"The elephant in the room, Covid-19"

Hmmm, facetime get together, there's an idea... We have friends and family that we have not been able to get together in person for many weeks now. We usually see each other at least on weekends, and more. So this is getting kind of hard, and we now know the feeling of stir-crazy. Thankfully, all the people we know are still healthy, but we know the virus is all around us, and we are taking no chances. But we are getting to know our neighbours better, from a social distance of course, and we have had a lot of good chats outside and meeting people on our walks.

 

We had an online family gathering yesterday. Aside from the crazy situation it was awesome. 4 locations all over the world it almost felt like a real get-together. 4 webcams and hours of talk and fun. We also played a game of yatzee together. Do that, it's fun and after paying a game like that takes your mind off of it.

 

Yup, we just had a birthday party with our son's family via FaceTime. Got to "see" everyone and have good conversations; much better than messaging. I did miss the good cooking however.

 

For my friends in Manitoba (I grew up there).

 

It gets down to our estimate of the consequences of the disease and our estimate of the consequences of the cure. I may underestimate the consequences of the disease and become a volunteer for the % that die. The problem is, when I do that, I volunteer you too.

 

I've very much enjoyed watching the British doctor (John Campbell) that Ray B posted about earlier in this thread.
See https://www.youtube.com/user/Campbellteaching/videos. He's got a calm and reassuring tone, and provides cited information. The gist of it is that he believes a vaccine will exist in 12-18 months. Some restrictions can be lifted once we have adequate testing and isolation for infected folks. He uses S. Korea as an example of the best methods so far.

On the cautionary side: He aired a video from a doctor in Madrid who claims some extreme triage is already being done. Things like just sedating the worst patients until they die.

I think we need to try and understand the nature of the issue and not just hear what we want to hear. We need the testing to measure, then we need the measurements to guide our actions including lifting the shelter orders. Sending people back to 'normal life' with no understanding of where we are at with regard to infection isn't a plan in my book. The testing can get real in a relatively short time period, but there will be cost in any direction. The testing being cheaper both in financial and human cost.

 

We are 71 living in a Sun City in Las Vegas. Self-quarantined, albeit we have a couple we still play bridge with. All four of us are high risk for a variety of reasons so we are very careful about contagion possibilities. Heart problems, lung problems, Parkinson's and a couple of others. I only have one diaphragm working and it has damaged about the bottom half of one lung. breathing is a ***** sometimes. I figure if I catch this virus I'm dead.

There have been 4 cases reported in our community (over 12,500 people), and one death. We have a wonderful lady who reports bout it (no names), including know dates of activities they have attended. There is definite overlap among the 4 - plus one from outside the community that was bowling with one here that has it. That means a lot of possible contagion as it was at a casino and the alleys there are usually packed.

We are well stocked. By chance wee did a paper product run a week before it all broke loose and did our usual overbuy so we don't have to do it more than 3 times a year. Went to Costco, Smith's and Albertson's at the start of it all and filled in gaps for food. We didn't need near as much as most because we always stock up on food as well and had quite a bit left from the last grocery shopping trip.

We read, play video games (Two PS3s and two PS4s - waiting impatiently for the PS5), and are going to start walking at a couple of big parks with plenty of open space. Got plenty of recorded TV and I have been futzing with paint fixes, cleaning, etc.

If you are an entrepreneur I have an idea for you. A 16 foot diameter sheet of heavy(ish) plastic with a bright red or yellow line around the circumference. The use? Lay it on the ground at a park or elsewhere and sit in the middle. Sixteen feet instead of twelve because we are not pinpoints.

 

One more post for now. I think our action or lack of action should be based on our care for others. I think most people are good people who do care for others.
At the moment, our determined ability to avoid unnecessary risk is a gift to people we have not yet met. The pandemic makes us more dependent on others actions than anything I can think of. And no, not trying to disparage anyone who has to go to work (and God bless you). But we all serve in different ways. What I can do for now is isolate as much as possible given that I'm lucky enough to work from home (I do technology work).
So not an admonition, but a recognition that we all matter. And I for one do not wish to lose any of our elders.