How COVID-19 is affecting society

[Cindy Claveau]

Well, it keeps the patients calm.

Sadly it won't stop the smaller particles - Those handsewn masks are not approved for no reason, but in a crisis no one will look. I fear we will soon see an increase in infections (not just CoVid 19, and both in staff and patients) thanks to medical staff having to resort to them.

At this juncture in our social nightmare, ANYTHING that calms fears and promotes a semblance of consideration between people should be welcome. During my 3 total trips out of my Fortress of Ohholyshit, most people here have kept their distance but there are always a few asshats who simply refuse to go along.

Color me pleasantly surprised that my small local grocery went to the trouble of hanging walls of plastic tarps between the checkout aisles and have employees busy wiping everything down when traffic is slow. Maybe it won't work, maybe it will, but it's a damn sight better than just remaining oblivious. My state has one of the lower incident totals so far (we're not heavily populated) but the paranoia still seeps into our news. I, for one, am thankful that it does. When my cousin texted me wanting to know why everyone was so worried, I nearly screamed at her for being stupid. But that wouldn't help. I calmly backfilled her information lapse and silently wondered why ANYONE would watch Fox News at this point!

 

[RealVioletWitch]

Color me pleasantly surprised that my small local grocery went to the trouble of hanging walls of plastic tarps between the checkout aisles and have employees busy wiping everything down when traffic is slow.

our local grocery store is doing that too. they have platstic bariers between the people and the checkout staff, marks on the floor to show where to queue up and how far apart to be. when we went at like 8am the other day, they had people standing outside and were admiting people 1 at a time. they had a hand sanitizing station inside the door & if you wanted a cart they wiped it down with sterilizer while you did your hands, then after you moved on the next person came in. and they had loads of staff, keeping things clean and stuff, moving people thru to available checkouts and all. it was a bit freaky but they were really nice & efficient. the only bad thing was so much stuff was still out of stock.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Sredni Eel]

When you've decided the only place you feel safe to shop at is a tiny mercado on the corner, and end up buying stuff because it makes you laugh. That, and I really wanted a hot dog.

 

[Sredni Eel]

Also, I love this woman.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Street art in Pontefract, West Yorkshire

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Creeping Authoritarianism Has Finally Prevailed

In Hungary, the pandemic was just an excuse.

www.theatlantic.com

In Hungary, the Coronavirus Is Just an Excuse - The Atlantic

Ideas Creeping Authoritarianism Has Finally Prevailed In Hungary, the pandemic was just an excuse. April 3, 2020 Anne Applebaum Staff writer at The Atlantic Riccardo Pareggiani / NurPhoto / Getty This...

www.evernote.com

 

[danielravennest]

There isn't a lot out there on best fabrics for a mask yet. Has any one found good data so far?

HEPA rated vacuum cleaner bags if you have/can get them, they filter 99.99% of dust particles. Otherwise a tight-weave fabric that you can't see points of light through when held up to a strong light, and then use two layers. If you see a point of light between the weave, that's more than big enough to let a virus particle through. If you have facial hair, shave it off. That leaves a gap between your skin and the mask.

Fionalein - if all the mask does is stop you from touching your nose and mouth, it's doing some good. Depending on type of mask, they can have 20-50% effectiveness in preventing infection. So you still have to practice all the other routines (distancing, washing hands, etc.), but it improves your odds somewhat. It also helps protect other people if you are asymptomatic, by keeping viral droplets to yourself.

My personal first line of defense is "stay the fuck at home". So I'm trying to go as long as possible between shopping trips, and buy a few weeks of supplies when I do.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[danielravennest]

I have a former long-time tenant who's now making payments to buy the house. I bought and lived in it many years ago, and its paid off. If she can't make payments due to illness or layoff, I can wait. It's just money.

 

[danielravennest]

and silently wondered why ANYONE would watch Fox News at this point!

