Social distancing / quarantine support thread

[Gelquie]

I don't have much in the way of advice. All I can say is anecdotes from my experience, which you may or may not find helpful.
I that I haven't had too much trouble using bandanas, tied as bandanas around the back of my head. (While tucking the excess fabric up inside, which also lets me slip in a paper towel if I feel I need extra precautions.) And if I'm alone and outside in an unpopulated place, I may let it fall a bit, and then put it back on when people get near.
Which sounds similar to what a buff can do. Maybe there's better protections, but that seems to work for me without causing too much discomfort.
(Plus, I don't actually have a mask otherwise, so. I would've tried getting some cloth ones at some point (either a normal one or one that specifically helps avoid glasses fogging up), but my state's cases spiked... I was gonna rant about it here, but I think it's better in my diary.)

[Gelquie]

So I just remembered...

Not only is Folding@Home still a thing...

(It's a thing where basically you download the client to your computer and some of your system's idle power is basically used to do calculations for protein folding, and you and many others who use this basically act as a large computational supercomputer for researchers...)

They're doing it for COVID-19.

(They do have so many users running it that sometimes they have some downtime so they can put up more simulations for COVID-19. This is, as they put it, "a great 'problem' to have.")

I'm not confident about my computer's ability to do this, as it's been only a few months ago since I had to completely retool my computer and I still see issues. But for others who don't have that problem and want to do that, that's an option.


EDIT: Eh, I like being helpful, so I installed it anyway. I have plenty of computer downtime to spare anyway, and I can pause or turn it off if I need to.

I do have the option to prioritize types projects, like specifically for COVID or specifically for something else, so that helps too.

[Rebekah]

Folding@Home sounds like a really good idea. I wonder if my laptop can handle it. I think I'll download it and see if it can manage it.

I've been finding ways to deal with all this, mostly by writing and having fun with my bearded dragon. I'm not going to go out anytime soon, not with asthma. One good thing is that I've found a lot of quick cheap meals to create. It's been a long time since I've had meatloaf, but it turned out really well and didn't take many ingriedients.

[Carolyn]

I just checked in with my cousin who just started showing COVID-19 signs. She's anti-vaxx, so that's stressful enough, and she's refused to give vaccinations to her kids and I'm just like, "dskfjdsfdfk" right now with worry. She lives in a state with a lot of cases and is an AirBnb operator and cleans the homes of others in the community...

She's seriously struggling money-wise, so getting this sick will be a financial blow that she does not need.

ARGH. I wish I could go down to there and help them or do something. I feel so powerless. And scared. And worried.

[Liou]

Update from this part of the world for comparison and for perspective's sake:
I got my first reusable mask in the mail, from my town, somewhere in... April? May? during the official nationwide lockdown which began mid-March and and gradually ended over May, starting only with essential businesses.
I got my next reusable masks from my workplace, which provided three to me. From what I heard, that's not considered to be much.
I got another reusable mask from my workplace today. It's a lighter one because our weather is generally 30°C and above. This is not considered much, it's considered so little that coworker was considering kicking up a fuss.

So overall I haven't had to buy a single mask. The ones I was given are the type with ties that wrap all the way around your head, not ear-hangers.

At my workplace, on public transport, and in most places where you speak to someone over a counter, workers are also protected by transparent plastic partitions over the desk. Sometimes those are very, uh, QUALITY. But we have them.

Mask wear has remained mandatory on public transport since May. It had been enforced less and less in public places over the tourist season, but as of 20th July, it became mandatory again in any enclosed public places where it's not easy for everyone to keep public distances. Certain places enforce it better than others of course. Mask wearing rules for outdoor spaces depend on local policy and is enforced in towns that are at higher risk.

Complaints about masks range from isolated incidents in the newspapers to passive-aggressive "ugh it is so stifling under this I really want to let you know how much I'm suffering to follow your rules for the 5 minutes I spend in the place where you have to work all day, you better thank me, I am toootally gonna faint" (spoiler alert they're not)

[Thorn]

Bought my first fabric mask last night! And work are supplying us with a few disposable ones. I'm really nervous about wearing them, but at least I could pick a fun pattern for the fabric one (it's a rainbow galaxy!)

Things are picking up again in NZ, and we're preparing in case there's another lockdown, but right now most regions are open, just practising social distancing and good hygiene.

