You might get a thousand dollars stimulus package

[mimijudy1975]

I hope I don't get it. Dh is a salaried worker, he is still working so we aren't in need of it.
Let ours go to someone who actually needs it to pay their rent or water bill or buy food for their family, or pay for doctor's visits.

That is the kindest reply I've seen. God Bless You.

 

[billlaurie]

Social isolation--I read that to mean social distancing measures (though maybe I'm wrong).

Yes, I meant distancing, although right now it feels pretty isolating.

 

[dish rag]

Wonder if any one would decline the check should this happen.

 

[Colleen27]

I have not heard ANYONE suggest a year of isolation, much less two.

Read through that link I posted above. The nutshell version is that, based in academic modeling of virus spread, we'll need to maintain isolation until a vaccine is available and widely adopted. That is, 18+ months, depending on the development and manufacturing process. Otherwise, spread will simply resume among the people we successfully protected.

I'm not sure that's the only answer - it seems to me that the UK's approach of isolation for the vulnerable and more moderate measures for the rest could build a degree of herd immunity naturally among those for whom this disease is likely to be mild, thus lowering the number of "spreaders" in the population at large over time with less risk if overwhelming medical facilities. But we're Americans. We go big or go home. And by promoting/imposing total isolation, we may not only prevent high risk people from being exposed but also end up blocking that kind of natural immunity from emerging.

 

[ronandannette]

I really hope Canada takes a look at this idea too.

Over a week ago JT gave a speech with nebulous references to how Canadians should not have to worry about paying their rents or feeding their families. I’ve not heard anything more concrete since but such things are definitely on Ottawa’s radar screen.

One thing I did hear mentioned by a political pundit (not an elected official) is the idea of allowing a one-time, tax-free withdrawal from RRSP accounts. This is actually a pretty good idea as it would cost the government nothing in immediate terms (maybe a loss of deferred tax revenue at a later date). It would also free up actual government resources for those without. We don’t have a ton put away but we do have some - we would gladly spend the money we’ve already earned if there was a practical way to get at it.

Yes and people with higher incomes get laid off too.

You said a mouthful. We live in a province that has lost 100,000 high-paying jobs in or related to the O&G industry since 2015. It’s almost impossible to explain the real-life impact it has had both economically and socially. And people living in areas with less-vibrant yet more stable economies don’t seem to understand that a household income of, oh say $175,000 or so, does not make one rich. Higher COL and more discretionary spending is the norm and that contributes to the prosperity of an area. Yank the high-income rug out and the fall is actually a lot harder.

I dislike when people complain about living in a high cost of living area. Move to a lower cost of living area and you solve it.

Ummm, what would we do when we got there? If there were good jobs available that could support families, those areas wouldn’t be so low COL, right? That’s kinda like saying “...then let them eat cake.”

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have a friend who works for a coffee company. He manages shipping to companies in our area. From bigger companies to diners to small mom and pop shops. He told me that 50% of his clients have already told him that they will never reopen after this shutdown.

I'm in NJ and almost everything is closed. Bars and restaurants are open but for take out only. The malls are shut down. Casinos closed. And we don't know for how long.

I expect some chain restaurants to close down certain locations or in this case just not reopen. The company may end up sticking around if they can but some of their markets will have been hit harder than others. Obviously this has been happening to places over time I just kinda anticipate more at once doing this or in rapid succession.

One thing that I've seen here and on social networking sites people exclaim "there's cars in the parking lot why are you out people social distance we have to do it, etc" except people are 1) patronizing businesses 2) practicing a degree of social distancing by limiting their distance and exposure to people when they go curbside 3) if curbside and drive thru wasn't allowed immediately where do you think people would be getting food? Do we really want even more people than there already is flooding our grocery stores which right now present the highest risk IMO and it's the one place exempted from all these mandates that people are most likely (aside from workplaces) to be at. And online is not sustainable for the entire country to switch to at least not right now not to mention not everyone has the means or ability to order online.

 

[siren0119]

Some suggestions if you are still receiving full pay, or get a stimulus payment/refund/etc that you don't really need:

- Buy gift cards to local small businesses in the service industry (restaurants, bars, hair salons, nail salons, etc). These folks need a cash infusion and even if they can't pay their employees right now, they need to stay open so those employees have a job they can go back to.

- send a cash donation to a local community theater/arts organization. MANY have had to cancel performances and refund ticket sales, and it could cause them to have to close down. My own community has 3 theater groups and two have had to cancel their big spring shows - those shows are the ones that allow them to stay in operation.

