Not So Fast-Here We Go Again

[RAE]

I'm glad I live in a rural area in times like this. Only 2 COVID-19 cases documented in our county so far, although testing has been limited, so there are probably a few more not yet discovered. Virtually all of my activities at this time of year are done either outside, or in our home, with family only present. I have no plans to go inside a restaurant, a church, or any indoor place where large numbers of people gather. I do go to the grocery store weekly (and maybe a few other stores occasionally if there are not many people inside), but that's the extent of my time spent indoors. I do wear a mask when I go into stores.

I think it's important to remember that most people who are in good health and contract this virus, are able to get through it without having any lasting impacts. Of course it makes sense for everyone to take reasonable precautions, but I see no reason to quarantine myself inside my house for the summer - that would be pretty intolerable. I might feel otherwise if I did have one or more serious underlying health conditions.

 

[11522914]

Can't imagine any wide scale shutdowns irrespective of COVID levels.

I was talking about NC possibly starting stay at home orders again.

https://thencbeat.com/north-carolin...ome-orders-according-to-n-c-health-secretary/

 

[Chuckanut]

I’ve been thinking that states that got hit hard early like LA - folks there will naturally be more cautious because they got to see how bad it could be.

It seems to be the states that weren’t hit so hard early on that have folks less willing to socially distance and the resulting spikes/ramping up of still the first wave.

We had daily news reports of deceased people being taken out of a long term care center. Those were followed up by reports of health care workers and EMTs who had to be quarantined, including up to 25% of our fire department at one point in time, and 10% of our police force. Then schools closed for 6 weeks, followed by schools closed for the rest of the school year. Then kid laid off and the other almost having to pay 60% of her take home for daycare. Did I forget to mention have rarely see my children and grands for the last three months?

You can bet that had an effect on me.

 

[IMATERP]

I was talking about NC possibly starting stay at home orders again.

https://thencbeat.com/north-carolin...ome-orders-according-to-n-c-health-secretary/

Sadly, the Governor of NC is still considering moving forward to phase 3 in the near future.

[Mod Edit]

 

[Teacher Terry]

We reopened 5/10 and everyone I know have been going to restaurants. They can only be at half capacity. We prefer outside dining but have eaten in.

 

[harllee]

Sadly, the Governor of NC is still considering moving forward to phase 3 in the near future.

[Mod Edit]

I am in NC and I hope our Governor does not move to phase 3--I am sure he does not think phase 3 is safe but he is getting a lot of pressure.

 

[brett]

I for one do not understand why people seem to think the covid situation is over.

It is far from over. No vaccine, no effective drug.....

The ONLY people who claim that the covid situation is receeding is our politicians. Most of them are know nothings when it comes to public health.

The public health professionals in our area claim covid is very much a danger. They are holding their collective breaths watching people go about their lives as before while seeing the covid numbers increase.

It is a mess and IMHO it is going to get much worse before it gets better. Far too many entitled people who think that the precautions do not apply to them.

How many more deaths will it take for our politicians to get the message and follow the recommendations of our public health professionals?

 

[explanade]

There's probably a lot of economic pressures with businessmen telling politicians that their businesses are suffering.

I saw an article that the conventions business is going to start up again soon.

Probably not the greatest idea, to pack thousands of people into a convention hall. If they can't have fans go into a stadium to watch games, including outdoor stadiums, how can they allow people to go into smaller convention halls?

But it's a $100 billion a year business, so it means a lot for hotels, airlines and cities which have built convention centers.

 

[gerntz]

With an increasing lack of compliance with citizens wearing masks, maintaining distance and (presumably) heightened cleanliness practices, I’m much less interested in following Covid-19 as closely. So we watch out for ourselves and hope everyone else does OK. The only optimism may come from how uncommon the seriously vulnerable are, over 55 and with underlying health issues - most people under 55 are at low or very low risk. DW and I shouldn’t be high risk despite our age. We’ll see...

I like that POV.

 

[Midpack]

I was talking about NC possibly starting stay at home orders again.

https://thencbeat.com/north-carolin...ome-orders-according-to-n-c-health-secretary/

Sadly, the Governor of NC is still considering moving forward to phase 3 in the near future.

I am in NC and I hope our Governor does not move to phase 3--I am sure he does not think phase 3 is safe but he is getting a lot of pressure.

While I understand the concerns, the problem is not the reopening, it's the lack of following simple guidelines by far too many NC residents. It's way too many people not wearing masks, not distancing, not hand washing, not refraining from touching surfaces. And it only appears to be getting worse each day from what I see. My faith in my fellow residents isn't high right now. There are places DW and I go where we are the only ones wearing masks, and we're often in the minority.

I'd be really surprised if they actually re instituted SAH orders, but if health care resources are overwhelmed they may not have any other choice. Staying at home until there are therapies/vaccines or even for another few months isn't the best answer IMO.

