125 thoughts on “C-19 Chat Post – April 15 2020”

  1. Kind of a dark moment as the world surpasses 2 million cases and 125,000 deaths. One-fifth of the deaths are in the USA. At certain times, it just hits me as being surreal.

    1. I fear that life as we used to know it may never be the same again.

      I am hearing stories of social distancing being required until 2022. I sure the hell hope not! This is getting insane.

        1. Basically if “nothing changed” in terms of vaccine, etc. And there are still too many unknowns. Again, putting a # to that in my opinion is not really the best idea. We need to stair-step through the entire process.

          There is always too much finality trying to be seen in things that are not clear enough. Same applies to weather. “Euro says 24.6 inches of snow for Boston in 8 days? Lock it in!” (Just an example.)

          1. Yes, I get that, but at the same time it can be good to look at this as what it could be. If it is not, then
            all the better. Just saying best to be prepared for
            the long haul just in case.

            And frankly, I am getting more worried by the day that this will be a long haul.

            Ever hear that joke about your Grandmother is on the roof. Same situation possible here that is all.

            Believe me, I don’t want it to be that way.

            I can’t stand be stuck in the house and now meat
            is getting hard to come by.

            I am supposed to have a food order today.

            If I don’t get:

            Bread
            Milk
            Eggs

            We are screwed and then I am not sure what to do. I may be forced to go out and then what?

            For those that are still going out and visiting
            the grocery stores, this is an inconvenience, but
            for those of us who have food delivered, it is a
            freaking nightmare.

            If it were just I, I’d say screw it and I’d go to the store myself, but I have another to care for here and I can’t worry her every time I go out the door.

            Sorry beginning to vent now. I am just saying
            this is getting more and more difficult by the day.

  2. jpdave – wanted to start a new reply tree so my response won’t look smooshed up. lol

    I understand the fears in regards to scarcity of certain foods. It can be frightening and hearing a number like 2022 can be insane. But allow me to lay out what the scenario would look like even in that situation: soon you will notice home delivery services start to have more slots available. Not this month but definitely towards mid may. Slots for delivery are dependent on peoples needs and as we get warmer we will see an easing up on ordering because 1) less people being able to spend 2) most people will have stocked as much as they can 3) supply chains will be getting more on a normal routine. It’s during these times that you will have the opportunity to stock (if you want to prepare for the worst get a deep freezer in the summer.) Now I personally think we will have a supply chain figured out and also think we will encounter a second curve in the late fall through winter. This is the real time to prepare for. I think having the entirety of the world working on a solution at the same time means we have a better chance of the faster window for a vaccine. It’s impossible to necessarily prepare for two years of this – you have to look at shorter term windows snd prepare for that. To that end in regards to milk, eggs, bread – start looking around nearby areas for farmstands. Those tend to have all of those items and are lesser traveled. This is where we get our milk eggs and bread these days. (the farmstand doesn’t allow people in any more. You have to pull up and hand them a shopping list and they come back and place the items in your trunk. It’s about as sanitary and risk diminished as possible.) We have a local grocery store near us that limits the amount of people in and you are required to be wearing a mask. And most grocery stores have senior shopping hours which you can take advantage of and means less people and you get there at the most stocked times.

    All of this is to say we will all get through this. I’ve been following this since early January and my belief is we will be majorly impacted for one full year with easements at random times. With a bit of research and asking around, leaning on friends and family – you will discover solutions for everything.

        1. I was going to mention that a lot of people have been using subscription services like blue apron, hello fresh, omaha steaks (which is better since you can more directly choose vs the other ones), goldbelly, etc. – seems a little too cost prohibitive to me but any port in a storm.

          1. Cost is not an issue, fortunately.
            The other big problem about most of these services is my wife’s allergies. She cannot eat most food
            items as they are infected with sulfites. Sulfites
            can literally kill her.

            1. Been reading up on this allergy for the past half hour as I hadn’t heard of it before. I’m alarmed at the lack of information out there on it and the lack of guidance for a diet surrounding it!

