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

my roommates are now all with family, so some part of this feels like a monkey's paw fulfillment of me wishing I had an apartment to myself

also xp -- I feel like I've been that person, although to be fair it's less "assumed I'd never speak to again" so much as "hadn't spoken to in a while." the thought process was basically "I really hope they're not, like, dead"

My local supermarket queue has been very well-behaved, but then again it's off the street and round a sizeable car park. Up on Green Lanes the other day though and it's significantly busier than a few weeks ago there. Seems a lot of people are getting the message that restrictions are loosening, and NOT getting the message that actually they're not.

I actually do think it's the area I live in that's the problem.

A friend told me that more well-off neighborhoods ie Park Slope are silent; streets are empty. But in the more working class/immigrant neighborhoods where ppl are still going to work, she says the stores are still bustling and ppl are not distancing, that it's crowded and "normal" and no precautions taken. It's been freaking her out.

I was just in Bed-Stuy briefly and ppl were moving around the block but in very small numbers, distancing from each other. A lot of my neighbors have their own yards & stoops so they can go outside at least a little. Ppl have conversations from across the street or in their cars. It's very grounding to see each other even if we can't get close or hug.

One of the elders on my block passed away, I think just from old age, and the block association had a ceremony outside his house w distanced ppl in masks singing & doing readings in his honor.

35 calls to nyc unemployment this morning, finally got past the part where they hang up on you instantaneously and have been on hod for 58 minutes and counting

jesus that sucks

uly, did you submit your claim online already? They're supposed to be doing a call-back system now but sorry, idk if your situation is special. My bf got two follow-up calls from DOL but since then his claim has been "pending" for a couple of weeks now. I'm curious whether anyone is getting the PUA yet as I suspect NYS has not started paying out for that category of worker, because there's no existing system for verifying employment or salaries or whatever they need to know.

i need to stop going to white city sainsburys because whilst the customers in there are keeping their distance, the staff don't appear to care much. they have notices all over the place, tape on the floor, but they just push past.

(doesn't help that they time their deliveries to my visits (i tend to go early to avoid crowds, so maybe i'm the problem))

they are the ones at risk, i don't understand why they aren't more careful, i guess.

xps i put my claim in online as of the 21st and then got a call back the next day from somebody who clearly had just been hired but who said she had all the info she needed to process in the next few days. Since then, I'm still getting the dreaded "you will need to speak with a claims specialist to provide additional information about your claim" note on the website. I'm self employed/run my own business so that's likely the problem. Still on hold, 1 hour 34 minutes. If I can get through and get this shit worked out, I'd be plenty happy. It's really a question of me trying to figure out what the hell my monthly budget looks like... I have a bit of savings but I got no income for at least the next few months so I don't quite know how to make that work.

okay, i'm on with a person now at hour two. maybe i can get this worked out after all.

good luck~

stick with it i finally got my buxxx yesterday (full value back to the beginning of my ability to file)

Whooo good news! Hopefully our self-employed buckaroos will come through soon. C is mostly keeping his spirits up but there are down days and I'm tired of being his emotional regulator.

person i spoke with said i should be good to go, with backdated pay from mid March coming through in late May. difficult to trust until after I see the first check hit, which should be next week. i'm hoping so as this is likely gonna be what will bridge me through to the summer without open bleeding. it still only represents somewhere between one-fourth to one-sixth of what my planned income was gonna be so it's tough to get too excited. Any help will help though!

All right! Celebration!

Hold that thought! Will check back on Tuesday and bring sparklers when I come through.

But thanks for sharing in my small victories IO.... any connection matters right now!

I mean, with Cuomo trying to force the feds into concessions and also trying to look as beleaguered as possible so NY state dems won't be able to get anything from him, he's been making noise about how NYS can't afford to pay the promised unemployment insurance, and since my bf didn't get the EIDL and didn't get the PPP, and didn't get the "stimulus" check yet bc they don't have his direct dep etc, he def feels like nothing is coming for him, that there's no light at the end of the tunnel. I believe he's wrong but who knows, Cuomo has certainly done worse.

One of the big area comic/gaming shops is reopening Friday with a bunch of new rules, including temperature checks at the door, mandatory washing of hands if you touch your face and/or phone (amongst other personal effects, recommending wearing of masks but no gloves etc.

Looking closer, apparently after you pass the temperature check, you have to go straight to the restroom and wash your hands before you can start shopping.

The place where I picked up sushi last night was the first place in my town to demand that customers wear both a mask and gloves to come inside. Usually it's mask-only.

There were temperature checks at Loon Fung supermarket in Chinatown when I stopped there on Sunday.

My friend posts this today. I think he's rightfully mad

"So thanks to Trump stating that hydroxychloroquine was supposed to be the next cure for COVID-19 the demand for it became so high that I got limited to only get 30 pills in 90 days. FOR A PRESCRIPTION I NEED TO TAKE DAILY!!!! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬"

He gets this reply:

"Sounds kinda selfish man when if that's the truth it could possibly save thousands or millions. I understand you might be hurting but so is everyone else."

Christ, fuck us

Some people's brains are very bad at this stuff.

If ever people start getting dewy-eyed and gooey about this crisis bring out the best in people:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-lockdown-sexual-harassment-women-street-a9490326.html

Seems to be the case wherever there's a lockdown in operation too, in fact didn't katherine talk about this itt?

