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

AC always fucks me up, so that could def be it.

The heat on / heat off and megapollenation that comes with the vacillating weather has incited a sore throat for me for like three months or so.

No allergies that I know of, and my mom obsessively dusts and vacuums the house on a daily basis to stave off the emptiness within. Most plausible explanation is

I think I'm paranoid
And complicated

jogging yesterday and nirvana came on the mix and i had a reaction to "I feel stupid and contagious" that stopped me flat

And the subsequent line, 'Here we are now, entertain us', is in fact a prescient lyric about how this entire crisis was engineered by the lizard-overlords-that-be.

Thus leading to Kurt Cobain's 'suicide'.

For those suffering from sniffles and stuff, don't forget to change A/C or HVAC air filters (as needed)!

a friend just me this

https://youtu.be/sjDuwc9KBps

and it's like, ugh...really? Is everybody doing this? I haven't been but now I guess I'll start

There are so many things I don't understand. For example the virus has various staying power on all manner of surfaces, depending on the material, but the entire category of "takeout food" (the food itself, not the packagingI is ok? I mean the stuff can live on my fingers, more than on say, plastic...but won't remain on a sandwich someone's made?

in addition to being catastrophic this whole thing is a supreme pain in the ass

Oh yeah that guy is from Grand Rapids! Yeah. I only low-key did this on our last shopping trip but I'll probably get more serious on the next one.

that video was shared with me by a colleague whose daughter is extremely immunocompromised and disabled (to the extent that her getting a cold is potentially fatal) so they were already doing stuff like this. i shared it with my friend with lupus and my uncle in his 80s.

pom we have a thread ffs

xp well I sent it to my parents hoping they'll take heed, but it's just that *I* don't want to do it

I guess a good rule of thumb now is take the same precautions you want your loved ones to take

Tbf pandemics are cross-borad by definition.

xp

My mom systematically disinfects every package received from the GREAT OUTSIDE before use. We're running out of Lysol, though.

On the safety of handling food, I found this article useful, by a professor of infectious disease at a hospital in Paris.

La cuisine, avec ou sans gants ? Les gants ne sont pas nécessaires.

Gros nettoyage des légumes avant cuisson ? Un lavage à l’eau suffit, la cuisson élimine toute trace de virus.

Les légumes crus, c’est OK ? Oui. Vous pouvez les laver et les éplucher comme d’habitude, tant que vous vous êtes lavé les mains.

Torchons, serviettes, éponges… à bannir ? Non, il suffit de se laver les mains en rentrant. Pour le reste, faites comme avant !

Les fromages et jambons à la coupe, c’est risqué ? Pas du tout.

Le pain touché par le boulanger, à mettre au grille-pain chez soi ? Non, c’est inutile.

Les précautions à prendre en cas de livraison ? Les gestes barrières classiques. Et si on a des symptômes, on met un masque pour protéger les livreur.se.s.

Et au supermarché ou dans une boutique ? Au supermarché ou ailleurs, on respecte les gestes barrières. Inutile de porter un masque FFP2 ou des gants.

Cageots, sacs plastique, sacs en papier ? Ne changez rien à vos bonnes habitudes !

CB ou monnaie ? Aucune différence, puisqu’on se lave les mains en rentrant chez soi.

Votre plat de résistance ? Du pangolin rôti… Je plaisante, évidemment.

CB ou monnaie ? Aucune difference, puisqu’on se lave les mains en rentrant chez soi.

this is what I mean though, it's not that simple. Before washing my hands the same fingers that touched the debit card have touched the handles of the bags, etc.

But you'll wash your hands after you put down your bags, no?

yes but isn't it remaining on the bags? Are we washing all the bags?

I guess the observation is that if you don't touch your face when your hands haven't been washed, you're ok.

Get home without touching your face, wash your hands, discard bags, disinfect or wash whatever items you purchased, wash your hands.

If you’re using reusable cloth tote bags, you should probably be washing them even without a pandemic.

AFAIK there's minimal evidence of the virus being transferred via food packaging, and it's killed by cooking anyway. Obviously wash fruit and fresh vegetables before you eat them but do that anyway.

I've stopped drinking beer out of cans though.

Mostly because I found myself cleaning the cans with Flash before opening them and realised this was what a deranged person would do.

