[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Honestly don't apologise for ranting. My one day a week in the office (in the city centre) leaves me in an absolutely foul mood, for mostly the exact same reasons.

[Malankazooie]

Interviewer: You mean the virus will go away without a vaccine?

Trump: Sure, over time you'll develop a herd mentality.

No chump. That's your mouth breathing, drooling on self, refuse to wear a mask (cause "muh freedomz!"), white nationalist, racist rallies.

#NotASheep

[stone monkey]

Coming up to six months of shielding at home - those who were around at the time may remember that I ended up in hospital due to an asthma attack about 13 years ago. So, because I live alone, it's also nearly six months since I've actually seen anyone I know in person. So yeah, this sucks

[Mezla PigDog]

That really does suck. I'm sorry to hear it. Thank god for technology but sometimes you just want to see people properly.

On the bright side I am absolutely streaming with a cold so you're lack of human contact is at least translating into a saving on lemsip and ultra balm tissues...

No, doesn't quite do it. Chin up my friend.

[Aptorian]

I'm sitting in my office with a visor on. Just as a test. Masks or visors aren't mandatory, yet, but I suspect they will be soon for library staff in a front stage position. Masks were made mandatory for anyone working at or eating at a cafe or restaurant this week. That also includes the cafe at our Library. So now, if we want to fetch a magazine or journal, which are displayed in the cafe area, we need to put on a visor to go get it. Strange.

Wearing a visor is weird. It's a very cheap type we've been sent but it's functional. It's basically just a thin piece of plastic with some foam at the top and an elastic cord that wraps around your head. Your voice echoes behind your mask and some sounds seem muted. It's sort of a hassle if you want to take a drink or scratch your nose. Do you sanitize your hands every time you touch your hands? I'm happy we're heading into the fall. If these things were mandatory during summer I'd have melted. My head is already getting itchy.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 18 September 2020 - 10:15 AM

[Mentalist]

QuickTidal, on 14 September 2020 - 03:58 PM, said:

Slow Ben, on 14 September 2020 - 03:51 PM, said:

I feel like im so fucking angry all the dam time. Watching people around here act like its over, or they're just bored with it. We had 39 cases yesterday, 30 of which are from the local college baseball team, which means it making its way through the community college. The high school went remote because they had so many cases.

Yep. Same here. Two weeks ago our whole province was under 100cases per day...and we really thought we'd nailed it down enough to start School and that people were doing their damndest....now today we are over 300+ cases again (that's June numbers for our city) and climbing (I wager we will be 500 by tomorrow) and it's becuase SO many people thought that under100 cases meant it was over enough to go back to normal...NO, it's STILL a pandemic!

so it's hard AF not to be salty about it as someone who has been straitly adhering to the guidelines. Some of my family are even acting like we are being too cautious...like fuck. How do we deal?

And our schools haven't even started fully till tomorrow and the next day...it's going to be an absolute disaster.

I feel your pain man, I truly do.

My eldest daughter mostly gets it, but she still gets upset when she sees her friends (when we drop her brother off at daycare she sees them from afar) and can't interact with them. Or she sees kids al over the playground...and we can't let her go do that either. I want this to not affect her emotionally or scar her...but now I worry it will.

Yeah, going for walks by a community/rec centre, there were huge crowds the past few weeks.... seldomly did I spot a single mask (not that I wore one while walking, but I do try to stay away from people).

Swimming moved indoors... they're still limiting capacity, so usually there's like 9 people for a 6-lane pool. I end up getting a lane all to myself, cuz someone comes with a friend and wants to chat, so they just share a lane, while I'm off to the side, doing my 2 clicks and ignoring everything.

new restrictions were put in place today. should still be good for outdoor for now, though.

[QuickTidal]

It sounds like in Ontario at least the surge in numbers is from indoor gatherings with big groups of people ignoring all the rules...so that's fun and should be easy to tamp down on....Ugh. I hate people.

[Aptorian]

Today noted the single highest number of reported infections in a 24 hour period in Denmark since the pandemic hit us. The numbers had been matching March and April all week.

I'm not that freaked out because we test more now than in the fall but I am getting frustrated with the government.

Their new restrictions or roll back of the opening of the country consists of the following: you're now only allowed to gather in groups of 50 instead of a hundred or two hundred. People in restaurants, cafés and similar serving places have to wear masks and also bars and nightclubs have to close at 22.00.

This is too little. It will have no discernible effect and we're going to lose two weeks that could have been used to clap down on the spread hard. At this rate I fear we'll actually see a full shutdown that could have been avoided.

[Puck]

France has also just reported the highest number of new cases in 24 hours (13000+) since the pandemic started. Our numbers are also on the rise, though not as bad (2000+ per day). We're in the second wave.