Our next door neighbors are a young married couple with 2 kids, and it's getting where every day is a huge party over there, with nieces and nephews joining the kids, plus siblings and friends of the adults. The wife is a hair stylist and I believe she just did a client's haircut in the backyard. The husband has some health issues serious enough that he has to go get regular infusions of something or other. If they don't all catch the Vid and drop dead I'll be amazed.

The place where I picked up sushi last night was the first place in my town to demand that customers wear both a mask and gloves to come inside. Usually it's mask-only.

The supermarket by me specifically prohibits wearing gloves. Masks are required.

What's the reasoning behind banning gloves?

You can't wash gloves, so they can carry the virus. Also people have this habit of leaving them in the parking lot or sidewalk outside shops.

Just saw the first announcement for a area record shop reopening their doors. Rules include mandatory masks, wear gloves or partake of their hand sanitizer, only four customers at a time, you have only 30 minutes to browse, and no looking in the musty unpriced bins on the floor.

the only diplomatic solution is fingerless gloves

Also gloves protect you, not the things you touch, and if you don't practice taking them off and throwing them away without touching the outside, they don't actually protect you.

(It's pretty silly that people preparing food wear gloves for this reason, the gloves are no cleaner than the hands that grabbed them and pulled them on!)

Went to the grocery today with an extensive list only to find that you are now limited to 2 meat items, so I'll need to go back again in a few days.

mar yo meatwagon

edit, edit

mar dhea, meatwagon

someone I almost hooked up with last year and enjoyed hanging out with at concerts shocked me by sharing Coronavirus conspiracy theories on my Wall, citing an article in the Moonie paper, and saying that officials are just counting every death as COVID. Never had any previous inkling she was like this.

asked her how she could explain the 50,000+ projected excess deaths above forecast in a 3 week span (between the weeks ending 4/4 and 4/18), including three weeks projected at 70,000+ deaths (one of which is expected to almost hit 80,000), when the highest weekly death toll in the US over the last three years barely topped 67,000. forecasts solid enough that there weren't excess deaths in 148 of the previous 155 weeks prior to the end ending 4/4/2020. What coincidental event caused these extra deaths? crickets.

I'm glad I avoided doing anything with her, but I'm also mad that I wasted my time doing math for someone who is too dumb to understand it.

I'm starting to think, given endless "Xth wave" scenarios, I'll never be able to resume a 'normal life' in NYC, certainly in NYC. Not w/out gambling with my health every day. Same goes with everyone over 60 or w/ an underlying condition.

Trying to figure out how to move forward in Houston. My wife can work from home for the most part but not while taking care of the kids. We work at the same museum. Preschool opens in June which feels sketchy. Summer camps pushed back to July. Not sure how long our jobs will allow us to stay home with kids and sending them out into the world is madness. Because I’m recovering from an injury, I may be able to get some extra time at home. Which is good but hurts because I like my job and coworkers.

Preschool promises precautionary measures and hygiene, but I have a five year old. I know. There is nothing hygienic about them.

Can't hold a revolution whole retaining social distancing. I mean seems like several places kind of need one right now.
Ireland voted certain people out of power and they've just hung onto it cos they're chances. UK and US have complete idiots running things and recovering under either will be a chore.
Anywhere else need to overthrow it's government under exactly the wrong circumstances?

I'm starting to think, given endless "Xth wave" scenarios, I'll never be able to resume a 'normal life' in NYC, certainly in NYC. Not w/out gambling with my health every day. Same goes with everyone over 60 or w/ an underlying condition.

― brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 2 May 2020 06:38 (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think about this a lot and it's getting me down.

It's early days yet and there's 90 or something potential vaccines/cures bring looked at all over the world but I just keep coming back to how difficult it will be to develop, how long it will take and how I can't live in a (privileged and relatively well off*) cocoon for months or years.

At some point I'm going to have to face the virus and see where I end up.

* I'm super aware of how lucky I am here. I have a job that lets me work from home, that pays well and that will likely survive a recession. I have a wife who is prepared to take all the risks of shopping to feed the family. I have fast Internet and all the games and streaming entertainment I can eat. I see my children every day. I have a garden!
I've got the easiest "shield" going and it's still tough - my heart goes out to those who are isolated alone and struggling for cash.

the neighborhood children have been let outside and are just . . . screaming. almost constantly

yep

they scream inside too

I've got the easiest "shield" going and it's still tough

Same here. Reminding myself that I'm a million times luckier than most has kept me on an even keel to this point, but almost two months along, my thoughts are starting to turn to things like "I'm 58--what percentage of the rest of my life is going to be like this?" If it's two years, a reasonable estimate might be 15-20%. Knowing how minor such concerns are doesn't make them disappear.

yes, I’m so lucky but I feel like I’m really starting to drift, being completely alone for almost 7 weeks now

A sort of x-post to Koogs from a few days ago. I've realised that I have been telling shop staff to look after themselves and have been feeling a strange, horrible bleakness ... because they just seem so at risk (particularly when you factor in the idea of viral loading).

Anyway, I've shopped in two local Sainsbury's, one a small branch, the other a proper supermarket. The latter seems to be doing things well, including perspex screens on tills, limited numbers in stores etc. The former just felt scary - narrow aisles, no one being strict about social distancing, not one way around the store.

There's a small branch of Tescos near me and they usually have a security guard outside letting people in and out - though they didn't today - but once inside any idea that social distancing is even possible is ludicrous.