What was your COVID news for the day?

[audreyh1]

Forcing people to relocate who have been in place for over two weeks and plan to stay much longer seems counterproductive.

I certainly understand not wanting anybody new to arrive.

 

[harllee]

So this is an example of virus hysteria going too far. Hand rails are there for a reason, to put your hand on to prevent falling down the stairs should you slip or trip.

I've worked in extremely safety conscious work places where your coworkers are trained to coach you if they see you not using handrails on stairs. And you know what, OSHA safety statistics over decades show the effectiveness of this attitude at those sites.

Yea, lets throw that all away because we are afraid of a surface that is in ultraviolet radiation all day. This ain't subway poles in Manhattan.

DH and I have bad knees so we have to use hand rails but we are either using gloves when we do so or carrying a paper towel to use on the handrail and then we throw it away. We are no longer touching hand rails.

 

[Time2]

I live in a Florida county that got it's first Covid 19 case about 10 days ago, it was a man that came in from Texas. Then last night it was reported we have two 74 yr olds with Covid 19. There are supposed to be more details today, I suspect they are husband and wife, awaiting to see if they traveled or who they had contact with.

 

[Alan]

Palm Springs, CA and Rancho Mirage have put in place a temporary ban on vacation rentals. We've been here since mid January, but it sounds like we need to pack up and leave.

We will contact the condo owners in the morning.

https://kesq.com/news/2020/03/24/rancho-mirage-palm-springs-issue-temporary-ban-on-vacation-rentals/

That is really tough and not in line with the collective reasoning of “we are in this together as a nation”.

We have friends in Scotland who are facing just the opposite situation. They have been vacationing on a Scottish island but as part of Scotland’s lockdown law which came into effect on Monday they have been told they must remain until travel restrictions are lifted. We were so lucky to have left Scotland on Sunday to drive back home. We had initially planned to stay another week (we had been there 3 weeks) helping SIL recover from open heart surgery, but decided a few days earlier that we needed to get back and made sure that she was able to do everything she needed do for herself in the house and that she has enough food to last her for a few weeks.

 

[Alan]

We walked to the shops today to stock up on fresh items like fruit and veg plus meat and pies from our local butchers. Everyone was very well behaved and the shops were well stocked. The number of folks inside the stores were limited by an employee at the entrance. We chose a store that had no line and got everything we needed. It was quite weird that the store was almost silent away from the checkout tills, not only were folks keeping their distance but no one was talking or were talking to their spouse or partner in whispers, as if normal speaking would spread the virus more easily. (Maybe it does)

We met 2 different friends on our way back, each on the opposite side of the road so it was strange talking loudly to one another. At least there were very few cars driving by. One of our friends said she’d spent 1.5 hours yesterday lining up to get her monthly prescription filled. A couple of weeks back I had advised an elderly friend and his wife to arrange to get their many prescriptions sent by mail so when I called him later to check how they were he said he left it too late. By the time he asked his pharmacy to go onto delivery service they were already over subscribed. We have been on prescription delivery for a couple of years now, I hate lining up to get prescriptions even in normal times.

 

[Alan]

Over 70’s and other vulnerable people are supposed to not leave their house but a friend this morning confessed that they had been breaking curfew as they would go crazy stuck inside all day. They have been getting up at 6am each day, driving a short distance to one of the many places around here to go for a walk in the countryside and be back home by 8am where they would then have breakfast.

So far they have only seen 1 man walking a dog during their undercover trips.

 

[Rianne]

Podcast re: 1918 pandemic. It came back 3 times. Twice everyone got all comfortable, back to normal, hit again, then again. Worse hit in October. Dr/scientists could only see bacteria molecules at that time. Could not see virus.

Interesting timeline:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/pandemic-timeline-1918.htm

 

[Another Reader]

Palm Springs, CA and Rancho Mirage have put in place a temporary ban on vacation rentals. We've been here since mid January, but it sounds like we need to pack up and leave.

We will contact the condo owners in the morning.

https://kesq.com/news/2020/03/24/rancho-mirage-palm-springs-issue-temporary-ban-on-vacation-rentals/

It seems like this is no longer a vacation rental but a short term lease. I would stay as a short term renter with a month to month rental agreement. At this point, you could be there until June.

 

[Fermion]

Podcast re: 1918 pandemic. It came back 3 times. Twice everyone got all comfortable, back to normal, hit again, then again. Worse hit in October. Dr/scientists could only see bacteria molecules at that time. Could not see virus.

Interesting timeline:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/pandemic-timeline-1918.htm

Hopefully we know a bit more 100 years later about how to rapidly produce targeted vaccines. We shall see.

 

[Rianne]

Hopefully we know a bit more 100 years later about how to rapidly produce targeted vaccines. We shall see.

Yes, hopefully. Somehow did not get the message about PPE.

 

[MRG]

Podcast re: 1918 pandemic. It came back 3 times. Twice everyone got all comfortable, back to normal, hit again, then again. Worse hit in October. Dr/scientists could only see bacteria molecules at that time. Could not see virus.

Interesting timeline:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/pandemic-timeline-1918.htm

++

My great-grandparents both died from a flu, Russian, in the 1890s. The original flu was in 1890, they died in a 2nd and third wave in 1893, 1895.

 

[Souschef]

I went to my local supermarket today for senior time. Main shelves that were empty wee TP and paper towels, along with flour.
They had someone directing shoppers to a checkstand. there were stripes on the floor 6 feet apart.
We live in a town of about 30,000. there have been 2 cases reported. In front of our Urgent Care there is a tent set up for testing. We can only get tested if our doctor recommends it.

