Corona - what does help you? Your fears, thoughts, everything

[serious crayons]

Restaurants are opening here -- widely spaced tables -- and the university plans to hold in-person classes this fall. Today's headline is that the virus seems to have stabilized.

We'll see. The BLM protests, as I've probably said here before, have created the same crowded streets you'd see at Mardi Gras, which turned NOLA into a hotspot. Some people were wearing masks, so maybe that helped a little.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I don't know what's going on here today. Businesses that were open during this past week are locked up with "Temporarily Closed" signs on their doors.

[serious crayons]

I can now eat at a restaurant, but I still can't get a haircut.

Apparently you can get haircuts here now. I saw a picture somewhere of the governor sitting in a barber's chair getting a cut.

[brianr]

https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/new-zealanders-proud-to-have-their-lives-idRCV008BL1

"New Zealanders hugged and kissed, shopped, and planned parties on Tuesday as the country took off all coronavirus restrictions for the first time in more than three months."

Eighteen of us walked and I did not need to take the roll. A few of us went for lunch in a very crowded cafe  Then I went to the supermarket which was like it was back in March. I used the sanitiser at the door but there was no-one there to insist on it or count numbers in and out. Wonderful to be back to normal.
It is 18 days since the last new case and there is no-one in the country with an active case. Our only restriction is the borders which are very strict, only NZ citizens and permanent residents are allowed in and everyone is tested and goes into 14 day quarantine.
Today I set off on my 5 night 900 km drive with hiking if the weather allows but it is winter.

[serious crayons]

Fantastic, Brian! NZ really did a good job of using strict rules to keep it under control. I hope it stays that way, and I hope harder-hit countries eventually get to where you are now.

[Penthesilea]

https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/new-zealanders-proud-to-have-their-lives-idRCV008BL1

"New Zealanders hugged and kissed, shopped, and planned parties on Tuesday as the country took off all coronavirus restrictions for the first time in more than three months."

Eighteen of us walked and I did not need to take the roll. A few of us went for lunch in a very crowded cafe  Then I went to the supermarket which was like it was back in March. I used the sanitiser at the door but there was no-one there to insist on it or count numbers in and out. Wonderful to be back to normal.
It is 18 days since the last new case and there is no-one in the country with an active case. Our only restriction is the borders which are very strict, only NZ citizens and permanent residents are allowed in and everyone is tested and goes into 14 day quarantine.
Today I set off on my 5 night 900 km drive with hiking if the weather allows but it is winter.

Great job NZ! Enjoy your trip and good luck with the weather

[serious crayons]

I'm sure I'm not the first to say this -- perhaps even on this thread -- but when I'm watching a show or movie on TV and characters get right up close to each other or even hug, for half a second I think, wait, they shouldn't do that! 

[brianr]

It is strange here now that we no longer have any restrictions except we are asked to keep a record of where we go and to wash our hands. At the Supermarket on Tuesday, I asked the checkout lady if I could start loading my items on the belt. I am used to waiting for her to spray and wipe it and waiting for the customer in front to collect all  purchases and move away. Then when I bought coffee yesterday morning , I used my phone app to record where I was. It is no longer compulsory. I said to the lady serving, I might not remember as I was not in Dunedin (my home town) but 115 km north. At lunch I stood back in the queue waiting to be served leaving a 2 metre gap. It has just become 2nd nature to keep away from people. I am still sanitising a lot.

[Front-Ranger]

In the US there is quite a lot of complaining about face mask wearing. In fact, some people call those who wear masks "sheeple" and will yell out "baa, baa" when they see someone wearing one.

In states like Florida, new cases have been over 1,000 each day for the past two weeks. Some officials say it's because of more testing but my hunch is that there is, if not a spike, then a surge of new cases.

Do you think  some of the reason people object to wearing a face mask is that the lack of it outs them as a Trump supporter? These days, many Trump supporters like to hide that fact.

[serious crayons]

In the US there is quite a lot of complaining about face mask wearing. In fact, some people call those who wear masks "sheeple" and will yell out "baa, baa" when they see someone wearing one.

[...]

Do you think  some of the reason people object to wearing a face mask is that the lack of it outs them as a Trump supporter? These days, many Trump supporters like to hide that fact.

Wow, I've been in crowds of very pro-Trump anti-shutdown COVID-denying mask-eschewing crazies activists but I've never heard anyone be rude enough to yell out "baa baa"! In fact, even in those crowds you'd see a scattering of masks but those wearing them did not seem to be taking any heat for it.

In my part of a very blue city, there are very few Trump supporters, closeted or otherwise. But on Nextdoor. com, people bicker back and forth about mask-wearing for dozens if not hundreds of comments. Ranging from those who feel masks are a completely ineffective waste to those who probably wear theirs in the shower.

So I think there are multiple reasons people would decline masks. In my neighborhood, I rarely see anyone in stores without masks, and when I do I am disapproving, if only because it's rude to make others uncomfortable that way. On the streets I see people both ways. But it's never difficult to get six feet or more away from others. So I don't wear a mask myself when walking my dog.

So long story short, if I see an unmasked person in a store, I don't immediately think, "Trump supporter." More like "thoughtless jerk."