Coronavirus Tales

pyxistyx wrote:

i mean who'd have thought that UK GOV's solution to rely on Herd Immunity for something that DOESN'T HAVE A VACCINE WHICH IS HOW HERD IMMUNITY WORKS YOU IDIOTS would be ineffective.

Not necessarily. Herd immunity depends on antibodies, and there are two ways to get those: vaccination, or surviving the virus. If enough people are exposed to the virus and survive it, you can develop herd immunity in a population that way. But it requires shielding vulnerable populations throughout the entire time period when the virus is spreading and everyone else is recovering, which is difficult but might be one of the only real defenses we have against a novel virus like this one.

I promise that it turns my stomach to defend this UK government in any way.

Remember, we all get the common cold, and none of us that we know of develop more than temporary immunity...

Prederick wrote:

I went to the grocery store yesterday to get my parents some stuff, and I don't know about where you are, but here in the Hudson Valley, there's apparently been a run on eggs? Plenty of meat, but almost all the damn eggs were gone.

Hrm. Maybe a lot of folks who ate nothing but restaurant fare and fast food are now cooking for themselves and have time at home to do so. Eggs are cheap, and common both as an ingredient in comfort food and for breakfast.

Robear wrote:

Remember, we all get the common cold, and none of us that we know of develop more than temporary immunity...

Yeah, that's a big unknown factor in all of this. Reports from China and Japan of people possibly becoming re-infected with Covid-19 after recovering are not encouraging.

Rita Wilson made a playlist for everyone self-isolating or quarantining under coronavirus

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/14/enter...

Spoilering long wall of text about my mental health struggles through all of this.

Spoiler:

I struggle with ruminating or looping thoughts along with anxiety. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight and almost 2 decades of therapy it's clear that I've been this way my whole life, including when I was a kid. If you've followed me at all on here you've possibly even seen this behavior and how I get obsessed with certain things.

Sometimes the looping thoughts can take the form of being really excited about cats or a particular video game or learning something new. In the past when family has asked for help with a computer I'd frequently lock in and not give up until the morning came. I've done this many times with a video game or a problem at work. Or maybe a forum argument I just wouldn't let go.

I didn't know it at the time, but that was just how I was wired, how I've always been wired. Looping thoughts and anxiety over closing that loop, basically.

To say recent events have been hard given that wiring is an incredible understatement. I'm suffering a lot right now. All the news is about coronavirus. Many of the things we had as distractions are on hold or we can't or shouldn't do. Now many of us are self distancing and spending time at home in the same 1000+ square feet. We have slightly more, but it's the same.

For me the recent events mean the loop that's already in my mind keeps being brought back to the same topic. If you've ever meditated you know that a core concept of attentional control. The idea being that you train yourself to allow thoughts to just drift away. This practice has been really helpful for me over the last 5 years, but it's absolutely not working right now.

Other things that help. Routine. Going to work. Going to the pool. Meeting up with friends. Basically breaking up the flow of my life so I'm not in the same place doing the same things, thinking the same thoughts. You can see where this is going.

Things are really hard right now. I'm struggling to get through without being consumed. I'm asking for some thoughts and prayers and I'll do the same for you. Especially if you know what this is like.

There was brief talk on one of these threads about maybe starting a thread with coping mechanisms. I think that would be a good idea. I clearly need new ones or some ideas about how to shore mine up.

DSGamer wrote:

Spoilering long wall of text about my mental health struggles through all of this.

Spoiler:

I struggle with ruminating or looping thoughts along with anxiety. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight and almost 2 decades of therapy it's clear that I've been this way my whole life, including when I was a kid. If you've followed me at all on here you've possibly even seen this behavior and how I get obsessed with certain things.

Sometimes the looping thoughts can take the form of being really excited about cats or a particular video game or learning something new. In the past when family has asked for help with a computer I'd frequently lock in and not give up until the morning came. I've done this many times with a video game or a problem at work. Or maybe a forum argument I just wouldn't let go.

I didn't know it at the time, but that was just how I was wired, how I've always been wired. Looping thoughts and anxiety over closing that loop, basically.

To say recent events have been hard given that wiring is an incredible understatement. I'm suffering a lot right now. All the news is about coronavirus. Many of the things we had as distractions are on hold or we can't or shouldn't do. Now many of us are self distancing and spending time at home in the same 1000+ square feet. We have slightly more, but it's the same.

For me the recent events mean the loop that's already in my mind keeps being brought back to the same topic. If you've ever meditated you know that a core concept of attentional control. The idea being that you train yourself to allow thoughts to just drift away. This practice has been really helpful for me over the last 5 years, but it's absolutely not working right now.

Other things that help. Routine. Going to work. Going to the pool. Meeting up with friends. Basically breaking up the flow of my life so I'm not in the same place doing the same things, thinking the same thoughts. You can see where this is going.