 

[Rianne]

They had someone directing shoppers to a checkstand. there were stripes on the floor 6 feet apart.

Good idea. Who can figure 4 or 6 feet in their head? Sometimes, sneezes come on so fast. I'm thinking about carrying a little can of Lysol sanitizer to spray the air if I do that.

 

[athena53]

A piece of good news- just checked in with a friend who had told me yesterday that his son and the son's GF, both mid-20s in NYC, both had tested positive for COVID-19. They were sent back to his studio apartment to self-isolate and are on the mend. Symptoms are alleviating. Most cases seem to be turning out that way but there are no guarantees.

 

[Alan]

News here today that home test kits will be available within days.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-available-within-days?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Thousands of 15-minute home tests for coronavirus will be delivered by Amazon to people self-isolating with symptoms or will go on sale on the high street within days, according to Public Health England (PHE), in a move that could restore many people’s lives to a semblance of pre-lockdown normality.

Prof Sharon Peacock, the director of the national infection service at PHE, told MPs on the science and technology committee that mass testing in the UK would be possible by next week.

The UK government has bought 3.5m tests, which the health secretary, Matt Hancock, mentioned on Tuesday with no suggestion that they would be available to the public so quickly, and is ordering millions more.
.
.
.

Widespread availability of a fingerprick test that produces results in 10 to 15 minutes is a game-changer. NHS doctors and nurses with symptoms will know immediately whether they have – or have recovered from – Covid-19, enabling them to get back to work sooner.

.

 

[audreyh1]

I live in a Florida county that got it's first Covid 19 case about 10 days ago, it was a man that came in from Texas. Then last night it was reported we have two 74 yr olds with Covid 19. There are supposed to be more details today, I suspect they are husband and wife, awaiting to see if they traveled or who they had contact with.

Residents returning from other parts of the country have been spreading the virus in many cases.

 

[REWahoo]

News here today that home test kits will be available within days.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-available-within-days?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Meanwhile, those of us in the US continue to have the same ability to be tested as citizens the Republic of Lower Slobbovia thanks to [redacted to avoid Porkification].

 

[Alan]

Meanwhile, those of us in the US continue to have the same ability to be tested as citizens the Republic of Lower Slobbovia thanks to [redacted to avoid Porkification].

The kits are being bought from countries in SE Asia who have been ramping up production for export, so maybe sooner rather than later they will be available to the public in the USA as well.

 

[ivinsfan]

News here today that home test kits will be available within days.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-available-within-days?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

They have to be delivered by Amazon or bought on high street, then everyone queues up and suddenly it start spreading again...

 

[Alan]

They have to be delivered by Amazon or bought on high street, then everyone queues up and suddenly it start spreading again...

That’s the big question isn’t it? Is mass testing a good thing or a bad thing, I’m sure the world will be watching how it works out, not just for the UK but the other countries who are going forward with mass testing.

 

[Helen]

Too bad. The part about current visitors having to leave and “return to their home community “ is thoughtless and harsh. Hope you manage to get back home without much ado.

I think the news article wasn't quite accurate, the condo owner mailed us this:

"I’m attaching the actual “Local Emergency Supplemental Order” issued yesterday by the City of Palm Springs with the pertinent wording in Paragraph 2 highlighted.

This section says: Any guests currently in a lodging facility are directed to return home… or remain sheltered in place in the unit.” (emphasis added).

So I’m fine with you staying (and staying through May if you like, as I mentioned). I don’t see any legal or ethical issue for us. And, as I said previously Jeff (the HOA President) and everybody else I’ve spoken with loves you guys so I think you add to our community…"

 

[Nemo2]

They have to be delivered by Amazon or bought on high street, then everyone queues up and suddenly it start spreading again...

What we need is a problem for which there is an easy and immediate solution.

 

[folivier]

Regarding home testing for antibodies, I would like to know if what my DW and I had for 3 weeks and just now getting better was C-19. It would indeed make a difference for us going forward.

 

[ivinsfan]

I think the news article wasn't quite accurate, the condo owner mailed us this:

"I’m attaching the actual “Local Emergency Supplemental Order” issued yesterday by the City of Palm Springs with the pertinent wording in Paragraph 2 highlighted.

This section says: Any guests currently in a lodging facility are directed to return home… or remain sheltered in place in the unit.” (emphasis added).

So I’m fine with you staying (and staying through May if you like, as I mentioned). I don’t see any legal or ethical issue for us. And, as I said previously Jeff (the HOA President) and everybody else I’ve spoken with loves you guys so I think you add to our community…"

Imagine that, a news article that wasn't accurate. You would think they would at least read the entire order before they start "reporting" on it.

 

[MichaelB]

I think the news article wasn't quite accurate, the condo owner mailed us this:

"I’m attaching the actual “Local Emergency Supplemental Order” issued yesterday by the City of Palm Springs with the pertinent wording in Paragraph 2 highlighted.

This section says: Any guests currently in a lodging facility are directed to return home… or remain sheltered in place in the unit.” (emphasis added).

So I’m fine with you staying (and staying through May if you like, as I mentioned). I don’t see any legal or ethical issue for us. And, as I said previously Jeff (the HOA President) and everybody else I’ve spoken with loves you guys so I think you add to our community…"

Good. At least you can choose what to do and when.