Coronavirus 4

[Ozlsn]

17 hours ago, Howl said:

If there is potential for oleandrin to be truly effective in the treatment of COVID 19, scientists are already on it and know how to assess it's likelihood to be a potential treatment. 

What Phoenix BioTechnology is into right now is the potential for wealth beyond their wildest dreams of avarice. 

Totally agree. And when/if there are peer reviewed studies with good data, great - start moving it into clinical trials, carefully. My main issue with the whole "the FDA won't let us just rush into production, it's so expensive" argument is that there are good reasons why they don't do that. Why they do want a huge amount of data showing safety and efficacy before they approve it. Things get moved into trials faster in times like these, but you still want to know as much about tolerance and dosage and interaction as possible before it goes into humans.

What this mob want is a licence to print money and immunity from any repercussions.

[Ozlsn]

The numbers are falling in Victoria, but we still have another three weeks of stage 4 lockdown in Melbourne. Unfortunately people are seeing the falling numbers and relaxing again, so who knows if we'll start reopening in three weeks or not. The government flagged that the state of emergency may last into next year and I swear a third of my Facebook feed promptly lost their marbles. 

I'm as sick of this as anyone, but I wish some people would get it through their heads that we're not going to get back to normal quickly. At this point I'm just hoping a family Christmas will be possible. 

[Smash!]

It‘s a further hit against science and this is what worries me the most. Peter Hotez has a good tweet about it:

[Coconut Flan]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/08/23/poll-57-of-republicans-find-coronavirus-death-toll-now-over-176000-acceptable/#3f983e8c46c6

Things like this make me want to run screaming from humanity.

Edited August 24, 2020 by Coconut Flan

[smittykins]

On 8/23/2020 at 2:31 PM, ADoyle90815 said:

The issue with oleander is that the plant is toxic to humans and animals. In fact, I seem to remember a news story several years ago where people camping were poisoned because they decided to use oleander sticks to roast marshmallows over a campfire. They might even have been Boy Scouts, but it was so long ago that I don't remember exactly, just that they nearly died from that incident.

And ISTR at least one case where oleander was used in a murder attempt(which I can’t remember if it was successful).

[clueliss]

Well, they’ve issued quarantine orders in Lawrence, Kansas for Nine fraternity & sorority houses.

 

 

This lists the specific houses and it sounds like there may be another 

 

[Ozlsn]

The University of Queensland covid vaccine is showing promising results. I am in favour of as many approaches being tested as possible, not least because it gives a better chance of broader protection, of having vaccines that work, and of a vaccine being available for people who for whatever reason are unable to be given one of the other vaccines (I'm thinking along the lines of the H1N1 pediatric flu vaccines - one turned out to cause severe complications in some children, the other didn't so there was still an option.) 

Also I like their molecular clamp, which is kind of cool.

Victoria is seeing daily new case numbers falling still - we are halfway through the stage 4 lockdown, touch wood we will be able to cautiously start reopening again soon. The rumours etc are still flying to the point that the Coroner of Victoria released a statement today debunking one of them - no, the number of suicides has not spiked under lockdown, we are unfortunately at the same numbers as last year. This may change of course, but right now is a good time to keep checking in with friends, family and neighbours. 

Also apparently coronavirus spreads less easily in humidity, which is frankly making me wonder just how bad Florida would look if it had a climate like Nevada. I honestly don't want to think about it.

[Ozlsn]

Continuing the 2020 WTAF? theme we had a major storm go over last night, which left three people dead from falling trees, about a third of Melbourne without power, and over 88 suburbs* needing to boil drinking water because the power failure unfortunately allowed contaminated water into the system when pumps failed. 

Of my teacher friends, half had school cancelled due to most of their class having no power, one was commuting to her mum's house (with permit!)  two suburbs over because they had power, and the other half were wishing their suburb had lost power too. Everyone's teaching remotely, so no power equals... a lot of phone calls, assuming you still have a land line and/or enough phone battery. 

My emergency app apparently spent all last night going bananas with warnings, which continued through the day. 

*there are a number of suburbs that were left off the list, but which are surrounded by suburbs that have contaminated water. There is much discussion about where the water for those suburbs comes from exactly, and why they are apparently oases in the swamp. One suburb also made it on the list twice, begging the question of whether they get twice the water or it's twice as contaminated. Today has been seriously weird.

Edited August 28, 2020 by Ozlsn

[NoKidsAndCounting]

Hello, all. I'm new to this forum, but I work at a university as an administrative assistant, and I'll admit that I'm worried.  We have all freshman attending in person but spaced out in classrooms and dorms.  Our upper-class students and graduate students are mostly attending classes remotely.  We are all required to take our temperatures each day and fill out an online form attesting to our health symptoms.  Everyone must wear masks inside and outside while walking on campus.  The buildings have employed capacity limits on classrooms and bathrooms and increased the number of sanitizing stations.  Basically, the administration is doing everything it can for the doors to stay open, but I'm getting to the issue - the students' behavior.

