News & Experiences continued

[manhn]

British Columbia: 7 new cases and zero deaths. An entire uninterrupted week of no deaths.

 

[SkateSand]

Returned from my shopping trip. No changes so far - cashiers at both stores weren't wearing masks and the customers were 1/4 to 1/3 wearing masks, as usual. There was an FAQ for the new mask policy from the health department. When asked how they were going to enforce the mask wearing, the answer was, "We don't know." Honest!

The local schools have released their guidelines to parents on how they are going to handle fall classes - mask wearing for students will only be on the buses because they don't have room to enforce social distancing on the buses. Staff will have to wear masks in class and at other times, but not students. Classrooms will either enforce social distancing or provide barriers between students where they don't have room for social distancing.

 

[Sparks]

I don't understand some Governors. We are slowly opening up, masks are still required to go grocery shopping, the pharmacy, and other businesses. Our numbers are going down. Our Governor said if people quit following the rules and cases rise, the state will close again.

 

[Prancer]

I figured what these states have in common (in addition to the politics of their governors, which may well be a factor) is they're hot. So I've been wondering about air conditioning.

There is a lot of speculation about air conditioning. A couple of examples:

Researchers say air conditioning is linked to coronavirus outbreak in China

A new study found people in a restaurant in China were infected with ********, and the air conditioner in the windowless building may have played a role.

tinyurl.com

Fauci: Air Conditioning Is an 'Unknown' in Spread of COVID-19

Dr. Fauci weighs in on the increase in cases in Texas and whether or not air conditioning increases your chance of getting *********-19.

tinyurl.com

https://tinyurl.com/y76la3rm -- This one mentions being inside in air conditioning (but not air conditioning itself) as a possible factor in the Arizona outbreaks

 

[overedge]

Sample size of one, but....today I took our cat to the vet. We booked an appointment in advance, I parked in front of the clinic, the vet tech came out (wearing mask and gloves) and got the carrying case out of the back seat. Then I waited for him to bring her back out.

The vet clinic has a BIG sign on its door saying: call us if you're here for an appointment and we'll come out; no walk-in appointments; no entry without a mask; no waiting in the waiting area.

I was parked out front for 15 minutes. During that time I saw four different people, without masks, walk up to the door and go in, and then stand right next to the reception desk and the receptionist I guess the clinic staff are tired of telling people to leave, and I feel for them. But all I could think while sitting in my car and seeing this was "why the h*ll am I bothering?"

 

[Skate Talker]

I really wonder how all the organized sports leagues are going to handle this kind of situation. I really doubt it's limited to just one training camp in one sport.

Well apparently the Blue Jays have closed their US spring-training facility due to a player with a positive test. It was just a crawler on the screen so I have no further details.

 

[once_upon]

We walked to the Old Market and had a couple of glasses of wine and an appetizer. It was mid afternoon, sat outside, all the tables were at least 6 ft distance, there were at least 1-2 empty tables between us and any other couple, the staff all wore masks, the menus were available online and I observed the sanitizing procedures. We wore masks until our food and drinks were delivered. The staff recognized us so obviously they rehired existing staff. DH asked how business was going and she said ok. Since a lot of downtown businesses are still not opened, they of course dont have usual volume.

I guess I felt pretty safe.

 

[made_in_canada]

Sample size of one, but....today I took our cat to the vet. We booked an appointment in advance, I parked in front of the clinic, the vet tech came out (wearing mask and gloves) and got the carrying case out of the back seat. Then I waited for him to bring her back out.

The vet clinic has a BIG sign on its door saying: call us if you're here for an appointment and we'll come out; no walk-in appointments; no entry without a mask; no waiting in the waiting area.

I was parked out front for 15 minutes. During that time I saw four different people, without masks, walk up to the door and go in, and then stand right next to the reception desk and the receptionist I guess the clinic staff are tired of telling people to leave, and I feel for them. But all I could think while sitting in my car and seeing this was "why the h*ll am I bothering?"

