As the virus drags on, are you relaxing your own standards?

[shelemm]

As we learn more about the virus, we can react to that.

When this first started, I was wiping down everything with a bleach solution. Nothing came into the house without a spray. They then said it was probably not necessary to do that. Yet I still wiped everything down, being super cautious. But once they came back with research confirming this, then I stopped.

I also am not as worried about being outdoors in open, especially in motion, with only a few passersby. Aerodynamics dictate that this is gong to be an unlikely source of sickness. and this has been confirmed.

The increasing availability of hand sanitizer also makes it easier. If you touched a suspect surface, then using hand sanitizer should do the trick.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Yes. But I never really went all in from the beginning. I have always washed my hands a lot due to work and it’s just a habit.

I have worked full time the entire time but I didn’t strip my clothes off in another room and take a shower before I touched anyone or anything. We still hit a store 2-3 times a week. I wear a mask where it’s required which is all indoor places here. If it’s not required I don’t wear it. We kept seeing our friends at times but we would social distance in someone’s backyard around the fire pit.

Once beaches opened up we went. Once the ban on gatherings (we can have 25 people outdoors) were lifted I had a bbq with 10 people. Each weekend one of our friends is hosting so we can hang out and get out the house since everything else is closed. We don’t wear masks for this. Before all this we hung out regularly but would often go out. Now we’re saving so much money and still having a good time !

Only thing holding me back is most places not being open. We are about to hit phase 2 in NJ on 6/15. Restaurants will be open and a few other places. Salons expected to open 6/22.

We will continue avoiding places that require masks like theme parks and things like that. We can’t avoid stores because we have to grocery shop at times (we do delivery but sometimes stop in for odds and ends) or hit Lowe’s at times.

When I’m around others I respect their space and stay 6 feet away. I wear a mask when it’s required. I wash my hands often. I use hand sanitizer when needed. I cover my mouth with my elbow when I sneeze or cough.

I have a healthy respect for this virus but I’m not afraid of it.

 

[Valbot]

I've slowly started becoming more lax. I've ordered food out a few times. Opened the bubble to include more family.
Having said that I've been out working during this whole thing so I'm still very aware this virus is out there

 

[RamblingMad]

I have cabin fever too. I’d rather escape to a trail, rather than a theme park right now. I can social distance myself on less popular trails. I don’t expect to be able to in a theme park.

 

[Hisgirl]

Yes, I am. I stayed in for six full weeks out of respect for the medical workers.

Then....after seeing our cases decline consistently, I decided to take a hard look.

I know a lot of people. A lot. Only one person got sick. I decided I wanted my life back. I have missed so much of our grandchildren's lives. Haven't seen them for months and months.

So now we go out. To the stores, to support our local mom and pop shops, respecting when they ask for mask wearing, we're eating out, also picking up food.

We're planning a vacation to the beach and to see grand kids.

And...I reinvested in the stock market. Out of good faith.

 

[SaintsManiac]

If by relaxing standards you mean leaving the house, then yes. My friend came over Saturday. I went to Costco Monday. I have a doc visit today. My kid starts summer swim session tomorrow.

We'll be heading to the family condo in Gulf Shores next weekend.

 

[Colleen27]

Yeah, some. But we weren't super-strict to begin with.

DD11 has added a second friend to her social life, after only seeing the one classmate for most of the lockdown (I'm her mom's backup childcare plan, and with the schools closed she needed it!). Our shopping and dining habits haven't really changed - we're getting takeout once or twice a week, as we have been pretty much from the start, and I'm making fewer trips to the grocery than I was early on because the stock is more normal so I don't need so many repeat trips or shopping around to get things - but with most retail reopening now I'm definitely planning a clothes shopping trip for DD11 next week to get some summer clothes that fit properly.

DS22, on the other hand, is being stricter about it than before. Initially, he arranged for his "bubble" to include his SO and SO's roommate (also a good friend), both of whom were isolating completely, to the point of DS doing their grocery shopping, and he went back and forth between our household and theirs a few times. But now that he's back to work, he's not seeing SO for a while because she has multiple, complex health issues and he's worried about being exposed at work and getting her sick.

 

[Searc]

I'm fine. I stay home most of the time anywhere.
I do wear a mask when I go out and so I shop fast because they get so hot.
I am not ready to go to a hair or nail salon. We used to go to a movie every week, not ready to do that yet (our theater isn't open yet anyway).
I am still not comfortable eating sit down in a restaurant.
So........just grocery shopping.
I do have a WDW trip in December and I will be going

Same, except for a WDW trip planned.

 

[jesusfreak75]

No but we weren't extremely strict to begin with. The wife works in healthcare and I in Mfg. mgmt. (essential business) so we've been working outside the home since this started. DD works in a grocery store so same for her. We still wear masks when we go out simply out of respect for those around us and wash our hands. We went to church last Sunday (masked of course), and I guess we'll continue to live life as normal until the masks are no longer needed.

