Members coronavirus thread

[James R]

Since most of us are probably going to catch this thing sooner or later, I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread where we can share our own experiences of Covid-19. Also could be useful for some mutual support.

To start the ball rolling, then: do you, or any of your close personal contacts, have the coronavirus? If so, tell us your story.

 

[origin]

I love the last option in the poll.
I haven't got it yet.
I don't know anyone who knows they have it.

 

[cluelusshusbund]

Dont have it that i know of... goin to walmart tomorrow... but i dont plan on gettin close enuff to kiss anybody so i shoud be oK

 

[Jeeves]

I live out in the country; our nearest small city has had no reported cases, but the hospital is well prepared. The supermarket shelves are void of canned beans, pasta, rice and TP, so I'm guessing most of the old people around are lying low for the next couple of weeks. My risk is very low.

 

[DaveC426913]

Going to cancel our upcoming Cuba trip.

Not because of any concern of the virus - we've been all through the risks.

What finally tipped the scales for us is the request for all citizens who have travelled abroad to self-quarantine for two weeks upon return, regardless of health.

We can manage a week vacation. We can't manage a three week vacation.

Good on us for getting full cancellation insurance.

 

[billvon]

Since none of us here in the US can get tested, we're not sure. My son was sick for five days with something that looked a lot like COVID-19. Other son and wife got sick with something much milder. I haven't gotten sick.

There was a case at work and so they are trying to get 75% of the company to telecommute to reduce the chance of infection. (As of Friday)

We're going to Hawaii in a week and a half. So far we are still going. Wife's parents cancelled because they are high risk (70+ years old.)

 

[DaveC426913]

We're going to Hawaii in a week and a half. So far we are still going.

Are you not concerned that
a] they may not let you back on the mainland, and/or
b] you may be forced to self-quarantine for two weeks?

 

[billvon]

Are you not concerned that
a] they may not let you back on the mainland, and/or
b] you may be forced to self-quarantine for two weeks?

Not really. There are more cases here than in Hawaii right now. Things could change, of course, but I think it's unlikely that a state by state quarantine would happen.

 

[exchemist]

I am 65 and more or less healthy (except for a slight tendency to heart atrial fibrillation), so I don't think I'm in one of the really vulnerable groups, but I suppose I have to expect to get it quite badly.

Last night's concert was cancelled and mass gatherings may soon be forbidden in London. It's getting closer: parents of children at the kindergarten attended by the daughter of my son's piano teacher (if you can follow that chain!) have tested +ve. Sharing the teacher's keyboard with other students feels like a good way to transmit it, so he's having lessons by Facetime, which is interesting and seems to work, more or less. I have decided to stop using the London Underground and buses, as far as possible. My son's school trip to St Petersburg this Easter is cancelled. I have just booked a boat to France in late July, on the basis that fresh sea air in Brittany may be healthier than London.......if we don't catch it via the cabin AC on the boat overnight, that is!

I'm washing my hands as soon as I get back from any visit to the shops and so is my son when he gets back from school. If school is cancelled later - or he has to self-isolate at home because one of us has got it - he has instructions on how to carry on lessons from home.

But this peak-lowering strategy by the UK government still poses major challenges. If we reduce the peak so that no more than 5% of the population (60m) has it at any one time, and we can expect 5% of those to need hospital treatment (which is roughly how it looks), we need 150,000 hospital beds to treat them. We currently have about 4,000 intensive care beds. So we need a huge drive to get more ventilators and the other elements of intensive care relevant to a Covid-19 patient.

 

[candy]

I always take precautions in flu season; so I don't have to go out and stock up on stuff. It has been sitting on my shelf since the fall along side the winter storm stuff. I am informed that I am in the high risk group. I refuse to give up the daily walk; I think that would be worse for my health.
Even though our county has no confirmed cases of novel flu they closed the libraries county wide; no book clubs. Most of the members would be considered to be in the high risk group but we will probably meet for coffee anyway.
When this one starts approaching the 2009/10 numbers I will start worrying.