        2. We got Omaha a while ago. Also I like Harrington’s of Vermont. And I got some things from stonewall kitchen. Bread other than grocery makes me nervous because folks handle to bake and package.

      2. No problem. And if you ever need me to try to do some research for your area on farmstands or out of the box thinking for delivery stuff drop me an email. On gmail my address is ryanandrewkinder (writing it that way so bots don’t pick it up and add me to spam lists.)

        2. JPD if you are up for a ride to Sutton, we have a farm that we are using for all dairy, etc. They have Cabot cheeses and sour cream and butter and local farm milk and cream and boars head meets. Frozen chicken pot pies. And a bunch of odd things like bbq sauces and pastas and tomato sauces. Eggs. You call. Place the order and pay then by CC. They put in trunk that you open and then you close. They do not touch anything. If it is ok for TK to share your email, I can send info. I lost your email when my work email was discontinued.

    2. Dr stupid. This is beyond exceptional. I have copied and saved. And will share with family.

      I do not mind being home. I have worked from home for 40 years. But I do mind not being able to see my son and older daughter and their families.

      1. Indeed the emotional toll of not being able to see family and friends is a unique one. I’ve seen more people embracing technology. The other method I’ve seen people employ are glass doors – meaning if you have friends or family that live in the same state a glass door or window on the first floor you can have someone over in a manner of speaking but you stay inside the house and communicate that way (a lot of retirement facilities are having to employ this.) Heck one guy rented a bucket to visit his wife https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/14/nation/separated-by-coronavirus-88-year-old-watertown-man-uses-bucket-truck-see-wife-nursing-home/

        1. That touches my heart. I know I am far luckier than many in that I have a daughter, son in law and three amazing grands here with me. My heart aches for far too many who do not have anyone. We use FT and I chat with a couple using TXT. In the end….the most important thing is our loved ones are healthy……and that we stop this spread to keep all healthy

          And TK – I have to add here that being able to share thoughts and encouragement on here is beyond priceless. Thank you for giving us this.

  3. Reminder: most people got a stimulus check today. Check your bank account if they have your routing info.

    1. I assume you mean deposited checks and not mailed? Being a business owner, I have not had a return in year.

  4. I want to remind people that a negative COVID-19 year does not mean that a person is not infected with the virus. It has a sensitivity of about 72%. This means that only 7 out of 10 infected patients will be positive. 3 of them will test negative but it is not a true negative. If the same 3 are tested again, it is possible that they will subsequently test positive. This is why I don’t treat tests. We treat the patient, so if it quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck despite what testing reveals. Further, the antibody testing thus far is not much better and therefore we are not at a point where we can safely rely on it to send people back out into the economy.

      1. This is also what is contributing to underreporting. It’s not just the lack of testing. The inaccuracy of testing also attributes to deflated numbers of infected cases. This is why the CDC reminds us that there are probably 10 times the number of cases out there both locally and globally than currently understood.

    2. Hope matt sees this becsuse that’s essentially what I was trying to get across in my response yesterday. Should still self isolate and monitor even if a test is negative!

      1. Absolutely right Longshot. This is why we apply the 7/72/72 rule before allowing our patients to return to work. This means that before I clear a patient to come out of self quarantine the patient must satisfy the following three requirements even if the test is negative:

        1) It must have been at least 72 hrs since symptom onset
        2) Fever free for 72 hours without the use of fever reducers

        AND

        3) A reduction of respiratory symptoms for 72 hours

          1. You’re all over the place today arod! lol. I’ve heard of a 72 rule when reading papers from the Washington state department of health on isolation. Seems sound.

    1. Thank you for your explanation and insight. Always appreciated.

      Speaking of knowns and unknowns, I invariably cite Rumsfeld: “As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.”

    1. Thanks Tom.
      It is getting tougher. It is just exceedingly difficult to procure food
      that my wife can eat without getting sick. I can eat anything. She cannot.

