COVID-19 Resources

[BillyGr]

In San Diego, the traffic has lessened by a LOT, but there are still cars on the road. We went down to the commissary on base (i.e. grocery store) on Monday. The freeway was not super busy, but it definitely was not empty. Essential workers are still out, and folks need to get groceries and medications, etc. I have to carry a letter in my car when I am going between work/home, because there were two roadblocks where officers were checking on folks' need to be out. I only have to report in to work about once a week, mostly teaching from home.

Donna

Never quite figured out how that can work out - in your case you may have something to show, but those doing those essential errands wouldn't have any type of proof with them.

Maybe it's easier in the larger areas where people wouldn't travel as far, but in the more remote locations a drive of 30 minutes or more to the "local" supermarket or pharmacy isn't unusual (and possibly farther if that what might be one store in an area is out of something you need).

[Lifemagician]

The stay at home and physical distancing rules have been very strict here, and most folk are abiding by them. But when the authorities became aware of half a dozen or so cars parked at one home in Melbourne, they became suspicious. Seems it was a lady who had a dinner party for six of her friends. With the fines in Victoria at $1600 per person.... it became a very expensive dinner party.

Almost each morning we hear of dozens of people fined for breaking the rules. In Perth one man in compulsory quarantine has been jailed for breaking the rules. He was in a hotel (as all who cross the border are for 14 days) supervised, and catered to, by members of the Defence Forces. He managed to sneak out through a back fire escape door, and left it ajar to get back in. He was jailed for 6 months with a minimum of one month.

We are all in this together! No exceptions!

Lifey

[Mark Sedenquist]

That does seem pretty extreme.

But good to know, I guess.

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

Never quite figured out how that can work out - in your case you may have something to show, but those doing those essential errands wouldn't have any type of proof with them.

I work in two industries that are considered essential in Nevada. So, in my case, if I were to be stopped I would just so one or both of my business cards. But I strictly limit going to the office to no more than once a week and spend very little time there.

I find the so-called "protests" that are happening around the country to be remarkably dumb. None of us have sufficient data at this point to make informed decisions about how this virus will continue to spread.

Mark

[DonnaR57]

To answer the question about what you do if you don't carry a letter, or are on your way to an essential errand, that's what you say. "I'm going to the grocery store." "I've got to pick up a prescription." "I'm going to the doctor's office." (Though most of ours have started to do Teledoc appointments.) Even if you are driving your baby around to get her to go to sleep (as a teacher friend of mine has been doing), it is an essential thing and you tell the truth. But if you have a commute, as I do, you're best off having that letter if you are going into work (as I have to do about once a week).

I'm going to respectfully disagree about the protests. It is within people's rights to do just that if they disagree. Besides, one of the ones in a photo online made a schmirk about our CA governor that I totally agree with. (grin)

BTW, we came to the conclusion that my husband has already had a mild case of this stuff, right after we got back from Disneyland back in February. That's a perfect place to catch anything that's going around. A few days after we got back, he had an awful cough, worse than his usual ex-smoker's cough, ran a fever (unusual for him), body aches, but also....lost his sense of taste and his sense of smell. That's come out as a by-product of CV-19. His lasted less than a week and he picked up his energy a few days later, so we had passed it off as the flu. His question was "why didn't you get it?" I dunno! Probably a lot of reasons!


Donna

[Rick Quinn]

I'm sure there are a wide variety of opinions out there when it comes to the wisdom of re-opening the country, and emerging from our imposed isolation. Some folks are applauding the tentative moves toward normalcy as wonderful news, long overdue. Others, myself included, can't help but look at the statistics: cases of COVID-19 are rising almost everywhere, including here in my home town. Considering how explosively contagious this virus is known to be, how can it possibly be safe to return our world to any version of normal?

I certainly don't want to hide at home forever, and I'm as anxious as the next guy to get back outside, at the very least. I know enough to avoid cruise ships and crowded elevators. But is it really okay to go back to restaurants? And what about the office? Church? Kid's Birthday parties?

I ran across a really good article today, titled, The Risks: Know Them, Avoid Them; written by a professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts. He actually answers those questions (and more). It's terrifying, yet reassuring at the same time. I fear it's going to be a long road.

Rick

[Mark Sedenquist]

Yes, I am sharing the article to my circles.

Some really interesting stuff in there.

Thanks for the post.

Mark

[Rick Quinn]

Some really interesting stuff in there.

Mark

A lot of people seem to agree. The author has a blog, with daily posts about various aspects and musings on the COVID-19 Pandemic. Most of his posts average around 15,000 views. This post, interestingly enough, has literally gone viral, with more than 6 million views in the last two weeks!

Rick

[DonnaR57]

That article was shared on a Facebook post from one of my friends who snowbirds in Texas but lives at the Lake in MO during the summer months. I found it interesting!

I also talked to both of my daughters today. The one in Colorado calls her governor a "California copycat", because whatever our governor says we're doing, he makes Colorado do. So they're still in the first phase of reopening, as California is. No dine-in restaurants yet, but Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, along with a lot of other parks that have hiking and other outdoor sports, are open. Just no playgrounds. Sounds a lot like our area in California.

The other daughter, in Missouri, said there are dine-in restaurants, the hotels are starting to pick up reservations for Memorial Day (normally they would have been booked months ago) and for the summer, but not fast enough for that tourism-based area. (Lake of the Ozarks.) Parks and places for hiking, open, but playgrounds, no. Schools closed.

My mom, in between the two in Kansas, hasn't been out of the house except for the back yard, in two months. She keeps busy with her sewing and leaves my brother and sister-in-law to run all the errands.

Is Utah still doing that check in thing? I saw that they shut it down after it misfired, but never caught if they reopened it. What do they do if people don't have cell phones, or they're turned off, when coming into Utah, if they still have that check-in thing?


Donna

[Utahtea]

Zion National Park announced they will resume the shuttle bus service in July.


“Park Shuttle Service Resumes July 1, 2020 - Tickets Required In Advance
Starting July 1, park shuttles will resume modified operations--tickets required. Book tickets in advance on Recreation.gov. Private vehicles are not allowed on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive when shuttles are in operation.”

https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvis...le-tickets.htm

Utahtea