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

Getting sick of "martial law is next!" rumors.

Always comes from coddled idiots who have no idea what it is, or paranoid survivalist loons.

I don't know that the average Central Floridian could handle martial law

You'd think any paranoid survivalist loon worth his salt would be the least concerned. 'Cool, Imma hunker in my bunker and munch on my bottomless supply of c-rations for the next few months while y'all sort this out.'

Other Floridians screaming that Desantnis killed every small bar by closing them but idk what choice he had? Even running them below capacity, people were still gathering at them too much and our cases are soaring.

I don't like Ron but I mean...

I've noticed a bit of a trend among friends of mine who run their own businesses - that they're more skeptical of the self-distancing advice, as well as the shutdown that's just been imposed (in the UK). 'They're throwing the entire country into poverty because some old people die a little sooner?' is the gist. It's pretty obvious why they feel like this - it's because they have a massive personal incentive to keep the doors open and the money flowing in. And I think it's pretty silly they can't see that. At the same time I feel for them.

I definitely feel for business owners. piece of good news, my friend's cafe had its rent suspended for April! :)

anybody got a vid to share? even if it's just a knock knock joke?

Sure, this was the best thing I chanced upon this week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvIjz_lugxI

was watching a movie (shin godzilla, very timely) and emerged to find four calls, three voicemails and two texts from my mother

she's fine, i'm fine, don't fucking DO that unless you're in the fucking hospital

Lol my heart starts racing and I feel faint if I get an unannounced call from a family member - the only time my parents initiate a ph call is when something terrible has happened

gah, my housemate asked if I wanted to go biking today and I thought, "it's a beautiful day, biking seems safe." But we went to a park and it was swarming with people, and I had to use a bathroom and while I was in there I heard someone near me sneezing repeatedly. Never again. I'm trying to convince myself that I did not just give myself coronavirus but I'm feeling guilty and dumb for taking the risk.

biking's not a bad activity as it's not one you would usually associate with "mass crowding". don't blame you.

Apparently the neighbors down the street were having a impromptu "block party" earlier, with like 20 people drinking and hanging out in the street. I wonder if it was the ones with the Trump banner or the ones with the "blue lives matter" flag in the front yard? /painting nails emoji

Yeah I went for a walk the other day and it felt like people on and around the sidewalk were more up in my shit than usual. A gaggle of kids playing ball and scrambling back and forth while I'm trying to pass without running into them, a dude jogging by within inches of me, etc. Plus I saw firemen in masks and scrubs wheeling a stretcher up to someone's front door so whatever anxiety my perambulation was meant to alleviate...mission very decidedly unaccomplished. I'm perfectly cool sitting around inside watching shitty movies and trying not to think too much about everything going on out there, thanks.

I'm so angry at Jay Inslee for continuing to say that he's not going to order people to stay at home, when 1/5 of Americans are locked down and Seattle is the second biggest center of infection in the country. I keep refreshing the news hoping to see a lockdown order, and all I see is him reiterating that there won't be one.

FWIW the IL lockdown order allows for frolicking in the parks. At least Chicago specifically has shut down their city parks.

Yeah that's ridiculous. We have have had no deaths and are at 400something cases for the country and people are taking it very seriously here. Things are shut down and people are really staying at home. When my partner went and get our last takeout for the foreseeable future, it was the only place open on the block and they had a table set up at the door and made people do hand sanitizer before using the card machine.

From what I can see, everyone around here is taking it pretty seriously, and when I do see people out (going for walks is very important, imo), they are by and large practicing safe distancing.

Noticed some flowers were starting to bloom. The weather kind of sucks right now - I think I saw snow earlier - but I look forward to warmer temps, if only to allow for sun, reading outside, and so on.

signs were put up in the parks here (Oregon) asking people to keep a 6 foot distance

Inslee and the mayor of Seattle keep saying that people are already sheltering in place without needing to be told, but that's obviously not broadly true. The official recommendations still just say not to gather in groups bigger than ten. There are no signs up in the parks. No one I saw on my bike ride today was making any effort to stay away from other people. I keep hoping I can just stop reading the news and settle into some projects or something, but it seems like every day I find a new instance of criminal stupidity to be incensed about.

It's kind of funny watching people try to stay 6 ft apart in queues in places like Dealz which have been set up to maximise product space. Means that people aren't seeing where the queue is and forming 2ary ones behind shelving stacks.
Or at least in the Dunnes most local to me I saw what I take to be managers trying to preserve space being kept between people. Guys in suits anyway.
Probably going to be a temporary job for someone until supplies cease.
Well roll on societal collapse.
What was this thing about an asteroid not wanting to keep planetary social distance this weekend?
It's supposed to be the equinox so spring and Persian New year nurooz or something like that. So hope it's quick when it comes.

Really enjoyed Neanderthal's Hooked! Great voice!

