How is the corona virus affecting you?

My best friend’s husband is a doctor, and we’ve been out to eat together, and they have spent holidays outside of Lisbon (in hotels where they can have all the facilities just for themselves although they don’t cook), they desinfect everything and always wear a mask outside unless they’re eating. They quit the gym, and yoga, and dance lessons too. Another doctor I know is on maternity leave and taking herself and the children out to museums and the zoo (which are empty now) and going out to eat with her best friends who are also doctors. Sometimes I question what I’m doing, but then I think these people are doctors and they’re not in self imposed quarantine either. None of them works in caring for covid patients or doing ER by the way.
 
LissaC said:
My best friend’s husband is a doctor, and we’ve been out to eat together, and they have spent holidays outside of Lisbon (in hotels where they can have all the facilities just for themselves although they don’t cook), they desinfect everything and always wear a mask outside unless they’re eating. They quit the gym, and yoga, and dance lessons too. Another doctor I know is on maternity leave and taking herself and the children out to museums and the zoo (which are empty now) and going out to eat with her best friends who are also doctors. Sometimes I question what I’m doing, but then I think these people are doctors and they’re not in self imposed quarantine either. None of them works in caring for covid patients or doing ER by the way.
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Self quarantining is really only necessary for people who test positive for the virus. Going out is fine, as long as you follow all the guideline established by doctors and scientists. I stay at home as much as possible, but have to go out to shop and run other errands. I sometimes even go out for a meal with a friend. And, I am high risk. I just make sure to wear a mask, wash my hands, social distance, and avoid crowded places.

It is not a black and white situation. There is a safe gray area. Your doctor friends should know what that safe gray area is. Ask them.

CD
 
Medical people aren't the most reliable guide to health and safety. When I went on a VSO medical course, we discovered that the worst people for catching sexually transmitted diseases were, um, doctors.

I'm also reminded of a time when I needed an operation on my nose. The surgeon asked whether I smoked and, rather nervously, I admitted that I did. He asked how many and I said (truthfully), "about ten to twelve a day."

I waited for the lecture, but he just gave me a rueful grin and said, "Doing better than me, then."
 
Duck59 said:
Medical people aren't the most reliable guide to health and safety. When I went on a VSO medical course, we discovered that the worst people for catching sexually transmitted diseases were, um, doctors.

I'm also reminded of a time when I needed an operation on my nose. The surgeon asked whether I smoked and, rather nervously, I admitted that I did. He asked how many and I said (truthfully), "about ten to twelve a day."

I waited for the lecture, but he just gave me a rueful grin and said, "Doing better than me, then."
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My previous doctor weighed 400lbs if he weighed an ounce, and used to lecture me about my weight when I'd get to about 205. :laugh:

Doctors are people, too, and I remember when MrsT, just after her stroke, had an appointment with her neurologist, and her regular one was out, and at her appointment, he warned her about alcohol and her meds, saying that she needed to completely cut out any booze. 100%. None.

"Well, last appointment, Dr. Schwab told me just to have no more than one drink a day."

So she stopped drinking, and at her next follow-up, Dr. Schwab was back, and she asked again about the booze, saying that Dr. Browne told her none whatsoever.

Dr. Schwab just smiled and asked, "Do you enjoy an occasional drink?"

MrsT said yes, and he replied, "Well, so do I, but Dr. Browne doesn't. No matter what the issue is, Dr. Browne will tell you no alcohol, because he's opposed to it. So there you are."
 
TastyReuben said:
My previous doctor weighed 400lbs if he weighed an ounce, and used to lecture me about my weight when I'd get to about 205. :laugh:

Doctors are people, too, and I remember when MrsT, just after her stroke, had an appointment with her neurologist, and her regular one was out, and at her appointment, he warned her about alcohol and her meds, saying that she needed to completely cut out any booze. 100%. None.

"Well, last appointment, Dr. Schwab told me just to have no more than one drink a day."

So she stopped drinking, and at her next follow-up, Dr. Schwab was back, and she asked again about the booze, saying that Dr. Browne told her none whatsoever.

Dr. Schwab just smiled and asked, "Do you enjoy an occasional drink?"

MrsT said yes, and he replied, "Well, so do I, but Dr. Browne doesn't. No matter what the issue is, Dr. Browne will tell you no alcohol, because he's opposed to it. So there you are."
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My PCP (doctor) is from India. In her mind, NOBODY should drink. :rolleyes:

CD
 
The latest here in Portugal is the government wants to force everyone to install a government-run app that tracks where you've been and tells you if you've been close to someone who's been diagnosed with Covid. They're planning on imposing fines on people who don't have the app, and how they will police this is beyond my understanding. People are going wild about the government forcing them to install an app and some complain the government will use the app to spy on them. These are the same people who have willingly installed Tik Tok, Facebook and Instagram on their phones. The government app uses a lot less data from the phone than any of those apps, by the way. Why the government wants people to install the app is something I don't understand, my hunch is they will use it to track people who tested positive and are not observing social isolation.
 