We had planned to hit Universal Orlando in mid-June, but won't be going due to the mask requirement. It's annoying inside an air conditioned office, but I couldn't imagine in the Florida heat.

 

[VandVsmama]

I am beyond scared of this virus. Even though I'm in a demographic likely to be just fine, I still have no desire to spend weeks sick and coughing. I have been wearing a mask since early March and have been staying home and avoiding crowded places like movie theaters since Jan, because a lot of people in my area had a mystery illness that caused intense coughing spells for weeks.

When the theme parks announced reopening, I thought they were crazy. And with the restrictions in place it might not be as fun of an experience. But as this pandemic drags on I find myself thinking maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go if crowds are low and everyone is masking up. We are local and have APs to all of the major parks anyway, so if we left due to crowds it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

I know it isn't the safest idea, given that the virus is still circulating, but boy is it tempting to relax a little and get back to life.

Anyone else getting cabin fever from this pandemic?

I've had cabin fever from about 2 weeks after the shut down began. This is what we currently do & don't do:

We currently do:

• wash hands before eating
• wash hands after coming back into the house from outside. Even if it's from getting the mail.
• wear masks when at Costco because they require it and you can't enter the store without one.
• use hand sanitizer in between stuff like touching a grocery cart and entering the car.
• use hand sanitizer before eating when dining in at a restaurant.
• both DH & I work from home 75-90% of the time. When DH goes into the office, he wears a mask.
• eat out IN a restaurant now about once a week.
• get take out once or twice a week (drive through fast food falls into this category)
• make plans for future travel. We're going to San Diego at the end of the month for 4 days to spend time with relatives. Will be staying in a hotel and basically hanging out the entire time at their house other than sleeping.
• make plans for visiting Disneyland this Thanksgiving. I've got hotel reservations booked. I am NOT worried one bit about this. I am confident that Disney is putting solid plans in place based on what I see in the WDW announcements.
• visit w/my sister every other week. She hugs my kids & they hug back. We do not stay 6' apart from each other. She joined us at Olive Garden yesterday to help us celebrate YDD's birthday.
• had my MIL stay with us for 2 nights over Memorial Day weekend. Just stayed home and didn't go anywhere. We didn't social distance from her. She's old, in a vulnerable population category, but got sick and tired of being at home alone for over 2 months and was desperate for real in person conversation. None of us regret doing this.
• been to Michael's a few times, Target once, Pier One last weekend because they're having a going out of business sale, Walmart a couple of times, 4-5 times to my favorite plant nursery (VERY easy to social distance there). By far, Target was the busiest and the most annoying because of that.
• DH has met a couple of friends at a restaurant a couple of times since dine-in started about 3 weeks ago.
• spend a lot of time outside (vitamin D!).

We do not:

• wipe down every grocery item with sanitizing wipes
• wipe down every piece of mail
• put non-perishable groceries in the garage for any length of time to disinfect them
• eat all meals at home
• wear masks every time we are at our local grocery store
• wear masks when walking outside
• let the kids hang out yet with their friends
• wear gloves
• disinfect all surfaces & door handles at home daily. This happens once a week.
• fear what will happen when our kids return to school in person in the fall. Our kids' school has a good handle on the situation, communicates well, and we're confident that they'll make wise and informed decisions on how to handle things in an ever-changing situation.
• fear anymore about what will happen to our elderly relatives all of whom have health problems. There's nothing we can really do about it. We've accepted that at SOME point, EACH of them WILL die....of SOMETHING. Each of them is elderly, so every day is basically a gift. We, and they, do what we can to try to protect them from getting exposed to pathogens while also respecting their wishes to spend time with other people in person occasionally.

Corona virus is not going away. It's here to stay. Eventually, we will ALL get it. I'm not afraid of dying every time we leave the house. I'm not consumed with anxiety and fear. I'm pretty much in the acceptance phase, I suppose.

 

[Jennasis]

Relaxing my standards now would be like stopping taking antibiotics because I feel better and not finishing all the antibiotics I was prescribed.

 

[Eeyore daily]

I've visited my 80 year old grandma and my newborn nephew but that's it. I still wear a mask when grocery shopping or picking up food to go at a local restaurant even though no one in there was wearing a mask and I was being stared at like a freak. I still stand a good 6 feet or more away, it's just frustrating when someone behind me doesn't do the same. Still washing hands and carrying hand sanitizer. Cases are still rising and I have no health insurance, so I'm not going to relax on the masks or social distancing anytime soon.

 

[billlaurie]

Still being somewhat cautious with the general public, avoiding crowds and wearing masks while shopping, but we are starting to expand our friends and family circle. We haven't eaten out yet, not really in a rush to do that with the mask on mask off situation, but do order take out. We don't wear masks outside. We never did the sanitize/quarantine everything brought into the house procedure. We use hand sanitizer, but always did, even prior to Covid 19.

