Thank you, Jeanne. I realize that the mumps/measles was not a good comparison. I could have saved you and me both a lot of time and just mused, “What level of risk are we willing to tolerate?”
You know that I’m an ED nurse in Florida. I suppose I have been willing to tolerate a lot. In the past week I have had days at work that have just about broken me. Patients are so sick. I have had many Covid positive patients. Even with PPE the exposure is awful. After one horrible day last week, I put in for a transfer for a case manager position. I’m not willing to tolerate that level of risk in the ED anymore. I’m not a hero.
Anyway, that was probably the motivation for those questions. Everyone has to figure it out for themselves, when there is no leadership...or malevolent leadership. Thanks for responding.
"What level of risk are we willing to tolerate?” --@lowtide.
First I thank you for your service, dear ED Nurse. You've been in the middle of it!
Second, I keep thinking about what has gone crazy in the U.S. that so many people are even asking whether to send their kids to school or what is the right decision for them.
These decisions about opening or closing schools are given to public health authorities to decide. This authority was decided back in the early 1900s when the U.S. decided not to be the Wild West because of what we have learned from past public health crises.
These are not education decisions. Betsy Davos is way out of line here. She has no authority except in a dictatorship which as far as I know we are not quite there yet, although nearly. Same goes for the science-denying humanoid in the Oval Office.
These are public health decisions. The public health comes first and State Departments of Public Health have the authority and the expertise to do what is necessary to contain an epidemic and save lives. They decide, not anyone else, and certainly not some private citizen.
If some states are going to give parents some options to show up in person, they better make them safe or they have no business even offering it.
Trump's orders to break the CDC is one of the worst thing he's done to the country, although sending storm troopers to cities to illegally nab protestors is worse.
I have a 68-year old neighbor friend who has a home in Sarasota, FL. She drove down about 3 weeks ago and planned to stay through August, but decided to return early because the virus frightened her and she didn't feel safe there. She drove back from Sarasota to Northern Virginia in one day! I asked how she handled rest stops, and she said that for the drive back, she did not drink liquids at all because she didn't want to use the rest stops. The rare times she did stop, some wore masks but a lot were not wearing masks at all. She wore her mask and kept her distance.
I mention this because my husband and I have our annual NC beach vacation coming up in mid-October. It's about a 5-hour trip down there. Beautiful time of the year to be there. I have a feeling that we will be losing our money for the house rental, unless by that time NC is on another lockdown and we can be reimbursed through travel insurance. I guess we'll have to see where things stand two months from now, but I'm not hopeful. Your money or your life ... I'll take my life, thank you very much.
@deetoo we had reservations there in late May. We cancelled because we didn't like what we were hearing. People don't want to wear masks, people are not conforming. We were told to bring everything we would need and once there, supplies may or may not be available, many places were closed, don't use the blankets, etc. I would be so crazy that I would have to pre-clean and disinfect the house and then probably be unable to enjoy it. We felt it wasn't worth it. No regrets. Stay safe.
@febbby23, That was my gut feeling about it. We go to the Outer Banks area, specifically Duck.
I think we should call now and see if we can cancel at this late date and get some money back. It's a house, so I'm not sure. But again, our lives mean more than the $$.
Thanks for the feedback.
@michele-b, my husband saw the video and thought it's attached to a string that he's pulling.
I was laughing too hard to see the trick . I thought it was the bobbing of his head ??♀️
But i shared your link in my family thread and my husband and son both saw it right off.
Women laugh and men want to know how it works, perhaps ???
My grandkids on the other hand would flap it open repeatedly until the string would have snapped. Lots of fun would still be shared by all.
I'm enjoying light hearted revelry and lots of laughing in my slightly opened up isolation. You and @unk-p never fail.
Another promising treatment:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-cholesterol-lowering-meds-potential-downgrade-covid-.html
@deetoo My neighbor is taking her family and her sister's family to Duck next week. Needless to say we will be keeping our distance once they return. I canl let you know how that goes.
