Have you made any notable changes or adjustments in your life post Covid quarantine?

[Stella]

Wearing a mask in stores for respect to the staff, and to protect others from me. I may be asymptotic...

There are still restrictions, i would love to hang out at a bar but that’s not going to happen anytime soon.

I have a few friends I meet, but only them. Working from home, our company isn’t in any hurry to open office and may allow people to work indefinitely from home, who want to.
There’s a lot of things I was looking forward to this year, and due to travel restrictions may not happen next year.

Life is definitely not back to normal. I’m hopeful that things will return to normality if a vaccine is discovered, even if it’s an annual thing, or an effective treatment. There’s quite a bit of evidence that human may only have anti bodies for up to 12 months, even less.

 

[Hieveryone]

I know that science may say otherwise, but come on. Masks have got to do SOMETHING to protect you if they protect others. It’s the same material on the inside and outside if it’s a cloth mask right? so it protects droplets that hit it on either side right???

 

[1042686]

I know that science may say otherwise, but come on. Masks have got to do SOMETHING to protect you if they protect others. It’s the same material on the inside and outside if it’s a cloth mask right? so it protects droplets that hit it on either side right???

Not 100% but I believe the logic behind mandating such misery is that the droplets coming out of your mouth directly are larger and easier to capture Vs once airborne & dispersed through the air, the droplets are much smaller & easier to pass around or through the mask.

I liken it to having a catalytic converter IN the carS exhaust system vs placing one 30 feet behind the carS tailpipe. Which would be more effective?

 

[ian87w]

WFH is probably the biggest change. Another one is probably having Zoom/Meet/any form of video call over the internet for any kind of meeting, be it personal or work. Also, not being able to go on site for certain work is a new thing. However, from a personal side, since I'm an introvert, staying at home has been a breeze overall.

Wearing mask is actually not a new thing as we have been using masks prior to covid due to the air pollution in the city. Ordering stuff from food to items online also are not new thing for me as we've been doing it prior to covid due to the convenience.

 

[C DM]

I know that science may say otherwise, but come on. Masks have got to do SOMETHING to protect you if they protect others. It’s the same material on the inside and outside if it’s a cloth mask right? so it protects droplets that hit it on either side right???

Science doesn't really say otherwise. It's all essentially a combination of factors.

 

[HDFan]

I'm just glad things are back to normal.

Yeah there'll always be some who are still afraid

If I lived in Arizona I would be afraid. If I got this correctly from the news tonight they declared a code red emergency in their hospitals due to Covid patients. Gives doctors the power to decide who to save when capacity is limited. Not just Covid patients, ANY patient who needs intensive care could be denied.

If I lived in Texas I would be afraid. It too is also approaching ICU capacity. With 40,000 new cases a day nationally, possibly increasing to 100,000, many more states are going to be declaring medical emergencies.

Arizona Covid tests showed 25% have the virus. It is huge reservoir which can burst at any time. For the states which are now in good shape, fall and winter still represent a huge challenge. I have read one report about a woman who had Covid and got it again. If that is true ...

Back to normal? Even CEOS say it is going to be late 2020 or 2021, and that assumes that a vaccine is ready which is a very optimistic assumption. Airbus says when announcing they were laying off 15000 (from NYT):

"air traffic not expected to recover to pre-Covid levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025"

That to me is the most realistic prediction of when things get "back to normal", when people again feel flying is safe.

We we have a long and perilous road ahead.

 

[26139]

Just the idiotic useless mask. Can’t wait to ditch that thing.

You mean the "useless" mask that can block up to 70% viral transmission?

How is that not useful?
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If I lived in Arizona I would be afraid. If I got this correctly from the news tonight they declared a code red emergency in their hospitals due to Covid patients. Gives doctors the power to decide who to save when capacity is limited. Not just Covid patients, ANY patient who needs intensive care could be denied.

If I lived in Texas I would be afraid. It too is also approaching ICU capacity. With 40,000 new cases a day nationally, possibly increasing to 100,000, many more states are going to be declaring medical emergencies.

