Domestic travel potentially curtailed/forbidden?

[1shemp]

With the price of gas dropping we can 'not travel' much cheaper now.

 

[crofter]

Around here 'not travel' is like keeping jumping beans in a can. So far I'm the only one 'not travelling.' Even so I went to a weekly event without thinking. They will start offering the online version this coming week for my event and many others.  -crofter

 

[Tony's Dream]

I am not trying to play this down, it can be a serious situation. Keeping things in proper perspective is very important. More people have died in car accidents this year then have died of this virus. Should driving be considered a pandemic? Be smart in everything you do.

 

[Almost There]

As long as they give me sufficient notice to get the H out of the country if they're going to restrict ground travel, I'm doing just fine on my 'Spring 2020 Roadtrip'. Once I get back to Canada I'll have to do 14 days of 'self'isolation' but no big deal - I have lots of projects to work on around the house and unlimited internet!

I have to admit that I'm taking simple precautions - I use hand sanitizer after I put gas in the tank. I've always just paid at the pumps anyways so that's no different. I'm using my own facilities in the van more than usual rather than public washrooms and I keep my hands off of things like railings - hiking sticks help with that. I've only stayed at 2 paid campgrounds in 2 weeks because I needed showers, mostly I'm dispersed camping so I'm not around anyone anyways. I'm giving other tourists more space at lookout points including waiting my turn at the rail if needed. I'll shop at off hours because I can. I rarely eat out and I'm betting that even if the casinos close up the parking lots will still be unlocked and quiet!

I am skipping most of Zion NP tomorrow, the shuttle service is in place for the scenic drive portion and I am not comfortable in large crowds at the best of times. Besides, I'm just about rocked out this trip having done Canyonland Needles, Arches, Canyonland Island in the Sky, Goblin SP, Capital Reef, Grand Escalante, Dixie NF, Kodachrome SP and Bryce, one right after the other!...   And that was after NM and TX. Looking forward to some flatter country in NV!! Man do I have a lot of pics of rocks....

 

[maki2]

I think the time will come in the not too distant future when travel and even movement within the US will be severely restricted.

People will be asked to shelter in place, and to go out only when absolutely necessary.

But, I could be wrong.

the current advice is if you think you have it stay home, do not come to the clinics, do not go to the emergency room UNLESS you feel you are in severe distress and/or very elderly and high risk.  

They know the statistics of confirmed cases will never match the number of people who have acquired it because they don't want people coming in to get tested if they are sick with only a mild or moderate case, and most cases will be mild or moderate or even no symptoms at all.

They need to reserve supplies in the clinics and hospitals such as mask, gowns and such. Giving them to individuals who are performing testing on people who don't need treatment will overwhelm the supply system. So while the hype is everyone who needs testing will get it for free the truth is they are not now and will not in the future be testing each and every person who comes down with the symptoms and has what is a mild case. Those individuals will be told to stay at home, do not come to see the doctor. Basically it would be a big waste of money to give testing to everyone just to prove or disprove they acquired the virus. But they do want to test the employees who work with at risk people to make sure they are OK and that they are not passing it around inside of the medical facilities such as nursing homes and hospitals where there is a high risk of acquiring it and giving it to at risk patients.

 

[rvwandering]

I deleted a few posts and lightly edited one. Please read Bob's Rules of the Forums if you have questions about this.

 

[WILD@HEART]

We need to be aware, be safe,& use precautions.
We may encounter many changes. 
Let's remember to help our families, friends & neighbors 
(as we are safely able to do). 
There will be many unprepared & many in need. 
Keep Hope in your heart & remember to share it :heart:


60 Minutes Australia - Interview Prof. Gabriel Liung


Professor Gabriel Liung-SARS Expert-WHO Advisor


Professor Sian Griffiths


Laurie Garrett- Pulitzer Prize Winning Author


Race For A Corona Virus Vaccine


Italy Lockdown 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW-JpJxEEKk

Who says Europe is new Corona Pandemic Epicenter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsV_PJ3txn8

 

[crofter]

Those vids are a scary alternative to the fake news I have been watching. I will have to watch more fake news just to calm down. 

