I used this tweet in a response to Lenona in yesterday's "Adult Decisions" thread at May 1, 2020 1:05 AM, and you should go ponder it there as well.

• Los Angeles now offers tests to everyone, and mine's scheduled for Monday. But it's the illness test, and I'd prefer a IgG antibodies test… If anyone knows where a reliable one can be had, speak up!

• This is an interesting point…

"It only kills people with comorbidities" is such a dumb line.

The vast majority of people who die of *any* illness have comorbidities!

It's relatively rare for *any* illness to kill young, healthy people completely out of the blue, because the human immune system is awesome!

Also, while Newsom is indisputably repellent, this came down late Thursday afternoon:

SACRAMENTO — State officials pushed to close all beaches and state parks in California to try to prevent overcrowding they feared could spread the coronavirus, but Gov. Gavin Newsom decided Thursday only to temporarily close beaches in Orange County, an administration official said.

Apologies, here is the tweet about commorbidities.

Restaurants open Monday. Saw a guy sweeping his patio,getting ready for outdoor seating! Apparently as of tonight they are doing take-out.

Texas restaurants are allowed to open their dining rooms at 25% capacity starting today. (I will probably still just do pick-up, if we order lunch today.) Our State parks are open during the day, by reservation only.

Texas restaurants are allowed to open their dining rooms at 25% capacity starting today. (I will probably still just do pick-up, if we order lunch today.) Our State parks are open during the day, by reservation only.

A couple of restaurants have a takeout line, a mechanic, the bakery are working. Library is still doing downloads only.

Not a whole lot has changed in this part of Virginia. There's never been an actual legal requirement to wear a mask in stores that have remained open (though most people do wear them), and restaurants offering takeout have been doing land office business.

I haven't witnessed a whole lot of grumbling in this part of the Commonwealth, but maybe it's because we have a lot of government employees here.

_Texas restaurants are allowed to open their dining rooms at 25% capacity starting today. (I will probably still just do pick-up, if we order lunch today.)_

Yep, I'm going to still do curbside pickup, but tip like I dined in. For as long as possible. Had some good conversations with a lot of my husband's restaurant clients about restaurants opening up to 25%, and most say they'd love if people could utilize pickup for a bit longer while they figure out how the new (relatively safe) dine-in experience will work.

Speaking of which, my husband's (restaurant- and entertainment-venue supply) businesses isn't surviving COVID-19. We're moving him out of his space this month into a smaller one, where he can hopefully keep the smaller-scale, more profitable aspect of his business going (with lower rent).

How people are reacting around my city (Austin) runs the gamut. Most people wear masks. Lots of folks on the trails and walking around (politely keeping distance by crossing the street).

Among my local Austin friends, though, it's interesting to see the different perspectives in what's reasonable. I've got the #TeamHerdImmunity folks. But ... some friends of ours asked us if we'd be willing to do a "100% quarantine for 2 weeks" so that we "share childcare" and hang out with a few other families who also agreed to 100% quarantine, and I was like, "My husband is an essential worker in a public-facing position. I myself have been helping him clean and move out of his business space while employees and movers shuffle about. We wear masks, keep all the doors and windows open, and wash hands like crazy, but there's not much else we can do." And these people are like "OMG, stay away from me." Which I'm fine with.

Not much is changed around here in Pennsylvania/Philadelphia area. The governor is not a maniac but is a fan of stricter mandates. What is crazy-making are the illogical bans. What is the great danger posed by disallowing dog grooming? How is the grooming transaction different from the person to person interaction of pick-up food, or delivered groceries? I could drop off Findlay at the door and come back in a few hours to pick him up. Or a mobile groomer can take him from my house and deliver him back. The dog is certainly not coated in virus after grooming, and the groomer has her hands and arms cleaned spotlessly while she bathes the dog. Equipment is cleaned between use.