Arizona Covid tests showed 25% have the virus. It is huge reservoir which can burst at any time. For the states which are now in good shape, fall and winter still represent a huge challenge. I have read one report about a woman who had Covid and got it again. If that is true ...

Back to normal? Even CEOS say it is going to be late 2020 or 2021, and that assumes that a vaccine is ready which is a very optimistic assumption. Airbus says when announcing they were laying off 15000 (from NYT):

"air traffic not expected to recover to pre-Covid levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025"

That to me is the most realistic prediction of when things get "back to normal", when people again feel flying is safe.

We we have a long and perilous road ahead.

I live in AZ and I'm fvkcing terrified.

I wish everyone had taken this seriously.
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That's basically my reason. If the masks are supposed to protect others, but others aren't around, than there isn't a reason to wear a mask when it is uncomfortable.

This is correct.

 

[HDFan]

One of the things that has puzzled me is the the large number of new cases in California. Governor Newsom makes data based decisions, so he is clearly looking at something other than case numbers. 2 articles today explained it. It is all in the rate of positive Covid tests:

Coronavirus test positivity rates are rising across California. What does that mean?

Here is what you need to know about the positivity rate for coronavirus testing: What it...

www.sfchronicle.com

"The World Health Organization’s recommended positivity rate for reopening is 5% or below over a period of 14 days, according to John Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center."

"the state’s positivity rate had jumped from 4.4% to 5.6% in the two weeks ending last week. And in the past seven days, he noted, the rate rose further to 5.9%.

“That’s a point of caution, point of consideration, and obviously a point of concern,” Newsom said."

San Jose Mercury News

"The U.S. average is 6.9%, and two of California's neighbors ranked among the five states with the highest seven-day average positive test rate Tuesday: Arizona (24.4%) was No. 1, followed by Florida (15.6%), Alabama (15.2%) Nevada (15.1%) and Texas (14.1%). California, with a 5.9% rate, looks good for now by comparison. Newsom noted that California has ramped up testing from just a few thousand a day to a new daily record of more than 106,000."

Given the large population, even with a low positivity rate that means a lot of cases. Newsom has announced new restrictions are coming to reduce the rate. Those other states will likely be having serious problems.

 

[itsmilo]

I have not worked since March but I am still getting paid in full (bless you Germany).

Over here it is mandatory to wear a mask at stores, restaurants (until you are seated) and on public transport. Waiters have to wear a mask and you have to leave your contact information at restaurants.

Also the access to stores is limited to a specific amount of people (usually you are forced to carry a shopping basket so they know how many people are currently inside).

There are those plastic wall barriers on check out to protect the cashier and hand sanitisers when entering and leaving stores.

Cinemas have opened back up again today but they can only run on like 20 % capacity and obviously there arent any new releases to be shown anyway.

Clubs and huge events (like concerts) are still closed and i am sure that will be a case for a long time.

Bars are open but only if they offer seating and there has to be 1,5 meter space between each table.

Our sales tax has just been lowered from 19 % to 16 % for the rest of the year and Apple actually lowered their prices. I am almost shocked!

I wonder if etiquettes like shaking hands will be gone forever now.

 

[1042686]

Here’s some context- that statement was made in context of the filtration abilities of a homemade unfiltered cloth mask vs say a n95 or +filtration system.

Through that lense, cloth masks do very little to protect the individual wearer. They DO however create a physical barrier for phlegm to adhere to, reducing Potential transmission to other people when social distancing is not possible.

Still don’t like them for a number of reasons but do acknowledge their ability to reduce transmission & spread.

 

[1042686]

One interesting (to me) observation is that I don’t know a single person who has contracted covid19. No one at work, none of my friends, none of my family, none of my neighbors etc. Granted, my anecdotal experience is just that, none the less this illness and it’s heath impact has been largely invisible to myself aside from news outlets & government mandates.

Questionable reporting of covid19 mortality begs one to question the accuracy of the data and if said data is flawed, are the actions taken by our govt warranted or strategically correct? Recent infection data (starting in early May) showing rates of infection spiking not among folks out & about busy being human but rather folks isolated and sheltering in place which can be interpreted as contrary to the country & WHOs postition on SIP mandate justification.