- Hire a local artist/restaurant worker/displaced worker to do yardwork for you, help with remote work (writing letters, sending emails, research information, etc), and if you know them personally and feel comfortable, use them for child care or help around the house. Many artists are also putting up free instructional content online in the absence of being able to offer voice/music/dance lessons, send them some donations if you use their content.

just a few suggestions, I'm sure there are many more great ideas out there!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Also consider animal shelters

 

[smmco]

Makes no sense to me how you use it to spend in the economy when the economy is shut down and there's nothing to spend it on.

The economy won’t be shut down forever. Stores aren’t closed. My ability to by future travel hasn't been taken away.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Makes no sense to me how you use it to spend in the economy when the economy is shut down and there's nothing to spend it on.

The economy where I live is not shut down.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The economy won’t be shut down forever. Stores aren’t closed. My ability to by future travel hasn't been taken away.

Our malls our closed. Only essential businesses are allowed to be open (grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, Target, Walmart, etc). Bars and restaurants must close at 8 pm and only take out. We are shutdown in NJ and we are expecting a complete lockdown soon. There is zero traffic driving to and from work (I work for a hospital). Schools closed until April 20 so far. It's a ghost town.

 

[smmco]

The economy where I live is not shut down.

Mine either. Just sporting events and concerts.

 

[kdonnel]

The economy where I live is not shut down.

And that is a problem.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Some suggestions if you are still receiving full pay, or get a stimulus payment/refund/etc that you don't really need:

- Buy gift cards to local small businesses in the service industry (restaurants, bars, hair salons, nail salons, etc). These folks need a cash infusion and even if they can't pay their employees right now, they need to stay open so those employees have a job they can go back to.

- send a cash donation to a local community theater/arts organization. MANY have had to cancel performances and refund ticket sales, and it could cause them to have to close down. My own community has 3 theater groups and two have had to cancel their big spring shows - those shows are the ones that allow them to stay in operation.

- Hire a local artist/restaurant worker/displaced worker to do yardwork for you, help with remote work (writing letters, sending emails, research information, etc), and if you know them personally and feel comfortable, use them for child care or help around the house. Many artists are also putting up free instructional content online in the absence of being able to offer voice/music/dance lessons, send them some donations if you use their content.

just a few suggestions, I'm sure there are many more great ideas out there!

The thing with buying gift cards to small businesses is that some of these businesses will never reopen and then you are stuck with these gift cards you can never use.

I'm in NJ and most of our businesses are closed anyway.

 

[smmco]

Our malls our closed. Only essential businesses are allowed to be open (grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, Target, Walmart, etc). Bars and restaurants must close at 8 pm and only take out. We are shutdown in NJ and we are expecting a complete lockdown soon. There is zero traffic driving to and from work (I work for a hospital). Schools closed until April 20 so far. It's a ghost town.

That’s rough. I hope it ends soon.

 

[SaintsManiac]

And that is a problem.

So you want the economy to shut down?

 

[smmco]

And that is a problem.

I live in the suburbs Lowe’s Home depo, Kohl’s best buy grocery stores aren’t closing down. I would use the money on travel later in the year anyway. The travel industry is going to take a beating.

 

[Farro]

Yes, they are, some are saying that unless we have social distancing until we get a vaccine or develop antivirals, 2 million people, mostly 60 and older, will die from the coronavirus.

Correction, 2 million in the US alone. Check Colleen27's thread upstream.

So reading that...if everything we are already doing across the world (I know some say people are still ignoring it, and maybe they are, but majority of planet is pretty much staying home at this point) is still going to result in 2 million deaths unless we have a vaccine, then I don't know what to say.

At some point other people will have issues that need to be addressed:

• mental health
• physical therapy
• dental
• veterinary
• speech pathology
• etc.......you catch my drift

I mean, how long can we do it? It's not supposed to be until we get a vaccine and cure, it's supposed to be until we flatten the curve. The goal was never for us to stop people from getting virus, but to stop people from getting virus all at once.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The economy won’t be shut down forever. Stores aren’t closed. My ability to by future travel hasn't been taken away.

There's a long list of companies who have shut their stores completely down. There obviously are places to shop at however there are many places that you won't be able to. Now some have just listed til end of March but who knows now. Now some have just reduced hours so you'll still be able to shop.

This is an article from yesterday afternoon which may already be out of date:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stores-closing-coronavirus-list-apple-nike-walmart/

 

[NotUrsula]

For flattening the curve to have meaningful effect in short-time practice, we have to both slow the spread AND massively ramp up medical capacity. What concerns me is that I don't see capacity being ramped up as it should be.

ETA: Invoking the Defense Production Act is a start, but I'm not sure it can have enough effect in the short time frame. Unlike in 1950 when it was passed, we don't have a whole lot of machinery sitting idle that just needs to be re-tooled. The Just-in-Time (aka "lean") production mode that has been the norm worldwide since the early 1980s is going to make it very hard to generate the desired outcome using the DPA. I expect 3D printing technology to play a huge role, but they cannot do it all that way.