Where I sit in the building of one of the graduate schools, I'm at an open desk, and they haven't installed the plexiglass barriers yet.  They are supposed to be put in at my desk soon.  I'm getting fairly nervous about this, because I feel people are coming too close to me.  I'm just not comfortable.

Students are not supposed to be able to access the faculty floor where I sit (card access only), but a student came in yesterday and walked right up to my desk.  We're talking about 4 - 5 feet from my face.  I thought everything was all right because she had a mask on, or so I thought.  She was actually looking for another assistant who is located at a desk down the hallway from me.  I was showing her to the desk, but we did not see the person she needed to speak with.  We turn around and start walking back down the hallway (she's behind me), and I stop at the entrance to my office suite to go back inside.  As she's passing me, on her way out, I catch a glimpse of her in my peripheral vision and see that her mask is attached at the top but completely open at the bottom.  The straps are broken, and she just has the mask resting on her nose and mouth.

I was about to say something, but I stopped short because the student is wearing a hijab.  I didn't want to be disrespectful by correcting her, and I thought perhaps that hijab-wearing students might be allowed to do this because of the nature of having to put on and remove the mask in private each time.  I thought if I said something, I might be labelled as someone who "doesn't like Muslim students" or worse.  I did report the incident, but I don't know the student's name.  I'm also currently trying to find out if hijab-wearing students are subject to the same rules.  We must have a properly fitting mask that covers nose, mouth and chin as far as I'm aware.  I'm hoping that the professors who teach our foreign language/hijab-wearing students might be able to have a conversation with them.  I just don't know a good answer for this situation.  What do you all think?  I appreciate your insight.

 

[47of74]

They finally opened up a schedule for us to come in and permanently pack up our desks at work since the local office is permanently closing.  I told them I'd like 45 minutes.  I doubt it'll take that long but I want to give myself plenty of time to clean out my stuff. 

On the job front I have two interviews next week.  I was surprised because one of them is in person.  This at a medical practice which I thought for sure would be wanting to do it remote. 

[Ozlsn]

10 hours ago, NoKidsAndCounting said:

Students are not supposed to be able to access the faculty floor where I sit (card access only),

That is a problem.

10 hours ago, NoKidsAndCounting said:

I'm also currently trying to find out if hijab-wearing students are subject to the same rules. 

If the requirement is to wear a mask in public spaces, why wouldn't they be? I put mine on at the front door, take it off same place. You can also get ones that attach behind the head rather than behind the ears, so putting it on over hijab should be doable. I personally don't like them that much (they are the only ones that make me feel like I'm suffocating), but my husband finds them easier to wear.

10 hours ago, NoKidsAndCounting said:

Everyone must wear masks inside and outside while walking on campus

 I don't think wearing a hijab, or a turban or a wimple or any other religious dress would change the requirement to wear a mask to be honest. I think asking nicely if she knows her mask has come detached at the bottom and isn't fitting properly would be the way to go. (Although if it's one she needed to tie again then she may need to find a bathroom to do that... so you could ask if she needed directions?) 

Good luck with the semester.

[CTRLZero]

We ventured out to get our flu shots at a nearby Rite Aid.  The pharmacist said that he believed a vaccine for COVID-19 would be available June 2021, at the earliest, based on information his company is receiving.  Once a vaccine is developed, it still takes quite a long time to manufacture, distribute, and then get it out to the population.  (I know you already understand this, but it was interesting hearing it from a medical source.)

On a lighter note.  My hair will grow from pixie cut to shoulder length by then.  My husband's hair is also almost long enough to pull into a little ponytail.  We have thought about making Christmas cards showing our pandemic ponytails, maybe pulled back with little red and green bows.  Thinking ahead, lol.  ??

Has anyone gone to the dentist lately?  I have an appointment coming up, which I'm nervous about.  I'd cancel, but with so much gum work over the past few years, I feel it's important to go in for my checkup.  Just interested how dentists are managing the virus.

[Emma]

Went to dentist myself a couple of weeks ago.The dental routines already in place are good for infection control already. The only difference I noticed was the number of people around. Far fewer people and absolutely no one in the waiting room. Instead of having almost every room filled (5-6 patients) only two patients were there.

I also had to do a corona virus screening, do you have any symptoms, let me take your temperature, etc. You can call and ask your dentist what his covid precautions and routines are.

It might vary from state to state and county to county. I felt comfortable with what my dentist was doing. 

