviously already compromised.

 

[Milo Willamson]

Um...yeah.... Milo, what do I always tell you? Spell-check, Milo, spell-check! I THINK the word you're looking for is otorhinolaryngologist (and, no, I didn't need to look that up Just break it down to its components: oto (ear), rhino (nose) laryngo (throat)).


Well, I hope he's REQUIRED to wear a mask at all times while training. If not... honestly, I wouldn't trust the training. I mean, if they're unaware of why it's necessary for their EMTs to wear masks while coming into contact with other people, they can't be too good, you know? Especially patients, who are obviously already compromised.

I trust my brother in law to wear a mask..

 

[Milo Willamson]

Um...yeah.... Milo, what do I always tell you? Spell-check, Milo, spell-check! I THINK the word you're looking for is otorhinolaryngologist (and, no, I didn't need to look that up Just break it down to its components: oto (ear), rhino (nose) laryngo (throat)).


Well, I hope he's REQUIRED to wear a mask at all times while training. If not... honestly, I wouldn't trust the training. I mean, if they're unaware of why it's necessary for their EMTs to wear masks while coming into contact with other people, they can't be too good, you know? Especially patients, who are obviously already compromised.

Yeah surprise my Grammarly thing, did not auto-correct me.. :O Should of just bluntely type up ent though, in my mind sometimes, my "N"s and "M"s get messy up there.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Yeah surprise my Grammarly thing, did not auto-correct me.. :O Should of just bluntely type up ent though.

I wish it would correct "should of" (should be "should've" or "should have")!

Ditto for "could of" and "would of"--none of which makes any sense. It's "could've" or "could have," "would've" or "would have."

There, the grammar nazi in me feels better.

 

[Milo Willamson]

I wish it would correct "should of" (should be "should've" or "should have")!

Ditto for "could of" and "would of"--none of which makes any sense. It's "could've" or "could have," "would've" or "would have."

There, the grammar nazi in me feels better.

Could've There we are both satisfy.

If you could really testify and read my stuff, oh boy you will have extreme fun with it

 

[MoodyBlues]

Yeah, like I always say, I KNOW I'm a grammar nazi, but I try to keep it under control on the boards. But with people I know it's okay to poke, like you, I let it rip! If you told me to shut the hell up, I'd stop.

Certain things, like the "would/could/should of" things, annoy me because they make no sense whatsoever.

 

[ocnbrze]

man LA is this close in going into another shutdown. this shit is just nuts.

and right now i heard that some Pasadena restaurant might defy the latest shutdown of outdoor dining.

people stay at home and wear a mask when out in public!!!!!

how hard can that be?

 

[MrJavi]

Paper masks still cost a lot. $1.50 USD in Boston.

Harbor Freight sells a 10 pack of three-ply filtration nonwoven fabric masks for $1.99.

 

[MoodyBlues]

man LA is this close in going into another shutdown. this shit is just nuts.

Yeah, we're right there... I just heard a report from the UK, saying that after a month of a new lockdown, their positive rates are way down--so it worked. Hear that everyone?!

and right now i heard that some Pasadena restaurant might defy the latest shutdown of outdoor dining.

No, they ARE open. They're the only city in LA county allowed to stay open. That's because they have their own health department, so they're not governed by LA county's. I saw a bit on the news showing LONG LINES in Pasadena, where people from other areas had driven in order to eat outside.

people stay at home and wear a mask when out in public!!!!!

how hard can that be?

That's what I just don't get. I just don't get it.

 

[Hadron]

That's what I just don't get. I just don't get it.

It's this very post-modern view that you can decide for yourself what it true and your view is as valid as anyone else's. Combine that with media bubbles, where "news" channels aren't required to be objective and people live in filter bubbles where they only watch what they want to hear and algorithms keep them from seeing other ideas (except where their tribe is condemning or dismissing them), and it's not hard to see how people can choose to reject what they find inconvenient and find validation for that position.

The other day I heard some mask refusenik being interviewed (just a vox pop piece on some random young guy) and he started out by saying that he got that it was about protecting other people but he was young and didn't feel he was at any risk so he didn't wear one... and I just thought how could he not see the disconnect between where he started that sentence and where he ended it? So ok, let me add "some people are just hard of thinking" to the list, but I don't think that can account for the majority of them.

Meanwhile back in the real world someone I know told me over the weekend that a former colleague of hers had lost both parents to covid in the last fortnight, and had a sibling and spouse in hospital with it. This following a family wedding anniversary celebration a few weeks earlier...

(And you know, I'm sure they all felt they were OK, and they felt safe seeing family because they're family and that's normal, and it was a special occasion so it was important they celebrated it - all things that I'm sure many people felt about meeting up for Thanksgiving last week).

 

[MoodyBlues]

It's amazing, @Hadron, that we're separated by an ocean, yet seem to have watched the exact same guy on TV! I swear I just told my cousin on Sunday that I had seen a young man [on TV] saying what you just said. And we rolled our respective eyes and sighed at how anyone can be that dense and disconnected from reality.

You're lucky that your...wait...never mind...I don't want this moved to P&CA for talking politics...

 

[lunatic59]

My cousin's daughter cancelled her wedding earlier this year and ended up having a virtual ceremony for the family. It was odd, but my cousin is a nurse and has seen COVID first-hand. She lives in NJ, but during the first outbreak, she went to NY to help in the hospitals.

We have been exposed a few times that we know of and have had to self-quarantine each time. Luckily, we have always come up negative. Sadly, a lot of sound medical science has been politicized, but that has been going on for 100's of years. Why believe in microorganisms that you cannot see with the naked eye, when you can blame it on demons and witchcraft? (Which is only slightly removed from aliens and 'deep state' conspiracies).

I was impressed with the letter from Pope Francis on the current crisis.