A tip from my RN daughter. If you are running out of disinfecting wipes, put paper towels in the container and then add 10% clorox/90% water mix.

Great tip. Thanks. I was looking for a good way to make wipes. However, I need to make sure I do not run out of paper towels!

@plmccut wrote:

A tip from my RN daughter. If you are running out of disinfecting wipes, put paper towels in the container and then add 10% clorox/90% water mix.

So, I figured this would be the best thread to provide somewhat of an update that’s ongoing.

My company’s been contacted and preparing to deploy a large portion of the staff on a national scale to become part of the COVID19 response team with as soon as two weeks (or even sooner) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Basically, mobile test stations are being prepped up as I type this, so I’m glad that the reaction is on-going.

Basically what we’re waiting for is for the respective state government to wave the signal to get going.

Either way, I may be part of the technical support team, which will be quite an experience if I’m asked to deploy. I figured this would be some positive news to hear, as I don’t believe I’ve heard anything clear on what in the horizon for our country.

@sestrahelena wrote:

One MSC is still trying to schedule entertainment venues which I am pretty sure are closed.

That’s got to be Amusement Advantage. I can’t believe the emails I’m still receiving. Shows a total disconnect between the MSC and the client.

[www.businessinsider.com]


This is dated from yesterday morning. Italy just had 400-something more die overnight - their largest one day total yet.

They have warned they will soon not be able to help new patients from shortage of equipment.

Look, we're all in this together. I'll say it again and one last time: 30-day TOTAL SHUTDOWN RECOMMENDATION.

Bill Ackman's suggestion makes sense. The high end of incubation is 10-14 days. If we get the ENTIRE country involved, that means anyone who has it on Day 1 will start showing symptoms by at least Day 15. Once symptoms show, they last about one to two weeks. That means those same people will have a chance to have their bodies "run through" the virus. If everyone else, who does not have the virus, is self-isolating, then the virus has no where to spread (only those small few in direct contact).

Coming out of the 30-Day shutdown, we will be in MUCH better shape. Cases will be much lower. We will still have to be careful until we get a vaccine. But, the plan will make things much easier going forward. But it requires a national level commitment.

Again, look at Singapore:

243 cases 0 deaths:
[twitter.com]
(video of people walking around like business-as-usual now)

[www.cnbc.com]
(reposted) Bill Gates: Countries that shut down for coronavirus could bounce back in weeks.

#Just my personal take.

Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2020 11:18PM by shoptastic.

We just got our first case in Cape May County, NJ. This is a person who was visiting our area from New York. Local and statewide agencies have asked second homeowners to stay away but the answer from the second homeowners has been a resounding "We pay taxes, we have a right to be here." It's disgusting, people are just caring about themselves without regard to anyone else.
As far as mystery shopping, my last 4 shops were cancelled. I would have done them, because I still have to go to work and still want my morning coffee, but I completely understand the reasoning behind it. I've tried to transfer most of my downtime to copywriting instead of mystery shopping, but as so many are looking for work at home jobs, this has slowed down as well.

@kenasch wrote:

@sestrahelena wrote:

One MSC is still trying to schedule entertainment venues which I am pretty sure are closed.

That’s got to be Amusement Advantage. I can’t believe the emails I’m still receiving. Shows a total disconnect between the MSC and the client.

It shows a total disconnect between between the MSC and current affairs. I got the same email and thought this must have been sent out on autopilot or something. It's so odd.

Shoptastic,

Looking at the chart raises a couple of interesting questions:

#1 Every single country on the chart is in the Northern Hemisphere and nearing the tail end of winter.

#2 One of the most populated countries on earth, India, isn't on the list.

#3 Neither is one of the largest land masses in the Northern Hemisphere, Russia. Also, Russia is nestled between many of the world's hot-spots, yet they have been largely unaffected.

Just a few things that stood out to me.

@msimon-2000 wrote:

Russia is nestled between many of the world's hot-spots, yet they have been largely unaffected..

That's one I'm slightly baffled by as well, but could possibly be low testing/reporting?...Russia currently reporting 147 cases. It's clearly an outlier. India is just above that at 169 cases.

There's been some speculation that temperature variants may not be an influence, but that hours of sunlight could have an effect on people's ability to fight the virus. That would explain the lower numbers in the southern hemisphere. I have been also been keeping an eye on Mexico, which had single digit numbers until a few days ago, but it's now spreading there as well.

