Is coronavirus changing your ski plans?

[marzNC]

I was supposed to drive to Killington/Pico this morning but thankfully I decided yesterday afternoon not to go. Not sure when they all decided to suspend operations but when I looked at websites yesterday afternoon they had not yet posted anything about not being open. Soooo happy I didn't drive 3 hours only to find everything in that area closed!

A LOT happened after 4pm ET on March 14 with regard to ski area/resort closings.

For instance, take a look at the MT date/time stamps for updates on Ski Utah:
https://www.skiutah.com/news/authors/pr/utah-ski-resorts-covid-19

 

[newboots]

I was supposed to drive to Killington/Pico this morning but thankfully I decided yesterday afternoon not to go. Not sure when they all decided to suspend operations but when I looked at websites yesterday afternoon they had not yet posted anything about not being open. Soooo happy I didn't drive 3 hours only to find everything in that area closed!

They posted it just before midnight! (Don't ask me how I know.) (Some people are up too late reading everything and anything about the virus.)

 

[newboots]

This has been really upsetting to me, too. It's a really weird attitude to have--it's only taking out the elderly (??) Which, new evidence out of Italy seems to be showing that this, in fact, is NOT the case.

One of the three new cases in Vermont is 30, and another is 50.

 

[BlueSkies]

They posted it just before midnight! (Don't ask me how I know.) (Some people are up too late reading everything and anything about the virus.)

You're not the only one. I saw the notice in my email sometime after midnight.

 

[Jenny]

I had 3 more VRBO rentals at Keystone. I reached out to the 3 parties this evening and offered them full refunds. This may not be a VRBO policy, but it's my policy for this crisis.

Unfortunately I probably won't get a refund on my China trip scheduled for October.

Too bad about your China trip - and good for you with your VRBO refunds. I'd be surprised if this wasn’t their policy, too, even if it maybe takes them a while to decide, but nice that you're proactive about it.

Airbnb notified us that our reservation qualified to be fully refundable.

 

[marzNC]

Several countries in Europe are now on lockdown, loads of big events in the UK are being cancelled. It's an unprecented, scary situation.

The last flu pandemic was in the 1970s. The one that killed millions worldwide was in 1918 so few people are still alive who remember how that went. One irony of this coronavirus pandemic is that the only places that took strict measures quickly and successfully flattened their COVID-19 curve by late February are in Asia. Singapore and Hong Kong are small, but very densely populated. They are well past the critical peak of for the daily count of new infections and number of deaths. They had to deal with SARS in 2002-03. There is still no vaccine for SARS partially because it was stamped out quickly enough in Asia that there wasn't as much incentive to continue the needed research.

Countries in Europe, Africa, South America, and North America will have exponential growth for a while yet. Even with extreme measures. Each undetected case with mild symptoms could mean 2-3 days of exposure unknowingly infecting others. 80% of the people who get COVID-19 have mild symptoms for a few days and recover without medical intervention. It's the 15% who need medical help and the 5% with serious or critical breathing problems who are likely to die because ICU care is limited or unavailable because all beds are full or a hospital is short-staffed.

Each death from COVID-19 means the likelihood of community spread having started 2-4 weeks earlier is high due to lack of testing in many countries. As has unfortunately become clear in WA and CO and other states with confirmed deaths in recent weeks.

I know I'm lecturing to people who know much of the above, but it's too important for me to sit back and assume people know what's going on around the country and the world.

* * * * * * Flatten The Curve * * * * *


For a quick look at the COVID-19 numbers by country:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Interactive map for the world:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Interactive map for the U.S., goes to county level:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html

 

[marzNC]

One of the three new cases in Vermont is 30, and another is 50.

That's detected, not a death.

 

[marzNC]

Here's some practical advice on how to prepare for COVID-19 homecare. Plenty of people are going to get in in the coming months. Remember, it's a novel coronavirus, so a flu shot or having had the flu in the past doesn't make much difference.

Online ski forums can be a useful source of info. This came from a regional forum (Facebook originally).