And don't even get me started on outdoor activities! We have no data showing likely transmission when out of doors; in fact, the data continues to show transmission outdoors only in the event of up-close contact for at least several minutes. Seems the science is only followed when it's convenient politically.

Well... just when I was saying people were being polite in outdoor spaces in ATX...this happens:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/gbait0/austin_parks_ranger_gets_pushed_in_water_at/

The local strip mall near me (I go there for the Post Office, the bagel shop, and the barber shop) had 10 fully functional stores before this lock down.

While the Post Office and the Pharmacy have stayed open. The Pizza is delivery or take out only (call ahead and wait outside they bring it to the door). Everything else is closed.

Last weekend, I noticed that three of the 10 stores now have "For Rent" signs in their windows. The beauty salon and two restaurants (one African cuisine and the other Indian; run by recent immigrants) are now gone.

I never made it to the African Restaurant; but, I met the brother and his sister who ran it. They lived near me; I watched them scrimp and save for years to save up the money to open it last fall.

Their dreams of running their own business are now gone. And for what? Are we, and they, really better off than if we had never had this lock down? Somehow I don't believe so.

The problem is we are kind of all stumbling blindly. It will be a couple years before we know which countrihad the “right” response

Meanwhile restaurants open a week from Monday but it is unclear whether people will show

Are we, and they, really better off than if we had never had this lock down? Somehow I don't believe so. ~ charles at May 1, 2020 3:52 PM

The problem with the current lockdown is that it has left too many people dependent upon government money. That money comes from taxes and fees on economic activity. With limited economic activity, that money will eventually dry up. Then what?

Granted, some kind of social distancing was needed with an easily-transmitted virus. The question is how to maintain economic activity and isolate potential carriers of the virus at the same time.

Conan, we're ALL potential carriers. So we won't "maintain economic activity and isolate potential carriers." That will not happen, so the question won't be answered.

We have some measure of control regarding when people are going to die, but much less about how many. No one's promising a vaccine at all, let alone in the short years to come. (There's never been a successful coronavirus vaccine for humans.)

The specification for human survival just got updated, like a trivial bug fix release for Photoshop or something.

November 2019, Circa the 9th:

Homo Sapiens ver. 4387692829873678.39 is pushed to servers and propagating...

So we won't "maintain economic activity and isolate potential carriers." ~ Crid at May 2, 2020 3:36 PM

Perhaps not. But we will have to develop a more viable response than to destroy our own economy and put 80% of the population on some sort of welfare. The other 20% just can't make enough to support them.

Letting shops and businesses open up seems to be the best way, as most of them will quickly figure out a way to keep employees and customers properly distanced - or risk losing either.

For some of us, it will be much worse than Lotus Jazz or Microsoft Me.

Well, it will definitely be worse than Lotus Jazz.

> But we will have to develop a
> more viable response

Agree completely!

> most of them will quickly figure
> out a way to keep employees and
> customers properly distanced
> - or risk losing either.

And when you say "lose," you ain't playin', Fam.

Suddenly a bad review on Yelp isn't the worse torment to retail.

Lots of people out and about in the river towns, police are parked at a major crossing and not bothering anyone - this is on both sides of the Delaware PA to NJ. They've been unobtrusive throughout and shops have been open for a while in my town specifically, but we're a little out of the way and low key.

I suspect the recent behavior by the hold out governors cued people to spring themselves. It became obvious they didn't have a plan or even clear standards. The culty sermonizing didn't help either. It was all starting to look like theater.

I wouldn't be surprised if some will be relieved if people just make the decision for them.

> it is unclear whether
> people will show

I drove through Santa Monica environs last night, and restaurants all had signs saying 'Open for pickup and delivery only.' These were the places I've lived the last thirty years of life!

And for NONE was pickup very tempting.

Well, maybe a couple, but mostly for the wine. But in essentially all cases, eating from the fridge was more appealing gastronomically as well as financially.

I've loved living here, but going out was for novelty, variety and women.

And 'novelty' isn't so alluring this year.