D&D and the rising pandemic

[FrogReaver]

We’ve still got crews on blue-tarped houses repairing damage from the last hailstorms. And there’s still rebuilding to be done from the tornadoes that hit last year. New houses are still going up.

Why are new houses essential at this time?
Why are already tarped roofs from the last hailstorms essential at this time - I mean how long have they been tarped for anyways?

With spring, Texas is getting ready for more severe thunderstorms: IOW, more hail, more tornadoes, and more damaging straight-line winds.

Not every kind of damage is essential to repair right away.

And if the contractors are the only ones with access to hardware stores, the D.I.Y. crowd- particularly the ones who do it out of financial necessity- are simply screwed.

Because some people may be financially burdened to do something a more expensive way - that doesn't suddenly make the cheaper alternative something essential.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Why are new houses essential at this time?

Because the people having them built are in need of places to live. While we’re under a moratorium on eviction doesn’t mean it’s comfy, affordable or safe for a family of 4 (such as one of my distant cousins) to be living in temporary housing.

Why are already tarped roofs from the last hailstorms essential at this time - I mean how long have they been tarped for anyways?

Months. We had some terribad hailstorms hit D/FW in 2019. My car- which was unavoidably parked outside of our garage due to a dead opener- lost both its front and back windshield, and took a hit to the top of the front right wheel well bigger than a human head.

(Part of that is due to supply bottlenecks. Some of that is labor shortages.)

A tarp won’t stop that kind of weather. Welcome to life in Tornado Alley!

Not every kind of damage is essential to repair right away.

But most repairs use the same supplies to fix.

Because some people may be financially burdened to do something a more expensive way - that doesn't suddenly make the cheaper alternative something essential.

If you know what you’re doing, D.I.Y. is usually cheaper. (As my Dad can attest, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you‘re calling the repairman anyway, and he‘ll be taking his family to Jamaica for their next vacay.)

If your crapper cracks, and you can’t afford a plumber- a probability increasing for many the longer the economic slowdown continues- then your only choice is hitting a hardware store and getting one yourself. If you’re barred from doing so, where will you poop? (This isn't a scenario chosen at random. .My mobility challenged mother fell in the bathroom and destroyed the toilet a few years ago. We could afford a plumber, but others, not so much.)

 

[Zardnaar]

Well they shut down most construction sites here as well. A few of those companies won't survive.

They're hoping the freeze on stuff plus bailout might save something.

If I'm lucky I might be able to get a job on fishing boats as they're essential.

60% staying at home all the economic figures look terrible.

The hope is we wipe out Covid but the borders will be shut. At best it's a return to the 70s. At worst the 30s.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Well, a couple of sad - and ominous - quotes posted at worldometers.info today regarding the status of the pandemic in the US:

An estimated additional 180 - 195 deaths per day occurring at home in New York City due to COVID-19 are not being counted in the official figures. "Early on in this crisis we were able to swab people who died at home, and thus got a coronavirus reading. But those days are long gone. We simply don't have the testing capacity for the large numbers dying at home. Now only those few who had a test confirmation before dying are marked as victims of coronavirus on their death certificate. This almost certainly means we are undercounting the total number of victims of this pandemic," said Mark Levine, Chair of New York City Council health committee [source] [top of thread]

A study by disease modelers at the University of Texas at Austin states that "Given the low testing rates throughout the country, we assume that 1 in 10 cases are tested and reported. If a county has detected only 1 case of COVID-19, there is a 51% chance that there is already a growing outbreak underway" [source]

 

[Zardnaar]

Can't get takeaways delivered but can get food delivered. In my city of 120k we have.

Flour Mill
Fish factory
Milk powder Depot
Meat Pattie factory (supplies McDonalds)
Bakery
Toilet paper factory
Oat factory
Supermarket distribution center
2 breweries
Chocolate factory

That's off the top of my head. Two freezing works and markets gardens are reasonably close.


Food production counts as essential. Fish factory has started home deliveries (free).

Not gonna starve but the menu might be 1970s in a few months.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

"A study by disease modelers at the University of Texas at Austin states that "Given the low testing rates throughout the country, we assume that 1 in 10 cases are tested and reported. If a county has detected only 1 case of COVID-19, there is a 51% chance that there is already a growing outbreak underway"

Funny, I was just talking with someone a day or two ago and saying something similar about here in Virginia. The city where I live had 10 confirmed cases at the time of this conversation and I was guessing, that with the low number of tests being done, the actual number of people with the virus was probably 10 times the number of cases, or another 100+ people running around my city with it.

 

[FrogReaver]

Well, a couple of sad - and ominous - quotes posted at worldometers.info today regarding the status of the pandemic in the US:

I find that hard to believe. U.S. has 10,000 deaths and performed 1.9 million tests. Even if we used an additional 1,000 tests a day on dead people it would be a drop in the bucket.

 

[Zardnaar]

54 new cases from just under 4000 tests.

I think our capacity is 5000, per capita relative to the USA it's about 320k tests per day.

It's a hit rate of around 1% on contact tracing. Death toll still 1, ICUs still not overwhelmed or even near capacity.

Edit 4 in ICU, 1 critical.

Went to corner store for bread, found these.

$1.40 USD for 2.

Nice Chinese couple runs the store, no idea where they got them from.

First attempt at homemade mask. First ever selfie.

Second attempt, second ever selfie.

Also winter type day. Old tea shirt made the sacrifice plus beanie and hoodie.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I find that hard to believe. U.S. has 10,000 deaths and performed 1.9 million tests. Even if we used an additional 1,000 tests a day on dead people it would be a drop in the bucket.

I don't follow. You find what hard to believe?
That nearly 200 people per day could be dying of covid in their homes in NYC and going uncounted due to lack of tests (first quote)?
Or that 9 in 10 cases are unreported (second quote)?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Just saw an interesting article about Covid-19’s ability to survive on surgical masks (7days) and cloth (2 days), which really illustrates both why you need to wash your hands AND why experts keep pointing out how to properly remove a mask (from behind your ears).