Spreads so easily......

[davebarnes]

Peanut butter does.
Most brands, anyway.

 

[Koolau]

I would refine your measure to be daily deaths per 100,000 averaged over the last 7 days. Why? Because you want to compare two places at the same point in time (right now) and cumulative deaths per 100,000 over a 10 month period won't do that, since different places have followed different trajectories.

I agree. Having said that, we have had some serious problems with (properly? accurately? timely? etc.?) reporting of deaths. There was a recent sudden increase of (IIRC) 20 deaths. IIRC it had to do with redesignation or some such. It was never clear (to me, heh, heh) what had happened. That number is quite a lot when our current total is in the 250 range since Jan. We typically see 0 to maybe 3 deaths per day. I have no idea how timely other state's data are so YMMV.

 

[Alan]

We use Amazon pick up lockers all the time and for those of us with smartphones you just present the barcode of the email to the scanner and the relevant locker door pops open.

 

[Ronstar]

^Speaking of Amazon. Friend just started working in an Amazon warehouse. Came down with Covid. Probably got it at work.

BIL, SIL, and a friend are recovering. DW's cousin got Covid and visited his 95 yo father who is diabetic with heart issues. The father doesn't seem like he caught it.

 

[Alan]

Our son started a new job last week (1st December). He and a few others were scheduled to go into the offices at specific times to meet with HR and do the paperwork that they had been sent. The morning of the appointment they were each called to say for Covid security reasons they would instead be sent company laptops on Monday the 7th and complete the paperwork online. The laptops didn’t arrive because of “exceptional circumstances “ and today (8th) he was told that someone had tested Covid positive in the offices so the laptops were being sent back for deep cleaning and they probably wouldn’t start work before January but will be paid from December 1st. He emailed in his paperwork today, and got confirmation that it had been received and he should expect December’s paycheck to be deposited a week before Christmas, on the 18th.

He said that this is going to be the easiest month’s “work” he will ever have been paid for.

 

[Aerides]

My 16 yo nephew had some minor symptoms the day before thanksgiving. My sister got him tested on black friday with a PCR test, then hunted around to find a rapid. She called me from the car that evening (with him in it, windows open, but still) to let me know he was positive. (and the PCR came back same a few days later)

She, niece, her husband have all since tested negative and never had any symptoms. Nephew was fine after the first 48 hours.

I'm really surprised she didn't catch it from him. She's gonna go for an antibody test next as perhaps that means she had an asymptomatic case earlier.

 

[MichaelB]

Our son started a new job last week (1st December). He and a few others were scheduled to go into the offices at specific times to meet with HR and do the paperwork that they had been sent. The morning of the appointment they were each called to say for Covid security reasons they would instead be sent company laptops on Monday the 7th and complete the paperwork online. The laptops didn’t arrive because of “exceptional circumstances “ and today (8th) he was told that someone had tested Covid positive in the offices so the laptops were being sent back for deep cleaning and they probably wouldn’t start work before January but will be paid from December 1st. He emailed in his paperwork today, and got confirmation that it had been received and he should expect December’s paycheck to be deposited a week before Christmas, on the 18th.

He said that this is going to be the easiest month’s “work” he will ever have been paid for.

What a way to start a new job!

 

[Rianne]

Recent Spread Study

This study was published on Dec. 4. Interesting about A/C airflow in a restaurant.

https://zeynep.substack.com/p/small-data-big-implications

 

[sengsational]

Deep cleaning a laptop? I think 30 seconds with a hair drier would do it. Or leave it sit a couple of days. My library assures me that the books are virus-free, and not to try to clean them. I wondered how they do it (low oven?) or just time.

 

[Aerides]

Deep cleaning a laptop?

I think a lot of the new surface cleaning protocols, which were invented in the early days when "omg it lives for days on paper" was the news, have not left and will not, for some time.

Surface cleaning, or lack thereof, doesn't really make us measurably safer, but once the procedures become expected and part of new rules, it's much harder to undo them.

 

[JoeWras]

I think a lot of the new surface cleaning protocols, which were invented in the early days when "omg it lives for days on paper" was the news, have not left and will not, for some time.

Surface cleaning, or lack thereof, doesn't really make us measurably safer, but once the procedures become expected and part of new rules, it's much harder to undo them.

Right. To me the problem is many businesses are patting themselves on the back about their "deep cleaning" while ignoring or downplaying the airborne issue. See restaurant study a few posts above. They even tout their deep cleaning on advertisements.

 

[audreyh1]

Right. To me the problem is many businesses are patting themselves on the back about their "deep cleaning" while ignoring or downplaying the airborne issue. See restaurant study a few posts above. They even tout their deep cleaning on advertisements.

Exactly! Happened with school openings to.

 

[retire-early]

Deep cleaning a laptop? I think 30 seconds with a hair drier would do it. Or leave it sit a couple of days. My library assures me that the books are virus-free, and not to try to clean them. I wondered how they do it (low oven?) or just time.

I would be inclined to wipe the keyboard with rubbing alcohol.

I do wonder though about the virus being sucked into the laptop's fan and remaining on the fan's surface.
On some laptops I refurbish, the fans are gunked up and I use q-tips dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove the "gunk".

 

[Montecfo]

This study was published on Dec. 4. Interesting about A/C airflow in a restaurant.

https://zeynep.substack.com/p/small-data-big-implications

That's an amazing study containing some.very powerful insights. It certainly validates my instinctive practice of facing away from people when they inexplicably violate distancing.

