The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

pineapple said:

r.a.i.n.b.o.w said:

snowbird20 said:

herlig said:

markin said:

US woman who caught coronavirus despite self-isolating for three weeks believes it was passed to her when she collected a bag of groceries...

Rachel Brummert was shielding herself at home in Charlotte, North Carolina, as she suffers from an autoimmune disorder that makes her...

Which is why thorough handwashing and cleaning is essential for people shielding and dealing with incoming. 

IIRC, this woman lives with a husband who WAS going out into the world and most likely brought the virus in to her.  But that's not a sensational headline, is it?

and explained she had ONLY visited the doctor surgery to collect a prescription, and the pharmacy to fill the prescription, and her family were bringing homecooked meals and other stuff to her doorstep every day....!!!

But you can't avoid all risk. The only way in which I, even as a 'shielded person', differ from this is that I don't have to go fill out any prescriptions. I'm on some heavy duty meds that can't just be sent off on repeat prescription from some pharmacy. Risk 1: I have to go to the Practice each month for a blood test because of those meds. Risk 2: Someone has to go to collect those meds for me (she leaves them at the gate). Risk 3: We all have to live - I get food deliveries etc brought to my doorstep (in fact it might be safer having family deliver than a delivery peson going from house to house). With '2' and '3' I have to touch packaging etc. OK I wash my hands, I wash packaging where possible or leave it to 'decontamihate' for a while but one day I might miss something.

I agree that you can't avoid all risk, it was the bafflement of the interviewee that she had no idea how she'd caught it because she'd not left home, but then reeled off all these things that she'd done - including leaving her home - that clearly put her in contact with people and situations who could have passed it on to her. But the media/news want the "OMG I STAYED AT HOME AND STILL GOT IT" angles and the newsreader at the time kept pushing for it (and didn't get it lol).

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

MingVase said:

pineapple said:

But they are still holding that masks are about protecting other people from the wearer and not the wearer from other people.

Don't believe that pineapple. If it stops stuff coming out then ergo it must stop stuff going in. And def cannot hurt!

Absolutely agree with this!

And if you think about it: if we ALL wore masks (on top of washing hands, social distancing, cleaning groceries, etc), the risk of spread would be so very low!

[Deleted User]

People, being people would see the mask as protection enough for them to stop socially distancing, it would give a false sense of safety and might make people relax on the social distancing and hand washing etc. that is what must still be in place to ensure this virus doesn't run rampant through the nation again within a couple of weeks.

Nonnadiluca

DS was waiting outside his local Budgens, which has a limit on the number of people in the shop at any one time, when a guy pushed to the front and said, " It's ok, I 've got a mask!". DS told him that it had obviously affected his ability to count, and to get to the back of the queue!

Zentimes

Nonnadiluca said:

DS was waiting outside his local Budgens, which has a limit on the number of people in the shop at any one time, when a guy pushed to the front and said, " It's ok, I 've got a mask!". DS told him that it had obviously affected his ability to count, and to get to the back of the queue!

Hahaha! Nice response! I am opposed to the wearing of masks - most people don't know how to take them off or put them on safely - you shouldn't touch the mask part or you are risking contaminating it with your fingers. They should be handled only via the ear straps. If they become moist they should be discarded and a new one worn. If they aren't proper surgical grade then viral particles WILL be able to go through, in either direction. So if you sneeze, the virus particles in your sneeze can still go through the loose weave of whatever home made mask fabric you have. All in all, not a good idea, in my opinion. But still, I feel sure they'll be encouraged and maybe even made compulsory. Then we'll have the 'mask police' out and about, as well as 'you aren't 2 meters apart!' police. This pandemic really has brought out the worst in some folk. We need more Captain Toms!

dreaming

MrsLurcherwalker said:

People, being people would see the mask as protection enough for them to stop socially distancing, it would give a false sense of safety and might make people relax on the social distancing and hand washing etc. that is what must still be in place to ensure this virus doesn't run rampant through the nation again within a couple of weeks.

Yes I wonder about this too. In my local shop I encountered a woman wearing a mask who totally ignored the one way sytem in place as well as the distancing.  She leaned across me at one point to reach for something in the freezer and stood chatting to someone she knew (also wearing a mask) which meant that others couldn't get past without getting close to them.  Added to the courteous, elderly gentleman the week before who kept trying to help me reach things, it's a bit of a lottery going to get my few bits once a week. 
I do understand the concerns many businesses have about the economic impact the lockdown  is having but I can't help feeling cross that some seem to be planning on opening up without official sanction.  I think the main problem is that a lot of the government advice has been too open to interpretation instead of being more clearly spelled out - so some things are tolerated in one area but totally cracked down on in others.  I guess that's the outcome of living in a democracy.

[Deleted User]

A democracy almost but not entirely devoid of anything approaching common sense and altruism too....recipe for all sorts of mishaps!

MingVase

You can overthink things. I'm wearing a mask, they do help limit spread.   Re the second wave, if we get one - I hope to god it doesn't  come in winter during flu season, that would be a nightmare.

GaleSF63

MingVase said:

You can overthink things. I'm wearing a mask, they do help limit spread.   Re the second wave, if we get one - I hope to god it doesn't  come in winter during flu season, that would be a nightmare.

Yes they help, even the home-made ones and probably even if they are worn incorrectly. 

But what people here are worried about is that they give a false sense of security. Too many  folk seem to think it's a magic solution and relax all other precautions because "I'm wearing a mask so I don't need to worry about queues or distancing" (as shown above in Nonnadiluca's post).  

They see masks a bit like the Readybrek effect - remember the advert?

cuddlymarm

I’m finding that there is also the group of people who think it’s overhyped so they can’t be bothered with the social distancing. The most frustrating thing is that they are usual oldies and don’t see the problem of them standing in the way chatting and also spending this time in the shop meaning there’s a queue of people waiting ( in the cold and rain) You’re in a lose lose situation cos if you point out that other people believe in social distancing and the unfairness of making people queue outside longer and they get shirty about it. I sometimes regret my parents instilling good manners in me so I can’t be rude to old ladies.