We could get lucky and have the vulnerable voluntarily SAH, and most people under 55 in reasonable health won't have an ICU grade infection. It's really sad "we" can't observe a few simple precautions to reduce infections and reviving the economy - I guess we'll learn the hard way...

 

[explanade]

It's not just about not wearing masks.

There are actually strategies to evade masks at stores, by claiming they have some medical condition which prevents using masks.

Which condition? Cite HIPAA laws and just claim they have a condition but can't divulge what that is or prove it somehow.

You'd think stores would require doctor's notes or just welcome them to shop elsewhere.

 

[RobbieB]

Stores want people to buy lots of merchandise.

 

[Oilcan]

Stores want people to buy lots of merchandise.

It's a profit thing.

 

[robnplunder]

Video clips from Las Vegas casinos are terrible. People milling around, and about 70% not wearing mask. They will go back home to CA, and other States after their fun is over. There will be another New York. It is just a matter of time that another State will start digging a mass grave.

 

[ivinsfan]

Anyone have an opinion as to when international travel will open up? The spike in US cases might have an effect on that. Have a 2nd cousin 30 planning a family visiting long term visit to the US in July. He'd been planning this since last year. Of course it's cancelled and he was messaging me about looking for dates and things to rebook and I just told him to hold his horses and not spend any money for flights until he figures out what the travel policies will be .... this is UK/US,


He had booked some one way US positional flights between various family members and was worried he would just lose that money...I wonder if as a UK national he cannot enter the country if the domestic airlines would refund his prepaid cash. He doesn't have much money to spare.... He is disappointed but literally everything the US family members had planned on doing with him has been cancelled anyway.

 

[harllee]

While I understand the concerns, the problem is not the reopening, it's the lack of following simple guidelines by far too many NC residents. It's way too many people not wearing masks, not distancing, not hand washing, not refraining from touching surfaces. And it only appears to be getting worse each day from what I see. My faith in my fellow residents isn't high right now. There are places DW and I go where we are the only ones wearing masks, and we're often in the minority.

I'd be really surprised if they actually re instituted SAH orders, but if health care resources are overwhelmed they may not have any other choice. Staying at home until there are therapies/vaccines or even for another few months isn't the best answer IMO.

We could get lucky and have the vulnerable voluntarily SAH, and most people under 55 in reasonable health won't have an ICU grade infection. It's really sad "we" can't observe a few simple precautions to reduce infections and reviving the economy - I guess we'll learn the hard way...

Midpack --I am seeing the same things here in Chapel Hill NC and I "thought" people who lived in Chapel Hill were smart--wrong! Is it just North Carolina residents acting bad or is this happening everywhere? I have always thought that many NC residents ( I have lived here all my life) were hard headed but this is ridiculous.

 

[tulak]

I hope this ok. If not, my apologies and Mods feel free to delete.

A bit of humor from the onion:

Thanks to the efforts of municipal employees, I’m happy to say we’ve reached the final phases of completely deluding ourselves into thinking that this pandemic has somehow stopped spreading and that we’re safe.

https://local.theonion.com/city-enters-phase-4-of-pretending-coronavirus-over-1844037065

 

[Moemg]

IMO a lot of people equated the opening of the states with It is over .

 

[Chuckanut]

The ONLY people who claim that the covid situation is receeding is our politicians. Most of them are know nothings when it comes to public health.

The public health professionals in our area claim covid is very much a danger. They are holding their collective breaths watching people go about their lives as before while seeing the covid numbers increase.

I agree it's been bungled by our collective leadership. I could list what I think are their major mistakes, but that might bring out Porky. It's enough to say to all the politicians - A Corona Virus plague on both your houses. (My apologies to Mr. Shakespear. )

I have been out for teeth cleaning and now a haircut. In both cases I think they did as good job as they could given that close personal contact is required. The experience was definitely not the pre-CV norm. My local grocery store now has a high percentage of mask wearing staff and customers. Costco is exemplary in that area. Again, definitely not CV

I went to Home Depot to get a sealing washer for a leaky toilet, and while employees wear masks many customers don't. I am wondering if that is because many people in the building trades work in situations were masks are not practical and that just carries over to their shopping for tools and supplies?

 

[braumeister]

I went to Home Depot to get a sealing washer for a leaky toilet, and while employees wear masks many customers don't. I am wondering if that is because many people in the building trades work in situations were masks are not practical and that just carries over to their shopping for tools and supplies?

Good question. Home Depot and Kroger are 90% of my errands these days. I would say about 30-40% mask compliance at HD and 40-50% at Kroger. Costco is nearly 100% so that's impressive. But my county and state are still at the low end of the infection spectrum, with fewer than 300 cases and 12-13 deaths per 100,000.