Aptorian, on 18 September 2020 - 10:13 AM, said:

Wearing a visor is weird. It's a very cheap type we've been sent but it's functional. It's basically just a thin piece of plastic with some foam at the top and an elastic cord that wraps around your head. Your voice echoes behind your mask and some sounds seem muted. It's sort of a hassle if you want to take a drink or scratch your nose. Do you sanitize your hands every time you touch your hands? I'm happy we're heading into the fall. If these things were mandatory during summer I'd have melted. My head is already getting itchy.

Those visors are also completely useless since they're open at the one end of your face nearest your mouth. Instead of breathing everything directly out in front of you, it just goes a bit down then the to the front and sides, nowhere near low enough to make a slice of difference. Just wear a mask for when you have to go to the cafe and wash your hand before putting it on and before taking it off.


Edit: that being said, at least here in Germany, very few people give a shit. I started a potential new job yesterday and they ended the day with a BBQ, which was cool and tasty, but everyone was hooking at that meat with their questionably washed hands (the only running water faucet in that place is in another building since they're currently renovating the entire place big time) while kids were running around the table. The only mask in attendance was hanging from the neck of one of the kids and got a good bath in the sand used for construction when she faceplanted in there. And that's been the general attitude I've seen recently. The only difference is that people have stopped greeting each other by shaking hands.

This post has been edited by Puck: 19 September 2020 - 06:59 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Puck, on 19 September 2020 - 06:47 PM, said:

France has also just reported the highest number of new cases in 24 hours (13000+) since the pandemic started. Our numbers are also on the rise, though not as bad (2000+ per day). We're in the second wave.

Aptorian, on 18 September 2020 - 10:13 AM, said:

Wearing a visor is weird. It's a very cheap type we've been sent but it's functional. It's basically just a thin piece of plastic with some foam at the top and an elastic cord that wraps around your head. Your voice echoes behind your mask and some sounds seem muted. It's sort of a hassle if you want to take a drink or scratch your nose. Do you sanitize your hands every time you touch your hands? I'm happy we're heading into the fall. If these things were mandatory during summer I'd have melted. My head is already getting itchy.

Those visors are also completely useless since they're open at the one end of your face nearest your mouth. Instead of breathing everything directly out in front of you, it just goes a bit down then the to the front and sides, nowhere near low enough to make a slice of difference. Just wear a mask for when you have to go to the cafe and wash your hand before putting it on and before taking it off.


Edit: that being said, at least here in Germany, very few people give a shit. I started a potential new job yesterday and they ended the day with a BBQ, which was cool and tasty, but everyone was hooking at that meat with their questionably washed hands (the only running water faucet in that place is in another building since they're currently renovating the entire place big time) while kids were running around the table. The only mask in attendance was hanging from the neck of one of the kids and got a good bath in the sand used for construction when she faceplanted in there. And that's been the general attitude I've seen recently. The only difference is that people have stopped greeting each other by shaking hands.

The visors protect your eyes (and the skin around your eyes), as well as stopping large droplets, which will then generally fall to the ground. Smaller droplets or aerosolized particles will go around the sides. A face shield and/or goggles should be worn in addition to a mask.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 19 September 2020 - 09:03 PM

[Puck]

The eyes are not how you emit potentially infectious droplets, bud*. The entire point of everyone wearing a mask these days is to protect others from you, in which case droplets can be avoided by simply keeping at a distance. Aerosols, which travel further and hang around longer, are what needs to be caught by a mask, which is what a visor does not accomplish. For daily use by laypeople the mask is the best solution. Medical setting are a very different environment, but one where wearing both mask and visor, which serve different purposes, is already a thing.

* And since you love just quoting stuff so much, here's one on the topic from here:

Quote

This suggests that the eye is neither a preferred organ of human CoV infection nor a preferred gateway of entry for human CoVs for infecting the respiratory tract. However, pathogens that the ocular surface is exposed to might be transported to nasal and nasopharyngeal mucosa by constant tear rinsing through the lacrimal duct system and then cause respiratory tract infection. Considering that close doctor-patient contact is quite common in ophthalmic practice and is apt to transmit human CoVs by droplets and fomites, strict hand hygiene and proper personal protection are highly recommended for health care workers to avoid hospital-related viral transmission during ophthalmic practice.

[Maark Abbott]

I've started building a small stockpile of tinnies lately. Only £5 worth a week but I have two worries: government locking down and folk flying into a mass buying panic again, and brekshit (what with the UK having gone rogue state and seeming likely to not have any worthwhile trade deal in the near future).

There's already shortages of certain household items being reported locally because the rumour of lockdown coming back is spreading. Add that to the purported threat of £10k fines for breach of lockdown rules (despite Barnard Castle eye tests being 100% legit of course) and things have slid further to the toilet bowl here than I'd expected.

[Mezla PigDog]

If there is another panic then it is due to the utter lack of realism in the government messaging since the original lockdown. Ridiculous levels of optimism suggesting we may be back to normal by Christmas, go back to work even if you can work from home and a vaccine is coming.

