[Visor]

    The Covid19 restrictions on restaurants and bars were eased here yesterday, with a number of restrictions, no more than 6 people per table, 10' separation between tables, employees required to wear masks at all times and hand sanitize between each customer interaction, and so on and so forth. I did a recon of my normal haunts yesterday evening [out of scientific curiosity of course] assuming that with all the restrictions I'd never be able to get in the door of any of them. Much to my surprise I had no difficulty getting in or getting served, it was pretty much business as usual with the exception of face masks which most employees wore around their chins and liberal use of sanitizer [I'm assuming, I didn't sample any of the stuff] in spray bottles. Didn't see a mask on a single customer, no 10' separation and, no single employee handling payments and plenty of people sitting at the bar, which I had heard was strictly verboten. The 1st place I visited was fairly slow, but about normal for early on a Friday evening. The 2nd was so packed I didn't even stop, and the 3rd was busier than I've seen in many months. It is going to be VERY interesting indeed to see if there is a major spike in cases locally in the next couple of weeks. Wonder what will be done if there is, and what will be done if there isn't.

[a10t2]

This is why I'm doing my best to be patient. Anyone who's worked retail can tell you that 90% of customers don't care about the rules and 90% of the rest forget after a drink.

Our golf course opened today with the caveat that the clubhouse is closed. They propped some picnic tables up vertically in front of the doors so they could get some ventilation (bear in mind it's CO, so no AC or even ceiling fans) and someone pushed the 100+ lb table out of the way to get in.

[pete b]

This is why I'm doing my best to be patient. Anyone who's worked retail can tell you that 90% of customers don't care about the rules and 90% of the rest forget after a drink.

Our golf course opened today with the caveat that the clubhouse is closed. They propped some picnic tables up vertically in front of the doors so they could get some ventilation (bear in mind it's CO, so no AC or even ceiling fans) and someone pushed the 100+ lb table out of the way to get in.

I was thinking about you and how much it must suck to have this happen after working for so long to finally open. I hope you got some stimulus relief.
I don’t think these reopening are going to go well at all. Food and beverage businesses need volume for one and there will be a lot of pressure to skirt the rules and the people who are willing to go to these places are the people least likely to take precautions seriously as Visor’s observations show.

[denny]

It's going to be a very long time until I go out again.

[KellerBrauer]

I don’t think these reopening are going to go well at all. Food and beverage businesses need volume for one and there will be a lot of pressure to skirt the rules and the people who are willing to go to these places are the people least likely to take precautions seriously as Visor’s observations show.

I agree.  If the studies are correct, the vast majority of Americans are afraid to go out.  This is a very tough situation we are all in right now.  My wife and I have decided to maintain social distancing no matter what.  So if we decide to dine out and we find the restaurant is NOT following the distancing rules, we’ll walk out.  None of it is worth getting sick and possibly loosing our life.  IMHO, I believe 200k deaths are in the realm of possibility.

[BrewBama]

It's going to be a very long time until I go out again.

+1. But my wife is going nuts. She thrives off social interaction. But as an introvert I am just fine right here.


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[Slowbrew]

As far as I know, no one in the US is doing anywhere near enough testing and tracking to even start loosening restrictions.  Right now it is all a roll of the dice.  Dirty Harry would say "You feel lucky punk?".

Iowa is reducing restrictions while daily numbers are still rising.  I'm not a person who hides when bad things start happening.  I'm am an Iowan and we train our kids to go outside and watch when the tornado warnings are issued so cowering is not our normal reaction.  We have decades of experience with severe weather and have a good feel for when to worry. 
The odds are definitely not in our favor with this disease right now since we don't know where the infections are most prevalent/spreading.

My company has decided we will keep working from home until at least June 30th.  I expect that will be extended.  In addition to that, we will go back in phases and Technology will be last to go back into the office so I expect that I won't see my desk until February 2021.  I'm okay with that.
I'm concerned about schools too.  My wife and oldest daughter have been teaching HS from home and want to be back in the building this Fall.  My youngest is going into her Sophomore year at college and would love to be back on campus.  Only time will tell on those.

The economy will find a way to come back no matter what.  I feel for the retail/food industries/barbers and hair dressers and all the others but sick and dying people do not generate repeat customers. 

This could have been handled better by the Feds and the states.  Apparently we, as a nation, learned nothing from 1918.  IMHO

Crossing my fingers I haven't offended anyone but my house well be staying home for awhile yet.

Paul

[MDixon]

We don't typically go out much when I am home. I routinely go out when traveling. Currently I'm not allowed to travel, but once that starts back up I expect to be out and about. My plan is any place with a crowd to avoid, but the only difference from the past is my definition of a crowd. Nowadays that is characterized by people not social distancing.

[hopfenundmalz]

This is why I'm doing my best to be patient. Anyone who's worked retail can tell you that 90% of customers don't care about the rules and 90% of the rest forget after a drink.

