I’m getting recalled to my normal schedule (for now) starting next week. I thought we were starting to return to normal, slowly but surely ramping up. But then I got a text with details. Apparently I’m the only one getting recalled, and it’s because my partner, who’s been working this whole time, caught COVID-19 and is in quarantine. She says she probably got it from work.
So I’m going in to replace a person who likely got infected there. Eek.
Anyone else have a similar sitch?
My wife is VP of a loan ops department, and was (I think) the first in her company to get all her employees at home with IT equipment. She’s getting pressure from the Prez to bring them back because reasons. So far she’s holding him at bay with: a) the fact they were able to ramp up and triple their throughput* while at home and, b) several of them are high risk folks who really should stay put. She’s gotten a few concessions, mainly their office will be locked and entry by buzzing in, rather than open to any who wander in. Also is pushing hard for a half at home one week, then the other half the next schedule so fewer people and much more separation. She has a separate office, but her workers are in cubicles and more vulnerable to airborne movement.
So, not next week but definitely in a few weeks. Hopefully on a rotating schedule to keep the transmission possibilities down. And definitely locked away from genpop and random officials “dropping” in because their problem can’t wait.
*According to her, getting away from meetings and other forms of interference allowed a measurable gain in productivity.
Being called back to work /= going back to work, necessarily. Just sayin.
Why should we care?
Moderator Note
Don’t threadshit.
They’ve been telling us “two more weeks” every two weeks since St Patrick’s Day. Finally last week they said work from home has been extended indefinitely. So who knows when I’ll go back.
Seems dumb to recall the partner of a Covid case, surely the sensible thing to do is to self isolate in case you are asymptomatic and potentially passing it on.
What do you do?
I haven’t seen her in more than a month. I’m the “designated survivor” so to speak. Now that she’s out of commission, I have to rotate in to fill the slot. But one thing I’m worried about is if there’s a “COVID Mary” in the office who’s gunning down coworkers without knowing it.
I work in an office environment. Cubicle farm.
So my plan right now is just to sit at my desk all day, talk to no one, go nowhere, and touch nothing but my desk. I’ve got some homemade masks and one, single N95 that’s been in the garage for 4+ years (eww). I’m hoping that’s enough.
Eventually we all have to go back to work, for those of us with a workplace to return to. How are you planning on handling it? What precautions are you planning to take?
If they recalled you, would you go?
How many people go inside your building - not just your immediate area, but your building? That, in my mind, is the big first question that needs to be answered. And it’s not just how many people who work there, but people going in and out. If there are only a few people working tehre but you have regular UPS/FedEx/USPS delivery, then you have to factor the building traffic, not just workers.
What floor are you on? Ideally you want to be in a lower level but in a low traffic area with an exit that doesn’t involve an enclosed elevator. You want to go in and out without spending more than a few moments in an enclosed area. People who’ve been in an enclosed area and coughing, sneezing, or simply breathing can leave droplets in that area that can remain airborne for up to 15 minutes (possibly longer).
Can you open windows? If yes, I’d probably suggest doing so the virus can be pushed out by airflow of the building.
Can you negotiate something like going into the office on ‘peak’ days and working remotely on other less important days?
Yes you should wear masks and bring sanitizer - absolutely.
I’ve been in a similar situation, spoke up, and got my boss to agree to letting us stay home through August, but my field lends itself to online work. Not every job is like that.
If I were young, healthy, female, single, had good health insurance, and didn’t live in the Northeastern U.S., I’d probably not fret if the boss demanded that I return to the office. But for each of those little criteria that aren’t met: if you’re not young, if you are obese or have any noteworthy health condition, if you’re male, if you don’t have good health insurance, if you aren’t single and live with others who are more vulnerable, and if you live in the Northeast or another area that’s heavily impacted, then I’d be thinking about finances and how much that job is really worth.
Well, I have an IT job so working from home is not a problem. I have had to go into the office briefly a couple of times since the work-from-home order (maybe an hour or so each time) to provide support for people working in the office. But it’s been so deserted that I didn’t really worry about it. (I do wear a mask if I have to go in.)
The company I work for is currently leasing space in another company’s building, and frankly that other company is doing a terrible job when it comes to employee safety. So if I was told to go back to working in the office, my biggest concern would be having to go back into that environment.