The main lesson from the BSE inquiry in the UK was that the government should be more honest and realistic with the public about the level of risk. They have ignored that for this pandemic. The message should all along have been to live small lives for at least 12 months and then reevaluate. Holidays abroad and going to busy social places are not human rights. Young people can live without parties for a year. Our famed (contrived) Blitz spirit should have been invoked for frugality and common sense. Behind the scenes the government should have been investing in tried and tested public health infrastructure - test, trace and isolate - and preparing for the economy we will need when we come out of this.

Pricks the lot of them.

[QuickTidal]

Mezla PigDog, on 22 September 2020 - 11:34 AM, said:

If there is another panic then it is due to the utter lack of realism in the government messaging since the original lockdown. Ridiculous levels of optimism suggesting we may be back to normal by Christmas, go back to work even if you can work from home and a vaccine is coming.

The main lesson from the BSE inquiry in the UK was that the government should be more honest and realistic with the public about the level of risk. They have ignored that for this pandemic. The message should all along have been to live small lives for at least 12 months and then reevaluate. Holidays abroad and going to busy social places are not human rights. Young people can live without parties for a year. Our famed (contrived) Blitz spirit should have been invoked for frugality and common sense. Behind the scenes the government should have been investing in tried and tested public health infrastructure - test, trace and isolate - and preparing for the economy we will need when we come out of this.

Pricks the lot of them.

Here's hoping you all get out of it soon.

Sadly, Canada is headed back into it with Wave 2 spiking cases across the country stemming from private gatherings and younger people who are over the pandemic even though it's not over...and I feel dejected.

[Mezla PigDog]

Wave 2 was always going to happen with this kind of virus. We will be having waves for some months, possibly years yet to come. Eventually each one will be smaller than the last. Not yet though and it would have been nice for true autumn to have set in before we were here. No government has been realistic on this as they all want to go back to 2019 lifestyles as quickly as possible. That in itself is an impossibility for the next 5 years at least I think.

[QuickTidal]

Mezla PigDog, on 22 September 2020 - 12:16 PM, said:

Wave 2 was always going to happen with this kind of virus. We will be having waves for some months, possibly years yet to come. Eventually each one will be smaller than the last. Not yet though and it would have been nice for true autumn to have set in before we were here. No government has been realistic on this as they all want to go back to 2019 lifestyles as quickly as possible. That in itself is an impossibility for the next 5 years at least I think.

Yeah. Oh well. We'll keep managing and get through it.

[QuickTidal]

Did a dry stock run today to keep us tamped down for a couple of weeks if we need to as our numbers have climbed to almost 500/day in Ontario, but it's jumped in the last4-5 days by 400/day...so we just want to minimize trips going forward to small runs for fresh items, and free up my wife if she needs to do runs for her immunocompromised parents.

Man, I'm so annoyed we are headed back down this road at this spike level...

[Tsundoku]

Well, here you have it - "virtually nobody" has been affected by COVID-19.

I think what he meant to say was either a lot of "virtual nobodies" were affected or "virtually nobody who matters".

https://www.news.com...d34c4c25da857e3

What a complete arsehole.
No ... arseholes are natural and useful. We need to come up with a new description for this guy. Like a whole new order of magnitude.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Mezla PigDog, on 22 September 2020 - 12:16 PM, said:

Wave 2 was always going to happen with this kind of virus. We will be having waves for some months, possibly years yet to come. Eventually each one will be smaller than the last. Not yet though and it would have been nice for true autumn to have set in before we were here. No government has been realistic on this as they all want to go back to 2019 lifestyles as quickly as possible. That in itself is an impossibility for the next 5 years at least I think.

As you said above, if they'd just be honest about what we're facing I think the public would feel a lot more inclined to behave. As it is, between Dominic Cummings and fatigue people en masse are not doing so.

Someone I know (through the partner) got engaged recently - boyfriend took her away, custom ring he designed, loads of fuss which would be nice in normal circumstances but I think particularly notable that they managed it in the current situation. And she's all over social media whinging about how shit her life is because she couldn't have an engagement party - whilst sharing a video of their mini celebration at a pub, with definitely more than two households/six people and no social distancing. It feels like we're up against more and more of that sort of mentality.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 23 September 2020 - 07:32 AM

[Maark Abbott]

Further concerns in the government stating councils and police would have leave to request military assistance to enforce whatever guidelines are their flavour of the week.

I've believed for a while that Bweksut was going to lead to riots and civil unrest (i.e. once the cost of everything shoots up due to lack of trade deals and / or we have to crawl back to the EU), and that martial law would be imposed to prevent that - this reeks of being a precursor to just such a scenario. Even if things with Covid improve, I have zero trust that any imposition of law by soldiers would be revoked. Very worrying times ahead from where I'm seeing it.