Weekends are for family time? What will your family do today?
We have been at this over a week now 😷. Any increase in restriction will have little effect here on the Shore 🌊, as almost everything the tougher restrictions cover has been implemented already.
The things that make me scratch my head 🤔 is the use of the grocery store 🏪, hospitals 🏥, tourism 🛣️, etc. I have some thoughts, albeit perhaps impractical, I will share anyhow as the whole thing seems impractical at this point. This is a wild 🐆🐘🦍 time to be alive.
1. There must be 4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ people in our local Target. How can this be safe and not further regulated/monitored (I’m very skeptical of regulation- but seems to be the state we’ve arrived at, for the short term hopefully)? There should perhaps be stipulations that such enterprises provide, produce, and/or distribute masks. There is no better solution to logistical/production problems than incentives 😁. By this I mean the large firms such as Target, Walmart, and the like, that are allowed to continue to operate should be required to participate in consumer and public safety. There should be an agreement made between these large retailers and the government that they supply masks for their customers as well as ensuring there is adequate supply for purchase by medical institutions, smaller retailers, service businesses, etc. These large firms have the resources and distribution scale to make this happen. Before you enter you are provided a mask and remain covered until you exit to the parking lot.
2. There has been some discussion of this within the current administration already, but the use of remote 📸 doctors 👨⚕️(I would even argue for nurses, nurse practitioners, PAs, etc. as Doctors are probably in relatively short supply) should be encouraged/expanded immediately. We have otherwise relatively healthy 🍎 people 👫 walking into facilities struggling to keep up with demand. Prioritization is tough, tests are in short supply, and likely as a lesser prioritized patient you are almost certainly putting yourself at risk for exposure to worse and worse viruses 🦠, bacteria 🧫, etc.
3. Shore tourism & domestic travel 🚙. Our area has recently seen an abundant rise in summer home use as people try to escape the shuttered and infected areas of NYC 🏙️. I believe these numbers are fairly large relative to the size of our local population and concerns me. The shopping centers are filled with out of state plates of people coming down to avoid the virus, however as they stock 🛒up to hunker down with us, have they been tested, are they protecting others by utilizing PPE to hopefully not spread this infection further into an area that otherwise as remained relatively insulated thus far? These people are more than welcome to this area, after all, they live here too, but i do not want to undo/undermine our efforts. DISCLAIMER: Please don’t misunderstand me, I don’t think any area will avoid it outright, but I do think under controlled circumstances it may take longer to make its way down here, and I will take any time advantage I can get whether we find better treatment options, produce a vaccine, or simply learn that the warmer 🌞 weather does slow/stop the spread (seems unlikely based on other continents, but perhaps a combination of any of these).
The things NOT to do are the following:
Ignore mental health or the mental health of others. This is important. We may be in for the Long haul here as our leaders, medical professionals, and government officials navigate through this unprecedented conundrum. Find a small consistent, local group of people 🏘️to spend time with as you play the waiting game. Gatherings of 10-ish or less is still permitable (current statute actually says 50, but let’s not get carried away), and will create a natural support group as everyone struggles with the problems which we will all face, personal, stress 😥, cabin fever, financial💰, etc. If you’re all committed to maintaining/protecting these small groups, you will be fine. Check in on other friends and family members remotely. Google Duo, Skype, and FaceTime 👩💻are all great options.
DON’T PANIC. DON’T PASS JUDGEMENT ON OTHERS. PRACTICE COMPASSION, CARING, AND UNDERSTANDING. ALWAYS ASSUME GOOD INTENTIONS.