Advice from a nurse, home care preparation and advice when sick with COVID-19 at home

Copied from Facebook - I thought this was very good:

Good advice from a nurse - if you should get the virus: I know we’re all tired of hearing/talking about it, but one thing I HAVEN’T really seen going around is advice for what happens if you DO get coronavirus (many of us will), we're only seeing advice for how to try to AVOID it. So as your friendly neighborhood RN, a wee thread:

Things you should *actually* buy ahead of time (Erm, not sure what the obsession with toilet paper is?): Kleenex, Acetaminophen (Tylenol) in 325 mg tablets, Ibuprofen (Advil) in 200 mg tablets, Mucinex, Robitussin or DayQuil/NyQuil, whatever your cough medicine of choice is.

If you don’t have a humidifier, that would also be a good thing to get. (You can also just turn the shower on hot and sit in the bathroom breathing in the steam). Also a good time to make a big batch of your favorite soup to freeze and have on hand.
If you have a history of asthma and you have a prescription inhaler, make sure the one you have isn’t expired and refill it/get a new one if it is.

You basically just want to prepare as though you know you’re going to get a nasty respiratory bug like bronchitis or pneumonia. You just have the foresight to know it’s coming.

For symptom management, use the meds I mentioned. For a fever over 101, alternate Tylenol and Advil so you’re taking a dose of one or the other every 3 hours. Use both cough suppressants and expectorants (most cough meds have both). Drink a ton, hydrate hydrate. Rest lots.

If you're sick, you should not be leaving your house except to go to the doctor, and if you do, wear a mask (regular is fine, you don’t need an N95). You DO NOT NEED TO GO TO THE ER unless you are having trouble breathing or your fever is very high and unmanaged with meds.

90% of healthy adult cases thus far have been managed at home with basic rest/hydration/over-the-counter meds. We don’t want to clog the ERs unless you’re actually in distress. The hospital beds will be used for people who apamctively need oxygen/breathing treatments/IV fluids.

If you have a pre-existing lung condition (COPD, emphysema, lung cancer) or are on immunosuppressants, now is a great time to talk to your PCP or specialist about what they would like you to do if you get sick. They might have plans to get you admitted and bypass the ER entirely.

One major relief to you parents is that kids do VERY well with coronavirus— they usually bounce back in a few days, no one under 18 has died, and almost no kids have required hospitalization (unless they have a lung disease like CF).
Just use pediatric dosing of the same meds.

(If you want to share, copy and paste.)

 

[StayWarm]

This has been really upsetting to me, too. It's a really weird attitude to have--it's only taking out the elderly (??) Which, new evidence out of Italy seems to be showing that this, in fact, is NOT the case.


I got this, too. I skied yesterday and was disappointed that Snowbasin's lodges were still a beehive of activity and food service. We brown bagged it and ate lunch outside, including my daughter, who was in her Devo group--they stayed on the chairs only (gondolas were closed anyway, but due to wind.) Her group sat inside and ate, but I had her sit with me outside. We did go in to use the bathroom, and again, I was rather unhappy with the business as usual inside the lodges. Gotta scrape the last pennies of food service $$ in is how it felt. I have no doubt they make scads and scads of money off of food.

That being said, I won't hesitate to brown bag a day at PowMow this week if it snows like the forecast is calling for. I'll eat in the car and yes, that place is so vast, I could go the entire day and see two people from a distance.

Powder Mountain is a really special place, and I'm optimistic that they'll do this right. Fingers crossed, and I'd love to hear how your experience there goes if you go up this week.

 

[marzNC]

Countries in Europe, Africa, South America, and North America will have exponential growth for a while yet. Even with extreme measures. Each undetected case with mild symptoms could mean 2-3 days of exposure unknowingly infecting others. 80% of the people who get COVID-19 have mild symptoms for a few days and recover without medical intervention. It's the 15% who need medical help and the 5% with serious or critical breathing problems who are likely to die because ICU care is limited or unavailable because all beds are full or a hospital is short-staffed.

Each death from COVID-19 means the likelihood of community spread having started 2-4 weeks earlier is high due to lack of testing in many countries. As has unfortunately become clear in WA and CO and other states with confirmed deaths in recent weeks.

I know I'm lecturing to people who know much of the above, but it's too important for me to sit back and assume people know what's going on around the country and the world.

