Here where I live in MD there are now 34 cases in the DC/MD/VA capital region. A rector at Georgetown Episcopal got COVID19, and that put the entire church on lockdown, and just this morning all of Loudoun county schools are closed because one kid attended church there. At work most of the large scale meetings are cancelled and they are pushing telework. Scientific conferences are cancelling. I get at least 5 emails a day from a variety of places on what to do about the virus. Seems like for us here most of the cases are related to travelers, and people who had contact with those travelers.
5:25pm EST Looks like the Smithsonian is closing according to the news. We took our secretary out for lunch today on her 70th birthday. Later on in the day she says that she was exposed to someone who might have been exposed. Ugh. The thing that bugs me is you are contagious before symptoms, and after recovery up to 37days. Howard CO schools just shut down.
16Mar2020
Employer is forcing us to mandatory telework tomorrow. This has spawned a series of problems with VPN access to the work servers. There is an eerie feel at work. Some are wearing masks and gloves. Others are going about things as usual. Some make fun of it by maximizing distance. My wife works from home the rest of the week tomorrow. Son is at home from university for rest of semester. They are going to refund board. Still some issues with getting his stuff back from the locked down dorm. Wife bought a chest freezer last Tue, and had it filled by Wednesday, before any kind of shortage. Been sharing stuff with neighbors and asking elderly if they need anything when we go out. Amazon guy tossed the package from a good 10yds on delivery. So far so good, all clear here.
25Mar2020
Been teleworking from home since St. Patrickās Day. Wife is also now on full time telework. Sonās classes are just resuming online. Heard today that NYC has the rate of increase doubling every 2 days. Think of that as the second derivative.
Some plusses and minuses to this telework. Been spending much more time family. Been working harder and not goofing off as much, when you would think the opposite. Butt gets really sore and have to take periodic breaks. Wife and I do some kind of exercise.
Neighbors are outside a lot. Never used to see this many people outdoors. Parks are seeing heavy use.
My workplace now in maximum telework policy as 2 cases from a related site cropped up. That site now instructs people to wipe down anything they touch before and after. State of MD may force lab closure, not sure. I have started self study of Labview, so that is a bright spot. Also can work on a paper.
One area of my country is on more or less voluntary lockdown, near me (as in less than a mile away) are about 20āish cases. And no one has a realistic idea about how many silent carriers there are.
" ATLANTA ā Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday morning that a 67-year-old man who had tested positive for coronavirus last Saturday has died at a hospital in Marietta.
The man also had underlying health conditions, the state announced."
Marietta is on the opposite side of Atlanta from where we live. So far only 2 cases are reported in Gwinnett County where we reside, but no details yet. However what is being reported at this point is: āFor most people, this coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, but for a few, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia.ā
So it seems to be acting very much like the SARs did in 2003. This current virus appears to be affecting mostly the elderly and those with health issues or autoimmune problems the most. I remember being aware of where I was at all times, staying away from very crowded places, washing my hands, and using good disinfectant procedures. I did a major āspring cleaningā when that happened and have implemented similar processes now.
The good thing is my son works from home and has not visited places on his weekend gaming where anyone was sick. Iām retired so I do not go out except when necessary. But I still think these processes we used during SARS will help us through this new virus outbreak. I keep in mind that vigilance of oneās surroundings is vital to maintain your own distance from anyone who coughs or sounds ill.
So far Iāve not seen or heard anyone when at the grocery store to worry about. Of course due to the nature of this current virusā ability to be contagious without any signs of illness can be worrisome, therefore, I carry Clorox wipes in my car and do not touch my faceā¦which is a conscious effort because we all tend to scratch our noses when any itch happens and such. I was never more aware of how I tend to touch my own face ā¦so its a constant vigilance for me to control where my hands are at all time.
I live outside Seattle. Itās bad. We expect to close schools at any minute (weāre not in Seattle School District boundaries, which is already closed). The school district next to my work is already closed. My work has nearly-daily meetings about it (I work at a fairly large church). Weāre making plans for going fully online for messages, weāve talked about spreading seats apart, weāre training teachers how to teach online. 3 counties around us have already banned events with more than 250 people in it (our church routinely reaches this number every Sunday), and the Governor is giving another press conference in 90 minutes where I fully expect more restrictions and more regulations on social distancing.
