Personal hospital experience:

My blood pressure and heart rate went haywire last Sunday. My wife took me to LRGH. From what I could tell there were several other people in the emergency room but it did not look like there was any wait to get in. No one was in the waiting area.They told me they do not have any cardiologists on staff and would send me to Concord Hosptal (a very sad state of affairs). They had to test me for covid before they could send me and it came up negative (GREAT!). I was in a room by my self in Concord (not the ICU or CCU) and I wore a mask when not sleeping. No mask when they checked my vital signs in the middle of the night or during any of the myriad tests and procedures. From what I could tell when they were wheeling around me there was a number of empty rooms. I was there until Tuesday and took numerous trips for procedures. Are they overwhelmed? I can't state definitively. With increased positives. Who knows? Just one person's experience.

I follow your logic and agree, to a point. I just sent out a note to the parents at my school. I did not tell people what they can and cannot do, but tried to make sure everyone understands that actions can have unintended consequences. If as a result of a Thanksgiving gathering a case of covid ends up in school, we have no choice but to go remote; we are very small and keeping all grades and staff apart is not possible. Right now we are one of the few area schools that is open full time; we want to keep it that way. One thing that seems odd to me is the spread is not occurring in schools, but is occurring in bars, restaurants, and gyms, Yet the focus is on closing schools and keeping other things open. Shouldn't we be closing the places where we know spread is occurring and allow schools to stay open? I don't have answers, just some Saturday thoughts.

Students are definitely spreading it through sports and activities, but it's impossible to tell if at school. My school said we'd stay hybrid unless there was proof in-school transmission. The problem is that it's impossible, given the timing/asymptomatic potential/incubation period, to know where the spread actually occurred.

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Sports and activities, absolutely. Many schools here are curtailing sports but sports outside of school are continuing.

The virus cannot be stopped until a vaccine is in place and we all take it.

Until then, the best that can be done is to try to keep it at bay.

The interim question, or course, is "Which is of higher priority: saving lives or saving the economy?"

Catch 22.

Might not be any economy if lives are not saved.

Yes--and your Moultonborough restaurant closure thread is a great example of how this works--one asymptomatic(?) person goes out to dinner on Saturday, and two days latter the restaurant is shut for weeks and two waiters are infected.

#1 for me would be saving lives, #2 would be saving the economy. But I'm sure there are just as many people, maybe more, that would vote the other way around.:(

You really can't say that though. It's like the chicken and the egg. People will die from the virus or die because they can't work because of the virus. Despite what some progressive legislators think, the government can't pay everybody to stay home forever. And if the grocery stores aren't open because the workers are at home, I think most people would have a hard time finding food on their own. If truck drivers and essential workers stay home, how will we live? The society depends on people working beyond financial considerations.

Spot on Tis. If I wanted to live in North Korea, I’d just move there. People need to face reality....sometimes bad things happen to good people.

People won’t die just because they contracted the virus. Heck, many that contract the virus won’t die! There seems to be a sentiment that it’s all or nothing. You either are fine or you die. There is a significant population in the middle that requires intensive medical care and resources in order to survive. Those people eat up valuable resources during their care and there is then a cascade effect on the entire healthcare system when it becomes overwhelmed. There will then be unnecessary and otherwise preventable deaths due to heart attacks, strokes, and other normally treatable and survivable illness and injury. So this isn’t just about people dying from COVID...it’s about people dying because of a healthcare system that is at or beyond capacity. Yes, I’ve read the anecdotal reports of people who sought care at the local hospitals and everything seemed normal. I’ve even spoken to a few healthcare workers from local facilities and heard positive stories. But all healthcare facilities are not created equal nor have all the necessary services for the critically ill. So some of these facilities are not the best litmus test. They can have 50 open beds but if they don’t have invasive cardiology services, good luck surviving your heart attack. Forget the transfer to a hospital that can actually treat you as they are at capacity due to COVID patients....it quickly becomes a slippery slope. Be well.