This virus is still in infancy for some of these countries so only time will tell. The US had a massive spike in reported cases today, almost doubling since Monday and we will cap 10k for sure tomorrow. We are slowly catching up to Italy (9 days behind them now) and will soon overtake their numbers, as we have more than 5x the population. They are on the 9th day the lockdown started at 10K infected and numbers are still growing.

I'd also be expecting a huge spike in FL in about 2 weeks due to the spring break activities there right now....

Thank heavens Florida coastal counties are taking the initiative and shutting down the beaches and beach businesses. So if you are a spring breaker you will not have bars on the beach, rental jet skis or wind surfers etc. Restaurants are offering only take out or delivery food. Bars and clubs were ordered to close down early a few days ago but I think they are all just closed now here. Hotels and motels are closing pools because acceptable chlorine levels in pools are not nearly strong enough to kill the virus. Police are breaking up groups of 10 or more and trying to educate for social distancing.

The USA numbers are going to rise sharply, just like they did today, as the high-throughput testing processes the backlog of samples collected and bottle-necked by the low throughput testing. We are essentially processing 2-4 days worth of tests in one single day as our testing finally gets caught up and up to speed.

This is one of the dangers of comparing the USA growth curve directly 1:1 with Italy. We will be processing days worth of samples and reporting them in a single day until we are caught up. So, instead of our numbers being compared to Italy's with a 10-11 day lag, condensing multiple days of test samples into one day of reporting has to skew the timeline and growth curve somewhat. I haven't taken the time to try and understand the math behind this, but it could definitely alter our perception of the growth curve, especially as we compare to Italy.

Looking at the WHO world map, most of the Equatorial Region and Southern Hemisphere have cases in the hundreds, to single digits, to no known cases. I suspect that many of the cases in these areas were brought there from travelers from the Northern Hemisphere or returning residents who had traveled to affected areas, or had been on cruise ships, etc. They do not seem to be experiencing the same community spread that the hot-spots in the Northern Hemisphere have...this would seem to be encouraging.

One thing I have been thinking about lately is wondering if perhaps the cure (world, economic, and social shutdown) may end up being worse than the disease itself?

I have 5 kids: 18, 18, 17, 14, 8

My oldest ones are NOT staying home. I keep telling them how dangerous it is to the rest of the household. We also have a room mate who is an older guy.

Today, we talked to them about the death rates and how it affects the older people. I went into great detail. Including the economic fall out and how we are stressed (as parents) about so many things...It's so sad that they are not taking this seriously

Today was my 14 year old's bday...he turned 15. Tomorrow is my 18 year old's bday...he turns 19

March 29 is my other 18 year old's bday...she turns 19...she's not "mine," but we have taken her into our home

Their bdays are pretty sparse. I know that's hard for them

All that aside, I have a grandma who is 92. She snowbirds in Florida from Jan through May. She lives in a tiny little trailer in the WORST part of town. There are homeless, drug users...etc. The city is waiting for the last of the "old people" to move out or pass away and then they are going to demolish the neighborhood. Cops are there constantly and there is a MC club on the corner. She lives there with 4 other old folks who are "holding out." The bad element has never bothered her. Until now. She's freaking out and wants to drive home, but she's a little bit confused lately and also doesn't see well. I want to go get her, but I don't want to leave my own family during this time....

I would want to drive as fast as I could to get her (drive there in two days of 10 hours a day of driving) and drive home in two days....but IDK if I could do that. I thought of taking my teens with me (the 18/19 yoa ones), but I'm afraid that they might be "carrying" it....

Planes don't seem safe

Good luck trying to get unemployment. My daughter in NY lost her job already over this and has been trying to call per claim requirements. For days. No answer. And she was a remote worker already! But the company she worked for was getting no new business and established clients pulled out because they had no money to continue the services.

From listening to overnight news (BBC), the reports from their correspondents in Italy are chilling. There are so many dead that morgues are not able to handle the dead. The army is coming in to take the bodies away.

In Brazil, there are riots due to the inadequate testing, illness and most importantly, their president is referring to the contagion as a "fantasy".
South Africa has an ongoing crisis with deaths and illness mounting.