My vet office is allowing people to come inside now but with masks and only one person per pet. When I was picking up some meds people were not paying attention to what they wanted. Two people went in together, I was the only one other than staff wearing a mask My friend works there and I asked her about it and she said barely anyone follows their rules. They do apparently force you to wear a mask if you’re going into an exam room with your pet. But they’ve basically given up if you’re just going in for food or meds.

 

[Susan1]

6:00 news - today (counties in viewing area)
Montgomery - 9 new cases, 1 death
Greene - 1 new case, 1 death
Warren - 2 new cases
Preble, Miami, Shelby and Clark - one new case each.

 

[tony]

And then there's this:

Source: 23 Clemson football players now positive

Clemson announced 28 new positive tests for *********-19 on Friday, and a source told ESPN's David Hale that 21 football players were among the new cases. Two football players also tested positive in the initial round of testing.

tinyurl.com

 

[once_upon]

And then there's this:

Source: 23 Clemson football players now positive

Clemson announced 28 new positive tests for *********-19 on Friday, and a source told ESPN's David Hale that 21 football players were among the new cases. Two football players also tested positive in the initial round of testing.

tinyurl.com

I think its unlikely we will see sports played this year. Unless everyone just says eff, we will not test and play anyway.
Especially contact sports like football, soccer and basketball.

Iowa and Nebraska high school baseball is being played. AFAIK no testing is being done

 

[manhn]

A big day to announce athletes testing positive: baseball players, football players, golfers, hockey players. What’s with that?

 

[once_upon]

At least the college football players started strength training this week, so they may just now be getting the screening results before they move onto scrimmage

 

[Dobre]

I really worry about my vet. They let people come in if wished, but my vet and his wife are both older, and he had heart problems. There are times when you really need to be with your animal, but people here rarely wear masks so I wish those people especially would not go in. I took my cat in for a checkup & flea medicine a couple weeks ago, but told the couple I would just drop the kitty off on the porch in his cat carrier. Cases are rising in the area & I really worry for this couple. The ventilation has always been bad in their office. More than once I've felt light-headed and had to drink water while waiting there so as not to suffer dehydration. They've been trying to move toward retirement for several years, and I could go to another vet OK if they chose to do this. I think, though, that probably the veterinarian really does not want to let all the animals and their humans in his specific area down. He would really like to pass on the practice to someone who would keep it going; but the young man who was apprenticing when I was there last summer wasn't there when I brought my cat by this year. If it isn't hard enough to convince a young vet to move to a rural community, we had to go have a ********* on top of it . . .

 

[MacMadame]

A big day to announce athletes testing positive: baseball players, football players, golfers, hockey players. What’s with that?

It's Friday. It's a good day to drop bad news because it tends to get lost in the weekend.

That's my theory anyway.

 

[Dobre]

Texas childcare centers see sharp increase in ******** cases after months of relative calm
https://tinyurl.com/y7fp44mj

"As of Friday, 410 total cases of ******** — 267 staff members and 143 children — had been reported at 318 licensed child care operations across the state, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. That’s a sharp increase from the 339 cases the agency reported Thursday and the 210 it shared with KVUE-TV in Austin on Monday."

******** cases are increasing at Texas child care centers, but the state repealed safety rules
https://tinyurl.com/y8yqet2g

"As of last week, state-licensed child care centers are no longer required to comply with a list of safety precautions in effect since mid-April. That means centers will decide for themselves if they want to check staff temperatures, require parents to drop off their children outside or stop serving family-style meals, according to a notice from the state Health and Human Services Commission.

Other safety guidelines provided by the state during the current public health crisis— including minimum class sizes — are recommended and not required, the state told providers in late May. Child care centers will not face repercussions for keeping staff to student ratios extra low."


Um, so this doesn't seem to be working out. Might one suggest unrepealing those repealed rules pronto?

 

[Dobre]

Checking in on various states:

Florida could be the next epicenter of the ******** *********, report warns
https://tinyurl.com/ybj4pg7e

Things seem to be turning a scary corner in Florida. This article was published today. Then this afternoon, the announced new cases there rose again. Almost 4,000 today.