Last night, Our school district came out with a very well thought out comprehensive school opening plan. It is impressive but then it all falls apart when one person gets the virus and it spreads through out the school. The plan is to have that classroom quarantine for 14 days and do e- learning. That same teacher will float from classroom to classroom while students stay in place. It's ludicrous. Its not the time to open schools, IMHO. The pressure that these school districts are under to come up with their own plan is great. A neighboring town has chosen a different approach. The virus has no boundaries. I am with Jeanne - it is up to public health officials to make the decision.
I did see teachers are protesting in FL.
We are not sending our kids back. There is a downside to that as well but going back now is just not safe.
@kksali, thank you. Duck is generally very crowded this time of year, so I'd be curious to know what your neighbors encounter. I'm also going to contact a shop owner down there who I sometimes order from.
I think back in March or early April they closed Dare County to outside visitors, which meant the rental houses couldn't be used. I just did some research and right now they have 265 Covid cases in Dare, 112 of those non-residents, 3 hospitalizations and 1 death. And Dare is not that big of a county. Unfortunately voluntary compliance with face covering recommendations has not been effective within Dare so local business owners requested a stronger tool for compliance. Face coverings are now mandatory in that county, but I doubt they have a mask police who will be patrolling the area.
Totally agree with you about not sending your kids back to the classroom. I'm so sorry for the stress and hardships this is creating for you and so many parents. You are all in my prayers.
@deetoo Thank you. School is stressful under "normal" circumstances. The mental gymnastics we go through over school openings is exhausting. My neighbor like many of us has justified her trip to Duck in that they are driving at night while all the kids are sleeping, go directly to the rental with only trips to grocery store. They rented a big house with pool on the beach and feel they can self contain while there. They have in general been mostly stay at home other than grocery store. I am not convinced the risk is worth it but I may feel differently in the future. For right now I am pretending that outdoor yoga (10 ft of distance on the grass) with a view of Lake Erie is just about as big a risk as I will take.... grateful to have this option.
Wow! Now that is fascinating and at least promising in the lab! Now to look up side effects and effectiveness for those already on cholesterol meds to consider switching in the future!
So many medicines meant for other issues, diseases or problems shows medicine has at least been on some kind of right track for many, many possibilities in the future.
I remember predicting new scientific discoveries and cures for multiple illness many years ago just don't remember for when. ?
Thanks Frank?
@michele-b you’re such a positive shining light. Your words and full of love and encouragement.
share the love and light
I'd like to see some of my co-conspirators (teehee) on here weigh in on something.
My husband really, really wants to go on a vacation soon. I have laid out some absolutes for him: no flights, no home rentals, no big cities, no crowded national or state parks, no beaches. And I'm not a camping person, sorry, it's just too uncomfortable for me with all my physical issues (been there, done that, and all I got was 1,000 bug bites and several injuries every time).
We're considering a road trip up to Northern CA - Stanislaus Forest, Lake Tahoe, Mendocino. These are areas with very low rates of infection. I see that there are good chain hotels we trust (Marriott mostly), that are doing reasonable job of sanitizing, plus I'm familiar enough with them that I can bring some of my own cleaning supplies to be extra safe. We figure to pack as much food as we can in coolers (this is why we like Residence Inns - they have full kitchens), so we don't have to rely on restaurants being open, and we can re-stock at local supermarkets very safely.
I'd really love to get some hiking under big trees. I also could use a change of scenery, frankly. I'm feeling very hemmed-in here in the city. Even yesterday, we drove past a park that's on the bay, and had thoughts of taking a quick walk (we were on our way back from the paint store - which very nicely was handing out free surgical masks). I made hubby drive home - it was packed with unmasked family clumps taking up all the walkways.
We'd have to make some stops along the way - like in San Francisco and Sacramento, which are cities, but friends of mine were just in both last week and posted pics of them being very empty, so I think if we limit our stay to one night each we'd be ok. And SF in particular has done a good job, from what I understand.
There's some subtext here too - we want to look at some more rural places to consider relocating to, as we don't know if we'll be able to stay in San Diego permanently and I for one am very much "over" big city living.
So weigh in - thumbs up or down?