Coronavirus Safety - the road ahead

[Neal]

A new thread on life going forward with the coronavirus a part of our lives now and here to stay for who knows how long. Humans are viruses now, or so it seems, whoever thought we would be afraid of one another as if we were facing a murderer or something? We are scared of humanoids now and when will we shake hands or hug again? Will we go to stores without ppe? Will we trust one another again for hygiene and safety to sit at the patio together without conscious decisions of keeping distance?

I went to get an oil change yesterday and state inspection for my toad. I was shocked and judged the Chevy dealership as not one employee wore a mask. They did have procedures in place for separation and you run your own card through the reader but I was surprised to see what appeared to be a lack of safety for the customers or fellow employees albeit there is varying discussion on the web as to the effectiveness of masks and who is being protected by wearing them as well as even wearing gloves if it's good or bad.

Will this affect us as RVers keeping in theme with this web site and discussion? Will we have in person check-ins at CG's or will they reinvent to be completely online and no check-in needed? It seems my travels from AZ to VA with no contact with but one CG front desk worked just fine.

As I always say with bad good comes from it. We will be better in the end, at least people will keep their hands off my food at restaurants etc now and wear gloves, etc.

 

[NWIP]

Since leaving AZ, the two parks I have gone to have been no contact check-in. I believe this may become the norm which may lower RV parks labor cost. I liked interacting with the staff and would ask about restaurants, stores and sightseeing around the location. I’m sure this info will be provided in an arrival package, which will be left for you in some outdoor box.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

I see separate short-term (year or two) and long-term effects. For the short term, I think we will be dealing with a mixture of fear, confusion and anger. The fear will be of the virus itself and its possible effects on us as individuals and family members. The confusion will come as we try to find a delicate balance between living in a closed-down society and taking some chances as it re-opens. Finally, there is already anger at what has happened, and is still happening, and it is being fed by both real and contrived circumstances.

Without getting into political issues, I believe there are people out there who are all-too-willing to take advantage of even a pandemic for personal reasons. We are already seeing scammers trying to take advantage of those in vulnerable situations and I think it will get worse before it gets better.

In the long-term, however, I think our society will find its way back to most of its familiar patterns. We've been through similar social disruptions over my lifetime and once the immediate threat has subsided, life slowly returns to a more normal pattern. To be sure, there will be some lasting changes in our social structure, but most will be positive in my estimation.

Right now, LadyDi and I are just striving to maintain a balance in our lives and are not worrying too much about the long term. That will most likely take care of itself.

TJ

 

[ARD]

My last 3 stops have included limited contact checking in and I was escorted to my site in all 3. And though it wasn't the full monty, it was better than the no contact check-in. In one park, they were taking great care to not park rigs next to each other.

When I was in Bullhead City, I was impressed by Discount Tires. Every employee had a mask. They washed their hands in between customers. They had you drop your keys in a plastic baggy and they wrapped the baggy around key so they wouldn't touch it. They had sanitizer at every counter. In fact, the service advisor that was helping me said he was offered $20 for ½ used bottle of sanitizer. Crazy times.

Meanwhile, I have made it to Montana and it is beautiful. Hunkering down for the next month on the Yellowstone River. Day 1 of Quarantine...13 more to go.

 

[boomer]

Just thought I would share our place in Myrtle Beach, , park has been basically closed except for us long term people. This is what it looked like as of last Wednesday. My House points to us. Park was closed to visitors.
Park was closed to visitors. Pools, arcade, store and restrooms all closed for the last month or so.
.
Opened up this weekend to about 20% full, last year at this time the park would be at about 75%. They still have restrooms and pools shutdown, so only self contained units allowed (Water,Electric at sites on), but showers ... not open.

Last week someone took a picture from a hotel/condo place near the park.

 

[Jim]

Just thought I would share our place in Myrtle Beach, , park has been basically closed except for us long term people. This is what it looked like as of last Wednesday. My House points to us. Park was closed to visitors.
Park was closed to visitors. Pools, arcade, store and restrooms all closed for the last month or so.
.
Opened up this weekend to about 20% full, last year at this time the park would be at about 75%. They still have restrooms and pools shutdown, so only self contained units allowed (Water,Electric at sites on), but showers ... not open.

Last week someone took a picture from a hotel/condo place near the park.
View attachment 1883

That's pretty wild looking! About a month ago, someone posted a picture of the interstate going through Atlanta and there were only a couple of cars on a six lane interstate. Very strange to see, as anyone who has traveled that area can tell you.

Quick question, it looks like all the sties have a covered picnic table area except for yours. Yours seems to have a closed sides. You must own this slip and closed it in for storage?

 

[Neal]

Nice pic @boomer I've stayed there several times usually in the winter though to/from Florida.

