Social Distancing

This thread is about the phenomenon of social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. Please, NO POLITICS! This is about our personal experiences with social distancing, about "how-to" advice about minimizing interaction with other humans, and about the effects of social distancing on our society.

As of 1.5 years ago, my wife has a suppressed immune system. She was diagnosed with Wegener's Granulomastosis -a 100% fatal auto-immune disease that is only survivable by taking chemotherapy drugs every day to weaken her immune system, thus keeping her Wegener's in remission. In Nov 2018 my wife quit her job as a registered nurse because she needs to avoid contact with sick people because of her weakened immune system. Last week, she was declared to be disabled by the federal government.

I have been my wife's caregiver for the last 15 months. We live alone. If I catch the coronavirus, then my wife will likely catch the coronavirus virus and will be at elevated risk of dieing. So, even though there are no COVID-19 cases within 100 miles of where we live, this is a very alarming situation for us.

Today, my wife and I are beginning the process of sheltering in our home. Today:
1. We will be buying dry beans, dry rice, and canned foods in bulk, as well as filling our refrigerators and freezers.
2. Buying pet food in bulk.
3. Buying household soaps and cleansers and high-efficiency filters for our HVAC.
4. Evaluating all of the activities I am involved in and trying to understand which ones will naturally be suspended, and which ones I may need to actively pull out of.

There are many more 'social distancing' issues we need to face, but this first post is already long enough.

I'm hunkering down for a few weeks. Shut my store and suspended eBay sales.
It's better to be safe. I'm amazed how nonchalant many of my neighbors are. One guy is in his early 70s, on oxygen and told me he has gone shopping twice a week for the last fifteen years and will continue to do so.
I'm looking at it as a two week vacation that will let me get a lot of small things done around my property that I've been putting off.
Unless you love dry beans and dry rice, you can find plenty of better alternatives.
Best of luck.

I squeezed in one last excursion to LV Feb 24-29th to cash a ticket and scout March Madness futures. I waited until Chinese New Year was three weeks gone before heading out. Anyway, I wore gloves on the planes and in the LV airport, but what struck me was how impossible airports are to defend from something like this. Just impossible. So when I got back, I did a final couple of lunches with people here in eastern Tennessee the first couple days in March, then we shut it down. We skipped the SoCon basketball tournament in nearby Asheville.

Basically, we'll put on the gloves and head to Kroger every few days, but that's about it. No restaurants, no movies, no sporting events, no hanging out with friends because many of them travel, no testing is available for home use, and some of the virus victims have exceeded by a wide margin the alleged 14-day window before exhibiting symptoms.

When my late wife had chemo, it was such an issue to screen things and not have flowers in the room (dirt was a no-no) and pets had to be quarantined, that I swore afterwards I'd be the filthiest, non-scrubbing dude on the planet. But this coronavirus is a test of protocols and discipline, and I'm following rules. I have enough canned goods for probably two months. What surprised me is that, compared to the stashes my grandparents had of canned goods 30 years ago, my stash is actually pretty modest in comparison.

Quote: redietz

... compared to the stashes my grandparents had of canned goods 30 years ago, my stash is actually pretty modest in comparison.

Perhaps the national "distribution" system wasn't as efficient then as today's next-day delivery. On a (perhaps infrequent) visit your grandparents' nearby store could be "out" of something they need, perhaps making them wait until a later trip to buy it. However efficient today's system is, it is so complex now that a minor disruption could have catastrophic effects ... as we may soon see.

Tracking Your Temperature
If you want to check to see whether or not you may be getting sick, monitor your temperature at least once every day. That is often the very first indication of trouble. (But, don't get too excited about minor fluctuations. That's normal.) If you don't feel ill, but your body says it's over 100 degrees inside, that should be a clue. (But, I defer to recommendations by those in the medical profession, who wrestle with this event on an increasing basis.)

Younger folk, please unner'stan why all the older folk are suddenly walking around like cats at a rocking-chair convention.

The school I currently attend has canceled in-person classes for several weeks. Everything has moved online.

There are maybe 20 employees where I work, and I'm in my own office most of the day. I'm hoping they'll close the doors for a little bit at some point, but it's a retail environment so there's probably zero chance of that happening. Other than that I usually never leave the house, except to go grocery shopping.

Just had some doctor checkups, and I seem to be in great health, and I eat fairly clean and exercise regularly. I think I'm going to increase the exercise volume just in case.