(Weirdly, it means I have MORE shifts than I did when there was a lower risk, because they need an extra staff member to manage the queues and I'm the only one available all weekdays.)

[Huntress]

Schools are starting up on the first of September here, with teachers going back in a few weeks beforehand to have meetings and workshops and other such teacherly behind-the-scenes things. There hasn't been any covid-related info coming down from government institutions but everyone sorta assumed that things are being worked on behind the scenes, as one does when one is a government institution. Meanwhile, new cases are cropping up again, because masks aren't really a thing any more but bars and nightclubs are open. This is why we can't have nice things.

And then the Health Board rolls out with frontpage news: the coronavirus doesn't spread between kids and cases of child-to-teacher transmission are very rare so that's what will be taken as basis for establishing guidelines for schools.

...AUGH WHAT THE HECK have you ever MET a child?

Well, in light of this, we're pulling a Clever Move^TM. Since I'm having a baby aaaany day now, Fraze is eligible for 30 calendar days of paid paternity leave, to be taken out in whatever-length chunks at his discretion until the baby turns three. So he's cashing in two weeks' worth of that leave from September 1 onwards, after which the results of schools opening should be clear either way. Spring didn't go too badly over here, but now it rather looks like it just means the country got lulled into a false sense of security, so I'm not liking the writing on the wall right now.

[Gelquie]

Re: that Health Board stuff - All I'm thinking is "that's not how viral transmission works". ='D
(Also, a part of me is very "think of the children!!" regarding all these education policies and knowing that severe covid-related consequences can still happen with kids, and it's not good.
While also considering that children... are generally not the most careful? Not their faults, they're just not.)

So yeah, pull all the Clever Moves here. xD Sounds like a smart idea. I'm not liking the writing on the wall either.

(Some of the current conversation in the US is US-people trying to tell their population to please get a flu vaccine if they can (and has increased amount of doses available to accommodate), because flu and covid are both big double-whammies that stress the health system, so they'd like to at least minimize one of them. I'll give the US credit on this move and not much else.)


--
Recently, I got some cotton masks. And I don't think they're layered as much as they should be, but nevertheless, I went out with one one to do some things.

...And I have no idea what the anti-maskers are talking about because I can breathe just fine in them?? And I have sinus and possibly upper-respiratory problems. I think I was breathing in them better than I could breathe in a bandana. (Because the bandana is not exactly a great fit, to be honest. I think the better the fit, the more comfortable and effective it is.)
There is the whole humidity thing, but... uh, masks are supposed to stop moisture as a conduit for the virus, so... Yeah? I wonder if people are confusing oxygen content with humidity.
But yeah, putting on a mask felt just as easy as putting on clothes, and most of the time I actually found it easier to keep it on than to switch between on/off at intervals, which I had to do for the bandana.

I think I'm going to get better reusable ones, though. I think my masks could afford another layer, but I don't exactly have great sewing skillz myself. Besides, I didn't exactly get a lot of masks in the first place. Here's hoping the postal system is not so beaten up that I can actually, uh, do that.

Plus, yes, my glasses did fog up. A mild annoyance during late summer, but it'll be a major thing in the winter. Maybe I'll experiment with it though, and see what I can do to help it. Since I'm planning to stay in this weekend anyway, but also do laundry. I heard a soap-and-water mix before putting on the mask helps, so I'll try that. I have a random "why-did-I-buy-this" small spray bottle I can use for that anyway.
If all else fails, I'll check out a glasses defogger. That was a problem in the winter anyway.
But maybe I just need a mask that conforms to my nose better. I could look for that too. When I was wearing a bandana, I discovered that putting a piece of yarn at the top helped it fit better. But because I wasn't sewing it on, it tended to slip. If it were more secure, though, something soft like that would probably be enough.

[Nat]

Aug 14, 2020 17:13:14 GMT -5 Gelquie said:

Recently, I got some cotton masks. And I don't think they're layered as much as they should be, but nevertheless, I went out with one one to do some things.

...And I have no idea what the anti-maskers are talking about because I can breathe just fine in them?? And I have sinus and possibly upper-respiratory problems. I think I was breathing in them better than I could breathe in a bandana. (Because the bandana is not exactly a great fit, to be honest. I think the better the fit, the more comfortable and effective it is.)
There is the whole humidity thing, but... uh, masks are supposed to stop moisture as a conduit for the virus, so... Yeah? I wonder if people are confusing oxygen content with humidity.