So they can die off faster, and raise the average IQ of the nation. Think of it as evolution in action.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Ooops

Coronavirus patients delivered to hospital ship Comfort in New York by mistake: US officials

EXCLUSIVE - Multiple patients infected with coronavirus-19 were transferred to the hospital ship Comfort from the Javits Center in New York by mistake, three U.S. officials tell Fox News.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Ooops

Coronavirus patients delivered to hospital ship Comfort in New York by mistake: US officials

EXCLUSIVE - Multiple patients infected with coronavirus-19 were transferred to the hospital ship Comfort from the Javits Center in New York by mistake, three U.S. officials tell Fox News.

www.foxnews.com

DERP

 

[Soen Eber]

HEPA rated vacuum cleaner bags if you have/can get them, they filter 99.99% of dust particles. Otherwise a tight-weave fabric that you can't see points of light through when held up to a strong light, and then use two layers. If you see a point of light between the weave, that's more than big enough to let a virus particle through. If you have facial hair, shave it off. That leaves a gap between your skin and the mask.

Fionalein - if all the mask does is stop you from touching your nose and mouth, it's doing some good. Depending on type of mask, they can have 20-50% effectiveness in preventing infection. So you still have to practice all the other routines (distancing, washing hands, etc.), but it improves your odds somewhat. It also helps protect other people if you are asymptomatic, by keeping viral droplets to yourself.

My personal first line of defense is "stay the fuck at home". So I'm trying to go as long as possible between shopping trips, and buy a few weeks of supplies when I do.

I've read vac bags contain fiberglass, which plays merry hell on the lungs. So skip those, please. Also, it's not the virus which needs ro be blocked, it's the water droplets containing them - a much bigger target. The link bubblesort states that, and the use of polyproylene to repel water which is readily and cheaply available.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

The prez's personal conspiracy theory that hospital and healthcare workers in New York are stealing hundreds of thousands of PPE's to sell on the black market is ridiculous as far as I'm concerned.

However, non-healthcare workers are another story.

In New Orleans right now, the city's convention center has been converted into a field hospital for coronavirus patients, in the same way as a few similar sites in New York. Yesterday, the convention center's own public safety director was caught smuggling a couple of boxes of N95 masks out a rear exit and arrested by state police, and a couple more boxes were found at his home. The amount stolen is less than 100 masks and there's no information yet on what the man had intended to do with the masks. He's lost his job as the convention center safety director, obviously.

The field hospital inside the convention center is neat. It has a capacity right now of 1,000 segregated patient "rooms" and this capacity can be doubled by the end of the month if needed.

The pop up facility — which is costing more than $90 million to build, equip and staff, largely through a contractor — is meant to treat COVID-19 patients who no longer need acute treatment at a hospital but still require care they can’t get at home, said Dr. Meghan Maslanka, the site’s medical operations manager.

Such patients — who need a hospital referral to be admitted — will be treated and observed in tent rooms that are about the size of backyard sheds.

Arranged in pods of 14, covering the length and width of a series of convention halls, the isolation tents are air-conditioned but sparsely furnished. Besides a bed, pillow and blanket, there’s a folding chair, a TV tray and an office-style telephone. There’s also an electric outlet, a small potted plant, an IV stand and other medical supplies that may be of use for an around-the-clock staff including nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, respiratory therapists, social workers and pharmacists.

The convention center parking lot also hosts a fleet of trailers for housing and quarantining people who have been tested for COVID-19 and are waiting for their results.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Ooops

Coronavirus patients delivered to hospital ship Comfort in New York by mistake: US officials

EXCLUSIVE - Multiple patients infected with coronavirus-19 were transferred to the hospital ship Comfort from the Javits Center in New York by mistake, three U.S. officials tell Fox News.

www.foxnews.com

That didn't take long.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

That didn't take long.

As the article explains, they had, of course, made plans for just this eventuality, which were deployed immediately and the affected patients were immediately moved to wards in a quarantined area of the ship, and all areas disinfected.

It's just they hadn't expected to have to use the emergency procedures quite so early on.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The US presidential election is frozen in time – can it survive?

As unthinkable events unfold over coronavirus, experts say no one knows if the election will happen as scheduled – and Trump is in a ‘precarious position’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Eunoli]

The US presidential election is frozen in time – can it survive?

As unthinkable events unfold over coronavirus, experts say no one knows if the election will happen as scheduled – and Trump is in a ‘precarious position’

www.theguardian.com

Trump can't risk a fair election. If he loses, he's immediately subject to law enforcement action and an avalanche of lawsuits. I was previously of the opinion he'd just let it happen and then call it rigged and refuse to leave after - but now I think he will attempt to cancel it and senatorial elections indefinitely.