Note, that these are warm weather countries.

When one of the BBC presenters commented on possibly the virus disappearing or diminishing when warmer weather arrives, the health expert, a noted virologist, remarked that one could "hope" for that, but it is not a scientific principle to rely upon.

My own feeling based upon nothing is that why we are not seeing deaths or illness in many countries is either due to their government's secrecy (think Russia and North Korea) or that there are deaths in many countries and likely being blamed upon another illness or condition for the simple reason that they are unable to test for this virus since testing services are limited if at all available.

The below chart is from SKY News as of today, March 19, 2020...here is a link to the chart (IMGUR has changed. I can get the chart into Imgur just fine, but I can't figure out how to get the image itself here anymore, only the link!!...I apologize for that!)

[imgur.com]

Here is a link to the entire SKY News article:

[news.sky.com]

What is interesting most to me is NOT the number of cases. We in the US will see a HUGE spike in the number of infected persons soon enough, because of the number of tests being done. But what interests me, in comparing the US with other countries, is the death rate. That's what I'm keeping my eye on. Not to minimize ANY single death from this, but the chart shows that the death rate in the US, compared to Italy, is quite low right now. Let's hope it stays that way.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2020 04:10PM by guysmom.

The Member of Congress for my MD district has sent out a notice letting uninsured people know that the State Health Insurance program has provided a special "open season" for any uninsured resident, through April 15. All coverage, regardless of date of registration, will be effective April 1.

If your state has a similar program, please be on the lookout for a similar opportunity to inform anyone that you think might benefit.

Below is a quote from the LA Times article today regarding screening of passengers coming off International Flights: We are mentioned below.

Jeffrey Klausner, an adjunct professor of epidemiology at UCLA, said airport screenings only make sense if the goal is to identify people who need medical help and give them care.

He said a rigorous screening program would be costly and would need to be checked by a secret-shopper sort of system, where people exhibiting symptoms are sent through to see if the screenings are being done properly.

OMG, as if I would get exposed to all of those people for an MS !?!?

Er...as in you have to get off the flight coughing and see if they flag you?

I think that's only appealing to those who may have contacted the virus and recovered.

Well the emails have fallen off, that's for sure. Except for the income crash, it's kind of nice.

I completed my last shop today. There will be no more. My demo I had scheduled for the last Sunday this month has been postponed. I still have merchandising gigs for next week, but hoping my supervisors come to their senses and cancel those, too.

@plmccut wrote:

A tip from my RN daughter. If you are running out of disinfecting wipes, put paper towels in the container and then add 10% clorox/90% water mix.

5% bleach & 95% water is probably strong enough. That’s what we use, and we are dealing with concentrated lab cultures of e. Coli, staph, strep, etc. You can just mix it in a spray bottle, let it sit on the surface for 30 seconds and then wipe.

@Jill_L wrote:

I have 5 kids: 18, 18, 17, 14, 8

My oldest ones are NOT staying home. I keep telling them how dangerous it is to the rest of the household. We also have a room mate who is an older guy.

Today, we talked to them about the death rates and how it affects the older people. I went into great detail. Including the economic fall out and how we are stressed (as parents) about so many things...It's so sad that they are not taking this seriously

Today was my 14 year old's bday...he turned 15. Tomorrow is my 18 year old's bday...he turns 19

March 29 is my other 18 year old's bday...she turns 19...she's not "mine," but we have taken her into our home

Their bdays are pretty sparse. I know that's hard for them

All that aside, I have a grandma who is 92.

My kids are 21 and almost 19. Their last surviving grandparent is 83.

My kids didn’t take it seriously at first either, but they know that I’m a scientist and I don’t mess around.

I told them if they get infected they might not kill their grandmother, but they could kill somebody else’s.

Unless they instantly become millionaires, they live in my house, drive my cars, and take my money for tuition, so what I say goes.

If I say them are to be at home under self isolation, that is what happens. They are on day 6.

I am working 9 hour days, 2 hour commutes daily, and my next day off is March 27th. So, whiners who are stuck inside with Netflix, WiFi, and a food supply that would make any prepper envious know not to even discuss my rules.

I think it's cool some stores are doing senior shopping hours.

