Coronavirus precautions in your home

[iris lilies]

The things that keep for weeks though often have a lot of calories per package (like rice and oats and pasta and beans - more if dried than canned). Frozen veggies and fruits have almost no calories. Frozen meats have calories. Although it's almost besides the point as you can get almost none of that at this point, because everyone has grabbed it.

yes I have thought that about the high calorie/low nutrition foodstuffs that keep a long time.But that is ok for a few weeks, a small sacrifice to make.

It’s too bad that I was assiduously using up our freezers supply of frozen vegetables from my garden. I was doing this since last fall because we were going to be moving at all to Herman and I want to get rid of it.


So I have halted the pace of that use, and I still have many bags of frozen veggies left.

[Yppej]

I gained three pounds last week. Not being able to go most places and being home amongst those high calorie foods is not good.

[catherine]

So, I'm thrilled that we are literally on an island with no one in sight. But it occurred to me that from time to time my son comes to visit, which he is more prone to do now that he is furloughed from his job in Burlington.

What are the rules for that? Should I ask him to self-quarantine 5 days before visiting us? 3 days? 7 days? For instance, yesterday he went to a "party" with his restaurant staffers. There were probably 10 or so people there. The owners wanted to give away their stockpile of food. Now I'm wondering if we should consider not letting him come up for a while? DH does have underlying medical conditions, is 67 and a smoker.

How cautious do I have to be with regards to visits from my immediate family?

[lmerullo]

I hear you, catherine. What is the recommendation?

My son would like me to watch his kids over the next 30 days, since the schools are closed. Are they "spreaders"? I'm high risk, and I am also the primary interface for my 95 year old mom....

[SteveinMN]

How cautious do I have to be with regards to visits from my immediate family?

Just because you are family and you love each other doesn't mean COVID-19 can't take hold.

I think it's an individual decision. I am trying not to visit my mom and brother -- as son/brother or landlord -- because they both probably have almost every risk factor established. Catching coronavirus would almost certainly kill both of them. I can call them now and see them in the future. DW's mom is in quarantine at her assisted living facility; DW plans to "visit" her by standing outside her window to say 'hi'. Our grandkids would like to come over to play at our house; we'd love to see them but certainly toddlers are no exemplars of hygiene and so their visit presents a risk to us as DW and I have additional risk factors.

We're likely talking many weeks of quarantine. I'd be very surprised to see social distancing lifted by the end of this month and only somewhat surprised to see it lifted by the end of April. So how long do you want to live without seeing loved ones? And who else will you encounter in the coming weeks -- cashiers, tradespeople, medical staff, etc. -- who presents a possible risk, too? You can't ask them how long they've been without symptoms (even not having symptoms doesn't mean a person haven't been exposed or isn't a carrier). And even if they volunteered that they were symptom-free for five days, that doesn't tell you if they were exposed after four.

I'm tempted to fall back to excellent advice I got years ago: "If you can't handle the answer, don't ask the question." If someone you care about visited in person and carried COVID-19 (or flu or some other illness) to you and someone got sick (or worse) and if you could not handle the consequences or forgive that, then that person cannot visit. Tough call.

[Tybee]

Gosh, I had not thought about this scenario. Personally, I would let him come and stay but I can see your concern, especially with someone in the house with frail health, and for those who are caring for elderly parents.

I would be happy (and rather relieved) personally if one of mine wanted to come visit, but I can totally see why that might be selfish with someone with pre-existing health issues in the home. So I would take the risk for myself but would not know what to do about taking the risk for someone else, if that makes sense.

Catherine, what does your husband want to do?

Lmerullo, that is really tough with the 95 year old mom, if you are caring for her. Mine 90-something parents are in lockdown at the nursing home at present, and I could not visit them if I could even get out there to where they lived.

[JaneV2.0]

When you consider that soon, if you contract the virus, you won't be able to count on any help, it's an easy call.
Consider what's happening in northern Italy.

Maybe if your son was tested and judged virus-free, and then he masked and gloved up, and washed his hands repeatedly and stayed six feet away from both of you...It doesn't sound do-able to me.

[Tybee]

But aren't you theoreticlaly going out in the world and still getting groceries, etc., and thus would be around other people who go to parties, etc.? Why would your son need to be masked if they are not?

But I guess if you are worried about it, that is a sign you should not do it?

[Teacher Terry]

We are still seeing our kids even though she works in a casino.

[catherine]

We are still seeing our kids even though she works in a casino.

Yeah, but what's your risk level?

I feel that in our situation, especially with DH's health concerns, we have a perfect opportunity to sequester ourselves from the world. My son will bring "the world" to us coming from Burlington.. of course 90% he doesn't have a virus from the remaining people milling around Burlington, but I feel like it does increase the risk of DH getting it, however unlikely. DH and I have discussed it and we are comfortable going to our local "supermarket" (it's three short aisles and a deli department) and I'm comfortable calling in an order to Sherwin Williams for curbside pick-up of interior paint (with our 30% off coupon) so we can at least get our house painted (on our to-do list anyway).

But if we have this great opportunity for social distancing, I don't want to blow it. Truthfully, I am quite certain we WILL pick up DS in Burlington as long as he is willing to stay up here for a week or two. I told DH I'm not running back and forth off the island every other day.