COVID-19 III: No Politics For Thee

[jazzbo]

Those flow signs have been removed here for weeks now, but that's because we have a mandatory mask law in place. Recently the grocery store I frequent have added even more plexiglass screens at checkout stations.

[Brad]

Covid, what Covid?

 

[jlhoots]

Idiot!!

[danasgoodstuff]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

Covid, what Covid?

 

What part of Canada, or is that too political?

[Brad]

15 minutes ago, danasgoodstuff said:

What part of Canada, or is that too political?

I looked back through the comments and someone said it was Alberta. 

Edited 15 Sep 2020 by Brad

[danasgoodstuff]

6 hours ago, Brad said:

I looked back through the comments and someone said it was Alberta. 

Of course it was Alberta, said the person who used to live in SK.

[Pim]

Well I have got a cough now, and so does my 1.5 year old boy.... I work as a high school teacher and about 3/4 of my tutorclass has a cough or a sneeze now and then so they are at home. Got myself tested this morning and hoping for the best now....

Unbelievable what a consequences for having a cold these days (I hope it is just that of course).  Just one year ago I would have go to work and my son to pre school. Now we’re at home in quarantaine.... weird times.

[Brad]

2 hours ago, Pim said:

Well I have got a cough now, and so does my 1.5 year old boy.... I work as a high school teacher and about 3/4 of my tutorclass has a cough or a sneeze now and then so they are at home. Got myself tested this morning and hoping for the best now....

Unbelievable what a consequences for having a cold these days (I hope it is just that of course).  Just one year ago I would have go to work and my son to pre school. Now we’re at home in quarantaine.... weird times.

Unfortunately, I’m in the same boat. Had a slightly high temperature on Saturday night (99.5) and was starting to feel fatigued so I had a test Monday. The temperature now seems in normal ranges but have no strength. No other symptoms fortunately. Hopefully, just a bad cold or the flu. 

[medjuck]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/15/maine-wedding-covid/?fbclid=IwAR1-RdPUtF34NkXrwRqQeIg5Ys_Baji2TeXQ3sUaCuDmjSLsHZ6oms2HFjk#comments-wrapper

[bresna]

47 minutes ago, medjuck said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/15/maine-wedding-covid/?fbclid=IwAR1-RdPUtF34NkXrwRqQeIg5Ys_Baji2TeXQ3sUaCuDmjSLsHZ6oms2HFjk#comments-wrapper

https://www.pressherald.com/2020/09/06/sanford-pastor-remains-defiant-engages-religious-liberty-attorney/

[ejp626]

We're going to see rollbacks in parts of Ontario (almost certainly Toronto and Peel Region) so that the max indoor gatherings will be 10 (instead of 50).  I'm not entirely sure if this applies to stores, movie theatres and gyms (prob. not as there isn't "gathering" per se), but if so, then these will all shut back down.  It does mean that the concert I was going to go to (with 50 socially distanced in the audience) is going to be cancelled or postponed again.  I'm not saying this is an over-reaction, but I am disappointed to say the least.

Actually, probably the movie theatres in Toronto will be shut back down, but I may not have the details until later tonight.  I know they are talking very seriously about cutting back hours that bars can serve alcohol, and I do think that is a good idea as there have been quite a few outbreaks linked to bars.

Edited 17 Sep 2020 by ejp626

[Rooster_Ties]

Washington DC is still on Phase 2, with no immediate plans to move into Phase 3 (far as I know).

I think(?) we have actually met all the criteria to move into Phase 3 over a month ago (the biggest thing being a positivity rate of only 3%, for several weeks now, iirc) - but there seems to be an abundance of caution regarding opening up too quickly - which seems entirely prudent, I might add.

A recent and fairy deep survey of businesses in DC and in the immediate DC metro area seems to indicate most don’t expect to have things meaningfully opened back up again until next Summer (2021).

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/15/913154140/workers-in-washington-d-c-region-likely-to-work-from-home-until-next-summer

[Dan Gould]

2 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Washington DC is still on Phase 2, with no immediate plans to move into Phase 3 (far as I know).