      Some food that she can eat is NOT available at the stores from which I can
      obtain a delivery slot. It is WAR at our household. New food delivery due
      today. Then we take inventory depending upon what we receive from the order.
      then we scramble to place an additional order and hope we get what we need.

      Last resort is pasta.

      Right now making sure we have the correct food items is the major battle front for us and we fight it daily.

      For lunch we have had grilled cheese for a week because she can safely
      eat american cheese. We cannot get fresh turkey and or roast beef
      from the delis. So our choice for lunch is Egg salad or Fried egg sandwiches or grilled cheese, depending upon availabilty of eggs and cheese.

      Short of that, we have bagels, english muffins and one brand of soup
      that she can eat. And if milk available, there are 2 cereals that we have
      that she can eat. So it all depends upon availability.

      It is truly a nightmare.

      It was bad enough when I could go out and hit 3 different stores to get
      what we needed.

      1. I hope that food delivery comes today and offers some other choices and also builds up your food inventory.

        2. We are most fortunate that I still have a job and a pay check coming in. We can afford the food deliveries and pay extra if needed. I feel for those not as fortunate.

  7. JPD. I went to Wilson farm Lexington website. They deliver. I put in my zip but they don’t go to Sutton. I put in a JP zip and it seemed they might deliver to you

    Wilsonfarm.com

    Also maybe check russos in Watertown.

  8. Also want to mention again that warehouse memberships are especially good at these times (costco, bj’s, etc) – layouts of the stores tend to be very wide so easy to social distance. I can’t speak for ones directly in Boston but ones that are in more of a suburban type setting – a lot of people wearing masks and a lot of products on shelves. Really good for stocking up so you needn’t go out often. Also they have dedicated senior hours (at least BJ’s does.) And because there’s a membership fee there are less people there than at a normal grocery store. We tried ordering a five lb tub of peanut butter off amazon. Had to wait a week and a half for delivery. Then when it was the day of delivery and it said out on truck – we got a notification. Item damaged. Getting returned. That’s when I decided to hunt down a BJ’s membership coupon (so it only cost $25.) We went there towards the end of the day on Saturday and they had so much stuff we needed it was amazing. Yes a lot of stuff was gone but milk, eggs, pizzas, peanut butter, cereals, biscuit mixes, etc were still plentiful and on such a warm and busy saturday it was surprising to see all of it. I can only imagine start of the day after a night of restocking how many more options would be available. Also a lot of these warehouse stores have clothing, technology, etc that you can’t find elsewhere with nonessential stores being closed.

    1. Also want to add we have been considering a few “fast food” delivery options. One of those being taco bell. The idea being we can order a soft taco party pack (we choose to have no lettuce on it.) You get it, ditch all the packaging and place all the soft tacos on a baking sheet and cook around 350 for five minutes. Yes the soft tacos become a little bit crispy but gosh do I like it lol. And since it is cooked at 350 for five minutes (or more if i want the soft tacos to be a little crispier. I told you I like it. lmao!) anything that could potentially be on it is killed off and the four of us are safely fed. A lot of places offer contactless delivery options now – if you can think of foods you can eat that allow you to easily ditch packaging and heat up in the oven as an extra precaution… This will add another avenue of food options (especially if you are low, are suffering from food option fatigue, want something a little special…)

  9. At least some of my kids received their stimulus checks today. I haven’t asked all. I did not but expect mine by mail.

    1. If you enter in your info in the link I posted above you can get it direct deposited sooner. The paper check part is vaguer on when they will go out in May. This is a graphic I saw in my internet travels https://imgur.com/a/oLEXBHU

  10. I just checked and we received our stimulus check.
    What the hell do they thing we’re going to spend it on??????

    I, for one, am keeping it right where it is to add to our emergency funds since
    we don’t know what the bleep is coming down the road. 🙂

  12. We do not qualify for any kind of stimulus check which is just as well. I’d rather the money go into the hands of those who really need it. We do have two children ages 11 and 13. Does anyone know if we will be receiving the $600 per child despite not qualifying for our own package? I don’t know if the two are independent from one another.

