COVID-19 | Effects on Skoolies - No Politics please.

[Native-SKO]

Hey everyone!


I hope all are well and NOBODY has COVID-19 (coronavirus)!


I opened this topic to open up discussions about how the virus is affecting everyone.


Are any full-time skoolies having any particular problems?


How about others in this commnity, how is it affecting you?


Let's put a few words of goodness in here too ... such as the fuel prices are real low now and the roads in our town have light traffic.


Here's to all of us helping everyone else get through this wild time.

 

[EastCoastCB]

We literally JUST got the news that we've been exposed to it. Our county has 2 confirmed cases. One of which was in Roxy's office friday for accupuncture and treatment. He was feeling normal that friday and had just flown in from Colorado. By sunday he was so sick he was in the hospital with pneumonia.
He's doing better and is out of the hospital. We're in isolation for at least the next two weeks.
This sucks.

 

[banman]

We literally JUST got the news that we've been exposed to it. Our county has 2 confirmed cases. One of which was in Roxy's office friday for accupuncture and treatment. He was feeling normal that friday and had just flown in from Colorado. By sunday he was so sick he was in the hospital with pneumonia.
He's doing better and is out of the hospital. We're in isolation for at least the next two weeks.
This sucks.

Hope it doesn't knock you out!
Take it as a good excuse to work on the bus or other projects!

 

[dan-fox]

Hope you've got someone to look in on you once in a while; to bring over a gallon of milk and a six pack.



Other than having lost 30% of my life savings to the situation, we're doing OK.

 

[Native-SKO]

Hope it doesn't knock you out!
Take it as a good excuse to work on the bus or other projects!

@ECCB We really hope y'all are not infected! Take care of yourself and Roxy! Like Banman said ... you now have time for other things.


Here in Fort Worth, they just announced they are closing all bars and gyms and limiting recreational gatherings (like a back yard BBQ) to 10 people. The restaurants are already down to drive-trhu only.


I wonder how this affects the truck stops. The big rigs can not pull through a fast-food restaurant. same for most of us Skoolies!

 

[Truthseeker4449]

Corona is destroying charter bus companies in and around DC with the situation falling apart more by the day. Several smaller companies that dealt only charter work have already gone under. My company has 270 vehicles and only enough contract work to keep less than 120 of them still in service. The rest are getting mothballed and a corresponding number of drivers are now out of work.

I was told Tuesday that no further cuts were needed to the maintenance department beyond cutting the part time guys, yet barely 24 hours later I was laid off. I have a week to find a new home for my box. I'm told once the situation recovers I will be reoffered my position, but I'm not waiting 2 months for that if I can help it.

All restaurants in the area are having to move to carry out service only. Gyms and libraries are closed. Home Depot and many other stores are now closing as early as 6 pm. DMV has shut it's doors for a month, which is great when you're trying to get a recently acquired bus titled. This also complicates the CDL I've been working on getting as my road test has been cancelled and I've lost access to the coach I was going to test with.

Debating if I should start stocking up on fuel while I can.

 

[Chuck Millions]

I have a state park pass in New Mexico, I have been living in campgrounds for the last 3 months while building my bus. The park rangers knocked on everybody's doors on Thursday night (the 12th) and told everyone that all camping was banned until at least the 9th of April and everyone has to leave the next day. Most of the RV camper folks I ran into at the local Walmart later were on their way back to their home states. My home state is Alabama so I decided to stay in the desert and try my luck haha.
Part of my plan for my bus build was to plug into the electricity at campsites while I'm working on painting and plumbing and mechanical maintenance. Battery bank and inverter were the last on my list, and I only have generators for when I go off-grid. I assumed I wouldn't be able to find any electric hookups and I'd have to go way out on BLM land so I went and bought a 400 watt inverter and 100ah deep cycle battery and enough non-perishable food to last about 6 weeks. I ended up getting lucky and found a national conservation area campground that had $5 a night electric hookups, I split the site with a fellow state park camper (used her senior discount, half-price!) and now we're just sitting here for the next two weeks waiting to see what happens. There are about 8 other rigs here and everyone is just chilling. That's my Skoolie related coronavirus story so far. Anybody else out here full time in the desert worried that federal land is going to close?