North Carolina governor vetoes bill to reopen gyms, bars amid ******** concerns
https://tinyurl.com/ych6xk72
Backbone.

Apple will re-close some stores in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arizona due to ******** spikes
https://tinyurl.com/yd4kbn2n

Hawaii, Alaska, and Montana all have case numbers rising also. Each were down below 5 for at least a month there, but all have double digits this week. Hawaii had 27 new cases today.

Idaho's case numbers are over 100 for the first time since April. Nevada had 410 and over 300 of those are from Clark County (Las Vegas).

 

[manhn]

Why Hawaii?

 

[Dobre]

Why Hawaii?

It is reopening within the state. There is also a cluster associated with an infected pastor who met with congregants at his or her home.

 

[Orm Irian]

Here in SA we've just had our 25th consecutive day with no new cases - there was a man who came back into the state via quarantine in Victoria who tested positive, but was not contagious, so he's been added to our historical total but didn't count as a new case. But Dan Andrews (Premier of Victoria) has just announced that his state is reinstating some restrictions, effectively going back into a partial lockdown, forthwith, as they've uncovered a big problem with cross-household ***** transmission within families - people ignoring gathering limits, going to work while sick, visiting others while sick (and not just unknowingly), etc. They've had over 80 new cases in the last week, mostly household-to-household transmission. Returning travellers in quarantine are not the majority of new cases now.

They have noted that some of the people who went to work while sick did so because they had no access to safety nets - no Jobseeker, no Jobkeeper, no sick leave - and saw no option other than to keep working, so they've created a hardship payment that people in that situation can access to help ameliorate the issue while they quarantine. I hope it helps. I had a giggle at the 'Tiser's OTT headline retort* when Andrews got snitty about SA not opening the borders to Victorians earlier this week, but this disease sucks and I do not want one more Victorian to have to endure it, so no schadenfreude here.

*"Scandal-plagued premier of disease-ridden state sledges SA", if I remember rightly.

 

[Louis]

I can see buses from the window where I sit while working. People get on the bus with a mask (to satisfy the requirement), sit down, and then take the mask off or put it around their chin. Especially on the upper level of the double decker buses. In my informal survey, 40-50% of people on buses do not have a mask.

You're missing my point. The survey is not random. It isn't statistically valid. The fact that it matches your experience is interesting, but it doesn't change what the survey could measure.

I wouldn't entirely discount convenience samples. Whether something is statistically valid is a complex topic, and doing something "statistically valid" is quite expensive. Oftentimes, the cost outweighs the benefit. 99.9% of the survey research I've done for companies wouldn't meet publication criteria. It's still useful, actionable, and predictive of what we need it to be. I don't see anything wrong with "quick and dirty" in this instance, since it's designed to show what the general pulse is of the TV station's viewers.

There is a lot of speculation about air conditioning.

Oh lord, European offices were already intolerable, with the Spanish and Italians claiming a/c will kill them. I'm never going to be able to go into an office in summer again.

My friend who works in retail for a Spanish company in the UK has his shop heated to 27 Celsius (80 F) because (according to his management) that temperature kills the ********. Doesn't sound right to me. I am not going into any shop that's 27 Celsius. I can't imagine having to work in that temperature, with a mask, shield, etc.

 

[Prancer]

Oh lord, European offices were already intolerable, with the Spanish and Italians claiming a/c will kill them. I'm never going to be able to go into an office in summer again.

My friend who works in retail for a Spanish company in the UK has his shop heated to 27 Celsius (80 F) because (according to his management) that temperature kills the ********. Doesn't sound right to me. I am not going into any shop that's 27 Celsius. I can't imagine having to work in that temperature, with a mask, shield, etc.

For your friend: https://tinyurl.com/ya4uvnff

This is a hot topic where my husband works because a) the air conditioning system is ancient, so you know the filter system is terrible; b) there is research that says that heat might help kill the crud (but it is not clear whether it actually does or how much heat it takes or much of anything); c) there is an outbreak where he works and d) they have masses of cold-loving computers that will not function well if they heat the place up.

