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

but yes, humans are terrible and it is not unreasonable to be scared of some of them doing terrible shit

at one point we kind of discussed people turning on each other (during the protests against the govt) but then I was like "oh well, what can you do. at least we have super heavy furniture to barricade the doors."

yeah that doesn't make me feel better
i am trying VERY hard not to catastrophize (even as a "joke"), to stay in the moment, to keep my eye on what's important
that is my #1 challenge atm

I've been more or less social distanced for ... it's been a while. Well over two weeks. Hanging around here with the exception of taking my daughter for driving lessons (streets are empty!), going for walks or going to the store ... twice? But I don't include that as a reset of the clock, per se, since I'm never really around anyone, washing my hands, etc. Anyway, a friend asked if I might be up for beers around a fire pit in a couple of days, and I said yes. We won't be that close to one another, we've both been socially isolated, and there will be a fire between us. I think I'm as good with that as I will ever be.

my neighbours (next flat along) are having a big house party today, forever going in and out of the building, like the pandemic never happened

Surprisingly people seem to be behaving themselves in London - mind you I haven't been outside in 4 days.

LL, that twitter thread cites research

I'm trying to think of things that will make me more positive if they happen.
Photos of deserted streets etc - are actually quite reassuring to me.
Data in 3 weeks or so showing that distancing has had an effect.
Supermarkets/delivery working out some kind of system that reduces panic-buying, repeated shopping trips, helping the vulnerable.

I didn't know until today that the UK daily data (numbers of deaths etc) "do not represent the number of deaths that occurred in the past day but the number reported to NHS England in a 24-hour period. Two of the deaths, reported by Basildon and Thurrock university hospitals NHS foundation trust and University hospitals of Leicester NHS trust, occurred on 14 March." Not that this is particularly positive but it helps me reframe things.

yesterday i remembered that we have access to the roof though our landlord asked us not to use it when we moved in.
i think this might help get me through. it's sunny and open and airy and occasionally people shyly come up from the adjoining buildings and wave and stay way the fuck away from me.

picturing you standing, arms outstretched as you exit the roof door, then spinning slowly in the sun

i can't really be soothed by a stranger named dgardner telling me that this is fiction

The basic pattern seems to be that people come together during local disasters because they see that this choice usually leads to the best outcome, including for themselves. People will often take personal risks on behalf of others, if the risks seem broadly acceptable in terms of their own survival. For example, searching an unstable building for survivors after an earthquake or forming a human chain to pull someone out of flood waters. When the danger seems too great, they are likely to retreat, regroup and try to think of a safer way to accomplish their goal. But they don't often volunteer for 'suicide missions'.

Historically speaking, pandemic diseases with high mortality rates severely test this pattern of being willing to take risks for others. The more deadly, the more reluctance.

when I was on my metal cruise this year, every time we went to the cafeteria, there was a guy playing a guitar and three other hospitality staff members and they were all singing Cranberries' "Zombie" but changing the lyrics to "Wash yooooo haaaaaands, wash yo haaaa-iii-aa-aaaaaands", and people were listening

can't help but think if we'd had them at that podium in January, we'd all be past this

i am beginning to suspect some people don't ever wash their hands unless they are showering.

for some people even that is incidental

"hey I was washing my taint and water got on my handsies! neat!"

praxis question (perhaps too political for this thread? so'z) - supporting artists/labels/publishing houses (all of which will be struggling) by buying stuff online vs minimizing online shopping so couriers and mailmen don't expose themselves to unnecessary risk?

(I don't use Amazon, ftr)

Been mulling that one over a lot too. Maybe its time to finally relinquish physical copies of things and just get the digital version? Or perhaps write a note on your order and ask them to hold on sending it until the crisis is over?

xxp Remembering the girl in You're teh Worst's policy about bits she doesn't wash in the shwoer and wondering to what extent that reflects reality for some people.

