Summer COVID Poll - Masks/local situation/personal situation

[Dan Gould]

What say you now?

Please  note last question is set up as multiple choice for two different aspects of pandemic - personal experience and those you know.

[Brad]

Things are going well in NJ because our Governor has been on top of things.  He had been planning to permit indoor dining but after several states had a spike in cases due in part to indoor dining, he reversed himself.  Gyms were tentatively slated to open in several weeks (no fixed timetable however) but I can’t see that happening in the foreseeable future. New cases in our county have remained steady for the last couple of months (7 to 13 a day). Unfortunately, you can’t place a moat around NJ or the NE, so I expect things to get worse, particularly in the fall. I have observed very few people not wearing masks. 

[clifford_thornton]

Things are looking good in NY... for the time being, anyway.

[Chuck Nessa]

20 minutes ago, clifford_thornton said:

Things are looking good in NY... for the time being, anyway.

What he said. Erie County has a map showing cases by zip code and our area seems to be doing well - https://erieny.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/dd7f1c0c352e4192ab162a1dfadc58e1

[Matthew]

Napa has a steep upswing of cases, everything has shut down again, restaurants, bars, churches, etc.

[ghost of miles]

Getting worse in Monroe County, though not "bad--real bad."  Yet.  

[sgcim]

I live in Queens, NY, the epicenter of the epicenter, with the most deaths in NY, and things are much better, but as CT said, "For the time being, anyway"...

I wait till about 11pm to go grocery shopping, and even though there are just a handful of people out at that time, they're too lax in social distancing and mask wearing.

[ejp626]

Toronto has just put an indoor mask policy in place and there haven't been huge pushbacks (that I am aware of or have witnessed).  Mask use is also mandatory on the main transit (TTC) and will be mandatory by mid-July on commuter transit (GO Rail).  I don't see a lot of mask wearing when just out and about, people walking on sidewalk (maybe 30%), but I guess the science is a bit mixed and masks outdoors aren't as critical.

Ontario is hovering around 100 new cases a day (finally better than Quebec!) and Toronto is usually 40-50.  So not beaten here by any stretch, but generally looking good (until Wave 2...).

[felser]

Things are good overall here in the Western Suburbs of Philly.  Staying stable after having greatly decreased.  We also have a governor who has stayed on top of this.    My employer, headquarted in KC (14,000 employees there) but with substantial secondary business centers here and in Bangalore, Calcutta, and Brasov, just announced they will not bring more employees back into the offices until 2021 - a great decision.  KC is apparently not good right now, and India sees themselves in crisis, though their rates are about 1/4 of the USA.

Edited 17 Jul 2020 by felser

[Guy Berger]

Dan, thanks for doing these polls.

In the SF Bay Area things have definitely gotten worse over the past 4-6 weeks, but we don't seem to be doing as poorly as the southern part of the state.  Crossing my fingers that renewed restrictions by the governor tamp down on the current flareup within a few weeks.

However, we have been on the receiving end of a pretty big f'up - there is a huge outbreak of COVID in San Quentin Prison (Marin County) when they transferred a lot of COVID-positive prisoners from hard-hit Imperial County.  It's really sad and horrible

[Dan Gould]

Well it is possible I will need to change my answer about knowing someone who has/had it. And since it could effect the family this is potentially serious.

Seems the husband of my mom's home health aide is quite ill and got the test yesterday, with a seven day wait for the result (they are in Naples). Now Olga is not feeling well. My sister and I have to consider the possibility that this has gone from hubby to Olga to my 85 year old mother, with a staggered schedule for symptoms. In the immediate term we have to figure out how to make sure she has groceries and I was actually planning a weekend visit for next Friday. Being in Florida I am the go-to person when something happens but this a little more complicated than before considering that she could be asymptomatic right now but also a potent source of spread. She hardly goes out since this started so really the spread would be to me.  And considering that we have my wife's elderly aunt/uncle as tenants in the apartment over the barn, me and my wife would have to be very careful in contact with them after I return.

If I go. Which she may need because she shouldn't drive. This is really f-ed up.

[JSngry]

3 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

 This is really f-ed up.

Yes it is.

[jazzbo]

There are two families in my neighborhood where both husband and wife have had the virus. Both couples were very sick and didn't become hospitalized but were sick at home for over three weeks and this was March. The couple I interact with the most has said that they still don't feel 100 percent with lingering weakness. The husband said "several times I thought I was going to die." Both couples are in their fifties.

One of my wife's nephews, in his thirties, also came down with it in March, in NYC. He was sick a few weeks and as he was a waiter and the city was closed had nothing to do but recoup. His comment is "this virus is no joke."

[AllenLowe]

Connecticut is doing shockingly well, though I still see things that bother me - young kids in groups without masks, adults dining with not nearly enough physical distance.

As a friend (a doctor and brilliant drummer, btw) told me early on, the ruling factor in the severity of the illness seems to be not just getting the virus, but the amount of virus load contracted; meaning, if you are at one of these idiot parties with people back-to-back and face-to-face, your chances of not just contracting it but getting a serious, heavy dose are much increased. I have some immunity compromise (because of my chemo last year) but as the months go by that becomes less and less of a factor, fortunately.

Also, I was tested about 10 days ago (before I could see my throat cancer doctor) and it came out negative.

Edited 18 Jul 2020 by AllenLowe

[Dan Gould]

13 minutes ago, AllenLowe said:

As a friend (a doctor and brilliant drummer, btw) told me early on, the ruling factor in the severity of the illness seems to be not just getting the virus, but the amount of virus load contracted; meaning, if you are at one of these idiot parties with people back-to-back and face-to-face, your chances of not just contracting it but getting a serious, heavy dose are much increased.

This is why the current plan to go to Naples on Tuesday to get food for Mom and take care of a couple other things doesn't have me super worried as I am going to wear a mask and gloves and stay safely distant from Mom. (I may be a little less blase about it if she starts showing symptoms between now and Tuesday. But that is really just human nature, don't get too close to a sick person - but as previously discussed there are indications that infectiousness peaks before symptom onset, or right at the beginning thereof.)

Edited 18 Jul 2020 by Dan Gould

[Brad]

Good luck Dan. Hope everything goes well. 

[Dan Gould]

3 hours ago, Brad said:

Good luck Dan. Hope everything goes well. 

Thank you, I am sure I will post if things go sideways for her or for me.

[Brad]

37 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

Thank you, I am sure I will post if things go sideways for her or for me.

Hoping for the best. 

[danasgoodstuff]

All my best to you and yours Dan.

[Dan Gould]

Happy to report that I headed to Mom's this morning and took care of her food needs and bills. She has had no symptoms and its at least six days since last contact with the aide, who also called while I was there to tell Mom that she and her husband feel just fine today. So a few more days for possible symptoms (isn't it first five days but up to 10?) but it looks like no biggie right now.

[Matthew]

Good news, thankfully

[HutchFan]

Great news, Dan.   

[GA Russell]

That's great, Dan!

[jazzbo]

OMG that's great Dan.

[ejp626]

Glad to hear it.