Coronavirus pandemic - how are you affected?

[samsonlonghair]

Man, you work for a janky place. You sure you're really a DoD contractor and not some shell company for Russian spies?

Good one comrad Ack!

Yeah, they have been behaving a little bit sketchy. Over the past year a number of senior employees have been let go right before they would have qualified for their full retirement packages. Clearly this isn't the company I'm going to spend my whole career working for.

This is the kind of company that lays off their best people, then complains they can't find enough qualified applicants to fill the position.

As for liquor stores, folks have been using higher proof alcohols to manufacture sanitizers. So long as you're using something over 120 proof, you can make it. Even higher, and you have a level of sterilizer for emergencies. Liquor is good for more than just drinking...though it is certainly good for that too.

I also don't think law enforcement and emergency services want to deal with desperate alcoholics.

Bingo!

[marurun]

Here's one look at why everyone's freaking the butt out on toilet paper.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/this-is-why-everyone-is-hoarding-toilet-paper/

[MrPopo]

I don't like that researcher saying I'm abnormal due to my lack of anxiety.

[Nemoide]

I'm extremely thankful that I bought into Charmin's "forever roll" last year. I mostly found its ridiculousness appealing at the time! And then when I needed more, the most cost effective option was to order a dozen rolls, so I'm still set for at least another couple of months.

[pook99]

This situation has definitely had an impact on me. As a principal my school has been closed but I still go in everyday. The first couple of days were super busy as we were delivering chromebooks and hotspots to families who needed them. I go in every other day and monitor our online programs, help deliver food, answer staff/student inquiries, and wait for Cuomo to update us on the school situation, which still has not happened yet. We are scheduled to go back on April 1st but who knows.

I can't complain though, I still get paid, I get free food at my job, work less hours, have access to my schools weight room, and have an unlimited back log of games to play for as long as this continues, I definitely have it good in comparison to so many who are suffering from this, I try not to think about it because the whole situation just makes me sad.

The only thing I am upset about it when this whole thing broke out my dad went to the ER for unrelated illnesses and nobody was allowed to visit him, he is home now but lives in Long Island and just given how frequent the virus is downstate I don't think it is a great idea to risk infection and then bring it to where I live, and to my school.

[CFFJR]

So Denver's shelter in place rule started today, and surrounding counties are following suit beginning tomorrow. Effective until April 16, at the earliest.

So I'm out of work for now, though my wife can still work from home.

Time to catch up on some other things I suppose.

[Ziggy]

Prevention efforts are multiplicative, with effects far beyond that of a single spread. Each avoided case leads to more avoided cases down the line, which in turn can stop the outbreak in its tracks.

An illustration of the effect of spreading out infections over a long period of time, known as flattening the curve; decreasing peaks allows healthcare services to better manage the same volume of patients.

And if we do flatten the curve but call off social distancing too early...

[Jagosaurus]

So my mom works in healthcare. We had a long talk. The current stat (we've already discussed) is roughly 2% mortality vs .01% with flu. That's bad, but the big difference is the need for respirators (not there on flu). Apparently once this gets bad, requires an ICU bed/room with a respirator. We simply don't have enough ICU resources to let it spread naturally. Models show the death rate would then move to 4% to 6% and we'd have other deaths (non COVID) related to the lack of ICU resources. Reportedly Italy had to make "war-time" type decisions on who got ICU beds (old vs young, kids vs no kids). I saw they were repurposing SCUBA gear. Crazy. I feel like this factor isn't being highlighted enough.

[emwearz]

I thought the whole reason we are social distancing and isolating at home is to reduce the amount of people who have it at a single time, to try our best to not overload hospitals, etc.

You make a great point though, it does not seem to be pushed enough in the media as to why we need to be slowing the curve, etc.

[Jagosaurus]

@emz, yeah, I just hadn't specifically heard the overload conversation linked to number of ICU rooms (required for respirator care). That's normally only 1 wing of a much larger hospital. They don't run into that problem with the flu. It'd cause the mortality rate to spike once those reach capacity.

Worth noting my mom works for a decent sized ER on the front lines, in an area with confirmed cases. She's on all these corporate calls & receives memos on the overall strategies and state of affairs. Was interesting to hear her provide that analytical breakdown of the reasoning. Essentially, she said it's unfair to cause/ask of healthcare workers to decide who lives & who dies based on ICU bed shortages if it's preventable. She said they're being told it's a 50/50 survival rate if hospitalized and not on a vent.

She's also on the edge of retirement. What a strange way to finish up a career in healthcare.