Have noticed that there were some pretty counterproductive washing spaces in places I'd use the toilet in when in town and they would tend to have electronic hand dryers instead of any other individual method of drying.
So probably just as well they're closed and can't be hotspots for spreading whatever pathogens they shouldn't be.

I'm starting to get annoyed thinking about all the careless fools taking little or no precautions against this thing who will inevitable become infected, most likely be mildly or only semi-seriously ill, and then saunter around immune and probably spreading it even further by touching infected surfaces etc - all while I'm cowering at home following isolation advice. Grr.

... well, yeah! This is what a large proportion of the country has been raging at for at least the past week.

Not really though? As I understand it, the virus doesn't stay dangerous long outside humans, it's people catching it and spreading it that's the current main line of danger.

it can stay on hard surfaces for three days.

good article that calmly answers a lot of questions about this sort of thing eg how long are you infectious after you’ve had it etc


https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/tip-iceberg-virologist-david-ho-bs-74-speaks-about-covid-19

read that as "violinist" and was briefly startled that ex-man welsh rocker deke leonard's other band had featured a violin, mvmnic

tracer thanks for the link

that's the clearest overview I've yet read

praxis question (perhaps too political for this thread? so'z) - supporting artists/labels/publishing houses (all of which will be struggling) by buying stuff online vs minimizing online shopping so couriers and mailmen don't expose themselves to unnecessary risk?

― Daniel_Rf, Saturday, March 28, 2020 7:06 AM bookmarkflaglink

I'm strictly a digital buyer at this point so that's how I've been doing things.

Amazon, at least right now for deliveries to where I live, isn't shipping anything ordered until mid to late April, and has a disclaimer about ensuring the safety of their employees and customers.

only took like 8 employees getting infected for that 'compassion'.

mordy informed me that a private electrical contracting firm is an essential service but i wish they’d still stop requiring the people in their administrative office (cf. my roommate) to come in, as they are fucking endangering everyone. but it’s essential! sure

xpost That was a really clear overview, thanks, though of course already a week old. Inevitably there have already been developments, like the point of care tests being reported on, which is good news.

There's a circular walk along (mostly) farm tracks pretty much on my door-step. I walk it a lot and every day at the moment. The track is probably 2.5 metres wide. I've found it a bit distressing when I've been clearly keeping to one side of the track and/or obviously swerving and people have still stayed close. I must admit, at this point, my distress is probably around "How can you be so stupid/disrespectful" rather than a belief that someone walking past in the countryside presents much risk (though it may?) Anyway, I have discovered that a fake coughing fit gets people to keep away.

x-post: the idea that people might turn on each other has crossed my mind to the point that the flat has a heavy iron gate installed by the previous owner - I'm guessing to keep deer out rather than people, as she seems to have adored the garden - and I have to admit that I've thought about buying a lock!

I find I am resenting what seems like hoards of hoards of lycra-clad joggers. Also whole families on bikes spaced across the paths and weaving erratically. It may be unreasonable and irrational but I have a few square meters to move about indoors and all I want is a half hour walk around the park.

Hoards²

Yeah
Many many joggers are not paying attention at all to how closely they bypass pedestrians

Went for my tri-weekly jog this morning and was very conscientious about veering off path to properly circumvent passersby as needed.

I just had a nearly 3-hour service call from V3riz0n, The Telecom No One Chooses. They're replacing all their copper wire, or maybe copper for what it used to be, IDGAF. I made an appointment for today weeks ago, then they robocalled me maybe ten days ago and canceled, saying call back after April 1. Then I got repeated "be ready for your Saturday appointment" emails all week, to which I replied "You canceled it, do you know what the hell you're doing?" Obviously someone decided in the interim that they need that revenue NOW, before the hellscape that NYC will be in April/May, SO of course they came around 9:30, and I have all the new nece$$ary equipment. Did I see everything they touched? No (they were gloved at least; not masked). Pardon me while I wipe down shit in my apartment, again.