 

[Native-SKO]

Wow, I had no idea that the parks were being closed! Thank you for sharing your story. I am glad you were able to land on your feet. I really figured the parks would be kept open due to the low density.

 

[Native-SKO]

Has anyone been "on the road" recently?


Are the truck stops open?


How about rest areas?

 

[Native-SKO]

I was told Tuesday that no further cuts were needed to the maintenance department beyond cutting the part time guys, yet barely 24 hours later I was laid off. I have a week to find a new home for my box. I'm told once the situation recovers I will be reoffered my position, but I'm not waiting 2 months for that if I can help it.

In our area, Amazon, Costco, and Home Depot are all hiring people. I would imagine the other shipping companies like FedEx and UPS are as well. People are ordering (online) more essential items that they usually purchase in person.

 

[Sehnsucht-SKO]

Has anyone been "on the road" recently?


Are the truck stops open?


How about rest areas?

The situation is this: yes, truck stops are open. Yes, most rest areas are open. A couple states initially tried to close their rest areas thinking it would curb non-essential travel but all it did was complicate truckers' lives and they changed course in that decision. Dine-in restaurants and buffets in truck stops are all carry-out now but few seem to have closed entirely. The gov't declared the trucking industry an essential infrastructure and by extension truck stops are vital to the trucking industry.

THIS IS NOT OFFICIAL! I have heard rumors of more serious restrictions being imposed nationally or by-state but nothing official by my company or in the states I travel. However, if this occurs you are not going to want to get caught on the road as a skoolie would fall under an RV qualification which is not essential travel. Please stay tuned to the news media if this occurs but I personally don't expect things to get to that point... Of course I could say that about the point we're at already so this is all new territory for all of us.

 

[Ronnie-SKO]

Wow, I had no idea that the parks were being closed! Thank you for sharing your story. I am glad you were able to land on your feet. I really figured the parks would be kept open due to the low density.

I know Florida state parks are closed as of March 18th for camping/rvs, unless you were already there, and then you could stay. Day visitors only for now. I was planning a trip down there.

 

[Ronnie-SKO]

We literally JUST got the news that we've been exposed to it. Our county has 2 confirmed cases. One of which was in Roxy's office friday for accupuncture and treatment. He was feeling normal that friday and had just flown in from Colorado. By sunday he was so sick he was in the hospital with pneumonia.
He's doing better and is out of the hospital. We're in isolation for at least the next two weeks.
This sucks.

Bummer and I was hoping to see you. Take care of yourself, I hear vitamin C is real good preventitive.

As of now we are home and staying till things get more settled

 

[EastCoastCB]

Bummer and I was hoping to see you. Take care of yourself, I hear vitamin C is real good preventitive.

As of now we are home and staying till things get more settled

Dang it, always look forward to seeing you two!

My mom called me early this am. She's on her way to Mayo in Jacksonville for her bi-monthly infusion. She's got a bad immune disorder. She didn't like the news that we'd been exposed. We were at her place saturday. She had to way to reach them and is driving up there to find out whats going on.

 

[MacC-SKO]

First death in Missouri is my co-worker of 13 years. Pretty sad here. She went to Egypt. She never returned to work after returning from Egypt. Dodged a BIG bullet!

 

[musigenesis]

Dang it, always look forward to seeing you two!

My mom called me early this am. She's on her way to Mayo in Jacksonville for her bi-monthly infusion. She's got a bad immune disorder. She didn't like the news that we'd been exposed. We were at her place saturday. She had to way to reach them and is driving up there to find out whats going on.

I hope your parents are OK. I live with my elderly parents (both immune-system compromised because of drugs they're on) and I've had us in self-quarantine for the last 12 days. I need to make sure they don't catch it, or there's a good chance I'm going to have to watch them die in front of me with no way to help. Our hospitals are already starting to be overwhelmed and we're nowhere near the peak of this yet. The hospital nearest me has already erected security fences around their perimeter.