@msimon-2000 wrote:

Shoptastic,

Looking at the chart raises a couple of interesting questions:

#1 Every single country on the chart is in the Northern Hemisphere and nearing the tail end of winter.

#2 One of the most populated countries on earth, India, isn't on the list.

#3 Neither is one of the largest land masses in the Northern Hemisphere, Russia. Also, Russia is nestled between many of the world's hot-spots, yet they have been largely unaffected.

Just a few things that stood out to me.

My totally non-scientific, amateur hat is on for these comments:

Russia is bordered by Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. If I am not mistaken, these are countries with harsh terrains and a spread out landscape and populace (not very densely populated). Russia is like that as well in many areas, I believe. If so, that could explain a slower rate of transmission. You need to be in contact with droplets of an infected person's fluids. If people are not in close contact with each other, that could prevent the spread. Not sure about their flights in and out of China either.

Italy, on the other hand, had direct flights in and out of Wuhan. They have many densely populated areas and failed to have a testing and contact tracing protocol in place early on. That is contrary to Hong Kong and Singapore, which are two of the most densely populated places in the world and are hot and humid. They had aggressive testing, tracing, and isolation early on.

I definitely think places like Russia could serve as counter-examples of the heat/humidity/sunlight theory, based on non-weather factors that explain the low rates. BUT, it also seems like you cannot dismiss the H/H/S theory either, because those same factors may mean they are not a good example nation.

I think, ideally, you'd want countries with similar features that VARY ONLY/PRIMARILY by H/H/S. Italy vs. Singapore doesn't entirely work, b/c Italy didn't test and trace.

So, yeah, I'm not sure what to make of things. I only hang on to HOPE that the H/H/S theory has validity. But, practically, it's probably best that we just pretend that it's not true and prepare for the worst (trying to avoid it, obviously).

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2020 02:01AM by shoptastic.

@sandyf wrote:

He said a rigorous screening program would be costly and would need to be checked by a secret-shopper sort of system, where people exhibiting symptoms are sent through to see if the screenings are being done properly.

To be that secret shopper, I'd need free healthcare and life insurance, along with my fee.

@kenasch wrote:

@sestrahelena wrote:

One MSC is still trying to schedule entertainment venues which I am pretty sure are closed.

That’s got to be Amusement Advantage. I can’t believe the emails I’m still receiving. Shows a total disconnect between the MSC and the client.

Reminds me of a particular MSC who made a cutesy graphic that says “Keep Calm And Mystery Shop On!” while offering jobs with zero incentive to even think about it... it’s offensive on multiple levels, and I have to stop myself from replying with “Seriously???”

I believe Jack has pulled their ships — but for a few days they were doing something similar...

Just got an email from a particular luxury car brand’s MSC who were pitching the cleanliness of the dealerships, and “now more than ever the client is relying on your evaluations”.

Ugggh... Ive only taken one shop in the last week. My favorite grocery store, for a $100 bonus, and I had to go there anyway.

[www.nytimes.com]

@ wrote:

Coronavirus Cases in N.Y.C. Near 4,000; Brooklyn Count Soars: Live Updates

A surge in new infections coincided with an increase in testing capacity in New York State, and Connecticut delayed its primary.

RIGHT NOW New York City hospitals will run out of crucial supplies in the coming weeks without new shipments, including three million specialized N95 masks.

Here’s what you need to know:
A jump in testing yields a spike in new cases.
Surge in cases creates urgent need for medical gear, mayor says.
About half of those infected in New York City are under 50.
New Jersey Transit trims service amid huge drop in ridership.
Three more correction officers test positive, officials say.

The total as of Thursday afternoon was more than 5,200 cases statewide, up from about 3,000 cases on Wednesday. There were more than 750 people hospitalized statewide. At least 29 people had died of the virus in New York State.

Mr. Cuomo has said the virus has spread so widely that the increase in the number of confirmed cases reflected New York’s added testing capacity more than anything else.

I wish we'd shut stuff down (a la Italy's lockdown right now - finally). My city has people playing contact sports in multiple parks (drove by two today) and plenty of traffic on the roads (although, noticeably less than normal).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2020 03:23AM by shoptastic.

CA is officially shut down as of tonight!....

@SteveSoCal wrote:

CA is officially shut down as of tonight!....

GOOOOOD!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2020 03:42AM by shoptastic.