 

[Calico]

While I understand the concerns, the problem is not the reopening, it's the lack of following simple guidelines by far too many NC residents. It's way too many people not wearing masks, not distancing, not hand washing, not refraining from touching surfaces. And it only appears to be getting worse each day from what I see. My faith in my fellow residents isn't high right now. There are places DW and I go where we are the only ones wearing masks, and we're often in the minority.

I'd be really surprised if they actually re instituted SAH orders, but if health care resources are overwhelmed they may not have any other choice. Staying at home until there are therapies/vaccines or even for another few months isn't the best answer IMO.

We could get lucky and have the vulnerable voluntarily SAH, and most people under 55 in reasonable health won't have an ICU grade infection. It's really sad "we" can't observe a few simple precautions to reduce infections and reviving the economy - I guess we'll learn the hard way...

I live in NC and I see exactly the same thing on my weekly trip to curbside grocery pickup. Because of all the noncompliance, combined with the rapidly rising numbers of hospitalizations, I am behaving exactly as I have from day one - I go nowhere but the grocery store (weekly) and I just started doing takeout from my favorite Italian restaurant. I can order and pay online, then pop in to pick up my order. All the restaurant staff are wearing masks; they put the takeout orders on a large table; they allow one person in the place at a time. Even though Chapel Hill allowed restaurants to open at 50% capacity for inside dining a couple of weeks ago, this restaurant has not yet done so. They are erring on the side of caution, so I feel comfortable going in there quickly to pick up my order.

I have family locally, and I just spoke with them. They are locked down tight as a drum as well. I am 64, and they are younger than me - only 50 and 52, with a 12-year-old, but they are not taking any chances. Both they and I are slowly stocking up on non-perishables and filling our freezers in anticipation of things becoming scarce again soon.

While I am disappointed in people's noncompliance, I can't say I'm surprised.

 

[MichaelB]

I think it’s pointless to attribute reasons for people’s behavior regarding masks or social distancing, and more often than not it leads to divisive posts. There is value in reporting the “state of compliance”.

Scott Gottlieb, MD and former FDA commissioner and now fellow at the AEI, wrote this over the weekend.

That means, for example, encouraging (and practicing) sensible behavior that can reduce the spread. Wearing face masks is the simplest and most effective, along with efforts to practice hygiene and distancing when possible.
./.
They are neither conspiracies against your dignity nor proof of your enlightenment. They are sensible ways of reducing infection and fear.

 

[badatmath]

Not in NC but very few wearing masks in my state. . . 10% perhaps. I don't go out much. But I do expect to be forced back to work sometime? we dont know

 

[harllee]

I live in NC and I see exactly the same thing on my weekly trip to curbside grocery pickup. Because of all the noncompliance, combined with the rapidly rising numbers of hospitalizations, I am behaving exactly as I have from day one - I go nowhere but the grocery store (weekly) and I just started doing takeout from my favorite Italian restaurant. I can order and pay online, then pop in to pick up my order. All the restaurant staff are wearing masks; they put the takeout orders on a large table; they allow one person in the place at a time. Even though Chapel Hill allowed restaurants to open at 50% capacity for inside dining a couple of weeks ago, this restaurant has not yet done so. They are erring on the side of caution, so I feel comfortable going in there quickly to pick up my order.

I have family locally, and I just spoke with them. They are locked down tight as a drum as well. I am 64, and they are younger than me - only 50 and 52, with a 12-year-old, but they are not taking any chances. Both they and I are slowly stocking up on non-perishables and filling our freezers in anticipation of things becoming scarce again soon.

While I am disappointed in people's noncompliance, I can't say I'm surprised. There is a lot of denial combined with selfishness out there, which will result in it taking much longer to tamp down the virus numbers than it otherwise would have taken.

Hey Calico what is that Italian Restaurant in Chapel Hill that you like? I might try a take out there myself.

 

[Golden sunsets]

I live in a small northeastern state that has opened by county depending on the degree of infections. My county will be the last to open fully as it is the most populous and has had the greatest infection rate. I find though that nearly everyone I see in my county is compliant with regard to distancing and face masks. Nearly everyone seems to take this seriously.

In the rest of the state(mostly rural), where the infections have been lower and where the phased openings are ahead of our county, there seems to be less tolerance for the phased in rules. Lots of ignoring of the rules,and resulting enforcement actions revoking liquor and food licenses followed by lawsuits against the governor.

Unfortunately I see a direct correlation between hostility against the restrictions and politics.

As a further observation, DH and I have determined that the drive to reopen fully is a force that few local and state administration's will be able to stop regardless of how intense the infection rate reversal is, and it will be up to us to protect ourselves by continuing our social distancing and self isolation until there is a proven safe vaccine.