The saddest part when they welded the doors on the chinese apt building. That is so sad, and the Austrailian guy who was left behind when his family returned home.

-crofter

 

[maki2]

With a lot of people now at home because the places they work have shut for the time being the situation at the grocery stores has gotten even worse, especially at the large grocery stores such as Costco, Fred Meyers and Safeway. They are lined up outside in the morning before the store opens in hopes of getting things such as bread and of course paper products that arrived during the night time hours and got stocked onto the shelves.

I would think that bidets might become a lot more popular in homes after this scenario. They are not that unusual to find in Japan or some of the European countries. No TP available on Amazon but you can still get a bidet that is a DIY installation with free Prime delivery!

But no more 2 day delivery guarantee on Amazon Prime orders because they are overwhelmed with all of the grocery deliveries and those get priority because they are perishables from places such as Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods which is also Amazon owned.

At least some of the people that have lost their jobs at restaurants will be able to hire on at Amazon. Amazon just increased the hourly pay by $2.00 because they are having a hard time finding new employees who want to work their keesters off in all those fullfilment centers. So any of you van dwellers who want to go back to work at Amazon for a while to put funds in your pocket for this coming summer, there is a whole new season for seasonal work at Amazon this spring. Higher risk, higher pay but no doubt still the same kind of camping places, unless they shut them down because of too many people living too close to each other.

 

[Qxxx]

Amazon planning to hire 100,000 more people, expecting more online shopping.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/16/tech/amazon-shipping-coronavirus/index.html

 

[maki2]

We need to be aware, be safe,& use precautions.
We may encounter many changes. 
Let's remember to help our families, friends & neighbors 
(as we are safely able to do). 
There will be many unprepared & many in need. 

My immediate Seattle neighborhood has not one but two Facebook groups that were set up quite a while ago for sharing all kinds of household goods including food at no cost to each other. It is nothing new or unusual for us to be doing that. There are a number of members in the group who are offering to run any and all errands including buying food and medicine for those in need of it in this new situation. There are a number of elderly, at risk individuals who belong to the group. There are many mothers with newborns and young children and older children. Everyday dozens of items get passed from person to person...the goal being..buy nothing and of course waste nothing. So with this new situation we are essentially "rocking it" because it is what we have already been doing for years.  Of course there are now groups like this all across the USA doing the same thing.

Of course the RTR and now HOWA advocates doing much the same but it is strategically more difficult to do when you are not in close proximity they way it works in a sticks and bricks neighborhood.

 

[Firebuild]

I am not normally a conspiracy guy but comparing the info they are releasing on the virus with the drastic action taken by governments to the same - my question is what do "they" know that they are not telling us?  No matter what I am just going to be cautious to a senseable degree (what ever that is?)

I used to feel the way you do but if you dig into the data it becomes clear why these precautions are being taken; there's nothing mysterious about it. This article from the Boston Globe changed my mind about it, written by an Italian. 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03...ntentQuery?s_campaign=breakingnews:newsletter

 

[Firebuild]

I am not trying to play this down, it can be a serious situation.  Keeping things in proper perspective is very important.  More people have died in car accidents this year then have died of this virus.  Should driving be considered a pandemic?  Be smart in everything you do.

You're comparing apples to wood grain. People dying in car accidents is a constant that is predictable. This is not. It's completely different.

I strongly believe in the rights of individual sto decide what level of risk is acceptable for themselves. But this in not personal risk; it's risk to others, risk to the community, and the risk is real. 

All the panic is ridiculous - buying out food and toilet paper is totally silly, but closing down public gatherings doesn't belong in the same box at all. It is a sensible response. Most people who get this will just feel under the weather for a while, and some won't even really notice it all that much. But there are vulnerable people out there. And people connected to vulnerable people. 

