How are you dealing with Covid-19 (Novel Coronavirus) ?

[JBtheExplorer]

Just found out I've got multiple family members self-quarantining because one of them works with somebody who tested positive, and other family members were over by him last week.

There is no right decision honestly.

The right decision is to build a time machine and stop it from happening. I'm not sure why nobody is doing that yet.

 

[Lisak1]

I've got multiple family members self-quarantining

So how is that different than what the rest of us are doing? Not being snarky - just wondering what the difference is between self-quarantine and shelter in place.

 

[JamieB]

We are retired, can easily stay away from people. In buying the boat we only had contact with two, the owner and the broker. No hand shakes, kept a distance from both. Poor hands are paying the dry skin price from washing so much.
Our funds are in stock market safe funds. So it is staying stable, I lost half of my retirement funds in the 08 crash, never recovered it back. My other husband passed right before the crash, I retired soon after the crash, my financial guy took what was left of my 401/403 funds and made them safe.

We don't need to shop for food, any packages that arrive stay outside for 3 days, if I need to open it done with garden gloves on. Mail sits in one spot for 3 days, nothing needs to be opened fast.

We are getting the boxed food, home chef, just 3 meals a week, good food. The meals are around 9 bucks a meal, we can usually get two meals out of the one. That box is opened with gloves, the plastic bags that contain the food get wiped down. We have enough food in the freezers to stay at home for a long time, except running out of coffee!

And hands washed and washed and washed.

Not sure what we are going to do with farmers markets. We signed up to sale honey. We have 1500 lbs of the stuff and more will arrive in June when we harvest the hives. If we can't feel safe doing it we will most likely just not sale it this year. It does not rot will last for many many years like forever. Discussions with the market managers, putting out empty bottles for size so people don't pick up and put down, if bought hand the honey in a plastic bag to the buyer, but the money is a real issue. A lot use credit cards, how to handle them. In thinking I can attach the blue tooth chip reader to the table, the buyer can slide in his own card I can finish the sale on the phone, no touching of the card. Will not allow people to take my phone and sign for the sale, will tell them I will sign for them.

Look for a product called cavicide- it’s a medical cleaner. You can get it in wipes, and wipe things down. Expensive, but if you’re a high risk individual, in a high risk job, it’s worth it. Other products work too, just look for ones that fight corona virus.
As for washing your hands, any soap works, try moisturizerizing kinds. And for things that can take exposed times in liquid, peroxide; it is used to disinfect wounds, breaks down algae cell walls, it just needs a little longer to work than bleach water. So easy to use it on your display jars, and more likely to find it than bleach in areas where folks are panicking.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

So how is that different than what the rest of us are doing? Not being snarky - just wondering what the difference is between self-quarantine and shelter in place.

"Quarantine" is typically used for those who have the virus, have known exposure to it, or have had exposure to someone who's had exposure to it. Those who are in quarantine can't go to work or the grocery store, even if needed.

We don't have a shelter in place order in Wisconsin, so I don't know how that varies from our "Safer at Home" order, which is really only an order for non-essential jobs to close. We're still allowed to get outdoors, walk, bike, etc. Those in quarantine should not leave the house for any reason.

 

[JamieB]

I’m in a county with 5 reported cases, last count I heard. I work in a gas station, handle money, clean up after all the many folks who come in, and we clean, clean, clean, every half hour wipe things down with sanitizer, and wash our hands. One co worker thinks her wife may have it, she called in sick when she had a very low temp, which with our shortage of employees, made things that much harder. Especially since she had been in the day before buying alcoholic drinks, kinda makes me wonder if she was using an excuse. Meanwhile, I had to wade through rushing water knee deep to get to work, potentially risking my life, cause we are so short staffed. I cannot afford to miss work, and as we are considered “ essential infrastructure “, there will be no closing of our store and unemployment for bills. So I wash frequently, and practice safe money handling where possible, and watch the customers for signs of infection, of any kind!

 

[Gemma]

So how is that different than what the rest of us are doing? Not being snarky - just wondering what the difference is between self-quarantine and shelter in place.

The way I understand it is that those (most of us) under shelter in place can only leave the house for necessities, and those in actual quarantine cannot leave the house at all ....but I could be wrong

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Now I just found out a family member's employer has somehow gotten approved as an "essential" business, even though they are absolutely NOT essential. Even worse, I'm told they aren't taking the social distancing thing seriously at all, and not even allowing employees to take vacation. It's a pretty well known company, too.