Edited August 29, 2020 by Emma

[Becky]

Ditto on the dentist! I had my cleaning yesterday. Hygienist and dentist both wore face shields.  The plexiglas barriers at the reception desk were not particularly effective-looking, the holes to pass papers through were large and right at head level, but all the staff had masks on, patients had temps taken and signed quizzes to verify lack of symptoms and exposure. 

[clueliss]

I went to the dentist in June for my semi annual check up temperature was taken at the door. Last week I did my annual gynecologist visit temperature was taken inside the door of the lobby as you entered downstairs for the whole medical building. Masks the entire time on the last one because we are under a mask ordinance.

[FiveAcres]

20 hours ago, CTRLZero said:

Has anyone gone to the dentist lately?  I have an appointment coming up, which I'm nervous about.  I'd cancel, but with so much gum work over the past few years, I feel it's important to go in for my checkup.  Just interested how dentists are managing the virus.

I trust my dental practice to keep me, my partner and the staff of the practice safe more than just about anyone. Remember, dentists had to figure out how to keep themselves safe from HIV, so they are actually pretty good at safety.

[Coconut Flan]

My daughter had me a bit skittish about going to the dentist and then my rheumatologist reminded me the dental workers are there all day four or five days a week.  They're potentially exposed all their working hours.  They're going to do everything they can to mitigate exposure so it's probably one of the safer places I can go.  So I made the appointment and will go in September. 

[mamallama]

My issue with the dentist is that you have to take your mask off.  I worry about the aerosolized virus from previous patients.

[Coconut Flan]

My dentist is supposed to be running filters and I asked for the first appointment after lunch when I'm hoping anything remaining will have mostly settled.  My daughter is going to the first appointment in the morning because of that.

[Becky]

1 hour ago, mamallama said:

My issue with the dentist is that you have to take your mask off.  I worry about the aerosolized virus from previous patients.

My dentist had filtration units running in every procedure room; check with your own dentist, of course, but of all the places you could go, I think the dentist is likely low risk.  Particularly if you get the first appointment of the day, or like Coconut Flan, the first one after lunch break.??

 

[mamallama]

Good idea asking for the first appt.  My dentist is also a friend and when I said that he didn't mention filters.

[SassyPants]

My DDS: waited outside, fillEd out paper work and had a temp check. Called back. Workers in space suits. They made me swish and gargle for 1 minute with H2O2. I’m trying to remember what else was different but I’m drawing a blank. Recently, my dog had her physical, and no owner was allowed into the building. A worker came out to the car and retrieved our phone numbers , took a written health history and notified us that we would get a call from the vet once the exam was completed. At the end of the appt., the receptionist called for billing info. 

[Alisamer]

8 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

My DDS: waited outside, fillEd out paper work and had a temp check. Called back. Workers in space suits. They made me swish and gargle for 1 minute with H2O2. I’m trying to remember what else was different but I’m drawing a blank. Recently, my dog had her physical, and no owner was allowed into the building. A worker came out to the car and retrieved our phone numbers , took a written health history and notified us that we would get a call from the vet once the exam was completed. At the end of the appt., the receptionist called for billing info. 

I have a dentist appointment coming up, so I'm glad to read the various info from people. I have an early morning appointment but not first thing, so hopefully all will be well. 

I don't currently have pets but I follow Kitten Academy closely and their vet has being doing the same thing - they drive up, call in, the vet sends someone out to get the cat(s) and communicates by text with them. The funniest thing was when DJ, the wife, had to take cats to the vet for the first time during the pandemic - she's a (human) doctor doing her residency in a hospital, and her husband had to give her a complete run down of how it works because she's been so out of the loop on how things are in public. She's just been working like crazy this whole time, so when she gets a break it's a culture shock for her. I remember her asking him stuff like "do people really wear masks to the store?" and "wait, so the vet comes out to the car?"

I got an email yesterday that my gym is opening back up on September 1, with distancing and sanitizing procedures in place. I really, really want to go back. I think I might try to go at an off hour when it shouldn't be busy, and just walk on the treadmill with a mask on to see how things are. I'm torn, I feel like the gym is probably really risky for Covid, but then I feel like my general health and mental health is so much better when I go that it might be worth it. 

[clueliss]

My vet is doing 'paws only' in the office.  However, they did let me come in on Saturday when I euthanized The Spook.  I had been afraid I wouldn't be allowed, but I was.  

[Audrey2]

3 minutes ago, clueliss said:

My vet is doing 'paws only' in the office.  However, they did let me come in on Saturday when I euthanized The Spook.  I had been afraid I wouldn't be allowed, but I was.  

I am so sorry to hear about this. Sending thoughts of peace and healing.