  13. Received the stimulus check, a whopping 135! I’m not complaining and don’t really need however much appreciated other wise 🙂

    Everyday we inch closer to putting an end to this crisis. All this will become a distant memory one day and life will go back to normal as we know it. Looking forward to those days!

  14. JP Dave, I’m very sorry to hear about your situation. Take care.

    Today’s numbers have a `on the one hand, this, on the other hand, that’ feel to them. On the one hand, the flattening of the curve continues. New case growth has diminished in most states. Still thousands of new cases every day, but positivity rates are dropping slowly (country’s average is down to 18% – would like to get that down below 10% to be more sure testing is sufficient). On the other hand, the deaths – a lagging indicator – are staggering. Headed for another day well over 2,000. And, I don’t think that number reflects the full extent of the crisis, as thousands of at home and nursing home deaths have not been included. NYC is adding 3,750 to the total, but I don’t think that’s reflected in the state’s count, at least not yet.

    Outside the U.S. slow improvement continues in Italy and Spain. France’s numbers remain stubbornly high, as are the U.K.’s. Sweden had 170 more deaths today. Netherlands had 189. New case growth is diminishing almost across all of Europe, but the improvement is gradual (like the U.S.).

    1. Thanks Joshua. Just got everything ready in preparation for a food delivery
      that we don’t even know will come and if it does come, how much of what we ordered will we get. It’s a real Crap Shoot for sure.

      1. Just curious if you have anyone that can do shopping for you. I’ve seen FB groups popping up for neighbors to help neighbors who have more vulnerable people.

        1. My son is scheduled for an anti-body test next week. If it shows he had it, he will happily do the shopping for us.
          Also, there are a few neighbors who volunteered if we
          can’t get our deliveries. Many thanks for the suggestion.

    1. Hi rainshine. How are you. Soooo nice to see your name here. How are you!

      I believe you should get a stimulus check. Like mine maybe in the mail? I believe that was a sticking point with the dems who felt folks who don’t pay taxes need the check the most. And I could be 110% incorrect.

      1. Hi, Vicki. Doing ok. My husband says since we don’t pay taxes we have slipped down to the end of the line. We are likely to get our money in Aug. or even Oct. – if then.

    2. They were just reiterating what was said before. MLB has not made any final decisions on the season yet, hence the “indefinitely” label still remaining.

      1. The WEEI host had it as “breaking news”. I didn’t know that it is actually “old” news. Sorry.

  19. Unfortunately I received my tax refund in the mail as I did not provide any bank account information.

    So how long will I have to wait for my stimulus check? Weeks? Months? 🙁

  21. Just took a peek at the numbers. I shouldn’t have. It’s not good. Too many new cases and too many deaths.

    On a positive note, UAE airlines is implementing a policy that tests all passengers for coronavirus before boarding. It’s the quick turnaround test (hopefully not a faulty one). It is resuming many of its operations with this new protocol in place.

  22. My Food delivery window of 4-5 PM has been pushed back to 5-6 PM.
    Now this could be ok, if we get it, but we have seen this before where
    it keeps getting pushed back until the stores and it gets cancelled by the service.

    We shall see. As a precaution, I copied and pasted my whole order into word
    so I don’t have to start from scratch in case the order is cancelled.

    What a Pain!

        1. I’m hoping for you, too, JPDave. What this pandemic hath wrought on our City upon a Hill, and many other places throughout the colonies and beyond.

    1. No. Certainly not today. Not peaking at ~2,600 new cases like we did late last week, but we did have 1,755 confirmed new cases. That’s a lot. Massachusetts is not a big state. I’ll tell you a state that has crushed the curve and can reopen gradually soon (May): Vermont. They test quite a bit and yet are only getting a few new cases every day: 7 today, 4 yesterday. Northern New England as a whole is doing well and can reopen gradually soon (May). They’ll be urged not to travel to Massachusetts.

