Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

one by one the food delivery service websites are conking out

― strangely hookworm but they manage ream shoegaze poetry (imago), Saturday, 14 March 2020 18:07 (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

i wasn't kidding

an audible audiobook wouldn’t download in the app. i went to the audible custhelp site, but their live chat is out of action because of the coronavirus. no zombie film has ever anticipated this iirc.

honestly i think the main difference between this current reality and zombie fiction is that fewer people are trying to bite you when you go to the supermarket

all the best nick

and everyone else

Just a matter of time before we hear about grocery store shootouts

I’m about ready to murder my idiot parents for not taking this seriously. They can risk their own health, fine, but they’re gonna kill my sister

social distancing will mean that you get it a few months from now, maybe, instead of in six weeks. As a representative example from the aggregate result. Anyway I took a weird kind of comfort in the thought that it's kind of impossible to dodge it forever. You're just doing your part. It's not really about you at all.

This is mostly otm.

It's not entirely inevitable that everyone gets infected with it. If trying to outwit it long enough that your odds of getting it diminish greatly as (one hopes) new cases have peaked and a goodly percentage of the population has acquired immunity is motivating for you, then by all means dodge it with a will. Coming out the other end uninfected is not a false hope. It's all about odds and percentages.

Yeah it's true you might be one of the 20-40% who don't get it before a vaccine exists. Doing the right thing probably increases your chances of being in that group - particularly if it goes beyond just 'social distancing' to really locking your shit down tight.

And that is probably a good way for oldies to think!

best piece of advice ive seen is not to focus on not getting it

its to presume you have it and don't want to transmit it.

I haven’t left home since Saturday and don’t expect to go further than the grocery store up the hill before, oh, May.

now that I'm playing games on Twitch, the hours fly by.

and then the best part of the day, sleep.

it's where I'm a viking

actually maybe we should revive that ILX debate, that'll get things going

if yr having trouble remembering not to touch yr face and u have a fitbit ionic, check out the app my old professor of interface/mobile design just released:

https://www.hawaiitech.com/apps/dont-touch-your-face-wearable-app/

pretty limited for now cuz who has a fitbit ionic, but it's gonna be on apple watch soon for apple watch people ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Cheltenham Festival punters and staff have been struck down by symptoms consistent with coronavirus, sparking fresh fears that hundreds of racegoers could be infected and spreading the illness.

Housemates Andrew Maclean, 24 and Scott Saunders, 25, have quarantined themselves inside their home after coming down with a fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Mr Maclean and Mr Saunders, from Cheltenham, developed symptoms when they were working at a restaurant and bar, respectively, at the festival - at first thinking they only had colds - and now fear they passed their infection on to others.

The pair have questioned why Cheltenham went ahead despite the worsening crisis and the calls for it to be cancelled to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Mr Maclean told Mirror Online: "I'm pretty certain we all have coronavirus in this house. I've never had anything like it before.

The housemates sought medical advice and were told that they wouldn't be tested and to self-isolate for two weeks.

Mr Maclean added: "By the second day of the festival we had symptoms. We had the dry cough."

He and Mr Saunders didn't suspect that they had coronavirus.

Mr Maclean said: "The Jockey Club said that it could just be a common cold so not to worry, so we took their advice and came back in."

fuck the Cheltenham festival and British horseracing in general. All involved should be subjected to the sterophonics until death.

This is minor compared to lots of issues people are dealing with, but my dentist has just closed their office until further notice, and I had an appointment to get some fillings and a crown replaced. Hopefully my (lousy) teeth will be able to hold it together until they reopen.

and fuck those two idiots for having a new dry cough and taking medical advice from the fucking jockey club

the bartender and the chef are coughers

*every health expert in the entire world* - ONE UNIFIED MESSAGE, DIS WHAT CORONAVIRUS IS

everybody else...

"it's just a mutated seasonal flu"
"it dies outside in the hot sun"
"bleach will kill it"
"no it won't, idiot. but lots of Vitamin C will"
"we'll have a vaccine in two weeks, so fuck it, I'm going outside"
"nah, you don't got it, you only have mild symptoms, you'd know if you had it"
"it's better if we just get it and build our immune systems"
"unless you're a health risk, go out, socialize, live your life"
"essential oils will get rid of any COVID"

best piece of advice ive seen is not to focus on not getting it

its to presume you have it and don't want to transmit it.

― BSC Joan Baez (darraghmac), Wednesday, March 18

agree with this

like there are literally people I know who believe that the virus is dying, wicked witch style, out in the heat rn

yeah I am avoiding my parents until i know for sure i don't have it xpost

xpost Also: "I bet we've all already had it, remember that cold that was going around two months ago?"

