Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #71

[dmac55]

Walmart's policy is:
Walmart will require customers to wear masks in its more than 5,000 stores in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the company announced Wednesday. Beginning July 20, the nation's largest retailer will mandate face coverings at all its stores, including Sam's Club

And yet I was there today and there were people shopping without masks. None of the employees noticed? Security didn't notice? The greeter at the door didn't notice? What good is a policy if a store isn't going to enforce it?

Southwest Airlines doesn't care if you have a medical reason as to why you can't wear a mask. You have to wear one or you can't fly on their airline.

"If a Customer is unable to wear a face covering or mask for any reason, Southwest regrets that we will be unable to transport the individual."

Things change so often
I don't think that's helpful:/

Walmart and others will still serve customers who refuse to wear masks, despite new rules - CNN
Walmart and others will still serve customers who refuse to wear masks, despite new rules - CNN

 

[MimosaMornings]

But then it becomes trespassing, and that’s when the cops can get involved. If you tell someone they cannot come on the property and they do... That’s how the cops are supposed to be handling it. I wonder if your chief of police is anti-mask. Because they didn’t do their job.

When you’ve got the Mayor of Atlanta and the Governor of Georgia in a mask feud....

 

[Tigerlily75]

Sounds like the Australian Defense Minister and others welcomed the US Marines to the Northwest Territory, and that US Marine arrivals would be subject to a 2-week quarantine period, anticipating that there would probably be positive COVID-19 cases.

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner welcomed Ms Reynolds' announcement and said local businesses would get a "massive boost" by having the Marines in the Top End.

"That is exactly what we need right now," he said in a Facebook post.

He added: "We've also secured a number of guarantees to ensure the Territory remains the safest place in Australia."

His spokesman said these included health screening four days before they travel to Australia.

The US Marines were likely to undergo quarantine at Defence barracks in the Northern Territory, the spokesman said.

The ABC is seeking details about where US Marines would be treated if any were confirmed to have COVID-19.

Ms Reynolds said the annual rotation was important for the region.

"Hosting this key Alliance activity provides interoperability benefits as well as signals our firm joint commitment to regional security," she said.

The deployment of US Marines to Darwin was first announced in 2011 by the then US president Barack Obama and then Australian prime minister Julia Gillard.

We all welcome them. @tresir2012 asked for a link and I gave it - with no commentary mind. Then confused the situation by talking about security guards in Melbourne (approximately 2 weeks drive away from Darwin!). There are over 4 million cases in the US, and it has indeed been described as “risky” by the minister, and as such the usual contingent has been reduced. That way quarantine and god forbid, hospitalizations are manageable. It is not a personal attack to talk about what is going in the US in regards to covid on a thread about covid.

 

[Tadpole12]

Thank you. I mention it only because the number of deaths reported can feel like just a number. But in reality, they are people whose human connections are keenly felt far beyond Florida.

This is terrible news, and such a great loss for your bff, mj.
Just be there for your friend. That's all you can do,
and foremost, be safe and protect yourself.

Feels like covid is encroaching upon us.

 

[Simply Southern]

I firmly believe it can be enforced as a trespassing issue. Tell them to leave and if they won't it's trespassing. Nothing to do with a mask mandate that way.

The other side of the coin is no one wants to be shot or attacked for enforcing store policy. Most police are also busy and stressed enough due to other shenanigans nowadays.

Tough call. Jmo

Friday, I was in several local businesses on my errand run. The first one had signs plastered all over the door, mask required per governor mandate. I laughed and said....y'all got a new door covering. The manger responded....They keep coming in without a mask, and we keep asking them to put them on. I said, why not call the police. The manager said, the owners business insurance won't cover discrimination lawsuit that's not a law and when we did call them, they wouldn't respond. . We're considering closing to protect the few employees we have.

Next stop, my weekly run to the homemade candy store, family owned and operated. Sign on door, starting Monday, online orders for pick up only. I ask why, same story....folks won't wear a mask and we don't want to be exposed or carry home to our family.

No community effort by our leaders or health dept to wear a mask.

 

[Sundog]

Need to recycle our spray pumps from sanitizer, soap and other dispensers

Someone was talking about a shortage of aluminum cans awhile back on this thread, and I heard on a radio talk show on Friday that there is also a shortage of spray pumps for things like soap bottles, sanitizers, etc. So even if the supply of pump soap and sanitizers improves, the manufacturers won't be able to replenish the spray pumps, just refill bottles. So they are suggesting that everyone save their used containers with the spray pumps for recycling as they are harder to produce.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I keep expecting to hear that my state, New South Wales is going back into lockdown, so was interested to read how bad it would have to be before that happened.