Things are really hard right now. I'm struggling to get through without being consumed. I'm asking for some thoughts and prayers and I'll do the same for you. Especially if you know what this is like.

There was brief talk on one of these threads about maybe starting a thread with coping mechanisms. I think that would be a good idea. I clearly need new ones or some ideas about how to shore mine up.

DSGamer. Prayers for you buddy. Hang in there. This will pass. Let us know what we can do to help.

Sorry DSGamer, I hear you.

Hope this kind of discussion can be helpful to some folks.
Coping with Coronavirus

I'm really hoping that this turns out to be like Y2K.

Some folks think that Y2K wasn't a big deal, that the tech community was being alarmist about it. Well, it would have been a huge deal, if pretty much the entire tech world hadn't put in a ton of work making sure that every electronic item they owned was Y2K-compatible. Had it caught us flat-footed, we'd have had big, big trouble. I'd guess I probably put in about two months total over the last two years before the deadline.... and was working for a young company, so we didn't have crazy amounts of old tech hanging around.

Likewise, what I'm really crossing my fingers for this time is that maybe, just maybe, all this crazy prepping and staying in by everyone will make a substantial difference. This is something that Italy didn't do, and perhaps we changed habits in time for the infection to stay below dire emergency levels in many places.

Sometimes, a little panic is useful. Alarmism can be a negatively self-fulfilling prophecy.

There's been a few helpful messages going around that, instead of buying 6 months of toilet paper, buy what you need assuming you know you're coming down with bronchitis: a humidifier, soup (or make a big batch yourself), clear soda, juice and tea, a thermometer, painkillers and a cough syrup, etc.

I find it makes you less anxious that if you do feel an illness coming on, you can start treating it immediately which greatly mitigates the chances of you being a severe case and don't worry about needing to go grab other things in a hurry.

Went to the grocery at 5:30 am cdt this morning. Was able to get my normal weekly shopping done for the most part. Had to buy a different brand of bread, had to buy fattier hamburger and they were absolutely out of chicken breasts. Otherwise, got eggs and milk no issue.

Got up early yesterday to shop as I normally do on Saturdays and my local Stop and Shop was devastated. No milk, eggs, cheese, frozen veggies, bottled water, fresh chicken, pasta or sauce. Oddly, a lot of the organic stuff and “weirder” sauces we buy were fully stocked. So was one brand of sandwich bread and fresh produce. I got the sense that the store just got hammered over the last three days and are in the process of restocking.

Then I ran back out to another local store called Meat Farms because I forgot limes for our Corona and it was like an oasis. Nothing was sold out and shelves were all mostly stocked. You wouldn’t have known anything was amiss. The downside is that this is also where my 72 year old diabetic father-in-law shops which just reinforced his opinion that everyone is overreacting.

One of my brother's friends was venting on Facebook. He works in a grocery distribution warehouse. Apparently he's exhausted at this point.

The new camera that I was all excited about seems to have a dead HDMI out, and I don't have a way to source a SDI cable to replace it. Looks like today's church stream is going to have to be shot on the little camcorder I bought 14 years ago at Best Buy.

If Woody had gone to the police, this would never have happened.

I went last night around 11:30 and they just restocked some toilet paper. Which is good, because we were running out.

I have a job interview on Wednesday, pretty certain this is not the time to be changing jobs but just going to go along and see what they have to say. It's for a mobile role too so again, is this really the time to be travelling all around the region? Wonder if they have thought of this.

I was sort of expecting this development in Europe, I took some holidays about a week and a half ago, and flew back to my family. Now I'm stuck here, but I'm allowed to work remotely, 2000 km from my office heh. I'm not glad it turned out like this, but I'm glad that I can be out in the countryside rather than stuck alone in my tiny flat, only being allowed to go out for groceries. I have several family members who work in health care, they're taking this very seriously too and have even bought their own PPE as they're expecting it to run out very quickly.

I told my wife several weeks ago to start buying a little extra of everything. I saw where all this was headed. A few days ago she said she was glad I mentioned it. I guess there’s small benefits from being the worrier.

My 9 year old son has autism and is also intellectually disabled. He goes to a school specializing in autistic kids. They're funded by a combination of charitable donations, tuition and insurance reimbursement for behavioral therapy. As of this moment, school is still on for tomorrow. My wife and I are generally undecided people, but we will probably keep him home, as will several other parents it seems.

I am sure the administrator is worrying about the health of students, staff and families, but she's also got to be worrying about finances, primarily in terms of paying the staff, rent, etc. Therapy reimbursement will be instantly gone. My son, just as one example, was getting 20 hours per week, so that's going to be a substantial chunk of change. I expect parents will start balking at paying tuition once their kids have been out of school for more than a couple of weeks. Probably some will just elect to remove their kids altogether. So that just leaves charity.

