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

it's been two weeks since i attended a protest and... i think i'm fine?

might get tested later this week just to see but iirc the WHO itself is backing down on the asymptomatic carrier narrative

driving around this weekend, you'd swear everything was back to normal. farmer's markets are open. the annual garage sale event in our town is still on. our neighbor across the yard had a massive party with well over 40 people. nobody's wearing a mask at the grocery store. all while we've posted our highest # of confirmed cases. my wife is gonna be ordered back to work next month and I'll be alone with the kids. I feel like I'm going nuts. Why am I even bothering trying to be careful right now

Stats in Texas, and various other parts of the country, are worse now than they ever had been in the past 3 months. I do not think states are going to be able to continue encouraging re-opening for much longer. I expected one or two states will give up fairly quickly and reimpose stricter measures, and other states will then feel like they can follow suit. What's going on right now is very obviously not working.

Most things are open here. I expect, absent some catastrophe, I'll have the option to return to my office sometime in July.

Why am I even bothering trying to be careful right now

This is where I've spent a lot of time this weekend. Like, what's the point of the last three months, if everyone is just going to go back out and spread it just as recklessly as if we hadn't bothered at all? My state is still one of the best in terms of decreasing cases, but it's not going to matter when I keep seeing people taking off for vacations in other states.

Thirded.

Our library is opening for curbside only pretty soon. I think I saw they had a backlog of 10000 books to procure! But it's going to be a while before the building itself opens to the public. Illinois is being pretty conservative, which is to say, safe and smart. For example, I think we've hit Phase 4 benchmarks, but they are still enforcing a wait until the official day. My same doctor neighbor, by the way, told me this weekend that based on what he has seen in the ER, the city/state is doing great, and he's not worried about a big Covid return here as long as everyone continues to follow guidance. Which they seem to be.

Our farmer's market "opened," too, with significant restrictions on interaction. Spacing, crowd, and so on. I think you can order produce for pickup, though.

Katherine, re: testing here, I got tested for antibodies a few weeks ago, and it was so fast it was practically over before it began. Made an appointment the day before, had a five minute video consult, went in the next day, they scanned my insurance and then I went next door for the needle. The bloodwork part took literally 5 seconds, and I got my (negative) results 2 days later.

iirc the WHO itself is backing down on the asymptomatic carrier narrative

not true, this was bungled messaging which was quickly amplified by a million sources (WHO walked it back shortly thereafter)

re: what's the point if everyone around us is fucking up?

every day you can postpone getting it is another day for advances in treatment/vaccines. you might appreciate that if you end up getting a moderate to severe case, which often has very long detrimental and lasting effects

Just because a lot of people are acting like it doesn't matter anymore doesn't mean you have to give up on what you think are reasonable measures. I feel pretty strongly that these people are simply wrong and it's going to become very apparent quickly.

not true, this was bungled messaging which was quickly amplified by a million sources (WHO walked it back shortly thereafter)

― gnarled and turbid sinuses (Jon not Jon), Monday, June 15, 2020 8:20 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh good to know, glad we're in the dark as ever

it’s true that there are substantial doubts about how contagious you are if you don’t have - and never get - symptoms. there haven’t been any notable outbreaks in schools yet, for instance, despite many countries opening schools back up. the whole “kids are superspreaders” narrative is probably wrong for covid.

he's not worried about a big Covid return here as long as everyone continues to follow guidance. Which they seem to be.

Right, and this gives me hope, but then my wife mentioned that she saw SIX(!) different families we know from Chicago and the suburbs reporting on their vacations in Florida, Michigan and South Carolina. I just don't see that boding well for us. The virus doesn't calmly step aside at state borders.

Starting July 2, masks will be mandatory on public transit here

My city and country are reopening everything again. By the start of July things will be normal again. It’ll be summer and we’re the most touristed country in the world. My family and I will mostly keep sitting tight. This isn’t close to over.