 

[RangerPooh]

I’ve been wearing a mask while out since March and plan to continue doing so. We order take out 1-3x per week, but have only fined inside once since closures in March. We have met with a few friends but it’s the same group each time. Our oldest has seen her best friend twice since lockdown, and only just recently.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I got my toes done! My salon is only taking appointments from regulars, they’re out a lot of protocols in place and even have plexi shields with a cut out for manicures. I have an appointment for a hair cut, hair color, and a dental cleaning throughout this month. Our county has been giving Covid updates and most recently was 389 active cases. We’re expanding testing and with a population of 1.4 million I think those numbers are good.


I’ve always immediately washed clothes coming home from anywhere but that’s a whole different issue lol. I also ordered takeout throughout this whole thing. Not much has changed grocery shopping as I hate going in grocery stores and always do pickup/delivery.

I have no interest in heading to the parks right now or running to an airport (especially if tourist traffic is going to pick up), but I’m at the point of doing basic life and human maintenance type stuff.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yesterday the in-laws met us at a dirt facility so we could pick up some dirt for a landscape project. They were leaving their flatbed trailer (that is full of dirt) at our house for a couple days. I went with my husband just to get out of the house because it certainly wasn't the activity that was something to look forward to unless dirt collection is your thing

Anywho they asked if we wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. We haven't had dine-in quite yet and I wanted to eat the first few times with my husband only so we declined. We have been around them but only outside and at a distance so that would be not only inside dine-in (when I'm more comfortable with outside at this point) but also close contact (and prolonged too). I'm not quite there yet but my husband is. I need more time to be able to more ease into it.

My husband did get a haircut this past Sunday though at a higher end place than he normally goes as he didn't want to deal with the expected waits for Great Clips.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I think the one lingering negative from all of this is going to be the paranoia. 99.9% of the people you pass do not have CV. Except for parts of large, dense cities, it been that way from the start. But now that we are conditioned to assume that everyone is going to pass on CV, it's going to be a while before true civility returns, and by that I mean not crossing the street every time you encounter a stranger, the mask-shaming, all of that. It can't come soon enough IMHO.

 

[ronandannette]

Yes. But I never really went all in from the beginning. I have always washed my hands a lot due to work and it’s just a habit.

I have worked full time the entire time but I didn’t strip my clothes off in another room and take a shower before I touched anyone or anything. We still hit a store 2-3 times a week. I wear a mask where it’s required which is all indoor places here. If it’s not required I don’t wear it. We kept seeing our friends at times but we would social distance in someone’s backyard around the fire pit.

Once beaches opened up we went. Once the ban on gatherings (we can have 25 people outdoors) were lifted I had a bbq with 10 people. Each weekend one of our friends is hosting so we can hang out and get out the house since everything else is closed. We don’t wear masks for this. Before all this we hung out regularly but would often go out. Now we’re saving so much money and still having a good time !

Only thing holding me back is most places not being open. We are about to hit phase 2 in NJ on 6/15. Restaurants will be open and a few other places. Salons expected to open 6/22.

We will continue avoiding places that require masks like theme parks and things like that. We can’t avoid stores because we have to grocery shop at times (we do delivery but sometimes stop in for odds and ends) or hit Lowe’s at times.

When I’m around others I respect their space and stay 6 feet away. I wear a mask when it’s required. I wash my hands often. I use hand sanitizer when needed. I cover my mouth with my elbow when I sneeze or cough.

I have a healthy respect for this virus but I’m not afraid of it.

Love this. ^^ For me, "relax" is not exactly the right term. We have diligently conformed to every official requirement from the beginning and will continue to do so. As restrictions are gradually lifted we take full advantage of everything that is desirable to us, and also will continue to do so. On a strictly personal level, we got into a little routine of keeping wipes in our cars. We sanitize our hands prior to entering any public place and re-sanitize hands and wipe-down the car interior prior to entering our home. We also take a daily vitamin/zinc supplement. This will likely not change.

 

[kirstenb1]

I don't know. Wasn't very strictly locked down anyway. We're in a county that has had maybe 35 cases, no fatalities. I always was a hand washer (former restaurant employee, and they drill that into you). We've had friends over, have rented a place at the beach for a week twice, and generally go about our business. They were asking us to wear masks, so I do that (now it's more mandated than it was). My parents are 80, and we've visited with them several times since March. I think my mom in particular, would be highly insulted if any of us kids tried to boss her around about this virus.

 

[China Expat]

We take precautions, avoid crowded places, wear masks, etc. Will be even more vigilant now as we wait two weeks for the possible huge spike in cases in Los Angeles and environs due to all of the people protesting, many without masks coughing from tear gas.