Re: Coronavirus
 

I wear a mask when the business requires it, so far its only been the barber and medical lab that has. I try to wear one in Wal-Mart and Super Store, on a typical day day when we are there picking orders its not possible to social distance, people don't care and nobody follows the arrows on the floor, its the wild wild west.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Agreed. I'm not saying we should be accepting tourists, but the government should be considering somewhat relaxing the 14 day quarantine for those who already have a right to enter Canada if they have not travelled to a high risk area in the last 14 days.

Re: Coronavirus
 

It's not so much exploding I'm worried about as being stuck on a ventilator for a month, and possible death. I find that something of a disincentive.

Coronavirus is moderately infectious, less than measles, but more than the seasonal flu. If I were under 30, I might be a bit more flippant about it, but with age comes wisdom. Generally, speaking.

​​​​​South Korea and Germany have advanced testing and tracing regimes, and are not averse to wearing masks. Direct comparisons are false comfort.

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Re: Coronavirus
 

there is also growing concern about the permanent damage it is doing to the lungs to consider...in both the young and old.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Exactly the same here. I think many people are looking at it along these lines now. went to opticians last week, was asked to wear a mask, so I did. Haven't been to a pub or restaurant yet.... but that will happen this week... my local has an extended patio area, so will see what the modus operandi is there.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Don't be such a pessimist, that's only if the damage to the heart, liver, or kidneys doesn't kill them. It isn't certain the lung damage will kill them. I've had chemical burns to my lungs, lead poisoning, plus all the usual acquired and inherited heart, stroke, and cancer threats. As before, I put on the mask before going into the store and remove it after, and sanitize on the ways in and out. If I go visit my frail old sister in BC I'll have to quarantine for a while just in case.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Agreed, which is why I have only been there once since mid March. It was an utter shambles, and not only for the actions of the public - one employee approached me unannounced and stood by my shoulder :frown: - I was at a self scan kiosk and she had decided that I needed assistance.

Lowe's isn't much better and I try to only go there in the morning or the evening or late afternoon, after the pros have been and gone early in the morning, and before or after the peak retail traffic.

Re: Coronavirus
 

I didn’t say lung damage would kill...I said it was permanent.

Re: Coronavirus
 

That's me too.

I have been to restaurants, both when they were limited to 50% capacity and since that has been raised to 100%.

Someone has to keep these business going.

Re: Coronavirus
 

The problem with this "I'll use a mask, but only when told to" approach is that the main benefit to wearing a mask is to stop you transmitting the (asymptomatic) disease to others, so "everyone else" is the primary beneficiary of your mask, and therefore mask-wearing is something that works far better for everyone only if everyone does it.

From my perspective I try to avoid being anywhere near someone (in a grocery, or occasionally Lowe's, as those are about the only places I go at the moment) who isn't wearing a mask - i.e. not "as close as 6ft", I mean avoid them entirely, so not enter an aisle where I see someone without a mask, and usually walk away from if I see them coming towards me, and never loiter anywhere near them even if that means I have to circle back later. Non-mask weares are obviously unconcerned and therefore IMO are at a much greater risk of catching/ carrying the disease.

Re: Coronavirus
 

I read your post, don't worry. I just wanted to point out that massive damage to multiple organs has been reported since people started getting really sick. Doesn't get much more permanent than fatal (and lung damage is the thing that's been killing most of the covid victims). Luckily lungs, hearts, kidneys, livers, are all transplant possibilities these days, but of course if 2 or 3 of your organs are shot you aren't much of a transplant candidate.

Re: Coronavirus
 

I haven't made direct comparisons and I anticipate that, unless a vaccine is found soon, all jurisdictions will end up with similar numbers, once age of citizens, health of citizens, density of population, climate, etc, is all accounted for.

It appears to be deadly to a very low percentage of populations and, once it all shakes out the various lockdowns will be deemed to have been inappropriate by the vast majority of the world's citizens. I am not one that subscribes to the whole "Saving one life is worth any economic sacrifice" version. I appreciate that others may disagree.

Re: Coronavirus
 

If I lived in Miami I would be concerned and I would wear a mask, but my province has a population of 5m and there are 16 new cases. I may change my mind if the cases start sky rocketing, but until then, I can be careful without a mask.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Absolutely. There's so much we don't know about this disease, and there's very little dissent amongst health professionals that it is serious. It just seems like the general public (and a few choice national leaders) want to belive differently.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Wal Mart has the self check out cashier approaching everyone to ask about applying for the Wal Mart master card and buy they won't take no for an answer.

Most of the store visits are for online app deliveries otherwise I would avoid the stores but one has to earn income somehow and right now shopping for these apps is quickest way to some income.

Stores could do more but of course they don't want to hire enough staff to direct customers and as you say often the store workers are just as bad if not worse than customers.

But it's not spreading quickly as it was and I was surprised the various protests over the last month here didn't lead to a spike. We seem to be averaging around 10 new cases per day give or take and under 200 total active cases, few in hospital but time will tell.

The focus as far as I can tell for restrictions in BC wasn't so much to save lives but to just keep hospitals from ending up like NYC or Italy.

I also think having a consistent message in BC from one person and politicians largely stepping back and letting the health officials do their jobs played a role and some luck, our spring break is later vs back east and as soon as BC saw a spike the government took action. That early action likely kept the spread low.