“Stuck” in Florida

Posted , 14 users are following.

we are snowbirds who live in florida 6 months a year. yesterday they closed and locked all the buildings in our complex; only the outdoor sports areas (tennis, pickleball, etc.) are open(and empty). outdoor pools are limited as to visitors (we dont use them ever). so the question is do we drive across country to get home or shelter in place? lots of people are packing up and leaving, others are staying here.

i have bronchitis, a residual from the flu last month. i was checked last week for pneumonia but chest xray was clear, no temperature. just cough syrup was recommended. we think we are staying here, at least for now. grocery stores are empty at home in the midwest where we live; there is food here (for now), although no wipes, toilet paper or sanitizers, etc. it will probably get worse as reality/panic sets in.

i am just loathe to travel to motels, gas stations, restaurants, etc--a 3 day trip for us. the beaches are unbelievably crowded--kids on spring break who have no fear and no sense. we are planning to stay here, at least for awhile, but there is talk of closing interstates; of course motels are always risky, even in the best of times. im sheltering in; my cough scares people to death anyway. in the sunshine and heat at least i can sit outside, go for walks, talk to passersby, etc. but florida has lots of vulnerable old people, lots of silly spring breakers, lots of cases of coronavirus in the state. at home we would be very isolated in our subdivision, much more than here, which is why a lot of people are heading out asap...to get away from the crowds. thoughts on car travel?

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  • Edited

    I have heard from several medical people that sunshine is a disinfectant. So it would make sense to stay where you are. I live in Kansas (the midwest in the US) and things are closing fast, supplies are hard to come by. I've come to accept that I have to self isolate because I am a high risk patient. It's been cold and rainy here. I'd love to be in Florida. At least I could sit outside and enjoy my coffee in the morning.

    • Posted

      i heard that too. im outside waiting for sunrise right now!

    • Posted

      Less that it is a disinfectant that would kill the virus (no proof of that) than that we are outside and further away from each other. But high humidity favours spread of the virus in droplet spread.

    • Posted

      then im sunk. 97% humidity every morning. lowers as day goes on. am keeping my distance, a lot are not. worrisome, indeed.

    • Posted

      Eileen - are you still in Italy? Keep safe.

      The victims are not just statistics. My long-time Flickr friend André Pipa posted a photo with a tribute: Vittorio Gregotti, the Italian architect who designed (with Portuguese architect Manuel Salgado) the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisboa (1992) died in Milano, where he was hospitalized because of the coronavirus. This great master of modern Italian architecture was 92 years old. Rest in peace and thank you for creating such a stylish building in my home town.

      RIP Vittorio Gregotti.

    • Posted

      Twopies, reading on line this morning about virus and humidity. Most articles are saying the the viruses cannot survive in high humidity that is way normal flu season is in the dryer winter months. Check it out! 🙂

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      The crazies are stockpiling toilet paper and hand sanitizer. When a Hamilton (NZ) craft beer and spirits brewery Good George manager tried unsuccessfully to buy some for his team, he decided to 'switch lanes' and make it for themselves and for the nation. "The whisky can wait," he said.

      Good on ya, George. (I love their beer)

    • Edited

      A brewery in Scotland and a gin company in the west of England are doing the same.

  • Posted

    Here is a piece I cut and pasted.

    There's no credible evidence ibuprofen either raises the risk for developing COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, or worsens the outcome of the disease.

    "There are no hard data at all saying that ibuprofen puts you at any kind of a disadvantage or interferes with the inflammatory response of the body such that it can't fight off the virus," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.

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