The Coronavirus Panic Thread

[jedimaster91]

I'm not ready to go back to the shop or the office. I feel like I would be so focused on keeping safe that I wouldn't be able to get anything done. I also will wear a mask for a trip to the store or errands but don't want to wear one for 8 hours.

I work in a hospital and here's what I did when I had to cover a coworker for a week. Some of it may be a little overly paranoid:

• Have a dedicated pair of work shoes if possible. Take them off either outside or right inside your door and put them in a safe place. Spray with disinfectant if possible.
• Clothes you wear to work go straight to the wash when you get home. At the very least, in a plastic bag and dedicated safe space until you can get to the laundry.
• Shower ASAP. Try to limit what you touch on your way there and sanitize what you do touch.
• If you have a choice, I personally find the masks that tie behind the head and neck more comfortable than the ones that hook behind the ears to wear for long stretches. Headbands with buttons sewn on have also been popular to help alleviate pressure on the ears.
• Good mask etiquette. It should cover the nose and mouth, try not to touch it, sanitizer when you have to touch it.
• Frequent hand washing/sanitizer. I have had issues with dry skin from all the hand washing, so if you can get a sensitive skin soap, do so. Otherwise, get a good lotion and pray.
• Find times when you can take the mask off, however briefly. Bathroom and lunch breaks are good examples.
• While at work, take deep breaths, do your best to relax and go on about your duties. For me the first day was the hardest. Once I got back in my groove it was easier to do the job with all the changes in protocols.
• Don't neglect your self care. Meditate, read, take a hot bath, whatever you need to do to reach your happy place.

[Food Lady]

Thanks, Jedi. I may not be going back to the store. I don't really want to go through liquidation.

[workerbee222]

According to the nurse I communicated with: Any mask damp with the condensation of your breath is no longer effective. Therefore, if one is required to wear a mask all day, it should be changed when damp, every 15- 20 minutes. That comes to about 24 masks, per person, per eight-hour day.

I don't know if any employers are doing that. My immediate supervisor is suggesting the store staff be divided into two groups, each staffing the store half the time. I guess that means wearing a mask only two or three days a week, for me.

I'm really not very optimistic about my job right now, since she's slated to buy out the owner over the next couple years. She seems to think that fitting clothing can be done without getting within six feet of the customer. She hasn't offered suggestions as to how this can be done, nor does she think fitting should be done, even with both customer and I masked. So...she wants people to buy $1800 suits, and not have them tailored. She's involved in making decisions in the day-to-day running of the store. The owner's going to back her up, I think. She won't be let go, the young salesperson who just moved here won't either. That leaves...me. To comply with the conditions of nifty government loan, he's required to keep me on through the end of the year. I suspect I'll be cut back to part time after that. Maybe even before: he has to keep me on, but does he have to keep me on full time?

I'm not wealthy enough to retire, and I'm a little old to be considered valuable. I'm feeling very sad today.

[EricKei]

To many of you: Geez...>_< You have my sympathies.


As for places increasing expectations/metrics...RED FLAG. That's a paper trail thing so they can get rid of people -- ideally, those not among the top brass who happen to get paid the most.

[Victory Sabre]

Our County fair has been called of to the panic. It was a huge money maker for us at our booth there.

We might as well close up shop for good now, instead of waiting till our lease is up at the end of September.

[Ghel]

I had to go to the clinic for a checkup on my arthritis Monday, and most everybody was being (rightly, I think) paranoid about COVID-19. Temperature checks, asking about symptoms, and required masks before getting past the entrance. They had the waiting room chairs arranged so that you couldn't sit right next to someone else. They had extra sanitizer attached to the walls, especially in places where you're likely to have to touch things, like by the elevators. Even my rheumatologist said he stopped wearing a tie and carrying a stethoscope everywhere because they could potentially accumulate the virus.

Worryingly, at least one receptionist wasn't wearing her mask correctly - it wasn't tight around her nose. I didn't want to say anything, but it bothered me.

The good news is my current meds seem to be helping my arthritis to reduce inflammation and pain, so I don't have to go back in for a while.

[EricKei]

VS - Oh crap x.x


We're too small for a proper Fair here -- We just have a farmer's market, which is happening on weekends, with strict distancing measures in force, limits on the number of customers, along with things such as requiring that all items sold be packaged up before being put on display, even fresh fruit.

[Food Lady]

I saw something about the Farmers' Market here. I've never been because I usually work Saturdays and don't want to get up early to go but I'm trying to work on becoming more a morning person.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I saw something about the Farmers' Market here. I've never been because I usually work Saturdays and don't want to get up early to go but I'm trying to work on becoming more a morning person.

The only way I'm going to become a morning person is to pretend I live about 5 time zones to the west.

[Buzzard]

The only way I'm going to become a morning person is to pretend I live about 5 time zones to the west.

It only helps for about a week or so. Pretty soon, you're back to your normal schedule based on the sun & clock.
Theoretically, you could just keep traveling west, around the globe, endlessly, to keep your desired wake-up time. (or just say 'Screw it' and roll over for another 4 hours sleep)

[MadMike]

Finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. The first set of counties is set to go "green" one week from today. It looks like it's a lot of the same ones that were the first to go "yellow", although it looks like they may be going in bigger groups this time. Not surprisingly, mine isn't one of them, since it just went into yellow status today. But I'm not complaining. I honestly didn't expect to hear about any of them going into the green just yet.