I think(?) we have actually met all the criteria to move into Phase 3 over a month ago (the biggest thing being a positivity rate of only 3%, for several weeks now, iirc) - but there seems to be an abundance of caution regarding opening up too quickly - which seems entirely prudent, I might add.

A recent and fairy deep survey of businesses in DC and in the immediate DC metro area seems to indicate most don’t expect to have things meaningfully opened back up again until next Summer (2021).

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/15/913154140/workers-in-washington-d-c-region-likely-to-work-from-home-until-next-summer

I am trying to find out if the Smithsonian archives are opening up on the 18th as I was told or if its been pushed back again.  If pushed back I can't expect any Leonard Gaskin material (cassettes of shows featuring Percy France) before sometime in 2021, and if it got done in early January it would be 14 long months of waiting.

As Kevin Kline's character says in "Wanda" ... DISAPPOINTED.

[Brad]

On 9/16/2020 at 9:32 AM, Brad said:

Unfortunately, I’m in the same boat. Had a slightly high temperature on Saturday night (99.5) and was starting to feel fatigued so I had a test Monday. The temperature now seems in normal ranges but have no strength. No other symptoms fortunately. Hopefully, just a bad cold or the flu. 

Just got my test results back and they were negative fortunately (massive understatement). Of course, I still feel like crap: annoying cough, higher temperatures than normal and general exhaustion. 

[Dan Gould]

On 9/19/2020 at 11:48 AM, Brad said:

Just got my test results back and they were negative fortunately (massive understatement). Of course, I still feel like crap: annoying cough, higher temperatures than normal and general exhaustion. 

Good you don't have the 'Rona.

Not Good (source: Axios):

 

[Brad]

Unfortunately, I have some other issues (not enough red blood cells) that has landed me in the hospital for a few days. 

[ejp626]

I think the real issue is that there is so little confidence in the CDC (at this point) that the public expects the first vaccine in the US will be rushed out (and indeed maybe from Russia). 

I wouldn't have any faith in that either. 

I do plan on taking a vaccine that has been vetted by Canadian and/or European authorities when it is available.

[ghost of miles]

36 minutes ago, ejp626 said:

I think the real issue is that there is so little confidence in the CDC (at this point) that the public expects the first vaccine in the US will be rushed out (and indeed maybe from Russia). 

I wouldn't have any faith in that either. 

I do plan on taking a vaccine that has been vetted by Canadian and/or European authorities when it is available.

Same here—I have absolutely no confidence in any vaccine that might be introduced by the current U.S. administration this year. If it’s a vaccine that’s been vetted by Canada or the EU, I’ll be good to go. 

[Brad]

50 minutes ago, ejp626 said:

I think the real issue is that there is so little confidence in the CDC (at this point) that the public expects the first vaccine in the US will be rushed out (and indeed maybe from Russia). 

I wouldn't have any faith in that either. 

I do plan on taking a vaccine that has been vetted by Canadian and/or European authorities when it is available.

It’s not the CDC that weighs in on a vaccine but the FDA. 

[bresna]

7 hours ago, Brad said:

It’s not the CDC that weighs in on a vaccine but the FDA. 

As Miles would say, "So What"? You think they are any better? Stephen Hahn is the current head of the FDA and "in April 2020, Hahn instructed FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor "to distribute hydroxychloroquine to pharmacies nationwide," even though the emergency use authorization (EUA) issued by the FDA did not provide for outpatient use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine was later linked to multiple deaths of COVID-19 patients, and the FDA revoked the EUA in June 2020".

[Brad]

1 hour ago, bresna said:

As Miles would say, "So What"? You think they are any better? Stephen Hahn is the current head of the FDA and "in April 2020, Hahn instructed FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor "to distribute hydroxychloroquine to pharmacies nationwide," even though the emergency use authorization (EUA) issued by the FDA did not provide for outpatient use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine was later linked to multiple deaths of COVID-19 patients, and the FDA revoked the EUA in June 2020".