Husband just keeps telling them he is fine working at home.

And the whole air conditioning thing is up in the air anyway. Is it the air conditioning, or is that people are crowding inside air conditioned places to escape the heat? Husband works on a number of projects with companies in the southwest and the workers he talks to are all fretting about air conditioning.

 

[allezfred]

#ButSweden

Coronavirus: Should We Aim for Herd Immunity Like Sweden?

And What Can Countries like the US or Netherlands Learn from It?

tinyurl.com

 

[Susan1]

A freshman on the Centerville high school football team has tested positive.

 

[SkateSand]

At my former office, we always thought the air conditioning was suspect, as in it needed a much better filtering system. I would be breathing clearly at home (surrounded by pollen, lol), but get to work and all of a sudden my nose would get stuffed up, then get home and be fine again. I'm not allergic, but there was something in the air at work that my nose did not like.

 

[Prancer]

#ButSweden

Coronavirus: Should We Aim for Herd Immunity Like Sweden?

And What Can Countries like the US or Netherlands Learn from It?

tinyurl.com

I am glad that there are people who actually like doing that kind of analysis.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

#ButSweden

Coronavirus: Should We Aim for Herd Immunity Like Sweden?

And What Can Countries like the US or Netherlands Learn from It?

tinyurl.com

And here I thought that all us people who just want to cower in our homes were oh so afraid to talk about Sweden because it proves us wrong!

 

[MacMadame]

And the whole air conditioning thing is up in the air anyway. Is it the air conditioning, or is that people are crowding inside air conditioned places to escape the heat? Husband works on a number of projects with companies in the southwest and the workers he talks to are all fretting about air conditioning.

I don't understand why they aren't sure. Aren't there cases that have been studied where one infected person infected everyone within his air flow (i.e., were the A/C was moving the air) but no one outside of it?

And here I thought that all us people who just want to cower in our homes were oh so afraid to talk about Sweden because it proves us wrong!

I am afraid to talk about Sweden because certain people bitched about it so much.

 

[Dobre]

My sister says that tests are still limited here. She is working in the health care system with the largest outbreak we have had in the state. They've done a couple rounds of drive up testing since the huge numbers came in. The initial outbreak numbers came in about Tuesday & Wednesday of this week. The people from that initial outbreak were tested the previous weekend). Everyone tested during the follow-up rounds had to meet specific criteria. I'm not sure what, but I did hear Mom say the people tested had to have symptoms. My sister doesn't expect the numbers to come back until @this coming Tuesday.

I feel like this tells a lot about why numbers escalate more now that things are open. Those people who were tested--they know there is a possibility they were exposed. But the people who were potentially exposed by them? They may not know until the middle of this coming week. Meanwhile they are probably going to work, etc.

Added note: This is the biggest outbreak in the state. If it is hard to get tested there, then are there really not tests available for people who are wanting to travel or trying to be responsible before heading back to work or wanting to go visit family in nursing homes, etc.? I read an article recently about a Latino couple that was turned down twice before a trip, and the article implied that this was unfair profiling. So who/where are the people actually getting to do this in the state, I wonder? Anyway, more of the confusing information we seem to be getting regarding testing here.

 

[Susan1]

They do the county report on one local news station at 6 every day, and I never bother to pay attention. I'm going to start recording it -
Reported today:
Montgomery - 40 cases - 1 death
Clark - 33 cases
Warren - 12 cases
Greene - 7 cases

Montgomery county deaths now 20, so I looked it up - ONE in their 30s; 2 in 40s; 3 in 50s; 7 in 60s; 7 in 80s; none in 70s or below 30. 14 male, 16 female.

Almost half of the hospitalizations just in this county are in their 50s and 60s. The most cases - 228 of the 1,214 - are in their 30's (people going to bars, etc, not wearing masks, not social distancing?), but only 22 hospitalizations in that age group, so they are probably still going out and spreading it around.