Corona Virus Now Spreading

[Jem]

Well, our province just announced that we should be starting our "phase one" of reopening our economy on May 19th....I'm not on the list...obviously. Good news, that means my husband's business can re-open. Bad news...not sure how much business he will get just yet as the majority of his clients are also businesses...who may or may not be open or have the funds. So we are at a cross road...because he's allowed to open, does that mean his financial aide will cease? And if they cut him off but the business doesn't pick up fast enough...then what?

 

[denice]

Hair Salons can reopen in Ohio tomorrow. People can't wait inside the salon, they call people when they are ready for them. That way the only people in the salon at one time are the stylists and people actually getting their hair done. The only people who can come in who aren't getting their hair done is one person bringing one child in. No bringing all the kids at once to get haircuts.

 

[Xraystyle]

A lot of hair salons are planning to open this weekend. The customers and stylists will both be required to wear a mask. I'm getting awfully moppy but I may give it another week or two. They'll probably be super busy for at least another month though, just catching up.

The hair salon across the street from my building had an infected client this weekend. The guy was there for 8 (!) hours. I'm guessing getting his hair permed or dyed silver. The hair salon is now closed of course, but I am anxious to see how many of the stylists and other customers test positive. I think it will be a big litmus test. The guy was supposedly wearing a mask and I'm sure the stylists were too. If it turns out none of them test positive, I think it will go a long way into assuaging fears.

(Background info: salons never closed here)

 

[Tobermory]

The dentist offices started seeing patients here again. My husband has been waiting (not impatiently ) for a re-scheduled appointment to get a couple of fillings. He went yesterday. He called from the parking lot, and they had him come to the front door where they took his temperature and asked him about travel and other exposure-type questions. Then they escorted him in. Everyone was masked and had face shields. He said he couldn’t even swear it was our dentist! When finished, they had him leave by the back door and called on the phone today to take payment info.

I’m supposed to have an eye appointment in two weeks. We’ll see how they manage it.

 

[denice]

Hair salons here have been closed for almost two months. I needed a cut when they closed so I really need one now.

 

[NY cat man]

This end of the state is still shut down. Maybe in another two weeks, or another month, or, or, or- who knows when things will reopen. The big boxes will survive, but a lot of the small mom-and-pop places will be gone, as some have already thrown in the towel. But, hey, the bureaucrats are doing all right.

 

[Willowy]

I'll just point out that a lot of mom & pop places are going under here too, even without a state-mandated shutdown. It turns out that most people don't really want to go out and catch a virus even without the government telling the stores to stay closed.

Of course, that means that a lot of low-paid slaves employees have to go back to work so a few rich entitled brats can get their hair done, even if they're afraid of getting sick, because the state won't pay unemployment for anyone who can go back to work but doesn't want to expose themselves because they or their family members are high-risk. And you know their millionaire/billionaire employers aren't going to give them any more leave.

But, hey, the rich entitled brats are doing all right.

 

[denice]

You do realize that hairstylists who do not own their own salons make most of their money off of tips not their paychecks. Many are only paid minimum wage but a good stylist in a busy salon can easily make 4 times that much in tips. Unemployment is based on their paycheck. I know servers in restaurants here in Columbus who make 60 or 70 grand a year if they work full time in a busy restaurant but their paycheck is peanuts compared to that. We simply cannot sustain this much longer. We are looking at an unemployment rate of 14.5% right now and if it continues a rate well above 20%. Rich brats are getting their hair done now and have been all along. Like the mayor of Chicago getting her haircut and the newscasters look no different now. It is everyone else who isn't.

 

[Willowy]

I mean that vulnerable people who do not wish to expose themselves are being forced to go back to work before the virus has even peaked, because some brats are sick of staying home, or their billionaire employers can't lose a cent of profit. I don't think that's right. There should be a way for people to keep themselves safe without starving to death, and let people who volunteer (truly volunteer, not forced to "volunteer" for financial reasons) to expose themselves work. There are apparently plenty of people who are willing to expose themselves, or, well, so they say, maybe they're just posturing.

Maybe the brats who are working from home (or retired) and complaining about it will trade places with a vulnerable "essential" employee, since they like to bluster about how sissified everybody is. Think they'll do that? I'm not going to hold my breath.

