Are You Planning on Catching COVID-19?

[bareftn]

I refuse to take part in this and wont let it drive me insane
I treat this as I have every year with a bad flu season
I wash my hands all the time and carry sanitizer and use it when I use the fuel pumps and any atm machines and also on my atm card
its been years that I have touch a bathroom door among other things

[D W]

I no more PLAN on getting a virus just like I don't PLAN on getting into an automobile accident. Too many negative waves!

[lucky55616]

Originally Posted by Iggy

I'm an optimist and do everything in my power to stay safe.
You plan on walking around the Mall of America or something?

FYI... I live in Minnesota by the Mall of America and it is closed temporarily due to Covid-19 until at least May 4th.

[CurtPutnam]

As with BandJCarm, I am old enough and am afflicted with enough other issues that should I catch C'19 I am likely toast. Catch it at the peak when do ICU is available then toast for sure. If equipment and space is available there may be a chance.

This virus is clearing off those 75 and older who are not in superb health. No picnic and somewhere around a 2% chance of dying for the younger folks.

The lockdown will end while there is still plenty of virus around - so we will stay hunkered down.

[rlocicero]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Thank you for what you do. This is what is needed.

I have COPD and am survivor of Widowmaker heart attack. If I get it, I'm toast. So I do not PLAN on getting it, no. Hunkered down, but about to change my view of all this. Turns out, EVERY worker is an essential worker!!! Too much unknown. Sweden doesn't lock down at all and they have a total of 90 deaths last I checked. But it runs rampant in NYC. Meanwhile, despair and loss of hope is going to kill a lot also, due to lack of work.


I expect that in 2 months, we're all going to stop, think on all this, and say " My gracious sakes, what just happened?"........ I hope I'm still around.

I have COPD also and am living like a hermit.

[Life Without Whine]

Originally Posted by nomad297

I am planning on catching this virus, but I am doing everything I can not to, other than not working. While I do have resources to carry me through a long period of not working, I am still saving up money for when that time comes.

Who else here is expecting to get sick? I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Bruce

Right there with you Bruce. We are both essentials in our home.

DH is a postal worker sorting mail in the plant so all those particles off the mail as it runs thru the machines sailing thru the air all day around him... and no masks provided (although they have been in gloves since anthrax days). He claims to be mostly distancing except around the dang time clocks which USPS finally allowed them to start clocking in over a period of time to allow for the 6 foot distancing.


Me, I'm a veterinarian. All those pets coming in every day for sick animal care (we are asking people to not come in for well care for the month if possible). We leave the clients in their vehicles, take history by phone but then have to work on the animals that are hopeful not physically carrying the virus on their coats. No current transmission from our more routine pets to people although dogs can carry for a few days & cats can carry & ferrets will likely get it if exposed (DON"T STAY CLOSE TO YOUR PETS IF YOU ARE EXPOSED TO COVID PLEASE). Really upset to have had one of the NY travelers show up at the clinic before their 14 day quarantine and not tell us so we could take additional measures that put us all at possible risk.

Hoping to be exposed to the weaker version of this virus & that it provides enough immunity that we can get back out in the world quickly. Unfortunately even some of the youngsters who have gotten sick with it are not showing antibody levels enough to protect them from another round of illness.
I sure miss camping .....

[CincyGus]

I'm not planning on it although I also an an "Essential Worker" in the transportation field. Many of the medicines people get from Express Scripts and other outlets travel through our warehouse. My company has really stepped up the effort to keep everyone healthy by adding housekeeping staffing along with having hourly employees gloved and masked up and going and cleaning all common area's (desks, workstations in the warehouse, door handles, bathrooms, breakrooms) 3 times during shifts. Break room tables have been cut in half and spaced 6' apart with one chair each. Breaks are now scattered on a rotating basis so we have enough tables instead of the entire department taking a break at the same time.

Hand sanitizer is available at workstations an on both sides of doors to warehouses and offices, entry and exits.

Masks are available and being issued for those that want to wear one. Mgmt. (which I am part of) both sets the example and calls out people that are a little too close, not maintaining the 6' guideline. Luckily in our business, most everyone is working at least 6' from each other as part of the job (forklift drivers, workstation employees weighing and labeling packages, sorters) so the interactions distances are good to begin with.

An important part of our recovery and ability to minimize the 2nd wave of this virus will be that when we start seeing others go back to work, that the other businesses that have been closed incorporate these types of measures into their operations. All these steps didn't start day 1. They evolved. Hopefully there will be best practices shared and guidelines given. The hard part is going to be how the restaurants, Bars, sporting and music events and other close contact situations adapt.

To the Original poster, thank you for what you are doing to help others while taking all the steps you can. Hopefully the good karma cloud you have around you protects you as well as all the steps your taking. My best friends wife has Lupus and he's still working and is modeling pretty much everything you are doing as a matter of life and death for his wife. Car is a clean zone, trunk is a dirty zone. Straight into the basement and clothes directly into the washer. Sanitizing his skin raw and chewing anyone's ass that gets into his safe place at work.