As a technical, legal matter, I was simply pointing out what is the correct approving federal agency and not making any other conclusions. 

[Justin V]

11 hours ago, Brad said:

Unfortunately, I have some other issues (not enough red blood cells) that has landed me in the hospital for a few days. 

Get well soon, Brad!

I still feel like my wife and I are living on another planet.  She took our car to a mechanic who is a family friend in our hometown.  She said that she felt like she was getting weird looks walking into a garage of unmasked men. 

While she was gone, I talked to someone who believed that hospitals are falsely attributing deaths to COVID to receive more money, as heard from a friend who is in healthcare.  My wife, who is also in healthcare, was aghast at that claim (as was I).  It is one thing to hear a politician claiming this for self-serving reasons, but to hear someone else parrot it is scary.

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, Justin V said:

Get well soon, Brad!

I still feel like my wife and I are living on another planet.  She took our car to a mechanic who is a family friend in our hometown.  She said that she felt like she was getting weird looks walking into a garage of unmasked men. 

While she was gone, I talked to someone who believed that hospitals are falsely attributing deaths to COVID to receive more money, as heard from a friend who is in healthcare.  My wife, who is also in healthcare, was aghast at that claim (as was I).  It is one thing to hear a politician claiming this for self-serving reasons, but to hear someone else parrot it is scary.

Where do you live? 

[Tom 1960]

8 hours ago, Justin V said:

Get well soon, Brad!

I still feel like my wife and I are living on another planet.  She took our car to a mechanic who is a family friend in our hometown.  She said that she felt like she was getting weird looks walking into a garage of unmasked men. 

While she was gone, I talked to someone who believed that hospitals are falsely attributing deaths to COVID to receive more money, as heard from a friend who is in healthcare.  My wife, who is also in healthcare, was aghast at that claim (as was I).  It is one thing to hear a politician claiming this for self-serving reasons, but to hear someone else parrot it is scary.

I recently went out to dinner with a couple when the same statement was made. I just put my head down and refused to engage. I just wanted to enjoy my meal. 

[Rooster_Ties]

Speaking of eating out, and just as an aside: FWIW, my wife and I haven’t eaten out at all since March, not even with the numerous outdoor sidewalk seating areas (which is the *only* restaurant seating option here since the lockdown - we’re only in phase 2 here in DC).

We do get takeout food about 2x/week, but we (I) always walk and bring it home (and we never use delivery services).

Not a big deal, and I suppose if we had some compelling reason to eat out, I’m sure it wouldn’t be the end of the world for us. But all things being equal, it’s just been less hassle (and less worry) to always eat at home.

So since March, I’m still cooking about 5-10x more than ever before. My wife and I used to cook together early on (20+ years ago) - but over those first 5 years that we lived together, I sort of naturally gravitated towards doing most and then practically all the cooking.

My wife follows recipes to the letter, and I like to improvise heavily - usually taking 3-5 different recipes for the same sort of dish, and synthesizing then on the fly (which drives my wife crazy). So since I like cooking (and she doesn’t), that’s my realm.

Anyway, I don’t know that we’ll be eating out again (maybe not at all) until next spring or even summer, depending on how quickly a vaccine rolls out (and I don’t expect DC to ever get to phase 4 until vaccines are widely available, and maybe not even phase 3).

We don’t expect everyone (or many people) to operate like we do — but it just seemed simpler to never eat out, than to try and weigh and balance whether any particular dining experience was “safe enough” (or worth it). Our policy is just simple (simple as that).

The “positivity rate” in DC has been about 3% for a month or so, and throughout the pandemic we’ve never been freaked out much about things here. I do go out grocery shopping 2x/week, and we shop at Target a few times a month (also close, since we don’t own a car).

We just feel like eating out at restaurants feels inappropriate in the middle of a pandemic crisis. We still patronize our favorite independent “mom & pop” restaurants for takeout frequently, and we usually tip 20-30%.

Edited 24 Sep 2020 by Rooster_Ties