My roommate has a key to his friend's gym, and is there right now. It's closed, but I'm sure he's not the only person using it. He's also planning to go through with a weekend getaway with friends this weekend. My parents are having a friend over for dinner. I am going to murder everyone.

so what's the opinion about being around someone that you've already been around a ton in recent weeks if neither person is spending any other time with anybody else in the outside world?

I would think that would be fine; if you're both self-isolating then it would basically be like hanging out with members of your household.

i'm i allowed to see two of my friends today?

*am i

with a periscope, sure

This is minor compared to lots of issues people are dealing with, but my dentist has just closed their office until further notice, and I had an appointment to get some fillings and a crown replaced. Hopefully my (lousy) teeth will be able to hold it together until they reopen.

we are not going anywhere (except partner) to get food if needed) until it seems that it's declining. Totally prepared for it to be months. Luckily we have a terrace so I can sit outside. I would be horrified if I accidentally gave a bunch of people bedbugs, so you know...passing on covid would be worse.

Luckily we have a terrace so I can sit outside.

Yeah, SF isn't in true lockdown mode or anything but, if it ever came to it, we have a small backyard and we'll make full use of it.

with a periscope, sure

argh but these are cute friends

My mum was asking me the other day if she should go on her planeflight with dad to Sydney in a few weeks, dad is 75 and has a bad hip and possible parkinsons and I'm like wtf of course you shouldnt. Even more so cos mum's father who will be 101 next week is in hospital with a broken hip, I'm quite worried for him. I dont even know if mums allowed to visit him anymore, I should ask her.

There are now 2 confirmed cases in my home province (pop. 120k), and my parents are still just like... ignoring everything I’m telling them. I’m trying to figure out somewhere else for my sister to self quarantine bc I don’t trust them not to infect her. I feel like this situation epitomizes who they are as parents and people pretty well.

one of my co-workers shared this on Monday, and it took every bit of restraint for me not to break workplace decorum and go "lol what?"

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/coronavirus-drink-water-advice-debunk

I left the house for the first time in 2 days to get some booze and cat food. Felt amazing to get out the apartment. Will probably go into my office on friday to do some stuff that I cant do from home but there'll be only one or two other people around and I will be walking there so I feel fine about it

we went for a walk this evening & then got some to-go coffee nearby, mr veg was starting to get cabin fever

My (Hong Kong Born) Medical microbiologist friend called me up to ask about meat delivery services and we had a good chat. He's been on me about prepping for lockdown since Wuhan locked down and he had a few things to say (much of which has been echoed elsewhere)

If you have windows opening onto a poorly ventilated space (like a light well) keep them shut, especially if bathroom vents or windows open onto the space. Fecal transmission was a factor in similar conditions in Hong Kong during SARS and he's worried about this. Also close the lid on your toilet when flushing.

He was busy converting his lab to do Covid-19 tests, the best is straightforward for them butt the biosecurity to be able to it safely is no joke and they are getting through this. Some testing capacity issues are abut having enough labs with appropriate controls.

Separately had a long chaat with a Swiss friend who lives in Hiroshima. She's freaking out by how Japan is dealing (not dealing with this). She has a friend who was staying with one of the few people to get tested and yes positive. Friend had to travel back 300km on public transport to her home prefecture to get tested. Lot's of people in Japan still at thee 'it's just the flu' stage of things. (I promised to buy us front row tickets to the 100m finals at the Olympics, when they absolutely, definitely happen and we had a doleful laugh about that).

XPs but if you are acting like you 'assume you've got it' you and your household should be staying put and not going out even for food or meds or solo walks. everyone can't behave like that, especially not indefinitely.
People are already confused about the difference between social distancing and isolation - I'd rather not add to the confusion.

i still havent seen the advice that says nobody can leave their house tbh

minimise contact, wash yr hands, maintain distance

its a big outdoors out there!

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

If you have symptoms you stay in

ok fair

i think that the "assume youve got it" advice isnt meant to be treated maybe exactly the same as "you have symptoms"!

I'm more than happy to keep 2 meters or whatever it is away from any member of the public even in normal life tbf

they keep coming up to me though, need to practise my scowl/ fake cough

Keeping 2 metres away from anyone else, that's really going to work in the most densely populated borough in the United Kingdom.

it will work tho

it just might be difficult to manage

Finally a use for stiltwalkers.

Assume you’ve got it means maintain distance from other people, avoid crowded areas, try to not put your hands in contact with too many things (though I have been shouldering doors and hopping things with the back of my hand forever), wear a mask if you have a cough. It means you can go out but you have to do everything you can to minimise spread.

Right, yeah, London, the population is the most dense in both senses the word ime.