I chose to file my question under Working Caregiver. For the record:
I am all for social distancing.
I am all for people wearing masks in public.
I am all for COVID positive people not being admitted into nursing homes.
I am all for limiting the number of visitors at hospitals and nursing homes.
I am all for telemedicine.
I am all for the Subway being closed overnight for cleaning.
I am all for hand washing.
I am all for ZOOM meetings and telecommuting.
I am all for distance learning.
I am all for plexiglass shields protecting cashiers at the grocery store.
I am all for limiting the number of people who can be inside any store at once.
I am all for temperature checks.
I am all for contact tracing.
I am all for people working in a clean environment at least 6 feet apart.
I am all for keeping restrictions on people most at risk of having a severe case of or dying from COVID.
I am all for PPE for all health care workers having direct contact with patients.
I am all for travelers being put in 14 day quarantine.
I am all for new and stricter regulations to keep all workers regardless of industry safe!
However, a vaccine will not happen quickly and given that fact, what I am increasingly struggling to cope with and feeling angry about is this lockdown-fits-all approach to managing this pandemic. Los Angeles just announced lockdown through August. How many cities will follow suit?
This pandemic has shown that our health care system is horribly broken, and we can never go back to putting profits ahead of people. The PPE shortage is a national disgrace! But endless lockdowns or sporadic lockdowns are not the longterm solution to the design flaws of American health care.
My husband and I are spending our savings to weather this crisis. We pay our modest monthly condo charges because our building still needs to run. But all around us, neighbors' lives and livelihoods are being destroyed and some have stopped paying their rent or condo charges. Remember that unemployment doesn't cover many millions of workers.
We've endured many weeks of lockdown and what do we have to show for it? More lockdown and speeding up conveyor belts at slaughterhouses!
What we need is creative ways of getting businesses back open and people back to work safely. When is the retraining going to start of workers who can't go back to their old jobs? When is the reorganization of physical plants going to start so that people can go back to work and do so safely?
I applaud the salon lady in Texas and Elon Musk in Fremont for defying lockdown orders! People on this forum talk about how important work is for working caregivers and not just because of the money. Thankfully, I'm still working but hubby works on commission and zero sales means zero money.
I don't know why we stick around here anymore; we haven't seen my FIL in months!!! I am homesick and struggling with whether or not all this misery is worth it.
Regarding vaccines
The Government passed a law some years ago saying that if a vaccine was produced in good faith ( and they all are) then the pharmaceutical company could not be sued if something was wrong and the vaccine was made using proper techniques.
This is why BIG Pharma is making vaccines for EVERYTHING now. When I grew up there were like 6 vaccines - now there is something like 22.
A note about immunity
As we age vaccines become LESS EFFECTIVE. This information is readily available on the CDC website and yet no one ever reads it. They push flu vaccines on the elderly and yet never tell them the WHOLE truth.
I am not against vaccines- some of them are absolutely life saving- but I do believe that NO information should be kept from the public , including the money incentives and things like the fact that the flu vaccine is only 60% effective .
You are either from the camp that believes everyone is stupid and needs to be told what to do ( a camp which I feel is very patronizing and condescending), or you are like me, and feel that given ALL the information people, are perfectly capable of making decisions which are right for them.
As far as COVID-19 and quarantine. I think politicians are politicizing this virus and trying to force people to choose a party. The FACT is if you feel comfortable going out you should be able to and if you are too afraid you can stay home. No one should be trying to tell anyone what to do. People are smart enough to make their own choices. People who have a higher risk should be staying home, they have been warned. They said Georgia was gonna go up in flames for opening early and Georgia cases continue to go down.
Yesterday I went out to Lowes. This particular Lowes is just outside a 55 snd older community in my state. I was surprised to find many active seniors shopping at Lowes with no face masks on!! They were all zooming round with their carts like BRING IT!!! LOL. A life lived in fear and confinement is called prison. I am in healthcare so I certainly believe in everything the scientists say. But I also have been in medicine for over 30 yrs and I know about every decade or so the scientists who were certain about something 10 yrs ago have to come out and apologize for being wrong. Eggs are evil bad for you cause heart attacks!! OOpsie we were wrong about eggs they are ok! TYLENOL is good for you! NO ones allergic to it KIDS can have it its great stuff!!! OOOpsie Tylenol causes liver failure. Be smart. be safe and look for answers then make a choice best for you!
We need to come together and figure our way out of it together. Government is not the answer to this problem - government is the problem. Communities and families need to solve this problem together. People are the government. We are the government. At least in the USA, we are the people and we are the ones who are supposed to be forming a more perfect union.
