Coronavirus, Covid 19 Discussion and How It Has Affected Your Daily Life Chat Thread

[IamRainey]

Well since you asked.. I woke up way too early and am just overwhelmed with sadness. People are dying, more people will die and it is preventable for the most part. Hospitals are being overwhelmed, every few days the numbers will double as to infections and deaths. I am afraid for my family, my sister in law likely already infected and fighting it all alone in another state. I am scared and angry. I cannot express my anger with our govt. here because I am on the verge of being banned for political posts. Sad, angry and scared describes how I am today. Thanks for asking

Sending love, IdyllwildAcres, because it's the best I've got.

 

[IamRainey]

i'm up in the pacific northwest, north of Seattle, a few precious miles from the epicenter of the virus in the US. This is by far the craziest virus to ever have set foot on this planet in my lifetime. if you are not seeing it in your area yet, it might be easy to think you have dodged the bullet but that is not the case, it is coming, spreading life wildfire. the latest estimates are that it can live on some surfaces for more than two weeks. it can effect people young and old but does seem to be most likely to kill older folks and immune compromised people but plenty of strong middle aged folks are dying of it to. my brother in law works at a local hospital and I work in healthcare so I have an unusually grim view. this virus is many, many times more contagious than the the regular flu. you are most contagious before you even know you have it. you'll think it's nothing and then all of a sudden your local hospitals are overflowing with people in full blown respiratory emergency. it causes the lungs to leak fluid and basically drowns the patient. reactions to it very wildly. ethnicity has nothing to do with susceptibility. not everyone contracts it who comes in contact with it, some people, particularly young people can have it without any symptoms and be shedding contagion. it comes on like a mild cold, goes away and then comes back like a ton of bricks. everyone will come in contact with it at some point and a certain percentage of people will get the worst symptoms requiring a ventilator. the name of the game is slowing down the spread enough that your local hospital doesn't get overwhelmed. if for no other reason take this seriously out of compassion for your local health care providers who will be in living hell trying to deal with the wave of very sick people at their door. the life you save by social distancing and staying home till it peaks in your area may be your own, a family member, a neighbor or some complete stranger that uses the ATM key pad after you. in the worst hit areas so many bodies are piling up at the hospitals that they are having to bring in refrigerator trucks to store them, some places are resorting to using ice skating rinks as morgue. I know people directly who have gotten it and it seems like a total crap shoot where you will land on the spectrum of having no symptoms but shedding virus to others, having a bad "flu"/lots of fatigue, all the way to full blown respiratory distress where you are gasping for air. I would recommend that everyone take self care measures at this time and avoid things that irritate your airways. avoid sanding, breathing dust, heavy drinking, heavy smoking... avoid anything that is going to have you starting out with the illness with inflamed bronchials. stock up on enough supplies to be able to hunker down for 2-3 weeks if need be. a good bleach solution is your friend, 1 tablespoon of bleach to a pint spray bottle is about the max concentration you can use without it being too harsh. wash hands like a surgeon, relying on soap and friction to attenuate the virus. UVC light is very effective at killing it, but protect your eyes and skin, you don't want the DNA that it warps to be your own, it's nasty stuff. I don't mean to sound alarming, but this virus doesn't care what god you believe in or what political party you are affiliated with, it doesn't care if you are a boot straps marine or a lili livered daisy cutter. stay hydrated, eat well, sleep adequately. wash anything that is eaten raw. soap and water kills the virus, wash exposed clothes etc. have inside shoes and outside shoes. it's all about touch points, disinfect and wear disposable gloves outside the house if you must go out into the world where other people have crossed your path.

My heart goes out to all the people on the front lines.

Thanks for tying to make it real and immediate for the folks who haven't faced it yet and still have time to adapt and prevent it coming at their area in the same magnitude.

Be strong. Such stupid words but all I've got to offer.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I am an actual resident of the Big Easy, not someone who lives close to the city and refers to themselves as a NOLA person, so thank you for pointing out, what to us is the obvious. Some people here do not have cars and have to rely on public transit. For those people a short trip for milk or TP becomes a large headache without the corner grocery. Thank you, a NOLA Girl

Thanks for the confirmation, though I'm also sad to hear that that is the case, not just in your city, but in quite a lot of areas which already have issues with food insecurity and lack of access to healthier food options.

 

[legojenn]

I have no problems with alcohol or drinking or whatever, just not sure it’s really necessarily “essential.” But then again neither is soda or sweets like you said. And I’ve sense learned for some people it IS essential cause they’ll die.

The rationale for leaving liquor stores open up here is that addicts can die if they don't get their fix. I assume that it's a small number of alcoholics that have an addiction that bad. Those who are less addicted might try to obtain their fixes by theft from home or businesses or other risky behaviour which means assaults, property damage or risk of transmission.

I'd honestly rather people stay lucid during this emergency and maybe stay sober, but I'll accept the harm-reduction argument.

 

[IamRainey]

This is a side by side comparison of the first confirmed cases in italy and the first cases in my state. We literally have insight into our future and people still aren't taking it seriously. A shame too since we could learn from history that pandemics are the greatest threat to humankind since the beginning of time.

Not a popular observation around here but you are, of course, 100% correct!

 

[hispoptart]

Would you love to be a fly on the wall of your hospital board meeting so you know whats really going on? Well you can at my hospital. Here's the latest meeting from 3/26/2020 Start it around the 31:50 mark that's where they really start discussing the covid-19 crisis. DR. Urish is the one on the right side closest to the board leader. She really has some things to say that people need to hear. It's long but worth it.

 

[IamRainey]

Ok here's the facts from the hospital I work at. It's in a small town rural area. We have a drive up testing area but have a limited amount of tests. So you have to have symptoms and have been to another county with 6 or more cases in order to be tested. We have to be careful on how much PPE we take from supply because all of it is on back order and we don't know when we will get more. When we go down to the patient wing we have to put on a mask. We have our masks in zip lock baggies and reuse them day after day so that we don't create a shortage of them. Others are doing the same. Because we are such a small town and rural, we are low man on the totem poll for getting supplies.

Sorry you have having to go through this poorly equipped, hoispoptart. But bless you for being on the front lines! I hope you can hold the line.

Stay well! And please tell all your co-workers that America is in awe of your adaptability, your diligence and your courage!

 

[hispoptart]

Sorry you have having to go through this poorly equipped, hoispoptart. But bless you for being on the front lines! I hope you can hold the line.

Stay well! And please tell all your co-workers that America is in awe of your adaptability, your diligence and your courage!

Thank you, we are doing the best we can with what we have. Come hell or High water I will go in everyday to be there for anyone who needs it. That's what we do. I may have to move into our pop-up camper in order to protect my husband because he is high risk, but if it comes to that it does and I will carry on.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Thank you, we are doing the best we can with what we have. Come hell or High water I will go in everyday to be there for anyone who needs it. That's what we do. I may have to move into our pop-up camper in order to protect my husband because he is high risk, but if it comes to that it does and I will carry on.

Thank you very much and thank you to all who are doing what they can for the good of all of us.

 

[IamRainey]

Has anyone had issues with their chickens being stolen for eggs or meat? I've become super paranoid about this. I know eggs are in short supply -- I've had a lot of requests for them. Just curious what is going on and geographically where.

I haven't heard of any stealing and I wouldn't expect it in my area but people keep trying to get hens or chicks on my neighborhood forum and I keep explaining that our vND quarantine makes that illegal and irresponsible. ...but I know they'll talk some neighbor into giving them some chicks.

The most recent case of vND was detected in my county just days ago meaning at least 6 more months of a quarantine that's been going on for a year already.