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You kind of miss the point--staying home and social distancing does not need to be 100%. If everybody just cuts back, transmissions will fall. Grocery stores, trucks, etc, should all roll. But you might want to get your haircut less often, and skip the bars and rock concerts

But it’s not one or the other. It’s a middle ground where people go out for essentials, and hopefully plan well enough so those trips are infrequent, and then stay home or in relatively isolated situations until things settle down. Progressives aren’t asking for everyone to be paid while they stay at home. They’re realistic that some people in the workforce aren’t essential but can’t work from home, so they need a safety net until this blows over. Why are you trying to make this black or white, when life is never like that, Covid or not?

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To start a different vein, my brother who lives in the Lakes Region is the only close contact for assisting my 92-year-old mother in MA. My sister and I are both in FL. He travels every other weekend to assist her, delivering essential groceries to her. What happens if he’s stopped on the way to deliver her groceries? At this point, with the infection rates in most states, does it really make a difference? I will move back to MA to take care of her, but with rates high in 48 states, does it really matter?


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You should tell that to the hundreds of out of staters that were climbing Mt. Major on Saturday.

The upsetting hypocrisy is that most of those people came from a state with higher Covid numbers that has banned NH visitors.

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Because when you drive by the hundreds of cars parked along Rt. 11, most are from our neighboring state.

License plate is a dead give away! ;);)

Dan

It's unfortunate but the only thing you can do is control your own actions. I'm just as tired of staying home as everyone else but I don't want to get sick right now, not with just covid but I don't want to get anything right now. So I will limit my exposure to others as much as possible because that's all I can control and hope others do the same.
We still go out but we try to avoid crowds when ever possible. I've left places if I feel they are too crowded and go back at another time.
I would rather spend as much time at home rather than any time in the hospital.


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Bingo. "Hypocrisy" is the key. It's bad enough having to listen to all this coming from NH "authorities", but when the out of state people start preaching their "holier than thou" compliance protocols while sitting in the State of NH, that's the epitome of hypocrisy.

Yes, this is a good point, and I would tell it to in-staters as well. One thing that too many people on both sides of the political spectrum have in common is the willingness to forget about the numbers when it suits them. "I have to protest for an important cause" is not much different than "Nobody's going to tell me to stay away from that bike rally", or "But Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday".

Hypothetical journey Moultonborough to any town, MA via Everett and 3: the authorities can check EZ pass records, but only to state line as there aren’t any tolls once you’re in MA. Therefore, one could claim a visit to someone in Nashua, for instance. Once you have crossed into MA, however, are we expected to produce a negative COVID result? Will they put up roadblocks for out of state vehicles? Random stops? Sheesh! This is making Marie Callender entrees sound better and better. Seriously...does anyone know what to expect? Thanks.

You can invite FLL over and you can eat outside like the pilgrims.:D

Gentlemen...? Please stop. Please return to the recent post asking what to expect after crossing the state line. Thank you.. (#106)
��

I recommend the turkey pot pie. Yum !

Sorry, friend.

In any case, as someone who lives in NH and works in MA, I've been thinking a lot about my own activities. For example, I was supposed to get my hair cut and grab some egg nog at a local farm where I grew up, but I'm not supposed to.

On the one hand, there's no way to really enforce it and, honestly, it's annoying since I come from a state with lower numbers.

On the other hand, I don't want to be part of the problem.

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I hear you....it’s a dilemma, for sure. We are being reasonably careful. We’ll be tested at Huggins today, and drive to MA Thursday if tests are negative. Pain in the derrière, but we feel it’s the least we can do. Happy Thanksgiving to all, wherever you land....even if Marie C is your chef!

I forgot to add a couple things: because of my recent close contact with students who either tested positive or were close contacts of students who tested positive, I'm to be "rapidly tested" at school tomorrow.

This also means that my in-laws will not be joining us for Thanksgiving, which my wife is terribly disappointed by.