I’m not a naysayer (although it may seem that way) but I think we can do better; we need to do better. The private & public economic costs to the current strategy are staggering. We’ve effectively asked millions of people & businesses across the globe to bankrupt themselves & commit economic suicide - many of whom this is now their reality. To build a strategy solely through the lense of saving human life is entirely too narrow. I acknowledge that this can seem counter intuitive to instinct but there are real socio-economic aspects that are just as important to our continued health & survival that we are not adequately addressing.

 

[HDFan]

The private & public economic costs to the current strategy are staggering. We’ve effectively asked millions of people & businesses across the globe to bankrupt themselves & commit economic suicide - many of whom this is now their reality. To build a strategy solely through the lense of saving human life is entirely too narrow.

The economic cost is tragic. That's where the "positivity" test results come in. You tolerate a 5% infected rate, and accept that by doing so that some people will die. If it goes up then you start closing things down.

Texas is having to start shutting down again as they placed economics over health. They are now at over 100% of icu capacity. TMC hospitals are having to go to a Phase 2 surge plan.

TMC hospitals go into Phase 2 surge plans as ICU capacity exceeds 100 percent

Texas Medical Center hospitals Wednesday began converting some regular floor beds into...

www.houstonchronicle.com

As the chairman of the Federal reserve said, you have to control the virus first. If we don't do that we will have to retrench and that will make the recession worse. As long as the virus is out of control the economy is never going to recover.

 

[Hieveryone]

I don’t think the virus is causing concern like it did a few months ago amongst most Americans in real life, as I see everyone out and about without masks enjoying their lives. Most people infected are not getting major symptoms bc it’s mostly the younger crowd from what I’m hearing

 

[maflynn]

I know that science may say otherwise

Actually science is behind it, saying its probably the best tool (aside from quarantine) at preventing the spread
Several new studies support wearing masks to control coronavirus spread

I don’t think the virus is causing concern like it did a few months ago amongst most Americans in real life, as I see everyone out and about without masks enjoying their lives

That attitude is why Florida, Texas, and many other states are dealing with huge increases. Texas alone saw over 8.000 new cases yesterday. Hospitals in Houston are at capacity, and they're running out of ICU beds.

We are in the middle of a pandemic, yet so many people here in the US thought they could return to business as usual going to bars, restaurants and not wearing masks. Florida and Texas are the poster child of what not to do.

As for my habits, I've largely avoid crowds, I choose to not go inside stores, unless I have too and I limit my time which has shown to help avoid infection, i.e., try to spend 15 minutes or less. I wear a mask and practice social distancing.

 

[1042686]

The economic cost is tragic. That's where the "positivity" test results come in. You tolerate a 5% infected rate, and accept that by doing so that some people will die. If it goes up then you start closing things down.

Texas is having to start shutting down again as they placed economics over health. They are now at over 100% of icu capacity. TMC hospitals are having to go to a Phase 2 surge plan.

TMC hospitals go into Phase 2 surge plans as ICU capacity exceeds 100 percent

Texas Medical Center hospitals Wednesday began converting some regular floor beds into...

www.houstonchronicle.com

As the chairman of the Federal reserve said, you have to control the virus first. If we don't do that we will have to retrench and that will make the recession worse. As long as the virus is out of control the economy is never going to recover.

That was a centering & lucid response - Thankyou. If we look at nat'l infection right now and assume that data to be accurate, current death is at 4.74% of infection.

So, while specific places are experiencing spikes ie: Florida, Arizona, Texas etc, the nat'l average, is within that 5% mark as of today. Not to downplay the severity of this illness covid19 death so far is at 130k while our nat'l 10yr annual average is closer to 37-38k with some outlier years spiking into that range.

What is surprising to me is that the percentage of death vs infected for say Texas (as an example of current news) is still only 1.45% of their infection rate and spiking only to .008% of total population. Of course if you were to look at the news, their pro-economy stance would be leading them to certain doom but they are well below the 5% threshhold.

