How things are going in your area?

[Kangaroorex 37498]

My little part of the world hasn't changed much.  gatherings over 50 require a permit an proof of safety measures, masks are part of life.  everthing else is about normal.  I have to visit the hospital every week for other reasons and the hospital is not particularly any more active than it was pre-plague.  there are some people who cant figure out how to use a mask (it is neither there to keep your mouth shut [chin hammock] or keep the sun off of your head, nor is it for sleeping in a bright room.

 

some brilliant huckster was selling acetate masks supposedly so you could see facial expressions but that quickly got nixed when the local stores started putting up what it looks like after someone sneezes in them.

 

About the worst part is that my brother wont be able to make it down for thanksgiving because he lives in New York and I don't want him and his family to have to quarantine themselves for 14 days because they left the state (though the fact that I don't have to clean the house to his wife's standards in no small relief)

 

Never thought I would say that I really like where I live but the response of the people to the crisis here has been one of the sanest I have seen.

[Green Eyed Monster 39401]

Just read through the whole thread.

All I can say is to remember the last thing to come out of Pandora's Box was HOPE, and that the news on the vaccine front is encoraging enough to raise my own hope, and hopefully that of others a well.

I'd encourage everybody to look into the benefits of an increased intake of vitamin D, especially as we are moving into that part of the year when the methods for natural vitamin D generation and acquisition diminsh due to the winter weather.  And for those having problems with Dry Skin, check into moisturizing creams, particularly those with Aloe Vera.

This is probably the most trying time that a lot of us will have to deal with as we have all the social distancing problems generated by this brocolli virus just at the time of year when most of us are looking forward to special time with family and friends, that won't be happening in the normal fashion [and just when we could all really, really use an extra dose of normal].

We're just fortunate to have this extra outlet in these forums to maintain some semblance of normality, share our personal difficulties and stresses with sympathetic eyes and ears, and hopefully receive a little extra encouragement and sympathy to help boost each other over the roughest patches.  I'm ever grateful to REAPER for hosting these forums, especially in these trying times.

GEM

Saying a few extra prayers right now for all my Reaper Peeps.

[aku-chan 28649]

I'm doing okay (Being an antisocial loner is paying off for once!), I'm not even that anxious about wearing a mask while shopping now, but my housemate isn't. She has a lot of health issues and it's been pretty much impossible to get face-to-face time with a Doctor for months, plus all her regular check-ups are postponed indefinitely at the moment.

 

Unfortunately it doesn't look like it's going to get better any time soon, people are desperate for things to return to normal and the media are really playing in to that, to the point of downplaying the upcoming vaccines. It's kinda sad really.

[Gadgetman! 20167]

10 hours ago, Kangaroorex said:

some brilliant huckster was selling acetate masks supposedly so you could see facial expressions but that quickly got nixed when the local stores started putting up what it looks like after someone sneezes in them.

 

 

Acetate?

as in transparent plastics?

not only would it look GROSS even without sneezing if someone wears one for any length of time, but that stuff won't filter any air. 

[ManvsMini 16452]

4 hours ago, Green Eyed Monster said:

All I can say is to remember the last thing to come out of Pandora's Box was HOPE

 

As I recall from the myth, hope never escaped the box/jar; it was the last thing left in there before she slammed the lid back on after all the evils were released. But there's probably a million different interpretations as to what that means for humanity (that we're holding onto hope or things of that nature).

 

Regardless, your sentiment/message is appreciated.

[Rahz 7315]

Being the "town that fun forgot" is apparently paying off here.  I am lucky that I live in a relatively small city (1M with the surrounding areas) that is predominantly a government city with a fair bit of high tech as well.  Means that a significant portion of the population has been able to work from home which has seen us come down from our second wave quite quickly.  Less people off work also means many of the smaller businesses are still around too  because folks are trying to support their local restaurants/stores.  My wife and I have spent a fair bit of money on setting up home offices (sit-stand desks, switches so we can use our work computers with our home peripherals...) and we already had desks for the kids.  The kids have been in school since September and thankfully both have been good about adapting to the new norm but my son has only seen one of his buddies once since March (they're not in the same school) and he's very lonely. 

 

I still have 2 buddies over for D&D on Friday nights (we paused from April through to mid-Summer) but both have very small bubbles and are exceedingly careful and at the first sign of a sniffle we call things off.  I went for a lunchtime walk with my 3rd d&d buddy yesterday who had a liver transplant a month ago.  We wandered around a mostly empty mall and chatted for half an hour (masked and all that of course).  He won't be joining the group again for a while...  

Even when things were bad I had to break quarantine a couple times to help my parents and thankfully we're all still healthy.  Why my mother calls me when my dad falls down instead of paramedics is beyond me... 

 

My work is still planning the eventual return to the office. I go in about 1 day every 2 weeks and coordinate with a couple buddies.  We all work in our former spots and then get takeout and sit in a large boardroom well apart from one another to eat.  Help keep our local food joints alive and we get some human interaction for a little while.  I don't see more than 50% of our workforce returning to the office in the long term. 

