Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Somerville, Harvard: woodpecker, skyline, playground)

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by lrfox

What's everyone doing for fresh air?

Backyard and neighborhood. It's quiet enough that the kids and I can ride bikes in the street or around the block and not see many other people. The neighbors and I have been chatting from 20-30 feet away. Our yard is large enough to accommodate our needs.

For my own mental health, I've been keeping in the garage with the door open working on a project car. Deliveries on supplies/parts has been slow, but I don't complain given how minor this is in the grand scheme of things.

[bizcuit]

Originally Posted by lrfox

In a nutshell? Delivery from restaurants is super easy as usual. My credit card includes a free "DashPass" which eliminates a lot of the delivery and service fees from Doordash. So we've been using that a lot. We've also been doing some pick-up from the restaurants that are doing a good job of ensuring distancing/safety. Particularly good at this is Old Magoun Saloon which has a big window opening directly onto the sidewalk. You can walk or drive up, and grab the food right from the window without setting foot in the restaurant. Dakzen is also great - they have a table set up right at the front door, so when you show up, they'll just hand it to you without having to go inside.

Grocery delivery? Basically not happening for me. I can't seem to find a slot ever. So I'm basically trying to go at extremely off-peak times (I'll be going today when the wind/rain are at their peak). I've also gone to the Star Market at North Station/TD Garden sometimes too. Parking on the street has been easy, it's fairly empty since it's not a very residential area, and they've been well-stocked.



Great point. We've been avoiding the crowds too by either going early, or going late. Dinner time has been our favorite so far as the temps are still warm, there's still light, and fewer people are out.

My experience is more or less the same. Restaurant delivery has been pretty much great. There is even a diner in town that has pick-up service and I noticed when I drove past that they have a guy out there with a table to bring your order to your car. I plan to order from there one of these days.

For me, grocery delivery isn't much of an option. Amazon or Whole Foods doesn't deliver to my address at all. Instacart and Peapod are theoretically doable, but good luck getting a time slot.

I prefer to go myself, but I have so much work and so many meetings, I am not available until after 5 or the weekends, so I just haven't wanted to deal with the experience. Instead I have been going to the smaller corner store. I can get milk and bread and beer there, so it's been okay. But one of these days I have to do a true grocery store run. I might have to take some personal time to do it, because I am not going after 5 or on a weekend.

[queerfaith]

Try to avoid using those delivery services, they are surcharging the restaurants so much that the restaurants will go out of business! Try to do curbside pickup yourself if you have a car.

[bizcuit]

Originally Posted by queerfaith

Try to avoid using those delivery services, they are surcharging the restaurants so much that the restaurants will go out of business! Try to do curbside pickup yourself if you have a car.

I've actually mostly been ordering from places that have their own delivery service. There are a few of them here.

[magicshark]

Originally Posted by queerfaith

Try to avoid using those delivery services, they are surcharging the restaurants so much that the restaurants will go out of business! Try to do curbside pickup yourself if you have a car.

We are doing take out once a week from local restaurants. If you want them to survive do not use the delivery services. They take about 30% of your bill as a fee. Just call the restaurant directly and go pick it up. Every place I have been is doing a great job of keeping things safe.
I have noticed a couple restaurants here in Worcester are now having their staff deliver. I'm sure it's happening elsewhere too.
And for the love of Pete please tip!

[queerfaith]

apparently all of these food delivery services are surcharging the hell out of the restaurants and will cause them to go out of business. place order with restaurant directly...and pick it up curbside yourself.

[in_newengland]

I read that one half of the cases in MA are in nursing homes! Apparently the people who work there weren't even being tested. I'm not in MA anymore (now near Hartford) but MA is third in the nation in cases. Is that just because you report more or is it really that bad?

I was following the illness in the UK so I wouldn't have to hear about it in the US and they really aren't getting better. Over there, they've just extended their isolation to whenever and no one is supposed to be out driving anywhere unless it's essential. Police are enforcing it. Their problem is they didn't start early enough. It was a Trump-like situation of, "Oh this is nothing. We'll just let it run its course." But why is MA so hard hit?

[BostonMike7]

So, back to a computer and once again looking at Data.

MA has managed to find itself with the 3rd highest number of cases in the country, even though it's 15th in the country in terms of population. It probably shouldn't be a surprise given the proximity to NY, but it does surprise me that a shelter-in-place order, rather than an advisory hasn't been issued.

Given the uptick in trend with the number of cases, it should start to pull away from Michigan to find itself a solid #3 behind NY and NJ. Other states are reporting daily increases in the hundreds while MA is approaching 3K per day and continueing to slowly climb with 13 more days to go to anticipated peak.

The model has slightly changed. Peak is April 26th, but number of projected deaths has gone up to 6700 total. This number is significantly higher than many other states that are currently being lauded at for not having more extreme social distancing measures in place. Georgia doesn't have a SAHO in place, but ranks #11 currently with half as many cases as MA. I've yet to see one leader rip on MA for not doing more.

https://covid19.healthdata.org/unite.../massachusetts

MA's projected peak is predicted to wane closer to June 1. I'm sure many don't want to see that, but I wonder if making MA's SAH advisory an official order would have had any dramatic impact on the numbers.

I've been out commuting for work for the entire 3 weeks or so after my 14 day quarantine for close contact was up. In the beginning, traffic was sparse. I could get on the road at 8AM and not have any cars around me. Set the cruise control in the middle lane and I could go the entire 12 miles without adjusting. The last few days of my commute, there has been a good number of cars on the road. Enough so that I no longer use cruise control because I adjust my speed more. Are people becoming more brave, or are they being forced out in order to pay bills.

On the plus side it does seem that the US as a whole, and many other countries in Europe have peaked and cases are on the decline. China, however, has started to report an uptick of "imported cases" as it reopens the country. My thought it that this too many start to happen here. Needless to say, we are stuck with this virus for a while. If the country were to reopen 100% on June 1st (just to throw a date out there), how many people would instantly return to the pre-pandemic lifestyle right away? My thought it that some form of social distancing will exist from now on throughout the duration of the pandemic. Do I don't see more extensive food delivery services and other remote options disappearing in the near-term.

And holy hell...some wind today.

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

with 13 more days to go to anticipated peak

Seems like the peak is always 2 weeks away, truly groundhog day

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Are people becoming more brave

I'm not sure brave is the word I'd use. As I previously posted I was dismayed by the number of people I saw out and about this weekend.

[massnative71]

With the clusters in Middlesex and Suffolk counties, I wonder how much has to do with the whole Biogen thing? I mean it obviously got a foothold in MA early on, but I wonder how the curve compares to other states that got hit first (WA, NY, LA, MI, CA...). Did ours just get a later start or did those places do a better job containing in the first place? There are different explanations for a later peak, one being flat lining (good) and another being lack of containment (bad). The increase in projected deaths, does not bode well though.