I believe it is difficult to get a good read on the virus situation individually because we all live in different areas around the globe.
In Los Angeles, they are very hunkered down right now per Government orders. Many things are closed. Here in Arizona, things really should be closed down but aren't. Hospitals have requested action from the governor because things are so bad, yet other than a county mask (not state) mandate and the same 50% reduced capacity in restaurants for indoor eating (which have been in effect for months), things are open for business. The Governor refuses to put restrictions on anything. Also, I live in a state where individuals wish to roam mask-less, so even when they comply with wearing masks in store settings, individuals will still perform behaviors which promote virus spreading. Like my next-door neighbor who had a birthday BBQ pool party last weekend with many people gathered together. This is a normal occurrence next door.
So for me personally, I am aware that my sense of needing to stay home and be watchful has increased. I don't think our country/cities will run out of things like paper products. I think it is more of a reset. To really weigh the importance of venturing out in public right now.
I also think that once people really start to get vaccinated, there will be many who will make life more challenging for those who are still waiting to get one. They will challenge mask mandates and feel they shouldn't need to wear one . It will be more confrontational again. At least in my state.
I wish I understood in what way this new UK strain was more contagious than the others too.
I posted last Saturday that I had a vision that the virus was decreasing or weakening in some manner. I seemed to see a statistical curve going down quickly and a spider on its back.
Three days later I had a dream that seemed to clarify my question whether this was just temporary. I had a dream that I was in another person's house, felt like a guest bedroom. I saw a piece of furniture that had signs of something disturbing. I lifted up the furniture and there was thousands of tiny pale weird looking bugs hiding under the furniture. They were clumped together in two large masses and hiding as best they could. I was determined to squish the bugs and kill them, but their light little bodies scattered as soon as I made a motion towards them. I felt weird and left the house, got in my car and as I was driving away saw that a few of them had somehow become hidden in one of my sleeves and had crawled out onto my hand as I was driving. I started to take one hand off the steering wheel to squish them. I was successful with two bugs. Then I noticed a third bug on my hand was actually more tan than the other two and easier to see as it crawled. The same time I noticed this I looked closely at the skin on my hand and it had tiny bumps which I knew were bugs that were somehow under my skin. These bumps were tiny but plentiful and creeped me out during the dream so much that it was difficult to deal with the last bug on my hand and it escaped. Then I woke up. I had the feeling this dream was about the virus but wasn't sure as it wasn't spiders like the last few dreams. I think the virus "bug" is represented this way because it is being portrayed in the dream as less scary as it seems to decrease in numbers. Maybe this means it will appear that the virus situation will be better for a while but in reality the virus is still around in higher numbers than we realize and mutating (the one bug was a different color from the others). The bugs under the skin could represent all the asymptomatic carriers which we can't deal with since we still don't institute a comprehensive testing regime. The asymptomatic people are one of the main problems...if everyone wore a face mask this would ameliorate the asymptomatic carrier problem but many people refuse to wear face masks. Some strains may be more problematic than others, some strains of virus may linger on under the radar more than others...all of these strains are still mutating. I am not sure what this means for our future in fighting the virus. So stay wary and careful my friends.
I think this describes the different variants of Covid popping up every where. It was posted 5/27/2020.
I am getting that about a 6 week shutdown is coming. I have prepared for it and am picking up a no touch order for a few things to replenish stocks... coffee,flour etc etc., feed for the animals. I think with strong leadership that we are going to get through this portion of darkest times right now. Dr Fauci is freely able to speak now as are others working on this Pandemic.
I am getting that about a 6 week shutdown is coming.
Do you think that will be local/regional or national ?
Also could you clarify what a "shutdown" means to you? (For instance grocery stores never closed in my area. They did restrict capacity of persons per square foot for a while but I never had trouble getting groceries. And masks are still mandatory in indoor public places here.) Thanks!
@ana to me? A shutdown is a cohesive and unified shutdown ( nationwide) otherwise what is the point? The disjointed individual states approach is obviously not effective. Essential services to me are hospitals,drs/vets offices,pharmacy and grocery and gas stations. It will take that to slow it down I feel. Only certain times and number of people to be out and about each day during the shutdown.
@journeywithme2 So you see a shutdown that is comprehensive and national--- well that would be new! Thanks for clarifying!
@journeywithme2 Forgive me for not remembering where on the planet you are, but for as much as I agree with you that a shutdown would be the most effective way to handle the situation in the US, it's not going to happen. There is no authority in this country at any level, presidential or otherwise, that can do that. Even if they tried, there are at least 30 red states that would 1) balk at it, 2) refuse to enforce it, and/or 3) file at least a dozen lawsuits against anyone who tried to mandate or enforce it to prevent it from happening.
If the president tried to do it by EO, that EO would be enjoined and declared unconstitutional by the federal courts before any enforcement could happen. If Congress tried by legislation, the same thing would happen and it would be dead before it went into effect.
Even if it were possible, how would it be enforced? I can virtually guarantee that the state or local police in places like the Dakotas, Texas, Iowa, the Carolinas or pretty much anywhere in the Deep South or plains states wouldn't do it. Federal troops? Using them would be illegal and unconstitutional (under Posse Comitatus). And who would decide which industries/workers were essential? Who would issue the work passes, and who would check/enforce them? How would you even set up the necessary infrastructure to do that? By the time you did, there would be no point.
Some states have or have had statewide stay-at-home orders - CA just lifted theirs - that either could not be or were not enforced. The one in CA had so many exceptions as to make it useless, and with little or no enforcement, completely toothless. It wasn't much more than a performative gesture to make the legislatures and other government bodies feel like and appear that they were doing something.
That's not to say no one complied as much as they were able; many did, but there were so many who didn't that we ended up with some of the highest infection and death rates in the nation for the last few months.
I'm not saying you're wrong that it would be a good idea. In places like New Zealand or Singapore or even Korea where the populations and land areas are much smaller and easier to patrol and control, sure. But in the US, where confidence and trust in any gov't or medical authority has been practically destroyed and no one is paying attention to them anyway? Pardon my British, but not bloody likely.
@tgraf66 I live in Georgia...and we flipped the Senate. :-) another " not bloody likely" occurrence. We are currently at 435,000+ dead from covid-19 and 3 new variants are here. There was no plan in place in 45's administration and not enough vaccines are available. A 4-6 week shutdown/lockdown was discussed by Biden advisors back in the mid November. It may or may not happen. I strongly feel it is still being discussed. Whether it is set in to motion or not remains to be seen.
I saw this article and thought of your comments — it may be that the U.S. will be watching and waiting to see if this works well. I agree that getting compliance/enforcement in the U.S. for a national shutdown would be very tricky.
I think we should look at controlling Covid spread from another angle. Home testing. Home Covid tests are now available on Amazon, by prescription and more are coming. If the government would assist in providing home tests and we could test a couple times a week, Covid + people would quarantine til they test negative. This could help control the spread and make a complete nationwide shutdown unnecessary. Slovakia did mass testing, school closures and limited services (for one week) and those measures cut their Covid rate by 60%. The combination of those interventions seemed to work.
https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4761