We just received an email from the division manager. All but the few who have been in office throughout all of this will be working from home through the end of the year. They gave two reasons: They can’t ensure worker safety and to help with the budget. The County is facing an over $20 million deficit, so anything they can do to stave having to lay off employees and not have to spend on PPE/extra screening of clients/cleaning where it’s simpler to keep employees at home is a start.
I’m of two minds regarding this. I’m glad they’re putting our health and the health of our clients first, even if it’s motivated by budget. Unfortunately, this means one aspect of my job is pretty much donezo through at least next spring. That sucks. I’ve been tapped to be on a few technology workgroups to help keep me busy, so that’s something.
I go in for a dental appointment this week.
Among the new requirements they have added some sort of air purifier systems. Could your office put something like that in?
Do you have a cite that supports the use of commercial air purifier systems for prevention of transmission of COVID-19?
Well yes and no.
They dont filter out the virus. They can filter out droplets that carry the virus plus a good hvac system recycles the inside air with fresh air from the outside so virus containing particles in the air shouldnt last around as long.
No, these arent clean room, lab, quality air cleaners.
What’s the deal with the male/female part? I’ve been working this whole time, with extra, and I feel somewhat fortunate since I don’t make much money but I don’t have to worry about getting by. I’m M/40, with a HDHP and HSA I never use, not obese, no real physical current health conditions, midwest, live with 3 people I never see. Am I going to die?
For reasons that are not clear, it appears that males tend to die at a higher rate than females. This seems to be an issue particularly with older men compared to older women, though, so if you’re 40 and otherwise in good health, you’re probably in a demographic that would handle an infection well.
One thing to keep in mind is the dose of the disease. Getting smaller doses of the disease tends to make it more survivable; getting more of it tends to make it more dangerous. The dose makes the poison, as the saying goes.
So what does it mean in real-world terms? Let’s consider a couple of examples.
In one example, let’s say you happen to catch a few droplets as you walk through a doorway that an infected passed through five minutes before. He didn’t sneeze; he just breathed air and maybe said “Hello” and a few utterances before moving onto his office. You might not even get infected, but if you do, there’s a good chance that since the dosage of the virus is low, your body’s immune system will deal with it in a matter of days or a week. It’s more likely that your body will produce an asymptomatic infection or a moderate infection. Of course each individual has different chemistry, so it’s possible you could get develop something worse but the averages would suggest that you’d be okay.
Now consider another example. You walk into the office the next day. You walk through that same door next day. Only this time, two or three infected people are standing in the lobby and talking. They’ve been talking for several minutes now. The viral load is higher. Worse, one of those guys is actually someone who sits beside you in the next cubicle beside yours. Not only are you at greater risk of getting an infection, but you’re likely getting a higher dose as well.
Now compare a more extreme example: you’re a healthcare worker and you’re in an ICU where people are getting intubated all around you. The intubation process is the most dangerous mode of transmission because the droplets become aerosolized, which means that instead of a relatively usual combination of large and small droplets, you’re exposed to fine particulate matter. Lots and lots of very small droplets. Lots and lots of doses of the virus. And this is what you’d be doing every single day you’re at work. Your shifts are long. Your body gets physically and mentally exhausted. Your sleep and your eating habits are irregular. Your body is less equipped to deal with the common cold, let alone a new outbreak of a fatal disease. It’s no wonder why so many healthcare workers - even young and relatively healthy ones - die or get seriously ill.
To add to what I said above, what seems to be happening a lot in the real world is that a family will hunker down, one person will go out shopping or have minimal contact with the public but nevertheless come into contact with an infected person. That infected person comes back home and infects everyone else. And because other family members are spending a lot of time in the presence of that person who went out and got infected, they are now not only getting infected, they are very likely getting infected with a high dose of the virus. They are at an increased risk of not just getting the disease but a high dose of it.
This is why people really, really need to understand what social distancing and protecting yourself from infection truly mean. People have to prepare for various scenarios, and we have to socialize and even live with each other in ways that may not seem normal. But strictly adhering to distancing measures and self-quarantining may mean the difference between no infection or a small one, and an expensive potentially bankrupting trip to the hospital or even a trip to the graveyard.