When people do stupid things that put their life at risk, I generally lean towards freedom of choice and natural selection will take care of them. But this stuff isn't just about individual choice, its your negative behavior affects everyone you come in contact with. As the health teacher said 40 years ago when talking about VD, Your coming in contact with everyone that person interacted with also. And everyone those people interacted with and those and those and .....

Appreciate you and all that are just doing the right things. We all need to be every moment, every day.

[debit]

I sure hope not. I am an accountant and need to get to my post office box at least weekly. Then, I prepare banking documents in my car before using the drive up service. Everything else is on line.
We try to limit the trip for groceries to every 10 days.
Yesterday, we did get out and I took some pictures of tulips.

............
Ram 2500 / Surveyor 251rks

[Scheinin]

The answer to the OP's question is yes. I am not an essential worker, but, as stated above, the effort is only too slow the spread of the Chinese Virus down. Eventually, I and everyone else will get the virus.

[mdstudey]

Thank you to all of you essential workers. I not only support all of you, but health care workers as well. While I am only 61 I fear if I catch it, I am dead because of previous heart attack that I was able to be brought back from; I have a multitude of other health. Thank you again for keeping our world going.

[sfsgm]

Originally Posted by nomad297

I am. I don’t know how I could expect not to. If I don’t, it will be a true miracle.

Being a plumber, I am an “Essential Worker”, and I have customers who need me and my services. I feel I have a duty to take care of my customers who have supported me and my business over the past few decades, so I do this at the risk of getting sick. I do everything possible to protect myself and my customers, but there is no way for me to avoid the inevitable unsanitary situations and frequent close contact with people who may be contagious.

I live and work in an area (DC Metro area) that has a large number of confirmed cases and it seems that about only about half of the people I encounter during a normal work day are taking this thing seriously. So many customers expect me to dress like a virus lab technician and smell like rubbing alcohol, and this is pretty much what they are getting from me, but there they are, in their homes with no masks, filth everywhere and looking over my shoulder as they speak and breath all over me. So often it seems like a one-way deal. I am polite and request some distance, and some people respect that, but most just don’t seem to care.

I have spent a small fortune on PPE and many different forms of sanitizing products to keep myself, my tools and my customers as protected as I can, but I just don’t think all of these efforts are going to keep me from eventually getting sick.

When I get home, my clothes come off outside and go into a new trash bag and directly into the washing machine. My wife takes the bag outside and puts it into the trash while I run to the shower and scrub...and scrub.

I have volunteered my services to those in my community who cannot pay now, or ever, especially for the elderly and handicapped because I figure that while I’m out there on the road and exposed anyways, I can help these people who would, otherwise, be living in unsanitary conditions or, in the case of the elderly and handicapped, be compromised by having to go up or down stairs because of something as simple as a clogged toilet or a backed-up sink. These are my favorite customers, though, because they really seem to care for my wellbeing as much as they do theirs.

I keep a detailed log of where I have been and how long I was there — I bring any food and drink I may need during the day so I don’t have to run into any stores and possibly give somebody something I don’t know I have. Nobody other than me, my wife and son are allowed into my home or office as I feel both of these places are veritable Petri dishes for this virus.

I am planning on catching this virus, but I am doing everything I can not to, other than not working. While I do have resources to carry me through a long period of not working, I am still saving up money for when that time comes.

Who else here is expecting to get sick? I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Bruce

I fought in a major war and a "small war" and am retired from law enforcement. I'm no stranger to death. I'll do what' is reasonable but I'm not going to expend a lot of psychic energy wearing myself out by thinking about what might happen. It is what it is.

[Brother Les]

There are many (100s) of virus types and each of 'us' have had many of them over the years. 'We' slowly build up a resistance to these viruses or some may expire because of an underlining condition. I am sure that I have 'caught' a couple of viruses this winter/spring. One of those 'may' have been a 'corona' virus. Dying with a type of Corona virus does not mean dying from a Corona virus. Cold Vaccines do not 'cure' any virus. You and your body can fight the virus(s), but can not 'stop' you from 'catching' any virus. Viruses are in the environment, this one (nuvo-Covid-19) and hundreds more. Stay healthy, practice distancing, clean everything and wash (your hands) everything to kill viruses.





https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/types.html

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by pgandw

On a positive note, I'm very suspicious that many of us have already been exposed, and have built up antibodies already. Might be wishful thinking, but I think back to my childhood days when suburban moms actually forced their children to be exposed to chicken pox, measles, and mumps because it was in the long term best interest to have the exposure as a child, and not as an adult. Either that, or this corona virus is not nearly as contagious as the doom and gloomers are claiming.

Fred W

I'm one of those, too. Born in 1945. We were deliberately exposed to the neighbor's kids who had chicken pox. But now we know that chicken pox in youth sets you up for shingles in the 60s/70s. (I've had both shingles vaccines to avoid it.) And now we know that deafness results in a 4-9% of measles cases.

I also remember the summers--1952 and 1953, I think--when Mom said, "No, we can't go to the circus, there's polio." and "No, we can't go to the community pool, there's polio." and "No, we can't go to the amusement park, there's polio." She said, "You can stay in the yard this summer or play with the Rosens across the street, because their mother is enforcing the same rules."

