Subj : Re: Covid-19 was: Miss.RvrDam To : Barry Martin From : Nancy Backus Date : Sat May 02 2020 19:52:32 -=> Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 24-Apr-2020 12:30 <=- BM> Subject: Covid-19 was: Miss.RvrDamBreach-Davenpt BM> NB>>> Our schools are closed at least until April 29th, too... kids are NB>>> doing distance learning and being home-schooled, too... And the NB>>> colleges are doing things all online, too... BM>> I'm half-expecting another extension until mid-May -- at least here in BM>> the Midwest; New York/East Coast might be able to start reopening BM>> around the first of May just because that area had it earlier than here. NB>> At this point there still is no decision on whether or not schools NB>> will reopen before the end of the school year... Update... a couple days ago, the governor announced that he was keeping all the schools and colleges closed for the rest of this academic year... NB>> Although we do seem to be coming on the downward side of the curve NB>> now, there's no way to know whether it will be a quick drop or a NB>> flatter/longer one... and the last thing we want is for things to NB>> suddenly spike upwards again... BM> The experts are mixed, though I think some are trying not to be BM> Doomsday Prophets. I'm thinking the curve will be long in tapering off BM> with multiple rises and falls as people 'are released' and forget the BM> social distancing, cleanliness, etc., and so contract COVID-19. This BM> reminds people and so they go back to protective measures (social BM> distancing and cleanliness), and so back and forth. More people will BM> have developed an immunity (probably to varying degrees) and so that BM> will also help reduce the curve. I guess we'll just have to see how things actually play out.... BM>> The news has a chart of number of instances by county. Scott, Clinton BM>> and Muscatine counties (me, north of here, south of here) are the BM>> highest -- yeah, we're also the most populous (in this part of Iowa) BM>> -- of course we're going to have the most COVID-19 cases! To me would BM>> make more sense if also showed percentage. NB>> That could be a useful tool... especially for an informed comparison... BM> IMO yes. Lots of little factors not being presented, or maybe better BM> to say overlooked. Italy had a very high death rate; later reported BM> because they have an older population, not something 'Italian'. BM> Though is helpful to know the virus is harder on an older population. BM> One the opposite end was I think Zambia had no reported cases: they BM> also had no test kits so unable to report. Had sort of something BM> similar here: Louisa County (IA) had a sudden spike: they get a bunch BM> of test kits and so they were able to do more tests and so all of a BM> sudden a landslide of new cases. Louisa County is in Iowa, so that BM> cased the Iowa report to have an increase, not as much of a spike BM> because the other 98 counties' reporting format was constant. And BM> probably also caused a mild bump in the U.S. reporting. The ability or inability to test widely does seem to have a major impact on what the statistics and such end up being.... BM> ...Not that I'm scooping out these details, just are there and I'll BM> sometimes do a quick alternative analysis. I'm not searching out stuff, but I do listen to the news blurbs on my classical radio station... sometimes not really because I want to but because it's there... so I do get somewhat of an overview on things... Richard has been going on the state website to hear our governor's daily updates, to get directly what the various executive orders are.... BM>>> Nothing's been said but I wonder about what's going on with upcoming BM>>> freshman college classes: the colleges and universities are closed. NB>>> Maybe the colleges just don't know what to plan for the fall... NB>>> it's so much a wait-and-see now.... BM>> That and the summer sessions! As you indicated, too early to tell. NB>> And just last night, when I was talking on the phone with a friend, NB>> she looked up what the status of colleges opening in the fall in our NB>> area was... generally they all were still in the wait and see mode... BM> Which at this point makes sense. BM> Currently just about all schools are shut down and no one knows for BM> sure when able to open. Hard to make plans. At this point I'm BM> guessing plan to continue with the on-line learning, and if things get BM> cleared go back to in-person learning, though the on-line will probably BM> continue as a popular alternative. There's benefits and drawbacks to each kind of learning... and some majors are much more dependent