Amazon, at least right now for deliveries to where I live, isn't shipping anything ordered until mid to late April, and has a disclaimer about ensuring the safety of their employees and customers.

It varies by state. I had to order some special pesticide from them on Wednesday (called around locally and it was either sold out or not carried). Amazon has knocked out Prime except for "essential items"; everything else is slow walked w/free standard shipping. My order was supposed to take a week, but the wearhouse is in-state, so it arrived at my post office today, but probably won't go out until Monday.

I ordered some stuff today; it was split into 5 packages that will arrive staggered between April 1 and April 18.

That's probably gonna be the norm for awhile, although it seems kind of counterintuitive in a way to have multiple packages out there off of one order instead of working combinations.

This morning I looked out the window and a bunch of neighbors had decorated their cars for a 6-year old boy's birthday. All the cars had posters and notes on the side, and the drivers and passengers were decked out with party gear. The plan as I understand it was to drive past the boy's house and surprise him.

I'm about to start War and Peace!

So it's come to that. You might as well go all-in and teach yourself Russian first.

ffs Tracer, read what I wrote before responding.

Supermarkets/delivery working out some kind of system that reduces panic-buying, repeated shopping trips, helping the vulnerable.

This is happening in some of them at least - the big Sainsburys nearby have spaced queues outside, and are building back up a reasonable selection of stuff (and a lot of panic-buying restrictions)

This is interesting. Med people have been circulating care that seems to be helpful for covid patients and one thing that has come up is proning non-intubated patients improves oxygen levels. This makes sense now about why I prefer to always sleep on my stomach (asthma, I get wheezy at night).

I haven't been to our local Trader Joe's in weeks, but apparently they are having people line up outside, offering hand sanitizer and wiped down carts as people go in, and limiting shoppers inside to 15 at a time. On the plus side, apparently the store is fully stocked. Including hand sanitizer.

yeah they've been doing that here for a week. line up outside. grab a cart. one dude wipes the handle at the entrance, another dude squirts your hands.

I just found out that they appear to have closed down both the woods behind my place and the local park. Or at least there are signs up saying that they're closed.
So I'm stuck with the paradox that they seem to have closed down the one place in the area that people would go to to walk or exercise because people go there to walk and exercise. But I thought the directive from the Caretaker govt was that people were supposed to be able to exercise as long as they stayed within 2 km of where they lived. I thought it was pretty much encouraged.
So I'm wondering if this is actually true of everywhere in this country, if there is one place in an area that is amenable to exercise in so is the place that people go to going to be closed down because it is the place that people go to.So where are people supposed to go to?

& it's also a pl;ace taht I have to go across to go to the shop I get my shopping from. So it's probably true for a lot of people. So to what extent can it actually be closed, Particularly since its an open air area. Are they going to rope it off as a nogo area or something in a while?

the paradox that they seem to have closed down the one place in the area that people would go to walk or exercise because people go there to walk and exercise.

there's a lot of this going around. the authorities talk a lot about people staying mentally upbeat and healthy through taking walks, etc., but they only seem to be happy when everyone stays hunkered down inside their homes. hence, the dissonance.

Snipers, I think.

sorry Andrew - it seemed like you were saying that people sauntering around and “touching infected surfaces” wasn’t an issue

I've been going for runs in parking garages near my place because they're shaded, and empty of both cars and people. Also no cars for a week means they don't have foul air in them anymore.

Problem is that people seem unable to use restraint. First sunny day here, people flocked to all our local parks and conservation areas and parks to the point that they were more crowded than the busiest day of a summer long weekend. Cars lined up along the roads, people walking in groups, picnicking. They had no choice but to close the parks the next day.

Now people are being creative and doing stuff like circling their vehicles in empty parking lots so they can socialize from sitting in the back with the hatch up, which is a great solution, but I’m just waiting until so many people decide they need to do it every single day, in every lot in town til it’s too much, and then it won’t be allowed. People gonna people I guess.