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D&D and the rising pandemic

The issue of school closings is complicated by a great many factors that are outside the CDC's purview. For example, does taking a kid out of school, and putting them in the hands of some hastily found, possibly less than qualified day care actually reduce risks? Does leaving a kid with food insecurity because Mom or Dad now has to stay home from work reducing risks?

Those decisions are likely best handled on the local level most of the time, based on local risk.

This is what Washington schools are having to figure out this week. We all knew it was coming, although most of us only envisioned a couple of weeks on either side of Spring Break max. However, we thought we would have at least a week to get everything figured out.
 

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Maxperson

Morkus from Orkus
I was not differentiating between cooks and wait staff. All I'm concerned with is the number of people involved in getting you food.

I am talking about your personal risk in ordering from the restaurant. How many other people order from the restaurant does not, to first approximation, increase your own risk. You seem to be talking about the risk to the community from having restaurants open at all.
Yes. The more infected people are out in the community due to these restaurants, the more those people will in turn infect others with it. That will result in many more people that will potentially come into contact with me and/or my family.
 

Umbran

Mod Squad
Staff member
Supporter
The point of social distancing is not to save you.

The point is to recognize that folks gotta eat.

Technically, you have to compare the number of people who are at the restaurant handling food... with the people who are at the grocery store, handling the products I buy to prepare at home. All those folks restocking the shelves. All those other people in the grocery, coughing as they pass by the canned tuna.

Current estimations are that the virus may be able to stay viable for up to three days on non-porous surfaces (like plastic or metal) and a day on porous surfaces like cardboard. How many folks am I effectively exposed to by buying food?

The point is that this way lies madness.
 

jgsugden

Legend
Well they just shut down all the schools in the state, so perhaps the CDC is a little behind the curve so to speak.
The CDC are the experts. When they advise, we should listen. If you think your opinion and knowledge on disease control exceeds the CDC... well, nothing anyone else says to you will matter. However, I am going to trust that they understand the costs, we well as the benefits, of the courses of action they recommend. When the CDC says to stay home, I'll be home. Until then, I'll follow their guidance and help contribute to the world. Doing so will keep businesses open, keep people employed with insurance, and keep people from ending up in a litany of other dangers beyond the virus.

As for closing the schools, where immature people who can't understand, much less follow, directives on social distancing, makes a lot of sense. And, yes, I am talking about the high school and universities as well. I doubt it was done against the advice they received from the CDC.
 

NotAYakk

Legend
The point is to recognize that folks gotta eat.

Technically, you have to compare the number of people who are at the restaurant handling food... with the people who are at the grocery store, handling the products I buy to prepare at home. All those folks restocking the shelves. All those other people in the grocery, coughing as they pass by the canned tuna.

Current estimations are that the virus may be able to stay viable for up to three days on non-porous surfaces (like plastic or metal) and a day on porous surfaces like cardboard. How many folks am I effectively exposed to by buying food?

The point is that this way lies madness.
The more you do, the lower you help R0 go.

When outside, assume your hands are contaminated. (Still attempt to avoid contamination). Don't touch your face. When you transition to a safe area (like your home), wash hands as close to entering as possible. Wipe down doorknobs you touched before you did that with bleach solution/alchohol. Take off exposed clothing at the door, especially clothing used to open doors (don't use bare hands to open doors outside of your home; use your shirt or something else). Launder it before using it again. Wash hands after handling laundry.

Buy food. Wipe it down at home. Wash fruit and veg. Cook it. Wash hands after handling pantry goods and before eating/touching your face.

Cooked things don't carry it from before being cooked. Things wiped down can be assumed not to carry it. Things last exposed 3 days ago can be assumed not to carry it.

Just treat stuff brought into your house like raw chicken or beef.

Now, this is a continuum. If you don't do this it isn't as if you are infected and dead. But the more of this stuff you do, the safer your friends and family and community is.

I know some people who started working at the central health agency and worked on pandemics. They stopped opening doors with their hands outside of their home years ago.

Habits are not trivial to form, but they aren't super expensive either.
 

Celebrim

Legend
The CDC are the experts. When they advise, we should listen.

The CDC hasn't exactly covered themselves in glory, and I've worked too much for the feds to assume that if they are working for the Federal Government, they are experts in anything useful.

For some of us, federal bureaucracy isn't something far off and removed thing. There are probably some really great people in the CDC. But, going by what the other agencies of the Federal Government were like when I worked with them, they are probably depressed, overworked, unheeded and outnumbered 10 to 1 by people who have more skill points in Bureaucracy and Bluff than Medicine.

That said, the general idea that you should listen to people who are educated in medicine more than random persons on the internet is usually sound on a statistical basis.
 

FrogReaver

As long as i get to be the frog
The question on whether visiting a grocery store or obtaining food from delivery from a restaurant is better in terms of spreading the virus is interesting.
 

NotAYakk

Legend
So the top doctor in my town has said "don't go out unless absolutely necessary". Estimates of infection are between 0.01% and 0.1% of the city (only 0.001% diagnosed, but math says that isn't close to most of them; too many community infections).

I suspect bars and restaurants are going to be closed tomorrow.

We have plenty of labs and people skilled at testing, but we ran out of nasal swabs. !@#$!

If anyone has a "playing online 101" they can share, I'd love to see it. I'm not going to the game I have tonight, even tho the DM is going to be there.

+25% increase in infections every day, 3x every 5 days, 10x every 10 days.
 

Zardnaar

Legend
I'm at home for the forseeable future. Wife's at work and she is in freight. Goods still gotta be shipped.

You can't mitigate 100%. Ideally everyone stays at home. Reality people gotta eat. Stuff has to be shipped (fuel, food, supplies etc).

Outside of some South Pacific islands it's already to late to contain it.

Currently cleaning the house and wiping down all surfaces we will use.

Gonna be cooking and doing the housework for however long. I think last week's cancellation is gonna become until further notice.

Plenty of yardwork to do, kitchen and bathroom need work. Might make a start on renovations.

Family bach here, wonder if the relations will rent it out.


If it gets worse can always go bush 1941 style grandad's bolthole if Japan invaded. All the fresh water, oysters, mussels fish you can eat (I hate seafood).
 
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MarkB

Legend
No, but as a request to the EnWorld staff, I would love to see them focus the next week or two on how to play games on line for those of us that never thought we'd ever do that.
Aside from VTT software, a lot of business communication software companies are offering extended free trials of things like videoconferencing software as a result of the outbreak. Some of these might serve rather well for running games online.
 

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