SmokinwithWilly

To be fair, no one really knows if Trump is making decisions or just his magic 8 ball instead.

Easiest way to make this work is to require businesses to pay a fine if they aren't requiring masks and are proven to be a hot zone for the spread. It's much easier for business to police themselves than for state police to do it. I don't want a fine so you put on a mask.

Common sense. If you refuse to allow people to be tested or havent tested everyone to determine if they are actually asymptomatic, you can't give an accurate accounting of the number of infected, how it moves through different populated areas, mortality rates, etc. At best it's an educated guess. Eastern Washington

The scientific data is flawed. It's based on those that were tested. But how many people were refused testing that were sick and how many people got covid and never knew it because they were asymptomatic yet still contagious? I know at least 10 people who were told they weren't sick enough to be tested, myself being one of them. So why on earth would I believe the scientific data is accurate when I and others I knew weren't allowed to be part of it? How many pictures and videos of the media sensationalizing or fabricating stories have been shown? Dozens. Hundreds. We have been given plenty of reason not to trust the media and that goes for Fox, CNN, MSNBC and others. Its all about ratings, accuracy be damned. People are acting based on what they have actually experienced. In a lot of areas, especially less population dense ones, people have been interacting with other people for months without any problems. Now they realize that a lot of businesses have to open now or they never will. Businesses can dictate how they operate, like Costco requires everyone to have a mask to enter. Restaurants and stores here had already implemented distancing, more sanitary practices, gloves and masks before it became a requirement and the government shut them down. I had implemented policies for safety and distancing before it was required. We had a handle on how to deal with this long before the "experts" and did a much better job. If a business wants to operate outside of the recommended minimum safety standards, then they shouldn't be allowed to receive government assistance. Regulations and restrictions should really be locally controlled. They have a much better understanding of what the community needs and can handle vs a politician whose only worry is getting re-elected. If locals can't handle it, then call for help from the state and national level. It doesn't seem that hard. It's been working here just fine.

It's not just the flu but in non heavily concentrated areas like NYC, it hasn't been the firestorm that was predicted or even close. The "numbers" have been bullshit from the start and hospitals have manipulated them to get government funding. Just happened to a friend of mine yesterday that was put into a room with a positive covid-19 patient and now she has to be quarantined in the hospital for 5 days because she may have contracted it. The hospital didnt know even though she had a high fever and was coughing like mad. People are going to die from this. No way around it. I may be one of them and I've accepted that. But the policies put forth have for the most part been completely ignored where I live. Parks were still being used. People still at stores in masses. Handing food back and forth through drive throughs. Kids were still hanging out together. You have to weigh the bad vs the bad and make a decision. The problems aren't the same in NYC that they are in podunk Iowa and shouldn't be treated the same. The problem has always been among the politicians and no one wants to admit that they didnt do enough so they have gone totally overboard. Covid-19 isn't the flu but it isn't Ebola either. Instead of bailouts that did virtually nothing, the money should have been spent to aid those at risk, the populace should have kept working within reasonable limits, and we deal with the harsh reality mother nature and something one billionth our size can kick the poo out of us.

The problem is out here the people have been lied to about covid numbers, testing has been flat out denied, and people haven't gotten sick in the numbers we were told to expect despite it being pretty much a shoulder to shoulder convention in Walmart, home depot, lowes and grocery stores. It's basically been the flu with the destruction of small businesses in mass. People have gotten wind that politicians never waste a good crisis and they are over the bullshit with this one.

Where I live still refuses to test anyone who has not had a 103 fever for 5 days. I take the numbers with a grain of salt because of this.

Mine was in the 600s for a long time. I paid cash for everything and refused to buy anything on credit. I was actually turned down for loans because I didn't have enough debt or payment history even with a great income to would be debt ratio. I had to get a $500 credit card and charge it up a couple hundred bucks and pay it off at the end of the month. I'm low 700's but completely debt free and still pay cash for almost everything. If I can't pay cash, I don't need it.

I'm out in the Pacific northwest. Prices here are overinflated as is right now.

