My wife just went oit for our weekly grocery trip...we don't want to break into our quarantine stash yet unless ee have to. Hopefully the store isn't crazy busy (if it is she'll leave) and it's fairly well-stocked. Fingers crossed!!!
The weird thing to me is the run on things like bread and meat. That stuff gets restocked every day basically.
We stocked up on many things but specifically meat, frozen veggies, bread, fruit, so we wouldn't have to frequent the stores for as long as possible. We live in Seattle so obviously it's a bit different from us.
Still hit the gym every day pretty much.... I wipe the **** out of every machine I use and sanitize my hands after finishing sets. The past few days there’s been like 5-10 people max each time. I love empty gym. Went out to hang with friends at some bars last night. Lots of hugs and contact since we haven’t seen each other for a while (risky? Maybe... I was willing to risk that by going out). All the hip/trendy places that are normally buzzin on Saturday nights was completely dead or 25% capacity and below. Not a whole lot of cars on the road at all. Haven’t grocery shopped in like 2 weeks. I don’t have a ‘stash’ of anything. Might need some fresh produce soon... all the people that hoard **** don’t really **** with that anyways so no rush. I’ve come to the realization that if I get it.... I get it. Until then I’m gonna keep doing what I do. Why? Maybe I already came into contact with it like a week ago and I just don’t know it when I hooked up with some Tinderoni or when the gym was packed and I feel like **** in a week. Maybe one of my friends I hugged last night that travels frequently gave it to me and I feel like **** in 2 weeks. I’m not flying anywhere or going on a cruise but I’m also not about to sit around at home worrying.
The point is not for you to avoid it so much as it is for you to avoid giving it to other people. You and I won't be harmed by it, but the elderly and immunocompromised people we give it to will. Doesn't matter if we personally give it to them... If we gave it to someone who gave it to someone who gave it to someone who gave it to someone who died we are still part to blame. Please stop going out unnecessarily.
I don't mean to single you out with this post, AS. I'd write it to anyone that posted what you did at this point in the outbreak. Staying home except for essential things vs. deciding to behave as if it's not a problem is the difference between what's happening in Italy and what happened in South Korea. South Korea treated it as a serious public health issue and they got past it with relatively little incident. Italy did what you're doing, the country's on total lockdown, and their public health system is picking winners and losers because they no longer have the capacity to treat everyone that's sick. A lot of people seem to be unaware of how much their personal choices impact everyone else in this. It has zero to do with whether or not you personally get it. By going out with "lots of hugs and contact," you are putting everyone you come in contact with and everyone they come in contact with next at risk. This is a time to make small personal sacrifices for the common good. Please listen to Dr. Fauci if you (or anyone) won't listen to anyone else. If what you value most is your freedom to buck the advice of public health experts so you can go out with your friends, you'd be better served by taking a break for now so that we can get back to normal as soon as possible. This sort of behavior is guaranteed to make this a bigger and longer lasting problem in this country.
The problem is not you getting it, which you may recover from just fine, it's spreading it to other people who may not be so lucky. We absolutely have to think unselfishly here and consider what would happen in worst-case scenarios. I was just reading about the cluster in the Massachusetts area that started from a medical conference with execs from all over the country and world. Just the handshaking and sharing of food was enough to infect each other, who then unknowingly went out into the city and spread it in other places. We have to make sacrifices. My family and boys are low-risk, but we're definitely being mindful and proactive about what we do and where we go. We're not gonna be shut-ins (unless of course we start to show symptoms), but we don't plan on visiting any place where there could be large groups of people. Yesterday we found a nice park/nature trail that was pretty secluded and was pretty easy to keep distance between others. We had thought about going to a movie this morning, since they have been deserted, but checking the seats available gave us pause. I just don't know if I trust an enclosed theater even if only a handful of people are in it. And instead of eating out, we ordered in. When I go to the store, I'll go in the morning or at night when fewer people should be there. We may not be eliminating every link in the chain, but we're certainly reducing them. And I think going forward, we'll continue to find parks to visit that aren't crowded, and find activities to do that will limit possible exposure. Just gotta remember, schools, events, sports weren't all cancelled so we could have extra vacation.
You should not assume you “won’t be harmed by it”. It is true that the virus is more dangerous for older people and people with underlying health issues. But, young adults have been killed by this virus, and many more have required hospitalization. No one is completely safe.
The fatality rate for the average healthy male in their 20s-40s (which I think I can safely assume is the demographics of the people engaged in this exchange) is low enough to not be a cause for concern. No reason to inject a fear where one need not exist.
To those I see that are still being reckless. I get it. The truth is. You probably wont get it. Even as the % of people who have it continues to spike. And if you do get it, you'll almost surely recover and hopefully not carry any long term organ damage with you. But. You are being selfish and irresponsible. It's not just YOU thinking and acting that way, it's several others like you. And the way the data works, the sum of all those people not taking this seriously, results in exponential spread. This requires as much BUY-IN as possible otherwise it wont be as effective. Buy-in. Make it work. Do your part. If you don't. You're not stupid. I don't hate you. But you're being selfish. I don't blame the government for not acting faster. For not shutting down domestic travel or asking shops to close. I blame the people. Put your big boy pants on and make a decision that benefits everyone.
The message needs to be driven home that it's not just about your chance of dying you don't want to catch this period. If long-term injuries to your lungs is added to the warning (ex: permanent scarring) the percentage of serious harm jumps way up. Do you want to live the rest of your life with 30% less lung capacity after being miserably sick for weeks?
Yep. Which makes the self isolation part all the more important it. Odds are good enough that you will get it we all need to act as if we have it.
The self isolation is mostly about flattening the curve so the healthcare system doesn't break down. It doesn't mean we will not eventually get it. It's also about hoping that we quickly learn more about treatment, and that in a year or so (if we are lucky), someone comes up with a vaccine.
My belief is that most people stocking up are stocking up so that they don't have to re-visit stores because as this virus spreads, the probability you'll get infected probably increases with more human contact. If you can buy the crap you need at once before half the city is infected, you may be able to not visit the stores for a longer period. Sure you can order online, but that, too, requires human contact with whatever you're buying at some point. In other cases, I'll leave it to psychologists to explain the human need to be surrounded in their bunkers with everything they possibly could need.
