Ongoing coronavirus happenings

I was going to do some grocery shopping today - decided to get it delivered instead. Dusted off my pocketbook.

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Iā€™ve often wondered if VRBO is really any better than Airbnb.

I mean, do they like, do a better job of vetting their hosts and facilities?

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My MIL is going on a cruise today. Sigh.

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Soap is better than sanitizer, you say? Well - we all have that.

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Will do. Thanks for the recommendation!
Have used Airbnb very very rarely.
Am so ready to drop them forever.

OT, but related to world travel and virus-avoidance: Some friends highly recommend Women Welcome Women Worldwide (ā€œ5Wā€), originally for women traveling alone but now more flexible, in case this helps some of yā€™all reading this.

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https://tobacco.ucsf.edu/reduce-your-risk-serious-lung-disease-caused-corona-virus-quitting-smoking-and-vaping

So it appears vaping does indeed increase vulnerability to covid-19. Not terribly surprising, but I was not comfortable answering that question without data. There you go.

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ā€œPeople who have any cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine) in their bodies ā€“ even at the low levels associated with secondhand smoke ā€“ have substantially increased risk of acute respiratory failure from ARDS.ā€

Oh shit.

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Yeah, Iā€™m an avid second hand smoker, so this is concerning.

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Tell me again how the national emergency health systems arenā€™t inextricably intertwined with national politics.

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Hooray for capitalism. /s

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Iā€™ve used them a number of times and been satisfied at the professionalism. It seems to be a more legitimate service, with real apartments/homes that actually look like the photos and are at the addresses they say they are. And the few times Iā€™ve needed to change or cancel, itā€™s been handled above board via their website, no problems. Iā€™ve heard too many horror stories about Airbnb.

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i was going to say something about that re:

ianad, but washing clothes with soap would seem to be the only key. even water temperature i wouldnā€™t think matters. the detergent breaks down the coronavirusā€™s shell and thatā€™s that.

in this case, iā€™d imagine ā€œecosoapsā€ are probably just as much the enemy as led lightbulbsā€¦

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So coronavirus is more susceptible to laundry detergent than e coli and listeria? Thatā€™s good news.

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But ā€” and I say this as much to myself as to all of you ā€” you can channel some of that anxious energy away from reading articles on the internet and towards thinking about who in your life and in your community will certainly need help or assistance. Who can you talk to now to make a plan to help them later? (With supplies, with groceries, with their pets or children) If youā€™re able, can you donate to your local food bank, or donate additional supplies to the homeless shelter? Can you buy things from local businesses, restaurants, and artists now, so that things might be less lean for them in the months to come? If youā€™re someone whoā€™s high risk, how can you be honest with yourself and others about it? If youā€™re able to work from home and still pull your normal salary, can you commit to still paying someone who provides you with a service (a housecleaner, a dog walker, a hairdresser, a yoga teacher, etc) even if they have to stay home?

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As of today, 03/08/2020, there are 109,835 confirmed cases worldwide.

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Roughly doubling every 6 days. At this rate the last hospital bed is filled about May 6. But the last n95 is gone in about a week, so odds are that is conservative. Health care workers start dropping like flies. Iā€™m not optimistic at this point.

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tl;dr:

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