I'm sitting back waiting as well to purchase property. If and when the market falls, it will be a great time for investing.

Of course there will be a second wave. There's no way to stop it. Quarantine can't last forever and if it's anything there like it is here, social distancing is an absolute joke. Without a vaccine, nearly everyone in the world is going to be exposed and to think otherwise is foolish IMO. Just try and even the spread so hospitals aren't overwhelmed.

I think all we have really done through this shutdown is slow the spread so our medical system doesnt get overwhelmed. That's it. This is going to circle the globe several times over. We can't stop it other than a vaccine. This is a reality we need to accept, even though its difficult. I view the world as a giant forest waiting for a lightning strike. Covid 19 is one of those. Higher concentrations of population like NYC are prime ready to burn. Plenty of fuel, lots of heat, and pretty much unstoppable by the time you realize what's happening. Less concentrated areas still burn, but with far less devastating effects. Essential people are the embers that fly into the air. They drift on the wind and eventually light somewhere and set off a new fire. We as a civilization have created the perfect means to wipe ourselves off the planet because we are so close yet so far away. One can be halfway around the world in less than 24 hours and carry who knows what with them without ever knowing. If politicians/leaders had been honest from the beginning about what was really going to happen from the very beginning instead of trying to make everyone feel comfortable, maybe people would have listened more. That truth, everyone is likely to get this, we are just trying to slow it down to give as many of the infected a chance, and slow down the spread until we can possibly create a vaccine to give as many as we can a chance to survive.

But I need my mullet.

Nyah, just keep politics out of this one.There's already a corona thread in TB. This one should be about sharing information and discussing how it affects us rather than all the political BS.

So would it be morally responsible to start making moonshine?

Don't forget your small locally owned restaurants too. Some here are operating at cost just to keep their employees working during all of this and are giving great specials on take out. Some are doing take home you bake meals too. As a small business owner, I'm trying desperately to use what I am spending to prop up the little guys as best I can.

I'm the opposite. Just tell me the truth. Don't BS me. Give me a chance to look for something else during those 12 weeks I'm confined or find a way to make an opportunity for myself. If at the end of 12 weeks, I can be brought back on and I have nothing else, great. If not, you've done right by me by being honest.

I realize that. You just said pay attention to who all is doing it, they don't deserve your business. They may not have a choice if it means the company surviving. I'm sure there are complete asshats who are doing this to poo all over their workers and exploit the situation. I was just trying to say that I think there may be another reason for some, and it's just downright heartbreaking.

I'm not sure that it's all straight up fuging evil. Companies work off contracts and they may simply not be able to guarantee a job when employees come back if too many employees leave for 12 weeks and they can't fulfill their obligations. Is it better to go ahead and let them go or do you let them take unpaid leave and fire them when the 12 weeks are up because all your contracts went somewhere else because you couldn't meet demand. It's a hard thing to consider, I've had to do it myself in the past couple of days. It's a situation I'm definitely losing sleep over and I don't have to worry about the threshold.

I don't live in Charlotte but my wife and I went to Big Lots this morning at 11am, they had TP. . Then we went to a restaurant food supplier and they were stocked to the limit except for rice and dried beans. We were able to load up on bulk meats, veggies, and we also ended up getting some of the commercial sized spices that we use a lot (pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, etc). We're going to be BBQ'n, portioning and freezing. Spent about $200 but we're good to go now for 4-6 weeks at least. There were about 10 people in there so staying safe distance was easy to do. You could also try local hardware stores. My sister said she went to one and they were full of TP, paper towels, etc

Friend of mine who had to take his wife in to be tested, and subsequently turned away, heard nurses talking about how they had more confirmed cases than they were saying trying not to incite a panic. Lying is going to do no one any good.

I think if we stopped with the panic news for ratings it would save economic armageddon.

That's 6 people I know. How many more are there that have experienced the same thing?

I dont believe the numbers being given. A number of people I know had a 103 fever for 2 or 3 days with dry cough and they were refused by the hospitals and told to go home. They were told they cant be tested unless they have been sick for over 5 days.