Small businesses are already struggling. Restaurants across the board are seeing MASSIVE reductions in numbers. Our Costco sells out of TP, bleach, paper towels, and most cleaners/disinfectors within hours of opening, EVERY DAY. I have to wear gloves at my second job (at a gas station) to prevent MYSELF from getting sick (itās doing very little to prevent the spread due to not changing gloves between each transaction.
In other words, imagine the level of panic in your area, then triple it. We are THE epi-center of the US, it all started here, and itās absolutely terrifying (and I donāt watch the news because itās just making it worse). I found out yesterday that I may have been exposed already. My friends husband works with someone whoās tested positive. I have this ever-present sense of worry, that my kids are going to be sent home, that my church is going to be hurt (both emotionally and financially), that I have already put people I care about in real danger (I have many friends over 60), that my little slice of heaven just a stones throw from Seattle is being thrust into a situation we simply arenāt equipped to handle, and itās already too late to fix it.
Southern Nevada, one valley away from Vegas. We have 2 cases in Vegas. I havenāt heard that we have any in my town. But one of my authors in SoCal has it. Itās gone into pneumonia, so Iām staying in close contact with her.
The 3 largest employers in my area started telling their Corporate employees to begin working from home today. (Does not apply to retail employees or drivers that I am aware, though I suppose it may to some degree).
Of course, this means that as of 5pm there was a run on the grocery stores. And sure enough, no TP to be found on store shelves.
FWIW, Lyn, the person that died had been traveling out of country. They mentioned that when he was hospitalized.
No cases around here. None within 3 counties any direction. I live in a rural part of the state. Mind you, with only 31 cases in the whole state, including āpresumptiveā with the 12 confirmed, that isnāt surprising, I suppose.
Iām also retired. And reclusive to begin with. So the advice they are giving about stocking up and staying homeā¦ Thatās how I live all the time. I guess I was already prepared. When the kidsā asked how I was for food, I did a quick assessment - I could easily eat for 6 months without leaving the house. Though I will pop out for some fresh veggies sometime next week anyway.
The kids, on the other hand, live in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The boyās wife has been told to work from home through March and then reassess for April. The boy already works from home about half the time anyway.
The girl is a flight attendant. She isnāt really worried about catching it, but she will be seeing less work. The international flight attendants are mostly āseniorā - with higher priority for work choices. As their flights have been cut, they are picking up more of the domestic flights that more ājuniorā people normally work. Airlines are encouraging people to take their leave now. Her husband builds robots - hasnāt seen any change in work. Demand is the same. (He sees MORE work when factories slow/shut down. That is the time to do maintenance and replacements/upgrades.)
Thanks Homestead, did not realize you were also a GA resident. But you are right, with the information provided, it seems that a lot of folks are actually taking care to be careful. I know I am and I just found out my son, who usually travels to Marietta to game with his buddies every Saturday, is actually joining the game over the internetā¦as are the rest of the gaming group. So it appears they are all taking precautions.
I have been stocking up on dried beans, rice, canned goods (for soups, chili, and other casseroles) for several weeks now and will only venture out if we really need something like I did today. Seems other folks in the area are panic buying and the store looked like it was hit by a war. Most of the shelves were emptyā¦but what was really interesting, the fresh produce was fullā¦so I just took advantage of picking up what we normally would only get once in a while since prices were down.
I spoke with the store manager and they are trying to cope so are restricting amounts to provide enough to go around. It seems he realized their efforts were a bit late being implemented since there was a run on paper products like paper towels and TP. Also there was nary a drop of rubbing alcohol, sanitizer or bleach anywhere to be seen.
People need to not panic, but human nature being what it is, that might be too much to ask of an uninformed public. Dam Trumpā¦he has bungled this entire situation badly.
Anyway, we are set comfortably and both of us are carefulā¦so at this point we have a higher risk of allergies hitting us than the flu or this new virus. We both endure seasonal allergies which are just now showing up. UGHā¦
Sending good thoughts to everyone we know to be safe. Its very possible the Prime Minister and his wife will pull through this episode as they appear young and healthy. I saw the news where they announced their situation and they seem to be considerate by self-quarantining.
Here in the US, there are a lot of politicians and other public figures failing to be careful. Dam them all for their idiocy, because it will come back to bite and cause a lot of damage in the meantime.
