Stores and restaurants re-closing due to COVID

[QuarterMillionMan]

I thought about you disneysteve last night while watching college football on TV, Kent State vs Bowling Green. All of the athletes in close proximity to each other breathing heavily I thought to myself, "what would disneysteve think about it?" I like sports and the athletes are young & healthy but not at the expense of putting others at risk who they come into contact with.

[Snicks]

I am an introvert so honestly don't mind the locked down life all that much. And, I enjoy cooking and only rarely do we even want to eat out. Over the years, I have learned to make some pretty yummy food! But, I do feel for these businesses. Those who run restaurants literally put their blood, sweat, tears into it. Unfortunately, I think we are going to see another year of this until the vast majority is vaccinated.

[bjl584]

I thought about you disneysteve last night while watching college football on TV, Kent State vs Bowling Green. All of the athletes in close proximity to each other breathing heavily I thought to myself, "what would disneysteve think about it?" I like sports and the athletes are young & healthy but not at the expense of putting others at risk who they come into contact with.

I think that the money is starting to talk to these universities
Someone decided that the risk is worth it compared to the lost revenue

[disneysteve]

I thought about you disneysteve last night while watching college football on TV, Kent State vs Bowling Green. All of the athletes in close proximity to each other breathing heavily I thought to myself, "what would disneysteve think about it?" I like sports and the athletes are young & healthy but not at the expense of putting others at risk who they come into contact with.

A lot of colleges have actually been handling things quite well, doing weekly testing of every student and staff member and strictly enforcing rules on gatherings and travel. It's really a model of what the whole country should have been doing all along. The lack of testing in the US has been a disgrace. Hundreds of thousands of cases and thousands of deaths could have been avoided had there been a coordinated national response including widespread testing.

Primary schools around the country are starting to encounter the consequences of returning to in-person learning with zero testing in place as cases rise and schools are forced to go back to remote learning.

The complete failure to properly address this in the US is deeply disturbing.

[disneysteve]

I do feel for these businesses. Those who run restaurants literally put their blood, sweat, tears into it.

I agree completely. Many of the restaurants that managed to survive the spring shutdown may not make it through the winter. Once outdoor dining becomes unavailable due to weather, they may not be able to remain open with only 25% indoor capacity. A lot of places will do the enclosed outdoor tents with heaters, but once you enclose the space, it's not really outdoor dining anymore. If it isn't fully open to the outside, it's pretty much the same as being inside.

The winter is unfortunately going to bring the end for many businesses.

[Singuy]

This is just unfortunate. One side of Americans doesn't seem to understand that there's not a ploy to keep businesses shut down for political reasons. It's literally mandatory when local hospitals reach capacity with no questions asked. So mask wearing and social distancing is necessary to keep businesses open. Local officials may decide the length of the shut down but a shut down is mandatory as hospitals get over run no matter how much you think the virus is fake news or how flat the earth is.

[kork13]

I am an introvert so honestly don't mind the locked down life all that much. And, I enjoy cooking and only rarely do we even want to eat out. Over the years, I have learned to make some pretty yummy food! But, I do feel for these businesses. Those who run restaurants literally put their blood, sweat, tears into it. Unfortunately, I think we are going to see another year of this until the vast majority is vaccinated.

Same here -- that has probably been my saving grace through all of this, not feeling a clawing desire to go out & interact with people. COVID is an introvert's dream -- staying home & reading or cooking or doing stuff on your own is a public service... Perfect! (joking... sorta)

[disneysteve]

Same here -- that has probably been my saving grace through all of this, not feeling a clawing desire to go out & interact with people. COVID is an introvert's dream -- staying home & reading or cooking or doing stuff on your own is a public service... Perfect! (joking... sorta)

It's funny but I'm sort of a mix of introvert and extrovert. I'm quite content to be by myself but I also enjoy going out and doing things in public.

My wife and I really enjoy fine dining. The problem since Covid hit is that the kinds of restaurants we like most aren't the ones really set up to deal with the new arrangements - primarily outdoor dining and takeout. I don't mind eating a slice of pizza on a picnic table in the parking lot but it really loses something to eat a nice meal in that setting. I also don't want to eat it at home out of Styrofoam containers. I want the atmosphere and service that goes along with the food. As a result, we've been eating out way less, which on the plus side is saving us hundreds of dollars every month.