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by D W

I no more PLAN on getting a virus just like I don't PLAN on getting into an automobile accident. Too many negative waves!

I'm with you on planning to get something like this virus.

I figure it will happen, or it won't, dependinf how much i tempt fate.

If we could plan for things like this I would have changed the ones for my toothache.

My Dentist told me I had a tooth that needed watching, the one right next to the one she was performing a root canal on a couple years ago.

Guess what? It decided to flare up this last week and tomorrow I need to csll and see if she's doing any emergency work.

If not I may have to self medicate with some good Scotch [emoji53][emoji854][emoji30]

[dvalley]

Both my husband and I are very high risk should we catch it. That said, as a cust service rep for a major catalog company I talk to average people mostly here and in Canada, but all over the world every day.

Our greatest strength of personal liberty in this country, which most people take for granted, is turning out to be our greatest downfall. Over 85% of people I have talked to in this country are concerned about the virus but they do not believe it applies to them as they only hang out with "safe people" (including many traveling and those gathering with large extended families or friends this weekend for the holidays). From what the average person is telling me, many believe that it is only a danger to older people in nursing homes or those with health issues, that everyone's overreacting, and it's all media hype. They think that the restrictions are for other people and go about their normal lives.

Even if you only leave your house for necessities, you are only as safe as the least safe person you have either encountered, walked past, or even shared space, people, or objects with. I am lucky that I am able to work from home at this time but my husband and son are not, therefore, I know I am only as safe as the people they work with. Really, how hard is is to shelter in place and stay home, or where ever else your home may be parked at this time?

The one thing everyone has in common is that no one has any immunity to this virus except those who have just survived it (yes, the nuvo prefix designates diseases and mutations not seen before). As long as people continue to not take it seriously enough and continue to act this way it will be a long time before we see it end. It takes an average of 10-15 years for a vaccine to be developed, tested, approved, and produced. Even with the greatest minds of the entire world working on this problem, even a year would be unprecedented and unrealistic. By the time this is over I believe most people will know someone who has had Covid, and too many will know someone who has died.

[Ampdraw]

Good luck Bruce, I remember the days of working out of a service van, commercial stuff was better, but when I did residential that was the worst, everyone of your points are spot on accurate and your concerns are legitimate, you even have me concerned about you and your family and I don't even know you.

At least if you figure its only a matter of when not if you're going to get it then that hurdle is already crossed, that eases a lot of stress right there and stress isn't good for your immune system when it needs to respond. Hopefully you and your family don't have the underlying health conditions that seem to make this go from bad to worse in some people. Being a plumber I'd imagine your own immune system has to be built up pretty good so you do have that going for you.

Working in a casino environment, as does my wife, I'm exposed to a lot of people traveling from all over the world daily before we shut things down, I think its helped my own immune system from all that exposure, but I'm absolutely mind blown as to how I didn't end up with it. It makes me curious as to if I already may have had it and just got lucky as one of the people who had mild to no symptoms.

To answer your question though, I don't think I'll end up getting it if I haven't already, but my chances of exposure have now become drastically reduced, unlike your own situation.

[MCTroy]

Bruce - Thank you for taking care of people in the DC area. Our daughter and her family live near there. They are staying inside. Only true urgent trips outside their house to help protect them, our one year old granddaughter and to help stop the spread of the virus.
Just in case one of us in Ohio gets the virus - or just shows symptom - we have our Windjammer plugged in and ready to be used for isolation. I sure hope we don't have to use it though..

[mikel68]

I think it's pretty naive to think we all won't catch it. I believe once a "realistic" test comes out, it's gonna show more of us have already had it and didn't know it.

Our daughter is a RN, downtown Austin,TX. Until this point, starting exactly tomorrow her floor was cardiac patients exclusive. Tomorrow 1/2 the floor with be ICU COVID-19. We've seen her once in the last four weeks. She worked on Easter.

My wife and I are both teachers in TX. We've stayed pretty true to the "stay home" orders, No traveling, no RVing, etc. other than grocery stores and hardware stores. Well it should be "store" there's only one HEB in our town of 6500, and one hardware store.

We've been doing this "remote" teaching...for some reason. I see it as more of distraction for privileged kids, there are so many kids that do not have access to online services. There will not be a vaccine for a while, if ever. I don't know what public school will look like after this...probably a breeding ground for the virus.

So far our town has no + cases, however the school system pulls kids from nearby towns as well that have more than their fair share of + cases. In the end we will all get it.

[GSPguy]

[QUOTE=Oaklevel;2304578]We expect the the worst hope for the best............................


I am planning to get it but I do agree with Oaklevel.

[PSU Turf]

I am a nurse on a critical care step down unit. For the past month, all of our patients have had Covid-19 or were waiting for test results. So far none of the staff have gotten it but there is no way to know for sure because we can't get tested due to a lack of nasal swabs and test kits. I am sure I will get it at some point. We do what we can to protect ourselves and the patients. Working in the hospital we are in a sea of bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
Do what you can to keep your body and immune system as strong as possible. Eat right, get plenty of sleep, drink in moderation (alcohol kills germs but too much kills you).