Do you wear a mask in stores?

[gwraigty]

Yes - I feel so strongly about this, because the virus spreads so easily in a nursing home type environment, but it won't be contained there, because workers will spread it back into the community.

Other than recommending testing for nursing home residents and staff, I haven't heard much about this. But if states are interested in keeping those death counts lower, they might want to work on protecting the elder care homes. A severe lack of PPE is a problem for many if not most. This needs to be a priority.

They know already. In Ohio, it's constantly talked about. People were upset because DeWine prioritized testing in state prisons over the nursing homes. He wouldn't give any adequate reasons for his choice. If you ask me, it's all about liability. Maybe the state would be more liable for not doing more to protect prisoners and staff in the state prisons, whereas there's less liability for the state with the nursing homes. I don't know. Just guessing. The answer is always the same. Not enough testing. Still.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We always wear masks in stores. We have days our cars never move. We take a walk every day. Can’t imagine wanting to go into a store daily.

 

[Chuckanut]

My city is split into two zip codes. One has over three times the number of CV cases than the other. Yes, it's the one that has the most nursing homes and convalescence center s by far.

 

[MichaelB]

They know already. In Ohio, it's constantly talked about. People were upset because DeWine prioritized testing in state prisons over the nursing homes. He wouldn't give any adequate reasons for his choice. If you ask me, it's all about liability. Maybe the state would be more liable for not doing more to protect prisoners and staff in the state prisons, whereas there's less liability for the state with the nursing homes. I don't know. Just guessing. The answer is always the same. Not enough testing. Still.

Do you have a source for the claim that testing in state prison was prioritized over nursing homes?

 

[Dtail]

Walked around an outdoor mall today. Didn't go in the stores.
Maybe 10% had masks on.

 

[gwraigty]

Do you have a source for the claim that testing in state prison was prioritized over nursing homes?

It's been mentioned in several of Ohio's press conferences that have been held daily until very recently when DeWine started skipping a day now and then. It's also been mentioned in daily local news reports on TV. I'm not going to realistically be able to hunt down all those discussions across dozens of videos , but here are some quick, if imperfect, alternate sources:

Prioritize coronavirus testing for Ohio nursing homes

And because of mounting evidence that asymptomatic spread is a key way COVID-19 wreaks its rampages, Ohio’s strategy of only surging COVID-19 testing and other resources until after there are signs of trouble in a nursing home is exactly the wrong strategy.

But Ohio cannot wait for these long-promised federal resources. It must act. It must prioritize nursing home testing over prison testing, where the state has acted with admirable swiftness to test all inmates in some prisons, and where it has a superintendency responsibility for the lives of those prisoners.

Yet the dangers of death are clearly far more acute from coronavirus in long-term-care facilities.

Probably due to reported pressure from inmate's families and the ACLU to mass release prisoners, DeWine authorized widespread testing in the prison population with these results:

Nearly 80% of inmates have COVID-19 at two Ohio prisons

Nearly 80% of the inmates in two Ohio prisons — some 3,500 people — have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the virus that causes the disease was detected in the prison system March 29.

Underscoring the difficulty of controlling the spread, Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton said this week that mass testing at the two hotspots have shown an unexpectedly large number of asymptomatic carriers, spreading the virus without knowing they’re infected.

Access to COVID-19 testing in Ohio nursing homes ‘still spotty’

Nursing home and assisted living operators are working on strategies to make headway on COVID-19 testing, which for now remains spotty and availability can hinge on connections a nursing home has.

“It depends a lot on local initiatives, as there is not yet a clear state plan to ensure universal testing occurs in congregate settings with positive cases or, ideally, in all congregate settings (as already occurred in some prisons),” Pete Van Runkle, executive director of Ohio Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes, said in an email.

Nursing home deaths nearly 70% of Ohio's overall total

Nursing home residents continue to make up the vast majority of coronavirus-related deaths in Ohio, according to new Department of Health statistics.

