Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: amusement park, wife, friend)

[justyouraveragetenant]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

You obviously didn't read the post. I was referring to the evidence cited in several different cases of proven COVID infection: the choir in Washington state, the birthday party / funeral in Chicago, and the curling event in Canada. What the heck is the connection between that evidence, and corrupt politicians? Are you doubting that the infections took place, or you have a better theory for why people got infected at those events?

the infection took place but how much would masks help? only n95 masks do their job. most of the people that get this virus do NOT die. Its only a problem to older people who might have a month or a year left anyway. nursing homes are the biggest problem and some governors acctually sent covid 19 patients into nursing homes infecting them and killing thousands. wrap your head around that one! its proven Cuomo did it. he is a murderer!

In pennsylvania they sent covid patients into nursing homes killing them. they threw out those old dead people like taking out the garbage!

Dr fauci changes his mind with the weather.

we know transmission inside is most of the transmisisons.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

My experience in working with geri patients and doing incontinent care was that we knew how to use gloves correctly but it sure wouldn't happen in the general public. I don't understand why people wear gloves as if the virus will get sucked into their palms. This is not Ebola or Hep B for transmission. It is not a contact issue but I suppose that is beside the point to the average person. They don't want to hear that person-to-person breath/talking/less-than-roughly-six-feet interaction is the primary transmitter.

Yeah, anyone who has experience working with gloves know what they can and can't do. I'm sure in Boston that portion of the population is bigger than most places, but it's still a minority.

I totally understand why people wear gloves. How the virus is transmitted is still uncertain, what is known has been communicated ineffectively, and gloves are well-known to be PPE. People associate gloves with safety, so they wear them. Even if they then treat the gloves as magical anti-viral surfaces, completely negating their usefulness.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by Steephill2

Also I hope any restaurants that closed for a lengthy period of time are subject to a health inspection before reopening. Just imagine possible issues with rodents in an unattended place that serves food. I wouldnt want to be the first customers thats for sure.

Pest control companies are still working and doing their thing at restaurants. Any perishable food was tossed weeks ago if the restaurant closed down completely. A reputable restaurant has been keeping up with maintenance.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

Yeah, anyone who has experience working with gloves know what they can and can't do. I'm sure in Boston that portion of the population is bigger than most places, but it's still a minority.

I totally understand why people wear gloves. How the virus is transmitted is still uncertain, what is known has been communicated ineffectively, and gloves are well-known to be PPE. People associate gloves with safety, so they wear them. Even if they then treat the gloves as magical anti-viral surfaces, completely negating their usefulness.

I've only worn gloves a few times during this pandemic, but I don't go out much anyway. What is wrong with the way people wear gloves? No one thinks the virus is absorbed through the palms of their hands and no one thinks they are magical anti-viral surfaces. I rely on hand sanitizer and when I get home, soap and water.

But I wore a glove the other day at a plant store because I didn't know who had touched what. Flower pots, garden tools, miscellaneous items. When I left I pulled the glove off inside out and got into the car where they immediately went into a plastic bag to be disposed of when I got home--directly into the dumpster. I never touched the outside of the glove at all.

I simply didn't want to get any virus on my hands and then touch my face or spread any virus around more than I had to. If I had bought anything in the store, I would have removed the glove to get my cc out. I did carry a small plastic bag to dispose of the glove or kleenix if I had to do so before getting to the car. In a few weeks I will have to go to a hospital and I plan on taking gloves to use on the door handles and maybe the elevator buttons.

I have used a glove to pump gas at the gas station. Again, it gets peeled off and disposed of right away.

Probably I'm not the only person here who would like to know what, if anything, we're doing wrong when we wear gloves. Somebody explain, please?

[wolfgang239]

Most people I see are wearing gloves and not replacing them with the frequency they should be. Like you did, pumping gas properly removing them and tossing them is correct. Putting them on, gassing up, contaminating the steering wheel touchscreen and shifter in the wife's car, touching everything at market basket, contaminating your front door, and finally taking them off the wrong way is scarily common. The hand sanitizer in my pocket is way more useful.

I see people wearing their masks while driving empty vehicles. Unless they are an uber driver (or unable to clean their hands for some reason) that is going overboard.

[brightdoglover]

Some people, like me, put on a mask when I get in the car. It's got two ties and I prefer to get that done before doing errands, so then do drive alone with a mask on. When I get to my errand or takeout, I'm all set to go in and out of different places.

I agree that I see people taking gloves on and off in a way that contaminates them. I'm all for washing hands when getting home, having sanitizer in the car after being in a store or whatever like that. I am much more concerned about person-person breath and talking transmission than I am a hand that touches a canned good and then the car door then the steering wheel and then taking a glove off, correctly and incorrectly. Just my own assessment of articles and studies about viral load, means of transmission and personal risk.

[wolfgang239]

Yep I'm definitely most worried about catching it from the surrounding air, but needlessly transmitting it due to improper glove use or not understanding why and when to wear gloves is just plain dumb.

[yesmaybe]

Went by Home Depot today, parking lot seemed rather packed. Traffic in general seems back to normal for a weekend. Definitely looks like people are ready for the shutdown to end.

[charolastra00]

Sundays always have better numbers because of lag of reporting for some numbers, like deaths, but man are some of these numbers encouraging.

Mass DPH daily data: https://www.mass.gov/doc/covid-19-da...-2020/download

Most importantly - hospitalizations are the lowest they've been in over a month. We're down more than 1300 hospitalized people since peak and down almost 300 people in the ICU. It's clear that Boston is really coming down - MGH at peak had more than 450 covid patients, but its now down to less than 250.

We also are down to our lowest percent of positive cases - 8%. We're getting closer to pushing the average consistently below 10% (and, ideally, would get down to less than 5%).

All great, uplifting news. Hospitalizations and percentage positive are my key indicator, since deaths are noisy, lagging data (though still trending down!) and raw positives go up based on the increase of testing.


Y'all, I know this is exhausting. I haven't had any human contact in more than 2 months. I haven't seen my boyfriend since before that, aside from Skype. I'm worried about my job while coupled with working more than I ever have before. But these numbers are falling fast and giving us the best chance for a clean ramping up to whatever our new normal will look like. Just hang in there.

[Bridge781]

I was just in Chatham and it was a complete ghosttown. I thought maybe people might park and walk through but nope. I guess there’s no point since stores are closed. There was no traffic headed to the cape whatsoever. The road didn’t seem so empty on the way back to the Boston area though. I think more people are out on the roads taking drives since it’s nice out.

I’m surprised by how much talk there is about salons opening. I’m female and get my hair cut 2 to 3 times a year. I’m pretty low maintenance and wear my hair long. Salons seem to be a point of focus for many.

I’m at the point where it would be nice if home goods and places like that opened. Tired of the take out scene. I guess I’d be ok with sitting down at a restaurant as long as protocols are followed.

Curious what happens tomorrow.