I don't miss the commute to work at all, but I miss the people.  I miss being able to just pop into my boss' office with a question or running into a colleague I haven't seen in a little while in the hallway and catch up for a couple minutes...  I get up an hour later than I used to, go for a longer walk and then get stuck in with work.  My issue is that instead of walking to meetings and moving aroung the buildings, I simply dial in to the next one now, so I move less than when I was in the office, despite attempts to increase it. 

 

So locally things are not bad at all (22 new cases yesterday), but I fear we're not out of the woods yet. 

[haberfront 235]

I'm glad that most of you have been keeping you and your family safe from this pandemic. It's just very sad to hear for those who are greatly affected.

I just randomly found out this article. Try checking this out: http://internationalfocusingconference2015.com/how-covid-19-affects-mental-health/

[WhiteWulfe 42632]

53 minutes ago, Rahz said:

Why my mother calls me when my dad falls down instead of paramedics is beyond me... 

Sounds like how one of the people in our building called property management when the smoke detectors were constantly going off, instead of emergency for fire fighters to swing by... 

 

Back on topic, I've been pretty much not going out since March, which isn't really that different to my norm, but a good part of that is hubby is asthmatic so I'm a lot more careful for both of our sakes.  Some people still seem surprised that I'll take a step or three back if they move in closer - I've even had doctors be surprised by this momentarily, until they go "oh right, he sees numerous customers ever day" 

 

On the flipside though, all of these extra precautions mean we didn't get brutalized by a second wave of influenza at work - usually it makes 2-3 waves through the workplace, but this year it barely even took hold once. 

[Cyradis 52898]

Flu hospitalizations are down exponentially. Australia and New Zealand had like 1% what they usually have. Canada has like 17 flu hospitalizations instead of 700 compared to last year same week. Vaccinations went up this year, and quarantine is working well against flu. Less mobile virus than covid it seems. 

[Jasper_the_2nd 30435]

Well, on the less positive side, the older boy who lives in Calgary let us know last night he has to be tested today as his roommate may have been exposed. This will be his second time being tested since it began.

 

And my LFGS just announced they are suspending in store play again due to the current jump in numbers, so I guess I won't be back playing Legion there for a while.

Was good while it lasted. 

 

[lowlylowlycook 9675]

Well here in a small town, we've just started our first wave so yeah us!

 

54 minutes ago, Cyradis said:

Flu hospitalizations are down exponentially. Australia and New Zealand had like 1% what they usually have. Canada has like 17 flu hospitalizations instead of 700 compared to last year same week. Vaccinations went up this year, and quarantine is working well against flu. Less mobile virus than covid it seems. 

 

I wonder how much is the general quarantine and how much is people no longer deciding to drag themselves into work when they are feeling not so great.

[ManvsMini 16452]

5 hours ago, Rahz said:

Even when things were bad I had to break quarantine a couple times to help my parents and thankfully we're all still healthy.  Why my mother calls me when my dad falls down instead of paramedics is beyond me... 

 

I think it's because all moms want to believe they've raised their children to know more than they do. I have this same thing with my mom (granted, currently I live with them, but even when I lived 50 miles away I got called before the paramedics). I get called to evaluate if my dad has a concussion (my medical training is solely based on 15 seasons of ER, 8 seasons of House, and 6 of Scrubs... I skipped Grey's Anatomy and Chicago Med), whether he needs stitches, if someone has a broken rib, whether something is a fungal infection or a rash... none of which I am qualified to do.

 

I should probably get some real medical training at some point, just because.

[Jasper_the_2nd 30435]

And we're rolling back to orange tonight. Up to 14 cases locally, which is up from single digits yesterday (their dashboard needs a drill down feature and the ability to step through the days.....).

 

[ttuckerman 9844]

My area is now on a 10 pm to 5 am curfew.  Libraries are closed again except you can order online and curbside pickup.

[Cyradis 52898]

13 hours ago, lowlylowlycook said:

 

I wonder how much is the general quarantine and how much is people no longer deciding to drag themselves into work when they are feeling not so great.

 

All of the above? BC pushed flu vaccines hard - they ended up with some delays/shortages even though they ordered a lot extra. Add quarantine, less people working at work, less socializing in general, more emphasis on staying at home when ill, on top of vaccines? Seems damn effective. Pretty darn telling, considering flu vaccines are not crazy effective, just a generic useful-effective. I think hospitals expected lower but not nearly zero flu cases. But covid is more slippery, and doesn't have even a partially-effective vaccine out yet.

 

7 hours ago, ttuckerman said:

My area is now on a 10 pm to 5 am curfew.  Libraries are closed again except you can order online and curbside pickup.

 

I'm glad that the libraries decided to go with a book-pickup solution. Curfew and restrictions are understandable, but reading is important, and can be set up safely like this.

 

BC *might* be seeing the fruits of the restrictions starting. Maybe. Had cases going up, but last two days are much lower than our peak - right in line with 14 days after restrictions on household gatherings began. Some extra restrictions have gone in since then; logical ones targeting specific activities. Two days isn't enough to really know if this is a fluke or a trend though, so we'll see how it looks in a week. I expect more of a leveling off instead of a true decline with these.