News & Experiences continued

[MacMadame]

They’re the blood brothers of those very fine people in Charlottesville.

Some of them are the same people. (I saw a picture of a famous Proud Boy who traveled to one of the protests from out of state. He was also in Charlottesville.)

Our leaders need to do more to help those who are suffering from the impact of the shutdown whether psychologically or because they are shut in an abusive situation. We also need our leaders to be upfront about telling people not to fear accessing medical care and that hospitals are safe if you have a need to go.

I am interested in what sort of things you think they should be doing that they aren't doing?

We have commercials here telling people to come in for a health problem (just call first) and my medical group has sent me messages about it. The Governor mentions mental health during his daily briefings, but the media rarely reports on that. There have been some people in the spotlight who mentioned that they signed up for that TalkSpace app. And encouraged others to do so. Plus there are lots of PSAs about domestic abuse with hotline numbers.

On top of that, I think that our Project Room Key should be expanded to include not just healthcare workers and the homeless, but domestic abuse victims. I think that's better than a hotline number. I also think that one of Newsom's daily briefings should be about mental and physical health. Then the media would have to report on it. Plus we need some task force/initiatives about it.

What do you think?

Clothing stores in Ontario are not open yet, so not Ontario!
We have essential stores that sell groceries/drug stores, drive thru/curbside food pick up and curbside pick up at nurseries, etc. Nothing fancy yet.

That's about what we have. We'll have more in some parts of the state on Friday but so far the Bay Area hasn't said they will follow suit.

I remember when people who wore masks were regarded with suspicion/thought to be criminals.

Some poor Black guy got shot and killed when he was out jogging because some vigilantes decided he was a robber.

Ah, sorry I used the wrong tense - the steaming and taking clothes out of circulation for a week was the store's plan for when they open, not one they were currently using. Still, it could very well be somewhere other than Ontario. I am not even 100% positive it is anywhere in Canada, but I think so.

I really don't understand why they would keep them out of circulation for a week. That intense overkill. 24 hours would be fine according to the studies so if you want to be extra careful, you could keep them out for 2 days. Comments like this show to me that people aren't really absorbing the details and/or are overly scared. My sporting goods store keeps anything that comes into the warehouse in quarentine for a week too and I was just when they told me that (when my order was misdelivered by UPS and ended up back in the warehouse). Oh well, at least none of my favorite salespeople will end up getting the Crud from doing their job. Unlike Amazon workers.

 

[BlueRidge]

I am interested in what sort of things you think they should be doing that they aren't doing?

We have commercials here telling people to come in for a health problem (just call first) and my medical group has sent me messages about it. The Governor mentions mental health during his daily briefings, but the media rarely reports on that. There have been some people in the spotlight who mentioned that they signed up for that TalkSpace app. And encouraged others to do so. Plus there are lots of PSAs about domestic abuse with hotline numbers.

On top of that, I think that our Project Room Key should be expanded to include not just healthcare workers and the homeless, but domestic abuse victims. I think that's better than a hotline number. I also think that one of Newsom's daily briefings should be about mental and physical health. Then the media would have to report on it. Plus we need some task force/initiatives about it.

What do you think?

About the domestic abuse I have no idea and I'm sure that the government task forces and nonprofits that are already out there with it are trying to. Sadly, it is already incredibly hard to deal with it in regular times.

But as for the encouraging people to access medical care and letting them no they are safe to do so, that's really good that you have commercials. I'm not aware of that here. I've just been concerned that this is mentioned over and over that people may not be going for care when the need it, so anyway to get the message out there, starting with the governors and mayors saying it, and trying to get the media to focus on it more, is good. Its not that I'm casting blame for them not doing something they should have, just that I think it needs to be more of a focus given the concerns.

Mental health is harder because people's needs vary. Hotlines can help some people, some people may be able to access telehealth, in this case, I think the media has done a pretty good job of providing resources and information about how to try to cope. Just letting people know they can call their regular doctor if they feel depressed or panicked, as that person should be able to guide them to resources.

ETA: These things feel overwhelming when you start thinking about all the needs. The NY Times is reporting 1 in 5 children experiencing hunger now. We need to have some level of trust in government and non profit agencies to help and to support that and for people who can to give donations. But I just keep reminding myself this is our WWII. Its unprecedented and unimaginable; it is a crisis we are trying to find our way through.

 

[Doggygirl]

Since the subject of domestic violence has been raised in recent posts - did anyone else hear something recently that Air BnB is doing something to help provide shelter for DV victims? I heard something on the radio the other day - I wasn't paying close attention. Curious to know if anyone else has heard anything.

