Covid 19 in 2022

[BakerAunt]

I am starting another Covid thread for 2022 as many of us are seeing rising cases where we live. My area has had surging rates since November, since the Delta variant came late to the Midwest. On our shopping trip to the next town yesterday, we saw many people not bothering with masks, some of whom were standing and talking in the aisles. We detoured down other aisles to avoid them and did our shopping quickly.

I know that we are going to have to live with Covid, but it would be easier if people would just get vaccinated and wear masks!

Spread the word

      

  

  

[Mike Nolan]

Cloth masks are said to be nearly useless against Omicron, which is why we now have a supply of N95 masks. Lincoln's mask requirement expired ahead of Christmas while the city's COVID meter is back in the red, but when I was in Walgreens today nearly everybody was wearing a mask, most of them appeared to be cloth.

[BakerAunt]

I figure that two layers of fabric (how I made mine) is better than nothing for a mask. We have not been in any crowds, or we might have to look into N95. Right now, our area has the Delta variant in the ascendency. Local leaders are unwilling to lead on the issue, even just by encouraging vaccinations and boosters. Indeed, our county council, in its paranoia, refuses to take the federal funds that would assist the Health Department in what it is already doing, even though the county commissioners asked the council to reconsider.

[Mike Nolan]

People are in the 3rd stage of directive exhaustion, confounded by ever-changing and conflicting reports of what's best. The science and the economics and the politics are so co-mingled, confused and conflated that nobody knows who or what to believe. (And all of this was predicted well before the first set of directives came out in early 2020, not that anyone listened to those experts on social behavior.)

While he was here, my son ordered a case of masks from 3M (they only sell them by the case), and he left several bundles of them with us.

[BakerAunt]

I think this comic reflects how many people now feel:

https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2022/01/09

[cwcdesign]

Love it, BA!

My cloth masks were custom made so I have elastics around my head. They are 3 layers with a filter fabric (non-woven) as the middle layer. There is a seam, but the maker overlapped the seams inside. They also have nose clips. I would like to get some KN95s but I'm trying to make sure that it is an approved brand with head elastics. In the meantime, mine work as well if not better than other versions.

I was supposed to leave for Atlanta tomorrow for the Retail Market. Needless to say, I told my manager on Tuesday that I was not comfortable going - the hotel where I was going to stay had even reduced the availability of amenities more. Fortunately, she and our director backed me up and then it turned out that the Retail Director and Head Buyer had also cancelled. I have been setting up virtual meetings in lieu of the meetings I had scheduled and a couple of reps will come here to see me in February.

I forgot - one rep said it was going to be one giant Petri dish and she is recovering from a bout over the holidays.

[Italiancook]

My husband did a big grocery trip yesterday. Because of Omnicron, we decided he should double mask and go to one store only. He says there were a lot of empty shelves. On the stocked shelves, the products were only 2-deep, not completely stocked from front to back. I read an article yesterday that said grocers are doing that to prevent hoarding. So it's impossible to know if our store is doing it for that reason or if they just don't have the product to put out.

He was unable to buy everything in the brand I want, but he was able to buy alternate brands. There wasn't any Jiffy cornbread mix. That disappointed me, because I'm hungry for bean soup, and I only like it with cornbread. The only time I want cornbread is with bean soup, so I don't stock cornmeal. Also, there weren't any grapes or kiwi. A friend who lives in another part of the community has been saying for weeks that there aren't any grapes at her store.

He was pleasantly surprised to find that fellow shoppers were wearing masks. He reported that they all had filled-to-the-top carts, like he did, so we're not the only ones trying to limit grocery trips.

[skeptic7]

The grocery stores seemed a little short on Orange Juice today and eggs; but they seemed to have a plentiful supply of fruit and vegetables and staple foods. When I first entered the grocery store I was pleased at the number of people with masks, but as I started to leave I noticed more people entering without them. Perhaps the people who are too lazy to wear masks are also too lazy to get up early.

[Mike Nolan]

We're back to having a mask mandate, and I'd estimate compliance is in the 80-90% range.

[BakerAunt]

Every county in Indiana is in the red--showing the most severe spread of Covid, but you would not know it by the number of people who choose not to wear masks in stores.

[cwcdesign]

There was a lot more compliance last week, but even though it's still bad, at least last night I was amazed at how many were mask-less in the supermarket.

[chocomouse]

I spent most of yesterday shopping in the nearest large shopping area near me, about 2 hours from here. I know this is not a good time to be out and about, but sometimes you just need more than groceries and meds. I was pleasantly surprised. The shops were not busy, not at all crowded until mid-afternoon at that last stop, a small specialty food shop. However, I would estimate masking was 100%. Wonderful. We felt perfectly safe running our errands.

[skeptic7]

The rules for masking are going away all over the country. There are lots of people who aren't wearin masks around here but NY Times still has Lexington, KY ( Fayette County ) as extremely high risks. I wish masks were still mandated and enforced until there is extra room at the ICU in most of the hospitals. There is still too many people gettig very sick.
I was grocery shopping this weekend and some of the clerks are now unmasked and many of the customers.

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