How much do you trust you county/state numbers (sorry COVID related)

[shelemm]

I don't feel doomed by COVID, yet I think it is a big deal.

I am relieved, for example, that I don't need to spray everything down that I purchase in the store, the increasing availability of hand sanitizer, the wearing of masks (at least where I live), the increasing safety I feel when outdoors, plus I am relieved that there is at least some seasonal relief from COVID if we open up safely.

 

[LuvOrlando]

'Tuning out' regarding the numbers is a deadly response and also somewhat beside the point. Just go by the official numbers, they are close enough. This is not like sports where if you are off you don't score. We see from Europe that taking this lightly or thinking you can control the virus can be a disaster. We can control ourselves. The time to act has always been before the numbers get really bad. It's hard to put that genie back in the bottle.

The single biggest mistake Fauci and some others made early on was saying that masks didn't help. We should have went with masks very early. And this is not hindsight. Asians are early adopters of masks. In my travels in Asia, I see some people wearing masks even when there is not a pandemic. Once this hit they were the early ones wearing masks. Same with the Asian-American community where I live. They whipped out those masks early on like it was second nature.

Precaution is smart.

Precaution is smart, very

I covered my face early but it was uphill in my family. It made zero sense that a respiratory disease would NOT spread through respiration. I started sending some masks and things like purell, wipes and peroxide to my college kids early on and they accommodated most of my pleas such as eating only hot food, use their own drinking containers with fountains and beer from a bottle at bars but they resisted masks until the authorities gave it a nod.

At the moment I suspect the single biggest thing being neglected is a conversation about transfer in bathrooms and public ones in particular. Those highway rest stops are, to my mind, the single biggest contributing factor to the spread now, Dr Birx has said that it's moving along highways, how & why is the question. Who knows exactly why but I suspect in part these stops are never well ventilated & people pick up food there and workers presumably use the same bathrooms as travelers so it's a loop. Seems doubtful they are using great cleaning supplies because customers are transient and the workers never look at that invested so maybe if people bring their own spray out of a backpack before using and then the whole family sticks with the same stall & use your own tissue it might be better. I've seen restaurants and airports that have plastic slide along clean seat sleeves so maybe something similar to act as a touchless lid would work in the future in addition to paper covers. Still, these rest stops are just cash cows so why would they invest. At any rate many viruses often shed in waste so its something we should be thinking about & maybe some items the camping industry has perfected might be good for little kids like the Travel John things I used when my kids were potty training.

If anyone wants to read up on the topic
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/8/20-0681_article "Infectious SARS-CoV-2 in Feces of Patient with Severs COVID-19"
https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-new...iobot-analytics-scours-sewage-for-coronavirushttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41575-020-0295-7
and just because it's interesting
also from the CDC "Coronavirus outbreak in call center, South Korea'

 

[disneychrista]

beer from a bottle at bars

Why did you feel drinking beer from a bottle was safer? One of the first things I started doing (at home) was pouring bottled beverages into a glass.

 

[LuvOrlando]

At home thats true, I do the same. This was me cautioning a college student at bars and restaurants around State Paddy's Day and as he was headed to spring break. My reasoning is mostly because the drinking surface area is smaller and since it's fizzy it was likely opened just when it was ordered so the part you drink from is likely covered up until moments before you get it, otherwise it goes flat. As a result, a quick wipe with the underside of his shirt, presumably clean and not exposed to the surrounding air might at least reduce likelihood of the drink itself crawling with germs. I suppose even better would be to ask for a closed one and open it himself.
Why not mixed drinks- I would suspect bar glasses have been handled by lots of people, not considering how exposed they are to other patrons lingering and chatting at the bar and for how long. Then you add in all the stuff that goes into a mixed drink including fruit like cherries and oranges and such, are they cleaning them or just cutting them - who is doing it - how long do they sit there... just seems to me unnecessary gamble accumulating countless opportunities for contamination right now when a beer or another bottled beverage would work just fine.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

From a college bar I’d opt to drink from bottle as well. I worked in a bar and the way the glasses got cleaned at it I’d go with the bottle.

 

[disneychrista]

Bar vs home. I guess the bottle at the bar might be better. The best option would be to avoid the bar all together. But then again I’m not a 20something college student.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Totally! I tried begging him not to go out but having fun at State Paddy's was not something I could reason with so I did the best that I could. Told him to eat before he went out, begged him to take Purell and that's all I could do. Luckily his friends GF was also worried so all of spring break she took out her Purell and ordered them to give their hands after they touched things, DS willingly offers he thinks they all are alive because of her - I think I should send her a gift LOL

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Bar vs home. I guess the bottle at the bar might be better. The best option would be to avoid the bar all together. But then again I’m not a 20something college student.

My daufghter was upstate, they partied through the quarentine and then found out they all had it at one time or anothe r. they think in early march as couple were reall sick round then. Glad we toled her to stay up there till June.