Hopefully there will be enough testing capacity to catch up with all the complacent ones when they start to cheat on their self-isolation. I doubt that most modern Americans can go 14 days. Time will tell.
I think the messaging at the start of this mess contributed to complacency, and the risk of serious illness has probably still not sunk in with many. That messaging was “Only old people and those with chronic conditions have to worry” (Not true, the press finally caught on a few days ago) and “Do this for the greater good” (That message no longer resonates with a large swath of Americans, it has been overused in the past).
Not if they’re disposable nitrile, used just once, and disinfected when put on and taken off. Moreover, without gloves a viral particle can arrive on your skin without you having any idea that it has done so. There’s a reason that explains COVID-19’s accelerating presence - and since diabetes is a primary condition associated with COVID-19-caused death (especially if also above 60 years in age), it is clear that those engaged in this discussion should take greater care than does the general population.
I’m not saying gloves don’t work. I am saying they aren’t particularly more effective for most uses than not touching your face and frequently hand sanitizing/hand washing. If you don’t have the ability to easily clean your hands, then they’re useful. But in many cases, like grocery shopping, the bags are covered in germs, all the groceries are too, you’re probably then going to touch those things once in your house and need to deal with it then, and then wash again. So the best thing to do is get in the habit of very very regular hand cleaning and no face touching. If gloves help a person do that, great! They are in no way required to take careful precautions though.
Also no one at-risk should be going to the grocery store or anywhere else out at all at this point anyway, really. That’s by far the most important precaution. I haven’t left the house except for a couple of brief forays outdoors with my partner since a week ago. We have gotten deliveries that we have carefully unpacked outside and either sanitized as much as possible if needed immediately or perishable, or left in our mudroom (now a decontamination zone) for 3+ days before using/touching.
I read an article where it was going around in Iran that consuming alcohol would help prevent the coronavirus. They had 27 (or 44 depending on what source you are reading) deaths, and more hospitalized, due to alcohol poisoning. Much of came because they drank bootleg alcohol made with methanol (since buying, selling, and drinking alcohol is banned for all citizens except some minor non-Muslim minorities.)
It is not necessarily a scam but just misinformation and it had such tragic results.