LissaC said:
The latest here in Portugal is the government wants to force everyone to install a government-run app that tracks where you've been and tells you if you've been close to someone who's been diagnosed with Covid. They're planning on imposing fines on people who don't have the app, and how they will police this is beyond my understanding. People are going wild about the government forcing them to install an app and some complain the government will use the app to spy on them. These are the same people who have willingly installed Tik Tok, Facebook and Instagram on their phones. The government app uses a lot less data from the phone than any of those apps, by the way. Why the government wants people to install the app is something I don't understand, my hunch is they will use it to track people who tested positive and are not observing social isolation.
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Our government has introduced a similar app. In principle its a good idea, warning people to isolate if they've been in contact with someone who's infected. Unfortunately, the way it uses Bluetooth technology is flawed, and because of our governments appalling track record of incompetence it has not been widely accepted.
 
Unfortunately for us, the person who heads the Track and Trace system - such as it is - in this country is Dido Harding, who is one of these people for whom the phrase "The Triumph of Failure" is a perfect fit. She was boss of TalkTalk, who contrived to lose the data of four million customers, which cost the company 60 million quid and around 100,000 customers. She was also on the board of the Jockey Club and one of the people who recommended that the Cheltenham Festival go ahead, despite the pandemic hitting the UK before this event. Goodness knows how many people were affected by this idiotic decision.

But never mind. She is married to a Tory MP and is a pal of David "Dave" Cameron, so she must be all right.
 
Duck59 said:
Unfortunately for us, the person who heads the Track and Trace system - such as it is - in this country is Dido Harding, who is one of these people for whom the phrase "The Triumph of Failure" is a perfect fit. She was boss of TalkTalk, who contrived to lose the data of four million customers, which cost the company 60 million quid and around 100,000 customers. She was also on the board of the Jockey Club and one of the people who recommended that the Cheltenham Festival go ahead, despite the pandemic hitting the UK before this event. Goodness knows how many people were affected by this idiotic decision.

But never mind. She is married to a Tory MP and is a pal of David "Dave" Cameron, so she must be all right.
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Isn't the boss of Serco also related by marriage to a Tory MP?
 
LissaC said:
The latest here in Portugal is the government wants to force everyone to install a government-run app that tracks where you've been and tells you if you've been close to someone who's been diagnosed with Covid. They're planning on imposing fines on people who don't have the app, and how they will police this is beyond my understanding. People are going wild about the government forcing them to install an app and some complain the government will use the app to spy on them. These are the same people who have willingly installed Tik Tok, Facebook and Instagram on their phones. The government app uses a lot less data from the phone than any of those apps, by the way. Why the government wants people to install the app is something I don't understand, my hunch is they will use it to track people who tested positive and are not observing social isolation.
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I thought we were the only Country to be “forced” to install the same app, but it has been a big failure thus very few people installed it. I didn’t and I won’t too, that’s a thing. Apart from the useless of this mechanism, thinking that I can be controlled and controlling back someone else, makes me shiver and has something paranoid.
 
MypinchofItaly said:
I thought we were the only Country to be “forced” to install the same app, but it has been a big failure thus very few people installed it. I didn’t and I won’t too, that’s a thing. Apart from the useless of this mechanism, thinking that I can be controlled and controlling back someone else, makes me shiver and has something paranoid.
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So glad I shares this, I thought we were the only country that had this app! I don’t think the government will use it to mine data about us and anyway I’m using Facebook and Instagram which mines all my data for much darker purposes and I’m not quiting these social networks, I feel it would be a bit hypocritical to be skeptical of the government app. But I doubt the government app will be useful for anything, if you’re infected you need to login the app and insert a number that’s given to you by the healthcare services. So if you don’t add your number to the app or if you don’t even have the app, the app won’t trigger the alarm to other users that they were close to someone infected.

And what can be the practical benefit of this anyway? My workplace is really understanding and ok with people working remote but I imagine a lot of people won’t feel comfortable going to their boss and telling them the app says they’ve been close to someone infected and they need to social isolate. Just the other day I was in the supermarket and one of the ladies working there was telling her colleague the works in her house stopped because the guy who was doing the windows had covid, and there she was working!
 
LissaC said:
So glad I shares this, I thought we were the only country that had this app! I don’t think the government will use it to mine data about us and anyway I’m using Facebook and Instagram which mines all my data for much darker purposes and I’m not quiting these social networks, I feel it would be a bit hypocritical to be skeptical of the government app. But I doubt the government app will be useful for anything, if you’re infected you need to login the app and insert a number that’s given to you by the healthcare services. So if you don’t add your number to the app or if you don’t even have the app, the app won’t trigger the alarm to other users that they were close to someone infected.

And what can be the practical benefit of this anyway? My workplace is really understanding and ok with people working remote but I imagine a lot of people won’t feel comfortable going to their boss and telling them the app says they’ve been close to someone infected and they need to social isolate. Just the other day I was in the supermarket and one of the ladies working there was telling her colleague the works in her house stopped because the guy who was doing the windows had covid, and there she was working!
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Everything is tracked and spied on, even just by shopping and paying by credit card. As well as Facebook and Instagram which I make great use of and I won't stop because I chose them myself even though I am aware that everything is tracked and as you say 'which mines all my data for much darker purposes', but it's still different. It's not hypocrisy, it's a different awareness because 'I know my chickens' as we say around here (maybe even elsewhere) There is always a duplicity, a boomerang effect even on apparently innocent things.
 
LissaC said:
So glad I shares this, I thought we were the only country that had this app!
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I think South Korea used a similar app early on and credited it (along with other measures) with getting a handle on the outbreak very quickly, in that the citizenry accepted that it was an issue of "the greater good," so they were ok with it.
 
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