The homeless shelter where I work (100% remote since late March) as a contractor finally tested everyone there (guests who stay there overnight in one of the programs or emergency shelter, and all on-site staff) last Friday. The results came back Monday. Not suprisingly given the close quarters (depsite best efforts at social distance, hygiene, etc.), 5 guests turned up positive. Only 1 has exhibited any symptoms, which I find interesting. All 5 are now in quarantine for 2 weeks. They are housed in rooms at the facility, which have no TVs computers or phones. 2 of the quarantined people are not allowed to have their personal cell phones due to "program rules." I can't imagine being cooped up in a small room for 2 weeks with absolutely nothing other than a Bible to read, and perhaps a few other books.

Given the absence of symptoms, I really wonder how many other people may have already had the ***** (there was no antibody testing). I'm just shocked that nobody has gotten really sick.

Seems like this is a wiley ***** for sure.

I am very grateful that I have been able to work remotely - to keep my income going and not be exposed. That is such a blessing that the other workers there (and guests, who are limited in other options that are not a park bench) do not enjoy.

Bless everyone on the front line of this thing - thank you for your service!!!

 

[skategal]

Here's an article on what is known--and not known--about how BB affects children:

https://wapo.st/2yqQt0m

It includes some information about the new Kawasaki-syndrome-like condition.

I'm not the least bit surprised....unfortunately.

It's another reason why this "let's just send all the kids back to school right now" is a bad idea.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Susan1]

No t.v. update today. I went to Meijer to get yogurt. I walked in and a woman shopper was opening the thing that has the wipes in it because there weren’t any sticking out. I never would have thought of that when I don’t see them. Ha ha. She handed one to me. Someone was wiping off the cart handles. And I said they do that at Kroger too, but I always take my own wipe so I can open the handles of the milk case too. She said that’s a good idea. I had my wipe with me, but I didn’t get it out. I guess it will still be moist when I go to get milk at Kroger tomorrow. It’s sunny, and I didn’t want to do both things and leave one dairy thing in the warm car, not knowing how long I would be in line. I need to remember to get in the "no limit" line behind a couple. One person can be bagging while the other person is checking out. I get behind a single person with not a lot of stuff and then have to wait for them to bag their stuff before I can start.

On the way over, I went past West Carrollton high school and there was a girl in her cap and gown getting her picture taken by the sign. They probably do that any year in groups and stuff. It would be a neat idea for everyone to do it separately this year. Somebody could combine them into one picture.

Ohio’s numbers
Confirmed cases - 20,625 + 951 probable = 21,576 total; median age 51; 167,978 tests
Hosp. - 4,052; ICU - 1,151; healthcare workers - 3,378
Deaths - 1,114 confirmed + 111 probable = 1,225 total
Lucas county (Toledo) has the most deaths at 151.

Columbus - 3,237 / 99
Cleveland - 2,542 / 131
Marion county - 2,347 / 13 now
Cincinnati - 1,527 / 93
Dayton - 332 / 10 - same since 4/17, 6 are over 80 / 107 hosp.

 

[Skate Talker]

I really don't understand why they would keep them out of circulation for a week. That intense overkill. 24 hours would be fine according to the studies so if you want to be extra careful, you could keep them out for 2 days. Comments like this show to me that people aren't really absorbing the details and/or are overly scared. My sporting goods store keeps anything that comes into the warehouse in quarentine for a week too and I was just when they told me that (when my order was misdelivered by UPS and ended up back in the warehouse). Oh well, at least none of my favorite salespeople will end up getting the Crud from doing their job. Unlike Amazon workers.

I know - way more time than necessary. I just don't see how the business can make it work with this kind of policy in place. It's pretty crazy to me. But I guess they are overdoing to try to get the trust of Jane public.

If you are someone like my aunt it would give you a better feeling of security for whatever reason. In the last few weeks she has had to have 2 different people in to repair essential things in her house. Her biggest worries were removing towels they might accidentally brush against with their clothing and washing the floor immediately after they left. Meanwhile, she stood right up close to the first one watching everything he was doing. She just isn't getting it despite being really really intelligent about everything else. Her standard answer is that they just don't know everything yet about how it is spread. Okay that's true but they do know close physical contact with a live, breathing human is definitely a risk for transmission, and unless she can turn back time and find a way to put her house shoes into her mouth or to get down on all fours and lick the floor she's going to have a hard time getting sick from where they put their feet.