This is the number of virus cases that would send NSW back into lockdown

Senior ministers in the NSW Premier’s agreed that the state could withstand 250 daily cases before lockdown restrictions not seen since May are reimposed, The Sun Herald reported.

Despite there being no consensus on the total which would trigger a second lockdown, a senior unnamed cabinet member reportedly nominated the figure of 250 and cabinet colleagues agreed.

Informal discussions among Ms Berejiklian’s cabinet members have been ensuing as NSW nervously eyes each day’s new case numbers for signs of a Victoria-like spike.

However, ministers and the Premier would have to listen to NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant, whose cautious approach would suggest she might urge lockdown at a much lower daily case number.

In the last 24 hours, NSW recorded 14 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number to 3479.

 

[Tigerlily75]

My bff's sister died yesterday in Florida. She was sick for only 3 days. :'(

I’m so sorry!

 

[Simply Southern]

But then it becomes trespassing, and that’s when the cops can get involved. If you tell someone they cannot come on the property and they do... That’s how the cops are supposed to be handling it. I wonder if your chief of police is anti-mask. Because they didn’t do their job.

Our sheriff and COP said, it's a mandate not a law and they can't enforce removing or arresting someone from property for trespassing for mask mandate. They're giving out the state hotline number to report businesses for employees not wearing mask. But have gone on record, were not coming out for mask enforcement.

 

[ilovewings]

My bff's sister died yesterday in Florida. She was sick for only 3 days. :'(

I am so sorry to hear this evil virus took this lady's life----

 

[Tadpole12]

No link, just something I remembered from a forum I was on years ago when the chat got a bit heated.
It's something I've always remembered.
About a little girl whose parents were arguing. She picked up the cat and said "doesn't kitty have a nice long tail" Hoping to stop her parents from arguing.
I thought I would be that little girl

Everybody hug, pretend hugs and be friends again.

Thanks TF
I need a hug << >>

ETA : ... better now

 

[dmac55]

“We’ve stabilized at 95 miles an hour, and that is not the speed that we want to be going,” said Dr. Joshua LaBaer, director of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. “Ideally, we don’t want this car moving at all.”

What Arizona’s Tenuous Coronavirus Plateau Could Teach Us
What Arizona’s Tenuous Virus Plateau Could Teach Us

(If you cannot access this New York Times article, I learned this from Websleuths about articles behind paywalls-
Type the title of the article into a Google Chrome incognito tab)

 

[ilovewings]

37 Routine Activities Ranked by Risk of COVID-19 Infection | Hartford HealthCare

I think the risk levels are interesting: For example: going to a beach is considered a moderate risk: I considerate it a high risk if there are lots of people without a mask, which is usually the case-- Sending kids to school, camp or day care is considered a moderate risk: i considerate that a high risk because there will most likely be quite a few kids at that area: Equating going to a hair salon with being on airplane as as moderate -high risk: i think an airplane is much more likely to be a high risk. They evaluate playing football as a moderate to high risk: i see that as strictly a high risk because of all the face to face contact. Eating at a buffet is a high risk_ well, yeah, which is why i don't think we will be seeing buffets anywhere for quite some time (like years after there is a vaccine- no salad bars either).

 

[10ofRods]

My bff's sister died yesterday in Florida. She was sick for only 3 days. :'(

Very sorry to hear that, Musical.

 

[Rose in SC]

Well, a tiny bit of positive news from South Carolina.

• New cases (1,170) the lowest its been since July 7
• New deaths "only" 25 (1,436 total deaths)
• Tests positive percentage dropped to 15.6% (still alarming but hopefully it continues downward)

1,170 new cases of COVID-19, 25 additional deaths announced by DHEC

 

[10ofRods]

37 Routine Activities Ranked by Risk of COVID-19 Infection | Hartford HealthCare

I think the risk levels are interesting: For example: going to a beach is considered a moderate risk: I considerate it a high risk if there are lots of people without a mask, which is usually the case-- Sending kids to school, camp or day care is considered a moderate risk: i considerate that a high risk because there will most likely be quite a few kids at that area: Equating going to a hair salon with being on airplane as as moderate -high risk: i think an airplane is much more likely to be a high risk. They evaluate playing football as a moderate to high risk: i see that as strictly a high risk because of all the face to face contact. Eating at a buffet is a high risk_ well, yeah, which is why i don't think we will be seeing buffets anywhere for quite some time (like years after there is a vaccine- no salad bars either).