Yet, we the people did take our eyes off the ball and left much too much to "the government". Going to the voting booth and then thinking that our civic duty is done is not how it works. We have to come together and shrink faceless government bureaucracy, fire the politicians, take back the money they waste on their political pet projects, and be vigilant about what's left of our democracy.
If we cannot trust each other then truly all is lost.
Some people out there think if you go back to work, you are hurting people. No, you can be safe and practical at the same time.
Long term lockdown isn't practical. Just find safe ways to do things instead.
Politicians are evil, and I think we would all do well to remember that the Founding Fathers never ever intended for there to be career politicians. In fact, quite the opposite. Political representation was supposed to reflect the communities from where one lived and worked.
When was the last time "the government" solved a problem? Not even governors are fixing things. The tent cities in California sprouted up long before this virus. How come so much money gets spent but nothing seems to get fixed?
I'd like to see a large scale investigation of all the death counts around the country to see how many actually died of the virus and how many were fraudulently included so that the hospitals could charge more money.
We must hold doctors accountable. Doctors admits patients to hospitals. When a patient gets poor care or an infection, we should hold the admitting doctor accountable. Doctors don't seem to care about people much anymore; they too care about profits. We must make them start caring again. We must complain to the medical boards when we or our loved ones go into hospital and get poor care. Hospitals can't make money if doctors stop admitting patients because of lack of cleanliness or bad staff.
My neighbor had to go to the ER this week for an abscess. She did not want to go but it was big and infected and she finally had to go. She was terrified. Her daughter is an ER nurse, and told her that her hospital was not cleaning the rooms as thoroughly as they had when this virus first showed up. She said the hospital had made a big show of cleaning for a few weeks, but she didn't see those cleaners anymore. Anyway, my neighbor said she threw her clothes away upon returning home from the ER.
I have to say I am so very happy that I live in BC and have Dr. Bonnie Henry as our Chief Medical Officer at the helm of our Covid-19 ship. I feel Canadians are also lucky to have a federal government that is not making this a partisan issue.
Canada has offered considerable financial support to Canadians who are not working due to Covid-19. $2000 per month for up to 4 months, money for students who are unable to find a summer job, business loans and more. Yes, it will have to be paid back over time, but it is better to keep families and businesses afloat so they will have the ability to pay taxes in the future.
We never had a lock down in BC. Some businesses, such as personal care were forced to close, and restaurants had to do take out to delivery, but most were allowed to stay open, clothing stores, garden centres, mechanics and more. What has been emphasized is social distancing, staying 2m or 6 feet apart when outside of our homes. Grocery stores limit the number of customers inside and have one way aisles to limit contact between customers.
As of Tuesday we are entering phase 2 and personal care businesses can reopen as long as they meet safety rules. We can increase the number of people in our social bubble.
Most schools and all universities did close and as of next week elementary schools will reopen (school year ends June 30th), but families will have to option of sending their kids back to school or continuing to home school them.
Here in Canada the hardest hit populations have been seniors in care facilities and more recently meat and produce packing plants. One oil camp was infected too and workers heading home from it dispersed it to other communities.
One thing BC residents were asked to do, not a health order, was to stay away from second/vacation/recreation properties. This I have not followed. I have on three occasions gone to our beach property. I bring all my groceries with me and as I have over 7 acres and our place is at the end of the road, there is no risk of be being a vector and spreading it in this community.
Our neighbour at the cabin has done the same. No I have not been visiting when them, but I see them on the beach and the dogs come over to play with mine.
My big challenge and it is a serious one, is finding a job. I graduated from university this month and very few companies in my field of study are hiring. I have a healthy emergency fund and am sure I will find a professional position before those funds run out. I am willing to take a menial job in the mean time to help extend my funds.
I escorted an elderly woman to the ER and they kept trying to run me off, I refused and they didn't have a clue what was wrong until my husband said, it appears that she is having a stroke, shouldn't they have recognized the very obvious symptoms?
They have the attitude that they know more about you than you do and they don't listen to anything the patient or advocate is saying.
They refuse to give information in laymen terms so that they can be understood and they are easily offended, which is a huge red flag for me.
I could go on and on about the lack of professionalism and lack of care, they seem to have missed the part about doing no harm.
Oh, they also tend to wear their name tags turned inwards and I have actually had 1 refuse to turn it so I could see his name. Then lied to administration when I complained.
It is just gut wrenching that medical errors are the 3rd leading cause of death, yet the media hides this information from the public. But the above attitudes are a breeding ground for experimentation on human beings.
I just find it very sad that people are back to business as usual and not social distancing and using common sense to protect the vulnerable population.