 

[MacMadame]

Daily CA Briefing:

Expanding benefits to healthcare workers such as workers comp so if they have C-19, they can get taken care of. This was a gap at both the federal and state level. (Still need to use their Fed and State benefits first.)

For phase 2, the most important thing is to protect workers. We don't want people to come to work sick because their business is open and they can't afford not to work.

They are working on creating a balanced budget and federal money has to be part of it. "Nation-state is a figurative term, not a literal term." "We need leadership at the federal level." Revenues have fallen off a cliff in many cities and counties in CA and money and leadership from the feds is required.

Guidelines for industries moving into Stage 2 are coming tomorrow.

They got their money back for PPE that they bought and never got. They changed their approach to PPE procurement. BYB is the company they are using now. But there have been some delays due to getting federal approvals. But they are also getting more equipment faster than expected. They learned a lot from the mistakes made originally. This learning will be part of our post-C-19 analysis.

Hospitalizations and ICU numbers went down. But 95 people lost their lives in the past 24 hours. (This is up compared to yesterday)

I think I'm going to write to the Governor and ask him to do more for mental health and make that be a theme of one of his daily conferences.

ETA: These things feel overwhelming when you start thinking about all the needs. The NY Times is reporting 1 in 5 children experiencing hunger now. We need to have some level of trust in government and non profit agencies to help and to support that and for people who can to give donations. But I just keep reminding myself this is our WWII. Its unprecedented and unimaginable; it is a crisis we are trying to find our way through.

This crisis has really exposed the cracks in our way of life IMO. And I think, if this is our WWII, we are failing.

This reminds me, I finally got all the way through @Prancer's article on WWII and I am not sure if it makes me feel better or worse. Maybe both. The thing is, as a voracious reader, I knew that the US did not want to get into the war and that many people's attitude was that why should we care about what was going on over there? I did not realize there was so much racism involved or praise of Hitler.

Okay that's true but they do know close physical contact with a live, breathing human is definitely a risk for transmission, and unless she can turn back time and find a way to put her house shoes into her mouth or to get down on all fours and lick the floor she's going to have a hard time getting sick from where they put their feet.

This reminds me of all the people who use hand sanitizer constantly when they are out. So they "wash" their hands and two seconds later they touch something that might have droplets on it.

 

[BlueRidge]

This crisis has really exposed the cracks in our way of life IMO. And I think, if this is our WWII, we are failing.

Well its not meant to be a parallel in terms of actual events, a ********* is entirely different from a war, so the historical comparison is the 1918 influenza.

I just see it as our generations' (plural, baby boom to Gen Z) seminal event similar in terms of disruption for us as WWII was for those generations.

I don't think we are failing. Most of the world was unprepared and the US particularly so, given our resources. But I think the vast majority of people take this appropriately seriously and are doing what is needed on an individual level. Its still very early in the crisis, assuming it will last months if not over a year.

 

[MacMadame]

More from the briefing (hit return too soon):

Q: Something about a vaping bill. A: The Legislature has the right to set their priorities. Plus vaping sucks. (paraphrase)

Q: (major paraphrase): Is the WEstern state pact a FU to Trump. A: No. The pact is great, many benefits to it, and they want to keep it up post-C-19 for other issues.

He was asked about PPE and whether he could use the law to get it (Like the Defense Powers Act?). He said they talked about it but what

Q: Is the Governor following the rules? A: Obvious, he has not had a haircut. Daughter offered to cut it but with her craft scissors so he said No. (chuckle). Can't wait to go out to eat. (He started as a restaurateur, which I did not know). The state operation center is taking it very seriously. He moved his office there. When he goes out, he wears a mask but he doesn't go out much.

Q: Release details of the contract with BYB before complete? A: yes, we deserve to know. Also, he respects the work journalists do. Wants to be as transparent as possible. But also wants to deliver stuff that saves lives so wanted to get it out first. But he wants people to know how great the contract is. Good prices. Based on today's market. (i.e., the one where masks were selling for $12 apiece.) Prays it doesn't impact the contract to release it.

Q: How long for CA to rebound? A: Longer than people think. These are depression area numbers. We were enjoying great numbers in Jan and now it's all gone to shit. (my words) Working with Speaker Pelosi to take care of our needs to make sure most vulnerable are taken care of. But no doubt we'll recover and be a strong and smarter society. It just will take years.

ETA I forgot to mention that there will also be an extension of the deadlines for paying property taxes. And there is a website that shows testing sites near us.

