Tuesday, April 7, 2020

'Special' delivery

I assume everyone in the US with a postal address has received this card in the mail. Mine showed up over the weekend. The card lists the CDC guidelines on how to protect against contracting Covid 19. Unfortunately, the darn thing arrived outdated as the CDC recently recommended that one also wear a face mask when going out to perform 'essential activities' like visiting the pharmacy and the grocery store.

Meanwhile, in the White House, trump, shoulder to shoulder with his hangers-on, tells the nation that he wouldn't be wearing a mask as he met with 'presidents, prime mininsters, dictators, kings, queens--I don't know, somehow I don't see that for myself'. 

In addition to trump behaving in direct contrast with 'his' guidelines from the CDC, one could visit any grocery store in the city to see how most folk aren't complying with current rules of conduct. Only a smattering of both employees and shoppers are to be seen wearing masks. Some have on gloves, some don't. Shoppers are to be found clustering around the produce displays. Only some stores have signage at the check stands remind customers to stand 'six feet apart' yet many do not abide the reminder. Did I mention that not many stores are limiting the no. of shoppers who are able to enter a store at any one time? I can only think that the mixed messages emanating from the White House are confusing for many. 



12 comments:

  1. For the moment we have been told that only frontline workers need to wear masks.
    The social distancing rules are rigorously enforce. At the moment almost every store has crosses/lines on the floor indicating just how close to the nearest customer you should stand (particularly at the checkout).
    And yes, many stores are limiting the number of people inside.
    All of these things are mildly inconvenient - and so much better than the alternative.
    Mixed messages are never helpful and in times of emergency are downright dangerous.
    England's Prime Minister gleely announced he was continuing to shake people's hands - and is now in intensive care with the virus. I do hope he stopped shaking other people's hands before he became infectious.

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    1. Yeah, that was disconcerting to read that the British PM was still shaking hands after it was advised not to do that.

      It sounds like your country is doing a better job at messaging and enforcing current rules of behavior. Would that we were doing the same!

      Delete
  2. There will be many valuable lessons about "do's and don'ts" learned from this pandemic -- after the fact, unfortunately.

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  3. We got that a couple weeks ago. I think it was a couple weeks ago. The length of days lately makes it harder to determine, though.

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  4. I have not been out for a fortnight except for our neighbourhood walks but know that supermarkets are strict about the number of people allowed in at a time. We heard today that the number of new infections per day has dropped but that does not mean that the number won't be up tomorrow. We are halfway through our four week lock down although that could be extended.

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    Replies
    1. I appreciate that your PM has been a clear and consistent speaker on how to handle the pandemic (at least that is my impression). Would that our messaging be more coherent given that lives are at stake.

      It's good that you are still able to take your walks around the neighborhood. Physical activity is so beneficial.

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  5. I imagined there were going to be some disasters with this man in charge but I never thought it would be as devastating as this. It hurts my heart to think of how many people couldn't say good bye to their loved ones dying alone in the hospital or how many people have had their lives utterly crushed by this.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, looks like we picked a bad time to have a pandemic. It is particularly devastating to think of how those who are ill are faring and those who will be financially ruined by all of this.

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  6. Masks are more useful to everyone on the other side of them - they make it less likely that the wearer spits at you.

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