I know there’s plenty of stories of people who go out of the way to not protect themselves from the virus, but I’m curious if you know of anyone who actually is taking the virus precautions too far? I’m talking stories I read in newspapers or on CNN.com through-out the pandemic of people who are literally afraid to leave their house because of the pandemic to the point they won’t go grocery shopping even during less-busy times or even go out and get their mail from their mail-box.
One of my friends lives alone but literally hasn’t seen anyone at all since the pandemic. He works from home so at least he’s still making a living but he has his groceries delivered and take-out ordered every single day. I asked him once he gets his vaccine if he will finally relent and hang out again, but he in all seriousness claimed that due to variants even vaccinated he doesn’t intend to leave his house “until the WHO declares the virus and all variants have been eliminated”.
I know people who will not intact with anyone. I have some relatives who want to see each but won’t despite essentially being quarentined. It’s not risk free, but if you and the person want to see isolate for 10 days, it is extremely safe.
If he is comfortable and fully functional, then he is not taking precautions too far.
I get out about once a week, yet much of my time I am on the phone or zoom for work, socializing, and most importantly, speaking with my family, so although as a social person (recreational organizations and outdoor adventure activities) I very much enjoy interacting face to face with people, but I’m still quite happy interacting virtually with people during covid. For me, it is the sharing in each other’s lives that is important.
Your friend may have some health concerns that make him a high risk case, I have friends who are high risk and even though they are in Australia where the risk of infection is pretty low they are being very careful about keeping to themselves as much as possible
I wouldn’t consider someome had taken things too far unless they got to a point where they were actually doing themselves harm
I’ve wondered how the pandemic affects people with OCD handwashing compulsions.
Suddenly the media is encouraging them to wash their hands several times a day.
I also hope the situation hasn’t caused anyone (particularly children) to become germ phobes.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide if this is carrying things too far.
I don’t personally know these hard-working souls, but my wife and I do shop for groceries in our neighborhood in Beijing and in a couple of neighborhoods in the next district. A few of the grocery stores have the cashiers in what’s best described as a hazmat suit: white full coverage material with elastic at the wrists, ankles, face openings, rubber boots, surgical gloves, masks, and a face shield.
…I know some Kiwi’s in Texas who do this: they were here in NZ during Level 4 lockdown and have basically been using NZ Level 4 rules ever since they got back.
And I really don’t blame them. They certainly aren’t taking the virus precautions too far.
My friend is 28 years old and is the furthest someone could possibly be from poor health, he’s skinny, exercises in his own home everyday, and only eats fast food a couple of times a week. He’s probably in the absolute lowest in COVID morbidity.
My nephew. Early twenties, living at home with my sister (his mom), because he goes to school only a twenty-minute bus ride away from his college.
He won’t allow anything into the house that hasn’t been disinfected. A can of beans? It must be disinfected. A pound of ground beef? It must be disinfected. (Apparently, he sprays Lysol on the Saran covering the ground beef.) My sister is going crazy with his precautions and his demands.
Sis once said to me on the phone, “I’d love a delivered pepperoni pizza,” but guess what her kid will not allow her to get? That’s right, a pepperoni pizza, delivered. I told her that she is the mother, that it is her house, and she can order as much pizza as she likes, regardless of Sonny-Boy’s fears.
She took my advice. Latest update is that my sister told her kid to sit down and shut up, and she ordered a pepperoni pizza. The kid blew a gasket. My sister had a nice meal.
My mother thinks that my brother and I are taking covid precautions to far.
And for the household where the nephew wants to sanitize everything: tell him to look up how long it takes to kill covid at what temp, and suggest to the Mom that she slide the hot pizza into a preheated oven for a bit before serving it. This may make them both happy.
I lack the usual levels of stomach acid, and the gut is chock-a-block full of the receptors covid uses to enter cells. Even if it’s not a significant risk for the population at large, I’m worried about eating the virus. I plan to stop heating my takeout after I’ve been vaccinated. But for now, takeout involves a brief cook at home.
I’m quarantining the beans for a couple of days, since the virus isn’t very stable. I have enough space to let groceries sit in the basement before putting them away on the shelves. Ground meat needs to be cooked anyway, and anything it touches before that should be cleaned due to bacterial risks that predate covid, so I’m not taking any new precautions with ground meat.
I understand my wife’s aunt also does this. Shopping takes her hours, even if she has it delivered. But she lives alone, so that’s her business. Where I think she might be taking it too far is declining to go to a large regional vaccination centre a short (10min) drive away, preferring to wait for a slot more locally.
Huh. Risk/benefit. I drove my mother to a large vaccination center (that didn’t have good distancing of the people waiting in line) that was half an hour away, and i think it was completely worth it.
I don’t think anyone should be judged for determining what risk is acceptable to them. Between the misinformation perpetuated by the previous administration, the evolving science around the novel virus, and reports of limited therapeutics and hospital capacity, I completely understand why some people choose to take the precautions they do.
Exactly. I live in a community that has fought masking and distancing from the start, so there’s a significant trust issue, as well. I don’t trust that any person I come in contact with isn’t riddled with the virus. Therefore, my single, working from home self has had my groceries and other necessities delivered for over a year, and I rarely feel the need to leave the house for anything. I’ll determine my own level of acceptable risk, thank you.
Jeepers. I’m driving almost an hour for my second vaccination tomorrow. I drove almost 40 minutes for the first one and the closest location is a good twenty minutes away but they haven’t had any slots open lately.
DesertRoomie will be getting her first tomorrow, same location I am, but nine hours later. We’ll make a day trip or something to kill the time rather than make an additional round trip through the commuting hell of central Phoenix.
I hope I don’t derail the thread, but isn’t “a couple times a week” a lot of fast food? I assume for most people (I know there are exceptions) McDonald’s and the like is a once a month or so experience.
Back to the OP, my mother’s assisted living center didn’t allow residents to eat in the dining room or other wise socialize with each other for almost a year, or have visitors most of that time (ended when everyone was vaccinated). I certainly understand the concern, but no one but staff was going in and out (and staff went into all rooms anyway) so it seem very cruel to lock down these old people so tightly.
My mother can no longer navigate the complexities of her computer, and had a very lonely year.
Sure, you’re protected while wearing a hazmat suit like that. But I think you need to be careful how you remove the suit, because there might be infectious agents on the outside surface and you might expose yourself to something while doffing it.
And as for this, has he considered that he may be exposing himself to toxic substances in the disinfectants?