 

[j.w]

Pot shops here and phone stores are considered essential here
But they closed the gun stores
So they want us stoned and phone zoned w/no form of defenses

 

[pondering_life]

Business as normal for me regarding work as the company I work for repair medical devices. Keeping a check on my parents making sure they have everything they need. Just hoping some form of normality is in the not too distant future.
My wishes go out to everyone on here stay safe and stay healthy

 

[bagsmom]

I have a friend from high school who is a doctor in public health, specializing in outbreaks. I read a paper she recently published and it is grim. The fear isn't so much that "some people" will die from this -- but that many, many, many will die as the result of circumstances created from the outbreak. Not because the virus is incredibly deadly to many (it isn't) - but because it is incredibly contagious and our health care system isn't set up to take care of that many very sick people all at once. It's a domino effect when our fire fighters, police, doctors, etc. become too sick to do their work. A person going in for a heart attack might die because a hospital ER is overwhelmed with CV patients. Much of the fear isn't just over the virus itself. Scary times! On a much lighter note -- we have been discussing Trump Bucks and what we might do with them. On the one hand, it would be smart to put it aside in case we need it to pay bills. On the OTHER MORE FUN HAND -- I could buy a lot of rocks with a thousand dollars! And I could finish that giant Grand Canyon out back that is supposed to be a pond. AND that money is supposed to go back into the community to keep business going. What better way to support a local business than to BUY SOME ROCKS!? Soooooo. Be smart and save? Or help out a local business by buying my rocks? Hmmmmmm. What to do?

 

[bagsmom]

As a general report from here, I am seeing so much goodness coming out all around. Our school system is sending school buses into lower income neighborhoods to serve as wi fi hot spots so kids can keep up with their schoolwork online. Many people have generously donated money and/or laptops so the same kids have what they need. School buses also delivering thousands of meals each week, to families that depend on the school system to provide meals to their children. We have hilarious teachers sending videos of themselves in their yards, leading the pep rally (all by themselves) that was on the calendar prior to the school closures. We go on walks each evening and see so many families eating dinner together on their porches. So many parents running around in their backyards, playing with their little ones. You can hear the birds all over the neighborhood, since the traffic is lighter. This outbreak is very bad -- but there are some good things coming from it. My youngest is graduating this year. There is a lot up in the air for them. I doubt the ceremony will happen. I doubt they will go back to school at all this semester. The International Baccalaureate (IB, which is fairly interchangeable with AP) has cancelled all the big end of year exams, for which seniors can earn college credit. That is going to be interesting, since going into college with some credits helps both financially AND helps in terms of lightening the workload. BUT -- that's all OK. As long as we stay healthy and have each other, the school stuff doesn't matter. I read a powerful little essay about how seniors in the Vietnam era got to take their "senior trip" into a war. So really, this detour and change of plans is disappointing, but they will be OK.

 

[Rex]

There are several confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the town that I work. I work as an emergency responder, so unfortunately I can't stay home. We have enough PPE supplies as of right now, but if it gets worse and supplies don't come soon we will run out. I can't imagine what it will be like if that happens. As somebody said above, emergency responders, nurses, etc. will become sick and not be able to work.

When I come home from work, I do the best I can to decon. I leave my uniforms at work and change into street clothes. The clothes go right into the washer. I disinfect my hands, then all of the things in my pockets, then disinfect my hands again, and head right to the shower.

All my kids are on extended sprint break this week. They start distance learning next week.

 

[j.w]

Thank you for your service @Rex What would we do w/o you people helping us in our times of crisis.

 

[GBBUDD]

I had to add this here I thought it just fit our times so well

 

[poconojoe]

I'd like to get out and start my bog build, but between the weather and needing various supplies, I think I'll wait.

GBBUDD...I've been saying the same thing about people wearing masks. They don't realize that their exposed eyes are susceptible. Plus those masks may not make a good seal onto your face.

When I worked at ground zero after 911, our union had us test fitted to wear respirators. First we had a lung capacity test, then a fit test. They wanted to make sure you lungs could handle the restriction. If you had a beard, you had to shave it.

I live in northeastern PA and there are a lot of people who live here and commute to work into NYC. Also, a lot of summer homes are owned by NYC residents. There's a bus company that commutes thousands between here and NYC and they are still running buses! Can you imagine being on a bus during this crisis with 50 people for 2 hours each way? I understand if you are a first responder, nurse, etc., that you need to work. But for goodness sake, shouldn't those people just stay in NYC until this is under control? They're risking the spreading of this every day by returning to PA.

We're just staying home. We normally have plenty of supplies stocked up. All non-essential businesses have to be closed.

I'm retired and thank goodness my 401k is all in safe funds. This past month I made out fine, actually slightly better than normal gains. We'll see what results this coming month. I'm hoping it will be OK.

Stay healthy and try to keep busy at home. Enjoy family and eventually we'll be back to some sort of normalcy.