Corona Virus - how can we help?

[jwenting Resident]

(03-30-2020 02:56 AM)Casey0105 Resident Wrote:  I guess I'm in the minority of people working outside the home. I'm in the food industry, and instead of converting to take out, we're working with several programs to provide meals for school children (to replace the school breakfast and lunch programs) and with a senior program to provide shut in's meals.

It's a difficult time and was a difficult decision, and I question it daily... actually I question it much more often then that. The possibility that I'm putting myself or my employees at risk weighs heavily on me. All were given the option to stop working (to use accrued vacation and sick time until unemployment kicked in), to be honest I don't have enough hours to give everyone who wanted to continue earning. I'm rotating schedules but to take a schedule of 90+ people down to 10 or less working at a time has been daunting. I have protocols in place to ensure my employees are free of symptoms, and in addition to food safety guidelines we've added all new recommendations for contact free food service.

I wish I could see into the future, and know I made the best choices. When my morale plummets I try to remember the people that would go hungry right now without the service we're providing.

I think the one thing Id suggest is reaching out to the people who aren't quarantined or sheltered in place as well as those who are. We're all experiencing this virus in different ways, and sometimes just having the ability to talk about it makes a huge difference. So thank you Callie for this brilliant thread.

Got a friend who is doing something similar. She runs a catering business as a hobby. For now she's stopped that (as nobody is ordering for parties and receptions, obviously) and now provides free meals to hospital staff as the hospital staff restaurants can't keep up with the much increased number of staff on site at any given time.

[Geeha Resident]

I'm in Canada and we are in lock down with no idea for how long. No one I know is ill, but the numbers are climbing in the city where I am located. I am a teacher and we are beginning the process of helping our students continue their learning online.

This entire situation is frightening and uncertain, but when I take my dog for walks I realize that nature moves on without any hesitation or knowledge of what humankind is facing. The birds are singing their Spring songs ) I try to take some comfort from this.

There are financial worries in my household, my son who needs money for school just lost the job he thought he had secured for this summer, and my husband is out of work.

I worry about those who are exposed, or who are ill with the virus. It is devastating to read the number of people who have been diagnosed, and those who have lost their lives to this disease.

Kittycats has always been my safe and creative place to be. I don't know what I would do without them. It is in times like these that the kitties take my mind off of everything negative in my RL.

Much love to Callie, Foxiecat, and everyone in the Kittycats Community! XXXXXX

[Tad Carlucci]

I worry about schooling. I expect, no matter what is done, most students will wind up repeating the year. I expect the big problem will be first grade (or kindergarden, it depends). All those in this year's class will need to repeat it to make up for this year. Class sizes for the later years will probably remain about the same. But time stops for noone. Next year the entry class will be doubled. There won't be enough teachers and the individual student's performance will suffer as a result. And, each year thereafter, over the next 12 years, the problem will move upwards one grade level. In a decade, we'll have a crop of students who've missed significant parts of every year in every area. Boards of Ed. can adjust somewhat, though. Perhaps some staff can be shifted. Perhaps students can be shovelled along and given remedial assistance. But, at some point, the students will be less prepared to enter the job market. I expect we're going to see downstream effects for decades to come.

Colleges, especially private schools, are going to be a big problem if we see a significant number of primary education students being held back. Many of their current students won't be able to afford an extra year, and their incoming Freshmen will be significantly reduced. Next year (2021) I expect we'll see a lot of stories about cash strapped colleges and universities having to cut programs due to an almost 25% reduction in tuition income. Then, for admissions in about a decade (fall of 2034), I expect we'll see stories about a doubling of the rejection rate simply due to the fact there are not going to be enough desks for this coming year's doubled-up crop of first graders.

Meanwhile, over the coming decades, employers will increasingly complain about a lack of qualified applicants. It will start next year with a larger-than-normal number of those without a college degrees, die down for a few years, then come back as applicants begin showing up with weaker math skills, poor language skills, even, eventually, more poor writing skills.

So, this year, we can all be appreciative of the Herculean efforts in the health care industry. I hope, though, over the coming decade, we're just as appeciative of the equally Herculean effort of equiping our children for adulthood as a result of this year.

[Evolving Yin]

I am in Texas on a shelter in place order. My husband (who I met in SL) and I are both retired so we don't have to worry about working. My husband is also a prepper so we had plenty of toilet paper, a couple N95 masks, gloves, Lysol wipes etc before this even started. We have my adult son staying with us now because he was renting a room and was told by the guy he rents a room from that he could not live there if he got sick. Son didn't want to be quarantined there for various reasons so he is with us.

My son's job is considered essential, but he has a choice whether to work since he is mostly on call and lets them know if he is available to work. COVID-19 cases in the city he works have been rising fast so he has opted not to work because his union position does not offer healthcare. He has no health insurance, and US does not have national health insurance. My husband is borderline diabetic so he is at risk. We are all sheltering in, and only one goes to the store and limits trips to the store as much as possible.