It's definitely a year to find solace in the little things—we baked sugar cookies as a family the other night, which was wonderful.

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Indeed.

While wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing and washing / sanitizing your hands is mildly annoying, none of these actions cut as deeply into our human psyche as does avoiding close contact in our homes or elsewhere with friends and loved ones.

People are by nature social creatures, and being told / forced to not get close to anyone other than members of your immediate household can cause great distress, anxiety and resentment.

Consider this coming Thanksgiving: those who invite friends or family over for dinner, drinks and companionship could be inviting Covid-19 into their homes as well, or if they are asymptomatic carriers they could infect their guests.

While I'd rather not live in fear it is of first priority to me that I continue to live.

Hope your test is negative tomorrow think. :)
Going to be a different Thanksgiving at the DEJ house this year also, no family, just the two of us. Seems like the responsible thing to do at least for us anyway.

Fortunately, my test was negative, but it's been kinda crazy these last couple of days with all the new positives in my school and community.

I'm hoping we see a decline in cases soon after the holidays—the summer and early fall were (mostly) tolerable, but November has been stressful.

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Hi Sue,

You will not see or experience anything different crossing between Mass and NH. There are no police, no checkpoints, or anything like that. Happy trails!

Is this the same regardless of where you travel in New England? We have a trip planned to an Airbnb in Maine immediately after Christmas (spending two nights in ME). We will leave CT Saturday, 12/26, traveling I95 through MA/NH into ME. We're trying to do the right thing by getting tested beforehand. Thing is, getting the test done within 72 hours of the day we arrive in ME seems problematic. That would require getting tested on Thursday, December 24 (if we even can on that day - Xmas eve) and hoping to get results by Saturday morning before we leave. That seems to be an iffy proposition given (1) all the other people probably trying to get tested then for the same reasons we are and (2) the fact that things could be slower due to holiday staff shortages and shutdowns. Wife says we should get tested on Monday, December 21 (to ensure that we get the tests back) but that wouldn't comply with the 72-hour rule. I guess the fall back would be that we do NOT get tested at all and simply not go anywhere when in Maine (self-quarantine). But sitting around a house isn't why we signed up to go there - - we could do that in CT.

Any suggestions? We want to do the right thing but if we can't do it perfectly, is anyone really checking?

Amazingly easy trip one way....hardly any traffic....just heavy rain. Hope it’s as easy on the return trip. Thanks for your comments, Flying

Weeks, not Months...
 

Vaccine is to get to health workers in a few weeks...

https://www.newsmax.com/t/newsmax/ar...eerepublic.com

I know there are no checkpoints on the road between Mass and Maine. I don't know what you will find on arrival in Maine--I have heard that people have been met with a chilly reception at some inns.

On the "right" thing to do--I think we need to recognize that some of the rules are good in spirit, but need to be adapted to reality. The COVID test is a good example. I think you should be tested as late as possible while still allowing time to receive your result before departure. But that may not match the letter of the law or get you past a hotel clerk.

We were able to get tested in Wolfeboro (Huggins) and had negative results the next day. If you can schedule something similar for 12/23 in CT, hopefully you would have results in plenty of time. We printed out the results and had them in the glove compartment in case we were stopped going round trip NH to MA, but we didn’t need them. Good luck!

Too confident?
 

Please remember that a negative test means only one thing! You are negative on the day the sample was collected. It is no guarantee that you have not picked up the virus the day of or after testing.

There was a great piece on the radio a week ago describing the "Swiss Cheese Defense" against COVID. Each thing we do to reduce transmission--testing, face masks, closing bars, etc--is like a single piece of Swiss cheese--it has holes. But if we stack multiple slices atop each other, every new slice reduces the chance of something getting through the holes. So just keep a few slices between you and COVID, and your chances are really good.

If the hotel or inn took your money for a reservation knowing all along you were from a different state they shouldn’t have any reason to be chilly...