We also love to travel whether it's just a nearby weekend getaway, a week or two in Florida, a cruise, or whatever. None of that is happening, or the least bit appealing, at this point. Our last trip was in February before everything shut down. We spent one night in a local hotel over the summer when our power was out but that's it. What's the point of going anywhere if we can't do anything when we get there? We can't eat in any restaurants. We can't do any indoor activities like museums or theaters or casinos. We don't want to be around crowds. And we certainly don't want to visit any areas where mask-wearing isn't required or enforced.

So we stay home. And we've been spending over $1,000 less every month since March.

[Snicks]

This is just unfortunate. One side of Americans doesn't seem to understand that there's not a ploy to keep businesses shut down for political reasons. It's literally mandatory when local hospitals reach capacity with no questions asked. So mask wearing and social distancing is necessary to keep businesses open. Local officials may decide the length of the shut down but a shut down is mandatory as hospitals get over run no matter how much you think the virus is fake news or how flat the earth is.

Except that NONE of our hospitals have ever been close to being "overrun". I know that is the narrative that political powers wish to paint to justify lockdowns every where but that simply is FALSE. And, so much so that our local hospitals laid off staff and shut down some services. So, yes a disease itself is not political, but there are plenty of politicians who will USE a disease or anything else as a political football.

[ua_guy]

Except that NONE of our hospitals have ever been close to being "overrun". I know that is the narrative that political powers wish to paint to justify lockdowns every where but that simply is FALSE. And, so much so that our local hospitals laid off staff and shut down some services. So, yes a disease itself is not political, but there are plenty of politicians who will USE a disease or anything else as a political football.

You're wrong. This is a local example I'm following because we have family in Idaho. Their health systems are now full. The local hospital was over capacity in July. They have been moving patients over state lines, and those hospitals are nearing capacity (possibly have exceeded by now) and so are moving patients 250 miles away to Seattle, or even farther, to Portland.

https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/lo...5-74fd4481a2ec

Where do you get your information? It's clearly not factual.

[Like2Plan]

....And, so much so that our local hospitals laid off staff and shut down some services.

I thought I would point out that when the pandemic started impacting our area, they did not permit elective surgery and many other health care services were shut down or curtailed. They even shut down all the dental offices--they would only take emergency cases. So, ironically, there are health care workers that were put out of work in this situation. This lasted until the infection rates/hospitalizations came down.

[ua_guy]

I thought I would point out that when the pandemic started impacting our area, they did not permit non-elective surgery and many other health care services were shut down or curtailed. They even shut down all the dental offices--they would only take emergency cases. So, ironically, there are health care workers that were put out of work in this situation. This lasted until the infection rates/hospitalizations came down.

It's still going on. Without elective services and normal patient care volumes (many people are not seeking care) hospitals are having to lay off a lot of staff. Problem is, you can't take a HUC or MA laid off from a physical therapy clinic and stick them in the ER or ICU, they're just very different jobs. To even repurpose space or increase bed capacity is a huge undertaking and is very very costly, something a lot of hospitals cannot afford right now depending on their situation.

The other issue is staffing. We received an update on our call this morning about a very concerning trend. More critical staff than ever are out sick right now. On top of that, many staff have left as they do not want / cannot be on front lines without proper PPE. Not only is hospital capacity very, very high in certain areas, but the hospitals themselves are facing staffing issues and even finding front-line staff has been difficult all year.

[Snicks]

You're wrong. This is a local example I'm following because we have family in Idaho. Their health systems are now full. The local hospital was over capacity in July. They have been moving patients over state lines, and those hospitals are nearing capacity (possibly have exceeded by now) and so are moving patients 250 miles away to Seattle, or even farther, to Portland.

https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/lo...5-74fd4481a2ec

Where do you get your information? It's clearly not factual.

Um, i am not "wrong" to tell you the facts of my state.

[ua_guy]

Um, i am not "wrong" to tell you the facts of my state.

What state? I'd be happy to do some reading for you.

[disneysteve]

Except that NONE of our hospitals have ever been close to being "overrun".

I'm guessing you're referring to your local hospitals, because this has very much been going on in hospitals across the country, and is going on right now in numerous places.