Reminded me of this though :D

https://youtu.be/-VvYHDs68eQ

anyone in Australia with kids (or without) got a take on the lack of school closures?

the government is shit, i don’t know if that’s the reason though

well the sun's out and there's nothing in the fridge, time to go and survey the smoking rubble

I'm about to go out and try and self-distance in 14000 people per sq km Islington with pavements designed, as Mark E. Smith once said, for 16th century dwarves.

it'll be quiet enough here, dunno about city centre but doubt i'll walk that way.

Lol I was kidding myself

that they're more skeptical of the self-distancing advice, as well as the shutdown that's just been imposed (in the UK). 'They're throwing the entire country into poverty because some old people die a little sooner?' is the gist.

The more people that think like this, the longer it'll take! is the thing that's grinding my gears right now.
I get it, I can't think of anyone that's not worried about their job or their job hurting them.

xp ha it's same old same old round here too

Except with no bread or baked beans 😅

Messaging spoof virus-related songtitles with an equally bored mate, so far we've done Beatles, The Police, Gentle Giant, Genesis, ELP and Magma. Van Der Graaf Generator titles are apocalyptic enough already so didn't need changing. Sabbath next I think, then maybe Cardiacs. tbh this is what we do anyway, the lockdown just gives us an excuse.

Yes, as I suspected, Seven Sisters Road/Holloway Road much the same as any Saturday - keeping 6 inches distance more practical than 6 feet. Where have all the eggs gone?

Plenty of Easter Eggs around if that counts?

So what happens once we conquer Corona, when will its siblings appear?

The Easter egg thing is a constant source of amusement to me - shelves largely bare but there are still heaps of gaudy chocolate

So ah would you expect people who've gone into self-isolation at the start of the week - because they have a cough/could be CV but probably isn't - to let people know, if they saw them the day before (at school etc)? I guess in theory if you're worried enough to go into isolation you should let them know you're doing so, but I can see why you wouldn't want to worry people if you're not really convinced it's CV? But then surely those people would have to let everyone know that *they* met etc...

With more social distancing this shouldn't really be a thing. I've just seen quite a few people mention they're self-isolating and I want to know if it's because they have symptoms (if I was in coughing distance from them at the time) or if they're protecting themselves due to vulnerabilities etc.

i'm vulnerable (bone marrow cancer) and feel like I've taken too much risk already

Damn, hang in there Morbs!

Everyone I know who doesn't have to go to work is self-isolating voluntarily out of a sense of responsibility for slowing down transmission and also to figure out if any of us are actually infected already and not symptomatic yet. So far, as far as I know, no one I know personally is symptomatic and we've all been either completely or mostly isolated for 1-2 weeks.

What muddies the waters slightly is going to the grocery store, or going out and touching, like, a stair rail, and then even if you wash your hands at home you still had to touch 4 door knobs and your keys and you can't sterilize all of those every time. It's an OCD nightmare.

It’s still cold here so I can wear gloves everywhere and not look odd.
What I’ve been wondering - should I wash my gloves as well to be safe?

Yes.

going to the stores to try and find bleach this morning, please wish me luck

going to the stores to try and find bleach this morning, please wish me luck

Nirvana's first album? Surely it's widely available used. Or you could get to it on Spotify surely?

Every time I leave our actual apartment (as I'm about to do to check the mail for the first time in like four days), I keep one hand in the pocket where my keys are and try to do everything with the other hand, which is draped in a clorox wipe such that I am not making direct skin contact with any object outside the home. Then as soon as I'm inside again, I kick off my shoes, hand sanitize, wipe down my keys, and then wash my hands again when I'm all done. Possibly overly-cautious but honestly IDGAF.

in my now-ended store-perusing days, I didn't see any Clorox/Lysol wipes. Has anyone seen them in Brooklyn this week?

Yeah sorry I was meaning self-isolating as in, not going out at all. Eating your stored food etc, or getting friends to deliver. Some friends are doing this due to 'having symptoms' ie a cough that's probably not it but playing safe.

As opposed to social distancing, which is staying home except for essential trips to groceries/doctor/meds etc and also walking/running about but keeping away from people, which is the minimum we should be doing.

I got some latex gloves today as I figured shopping trolleys would be where virus germs like to play. I try to keep my phone in my pocket and not touch it while I'm out and about, wash hands when I get in, wipe down shopping packages like milk cartons etc.

And in my 1-2 minute trip out into the wilds of my building, I passed uncomfortably close to three different people (partly because some brain genius hired movers today, so there's a new couple of potential vectors running unchecked through the building rn). So yeah basically fuck this ever leaving the apartment bullshit.

https://nypost.com/2020/03/18/chic-hamptons-food-stores-ransacked-by-the-wealthy-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/

Amazing.

^they can perish first, and i'll stick to that

> business was up 500 percent last Friday

And tomorrow? Next week? The week after?