I'll certainly give you New York's numbers as alarming at 6.3% death vs infected but why shut down an entire nation because of a few statistical outliers? It seems obvious to me that this can and should be addressed regionally with a scalpel vs overarching one-size fits all WHO mandates that are overly destructive economically, emotionally, societally etc. What an interesting thought - regional, state driven responses are what is needed to swiftly corral and stamp out bursts of infection spread vs a large, slow, overarching mandate from the Feds (what many folks are criticizing the Feds about anyhow as lacking). Regardless, this experience will hopefully yield credible data that we can build a better strategy with moving forward.

 

[C DM]

I don’t think the virus is causing concern like it did a few months ago amongst most Americans in real life, as I see everyone out and about without masks enjoying their lives. Most people infected are not getting major symptoms bc it’s mostly the younger crowd from what I’m hearing

Unfortunately perception and reality can often be fairly different things. And reality doesn't really care about perception.

 

[D.T.]

That attitude is why Florida, Texas, and many other states are dealing with huge increases.

You are right on. Florida went from [mostly] all in, to almost nothing, it's spring break, it's the beach, it's people packing into bars. Now, everything is starting to shut down, again huge spikes, concerns over case management, etc.

 

[HDFan]

If we look at nat'l infection right now and assume that data to be accurate, current death is at 4.74% of infection.

Just heard on the news today that given the number who have had Covid but have not been tested is very large the death rate is actually <1%. Can't remember if it was .5 or .05%.

Again the positivity rate is the number of people who when tested test positive. >5% is a problem, <=5% becomes a political decision economy vs health. It is a predictor of what is to come. I just heard that Arizona's positivity number today reached 48%. Certainly looks like it will be catastrophic for their health system. California just reached 6%, so is implementing more shutdowns.

What are the chances that people won't congregate over the 4th? Pretty slim I think, so I would expect numbers are going to get worse.

I don’t think the virus is causing concern like it did a few months ago

Can you share what state you are from? Certainly where I live there is a "relaxation" in the sense that we now understand more so there is less fear. We have a picture of what is happening, and will happen. But actual behavior remains extremely cautious. I don't know anyone who has relaxed precautions. We are always taking risk into account when moving into public areas and wear masks.

It will be very interesting to see what happens in Texas with the mask order. Wonder what Texans think of the Lieutenant governor who lashed out at Fauci but just a day or two later Fauci's mask recommendation was made mandatory.

"What is surprising to me is that the percentage of death vs infected for say Texas (as an example of current news) is still only 1.45% of their infection rate and spiking only to .008% of total population."

What I've heard is that the death rate is down as the major surges in new infections has come in the younger generations who don't get as sick. The problem is that they interact with those who are are more susceptible, so it will take some time before they spread their infections to others, increasing the number of deaths. The percentage death rate may not change, but the absolute numbers will increase.

 

[Hieveryone]

WFH is probably the biggest change. Another one is probably having Zoom/Meet/any form of video call over the internet for any kind of meeting, be it personal or work. Also, not being able to go on site for certain work is a new thing. However, from a personal side, since I'm an introvert, staying at home has been a breeze overall.

Wearing mask is actually not a new thing as we have been using masks prior to covid due to the air pollution in the city. Ordering stuff from food to items online also are not new thing for me as we've been doing it prior to covid due to the convenience.

Ugh I hate zoom. I refuse lol. It’s either phone call or in person for me.

Hey tim, make me look better on your stupid low res laptop cameras!!! Lol
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One interesting (to me) observation is that I don’t know a single person who has contracted covid19. No one at work, none of my friends, none of my family, none of my neighbors etc. Granted, my anecdotal experience is just that, none the less this illness and it’s heath impact has been largely invisible to myself aside from news outlets & government mandates.

Questionable reporting of covid19 mortality begs one to question the accuracy of the data and if said data is flawed, are the actions taken by our govt warranted or strategically correct? Recent infection data (starting in early May) showing rates of infection spiking not among folks out & about busy being human but rather folks isolated and sheltering in place which can be interpreted as contrary to the country & WHOs postition on SIP mandate justification.