 

[Janus58]

Went to the store Friday Am. noticed a few empty shelves, Dried beans, etc. and some more than normal depletion of some items. Went to get some paper towels to find the aisle pretty much cleaned out. All the toilet paper gone and just a very few paper towels left. On Saturday, the wife and I went shopping at another store to pick up a Sunday paper (They have an early edition out on Saturday), and to pick up a couple of more things my wife wanted. Walked in to see the entire produce area basically picked clean. The same with frozen vegetables. (she had wanted peas.) Se had also wanted to get some bagged spinach, but that section was also cleaned out. Luckily an employee showed up with a large number of boxes for restocking. He asked what we were looking for, and was kind enough to dig into his pile of boxes to find the spinach for my wife. While we were talking to us he mentioned a lady who came in and bought 10 bags of some bagged produce or another, saying that she was told that she needed to have a 30 day supply of food. Never mind the fact that the expiration dates on that stuff usually is no more than a week out. I'm just not sure what going through the mind of someone who thinks that stocking up on bananas or avacados is prudent planning.

Right now, a big concern with my family is my 92 year old mother-in-law, who lives in assisted care. She gets regular shots every few weeks to keep her red cell count up. Normally my wife picks her up and takes her to her appointment. We just heard last night that the place where she lives has closed itself to visitation. My wife can call her Mom on the phone, but can't visit in person. We are not yet sure now how here Mom will get her shots. I doubt that they are going to want my wife to take her out to the doctor ( especially since the doctor office is annexed to a hospital), were she could potentially be exposed and end up bringing it back with her. My wife is going to call both the doctor and the assisted living center on Monday in order to figure out what the best course of action is.

 

[DaveC426913]

Right now, a big concern with my family is my 92 year old mother-in-law, who lives in assisted care. She gets regular shots every few weeks to keep her red cell count up. Normally my wife picks her up and takes her to her appointment. We just heard last night that the place where she lives has closed itself to visitation. My wife can call her Mom on the phone, but can't visit in person. We are not yet sure now how here Mom will get her shots. I doubt that they are going to want my wife to take her out to the doctor ( especially since the doctor office is annexed to a hospital), were she could potentially be exposed and end up bringing it back with her. My wife is going to call both the doctor and the assisted living center on Monday in order to figure out what the best course of action is.

Yep. Cancel/postpone any non-essential doctor's visits. Esp. important for high-risk elderly.

 

[Janus58]

Yep. Cancel/postpone any non-essential doctor's visits. Esp. important for high-risk elderly.

The issue here is which is more risky. The office visit or not getting the shot. My wife and her sisters feel that these shots are helping to keep her alive. That's what my wife is going to try and find out. We are hoping that there is some way that she can keep getting it without having to leave where she is.

 

[billvon]

Went to the store Friday Am.

I just went to the Von's down the road here for orange juice and oatmeal. It was nuts. Toilet paper was gone of course - but so was water (see below.) There were signs up restricting people to five gallons of water at a time.

While I was in line at the checkout I overheard a conversation between a cashier and a woman with about 10 cases of water in her cart:

"We're limiting people to five gallons or five cases of water."

"It says five gallons! It doesn't say five cases!"

"We're just trying to make sure everyone can get water. So it's five to a customer."

"But we are two customers!" the woman said, pointing to her toddler in the cart with her.

"I . . don't think your baby is going to buy any water."

"But she's a CUSTOMER!"

The cashier finally relented.

As I got outside, a beat up Honda sedan pulled up beside me as it slowly drove through the parking lot.

"Hey, I got some toilet paper here. You need any toilet paper? I hear they're all sold out."

Me - "No thanks. We have enough."

Car - "Dude you gonna run out. Nobody got toilet paper."

Me - "we really do have enough."

Car - "OK how about Lysol? We got Lysol. We got wipes. Coronavirus you know."



Strange days.


https://www.dropzone.com/profile/1881-billvon/

 

[Jeeves]

The issue here is which is more risky. The office visit or not getting the shot. My wife and her sisters feel that these shots are helping to keep her alive. That's what my wife is going to try and find out. We are hoping that there is some way that she can keep getting it without having to leave where she is.

The health care system in Canada does provide visiting nurses for patients being cared for at home. I imagine a similar service for patients in shut-down facilities who require regular monitoring or medicating. At this time, when the mandate for shutting down comes from a central health authority, that authority would be aware of the need to organize that. There may be an on-line information source provided by the government.

