What are you doing to avoid the virus?

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I have not left the house since mid March, and I don’t intend to until probably June at the earliest. My 85 year old father is high risk, so I can’t take any chances. Only my sister goes out to work (and there, she goes most days without coming in contact with anyone). When she comes home, I have the water running for her so she doesn’t have to touch anything when she goes to wash her hands.

We have groceries and other supplies delivered. They sit in the garage for a couple of days (if possible), and the items inside bags or boxes are wiped down before we bring them in the house.
 
It’s funny to read folks debating the use of masks – here, I can’t enter a store if I’m not wearing one. They’re mandatory throughout the state.
 
Here there are no masks available for sale, or hand sanitiser.
We do have toilet paper in the stores again.
 
Not many cases in SW Mo. Stayed open the whole time. Did maintain distance and use hand sanitizer and offered it to customers. Most used it. I can’t say that business has decreased much. One gentleman customer in his 80s came in with mask and a bottle of sanitizer in his hand. He informed me he had sanitized the door handle for me when he came in. Nice of him.

Lots of people catch themselves when they offer to shake hands. People are careful, but not overly so. Almost nobody wears a mask.

The only time I felt a little uncomfortable was when I realized, while pumping gas at a convenience store, that the pump handle was probably the most microbe-ridden thing in the whole town. I didn’t have any hand sanitizer so I asked the clerk for a bottle of Everclear. He asked what I was going to do with it, and I told him I was going to wash my hands in it. He caught on and then said “So THAT’s why it has been so hard for me to get.!” It’s 95% ethanol, of course.
 
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My roommate spared one of her masks from work for me until my order came in. I bought some reusable ones that were designed to filter but not up to the N95/99 level. I insert an extra filter around the apartment and when I went out two days ago I doubled two of the reusable masks. The New York Times published great articles to explain mask materials and effectiveness.

www.nytimes.com

Coronavirus: Which Mask Should You Wear? (Published 2020)

Here’s a look at some of the types of masks you might encounter, how they work, what to consider when making your own and the level of protection they could provide.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com

A User’s Guide to Face Masks (Published 2020)

By now you’ve figured out that wearing a mask is not as simple as all those TV doctors made it look. Here’s our guide to the wear and care of your new mask.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

If you register you can read any articles regarding the virus for free. This is primarily a respiratory illness, masks are crucial.
 
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I never understood that either. I was thinking to myself, wait a minute why would it help people that already have it or doctors that are always around it, but wouldn’t help prevent me from getting it? If they are improperly used, they don’t work, (trust me, with a lot of people they are), but they’re mostly effective.
 
adamhovey1988 said:
I never understood that either. I was thinking to myself, wait a minute why would it help people that already have it or doctors that are always around it, but wouldn’t help prevent me from getting it? If they are improperly used, they don’t work, (trust me, with a lot of people they are), but they’re mostly effective.
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This is just common sense to me. Even before I had proper masks I realized the advice at the time made no sense. I had minimal contact with people but the few times I had to get a delivery I fashioned a face covering out of a thick winter scarf. I can’t emphasize enough that this is a respiratory illness so air passages are the most important to protect. Hand washing is to prevent you touching your face with virus on it but it is extremely easy to simply inhale the virus.

And yes there is a learning curve. I didn’t know there was the metal clip to smooth around the nose or to stretch it out over the chin at first but even that faulty attempt offered some degree of protection.
 
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catholiclala said:
This logic never made sense to me and has been refuted. If the mask is barrier enough to contain virus inside why would it not be barrier enough to keep it out?
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Because stopping the big droplets going out makes a big difference in lowering transmission.
catholiclala said:
They were stupidly advising not to wear them in an attempt to keep supplies for first responders. I get that but if the average citizen can get a mask they should know that is the best protection.
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The other issue is that N95 masks don’t work if they aren’t fitted correctly. The resistance of air to go through them is high enough that inhalations and exhalations will go around them if there is any gapping.

I think it is a good idea to wear a mask because you never know if you are infected or not and the evidence shows that a very large fraction of infected people are asymptomatic. Those people don’t throw off as much virus as more seriously ill people do, but it seems that they could spread the infection. The main thing, though, is to lower your contacts with people as much as possible, because any mask not fitted well enough so that all inhalations are forced to go through an effective filter are only partly effective. Even so, something as low as 30% effective is still better than nothing. A medical person with such poor coverage couldn’t care for seriously-ill patients all day without getting infected, but a layperson only having short contact might get enough added protection to be useful.
 
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We both go to work, take our temp every day, sanitize our hands, change clothes when we get home, do not wear our shoes indoors, do not attend gatherings, eating out is only drive-thru (and our restaurants are having phenomenal specials for carry out! We can get a large meal for basically what it would cost to cook it ourselves!!)
 
jesusmademe said:
Most people here do not wear masks. I have heard that masks don’t protect you anyway. It might protect the other people around you.
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Which is why we should all wear them. My wearing a mask protects you and vice versa.
 
Im in Ohio and it’s been a month long of
Praying.
Not going anywhere unless it’s to pick up prescriptions, pick up groceries, (ordering online)
or driving somewhere secluded to walk.
Not ordering take out.
Not visiting friends or family.
Not letting children go back and forth from our house to their dads.
Putting off unnecessary doctor appointments
Planning a home birth
 
Sure, but there are N95 masks that do not form to the bridge, and are a lot more dome shaped.
 
Do you mean are there hoarders or are the grocery shelves full? Most places are on rationed quantities and have been for a few months.
 
catholiclala said:
but it is extremely easy to simply inhale the virus.
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I don’t understand how much of this is airborne and how much is through contact. I mean, if someone who has it sneezes next to me and I am wearing a mask, I still could get it because I adjust my shirt, and then later touch my face, right?
 
It seems like a long time to me to go without getting groceries, but kudos to you. Here, I still go every couple of days, if needed.
 
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