Is it bad there??

[QuarterMillionMan]

In Los Angeles at Ammo Bros only revolvers remain "in stock." Semi-autos with slide actions all sold out. https://www.ammobros.com/guns-handgu...se/instock/yes

[QuarterMillionMan]

Ammo shortages as well. Only these 2 types of ammo are in-stock for handguns. https://www.ammobros.com/ammo-handgu...Wj3XS2jkZkFhOI

[james.hendrickson]

In Los Angeles at Ammo Bros only revolvers remain "in stock." Semi-autos with slide actions all sold out. https://www.ammobros.com/guns-handgu...se/instock/yes

Revolvers are perfectly good firearms. They're old, with a well established design, and highly reliable.

[kork13]

I'm discovering first hand the mess this fall/winter are going to be... A coworker & I (we work in the same little office) woke up this morning with mild, generic cold-like symptoms (congestion/runny nose/sore throat), and we had to decide with our boss what we're doing today. It feels 100% like a cold, but with all the COVID junk, we have to second-guess ourselves. We ended up deciding to hold off coming into work until calling our doc and talking to a nurse. I gratefully got through quickly, but she's still trying to talk to someone, and in the meantime is sitting at home waiting for the phone consult.

Given the weather starting to turn here, seasonal allergies, and so on (basically it looks & feels like a cold).... The nurse recommend I just monitor for 24 hrs to see if/what symptoms change or develop, sanitize/wash hands often & minimize contact with others, and otherwise don't mess with testing/quarantine yet. (Gratefully) But I felt silly calling my doctor literally because I just had a runny nose & sore throat. Feels like a ludicrous waste of medical providers' time.

As we were chatting, the nurse mentioned how close all of the symptoms are to eachother, especially as we roll into cold/flu season, so it's just gonna be a mess. The fact that COVID isn't always symptomatic (or even exhibit the same symptoms in different people) makes it even worse. The medical field is gonna hate this Fall/Winter.... DisneySteve, you & your compatriots have my pity for the uncertainty, overwhelming volume, & flail this is gonna inflict. And for businesses, it's gonna mean lots & lots of people staying home, even if only while waiting to get cleared to go into work.

Following up.... Oddly, I was told not to mess with testing because it had every appearance of only being a common cold, but my coworker (with almost identical symptoms) was told to get a test & stayed locked up at home the last 3 days. My symptoms have progressed exactly as a normal cold does for me, and my coworker was notified this morning that her test was negative. Another two in my unit who were also tested & restricted at home for 3 days both came back negative this morning as well.

While I appreciate and understand the excess caution of testing when any of the potential symptoms manifest.... It seems extraordinarily wasteful (on many levels) to test & precautionarily quarantine so many people to only have most of them come back negative. In the last 2 months, my directorate of 150 people has had roughly a dozen people go through this testing/quarantine cycle. 1 has come back positive. I'm not saying it's wrong, but I can't say that it's right either....

[disneysteve]

Following up.... Oddly, I was told not to mess with testing because it had every appearance of only being a common cold, but my coworker (with almost identical symptoms) was told to get a test & stayed locked up at home the last 3 days. My symptoms have progressed exactly as a normal cold does for me, and my coworker was notified this morning that her test was negative. Another two in my unit who were also tested & restricted at home for 3 days both came back negative this morning as well.

While I appreciate and understand the excess caution of testing when any of the potential symptoms manifest.... It seems extraordinarily wasteful (on many levels) to test & precautionarily quarantine so many people to only have most of them come back negative. In the last 2 months, my directorate of 150 people has had roughly a dozen people go through this testing/quarantine cycle. 1 has come back positive. I'm not saying it's wrong, but I can't say that it's right either....

Glad your coworker was negative, which means that you are as well most likely.

As for who should be tested, that's a very good question that we simply don't have a good answer for yet. You say that about 12 people have been tested and 1 has been positive. That's an 8% positivity rate, which is somewhat high. The guidelines are for the rate to be under 5% for things to reopen. Now that obviously is dependent on how many tests have been performed, and the smaller the sample size, the more each test weighs on the average, so with only 12 tests, it's not very representative. The only way to get a good read on what's happening is to have widespread testing, which is another reason why everyone with symptoms should be tested if possible.

[kork13]

Glad your coworker was negative, which means that you are as well most likely.