I found it weird to breathe in them for the first time, especially walking uphill in the heat. But then I walked around in them more and got used to it. My guess is that anti-maskers are going off of it feeling pretty weird at first (or hearing someone felt weird in it) and tossing in a lot of bad science so they feel better about doing what they're doing. 

[Thorn]

Interesting! I've only worn disposable masks so far (except when trying on the fabric one I made), and I can breathe perfectly fine. I was very surprised too, because I'd heard people complaining about them for that reason!

It is winter here now though, so different environment I guess.

[Thorn]

Ahhh, my cool rainbow galaxy mask shipped today!! \o/ Should be here in the next day or two.
Physical distancing is not being super well observed here. It's enforced in stores and supermarkets, but the buses, for example, are not restricting capacity like they're supposed to. Thankfully, it never gets busy enough that two people who don't know each other are sitting in the same row, but it's still anxiety-inducing having someone in front of you repeatedly clear their throat/cough.

I did make a mask, but it frayed the first time I washed it, so I need to keep working on that. This rainbow one, from an artist I've admired for a long time, should be much better!

[Nut]

Congratulations on your cool rainbow galaxy mask, Thorn! That sounds awesome and it'll definitely bring color everywhere you go! I see all sorts of patterned masks on people and I'm always impressed by the variety and how they can be used to express themselves or even match their outfit. Some people actually wear pictures of their pets on them. I still can't quite get over the visual effect of masks that have another nose/mouth or facial expression printed on them, though--it's so uncanny valley. xD

Regarding the breathability, I was told by one person that it can depend on the shape of the mask and/or how tight the fabric is against your face. I haven’t worn enough types of masks to judge this, but I do find my work-issue fabric masks (which are rather molded to the face) difficult to breathe through and have been using disposable masks exclusively for this reason. I’d like to wear one with a pattern on it, not least because it’s one of the few ways of self-expression while in uniform, but I tried this once and had to switch it for a disposable because after four hours I felt lightheaded.

Of course I understand the need for the masks and continue to wear them in public, but I do find they can interfere with communication--which for me is more of an issue than the breathing. A number of people, including me, and particularly hard-of-hearing people, find it difficult to hear through the masks especially since you can’t see the person’s mouth. I've heard of masks with plastic windows to deal with this issue, though.

[Rabbit ♠]

I'm back at school. My school has a lot of different measures in place to help against the virus. One of which being mandatory mask wearing.

Anyway, I moved back on Saturday and I saw two people not wearing their masks yesterday and one not wearing one today. (Granted, they were outside, so not in an official building, buuut still.)

I say in general, my school is doing its best to make everything safe and relatively normal. Most classes are online. Classes that are in person are practicing social distancing. Dining halls have some sections blocked off to allow for social distancing. Lots of reminders everywhere. The aforementioned mask mandate.

I'm over here doing what I can to stay safe. Wash my hands regularly. Social distance. Actually follow the mask mandate. Most of my classes are online yes, I am wearing pajamas to most of these classes, but one's in person. I do have to say, even with the threat of the virus, it feels good to go to an in person class. I do like online classes and I agree they're safer, but I honestly just work better in an in person environment, if that makes sense. Plus it gives me a reason to be on campus, since I like the campus and it's honestly a good break from home.

[Thorn]

Masking on public transport is compulsory from Monday (there's potentially a $300 fine if you don't), and the slogan the ministry of health are using to promote this is 'cover for each other.'

And I think that's amazing! Because yeah, masks protect other people more than they do yourself, and people can be...so bad and selfish sometimes? But they already got us through last lockdown by calling us the 'team of five million', so making it feel like a Big Teamwork Thing again with this amazing slogan is the best way to go.

[Thorn]

First day of compulsory masking on public transport here in NZ. I was a bit worried, but the bus driver has masks he's giving to people who forgot, which is really nice!

I like seeing all the pretty colorful fabric ones. There's someone up the front with a spacey one, I love spacey stuff!!!

Just kinda wanted to update on that one since this hasn't been compulsory until now, and I was worried how it would go over and I'm so glad to see it seems to be going okay!