I think about this one a lot. Outdoor transmission is thought to be 1/20th that of indoor transmission, but it's very hard to study. I live about 6-7 miles from the beach, at the far edge of a city that borders the ocean. So, naturally, everyone goes to the beach. So far, no cases have been traced to beach transmission in my city or county. People have gotten it from household members and work, mainly.

At any rate, the higher humidity is associated with less active CoVid in lab studies. CoVid can't move around on its own and if it's in aerosol or droplets, those naturally move downward. At the beach, the breeze is constant - another variable that disperses aerosols and droplets.

Of course, people are social distancing at our beaches very nicely, I'd say. We went to the harbor for a walk (masked of course) but only about half the people there were masked. Still, people did social distance. Outdoor markets have not yet been a traced source of transmission either.

I have a bunch of thoughts and questions about outdoor transmission. We see some football players getting CoVid after returning to practice - but it's unknown whether they acquired it on the field or in the locker rooms (I'd bet locker room where, despite higher humidity, the space is enclosed and there's excited talking, with little social distancing if it's like most locker rooms).

 

[mickey2942]

Absence of Apparent Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from Two Stylists...

What is significant about this study is to things.

1. Stylist B kept working even though she had symptoms of Covid, and worked after her test, for two more days until she received positive results.
2. Less than half, 48% of the clients contacted consented to be tested for Covid. They tested negative, but that still leaves the other 52% unaccounted for.

 

[musicaljoke]

37 Routine Activities Ranked by Risk of COVID-19 Infection | Hartford HealthCare

I think the risk levels are interesting: For example: going to a beach is considered a moderate risk: I considerate it a high risk if there are lots of people without a mask, which is usually the case-- Sending kids to school, camp or day care is considered a moderate risk: i considerate that a high risk because there will most likely be quite a few kids at that area: Equating going to a hair salon with being on airplane as as moderate -high risk: i think an airplane is much more likely to be a high risk. They evaluate playing football as a moderate to high risk: i see that as strictly a high risk because of all the face to face contact. Eating at a buffet is a high risk_ well, yeah, which is why i don't think we will be seeing buffets anywhere for quite some time (like years after there is a vaccine- no salad bars either).

I was at a beach this week in which social distancing seemed to work. The park managers had put red cones along the water front, in a single line, with probably about 30' between them. You had to set your chairs, towels, etc. at one of the cones. From the cone, you could walk straight to the water, and play or swim in the space directly in front of your cone.

It worked really well. There was no need to walk through anyone else's space. Even little kids could figure it out. When there were no cones left, then no more folks were allowed on the beach. It was a large beach, and not all the cones were filled, so I don't think anyone was turned away.

 

[Tigerlily75]

I was at a beach this week in which social distancing seemed to work. The park managers had put red cones along the water front, in a single line, with probably about 30' between them. You had to set your chairs, towels, etc. at one of the cones. From the cone, you could walk straight to the water, and play or swim in the space directly in front of your cone.

It worked really well. There was no need to walk through anyone else's space. Even little kids could figure it out. When there were no cones left, then no more folks were allowed on the beach. It was a large beach, and not all the cones were filled, so I don't think anyone was turned away.

That’s really clever, I like that. It’s still winter here so no beach for awhile yet!

 

[10ofRods]

Our sheriff and COP said, it's a mandate not a law and they can't enforce removing or arresting someone from property for trespassing for mask mandate. They're giving out the state hotline number to report businesses for employees not wearing mask. But have gone on record, were not coming out for mask enforcement.

Every business that's privately owned has the right to declare any person a trespasser. So do private homeowners, although I know from personal experience that our local police do *not* help in enforcing this.

It's really too bad that LE is selective in enforcing actual laws (trespassing). It's made us feel very disgruntled that they would not respond to our 3 calls regarding trespassing until we got cameras, then when we got cameras they said that the fact the date and timestamp on the video was off by an hour invalidated it (!) However, they did talk to the culprits and told them to stay off our property (this was our fourth call). After that, the neighbors have stayed off our property. But they were never cited.

I do believe that if the neighbors had been less well connected and of a different ethnicity, the police would have talked to them sternly after the first call - or even issued a citation.

It's a shame that businesses have to close because LE won't allow businesses to exercise their right to eject anyone at all from their private space, for any reason.