Remember when construction workers were supposed to be a relatively safe group due to working outdoors, the ease of social distancing, their propensity to already wear PPE, etc...? Construction workers in Travis County have emerged as a top group among people infected by the coronavirus, along with health care and grocery store employees who have worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Though precise numbers were not available Tuesday for how many people in those industries have been infected, interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott told Austin City Council members that health officials have seen numerous clusters of cases involving such workers. They are preparing to track the occupations of those who test positive to see which industries are hardest hit as more businesses reopen. “We have seen a significant number of construction workers as well as family members of construction workers who are in that positive group right now,” Escott said. “It certainly seems to be at least one of the dominant industries.” https://www.statesman.com/news/2020...e-for-coronavirus-austin-health-officials-say
I feel bad for the lady who recieved 7 days in jail for opening her salon. I have so many friends who want do re-open their gyms/salons so that they can maintain ownership. This year has sucked. Hopefully this re-opening goes well and we get back on track.
I wouldn't feel too bad for her. Greg Abbott will probably commute her sentence on Friday since that's when salons open up anyways. There is also a gofundme campaign that has already raised $200,000 for her.
What i don't understand is why would the Governor want to reopen when he knows it's going to raise the number of cases of Covid-19 in the state it just doesn't make sense. https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas...eopening-state-on-private-call-with-lawmakers
It's all about money, regardless of the risk. That and pleasing his fellow Trumpateers. I just wonder if things get worse, if he will keep pushing to stay open.
Here's another fun one, courtesy of Frontier Airlines: Frontier Airlines is going to charge extra for passengers who want to guarantee a spot next to an unoccupied middle seat in the age of social distancing. The carrier aims to generate revenue on the empty seats, charging from $39 to $89 depending on the route. It will have 18 “More Room” assignments available on each flight from Friday through Aug. 31, spokeswoman Jennifer De La Cruz said Monday. https://adage.com/article/cmo-strat..._content=f7585093-0248-4f27-afb4-bb1743504817
If this is true they should be shut down. Our Government can not allow businesses to do this, period.
My brother-in-law and his wife are still "visiting" us (since March 9... SMH). Hard core trump supporters. I just heard the wife talking with another relative questioning whether this is really an epidemic since there are half the number of deaths as a normal flu year. Pray for me... they are staying through May 15.
It’s highly unlikely that this reopening goes well. Saturday, one day after reopening, Texas already had its second-highest daily new case total and has averaged 1,000 cases per day since May 1. The state had not yet met the CDC measures to reopen, but Abbott did so anyway. Also, this incident simply exposes that our economic model needs tweaking, and Americans need to do a better job of planning for the future. I’m guessing this woman has invested much or all of her savings into this small business, which is a very risky proposition when things hit the fan. Then, you have others working in retail or restaurant environments that are not paid a living wage, nor receive benefits. Therefore, they have no savings. Restaurants especially need to start paying their employees a living hourly wage and stop relying on their patrons to front their payroll bill through tips. They shouldn’t be paying servers around $2 to $3 an hour for an eight-to-ten hour shift. Furthermore, the Trump Administration could have done much more to help people living paycheck to paycheck. It should have started by freezing all mortgage and rent payments (private and federal) until July 1, and, then, provide a monthly stimulus amount to every American adult or family for every month that the nation was under the emergency declaration. Also, the Payroll Protection Plan should have been for small businesses only, and we should never have heard about entities like the Lakers and Harvard University applying, and successfully receiving the loan.
That's unsettling as I was on an online seminar put on by the Mayo clinic a couple of weeks ago about construction and COVID-19 and they said that the construction industry was in good shape to deal with the virus. The reasons where that people in construction already work with PPE and the industry is used to complying with safety standards. Also being outside isn't as much of a factor as a lot of construction such as interior work and renovations are done indoors and / or places with poor ventilation. One of the biggest safety issues of construction is getting sufficient ventilation as construction workers are around a lot of VOC's and other air borne contaminants.
I was just on a martial arts board and there are a lot of people doing Jiu Jitsu and Judo wanting to open now and downplaying the risk. It's sad but not unexpected. There is too much machismo attitude that martial artists are invincible. One of my former students who is now an ER doctor pointed out that martial artists are usually the worse people at assessing their own health. In sports that upholds toughness and play through pain mentality many people aren't just going to consider a sore throat or fever stop them. I know I've been guilty of this myself. There are a lot of people in martial arts who politically oppose these orders and to them going back and doing martial arts just justifies their own belief that this is about freedom. I've pointed out that this isn't about just us. For example I've lost weight during the shut down as I've focused on cardio and still work out hard 4-5 times a week. It's not just my health but that I help out with a relative who lives in an assisted living facility and have good friends who are in the highest risk group. In Judo there is the concept of "Jita Kyoei" which is loosely translated as "mutual benefit and welfare" what that means is that we are part of a community and that as we help others we help ourselves. Similar to the Golden Rule but with more communal overtones. If there ever was a time for Jita Kyoei it is now.