We have been blessed that our lives didn't really change during the lockdown. We have been able to continue to work, we wear masks and gloves, sanitize items that get lots of handling. To see people not being careful is sad.
We don't fear this virus, we have faith that we are protected. We just want to help protect those that can't protect themselves and I believe that means doing lots of hand washing, social distancing in tight quarters and keeping our breath contained in case we are carriers.
It is so unfortunate that the media has misled the people, now they don't believe that it is really an issue, so they are not using common sense and good hygiene. That is what I have seen since Friday.
I think what people want is the politicians to trust them to be careful, and not use this for power hunger
It's the politicians who lack common sense and consideration. And worriedinCali is right about why they can't and won't write clean bills.
Speaking about doctors, I had a telemedicine followup with a hand surgeon (nothing serious), and it was both safe and convenient for me. When I went to see him the first time he didn't touch my hand. After keeping me waiting in the waiting room for nearly 90 minutes, he asked me to do some moves and saw me for all of 5 minutes. When his secretary scheduled the follow-up, I asked for telehealth and she was like "Well, he doesn't like it so if he wants to see you in person, I'll reschedule you." Oh really???!!!
everyday, every minute, it's a reminder. surgeons love to do their specialty,, operate..
SURGEON... they love to operate.. if he cannot give you the time you need to discuss surgery...that may be your answer...
My boss was out and about, even playing golf. Whenever I did pop into the office to grab a file I made sure he wasn't there, and washed my hands several times as we have a bar sink in our suite. I noticed the foam soap was always at the same level as when the last time I used it, so I knew my boss wasn't washing his hands.
Lo and behold, I get a call the other day, my boss is in the hospital with the C-19 virus. I hope he pulls through.
I worry about how many people my boss had infected along the way.... [sigh]. Such as putting his hands on the door handle of the exterior door of the building... pushing the elevator button inside and out.... hand on the door handle to our office.... the TV remote.... the coffee maker... file drawers.... telephone receiver/buttons.... anything metal or heavy plastic.
My primary doctor has Quest testing on-site, so I went there. The test is a blood test, not a swab test. So far I haven't been infected.
As for age, as I had mentioned before, my sig-other works at a cemetery. This virus know no age. It can hit anyone.
Be safe, my friends.
Be safe, good friend; I'll be thinking of you and hoping that you are safe and don't become ill. I think though that since you didn't have direct contact with him and have protected yourself otherwise, you have a good chance of remaining safe.
My boss is the first person I actually know to have caught the virus. My sig-other, who had worked for the Federal Gov, had learned several of his former co-workers, TSA Officers, had died from the virus, and they were decades younger then him :(
From one report I read, less than 30% of those admitted to hospitals for the virus need intensive care, that means more than 70% are not serious cases. And for those 80+ years old that are in the hospital, 90% will survive. Yes, 90% of old and weak 80 y.o. or older will survive the virus. I read somewhere that a 100 y,o. lady/man (?) contracted the virus and survived.
Healthy and even not so healthy people getting the virus is not something to get hysterical about. They/we will survive and their bodies will build antibodies to protect them against the virus if they come in contact again. The population as a whole can develop herd immunity.
My cousin (50 y.o.) who is a front line nurse got infected, and he recovered after a couple of weeks. A friend (late 40s and overweight ) got infected, and she recovered. And there are millions of survivors that the media won't talk about because that would not fit into their narrative.
Please people, stop this hysteria. People die everyday from all sorts of causes. Are we going to hide like this every flu season, too? How about abolish cars so no one will die from car accidents?
Don't forget those curbs you see and step over to cross the street... someone trips on those can cause a massive headache/injury.
Beware of kicking off your underwear in the bathroom... it may get caught on your little toe, and you may end up with a broken foot... yes, I know...it sounds stupid, but it happened to a friend...
People... sometimes it's better not to have a dog on a leash that is retractable... yes, this too happens... the dog wrapped around its owner and tripped her = broken arm.
Bird flu, Swine Flu, SARS... when did these pop up? Political years? I did not look it up, but someone says that COVID is popping up since it's a political year, nothing like this will come around in 2021 since the wor.d will not be voting... whatever the case... be diligent, use your handiwipes, and your defense guards against whatever you think you may come up against... Do be diligent, do not sneeze into someones space, and if you do.. apologize..Let them know it was not intentional.
Gosh, if the upper beings say.. wear a mask into a store.. it's only for a portion of your day... Wear, it. I as at the post office a month ago, this man was holding a lot of boxes...mask and all,,, I did go up to him and asked him if he was ticklish... He couldn't move. And you can't see his mouth.. was he smiling? did he think I was as funny as I thought I was? Who knows... I myself needed the laugh...I was not so aware of eyes back then as I am now.. So I do apologize to that man with a bunch of boxes in line at the post office. I hpe he knows I was joking
Why did this disease pop up? So many different reasons from so many people..