 

[wegs]

Maybe you shouldn’t go. Why risk it?

We're going to Hawaii in a week and a half. So far we are still going. Wife's parents cancelled because they are high risk (70+ years old.)

I’ve been hearing about price gougers on Amazon - one guy has a garage filled with toilet paper and hand sanitizer - and Amazon pulled his store as other stores, trying to price gouge customers. They were in some cases charging 150% over the original price. Sick!

I think these situations reveal people’s true character, good or bad.

 

[paddoboy]

1: Although I'm supposedly in the danger group, [over 70] I'm pretty sure I don't have it and confident that I will not get it.
2: With the Southern hemisphere's upcoming winter months, I have already made appointment with my local GP for the flu shot.
3: My cheese and kisses works in a Hospital and has already been tested as negative.
4: We both regularly wash our hands, and practise extreme hygiene and sanitation and always have even before this virus raised its ugly head. [something always pushed by the Mrs, and often criticized by me as superfluously unnecessary. I am happy that I let her paranoia take hold...our home is literally spotless.
5: I/we will be taking extra precautions like staying home as much as possible.
6: We have always had a large pantry which I always have kept stocked, so no panic buying necessary.
7: No panic buying would be taking place anyway.
8: The cheese and kisses has decided to take some long service leave for which she is due.
9; A remnant from Fijian culture and convention has always applied at our home: that is no one comes inside until all footwear is left in its place outside in the entry porch. That of course also applies to wet whether gear and trench coats and the like.
10: Personally my confidence is reasonably high in that I don't believe I will get it, due to a strong immune system, and even stronger recuperative powers.
11: We live near a beach and are subject to off-shore winds and sea breezes, which I believe would help in some way.

 

[parmalee]

We're going to Hawaii in a week and a half. So far we are still going. Wife's parents cancelled because they are high risk (70+ years old.)

Are you not concerned that
a] they may not let you back on the mainland, and/or

OK, this has absolutely nothing to do with Coronavirus, but this exchange reminded me of this scene in this godawful film, Skybound (2017) <<<. Nevermind the plot, just watch this guy's speech (starting around 1:07, but it should be cued). I personally guarantee tremendous laughs:

Edit: Just to clarify, that's 1:06:30--as in, an hour and six minutes in. But it really kicks in at 1:08:00 with fuckwit's motivational speech to his bro.

 

[paddoboy]

The health care system in Canada does provide visiting nurses for patients being cared for at home..

That applies in Australia as well.
It is complimented with regards to the elderly and pensioners, by making their home safe for themselves. eg: When my Mum was alive and after she spent some time in a hospital due to a fall, the health department visited her home and installed safety railings leading to her door, and safety bars also in her shower recess. When I offered to pay for this service, I was informed that it was not required and was covered by our health system.

 

[DaveC426913]

These are some unusual views you hold, IMO.

1: ... confident that I will not get it.

It is astoundingly virulent.

2: With the Southern hemisphere's upcoming winter months, I have already made appointment with my local GP for the flu shot.

Unless it's the coronavirus vaccine, it won't help.

3: My cheese and kisses works in a Hospital and has already been tested as negative.

Which won't help her not catch it subsequently, unless...

8: The cheese and kisses has decided to take some long service leave for which she is due.

Ah. Definitely a plus. Esp. since she works in healthcare.

9; A remnant from Fijian culture and convention has always applied at our home: that is no one comes inside until all footwear is left in its place outside in the entry porch. That of course also applies to wet whether gear and trench coats and the like.

None of which applies. It's spread by breathing vapour - and by physical contact even with dry surfaces, such as metal.

... a strong immune system, and even stronger recuperative powers.

While I am not really concerned about catching it myself - mostly the symptoms are mild - the real threat is passing it along to others not so healthy.

11: We live near a beach and are subject to off-shore winds and sea breezes, which I believe would help in some way.

I don't think so. We're talking about a spread of metres, not hectometres (100's). If anything, breezes will help the virus have a larger radius of exposure.

Still, you're taking good precautions, and that is likely enough.