At least 1,246 residents of Ohio’s long-term care facilities have died as of Wednesday from the virus, or nearly 70% of the total COVID-19 deaths statewide, the data show.

As nursing home fatalities continue to rise, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has promised a plan to ramp up testing in long-term care facilities, including the deployment of 14 teams of Ohio National Guard members to assist with the testing.

My first hand anecdote is the robocalls that have come to our home from the long term care facility where DS works. They've specifically reported on the number of infected and they say that no one else is being tested. DS has never been tested.

 

[mpeirce]

Walked around an outdoor mall today. Didn't go in the stores.
Maybe 10% had masks on.

Outside? I don’t see the point of wearing one outside - unless there’s some kind of crowd and then you should probably avoid it all together.

I do wear a mask inside stores.

 

[stepford]

We have days our cars never move.

We have 3 cars. None have moved in over 2 months. I hook them up to a battery charger periodically so I know they'll start, but I should probably start driving them around the block occasionally just so we don't flat-spot the tires. I'm sure our auto insurance carrier loves us right now.

 

[braumeister]

We have 3 cars. None have moved in over 2 months. I hook them up to a battery charger periodically so I know they'll start, but I should probably start driving them around the block occasionally just so we don't flat-spot the tires. I'm sure our auto insurance carrier loves us right now.

Good idea, but I would add a recommendation to also take them out on the highway for a good run at higher speed. Your engines will thank you.

 

[MichaelB]

It's been mentioned in several of Ohio's press conferences that have been held daily until very recently when DeWine started skipping a day now and then. It's also been mentioned in daily local news reports on TV. I'm not going to realistically be able to hunt down all those discussions across dozens of videos , but here are some quick, if imperfect, alternate sources

Thanks. It looks like there is a severe shortage of tests. Prisons are a responsibility of the state, while nursing homes are privately owned. Far more nursing home residents than prisoners. Looks to me like a situation with no good options.

I would not say the Governor has prioritized prisons over nursing homes, because it’s not clear what his choices or legal obligations are.

 

[Chuckanut]

We have 3 cars. None have moved in over 2 months. I hook them up to a battery charger periodically so I know they'll start, but I should probably start driving them around the block occasionally just so we don't flat-spot the tires. I'm sure our auto insurance carrier loves us right now.

Another good reason to drive them is to keep out the nesting mice. They love to eat certain chewy parts of cars such as wiring. And they poop.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Step ford, you haven’t even went grocery shopping?

 

[gayl]

I wear a mask whenever I go into a store or other business. I want to see at least 90% of the customers masked and 100% of the workers masked, otherwise, they can keep their goods and I will keep my money.

Outside, walking about on lightly populated streets and paths, I don't wear a mask. I can easily keep 20+ feet away from 95%, 99%. The chances of inhaling enough virus to get infected from somebody walking quickly and closely by is very, very small. If things are looking crowded or getting crowded, I go home. I don't walk in crowded areas. Period.

+1

 

[RAE]

Masks are still supposed to be required in my part of Michigan, but I have noticed that the compliance has gone way down lately. I still wear a mask when I go to the grocery store or other stores, but it seems that over 50% of the shoppers no longer wear them. Some store employees are not wearing masks either. And I see no enforcement happening. I live in a rural area, with very few reported cases, and it seems that most people have decided it's okay to just resume life as normal, despite the governor's order.

When I went to our local hospital the other day (for an unrelated blood test), I was met at the door with someone who made sure I had a mask on (I did), and she also took my temperature with a forehead temp. scan device. Since my temp. was normal, I was allowed to enter, with a band around my wrist showing that I had been approved for entry. No big deal.

 

[RobbieB]

I got myself a couple of thin stretchy ones that are so easy and breeth so nice. Don't take up any room in my pocket either, no stiff wires.

 

[harllee]

I got myself a couple of thin stretchy ones that are so easy and breeth so nice. Don't take up any room in my pocket either, no stiff wires.

Robbie, where did you get these? I need to get some masks for my 88 year old mother that are breathable. Thanks

 

[RobbieB]

American Science & Surplus, an old fav.