I’m not a naysayer (although it may seem that way) but I think we can do better; we need to do better. The private & public economic costs to the current strategy are staggering. We’ve effectively asked millions of people & businesses across the globe to bankrupt themselves & commit economic suicide - many of whom this is now their reality. To build a strategy solely through the lense of saving human life is entirely too narrow. I acknowledge that this can seem counter intuitive to instinct but there are real socio-economic aspects that are just as important to our continued health & survival that we are not adequately addressing.

That IMO is a huge part of it.

I know this is not true, but it’s ALMOST as if they’re running a HUGE experiment to see if they can totally fabricate a crisis and brainwash us into believing it’s real without us ever seeing any evidence in person that it’s real.

I know that’s not true, but that’s how it almost feels.

Seriously, what virus? The whole country is out and about and has forgotten about it, it seems

 

[Gregg2]

When we really get to a post-COVID-19 state, if this thread is still active I might have a reply.

 

[1042686]

Ugh I hate zoom. I refuse lol. It’s either phone call or in person for me.

Hey tim, make me look better on your stupid low res laptop cameras!!! Lol
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That IMO is a huge part of it.

I know this is not true, but it’s ALMOST as if they’re running a HUGE experiment to see if they can totally fabricate a crisis and brainwash us into believing it’s real without us ever seeing any evidence in person that it’s real.

I know that’s not true, but that’s how it almost feels.

Seriously, what virus? The whole country is out and about and has forgotten about it, it seems

I will be totally honest with you in admitting I have considered that more than once - like we're a bunch of lab rats running a maze of misinformation and anxiety fueled fearmongering. I guess this comes from growing up within a very distrustful of bureaucrats culture (then again rightfully so IMO). Anyhow, it anchors me to remind myself that the fundamental starting point of all science is one of not knowing. These scientists and doctors, as intelligent and amazing & dedicated as they are in their very educated & experienced guesses and predictive models - at the end of the day do not know. That won't occur until after we get through the crud, look back & analyze the data.

Conversely that is also a very alarming aspect to this. We can laud our leaders for data-driven decision making but that data requires context and context is pulled from how the scientific community interprets the incoming data. So essentially when all is said and done, bureaucrats are operating off a guess - certainly better an educated guess than an uneducated one I admit

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'm just glad things are back to normal. I don't think most people are inconvenienced at this point.

Things are not "back to normal".

I'm sure that the almost 130,000 people who have died in the US to date have been massively inconvenienced by Covid-19.

Yeah there'll always be some who are still afraid

That is a strange way of looking at it.

Personally, I'd use words such as "cautious" and "prudent", and "considerate of others" in this context.

I don’t think the virus is causing concern like it did a few months ago amongst most Americans in real life, as I see everyone out and about without masks enjoying their lives. ....

Reality and perception may differ.

Seriously, what virus? The whole country is out and about and has forgotten about it, it seems

I very much doubt that, with infection rates rising, and almost 130,000 dead in the US alone.

 

[C DM]

That IMO is a huge part of it.

I know this is not true, but it’s ALMOST as if they’re running a HUGE experiment to see if they can totally fabricate a crisis and brainwash us into believing it’s real without us ever seeing any evidence in person that it’s real.

I know that’s not true, but that’s how it almost feels.

Seriously, what virus? The whole country is out and about and has forgotten about it, it seems

And that is how the actual reality is able to be what it is.

 

[1042686]

Speaking of Covid19, deemed essential industry just got very real & personal for me. Despite being very cautious &
Puting all recommended precautions in place, we just had our first direct contact & potential spread of Covid19. We just shut down & everyone is in paid leave holding pattern as our facility is sanitized hoping to fire back up on Monday. The team including myself are about to go get swabbed up the nose to see if albeit limited exposure was fruitful for the virus.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Speaking of Covid19, deemed essential industry just got very real & personal for me. Despite being very cautious &
Puting all recommended precautions in place, we just had our first direct contact & potential spread of Covid19. We just shut down & everyone is in paid leave holding pattern as our facility is sanitized hoping to fire back up on Monday. The team including myself are about to go get swabbed up the nose to see if albeit limited exposure was fruitful for the virus.

Good luck with the test. Hope you and yours are okay.