In addition, several more counties will go yellow next Friday, including the one where I work, which didn't make the cut last time. And the rest of the counties that still didn't make the cut will go yellow two weeks from today, which is the date that the lockdown has been since the last time it got extended.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but if things finally get to open up in the next few weeks, I'll be very happy. I remember when they were saying we'd have to lock down for two weeks, and that seemed unthinkable. Two weeks turned into two months way too fast. I'm already excited about doing things that I took for granted for years -- going out to dinner, going out to karaoke at the bars, or even just being able to run out and get grocery items at any hour if I suddenly run out of something. We have a few places that are normally open 24/7, but they're currently operating at reduced hours. About the only things that are still operating 24/7 is some of the convenience stores. Oh, and I miss my favorite burrito place. They went carryout-only for the first couple of days, but then decided to just shut down completely until this is over.

I also need a haircut badly. I actually got desperate enough to try a nearby barber shop that reopened in defiance of the lockdown, only to wait almost two hours and find out the guy can't do long hair. Unless I wanted to get it cut short, I'm out of luck, and it took me years to grow it long. Unfortunately, hair salons aren't allowed to reopen until the green phase, so I'll either have to wait a few more weeks, or take a road trip. One of the counties that's going green next week is less than an hour away from me.

Not that much is really changing from going into the yellow phase. In addition to hair salons, bars and restaurants can still only do takeout. Gyms and indoor malls are still closed, but stores that were considered non-essential can reopen as long as they have an outside entrance. And liquor stores, which were closed when this all began, reopened today. Some of them eventually were allowed to do online ordering, which was almost impossible to get it to work, or curbside pickup. I was at one a few days ago, and it was weird seeing the windows all covered up. But now people can actually go in and shop again. Masks are still required as far as I know, and may still be at the start of the green phase. The biggest change is that people are no longer required to stay at home when they're not not going to work or getting food or anything deemed essential. Taking a walk was allowed, but just going for a drive wasn't, although I heard conflicting stories on how much that was actually enforced.

Still no word on when I'll be going back into the office, and my wife is still supposedly going back on July 6. At this point, I'm wondering which one of us will go back first, especially considering that she works in the same county we live in, while the one I work in isn't going yellow for another week. My job even said that we might not go back immediately once the area goes into the green phase. The few people that are onsite are required to wear masks when they're up and around, but not when they're at their desks. I really hope that when I go back, that requirement is no longer in effect. I know it's necessary for now, but they're uncomfortable, and they're a depressing reminder that things aren't right. And wearing one starts to bug me after just a few minutes. I can't even imagine what it's like to have to wear one all day.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

What's the first thing that opens in Wisconsin? The bars.

Fuck yeah! Can't wait to meet my co-workers at our favorite bar for beer and pizza again.

[csquared]

MadMike
Good luck with your reopening. It is looking like Georgia may have reopened too soon.

The GA DPH has some nice charts on their web site. Reporting delays mean their data is not very accurate (read low) for 14 days. Anything more recent than May 9th is off. We have had a steady decline of new cases (7 day average) since April 20th. The numbers that they are showing for May 18th already have us 1/3 the way back up to our peak. That will probably increase as the data comes in.

[Food Lady]

The only way I'm going to become a morning person is to pretend I live about 5 time zones to the west.

Laughing way too hard at this.

[Smapti]

We're reopening on a county-by-county basis in my state, and This County got authorization to apply for "Phase 2" a few days ago, but it probably won't be approved until sometime next week. Phase 2 means that restaurants can reopen for dine-in at reduced capacity, barbers and the like can reopen, and most retail can open for curbside pickup. The county isn't currently requiring people to wear masks, but I expect that they will when Phase 2 starts. The county and the cities within it have cancelled their Memorial Day / 4th of July events, and both of our summer fairs are cancelled along with the summer outdoor concert series. The state fair is still planned for September, but I wouldn't be surprised if they cancel that one too.

Really, the only thing that's been hurting me hard (other than the fact that I find myself hyperventilating and getting lightheaded when I'm trying to stock shelves with a mask on) is that the buses aren't running. The dial-a-lift has been getting me to work every day quickly and painlessly, but I'm having to beg co-workers for a ride home in the evening because they don't run that late and there are pretty much no Uber/Lyft drivers on the road after 10 PM. On my days off I'm stuck at home. The bus company is saying they expect to be able to restart regular routes next month, but they'll be running at about 30% of regular schedule for awhile because they've lost over half their drivers in the last few months.

Yesterday, the dial-a-lift I was on had to pick up another passenger downtown. Our downtown isn't massive - this is an urban area of about 200,000, but it's also a state capital, and the oldest city in the state - so no skyscrapers to speak of, but a lot of narrow streets and old brick buildings. I haven't been downtown since the buses stopped running, and it's become rather eerie. Almost everything is closed except for a handful of restaurants doing takeout. Very few cars on the roads or in parking spots. A lot of businesses, including public buildings and the bus station, are boarded up and/or fenced off. There were barely even any homeless people to speak of. The old common across the street from the old Capitol building and the old telephone exchange, which has been set aside as a public park since Europeans first settled here, is overgrown and unkempt. It's very much like the early scenes in a Walking Dead type scenario.