Our neighbors across the street found a house with a pool to rent in Florida. They are driving to GA to spend the night at his sister's house, then hitting Florida the next day. I think they figured if it was work from home they can do that anywhere (true), and as far as exposure goes, their trip seems about as safe as staying here, tbh. I think there are degrees of vacationing.

The WHO fuck-up ... it was a totally sort of legal mistake that hinged on the subtle distinction between pre-symptomatic and asymptotic. That is, there are people who are pre-symptomatic and therefore asymptomatic who will eventually get symptoms, and there are people who are asymptomatic who will never get symptoms. If I recall the clarification correctly, the WHO said pre-symptomatic people are still a big source of spreading, but of course, how can you tell the different between pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic until you get symptoms? Or don't?

I personally won’t be budging for the next three months at least, except for possibly a visit to the bookstore if they decide to reopen to customers.

it’s true that there are substantial doubts about how contagious you are if you don’t have - and never get - symptom

yeah
it's that seeing into the future ('and never get') part that is tricky when you are the person with no symptoms walking down the street or the other person with no symptoms walking toward them

xpost what jic said

it really does seem like there are some important missing pieces with this virus. it does feel like the 'superspreader' narrative is accurate to some degree.

there haven’t been any notable outbreaks in schools yet, for instance, despite many countries opening schools back up.

yeah that's pretty interesting, I'd assume most of the kids who got it wouldn't show symptoms but the teachers would. our daycare had 5 (!) teachers test positive but afaik none of the kids or parents have shown any symptoms at all. the teacher who'd first tested positive about 2 weeks ago is now posting pics of herself out in public again on Facebook. it's infuriating.

Same as y'all basically although the community spread seems low where I am and, again, everyone in public is wearing masks at least at the few stores I go to. I might drive cross-country in August because I have a limited amt of time to do some family stuff that I've been delaying since Feb. But I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.

In reasonable weather we just get together w small numbers of people outside with distancing, not going indoors, not hugging, etc. It's going to get super real when it gets cold again though. And I guess the whole South of the US is going to actually go through that sooner because aiui it's too HOT to be outdoors in a lot of places.

It's kind of remarkable how little we know. The same doc neighbor I keep referencing noted that some hypothesize it's not so much a respiratory illness as it is a vascular illness, which explains things like strokes in young people, "covid toe," weird rashes and stuff.

we should be locked down for another year

Or at least we should have made it through summer for sure.

This is a good dashboard imo https://www.covidexitstrategy.org/

Still a rough overview though: the WA epidemic at this point has at least two distinct regional characteristics, with Yakima and Eastern Washington trending worse and western Washington remaining ~stable or improving.

because aiui it's too HOT to be outdoors in a lot of places.

this isn't fun but it's not as difficult as it being too cold to go outside... pretty soon here in Texas it'll still be in the mid-90s at midnight, but once the sun sets you can sit around in the backyard or on a porch with a couple giant box fans and cold drinks and be fine.

I don’t doubt other large states with multiple population centers have similar situations

i’m strongly considering a long-haul flight to visit my parents.

1) i’ve had The Bug already and there are no documented cases of people getting it twice
2) any immunity i currently have will lessen over time
3) my parents aren’t getting on any planes until there’s a vaccine
4) if a second wave comes this autumn/winter a Christmas visit may be off the cards
5) if i don’t go now, and i don’t go at Christmas, when the hell am i going to see them

If I was in your situation I would be going pretty much anywhere I could think of.

weird rashes and stuff.
Over the weekend I discovered a weird rash around my knee. Put some topical cream on it I had from previous weird rash on arm and *crossed fingers*

mix a pobrecito!

driving around this weekend, you'd swear everything was back to normal. farmer's markets are open. the annual garage sale event in our town is still on. our neighbor across the yard had a massive party with well over 40 people. nobody's wearing a mask at the grocery store. all while we've posted our highest # of confirmed cases. my wife is gonna be ordered back to work next month and I'll be alone with the kids. I feel like I'm going nuts. Why am I even bothering trying to be careful right now