I don't think we are failing.

I didn't think that but then Georgia re-opened and people keep protesting because they want a haircut. But what really bothers me are the businesses opening up against the rules and how much attention they get in the news.

 

[Prancer]

This reminds me, I finally got all the way through @Prancer's article on WWII and I am not sure if it makes me feel better or worse. Maybe both.

Once when I was teaching a lit class, one of my favorite students put her head on the table and started moaning. When I asked her what was wrong, she said that she had always thought that human beings USED to be better and that we were just in a little dip and we could get back to being better, but my class was proving to her that human beings always sucked.

That's true, but to me, literature proves the opposite is true as well. I think it's easy to get caught up in the idea that people suck when you see people behaving badly--but we are not inclined to notice how many people behave well, and even if we were, whatever news we take in is rarely framed that way. You see protestors storming statehouses; you don't really see people developing vaccines (and when you do, it isn't nearly as visual or engaging).

But anyway, I think most people have this vague notion that people were somehow better in the past and I am now so confident that they weren't that if, say, a student makes that kind of statement about some period in the past, I will say "But people did X then, too" and count on that being true when I have everyone look. Haven't been proven wrong yet. Last semester, I learned some really things about lawsuits in medieval England, for example.

We have the seeds of greatness planted in....fertilizer.....within us.

 

[PRlady]

My org is dealing with lawsuits in a dozen states from religious leaders protesting their churches being included in the restriction orders. Some of it is economic, you can't pass a plate virtually and in poorer congregations, online giving is not a thing. Some of it is a misreading of the Constitution establishment clause. And some of it is entitled whining -- I think I posted something else from this lady many pages back: https://twitter.com/bethanyshondark/status/1258074070442217478?s=20

 

[Buzz]

Police in NYC are being criticized for their differing approaches to social distancing enforcement.
https://tinyurl.com/ycb4mxey

Outrage after juxtaposed images show officers handing out masks to white sunbathers, while video shows officer punching a person of color.

 

[once_upon]

Governor Cuomo's press briefing had a couple of really interesting pieces of information.

The first, shortest and easiest, was that NYS has a new hotspot, in upstate NY, located at a greenhouse. He was emphatic that it wasn't the meat in the meat processing plants that's causing the outbreaks; it was the dense working conditions.

The second part of his presentation had to do with hospitals reporting over the past three days more in depth information about the people being admitted who tested positive.

“If you notice, 18% of the people came from nursing homes, less than 1% came from jail or prison, 2% came from the homeless population, 2% from other congregate facilities, but 66% of the people were at home, which is shocking to us,” Cuomo said.

“This is a surprise: Overwhelmingly, the people were at home,” he added. “We thought maybe they were taking public transportation, and we’ve taken special precautions on public transportation, but actually no, because these people were literally at home.”

Cuomo said nearly 84% of the hospitalized cases were people who were not commuting to work through car services, personal cars, public transit or walking. He said a majority of those people were either retired or unemployed. Overall, some 73% of the admissions were people over age 51.
Well over 90% of the people suffered from comorbidities. NYS lists hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, dementia, and renal disease as the six most common comorbidities in fatalities.

Cuomo was emphatic in his presentation that it was fine to have opinions but you should stick to the facts. So I'll follow his advice and not extrapolate (however brilliantly) on what he reported.

I watch Cuomo everyday. The other interesting fact was that to be considered in the elderly age group it was 51 and older.i wonder what that means to the real numbers of the at risk population.

Later on MSNBC Katie Tur asked what he thought about the number of children with inflammatory disease possibly related to the C-19. He did say that not enough was known about the disease and we are learning something new all the time.

My governor said that what he was going to look at was the number of hospitalized patients, not diagnosed now that we have more testing. Uh, that doesn't address the areas like packing plants where it is a good indicator of work conditions and the presence of the *****. No numbers on hospitalization, just that we have plenty of hospital beds.

 

[once_upon]

My org is dealing with lawsuits in a dozen states from religious leaders protesting their churches being included in the restriction orders. Some of it is economic, you can't pass a plate virtually and in poorer congregations, online giving is not a thing. Some of it is a misreading of the Constitution establishment clause. And some of it is entitled whining -- I think I posted something else from this lady many pages back: https://twitter.com/bethanyshondark/status/1258074070442217478?s=20

When Ricketts opened religious services attendance, the actual passing of the collection plates was not to be done as there is no way to sanitize between each person touching the plate or basket. The two religious leaders part of the presentation that day said they were going to have a collection basket at the front of the church so people could put into the plate without touching the plate.