To me it is not so much that it spreads so easily as that it spreads so specifically.

Thanks for posting that Rianne!

 

[audreyh1]

Yeah, the lap top deep clean seems ridiculous. Someon got sold a fancy package.

 

[Rianne]

That's an amazing study containing some.very powerful insights. It certainly validates my instinctive practice of facing away from people when they inexplicably violate distancing.

To me it is not so much that it spreads so easily as that it spreads so specifically.

Thanks for posting that Rianne!

Right! It shows people sitting right next to infected person not getting infected, so they must not have talked to each other face to face. Yet, the virus traveled long distances on the wave of the airflow to infect those far away.

 

[cathy63]

The only thing I didn't like was that I had to sign on the touch screen and I had to use my finger on a public screen! But I found wipes nearby and wiped my hands.

You may not want to waste a glove on this, but touch screens work with disposable gloves.

Also, I used a touch screen that my fingernail worked for signing my name.

A stylus also works. They're easy to keep on a keychain, and even in non-Covid times I just find them easier to write with. Something like this works well: https://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Stylus-Keychain-Screens-Silver/dp/B08G8N3DRP

 

[Montecfo]

Right! It shows people sitting right next to infected person not getting infected, so they must not have talked to each other face to face. Yet, the virus traveled long distances on the wave of the airflow to infect those far away.

Nearby people avoiding infection could have many causes. Some people spread the virus more than others. Some seem less susceptible to spread. Some are immune.

And to stay healthy you have to assume everyone has it. And perhaps have a background in HVAC.

 

[audreyh1]

This study was published on Dec. 4. Interesting about A/C airflow in a restaurant.

https://zeynep.substack.com/p/small-data-big-implications

Very interesting compilation.

Yesterday I read about a Colorado country doctor who caught it while traveling. He had everything set up - first seat on airplane, first to get on or off, etc. but once he stepped into the terminal train at the Denver airport which was jammed with people he realized he’d gotten stuck in a super spreader situation.

He isn't sure where he picked it up but thinks it might have been on a trip east in October. He said he was meticulous on the plane, sitting in the front, last on, first off. But on landing at Denver International Airport, Papenfus boarded the crowded train to the terminal, and soon alarm bells went off in his head.

"There are people literally like inches from me, and we're all crammed like sardines in this train," Papenfus said. "And I'm going, 'Oh my God, I am in a superspreader event right now.' "

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/01/9406...ural-colorado-doctor-catching-the-coronavirus

 

[Rianne]

Very interesting compilation.

Yesterday I read about a Colorado country doctor who caught it while traveling. He had everything set up - first seat on airplane, first to get on or off, etc. but once he stepped into the terminal train at the Denver airport which was jammed with people he realized he’d gotten stuck in a super spreader situation.

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/01/9406...ural-colorado-doctor-catching-the-coronavirus

This is what I fear for everyone of my traveling family members. We have one positive so far, it's still too soon to know the rest.

 

[Alan]

Given that the new employees at my son's new workplace have been told they won't be working until January (from home) I suspect that the "deep clean" of the laptops means letting them lie "fallow" for a few weeks.

 

[harllee]

The above cited Article about spread in restaurants and where there is singing (both indoor situations where masks are not worn) is most informative. I had always wondered about the "6 feet" rule. Obviously 6 feet inside with no masks is not nearly enough--then you need more like 20 feet plus.

This is why I don't eat in restaurants and I try not to go into stores. I don't know when if ever we will be able to have singing again.

 

[Chuckanut]

I think a lot of the new surface cleaning protocols, which were invented in the early days when "omg it lives for days on paper" was the news, have not left and will not, for some time.

Surface cleaning, or lack thereof, doesn't really make us measurably safer, but once the procedures become expected and part of new rules, it's much harder to undo them.

+1

One of my kids has worked in a Covid ward. She assures me that simply touching something another person with covid touched a few minutes before is unlikely to spread enough virus to infect people. OTOH, if the person just sneezed on a doorknob, and you immediately grab the knob, then stick your finger in your nose, you will likely have a problem. Because she's in a CV ward, they sanitize everything they touch since people are coughing and sneezed all over the place. They also dress like spacemen. But, for normal people, it's the air. And wash your hands frequently just in case.

The trick is not to share air, or at least much air, with other people. Thankfully we have had an unusually warmer December so I actually managed to social distance outside with a friend the other day while we shared a fine brew. There was not another person within 25 feet of us and a gentle, cool breeze provided plenty of fresh air circulation.

 

[Sojourner]

Very interesting compilation.

Yesterday I read about a Colorado country doctor who caught it while traveling.

He said he was meticulous on the plane, sitting in the front, last on, first off. But on landing at Denver International Airport, Papenfus boarded the crowded train to the terminal, and soon alarm bells went off in his head.

One wonders why this doctor would go to such great lengths to be so meticulous in every aspect of his travels except riding inside a cramped, crowded train to the terminal. If it were me, I would've waited for the next train or found some other way to get where I needed to be. No way would I have willingly gotten on board that particular train.

 

[Gumby]

I cannot recall how it is in Denver, but at many airports, once you go through security in the central hub, there is an underground tram/train that takes you to and from the individual terminals/concourses. And that is the only way that you are allowed to get there. Pittsburgh is one that I specifically recall being that way.