How, why, where, what?
Bats? Hygiene? culture of edibles? politics? no particular reason? Who,what, where, why.... the world as we know it, is changing.
This world is so much smaller nowadays... and has been, but now, we can't turn our necks... Well, my neck doesn't turn too well now anyway.. The poor guy behind me at grocery store only had one item... This mask I'm wearing steams up the reading glasses I need to read a label, is not comforting, so now I don't look around or beside me, nowadays. behind me (social or public distancing-whatever you name it) not much anywhere except in front... so he had to wait for my cart of groceries.. Normally I would have allowed him to go ahead of me... I felt bad...
He didn't seem to realize it either,,, so I guess it was ok....
I notice when I smile at someone... they are not smiling back.... :-[ Why.. I suppose is they too as I am are wearing a mask,,, we only see eyes. and sometimes they too seem "masked" over..
I also don't understand why more kids are not wearing masks. They are most likely super-spreaders. Masks with fun children's theme prints on them are available and yet I see hardly any small kids wearing masks. It's bothersome.
So, not washing them everyday, hanging them under your chin, that kind of behavior can put you at greater risk because you are trapping bacteria in your face.
Sheesh, it never ends with the conflict of what to do.
I think it is a whole lot of good old fashion cleanliness that has apparently become obsolete and cost prohibitive. What?!? I am making a list of businesses that I will not ever shop in again. These places should have been doing thorough cleanings at a minimum of weekly and heavy traffic areas daily. What has this world come to?
It's not that hard to teach people how to wear a mask properly. Don't touch the front of the mask with your hands. Put it on with clean hands and handle it by the ear loops. Remove it with clean hands by the ear loops. Wash the mask daily.
The answer isn't throwing up our hands and saying "oh well, masks are useless".
And I too am making a list of shops that will never again get my business! Cleanliness is next to godliness.
And all this goes on while some people still refuse to wear masks, yet the management to my knowledge hasn't acted on it, despite signs on the doors. The staff shouldn't be responsible for removing the non-maskers, especially given the hostility some of them show when challenged.
On Friday I saw at least a dozen people not masking, including one couple who I thought were classic high risks. Both were morbidly obese, slovenly, and cutting through aisles as they pleased.
I was thinking that eventually stores may have entrance monitoring, with some type of digital or photographic methods of highlighting noncompliers and barring their way, something like the subway turnstiles.
This all seems so dystopian, yet it may be necessary if people fail to comply.
Another thing I'd like to see implemented would unfortunately be a breach of medical ethics, but it's that anyone who admits to not wearing a mask in public be triaged for lower level attention. Why should noncompliers benefit from the same level of priority as compliers?
Why should anyone be required to wear a mask to enter a public space? Recently our government was resisting people wearing face coverings on religious grounds because it interfered with identification. Even in the early CV shutdowns, mask wearing was discouraged for the general public. What legal basis would you deny care to someone who chooses to act differently than _you_ believe they should? The CDC has changed the recommendations and/or guidelines on wearing masks and the reasoning behind those guidelines so often to make any reasonable person's head spin.
Current thinking/guidelines is to wear a mask in public places WHERE SOCIAL DISTANCING CANNOT BE MAINTAINED to contain the respiratory spread _from_ an infected person, not to protect the non-infected from breathing respiratory droplets so much (because small particles get in most masks). That may be changing again since one recent study shows infection from droplets left on common use surfaces isn't as infectious as previously believed. And the increasing number of people who have recovered do not need to wear a mask at all. The CDC guidance also states people doing heavy exercise or with breathing problems should avoid wearing a mask. COPD suffers or people who asthma flairs may pass out as oxygen level falls from even limited mask wearing. Or maybe that couple you saw have lung or heart issues making long term mask wearing _immediately_ life threatening, instead of a low to moderate risk or catching CV _potentially_ life threatening. Shouldn't they be able to make the decision for themselves without any "mask shaming"?
What business wants to "enforce" ever changing _guidelines_ on their customers?
As far as reducing treatment for people who do not follow _your_ choices, would it be acceptable to deny or reduce treatment for people carrying the DNA strands identified for breast or ovarian cancer? After all, they could escape needing expensive treatments in their 40s and 50s by having much cheaper "preventive" hysterectomies and mastectomies in their 20s and 30s.