Our golf course opened today with the caveat that the clubhouse is closed. They propped some picnic tables up vertically in front of the doors so they could get some ventilation (bear in mind it's CO, so no AC or even ceiling fans) and someone pushed the 100+ lb table out of the way to get in.

Hope you get back open safely. We will stop by sometime.

The first trip we might take is to go to my sister, and stay at her place on the north woods for a few days.

Eventually a road trip. We have time booked in the west next spring.

Flying? That will be awhile. Overseas? Much longer. I would love to go back to Germany, but I'll wait to see how they handle international entry.

[KellerBrauer]

This could have been handled better by the Feds and the states.  Apparently we, as a nation, learned nothing from 1918.  IMHO

Crossing my fingers I haven't offended anyone but my house well be staying home for awhile yet.

Paul

IMHO - I believe we did learn from 1918.  We (our leaders) simply never followed what we earned.  Following what we've learned would not be politically correct.

I was not offended - great rant!

[dmtaylor]

In Wisconsin it's been a free for all since Wednesday May 13th.  Some businesses are still closed or implementing their own strategies based on the opinions of their own management or local directives, while many businesses, taverns especially, are more or less wide open with hardly any controls, come in at your own risk kind of thing.

I'm not personally afraid of getting sick.  I'm just worried about being potentially asymptomatic and giving it to someone else who is at higher risk.  As such, I'm not going out much, and wearing a mask if I do.  I'm very angry about the millions who just don't give a s*** about anyone but themselves.

Effective this week I'll be working from home for the second time, and continue into the foreseeable future.  I worked from home for 4 weeks (most of April basically), then due to technical difficulties went back to the office for the past 3 weeks.  Technical difficulties are now resolved.  It's time now I think NOT to lift or loosen restrictions too much, but perhaps we should be all the more careful now, given all the reckless behavior out there.

[Visor]

    I think the percentage of people who are afraid to go out, and the level of threat people feel from this virus varies dramatically from region to region, and from more urban areas to rural ones. In my sparsely populated part of the mountain west there are plenty of folks who are scared spitless, but from what I've seen they are definitely in the minority, and the longer this goes on, the less of a perceived threat it seems to be to people. As a friend observed the other day, 3 weeks ago at Wally World 60% or more of the customers were wearing masks, now it's probably closer to 15%. And it's not like the virus has passed us by, my county's population is only 7% of the state total but we have over 1/3 of the total cases and more than half of the virus related deaths.
    I think though that the end of the world predictions that we have been bombarded with since this started are beginning to have a "boy who cried wolf" effect on a sizable percentage of the populace. As time passes and we see different results play out in different areas which are operating under different levels of government imposed restrictions, people around the country are going to reach different conclusions about whether to continue to hide out, or to venture out very carefully, or to go forth boldly. I know very few people who believe this is all a hoax, most understand that it is real and can be and has been a very serious, sometimes deadly threat to some. As I have said previously, sane, sensible, reasoning adults can be given the same information and still arrive at different conclusions.
   The fact that some places are opening up while others remain tightly locked down gives us something of a control and a test, albeit a not very scientific one. If we who are being more bold are hit with a massive increase in cases in the next few weeks then the folks who argued against relaxing restrictions voices will be amplified in the continuing discussion about how to go forward. If the trendlines don't increase, then the side that's been arguing that the cure isn't worth the societal and economic cost may find their arguments strengthened.
    Y'all can stay at home and be the control group, I'm volunteering for the test group. If I disappear from the forum in the not too distant future, then you can assume your plan was better than mine .   

[hopfenundmalz]

The Navajo Reservation has been hit hard. If you have been through there, you know it is very sparsly populated. You would also notice how poor the people are. Many have no power or running water, so hand washing for 20 seconds takes a back sest to saving drinking water. The houses are small, often with 3 generations living in there.

Population density helps the spread. Other factors can help the spread. Some small towns have become centers, due to crowded meat processjng plants.

In ten years there might be a good book on the pandemic that analyses what happened.

[Wilbur]

I think there's been to much focus on the death toll. I think people think of this as the flu, but a little more deadly. We'll see the final numbers eventually, but a lot of patients are seeing kidney damage as a result.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-kidney-damage-caused-by-covid19

I've got two perfectly good kidneys, and I'd like to keep it that way. I'm not planning on going out, at least until I have more info on the risks.

I think Sweden vs the rest of the Nordic countries shows the risks of opening up pretty well. They've had about 27% more deaths than normal, compared to ~0% for Finland, Norway, and Denmark.


I also don't try and watch tornadoes, those things can move fast and jump. My area has had some pretty bad tornadoes on the last few years though.

[BrewBama]

Interesting read: https://coronavirustruths.godaddysites.com/?fbclid=IwAR2b0s9X20MJNL7W1Hb2KkeDoyDyvE6qR8dT-091qhqRhiLjofYxy1lS5xU


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