My friend's daughter works with a guy who went to Italy and never mentioned it to anyone. He wasn't sick. He came to work after his trip, and someone else in the office is now hospitalized. They tested everyone, and the Italy visitor tested positive, even though he didn't feel sick at all. Everyone from the office is on self-quarantine. My friend, because her daughter lives with her, is on self-quarantine. 

Imagine if I go to coffee with my friend and unknown to me I bring it into my 82 year old cancer survivor mother's home. I'm pretty sure her system is too compromised to handle an illness with 3 times the mortality rate of the flu, that doesn't have a defined season like the flu, and that has no vaccine (yet). 

So.... what's more important - your right to drink coffee in public, or my mother's life?  That sounds super extreme but it just isn't.  I'm not afraid of the virus. But I'm afraid that people no longer have the ability to put the common good above their own desires, and I'm afraid people are dumb enough to riot over things like toilet paper.

 

[Qxxx]

In the county I live in, there are currently only about 5 confirmed cases, and a few things are being curtailed, but it's still largely business as usual. It's not Seattle.

I went to the grocery store last night to stock up, when the crowds are typically very small, which is probably the best time to visit.

If I were traveling, I'd stop in the smaller towns for gas and groceries. As I just returned from 2 1/2 months traveling, mostly in Arizona which has only a few cases so far, I am monitoring my temperature daily now. Plus, since I am retired and basically asocial, I don't need to go out much in any case.

Just basic precautions.

 

[user 423]

In a way the 'harm to others' situation is similar to the problem of texting while driving.

People who do it put not only themselves in danger but others as well. Pedestrians, bicyclists,motorcyclists,other motorists are regularly getting killed by distracted (stupid) drivers.

People of all ages are doing it and there are other things that cause distraction but it's apparent that there is a much higher percentage of young people who are guilty of this dangerous behavior.

 

[badmotorscooter]

[quote="Tony']
I am not trying to play this down, it can be a serious situation. Keeping things in proper perspective is very important. More people have died in car accidents this year then have died of this virus. Should driving be considered a pandemic? Be smart in everything you do.
[/quote]

I checked out some stats (given to us by the government and media) and found this to be interesting.
China had 37,000+ plus confirmed cases of coronavirus and about 800 deaths, much more than anyone else. But per capita this works out to less than 1 in 100,000. The auto death rate per capita in China is 18 per 100,000, and in the US 14 per 100,000.

Why are we not declaring a state of emergency on driving cars or restricting driving to absolutely essential only???

Am I missing something here? Yes, this cornavirus thing needs to be addressed, but why is the government (as well as the media and public opinion) making this a huge priority and auto deaths are just a normal part of life? I just don't get it...

 

[WanderingRose]

I’m not sure where your statistics have come from, but the John Hopkins University coronavirus map currently shows over 81,000 cases in Hubei, China, and over 3,000 deaths.

Also, nearly 200,000 known cases worldwide and nearly 8,000 deaths.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

 

[badmotorscooter]

It's just the first thing that popped up when I googled it. In this age of misinformation online one could probable find multiple statistics that are different.

If gives us the ability to choose what we like!

 

[Firebuild]

I checked out some stats (given to us by the government and media) and found this to be interesting.
China had 37,000+ plus confirmed cases of coronavirus and about 800 deaths, much more than anyone else.  But per capita this works out to less than 1 in 100,000. The auto death rate per capita in China is 18 per 100,000, and in the US 14 per 100,000.

Why are we not declaring a state of emergency on driving cars or restricting driving to absolutely essential only???

Am I missing something here?  Yes, this cornavirus thing needs to be addressed, but why is the government (as well as the media and public opinion) making this a huge priority and auto deaths are just a normal part of life?  I just don't get it...

Look at the rest of the thread, this exact question has been asked and answered. PLus those statistics are wrong.

 

[Firebuild]

It's just the first thing that popped up when I googled it.  In this age of misinformation online one could probable find multiple statistics that are different.

If gives us the ability to choose what we like!

Maybe check the date on that article. It's probably many months old.  And... no. Statistics on this topic are not an agree-to-disagree thing.