― frogbs, Monday, June 15, 2020 9:34 AM (one hour ago)

i have heard/read a variety of this message from friends all over the country; the details change but the feeling of "am I losing it?" is universal

meanwhile, in my area we still are required to wear masks indoors and i don't see any reason to stop wearing it when i pass people outside. my mask journey has evolved to the point where i have different ones for different tasks/reasons. like pairs of shoes. big sigh.

lots of stuff going on at work too and i don't plan to get into that here but NFI what is going on at that place

meanwhile, in my area we still are required to wear masks indoors and i don't see any reason to stop wearing it when i pass people outside. my mask journey has evolved to the point where i have different ones for different tasks/reasons. like pairs of shoes. big sigh.

same here. I'm trying to accessorize.

mix a pobrecito!
I prefer the Brazilian version, um pobrezinho. Contains cachaça.

still wearing mine. but so many people here consider it an affront. my buddy who works at the library says people actually accost them for WEARING masks.

yeah I absolutely get dirty looks for having one on

thankful that i've perceived zero judgment of mask-wearing in nyc

i completely dngaf about any looks i am getting
not paying attention tbh

i guess that's also true of me

i want one that says "if you can read this, fuck you"

my buddy who works at the library says people actually accost them for WEARING masks.

― Dig Dug the police (Neanderthal), Monday, June 15, 2020 12:48 PM

and this is Orange County, a blue bastion, with one of the largest Puerto Rican concentrations in the country.

So masks were never required?

nope, never was required locally. some businesses claim they require them, but enforcement is lax. I went to a small outdoor brewery that claimed you needed to have one on anytime you left your table, and....I don't think I even saw another person there who even brought one with them. the employees had them.

Publixes, 75-80% of the people in them have them on. Walmart, hardly anybody. suffice it to say, i'm still laying low, cos on occasion I have to visit the folks for an "emergency", like my dad's dookie clogging up the toilet yesterday (that was a fun, stinky 20 minutes)

I got made fun of for wearing a mask Friday night, but it was a punk rock traveler dude who I am 99% sure was going to razz me for something, because that's what happens when you run the Pfluger pedestrian bridge gauntlet at night.

Everyone here is still masked in stores. Most stores require it. I haven't seen any altercations, or anyone not complying - it's possible those are happening off my radar screen.

Outside, like on the bike trail, it's probably 50-50 hereabouts. Including those who have their mask down, but shift it to cover their nose and mouth when they get close to people.

No one anywhere has glared at masked persons or given them grief about their choice.

For me, it's been a bit weird to see people like going out to dinner on restaurant patios, wearing nice clothes and dresses and such. For months, I'd only seen people in tees and sweats and yoga pants.

I visited my grandma at the nursing home, they have all sorts of rules about it but they're not really enforced at all. someone takes your temp and makes you fill out a questionnaire. I visited with her outside, mask on and all, but had to pull it down a few times b/c she doesn't turn her heading aid on. poor lady, she has no clue what's going on right now.

i had a thermometer that took me forever to find in stores but i sterilized it and left it with the folks. I am the type who generally tends to notice the first time his temp goes up. usually if I'm 98.9 for higher, I feel symptoms of some sort. definitely febrile at lower temps than other people.

A friend was out shopping and on the way back to her car pulled her mask off and stuck it in her pocket while she loaded groceries into her car and some asshole got basically up in her face to congratulate her on not being a "sheep" and falling for the "media hysteria". Thankfully he just silently walked away when she pulled the mask back out and put it back on, it could have gone worse.

for people who complain about sheep, they sure all have the same homogeneous communication style

i have also seen some motherfuckers losing their shit at people wearing masks, it's always nearly hyperventilating middle aged people who would like to share their manifesto.

s'why i always bring nunchuks