COVID19 - How it's affecting you

Yeah, I was ok with "going home" before all this. Then I'm reminded of some of the reasons I thought  it was a good idea to leave.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/20/politics/state-department-coronavirus-confusion/index.html

and, more disturbingly

https://us.cnn.com/2020/03/23/politics/coronavirus-texas-social-distancing-guidelines/index.html

Of course, it is Texas. And one of the reasons I would never live there again. But who in God's name would tell people that over 70s should be willing to die (yes, he did. He didn't say the words, but that's the message he's sending) so that other people could have like Krispy Kremes, the latest cars, and big screen tvs....? Why not just dust off the cattle cars and get it over with, then?

It's also why I'll move heaven and earth to vote in the fall.

All weekend I've been expecting a text from my employers, telling me not to turn up on Monday.
Nothing's come. 

My employers are quoting a link to the gov.uk website which says that people working in financial services are 'essential', and this is why we're not being told to stay at home. 

My employers are quoting a link to the gov.uk website which says that people working in financial services are 'essential', and this is why we're not being told to stay at home. 

How can they not justify telling you to work from home?! Is there something that they can physically say you can't access from home?? That is crazy.

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How can they not justify telling you to work from home?! Is there something that they can physically say you can't access from home?? That is crazy.

We can't work from home, as we don't have laptops.  They say they can't get any more laptops... something to do with the exceeding the licence for the security token.

That is such sh*t, i'm so sorry!

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My employers are quoting a link to the gov.uk website which says that people working in financial services are 'essential', and this is why we're not being told to stay at home. 

  I really believe that they'll be forced to change their minds soon, within the next few days.  I heard on the news this morning that Mike Ashley was trying to say that the workers in Sports Direct were essential to help people exercise.  That literally lasted about half an hour when the backlash was so huge he changed his mind.  I was ready to go spray paint the store.   

Look on the good side, at least you are getting paid.

Yeah, I was ok with "going home" before all this. Then I'm reminded of some of the reasons I thought  it was a good idea to leave.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/20/politics/state-department-coronavirus-confusion/index.html

and, more disturbingly

https://us.cnn.com/2020/03/23/politics/coronavirus-texas-social-distancing-guidelines/index.html

Of course, it is Texas. And one of the reasons I would never live there again. But who in God's name would tell people that over 70s should be willing to die (yes, he did. He didn't say the words, but that's the message he's sending) so that other people could have like Krispy Kremes, the latest cars, and big screen tvs....? Why not just dust off the cattle cars and get it over with, then?

It's also why I'll move heaven and earth to vote in the fall.

  I've got such a bad feeling about what is about to happen in the US.  Trump is out of options and the only thing left is "do nothing and let it infect everyone" That's the same one the UK was considering for about a day until they ran the numbers.

I've been emailing friends in California. They are still going out even though one is severely immunocompromised. They just are not "getting" it there. I've used the strongest possible language that I can, without being just plain rude, to urge them to go ahead and grab a few things and then plan on staying home for a few months.

As to the USA.... I see it coming, too. Trump is talking about lifting all restrictions in "a short time." Because it's bad for business. So he is chosing the dollar over people. They're screwed.

 

Question:  I assume this virus, like many, is sensitive to UV light? That is, UV can be used to sterilize it?

All the closed nail salons that have the  UV lights to dry that special nail polish, could the lights not be gathered and rigged, and at least some masks in areas that don't have enough placed under the lights?  There has to be like a nail salon on every street block...?

I've got a new plan myself, 3d printing face masks -
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.5502954/canadian-doctor-who-works-in-gaza-makes-3d-printed-face-shields-for-covid-19-1.5502964
I've ordered the strap and plastic film and I'm going to get my boy to 3d print the pieces.  Still not entirely sure what I am going to do with them, I hope some doctors can use them.  I'm on really thin ground in terms of telling if they would be helpful or not to doctors or the general public.

Look on the good side, at least you are getting paid.

you're right.... a silver lining! 

Olympics officially postponed!

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Question:  I assume this virus, like many, is sensitive to UV light? That is, UV can be used to sterilize it?

All the closed nail salons that have the  UV lights to dry that special nail polish, could the lights not be gathered and rigged, and at least some masks in areas that don't have enough placed under the lights?  There has to be like a nail salon on every street block...?

I've looked that up, it would take at least 20-30 minutes of incredibly high intensity UV light to kill this (they do use these in hospital operating theatres, but everyone leaves the room when it's on). So those phone sanitisers people have been buying also wouldn't be effective. I'd been wiping my phone carefully with isopropyl alcohol when I got in from being out and avoided touching it as much as possible (just waze).

Husband doesn't seem to understand he's not to go out once our quarantine is over to protect me. This wasn't Covid-19 that led to quarantine, it was an allergy induced asthma flare, so niceties like condiments are going to run out soon if the stores don't sort at least a click n collect option for people with food allergies. I'm seriously fed up with supermarkets and will be changing shopping habits as much as possible after this is over. (as long as we can afford to).

My friends who have it are still hanging in and not in the hospital, but they have been teetering close and have a district nurse checking in on them. I'm grateful for the NHS staff who are putting themselves at risk for societies good. At least 3 immune compromised friends with asthma have it right now, and aside from the one with kids, they were being incredibly careful and have no idea how they picked it up.

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Hmmm. Well, I know several tropical fish hobbyists who use UV to disinfect their tank water. Mostly the marine aquarium guys. But if it kills stuff in tank water, perhaps it's enough for face masks?

And from a recent paper  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-21058-w published in a very well-respected journal:

Abstract

Airborne-mediated microbial diseases such as influenza and tuberculosis represent major public health challenges. A direct approach to prevent airborne transmission is inactivation of airborne pathogens, and the airborne antimicrobial potential of UVC ultraviolet light has long been established; however, its widespread use in public settings is limited because conventional UVC light sources are both carcinogenic and cataractogenic. By contrast, we have previously shown that far-UVC light (207–222 nm) efficiently inactivates bacteria without harm to exposed mammalian skin. This is because, due to its strong absorbance in biological materials, far-UVC light cannot penetrate even the outer (non living) layers of human skin or eye; however, because bacteria and viruses are of micrometer or smaller dimensions, far-UVC can penetrate and inactivate them. We show for the first time that far-UVC efficiently inactivates airborne aerosolized viruses, with a very low dose of 2 mJ/cm2 of 222-nm light inactivating >95% of aerosolized H1N1 influenza virus. Continuous very low dose-rate far-UVC light in indoor public locations is a promising, safe and inexpensive tool to reduce the spread of airborne-mediated microbial diseases.

I've got a new plan myself, 3d printing face masks -
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.5502954/canadian-doctor-who-works-in-gaza-makes-3d-printed-face-shields-for-covid-19-1.5502964
I've ordered the strap and plastic film and I'm going to get my boy to 3d print the pieces.  Still not entirely sure what I am going to do with them, I hope some doctors can use them.  I'm on really thin ground in terms of telling if they would be helpful or not to doctors or the general public.

  After stupidly ordering a few plastic sheets and elastic straps, I did some more research and found that it is actually possible to have face masks that are worse than nothing and one printed in my son's dirty room would qualify. Doctor's wouldn't be interested and it's not nice to sell them or even give them away.