The fatality rate for over-80 people from this in Italy is between 15% and 20%, which means rolling a die and if it comes up 6 you don't make it. The fatality rate is less the younger you are, but there are more younger people than old so there will still be a large number of young people that don't make it (not to mention that even if people do survive they can be permanently disabled, or at least have a many-months-long path to regaining full health).

As (or more) importantly, as our hospital system is overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, it will make getting treatment for non-COVID-19 injuries or illnesses difficult or impossible - or if you can get into a hospital or emergency room or care center and get treatment, your risk of exposure to the coronavirus will be greatly amplified. I'm an avid cyclist but I'm not going to ride again until this is all over, since a crash would be very bad news.

The idea that a two-week shutdown is going to solve this problem is not accurate. It is going to take a complete lockdown for months to eradicate this (or just limit it), and that clock won't start ticking until people stop having parties and weddings and going to beaches etc. - which is all still happening right now.

Many people in this country were told this was a hoax, and even though the sources claiming this have now changed their tune and acknowledged the deadly nature of this pandemic, many people keep believing it's a hoax or "just the flu". It is not a hoax - it is the most deadly peril our nation has ever faced.

 

[cadillackid]

the economic effect of COVID-19 will probably bankrupt both of my succesful businesses as they are tied to hospitality.. our customers which have been average 85-95% or higher occupancy are currently running at average 20-25%. a few exceptions exist like properties near medical centers where extra employees have been brought in to be trained and hired for what will be an onslaught of patients.. and a few properties in hot construction areas.. the construction business will be delayed in seeing a complete shutdown as many of these projects are funded.. without rooms being sold, these properties have no need for our products or services.. many of our projects for 2020 are funded however 2021 and beyond who knows..



if wall street keeps plunging even the $$ for already-funded projects will collapse..



not closing wall-street is a huge mistake by the government.. its all fear right now on wall street..

 

[banman]

Dang it, always look forward to seeing you two!

My mom called me early this am. She's on her way to Mayo in Jacksonville for her bi-monthly infusion. She's got a bad immune disorder. She didn't like the news that we'd been exposed. We were at her place saturday. She had to way to reach them and is driving up there to find out whats going on.

On that note I'm giving blood today at a local Red Cross blood bank.

Due to the situation MANY blood drives have been canceled and the blood supply is low. Blood donation centers are very clean places by nature but they are taking extra measures to make it safe for you to donate -- taking everyone's temperature at the door and spacing everybody out.

This is one of the easiest and most meaningful ways to help each other out.

 

[kazetsukai]

I've been watching this since the footage started leaking out from Wuhan by dissidents and concerned doctors. I saw this coming, but watching it unfold here is kind of surreal. I've been voicing my opinion to my employer that anyone not absolutely needed in the office needed to stay at home for about two weeks... that went from "we're not going to do that" to "we're doing that" over this last weekend. Myself and most of my friends, their workplaces have issued mandatory work from home policies at this time. For me, that's business as usual.

Locally, at the gas station you wouldn't know something was going on. At the supermarket or Sams/Costco/Walmart you'd think it was Black Friday every day of the week. People don't seem to understand that crowding like that is actually greatly increasing the risk of exposure.

First there was a run on TP/hand sanitizer, bottled water and then foods and canned goods. I stocked up on a few months before the crazy hit, but still had a few blind spots I'm now trying to cover. Bottled water will not last two months no matter how much you get (well... at some point maybe), you need filtration. Also, remember to keep your pets fed.

This thing would get squashed pretty quickly if everyone who could stayed home for a month. With people knowing they are infected and yet still attending events/traveling, and large numbers seeming to think that LARPing as Smurfs (of all things) is a priority in times like these, I think we're in for a wild ride.

Filling your fuel containers isn't a bad idea. I'll fill the bus probably next week.

 

[cadillackid]

On that note I'm giving blood today at a local Red Cross blood bank.

Due to the situation MANY blood drives have been canceled and the blood supply is low. Blood donation centers are very clean places by nature but they are taking extra measures to make it safe for you to donate -- taking everyone's temperature at the door and spacing everybody out.

This is one of the easiest and most meaningful ways to help each other out.

The blood banks here still have that bass ackward rule where they won’t let Gay people give ! Or I’d have given many times by now... it’s ludicrous