How about restrictions on people who have carrier genes for cancer, sickle cell, cystic fibrous, tay-sacks, diabetes, osteogenesis imperfecta, etc. having children? If these people were not _allowed_ to have children, all the known genetic based illnesses would be removed in one generation. Think of all the money we could save on both treatments and cure/treatments research. And all that needless suffering by children growing up with these disorders! All we need to do is sterilize the carriers and/or abort any carrier fetuses.
Concerned people who suspect they have genetic problems would avoid testing? Easily solved, just use the blood samples required for decades from newborns for genetic testing too.
Although I understand the thinking of current European medical and socialital influences supporting aborting disabled children (like those with down's syndrome), I cannot really say those are the areas I want to used for cost containment even in rationed single payer systems. So far those choices are still being made by the woman carrying the child, but how long will it be before that changes? Are you aware in some European countries as many as 90+% of all down syndrome babies are now "selectively" aborted? A woman wanting to carry a down syndrome baby to term will not easily find support or care even now.
I would much prefer to leave personal choices, medical and otherwise, to individuals and not to _any_ governmental agency. But then I am a libertarian and have a lot more faith in people than government bureaucracies even while observing a few acting badly; they probably won't kill any more people than governors sending CV positive residents back to NHs.
I am both heartbroken and also angry. Angry because his death could have been prevented if he would have listened to the medical experts about precautions.... so sad.
My boss was at the golf course for his tee time when he felt so tired he couldn't get out of his car. Then it went down hill from there :(
Did anyone see the world news this evening? OMG, there was film of people all crammed together in a water park.... another of crowded beaches. Is life so throw away that one would risk becoming ill or catching the virus to pass onto others, just to go the the beach or water park?
As for the beach, I live near the beach and I go to the beach often. Even on the busiest day at the beach on a normal year, and there were tons of people at the beach, there is so much open space that no one was ever, ever elbow to elbow with another unless they were in the same group.
I just came back from the beach a few hours ago, lots of people, and everyone respect and keep distance, way more than 6 feet. You can NOT tell accurate distances from looking at pictures or videos.
You have a HIGHER risk of getting the virus at your local market check out line than walking at the beach.
At the check out line, you're 6 feet away, at the beach, you are usually at least 10-20 feet or more away from the next person. Also, at the market, things you touch and put down were mostly likely been touched by others before you, then others will touch those same items after you. Nothing like that happens at the beach.
Let's compare the number of people per CUBIC feet, inside the market vs. open space at the beach, there is NO comparison since the sky is the limit vs. the ceiling at the market.
How about the recycled air inside the market vs. the clean open sea air? Again, no comparison.
At the beach:
--you get constant salty sea breezes that clean the air you breath.
--the dry hot sand kills bacteria and viruses in minutes
--the extremely salty water also kills bacteria and viruses
--the UV rays of the sun will also kill bacteria and viruses
So what I can see and observe, the chance of getting the virus at the beach is practically zero.
At this point it’s time to stop the shaming. If you are afraid of the virus, it’s ok to continue to stay home in isolation.
if you are high risk, it’s ok to stay home in isolation. likewise, it’s ok to venture out and get a taste of this “new normal”.
If your city/county has been under SIP orders for the last 2 months and you are OVER IT and ready to start living with the virus instead of in fear of it, that’s ok!
This virus isn’t going anyway. We are YEARS away from having a vaccine & seeing the results of it. This “stay home” lifestyle isn’t sustainable and there are many things we can do safely like play golf, hike or go to the beach.
There is really no reason for the young & the healthy to stop living. I’ll say it again—I am not staying home and putting my life on hold so people who have lived twice as long as me, can stay alive a few more years. Selfish are the folks demanding we all stay home while they simultaneously are able to stay home because they’ve passed on the risk to essential workers! Selfish are the people demanding we all stay home, while their income and livelihood hasn’t been affected. 35+ million unemployed all over a virus with a 98% survival rate. People MUST get back to work.
Suicides are up 300%. Would be nice if the media sensationalized the hell out of that instead of “crowded beaches”.
There has to be a middle way. Resuming life, but taking precautions like distancing, masks, et al.
40 million Americans are now unemployed. Most of their jobs are not coming back anytime soon or at all. Many are making more money on unemployment than they were working.
The problems seem insurmountable, especially because each of the 50 states is going to take a different approach to economic recovery. It's going to be a mess. At this point, I don't even know where to start to build an economic recovery. Perhaps more people need to become freelancers. Others will need to go to a trade school and learn hard skills. The next wave of unemployment is going to hit middle managers. I hope they've been saving for a rainy day because it's hurricane season.
This is the greatest tragedy to befall America since the Great Depression. And I don't believe that after so many decades of having the rich getting richer and poor getting poor that Americans are as resilient as those who came out of the Great Depression.