That's about all I can do.

I'm in an interesting subgroup, oldsters (62) who exercise regularly. My main job will be in the other direction -- to not overdo any series of workouts so as to prevent any immune system dips. Plus for the next 10 weeks or so, eastern Tennessee is a top 10 worst pollen place, so that is a problem, too -- sorting out shortness of breath from one cause or another.

Well, I was about a decade behind on my reading list, so now's the time.

Quote: gordonm888

I have been my wife's caregiver for the last 15 months. We live alone. If I catch the coronavirus, then my wife will likely catch the coronavirus virus and will be at elevated risk of dieing. So, even though there are no COVID-19 cases within 100 miles of where we live, this is a very alarming situation for us.

Thought experiment...

Say you're in this situation, but haven't the ability to quarantine. Bugging out to create separation and hoping your charge does not die in your absence doesn't seem possible, as waiting for it to pass an area seems to be on the order of months, if it even passes at all. Staying to the last minute and hoping you don't kill them seems equally impossible. A combination of no tests plus a nearly two week incubation means by the time it's close to you, it's already in you. So that's out.

What's the feasibility (IYO) of purposely infecting? Go to a hot spot, lick some railings, and sit tight for 20 days. You get it, beat it, learn immunity, and then can go back home in less time and with full(ish) certainty that you're not gonna kill anyone.

Discuss.

Quote: redietz

I squeezed in one last excursion to LV Feb 24-29th to cash a ticket and scout March Madness futures. I waited until Chinese New Year was three weeks gone before heading out. Anyway, I wore gloves on the planes and in the LV airport, but what struck me was how impossible airports are to defend from something like this. Just impossible. So when I got back, I did a final couple of lunches with people here in eastern Tennessee the first couple days in March, then we shut it down. We skipped the SoCon basketball tournament in nearby Asheville.

Basically, we'll put on the gloves and head to Kroger every few days, but that's about it. No restaurants, no movies, no sporting events, no hanging out with friends because many of them travel, no testing is available for home use, and some of the virus victims have exceeded by a wide margin the alleged 14-day window before exhibiting symptoms.

When my late wife had chemo, it was such an issue to screen things and not have flowers in the room (dirt was a no-no) and pets had to be quarantined, that I swore afterwards I'd be the filthiest, non-scrubbing dude on the planet. But this coronavirus is a test of protocols and discipline, and I'm following rules. I have enough canned goods for probably two months. What surprised me is that, compared to the stashes my grandparents had of canned goods 30 years ago, my stash is actually pretty modest in comparison.

How does wearing gloves help? Unless you're taking them off every time you touch something and wearing a new pair I'm not sure how they can help that much? I can see if the gloves have some type of antibacterial killing coating of some kind on them.

I think that gloves will give you a false sense of security and make you a little more careless than you normally would be.

Quote: Face

What's the feasibility (IYO) of purposely infecting? Go to a hot spot, lick some railings, and sit tight for 20 days. You get it, beat it, learn immunity, and then can go back home in less time and with full(ish) certainty that you're not gonna kill anyone.

Discuss.

sounds a little nutty and 'trying' to catch something can be oddly frustrating as I remember from studies they've done on the common cold

but one thing I think is for sure ... and no official person could dare say this ... it would be better to be the first one to catch it in your community if you are going to get really sick ~ rather than some hapless person with severe illness in an area where the hospitals are overwhelmed with a huge number of other patients, and medical staff themselves too also sick, and the necessary really ready to treat with high quality care places packed to the gills

just saying

Quote: AxelWolf

How does wearing gloves help?

Isn't it about the extra awareness you'll have of when you touch your face / rub your eyes / eat a burger / pick your nose / lick your fingers etc?

I agree with your second assertion though. Masks and gloves are mostly an illusional benefit to most of us.
Re-using gloves could easily make matters much worse.

Speaking of social distancing: Today me and Missus OnceDear went to the cinema, an 8 screen multiplex. There were only ten customers, total, watching the screening and we only encountered one cinema employee, the whole visit. Automated ticket machines only: 1 Counter, sales assistant selling snacks and drinks. There was no-one checking tickets and no challenge to anyone entering any of the 8 screens! This was a mainstream new movie in what is normally a popular venue. Pretty obvious lots of people, including staff, were staying away. No-one sat within 3 metres of us :o) so no chance of catching anything.