on in-person types of activities than others... A lot of classes already have been being done mostly if not totally online, even before this.... BM> There's also a percentage of students who will take off the semester BM> or maybe even year -- always have been some but I'm thinking even more BM> than usual. Combination of protective measure and building up some BM> finances. Time will tell if more decide it's safer to stay home... for some, returning to school might be better than staying in a locality that might be earlier in the curve than where their college is... BM>> And when in-person classes do begin will cause a mixing of people, not BM>> only locally but the U.S. and internationally -- we have three colleges BM>> / universities with a significant international student body. I'd BM>> guess a cursory medical check for flights but for those travelling by BM>> car.... NB>> Our major ones also have a significant international student body as NB>> well... I don't know if all the international students went home, or NB>> if they stayed put here... most are in apartments, not in the dorms... NB>> Of course, distance learning can be done from anywhere in the world NB>> now pretty much.... BM> Right. Lots of international students here also; I'm guessing about BM> two-thirds of the colleges/universities have on-campus housing. I BM> have not heard anything on what's happened to the students - domestic BM> or international. My guess is a few have returned to where they BM> originally were from; perhaps a lot just staying where they are because BM> would eventually return and moving is expensive. Also percentage who BM> have no place to return: their plans were to move to someplace new. Lots of factors enter in to this sort of decision... ;) BM>>> Here also more encouragement to stay in place, only going out when BM>>> necessary. I've been told Schnuck's grocery store (chain BM>>> headquartered in St. Louis) is restricting to 60 customers at a time. BM>>> I haven't heard of restrictions at the other grocery stores (including BM>>> Hy-Vee). Hy-Vee did put directional arrows on their (brand new!) floor BM>>> to sort of direct a flow of traffic to help keep people 6' apart. NB>> No one-way aisles here, at least not yet... just the one-way in> and NB>> out of the store.... and a lot of the "stuff in the aisles" to catch NB>> your attention has been moved out of the aisles to make them wider... NB>> They expect the carts to help maintain the distancing... BM> "Come near me and I'll crash my cart into you!!" The one-way BM> aisles might be more of a psychological thing: it is a lot easier to BM> stay six feet from the other customer wandering down the aisle but when BM> they stop to get or contemplate an item one still has to pass them. There's less chance of spreading contagion if one isn't meeting face on, I suppose... We still don't have one-way aisles at Wegmans, but BJ's did put them in for the narrower cross aisles... BM> I did skip going to Hy-Vee yesterday: nothing advertised I really BM> needed. I remember was two items but not recalling what they were. BM> Definitely not worth a special trip. We are just doing our usual once-a-week shopping... only special trips are if something important is running out... like milk or the cats' kibble.... BM>> ...Another thing to add a bit of confusion to my shopping while the BM>> store is remodelling! Now I need to go down the Baby Food and Pet Food BM>> aisles!! (Um, that's plural: they're two distinct areas!) NB>> I'd think so... At least the baby food/baby items has a NB>> separate section of the store here that I can just ignore... ;) BM> And helps you can 'legally' skip as no one-way aisle routing! And even if there were one-way routing, that's in a part that can be avoided anyway.... :) BM>> A strong possibility too. LIS, I wasn't going to make a big deal out BM>> of it; maybe in regular times see about getting a raincheck but BM>> currently all rainchecks are suspended. Also I'm not going to make a BM>> special trip if told "we're expecting a truck tomorrow". NB>> I wouldn't make a special trip, either... some things can be foregone NB>> for a while if necessary... ;) BM> We tend to buy ahead anyway: buy on sale/with coupon makes more sense BM> than buying at full price. Not always possible and sometimes need BM> now. The 99› orange juice isn't a need but a desire -- a glass of BM> orange juice would be nice but I don't require it. Yup. ttyl neb .... DOCTOR: "First the good news. Your name will go down in history...." --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F * Origin: Tiny's BBS - http://www.tinysbbs.com (454:1/452) .