 

[NY cat man]

One other point. They are talking about not reopening the schools this fall, and if this comes about, how can parents go back to work- assuming they have a job to go back to? Who, then, is going to watch the little crumb crunchers? In this state, because of the high costs of everything, including taxes, it is almost mandatory for both parents to work to have a decent- not extravagant- lifestyle, unless you work for the government, that is.

 

[Willowy]

I know :/. They're talking about that here too. It's a problem. Most of the families I know have shuttled the kids off with their grandparents, but that's not exactly helping the grandparents avoid exposure.

But I'm not sure what else they can do. Imagine the lawsuits if they open the schools and people get sick.

(BTW, South Dakota has the highest percentage of working moms, it's not a New York thing.)

 

[NY cat man]

One other point. There are literally thousands of furloughed workers who have yet to receive a single unemployment check- and they were furloughed back in early March when the original shutdown was ordered. I see it nightly on the local news. It seems that the system that the labor department uses is so antiquated that they can't handle the volume. Our governor was asked about this at one of his daily briefings. His response? "Well, maybe they should get essential jobs." Yes, he actually said that.

 

[Jem]

I just read an article that a diner in NYC turned their parking lot into a drive in movie theater. Wonderful way to social distance and get out and do something! I have always loved drive-ins, even though the last drive-in in my area closed when I was still really young. I would prefer a drive-in over a crowded theater with talking and chewing and kicking seats...I wonder if this could be a new way for the entertainment sector to get back up and running again. I would support a drive-in if we got one.

 

[NY cat man]

I just read and article that a diner in NYC turned their parking lot into a drive in movie theater. Wonderful way to social distance and get out and do something! I have always loved drive-ins, even though the last drive-in in my area closed when I was still really young. I would prefer a drive-in over a crowded theater with talking and chewing and kicking seats...I wonder if this could be a new way for the entertainment sector to get back up and running again. I would support a drive-in if we got one.

There is a drive-in theater- the last one in WNY, I believe- that just opened for the season today. Among the things they were working on was a plan to have high school graduates 'walk' across the screens- they have 4 of them- while their parents watch from their vehicles. We shall see if that pans out or not.

 

[LTS3]

I just read and article that a diner in NYC turned their parking lot into a drive in movie theater. Wonderful way to social distance and get out and do something! I have always loved drive-ins, even though the last drive-in in my area closed when I was still really young. I would prefer a drive-in over a crowded theater with talking and chewing and kicking seats...I wonder if this could be a new way for the entertainment sector to get back up and running again. I would support a drive-in if we got one.

A popular Asian restaurant here is asking local town officials to approve turning the huge restaurant parking lot into an outdoor movie theater and car hop.

A different town shut down a closed bar-turned-illegal COVD19 antibody testing site: Cambridge officials shut down makeshift antibody test site in Inman Square restaurant

 

[Willowy]

Yep. Just saw on the local buzz Facebook page, someone asked "so if the hair salons are allowed to open, how come none of them are open?" And someone else answered "to protect themselves and their employees, duh". You don't need to have a lockdown for businesses to choose to stay closed.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

My hair is so bad I look like I should be on the streets, but I probably will not feel like going to get my hair cut til Christmas or after. Lot of stupid people in my city walking around and getting sick again and I just can't take that chance with an elderly mother and the few cats left that still love me enough to eat here although the cats would just go to another colony if something happened to me but still I'd feel bad if I "abandoned them" like the jerk who hoarded them, due to getting sick.

 

[denice]

Yep. Just saw on the local buzz Facebook page, someone asked "so if the hair salons are allowed to open, how come none of them are open?" And someone else answered "to protect themselves and their employees, duh". You don't need to have a lockdown for businesses to choose to stay closed.

They are open here with shortened hours but good luck getting in. Even Great Clips has a 180+ minute wait for online checkin which means no more customers today because they close at 4. I am going to try to get in sometime next week.

 

[Willowy]

Oh, there are some open. The guy who posted it eventually said he got in to Cost Cutters. The one in Walmart is still closed because that's up to Walmart, and a lot of the non-chain places are still closed.

Just pointing out that those who have a choice may still choose to remain closed.

The virus won't peak here for another month (according to projections). It actually might be better for them to open now and close again in a couple weeks.

 

[denice]

Ohio was supposed to have peaked April 26. It really wasn't a peak. It was more of a long plateau with spikes in various places and now it is beginning to go down. I guess that is what is meant by flattening the curve, a long plateau then a gradual descent.