General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy are people acting like social distancing is going to be a permanent way of life?
Restaurants are putting up barriers. There's plans for socially distant concert venues. Airports are installing infrared thermometers. Coffee shops are abandoning dining rooms. Is this shit really helping or is this just COVID security theater?
Is there something about the virus that they're not telling us? Or is all of this future planning in the event that there's no cure or vaccine found?
SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)Amishman
(5,541 posts)There will likely be a lingering aversion to crowds that could last a generation.
Kaleva
(36,146 posts)WhiskeyGrinder
(22,145 posts)brooklynite
(93,856 posts)Could be six months; could be two years. Businesses need to plan accordingly.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,355 posts)and what we start with may need to be tweaked or enhanced.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,355 posts)Some things less so. The extreme level of social distancing we are seeing now probably won't be permanent but there may be some measures in place that may be kept in anticipation of future pandemics, which there undoubtedly will (plus may be healthier for everybody anyway).
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)We can't live on pretending, despite what Turd says.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)300 million + people will by susceptible until a working vaccine is distributed.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)There was no way we were going to be able to shut down the economy for months and months. The Pig never wanted to do anything about CV19. People are tired of it where I am at and are back out in force. However the city has a mask order in place and people are following that.
I think we will see mask and social distancing to one degree or another through the summer and longer if there is a another spike.
Wingers still think it is overblown hoax, those who cautious will continue to be so.
CNN and media showing the full ICUs doesn't matter enough.The only thing that will cause a shut down like early this year is corpses stacked on the curbs for pick up.
tinrobot
(10,848 posts)Even if there is a vaccine at the end of the year, which is very optimistic, we'll have to social distance until we're sure the virus is dead and gone. That will take 3-6 months, minimum.
Past that, I suspect masks will become a regular feature here like they already are in Asia.
Initech
(99,914 posts)They've already had it after a couple of months and even then people weren't having any of it. I can imagine there's going to be some serious rebellion against this.
Lancero
(2,980 posts)Ex Lurker
(3,808 posts)Right wingers are the ones kicking up a fuss, but plenty of others are just quietly ignoring the mandates.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)HotTeaBag
(1,206 posts)I'd have to guess that there have been quite a few folks infected who wouldn't have been otherwise because someone they knew didn't wear a mask, picked up the virus and helpfully brought it to them.
If only the non-mask wearer were hurting themselves it would be fine with me, but it doesn't work that way.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)I just take some comfort in the reality that stupid people and the families that nurture them are going to be disproportionately culled from the herd.
HotTeaBag
(1,206 posts).
roamer65
(36,739 posts)We have no idea how long this is going to last and there will be other viruses as well. The
Caliman73
(11,693 posts)If we had a halfway decent administration we would have gotten a jump on the virus and contained it like other countries have. We didn't. We have a narcissistic idiot in the White House who continues to not only bungle, but actively interfere with and sabotage attempts to deal with pandemic. In the fall and winter, where people are going to, because of weather, congregate in indoor settings, the virus looks to spread at an even higher rate.
You cannot trust anything said about treatments or vaccines that come out of this administration. The election is in November, almost 4 months away. Biden will likely win, but he won't get into office or have any power in the government until late January 2021. another 3 months. He will have to undo all the damage that Trump did and deal with the pandemic. If we keep the House and win the Senate, then there is a good chance we can act quickly. Keeping the House is very likely but we may not take the Senate. If we don't then any efforts to mobilize against the virus could be hampered by obstruction from Republicans.
So, politically and policy wise, we are in this for at the very least, another 7 months.
Initech
(99,914 posts)And apart from a vaccine, it will take a competent leader with a plan to rebuild after this catastrophe. I'm hoping that Biden is that leader, and that he will get the House and Senate needed to support his agenda.
PSPS
(13,512 posts)Restaurant barriers are theater because HVAC systems obviate any benefit from social distancing and masks
"Socially-distant concert venues" are also theater because of the same HVAC shortcomings plus low compliance
Infrared thermometers and unreliable because they can't detect asymptomatic infections. Also, airlines no longer have any social distancing rules on their planes.
None of this is "secret." The only place that is sitting on and not disseminating this information is the white house and its enablers in the various state governments like DeSantis and, sadly, many democratic governors as well who are succumbing to threats on their lives by republican/kremlin-sponsored right-wing paramilitaries.
As a result, society is stuck in a loop: Denial -> Anger -> Bargaining and then back to Denial (the rush to re-open.)
Voltaire2
(12,626 posts)Lancero
(2,980 posts)Not directly from the virus, but certainly a contributing factor - Just sped up what was already occurring.