 

[RKins]

My wife works at a Dialysis center (actually 2 different ones) and she had a couple covid positive patients that came through already and then went into the hospital. The patients came out of local retirement homes. She's really nervous as are her co-workers, so we're both afraid that she is going to bring something home to me.
I think the fear of getting this virus will keep the average retired person hunkered down for a while. For info about the virus I watch NY Gov Cuomo's daily report and really like how he keeps politics out of it and just goes with facts. Very informative even if you don't live in NY. Our FL Gov (Desantis) now is trying to mimic that daily briefing and approach of opening but is not as informative. I check the Covid dashboards for local spread - our zipcode has less than 5 cases but the zipcodes where my DW works have anywhere from 15 to 100+ (mostly from retirement homes).
I think that the way campgrounds are cramming in the sites to maximize revenue is going to scare people away for a while too - I'm not in any hurry to get exposed by my 8-10 foot away neighbor. Look at Boomers pic above - if that CG was filled it would be very hard to stay away from people, especially if you have a dog that needs to be walked.
The world has changed in the last 60 days and will stay changed for a long while. No more shaking hands or even hugging your loved ones. When I can finally go camp with my Sister and BIL, I still won't go near them - and that's so sad.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

One thing we like about our place in Polson is that the sites are large and fairly well separated. That will make it a bit easier to maintain appropriate distancing when we finally get there. Not sure we'll go there until the 14-day quarantine for out-of-state arrivals is lifted.

TJ

 

[J&JD]

This virus has been, and will be for some time, a sad, tragic, and dangerous beast. We are especially at risk because of our age. I walk out in our backyard that is bursting with bloom, and feel so sad that I cannot share it with our family and friends. I think we will take some trips planned a bit later in our motorhome, but will propably not be able to enjoy restaurants, or strolling around the towns. We can hike, picnic, and take beautiful drives. Out here in the west, there are lots of wide open spaces. I am just going to try to think of what we can do so as not to get depressed. Judy D

 

[J&JD]

My last 3 stops have included limited contact checking in and I was escorted to my site in all 3. And though it wasn't the full monty, it was better than the no contact check-in. In one park, they were taking great care to not park rigs next to each other.

When I was in Bullhead City, I was impressed by Discount Tires. Every employee had a mask. They washed their hands in between customers. They had you drop your keys in a plastic baggy and they wrapped the baggy around key so they wouldn't touch it. They had sanitizer at every counter. In fact, the service advisor that was helping me said he was offered $20 for ½ used bottle of sanitizer. Crazy times.

Meanwhile, I have made it to Montana and it is beautiful. Hunkering down for the next month on the Yellowstone River. Day 1 of Quarantine...13 more to go.

What park are you in if I may ask?

 

[boomer]

Nice pic @boomer I've stayed there several times usually in the winter though to/from Florida.

This was our 2nd winter (Oct 1 - April 1) however, due to Corona Virus decided to stay till end of May. We have the same site reserved for 2020-2021 winter, if your in the neighborhood come say high ..... from at least 6' away, with a mask

 

[RKins]

A bright spot just materialized in that my oldest daughter wants me to help them build a 3 tier 5gal bucket garden. I calc'd it out at about $85 per (my wife wants one too) . The big plus is I get to build the first with my teenage Grand daughter - will be so nice, even with SD applied and masks. She is going to do all the work but I get to instruct and spend time with her. Can't wait.

 

[Gizmo]

Our state is dropping the stay at home order and will allow restaurants to reopen at 50% occupants level and 6-foot distancing. The mall going up and stress 6-foot distance will be recommended. So being in the high-risk category do proceed with caution and not visit those establishments but still do “stay at home”. That maybe the prudent coarse but that leaves that business with fewer customers and income. Can those businesses survive with the current pricing structure and reduced occupancy? The need for employees will have to be base on the reduced occupancy. It’s going to be hard for small businesses to make a living under these restrictions if they last very long.

Best Buy's new policy in our town is they will only allow three customers in the store and by appointment only. A lot of my purchases at Best Buy have been things I didn’t know I needed or want but after seeing them on the shelf I can not live without them.

We still have plans to go back to the mothership (Newmar) and get some upgrades leaving May 17th. Our plans are not stay at camp grounds and limit our contact during the travel.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

My take on the re-opening of retail establishments is that business will be pretty slow for a while. Relaxing stay-at-home orders will not immediately restore the confidence of many people and they will simply not be rushing out to shop. I will be in that group!

We are seeing something of a resurgence of cases in our area too. Last week, we were at 1-2 reported cases a day but since Friday, we've seen 3-5 new cases each day. Not sure whether this is the result of increased infections or increased testing, but it is a trend we didn't want to see.

There has also been a decline in compliance with the stay-at-home order and that may also have something to do with it. A nearby tribal jurisdiction reported eight new cases yesterday, all the result of a large family gathering. All of the infected individuals were in the 30- to 40-year-old age range. Apparently, they didn't believe there was a risk in large gatherings; now, they are paying the price.

TJ

 

[ARD]

What park are you in if I may ask?

I'm at Yellowstone's Edge in Livingston.

 

[J&JD]

I'm at Yellowstone's Edge in Livingston.View attachment 1893

Beautiful, thanks for sharing. Wish we were there.

 

[RKins]

Wow, beautiful view. And nice site.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Lots of good memories of Livingston from the time, many moons ago, when I was a wildlands firefighter in Yellowstone NP. When we would come off a fire, we'd clean up and all head into Livingston for a good steak dinner and a beer or two. Fire camp food was filling, but that's about as far as it went.

Good memories, indeed.

TJ