 

[Dobre]

But anyway, I think most people have this vague notion that people were somehow better in the past and I am now so confident that they weren't that if, say, a student makes that kind of statement about some period in the past, I will say "But people did X then, too" and count on that being true when I have everyone look.

Yes. To say we are "failing" our WWII moment . . .

I keep thinking that a lot of the things happening right now are going to read in the history books just like Japanese Internment Camps.

And on the reverse side, you have all these scientists & health care workers facing down this awful disease.

People are both succeeding & failing. The same is true in the political arena where we have had a lot of leaders really step up and help protect their states and/or local communities as a whole. Employers also.

So you have one hairdresser that defies the rules, brings in a line of customers, and gets her name in the paper. How many thousands, however, are home losing their income, trying to plan a safe return to business, and respecting the lives of their customers. (Plus probably giving a few people some do-it-yourself advice over the phone). Unfortunately the person defying the rules creates a poor example for others and leaves leaders--who really do not want to punish anyone facing economic hardship--with a balancing act as far as how much they can let go before having to respond. The fine from a safety organization would wipe out any short-term income gain from said hairdresser very thoroughly.

 

[skatfan]

My org is dealing with lawsuits in a dozen states from religious leaders protesting their churches being included in the restriction orders. Some of it is economic, you can't pass a plate virtually and in poorer congregations, online giving is not a thing. Some of it is a misreading of the Constitution establishment clause. And some of it is entitled whining -- I think I posted something else from this lady many pages back: https://twitter.com/bethanyshondark/status/1258074070442217478?s=20

Some of it is definitely whining, and then some of it is probably existential. Plenty of small, urban congregations are struggling to pay basic bills, as they usually get cash donations, and their members lose jobs. Of course, those often are not the ones complaining.

My congregation just got a CARES loan/grant, which is a bit of surprise, but okay, we'll use it. Our pension/medical board is waiving the fees for me for 3 months, so yay for that. We are almost to the finish line on refinancing our mortgage, only now our bank is saying they don't want to sign until we are worshipping physically again. That frosts me because we have an elderly congregation that is not going to want to worship physically for a while, and we are doing ok financially even with online worship, etc. I have no idea when it will be a good idea to worship and whether that will make a difference financially. In the meantime, O\our office is sending out SASEs because yes, a lot of our folks write checks, and it seems to be working.

 

[BlueRidge]

I didn't think that but then Georgia re-opened and people keep protesting because they want a haircut. But what really bothers me are the businesses opening up against the rules and how much attention they get in the news.

Media gives the things that are different attention, but its really amazing to me how much people are following the rules, don't want them lifted too soon, etc. It may look like a mess but I think we are going to get through this, which given our political situation and rather national leadership, is greatly to our credit.

I'm not as sanguine about what will happen after C-19 is over...

 

[Prancer]

Media gives the things that are different attention, but its really amazing to me how much people are following the rules, don't want them lifted too soon, etc.

Yes, it's kind of to read comments about our particular situation in the US posted by people from other countries who are getting all their impressions of what is happening from the media. It's very different looking at things from here.

 

[missing]

A little problem in Utah (currently believed to be the exception).

The cost of meat is 8% higher than it was this time last year.

The U.S. is currently at 73,800 reported fatalities. I don't see how that number could be less than 75,000 by tomorrow afternoon or 80,000 by this point next week.

 

[BlueRidge]

Yes, it's kind of to read comments about our particular situation in the US posted by people from other countries who are getting all their impressions of what is happening from the media. It's very different looking at things from here.

I'm reminded of many years ago during the Iraq War, Ziggy posted breathlessly to tell us all we didn't know that was happening because he had the impression we didn't have any information available in the US. I explained to him that in fact we could access BBC and a whole host of other international news sites and he was really surprised.

I think the media here is reporting accurately on those who are following the orders and who support them, and the extent of support, I just think that people attend to the more sensational items about protests and hostility. And also Donald Trump...

 

[mjb52]

The second part of his presentation had to do with hospitals reporting over the past three days more in depth information about the people being admitted who tested positive.

“If you notice, 18% of the people came from nursing homes, less than 1% came from jail or prison, 2% came from the homeless population, 2% from other congregate facilities, but 66% of the people were at home, which is shocking to us,” Cuomo said.

