At least two years. At least.
Medical facilities scare the crap outta me. I had to go in once since I’ve quarantined and it was truly frightening.
They came to the car and took my temp and squirted hand sanitizer, I was already masked. I got looked at. Prescribed meds and booted out of there. Fastest appt. I’ve ever had.
I still freaked out.
Like Panache, I’d most likely die if I got the virus. I’m in no hurry to get out of the house.
And, I’m fine with that.
That’s the problem we have been having, living in an 11 sq ft condo with a 5 year old and a 3 year old. We are so used to spending most of our time outside of the apartment, it’s tough having everyone crammed together. I can’t even go to the building’s gym anymore.
The factual answer to the OP’s question is 3 months. Next weekend my wife is taking the kids to her parents in the country where they have a lot more room.
I miss restaurants and hanging out with friends and coworkers. My husband had to go to the office yesterday, and the McDonalds wasn’t organized, so he ended up asking for his money back.
So that’s the big thing. Going out is annoying. But it’s necessary for buying food and for keeping the economy going. I would like a mixed solution, but that’s only going to come with eliminating the problems with the virus.
I’ve been doing this for two months, and with summer coming on, which allows me to get outside for bike rides (‘typical’ rules place no restrictions on how far I can ride), I won’t feel all that restricted. I think I’d start to feel pinched when cold weather sets in again.
The thing that bothers me most is the absence of any larger plan that the stay-at-home orders fit into. OK, we made sure the hospitals didn’t get overwhelmed in the first wave; now what? The virus is still out there, hasn’t become any less lethal, and AFAIAC, the world’s just as dangerous a place for me now as it was a month ago, maybe more so: people in grocery stores who decide they don’t need masks anymore could still kill me, and now that things are opening up again, a lot of people will interpret that as not needing to wear masks now.
So is the question just how long can you stay at home without getting bored when all your material needs are met? Forever. There is unlimited entertainment on the internet and the people complaining about lockdown need to learn how to use it
Craving human contact and actual life experiences, not just an endless supply of empty “entertainment,” is not a character flaw.
To be clear, I am following all of the actual rules put out by health authorities (although not silly ones made up by panicky people on the Internet, like “do not set foot outdoors ever”) but it’s not reasonable to expect people never to be bored, never to complain, and never to miss all the stuff we can’t do. We have a responsibility to do what we can to avoid passing this disease on to vulnerable populations. We also have a right to hate every second of it and to look forward to when it’s over.
And I’m an introvert with a job I can do from home. I can’t even imagine what hell this must be for extroverts, people trapped with family members or roommates they don’t get along with, or people who have lost their livelihood and have no prospect of getting it back.
Idon’t really care about Corona, but I miss the NBA.
I intend to stay in lock-down as long as it takes. I may break at some point, but I’ve basically locked myself in my apartment for the past 9 weeks and I could do it at least another 9 weeks. I realize not everyone has that luxury.
The thing is, I would feel much better about being a little more adventurous, and I would even be in favor of reopening if I had more confidence that our public health response were adequate. But it’s just not. And people are really ignorant and defiant, which is not reassuring.
But we probably could, even now, begin a gradual reopening. If we had any self-discipline, we could try reopening with requirements for wearing masks, testing and allowing those who test negative to go back to work. We could also allow people with antibodies to return to work but after a period of documented extended observation. The goal would be to gradually increase the size of the workforce to 100% of essential workers and then encouraging more work from home for workers who can do work out of the office.
Obviously, one size won’t fit all, and this might not be practical everywhere, but I wouldn’t oppose the lockdowns if they were being done in an orderly, science-driven manner. But we know that’s not happening, and we’re going to pay dearly by the time flu season starts, I’m afraid. We can only hope that we somehow get lucky and a more dominant, less lethal strain emerges, which is not very likely.
dp
I don’t know how long it will take for me to reach the “I don’t care anymore if I spread this disease to friends, family and/or total strangers” stage-I suspect 45 to 50 years.
Also a right to eventually be shown real data was to which particular restrictions yield which particular benefits. Broad blanket measures are understandable when pretty much all you know is that the load on hospitals is headed really high, quite possibly far beyond their capacity (the situation for example where I live in the NY area when ‘lock downs’ were imposed). Eventually you must get a handle on what particular measures accomplish what (stuff less onerous than ‘never step outside’ might still accomplish almost nothing), and come to grips with the issue of ‘flatten the curve’ (prevent health system overload) v ‘limit the eventual total number of cases or deaths to some X’. There’s been a lack of clarity on the goal in that respect IMO.
The question does tend to presume all aspects of ‘lock down’ are somewhat equally useful. Although you can ask non-realistic questions if you want to, obviously. My answer to this one is also ‘indefinitely’, but it has limited real world relevance IMO. Even on the job side, there are jobs/careers where people can become irrelevant if they just drop out of working life, besides the issue of whether the public (the govt) can keep their current employer alive on life support indefinitely, not just pay the person’s bills. And not everyone’s end point goal in working life is just to pay the bills. I’m largely retired so ‘the bills will be paid’ is basically OK for me indefinitely. My kids have career goals beyond paying bills. Which has to be weighed against their own and public health, but that’s back to the assumption that all elements of ‘lock downs’ have much effect, or even a positive one necessarily, on ultimate public health.
What about hugs and sex?
- (((((hug)))))
- Sorry-You’re on your own.
Under my current circumstances - not much longer. I’m an essential worker, so I’m still going to work. My husband (a salesman) is working from home and his bowling leagues have shut down - so he has much less social interaction than he’s used to and he’s home every night ( which he has never been before) so he’s driving me nuts. I haven’t seen my granddaughter since March 5. Change my situation a little bit - say my daughter and granddaughter lived in my household and my husband and I were used to him being home every night and I could probably do it indefinitely.
I’ll take it. 
[quote=“msmith537, post:23, topic:853890”]
That’s the problem we have been having, living in an 11 sq ft condo with a 5 year old and a 3 year old. We are so used to spending most of our time outside of the apartment, it’s tough having everyone crammed together. I can’t even go to the building’s gym anymore./QUOTE]
I sincerely hope that’s a typo.
As for me, I could do what we’re doing for a long time. We have a good home gym, a great place to walk where there are no people, and a house more than big enough for two of us.
I would, however, probably start cheating. I have two adult daughters within a hour’s drive and I’m already getting pretty close to begging them to come visit.
Physically: indefinitely as long as I have weekly access to a supermarket.
Mentally: not entirely sure; I’ve been OK so far, but forced isolation from other people has been increasingly wearing, and one wonders at what point this becomes a kind of life not worth living.
…I honestly didn’t expect so many sad shut-ins, but I suppose I should have. 
Seriously. Half the people on this board are probably like “lock what now?”
Also, how “locked down” are people really? I mean I’m in a dense city just across the river from Manhattan. I don a mask and go out pretty much whenever I feel like it. It’s just that there isn’t anything to DO one I’m outside. I can walk along the river. I see people jogging. Mostly I just pick up takeout or go grocery shopping for the family. Sometimes I just drive my car around a bit. Although my wife can probably count the number of times she’s been out of the apartment on one hand.
If you live anywhere else besides New York City (or in my case Hudson County, NJ), how “locked down” are you really? Everywhere else people mostly live in suburban homes with yards. You just have to wear a mask when you go to Target.