Basically, I fear my son's school will close. I feel really bad for the staff members who will struggle to put food on the table. We'll have to scramble and get him into public school I guess. I can't imagine how that would work at a time like this. Maybe we'll just say we're homeschooling. My wife though is not emotionally capable of doing behavioral therapy with our son. This is also not something that can be done online- it's very hands on work.

I work in Manhattan, and as cool as seeing the city 75% emptied out has been, I am increasingly annoyed that my employer apparently hasn't even begun to discuss the possibility of having employees work from home if possible, while NYC officials are increasingly calling for a city-wide shutdown.

My family is pretty much on lockdown. My oldest son is medically fragile, and prone to respiratory infections and pneumonia. I spoke to his pulmonologist Friday, and he said that we should do everything we can to isolate him. We are basically treating this situation like everyone could potentially have the virus. Grandparents have been informed that for the next few weeks they will not be able to visit. Thankfully they understand and support our decision.

We are lucky in that my wife works at our local school, and they are now closed for at least the next 3 weeks. My company has taken the situation very seriously, and we are now working from home with a couple of very few business critical tasks I may have to go in for.

I do need to make a grocery run. My plan is to go to our local store right before they close tonight when it is usually empty.

OldMud wrote:

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I do need to make a grocery run. My plan is to go to our local store right before they close tonight when it is usually empty.

Go first thing when the doors open - they restock the shelves overnight and you'll find a lot of empty shelves last thing.

OldMud wrote:

I do need to make a grocery run. My plan is to go to our local store right before they close tonight when it is usually empty.

I went this morning at 8am - got the last loaf of under-$4 bread and the last gallon of 2% milk. No eggs, no sugar, no ground beef, and no canned cinnamon rolls of all things. Plenty of fresh produce, canned goods, cereal, chips/snacks, frozen foods, juice, cheese, and pretty much everything else.

We bought a breadmaker earlier this year, which is really paying off right now.

I live in a small town, so I'm hoping our local store won't be slammed like the larger stores, Costco, and Sam's Club in our nearby city have been. We will see. If all else fails, I can make my own distilled water for my son's CPAP, I guess.

Good call on checking first thing in the AM. If tonight is a bust that will be the next step.

In an interview that CNN did with a health expert on the topic of Covid-19, I heard what I consider to be the most sound advice for the weekend: “Try not to panic. It’s one of the worst things you can do in a crisis like this. It’s better to do nothing than to panic.

It’s my opinion that many folks who live in my area are in a panic. My family legit needed toilet paper and there was none at the grocery store, Costco, or Target. Pro tip: check Trader Joe’s. Earlier this morning Mrs Rawk went to the grocery store for our weekly essentials. 7AM: No milk or bread.

I’m experiencing a sort of backfire effect with all of this public panic. The more panic I see, the more flippant I become about this crisis. I have to keep reminding myself that there is good reason to be concerned about the Covid-19 situation.

I feel it’s important to keep in mind that until we get a lot more data on this virus, we really don’t know how serious it is. Most of the top health experts are concerned, but NOT worried. We should probably take a cue from them.

RawkGWJ wrote:

Most of the top health experts are concerned, but NOT worried.

What on earth gave you that impression?

I saw a recent claim, without further support, that in Italy, ventilators are now reserved for the under-65 crowd. If you're over that, per this unbacked claim, they're just leaving you to live or die on your own. They're focusing on trying to save younger people in critical condition.

I don't blame them a bit, that's the utilitarian decision to make when you have to pick who lives and who dies, but I don't envy those people. Can you imagine telling someone that you can't treat Grandma and that she's on her own?

If any of our top healthcare experts aren't worried, seeing something like that, they're probably not qualified for the position.

As I said upthread, hopefully our relatively alarmist personal responses to this disease will reduce its severity enough so that everyone feels silly. I'd rather have lots of red faces than dead bodies.

I don't think the ventilator thing is a official rule. However, they have been talking about not treating people that are likely to die anyway. This was for everything not just ventilators. The thought being that the hospitals will be overrun so they have to focus on people that are morel likely to live longer.

I kind of fear that countries known for being racist like Italy might treat the minority population the same way as the old people.

I mean, that's what's going to happen in most places when there are more patients than space. In the US, my assumption is that money will play a role in who gets access to care, but even then there comes a point at which there aren't enough spaces even for those who want to pay for them.

Tangentially related: my wife was told that she'd be forced back into the ER (she moved to OB about 7 years ago because of persistent back injuries caused by all the lifting they have to do in the ER) when things pick up here. She was told she could refuse, but they'd fire her. I told her she should tell them to get f*cked. Best case scenario is her weak-ass union is actually useful for once and prevents the firing. Worst case is we can leave this hellhole once she no longer has one of the few jobs around here that provides a living wage.

Edit: wait -- maybe I need to switch the labels for 'best case' and 'worst case'.