The Fallout from Covid 19

[Jason]

Things are getting a bit testy at our house.

Marilyn said I was being immature. I told her to get out of my fort!

Tree fort or the kind you make from blankets and furniture? Now I want to make a fort.

[ssfc72]

Here is a YouTube video from the "Itchy Boots" Dutch motorcycle girl, stuck in Peru and getting nervous about being a foreigner in Peru, during a Covid-19 lockdown.  The locals in the small community are starting to look at the lone European in their town and feeling she might be bringing the virus to their town.
Now she is trying to find a way to get back to Holland, with the motorbike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5a76O_uAQ4

[Jason]

I don't really blame them. I understand that Europe was a lot further along than they were. How long has she been there?

[ssfc72]

She started out from Britain in Oct 2019.

[buster]

She couldn't have foreseen the pandemic. It's like Monty Python's sketch where you hear, "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

But our normally unprepared societies have trouble enough with natural disasters each year traditionally. This year should be no different except we have a pandemic to contend with at the same time.

So what happens when we have the usual hurricanes, floods, fires, earthquakes, and tornadoes? Which hospitals do we send the injured to? How do we get help from other countries?

Like, do I sound pessimistic? How about some optimistic input to make me feel better?

[Jason]

Like, do I sound pessimistic? How about some optimistic input to make me feel better?

How about this: we've gotten through far worst events lasting much longer and taking a greater toll in life and property? Sure, we limp along for a bit and I'm not making light of the lives that will be lost, but we will come out of it. The greatest threat to our extinction isn't this. It's the one we've been pretty much ignoring for four decades.

[buster]

" but we will come out of it"

Yea, but what about 80 year old Buster? Surprisingly, I am not a selfless individual, willing to sacrifice myself for the human race. Turtles and forests maybe, but not humans. They have been a pain in the ass for the rest of the natural world for eons.

One human I do like though is Buster. We should do our best to keep him going so he can enjoy each day, settling into the couch after dinner,  turning on the TV, and seeing the fresh disasters that have just occurred over the last 24 hours.

[Jason]

You haven't lost your way with words, Buster. I hope you're staying home and getting other people to do porch drops. Then you'll be fine. I'm forced to do that right now so no whining, at least not. You can whine in 11 days when I'm free again.

[fox]

....I'm forced to do that right now so no whining, at least not. You can whine in 11 days when I'm free again.

Are you on quarantine?

[Jason]

Are you on quarantine?

The official term is self-isolation but yes, that's pretty much it. Have to stay home for the next 11 days because the symptoms of a cold, which is likely what I have, are very similar to COVID. If anybody shows those symptoms, stay home. Not just stay home and still get groceries. Stay home. Period.

[ssfc72]

I have seen in Lindsay, a number of people wearing those automotive painting type masks, with the 2 round filters, one on each side of the mask.  Looks very weird and reminds me of the old 50's & 60's science fiction movies.

[Jason]

That is weird. And I doubt that those masks provide much protection against the virus but they do fit better, I think.

[dougal]

I"m working on  perceiving those that wear non-medical grade masks as willing to sacrifice their own wellbeing on my behalf, whether by risking social aversion or self contamination . Puts a light on it that works for my desired worldview especially if it's prevalence increases .

[dougal]

here's a link to an TVO Agenda show that talks about the public's responses to different messaging styles delivered by public figures about COV-19 . It's by an AI service, that has a good track record for predicting election results.

https://www.tvo.org/video/erin-kelly-polly-and-the-pandemic



Admin message: I just fixed the link for you so it works.

[Jason]

If you wear a mask that isn't an N95 type (i.e. surgical mask), it's not very effective at preventing you from getting COVID-19, but it can be very effective to prevent you from giving it to someone else if you have it or suspect you have it. It doesn't increase your risk unless you have contaminated your hands and touch your face more because you're trying to adjust it. I guess in that way, it might not be a good idea to wear them which is why they're haven't be recommended and they might give people a false sense of security.

For example, I'm self-isolating because of a cold, or quarantining myself as Fox put it, for 8 more days. When I go outside, briefly, to either pick up the mail or a porch drop, I wear a mask when I go out. So that way if I have COVID-19, I won't give it to a neighbour should I run into them in the hallway or they're coming in at the same time. At all times I try to maintain the 2 m distance but the mask will at leave prevent them from getting sick if we get closer. I also have worn them around my wife but she got annoyed by it and wanted me to take it off. I might start wearing them in public because I have some that a friend dropped off and it offers a little protection, i.e. better than zero. I wouldn't buy any myself because I don't know if healthcare workers have enough. They definitely don't have enough N95 masks and they need them when treating COVID patients in the ICU.