 

[TrvlBug]

Robbie, where did you get these? I need to get some masks for my 88 year old mother that are breathable. Thanks

I found some of these at the local ACE hardware store. They had them behind the counter. Package of 10 blue 'surgical' masks or the like. They also had homemade masks. IIRC, a package of 10 or 2 of the homemade masks per customer/visit.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I follow our county health orders - masks inside stores (customers and employees) but not required outside. We don't wear them on walks. Most people in our neighborhood are pretty good about social distancing when taking walks. Of course there's some "what pandemic?" types that have large gatherings outside their houses with no masks and no social distancing but they are the in the minority and easy enough to avoid.


I made my own washable masks from old clothes.

 

[stepford]

Stepford, you haven’t even went grocery shopping?

Nope. Since mid-March I've shopped entirely by delivery and have not been inside any building other than my house. I will continue this practice until I see a dramatic decrease in the infection rate in my area.

 

[Chuckanut]

Listening to the latest episode of The People's Pharmacy, they reported on a Korean study of the protection provided by masks (actually mask materials). They used two sets of hamsters, one infected with CV and the others uninfected. When they placed the cage of uninfected hamsters next to the infected hamsters the infection rate was 67%.

Then they [-]made little masks for the uninfected hamsters[/-] covered the uninfected hamster cage with mask cloth and placed the cages close together again. This time the infection rate was 33%. Finally, they covered the cage of the infected hamsters instead, and the infection rate went down to 17%. And the newly infected hamsters had a lower viral load.

https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/podcasts

Show 1213.

This podcast also contains an interview with a cardiologist concerning CV19 and its effect on heart health.

 

[REWahoo]

Listening to the latest episode of The People's Pharmacy, they reported on a Korean study of the protection provided by masks (actually mask materials). They used two sets of hamsters, one infected with CV and the others uninfected. When they placed the cage of uninfected hamsters next to the infected hamsters the infection rate was 67%.

Then they [-]made little masks for the uninfected hamsters[/-] covered the uninfected hamster cage with mask cloth and placed the cages close together again. This time the infection rate was 33%. Finally, they covered the cage of the infected hamsters instead, and the infection rate went down to 17%. And the newly infected hamsters had a lower viral load.

Wonder why they didn't test with both cages covered.

 

[mountainsoft]

I have noticed that the compliance has gone way down lately. I still wear a mask when I go to the grocery store or other stores, but it seems that over 50% of the shoppers no longer wear them. Some store employees are not wearing masks either.

I stopped by the grocery store yesterday (wearing a mask) and was surprised how many people were not wearing masks. Easily 60-70% were without masks. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, as opposed to my usual shopping during the week, so it was a lot busier than normal too. My store has a sign out front stating a limit of 199 people, but I've never seen anyone counting or limiting how many people come in.

All of the employees were still wearing masks, except for one cashier who was wearing a face shield instead.

I'll admit, I did feel a little out of place wearing a mask when so few others were not.

 

[harllee]

Listening to the latest episode of The People's Pharmacy, they reported on a Korean study of the protection provided by masks (actually mask materials). They used two sets of hamsters, one infected with CV and the others uninfected. When they placed the cage of uninfected hamsters next to the infected hamsters the infection rate was 67%.

Then they [-]made little masks for the uninfected hamsters[/-] covered the uninfected hamster cage with mask cloth and placed the cages close together again. This time the infection rate was 33%. Finally, they covered the cage of the infected hamsters instead, and the infection rate went down to 17%. And the newly infected hamsters had a lower viral load.

https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/podcasts

Show 1213.

This podcast also contains an interview with a cardiologist concerning CV19 and its effect on heart health.

Chuckanut, thank you for this. I love Peoples Pharmacy. Did they say what type of mask material they used?

 

[audreyh1]

Wonder why they didn't test with both cages covered.

Yeah, really!

That must have been the test someone else had quoted a while back. I didn’t know it was hamsters!