AFAIK there's minimal evidence of the virus being transferred via food packaging

Indeed, but go tell that to my terrified 65 year-old mother.

I'm sure I'm not the only one ruminating basically non-stop now about what the cost of this will be in human lives and what it's going to do to the rest of our mental health for the remainder of our own lives.

And how that doesn't really add much of value to the conversations we're having on Zoom with our friends on the day-to-day so, hey, let's talk about what we cooked today!

there's evidence of a link between the virus and allergic overreaction in some: https://www.newscientist.com/term/cytokine-storm/

i took notice of this bcz i've been having unexpected and very mild allergic reactions a couple of times in the last few days (i think almost certainly a result of changed diet) (too many lentils lol), including slight strange tastes and such, and sensitive lips that feels a tiny swollen -- i sometimes also get a sore throat as a mild reaction against some foods (M&S french coffee!) so maybe the change of additives betwen the UK and quebec?

(obv i am not a nutritionist still less a virologist)

stay well everyone!!

Thanks, mark, and likewise!

The easiest thing to do if you have a porch or vestibule (or garage lol America) is just to leave everything that doesn't have to be refrigerated outside for a few days. That cuts way down on the things you would have to clean. Or like he said just take the bags out of boxed goods--the inside hasn't been touched since the factory and tbh was probably bagged and boxed by machine anyway.

Also I've put our fabric grocery bags through the washer 2x already.

Can't keep up with everyone being affected by this one way or another (condolences to Fred, though, at the very least), but I continue to wish everyone here and their loved ones well and have some low-level fretting perpetually simmering on the backburner for u.

I'm such a complete luddite when it comes to newfangled social media technology platforms, but is there some kind of thing out there where we could maintain an ongoing group video chat? Where people could just dip in and out and say 'hey' to whoever happens to be hanging around at that particular moment? Is that a thing? Just thinking that an ILX-centric place to see a friendly face wouldn't be the worst idea for those who might be having a rough go of it.

chaturbate iirc

I don't know if this is a symptom, or if so a symptom of what, but ever since this started I have been unable to wake up to an alarm. and by "an alarm" I mean about ten alarms across three separate devices, plus two spaced-out wake-up calls. which of course is terrifying for work-related reasons

xpost Heading there now, thanks for the tip!

OH DEAR GOD NO

You got a little more than the tip?

AFAIK there's minimal evidence of the virus being transferred via food packaging, and it's killed by cooking anyway. Obviously wash fruit and fresh vegetables before you eat them but do that anyway.

True! But what about, say, lunch meat? Handled, but not cooked. I guess as always you are putting your trust in the person preparing it.

is this the thread to post possibly interesting things to stream/watch while on lockdown?

https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/5948?

This region is the worst affected outside of London and from what I've heard, an awful lot of the critically ill patients are under 50 with no underlying condtions. Stay safe everyone

Please see the latest #Coronavirus video update from Dr Tim Rogerson @Drtmr, Clinical Director of the Royal Gwent Hospital's Emergency Department...

Please stay home, protect the NHS, and save lives!#NHSWales pic.twitter.com/PK9u4J7pSE

— Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (@AneurinBevanUHB) March 27, 2020

wondering how well žižek is managing not to touch his face

xpost hadrian. I had posted this but I put in a procedure at home that when grocery shopping, all non-refrigerated things go in separate bags so I can leave them in my utility room for several days (hopefully if you won't need them right away). I left last saturday's groceries until yesterday. all veggies are either big pot blanched or washed thoroughly with soapy water (my nurse friend is doing very diluted water/bleach and then rinse). All handles, keys, credit cards, everything taken to the store are wiped down, face mask in a bag. Shower taken, clothes in washer.

my friend's parents were recently on a cruise that wasn't canceled and GUESS WHAT

our indian food last friday, we totally treated it like that doctor does in the video.

omg mh...
what?

Oh god

uhh yeah

her mom has tested positive, her dad's test isn't back yet

*slams head into desk*

cruise lines were left out of the stimulus bill right?

my mom has decided that it is all a hoax and is back to going out shopping. my sister has to tell her today that she can no longer visit her grandkids. my niece, especially, is immunocompromised.

xp - sure hope so -- they go to great lengths to avoid paying taxes in the US, they should not receive taxpayer money