GA is up to 42 cases now. K-12 in a lot of the state is on remote learning for 2 weeks. UGA has sent students and staff home also. There is a quarantine site in a state park about an hour from us that already has āguestsā. The company my wife works for started planning early and handed out laptops to all of corporate today and said stay home. And all the stores in the town I live in ran out of toilet paper today. The company I work for is just saying if you are sick donāt come in, otherwise business as usual.
Part of the problem is the amount of misinformation out there , governments are not coming clean in most cases as to how bad itās going to get.
The virus is coated in an oily greasy coating to protect itself and alcohol based hand sanitisers will work, soap is even better which has seen a run on these products in the shops here. Washing up liquid is probably the best degreaser and cheapest effective cleaner available and is perfect for wiping down surfaces . The virus dies very quickly if the oily coating is removed.
The most likely way of catching this virus is from someone sneezing who has it and the droplets landing on a hard surface touching that surface and then touching your face ( we touch our own faces on average 90 times a day) This is why hand washing is so important.
Itās going to get a lot worse over the next few months with health services having hard decisions to make with the sickest people. There are just not enough ICU beds available and age and survivability will be taken into account when deciding who has the best chances of not dying.
145369 confirmed cases 5429 Deaths and the good news 71688 recovered as of a few days ago
The current lockdowns and other precautions arenāt meant to make sure people donāt get the virus. Theyāre meant to make sure not everyone gets it at the same time as to overwhelm health services. Basically to change the āWhenā not so much as the āIfā, so there will be less need for medical triage.
I think the only āleaderā so far who has acknowledged that simple fact has been chancelor Merkel, when she said that most likely 70% of people would get the virus.
Here are a couple of links to maps Iām watching:
I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home during this āeventā and already had a āhurricane supplyā chest full of canned goods but I know many of you canāt work from home or live in an area that requires a āhurricane stash.ā
Please practice social distancing, good hygiene etc. One tip that I havenāt seen yet came from my doctor: change your clothes when you get home from work and wash up before hugging your kidsā¦but do hug your kids.
It isnāt going to just disappear. Eventually almost everyone will get it. (The 70% is 'within 12 months, Iām pretty sure.) Eventually a natural immunity from exposure will lessen symptoms from future exposures to mutated strains and it will - one day - fade into the same coverage and concern as the swine flu, bird flu, etc. It will still be around, just not headline-worthy.
āFlattening the curveā - slowing how many have it at the same time, is the current goal.
Slowing the spread to those most vulnerable is of prime importance - the elderly and people with compromised immune system or respiratory problems. It gives time for treatment resources (like ICUās) to become available AND provides time for development of a vaccine that will lesson the effects and increase their survivability.
No person under 30 without a preexisting condition has died from it. Deaths for under 50 are relatively low. The measures arenāt really as much to save THEIR lives - it is to slow exposure to those who ARE more vulnerable - so that resources arenāt overwhelmed and unavailable when they need it.
It gives ALL the info without picking and choosing what will be the best headline.
I mean, for example, the U.S. headline āConfirmed cases rising exponentially.ā Well, yeaā¦ āconfirmedā cases are going to rise a LOT when you start testing widely. Makes for a great headline, but isnāt really the point.
Because this is such an important topic for so many people, we now have it pinned. Remember pins are in your control. Just click it off if you no longer wish to see that it is pinned.
Everyone please stay safe and take whatever precautions are appropriate for you and your families. I count ourselves fortunate we all have a passion for gaming for when we simply need a distraction for a little bit.
This is a great community. Thank you, all.
PS: Is this toilet paper hoarding just an American thing? Or is it world-wide?
Hashberry, I think its uniquely American. Which in my opinion is irrational, but Iāve met so many folks recently who say things that make absolutely no sense and definitely do not match science.
However, with that said, here is an interesting article regarding hoarding. āHoardhouseā
Nah. Happens here, too. The explanation is relatively simple. When it comes to panic responses, peopleās brains short circuit, and think to yourself what the first thing is that comes into your mind when thinking of something you never want to run out of.
Exactly
And when people then see that there is only a little left, they want the rest, and it rolls downhill from there.
Edit: Iāve been joking that thereās a golden opportunity here for a bidet manufacturer.