“This is a surprise: Overwhelmingly, the people were at home,” he added. “We thought maybe they were taking public transportation, and we’ve taken special precautions on public transportation, but actually no, because these people were literally at home.”

Did he say anything about what kind of buildings they tend to live in?

 

[Cachoo]

Yes, it's kind of to read comments about our particular situation in the US posted by people from other countries who are getting all their impressions of what is happening from the media. It's very different looking at things from here.

The Atlantic has a story titled "The Public Is Astonishingly United" and goes into detail w/various polls that suggest the vast majority of Americans think the administration and some of their cronies are moving far too fast to reopen everything. I've always noticed how puny the numbers are for the protesters when you compare them to the millions in each state who have remained at home and are practicing social distancing. But the protesters are loud squeaky wheels.

 

[PRlady]

Some of it is definitely whining, and then some of it is probably existential. Plenty of small, urban congregations are struggling to pay basic bills, as they usually get cash donations, and their members lose jobs. Of course, those often are not the ones complaining.

My congregation just got a CARES loan/grant, which is a bit of surprise, but okay, we'll use it. Our pension/medical board is waiving the fees for me for 3 months, so yay for that. We are almost to the finish line on refinancing our mortgage, only now our bank is saying they don't want to sign until we are worshipping physically again. That frosts me because we have an elderly congregation that is not going to want to worship physically for a while, and we are doing ok financially even with online worship, etc. I have no idea when it will be a good idea to worship and whether that will make a difference financially. In the meantime, O\our office is sending out SASEs because yes, a lot of our folks write checks, and it seems to be working.

Not to get too far into the weeds, but I'm right now writing a statement explaining why we opposed government money funding clergy paychecks; it's a first and a bad precedent, especially because this Administration will use it as a precedent for further trampling the First Amendment. That said, my colleagues are I are not beating the drum about this because we understand that most clergy are paid very modestly, and that goes for the organist and the choir director and the Sunday school teachers as well.

 

[canbelto]

Holy shit at the exponential growth curve in Russia now!

 

[Prancer]

I'm reminded of many years ago during the Iraq War, Ziggy posted breathlessly to tell us all we didn't know that was happening because he had the impression we didn't have any information available in the US. I explained to him that in fact we could access BBC and a whole host of other international news sites and he was really surprised.

I think the media here is reporting accurately on those who are following the orders and who support them, and the extent of support, I just think that people attend to the more sensational items about protests and hostility. And also Donald Trump...

Hostility does tend to dominate. And IME, the media reports pretty accurately on most things; we just focus on some things and not others.

 

[missing]

Did he say anything about what kind of buildings they tend to live in?

I don't remember him saying anything about housing.

 

[PRlady]

I don't remember him saying anything about housing.

Most NYC residents live in apartment or rowhouses, not single-family homes, but that's true in almost every major city (except in California and Texas, I think.) So I understand Cuomo being baffled and upset by how people are catching this thing.

 

[skatfan]

Not to get too far into the weeds, but I'm right now writing a statement explaining why we opposed government money funding clergy paychecks; it's a first and a bad precedent, especially because this Administration will use it as a precedent for further trampling the First Amendment. That said, my colleagues are I are not beating the drum about this because we understand that most clergy are paid very modestly, and that goes for the organist and the choir director and the Sunday school teachers as well.

I actually share your concerns on that front - it's weird~ I'm not even sure we need it, but given the uncertainties folks wanted to do it. There was concern about the govt meddling in churches if we accept this $, and at least they decided that if in the end we don't need the $ they will donate the funds to places like food banks, etc, that are providing direct assistance to the whole community.

 

[mjb52]

In Moscow and LA things started getting worse at least a month into the lockdown. There is some other factor at work here, I really think a fundamental assumption is wrong somewhere. It's really confusing.

 

[missing]

Most NYC residents live in apartment or rowhouses, not single-family homes, but that's true in almost every major city (except in California and Texas, I think.) So I understand Cuomo being baffled and upset by how people are catching this thing.

I started out in a two family house in Far Rockaway, Queens (nowhere near as exciting as being born in a trunk in the Princess Theater in Pocatello Idaho) and then spent the next seven years in a single family house in Cambria Heights, Queens.

I think a lot of people in the outer boroughs live in single family or two family houses. Think of Archie and Edith Bunker.

What the exact percentage is, I have no idea. But I also understand Cuomo being baffled and upset. Government has a certain amount of control over the community part of this disease (wear a mask, keep 6 feet apart, close non-essential businesses, sanitize the subway cars), but really no control over what goes on inside a home.