The Coronavirus Panic Thread

[Seanette]

California isn't even allowing church services, although political gatherings representing approved POVs are somehow magically safe (I will not venture closer to Fratching on this topic), which gatherings representing other POVs are insta-death, to hear our "reporters" tell it. There's talk of returning to lockdown like we had in spring.

[NorthernZel]

Talks are spreading about a regional lockdown (of sorts) in the area I live in.

An announcement should be made tomorrow afternoon, it's gonna be interesting what the govn't gonna do (for now speculation is virtual schooling for highschools + universities, perhaps also 8-10th elementary classes, and also stronger guidelines on work-from-home).

We have already mask mandates in place for public transport + "all indoors areas with public access", and also a ban on events with more than 10 participants, church services and political manifestations exempt.

[csquared]

Since I haven't really been able to leave the house, I've wound up deciding to throw together a hastily-constructed, unorthodox, quarantine Thanksgiving dinner for one for tomorrow, using what I have around the house and what I could get delivered - meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, canned cranberry sauce, canned peas, pickled vegetables, and Cheddar Bay biscuits.

Sounds good. When's dinner?

Sorry to hear that you had to eat alone. We'll send some extra Thanksgiving wishes your way.

[jedimaster91]

I've gotten two birthday party invitations for my five year old. Like, WTF guys? No, I'm not going to your kid's birthday party while there's a global pandemic.

[Smapti]

I went in on Monday to get tested, and thankfully got a negative result back this afternoon. It's still possible that I did catch the virus, but that it had already left my system by that time, and I'll have to schedule a blood test to find out for sure.

In any event, the county still wants me to wait out the 14-day quarantine, which means I'll be back to work on Sunday. This is the first time since I started working at the Store, almost ten years ago, that I've missed the week of Thanksgiving. I'll miss out on the extra holiday pay, but at least I'm still getting paid for the week.

Since I haven't really been able to leave the house, I've wound up deciding to throw together a hastily-constructed, unorthodox, quarantine Thanksgiving dinner for one for tomorrow, using what I have around the house and what I could get delivered - meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, canned cranberry sauce, canned peas, pickled vegetables, and Cheddar Bay biscuits.

[EricKei]

MM - I technically have several of the symptoms they mention on those questionnaires, but I have them as chronic conditions that have been going on for years. I mention this whenever I have to fill one out (i.e., doctor visits for shots/physical exams), and they tell me that it's just meant to ask if the issues are something that is new in the past few months. YMMV, of course, and yeah, HR needs to clarify that.

[MadMike]

Our governor has again closed all restaurants and bars for indoor dining.

Ours hasn't done that yet, although we still have the extra restrictions with serving alcohol in place. While our cases are spiking along with everyone else's, we're still doing better than some of the other states. As far as total number of cases, I think we're number 13. But if you go by number of cases per 100K people, we're near the bottom -- number 46 last time I checked. They did add a few new restrictions. If you're in someone else's house, or even in your own house with guests, you're supposed to wear a mask. And they imposed a limit to the number of people you can have in your house, although they've even admitted both of these are pretty much unenforceable.

My family decided not to do Thanksgiving this year, and unless some huge miracle happens between now and Christmas, I'm assuming we're not doing that either. I think this is the first time in my life we didn't go anywhere for Thanksgiving or have anyone over. We picked up a turkey breast so we could have a small dinner with just us and the kitties. I'm sure the kitties will enjoy it.

We don't do health check-ins at all; I think it's on the honor system.

My job deactivated all the entrance doors except for one at each end of the building. So if you park in the garage, you can't just come straight in through the catwalks anymore. At both of the entrances that are still active, they have a temperature checking station. So far, I'm still working from home until further notice, so my only dealings with this setup are when I go in to work out, or if something would happen that I would need to come in.

They also sent out a questionnaire about whether you're having any symptoms or were around anyone who was sick or may have been. I ended up failing the thing because one of the questions was about headaches, and I get migraines. Since it was just under 14 days since I had a migraine, I answered yes to the question about headaches, and ended up failing the questionnaire. It told me not to report to work onsite. I only answered yes about the headaches. I didn't realize it was an all-or-none situation. But then it kept telling me I still had to take the questionnaire. We have a wonderful system at my job. Once in a great while, it actually works. I ended up emailing HR about it, and they told me they were "working with the vendor to resolve the issue", and to ignore any reminders I got about taking the thing. But then I ran into another issue. I'm training a new guy who got hired after Covid happened, and doing it remotely is a bit tricky. At one point, he asked me if it would be easier if we came into the building together, and I wasn't sure if I was allowed to. I emailed my supervisor and explain what happened, and she didn't know the answer either. She had to contact HR, and they said that I was OK to come in if I needed to, and they were going to change the wording of the question.

[EricKei]

We are "required" to go to a supervisory-or-higher level person upon starting our shift and ensuring them that we feel well enough to work. Yeah, that disappeared pretty quickly (not that it was worth anything to begin with).

I can see why, and I'm glad it died on the vine. Pretty clearly an "[Employee] said they didn't feel sick! So what if they risked getting fired if they stayed home, it's THEIR fault, not ours!" type of situation

[Dreamstalker]

We don't do health check-ins at all; I think it's on the honor system. They know that anyone who doesn't get PTO is going to come in sick. Presumably if someone looks sick then they get grilled/sent home.

[csquared]

O

That being said, going out for walks... *snip* Yeah, we're outside, but there's no way to distance in a lot of parks and paths. So I just don't go because I end up being stressed out by it.

I am lucky in that I have a handful of places that I can go that are not crowded.

I also like to go for drives, Roll down the windows and get some fresh air. It does help that I live in a rural area.

[notalwaysright]

In-restaurant dining has been an on/off-again thing, which still seems to be rather short sighted.

Open and shut is not great because I've noticed a trend with some of my coworkers to make an extra effort to go to a restaurant before the inside dining shuts again. Because now it's an uncertain thing so better get there while you can! Is what they think. I hardly ever eat out, and have no problem getting takeout. Haven't eaten inside a restaurant this whole year, and actually... It's not a big deal to me.

That being said, going out for walks... I miss that. Can I go? Of course! But then I end up being stuck on a crowded path with a bunch of soccer moms, clogging everything up with giant SUV strollers, not a mask in sight. Yeah, we're outside, but there's no way to distance in a lot of parks and paths. So I just don't go because I end up being stressed out by it.

[Buzzard]

California went for the state-wide mask mandate. It's a shame that there's still idiots who wear them as chin-straps (at best, if at all). In-restaurant dining has been an on/off-again thing, which still seems to be rather short sighted. "Nope, we can't shut down long enough to let it burn itself out. We gots to drag this crap out for longer than election season FEELS like."

[EricKei]

Some folks in MS are currently considering the (apparently) radical step of ... asking the governor to impose a statewide mask mandate. Not that everyone will obey it even if so.

*sighs* Baby steps when we need giant steps.

[Ironclad Alibi]

... but how else are we supposed to drink something at our stations? A modified water-boarding?

I'm surprised I haven't seen any masks with a small hole for a straw to fit through.

Of course that would defeat the purpose of the mask, and encourage the use of straws. Two no-nos in today's world.

I just Googled it. There are lots of them out there.

[Ghel]

Our governor has again closed all restaurants and bars for indoor dining. This being Minnesota in November, that means that outdoor dining is not an option. Effectively, it means delivery or carry-out only for Minnesota restaurants. Which is all I've been doing for months, anyway.

This week, our Branch Manager decided to re-close the lobby. A lot of our customers thought the lobby was closed, anyway, so we haven't had much grumbling.