Case in point, Wal-Mart working to do away cashiers in their stores. It's something that, honestly, we've expected they would do one day and now the virus and social distancing has given them the perfect reason to do so, one that also gives them a effective means of defending that action. A lot of people have switched to pick-up or delivery services at other stores too so I wouldn't be surprised if other stores cut back on the amount of cashiers they hire.
See also the numbers of stores that have declared bankruptcy. Their failure was inevitable, the virus just made it imminent.
And even when things open back up again, how many of us will really fall right back into the old habits? How many people will decide to keep with their new habits? I can't remember how long it takes, but psychologically their is a rough timespan for how long it takes to develop and lose habits.
PTWB
(4,131 posts)We should get used to it in order to be better prepared for the next major pandemic.
Initech
(99,914 posts)Human beings need contact with other people. And we need to be able to make friends, and build relationships. And you can't exactly do that on a 2" window on Zoom.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)It will take at least that long to get enough people vaccinated, once there is a useful vaccine. Until most people are vaccinated, the disease will continue to spread, and we have no natural immunity to the virus. Some don't get symptoms, it's true, but not enough to prevent COVID-19 from being a very, very serious pandemic.
So, not permanent, but neither are the precautions such a drain on society and the economy to make them intolerable.
The virus still has no effective treatment for those infected, and there is still no vaccine. Both things will probably be found, but it's going to be at least a year before we can drop our collective guard. Even then, if the virus survives, it will still need to be protected against. The same precautions we are now taking for COVID-19 will be effective against influenza and other contagious diseases. Those precautions will still work for those who exercise them.
Yes, this "shit" is really helping. If more people adopted behaviors that incorporate this "shit," we'd be in a lot better shape right now.
RobinA
(9,878 posts)of pandemic theater going on. Cemeteries limiting how many people who can go to a burial? Outside. Just to name one of my favorites. Frankly, I think a lot of the mask stuff is theater. And YES, I wear a mask when I have to.
Ms. Toad
(33,915 posts)Every serious scientist is telling you everything you need to know. Just listen to them, block your need for instant gratification, and block out anything politicians say and you'll have your answer.
This is a deadly illness for which we have no treatment or cure, and no vaccine. even those who have mild cases often experience permanent disabilities. (A friend of mine was diagnosed 5 months after complete recovery from"walking pneumonia" based on the permanent damage to her lungs +a positive antibody test). While we will develop treatments that are more effective, there is no magic bullet on the horizon. We have never developed a safe and effective vaccine for a coronavirus. Chances that we will get it right for this particular one in our first mass rush to create one are slim tho none. The hope that this will vanish for the summer . . . Have you checked the numbers recently?
Yes, this stuff is helping. What would hello more, would be for people to socially distance and adapt universal mask wearing. But since we're obviously too selfish to do that -and the politicians are to weak-willed to impose it, businesses that don't want to go out of business have to do what they can to interrupt transmission. A pulse oximeter would be better, but those require contact ( and cleaning between use). Coffee shops were designed to be intimate, comfy places too hang out with friends -soft seating is a germ trap -and impossible to clean without damaging it or making is miserable for the next person. Air flow from HVAC system is very efficient at moving viral laden droplets around. Partitions interrupt that flow.
No. This is not theater. This is to save lives and make it possible for those whose lives are being saved too have jobs to return to. There better ways, but we (our impatient selves, and coffee-chasing politicians) are unwilling to saga make the necessary sacrifices for more than a hot minute.
Yeah, I'm pretty disgusted that, in most of the county, we've thrown away the months of sacrifices because of people too impatient to be inconvenienced any longer to avert the loss of millions of lives.
Initech
(99,914 posts)But that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm desperately seeking any good news right now, and I do know that a lot of it is bad, and in some cases seems to be getting worse. But I do know that one day it will get better and a lot of the restrictions on life we're seeing now will start to ease.
I know there was an article in the New York Times about a month ago, where they said that pandemics have two ways of ending - medical and social. The social ending happens when people become so fed up with the restrictions that they don't let it control their lives. And this article said that we may see that happening before we see the actual medical end to that, and who knows when that will be.
Ms. Toad
(33,915 posts)There is a difference between figuring out how to live with the virus (including things like masks, partitions, rethinking social spaces, etc.) versus acting as if the virus doesn't exist (which is what far too many Americns are doing now).
The article specifically referenced people going about their business "as the virus continues to smolder." It's a raging forest fire, not smoldering embers, and people are saying "It's done. Let's go about out business"
gollygee
(22,336 posts)It'll be a while before this is over. And some of the things we're doing are probably generally a good idea.
wishstar
(5,267 posts)and even those who get the vaccine won't be completely immune if effectiveness is similar to flu vaccine. Also vaccine is still nearly a year away. Dr. Fauci has spoken of these sobering factors recently. Many of us at risk of severe complications are not going back to "normal" for a long time if ever.