      Germany is gradually reopening soon, starting with kindergarten and grammar schools. If we can learn from a country it’s probably Germany. They were on top of this virus from the get-go with a lot of testing, contact tracing, etc … And so, they’ll be able to reopen soon. If the U.S. had followed Germany’s lead (by having a lot of testing right off the bat, shutting down as soon as the virus hit) we’d be very close to reopening. South Korea is another example. The paradox is Trump wants to reopen too soon. Had he presided over a competent, immediate response we’d already be in reopen mode as Germany and South Korea are. Incompetence is a bummer.

      My latest article is on the WHO, whose lapses in judgment were problematic to say the least. But, with Trump defunding the organization he’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2020/04/15/trumps-decision-to-defund-who-throwing-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater/#4adede854fb9

  24. Someone might want to let Birx and the president know. She made that comment and he said we have tons of ventilators but since no one needs them in our country right now we might look to sending to other countries.

    Can we ask for Faucis return please

    1. For once I wish Fauci would interrupt the president and calmly but emphatically say “Mr. President, with all due respect, we lost more than 2,400 people yesterday, we’re going to lose at least another 2,400 people today. Some were on ventilators. Some didn’t make it on the way to the hospital. Others died in hospital before they could be hooked up to a ventilator. Saying “no one needs them in our country,” or even saying we have too many is wrong on so many levels.”

      But Fauci won’t do that. Birx won’t either. Pence won’t either. While I respect their service and intelligence, I’ve lost some respect for their integrity. The only guy who has done the right thing is Alex Azar (Secretary of HHS), and he just got side-swiped by the president for being `disloyal.’ His sin was telling the truth: Azar has said on multiple occasions that he warned the president about the coronavirus in January. Trump failed to act. I respect Azar for what he said. He’s a patriot in my book.

      1. Trump failed to act
        Tell that to the families of those who we have already lost!
        The man is a bumbling IDIOT and should be summarily removed
        from office before he kills us all.

      2. In part, I think and perhaps hope they are yessing him to hopefully keep Doing what they do best. Fauci has done that and he is now relegated to a corner where he is serving a time out. Birx I thought was hopeful until today. And my heavens to say no one needs ventilators now and have not for a while. Heaven help us

        If you want to listen but maybe not at night. I have developed a whole new vocabulary

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcLrPzma0ko

        1:42.30 Birx

        50:01. Trump Nobody need ventilators at this moment and hasn’t for weeks.

        1. Birx is another Trump MORON. More of the same.

          Fauci has INTEGRITY, something the whole administration is sorely lacking. We want Fauci, We want Fauci, We want Fauci.

          1. I’m in the process of purchasing a Fauci tee. He will be remembered as the face of folks who put Americans first.

    5. Thanks all.

      Got eggs and bacon, but no cheese. Oh well. We got most of what we wanted.
      It was a good day.

      With this Shipt service, we have been tipping generously. Wonder if
      that helps with delivery slots and if not, at least shoppers claiming the order.
      We now have had the same shopper the last 2 deliveries. She texted us 4 times while shopping to go over substitutions. Nice touch for sure.

  26. BPD lost a 53 year old police officer to Covid-19. He patrolled the streets of Jamaica Plain. His name was Fontanez. I know the MBTA has also lost several. And many BPD officers have the virus. Perhaps more have died. I just don’t know.

    Most shocking news today comes from NYC. I knew that 22 police officers and detectives had already died. What I didn’t know was that 59 New York City transit workers (bus drivers, train conductors, etc …) have died.

    This is a savage disease.

    1. I don’t even know what to say. Baker made comments regarding police yesterday that brought me to tears.

  28. I heard something today the state of Massachusetts is third when it comes to deaths from COVID19. Here in CT Governor Lamont considering an executive order for us to wear face masks in places where we can’t socially distance. NY Governor Cuomo made that an executive order today.

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