As for who should be tested, that's a very good question that we simply don't have a good answer for yet. You say that about 12 people have been tested and 1 has been positive. That's an 8% positivity rate, which is somewhat high. The guidelines are for the rate to be under 5% for things to reopen. Now that obviously is dependent on how many tests have been performed, and the smaller the sample size, the more each test weighs on the average, so with only 12 tests, it's not very representative. The only way to get a good read on what's happening is to have widespread testing, which is another reason why everyone with symptoms should be tested if possible.

Interesting, I didn't realize that positivity rate of tests would be a driving factor. If I *had* gotten tested, as well as the person the next office over who could arguably have been tested (but is likely just experiencing an allergy flare-up), those negative tests would likely have reduced our rate to 7%. And that's just in one corner of my building of folks who could have (but didn't) get tested. It just seems a bit capricious, because if they're testing based upon any symptom, then they're introducing a higher likelihood of negatives...but those negatives will "improve" the stats driving precautionary health restrictions.

FWIW, this weekend my base announced a reduction in some of its precautionary health measures, citing lower incidence rates in the area & on the base itself. A week ago, my unit also eliminated the alternating work schedules for ~80% of our folks that we used to reduce density & person-person contact in the building. So I guess all of that sorta synchs with what you're saying, presuming that my chunk of one organization is somewhat indicative of the base population as a whole. As I've said before, though... We're sitting in a fairly rural town, with a low population & density... So it's not surprising to me that our status has been slowly improving over time.

[disneysteve]

It just seems a bit capricious, because if they're testing based upon any symptom, then they're introducing a higher likelihood of negatives...but those negatives will "improve" the stats driving precautionary health restrictions.

FWIW, this weekend my base announced a reduction in some of its precautionary health measures, citing lower incidence rates in the area & on the base itself. A week ago, my unit also eliminated the alternating work schedules for ~80% of our folks that we used to reduce density & person-person contact in the building. So I guess all of that sorta synchs with what you're saying, presuming that my chunk of one organization is somewhat indicative of the base population as a whole. As I've said before, though... We're sitting in a fairly rural town, with a low population & density... So it's not surprising to me that our status has been slowly improving over time.

It's important to test everyone with symptoms (and even those without symptoms) to know how widespread the disease really is. Unfortunately, the US has failed miserably in doing that. Testing continues to be hard to come by in most places, require an appointment, have long lines for drive up sites, etc. Without knowing who has the disease, how can we possibly know who to isolate or when it's safe to reopen stuff?

Here in NJ, our numbers are doing well and the restrictions continue to be relaxed. Indoor dining started last week. Movie theaters have reopened. Gyms have reopened. All with reduced capacity and other guidelines to follow, but it's a step back toward some sense of normalcy. Not all places have reopened yet. Our gym hasn't, for example, which is fine because neither of us feels ready to go back yet. We ate out twice this weekend but did outdoor dining both times as we aren't quite ready to eat indoors yet either.

[QuarterMillionMan]

What makes indoor dining so dangerous? I can see if someone chokes & coughs but what else?

[disneysteve]

What makes indoor dining so dangerous? I can see if someone chokes & coughs but what else?

No masks.

Also, depending on the place, the quality of the ventilation system matters. That’s the same problem schools are having now. I just heard they checked the ventilation in one school in NYC and ended up condemning 18 classrooms. Those systems hadn’t been checked in many many years.

[QuarterMillionMan]

To me public restrooms are the worst, toilets & urinals flushing creating tiny aerosols of human excrement into the air. Some even have blow dryers for hands which spreads the droplets even further. In the men’s urine splashing too.

[disneysteve]

To me public restrooms are the worst

Not for COVID, though, since that's spread through respiratory droplets. It's people talking and breathing that's the problem, especially with poor ventilation.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Not for COVID, though, since that's spread through respiratory droplets. It's people talking and breathing that's the problem, especially with poor ventilation.

Thanks for the clarification. I stand corrected.

[QuarterMillionMan]

California State University system plans to keep online learning thru Spring 2021.

[disneysteve]

Schools and non-essential businesses in several parts of NYC may re-close if the governor gives his approval today. It will be interesting to see how things go if that happens.

[bjl584]

The rules keep changing here in PA
I know a few business owners who don't know what to do or how to run their business