* * * * * * Flatten The Curve * * * * *

For a quick look at the COVID-19 numbers by country:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Forgot to mention Australia and New Zealand. NZ has essentially closed it's borders. All arriving passengers must go into 14-day quarantine. Pretty much the only way people go to NZ these days it to fly. It's a long way from anywhere. Australia is dealing with COVID-19 in about the same way as the U.S. Testing has been inconsistent across states, as well as decisions about whether or not to close schools and ban large gatherings.

 

[Mistletoes]

Here's some practical advice on how to prepare for COVID-19 homecare. Plenty of people are going to get in in the coming months. Remember, it's a novel coronavirus, so a flu shot or having had the flu in the past doesn't make much difference.

Online ski forums can be a useful source of info. This came from a regional forum (Facebook originally).

Advice from a nurse, home care preparation and advice when sick with COVID-19 at home

Copied from Facebook - I thought this was very good:

Good advice from a nurse - if you should get the virus: I know we’re all tired of hearing/talking about it, but one thing I HAVEN’T really seen going around is advice for what happens if you DO get coronavirus (many of us will), we're only seeing advice for how to try to AVOID it. So as your friendly neighborhood RN, a wee thread:

Things you should *actually* buy ahead of time (Erm, not sure what the obsession with toilet paper is?): Kleenex, Acetaminophen (Tylenol) in 325 mg tablets, Ibuprofen (Advil) in 200 mg tablets, Mucinex, Robitussin or DayQuil/NyQuil, whatever your cough medicine of choice is.

If you don’t have a humidifier, that would also be a good thing to get. (You can also just turn the shower on hot and sit in the bathroom breathing in the steam). Also a good time to make a big batch of your favorite soup to freeze and have on hand.
If you have a history of asthma and you have a prescription inhaler, make sure the one you have isn’t expired and refill it/get a new one if it is.

You basically just want to prepare as though you know you’re going to get a nasty respiratory bug like bronchitis or pneumonia. You just have the foresight to know it’s coming.

For symptom management, use the meds I mentioned. For a fever over 101, alternate Tylenol and Advil so you’re taking a dose of one or the other every 3 hours. Use both cough suppressants and expectorants (most cough meds have both). Drink a ton, hydrate hydrate. Rest lots.

If you're sick, you should not be leaving your house except to go to the doctor, and if you do, wear a mask (regular is fine, you don’t need an N95). You DO NOT NEED TO GO TO THE ER unless you are having trouble breathing or your fever is very high and unmanaged with meds.

90% of healthy adult cases thus far have been managed at home with basic rest/hydration/over-the-counter meds. We don’t want to clog the ERs unless you’re actually in distress. The hospital beds will be used for people who apamctively need oxygen/breathing treatments/IV fluids.

If you have a pre-existing lung condition (COPD, emphysema, lung cancer) or are on immunosuppressants, now is a great time to talk to your PCP or specialist about what they would like you to do if you get sick. They might have plans to get you admitted and bypass the ER entirely.

One major relief to you parents is that kids do VERY well with coronavirus— they usually bounce back in a few days, no one under 18 has died, and almost no kids have required hospitalization (unless they have a lung disease like CF).
Just use pediatric dosing of the same meds.

(If you want to share, copy and paste.)

Thank you for posting this. Helpful to know and prepare for the worst. Now that most people are homebound, what are you telling your kids about friend visits, birthday parties, etc?

Here's my example, my kids went through a traumatic experience Friday. Some friends reached out and my son hung out with his buddies yesterday. He needed it as does my daughter but I'm questioning what's the prudent thing to do right now?

Obviously their race season is cancelled and they are looking at no school as a vacation. I'm afraid the reality will set in soon enough but I'm trying to balance that with their emotional needs as well.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Breaking News (e-mail just received) from Boyne: Sugarloaf and Sunday River will suspend operations at the end of the day today, 3/15, until further notice.

 

[SarahXC]

@Mistletoes From what I read on the cdc webpage (I think) it seemed gathering of 2-3 children with lots of emphasis on decontamination of surfaces before and after and lots of hand washing seemed on the “more ok” side of the recommendations, although of course it seems many may be asymptotic.... Better if kids can engage in outside play versus indoor. We also talked in our family and they helped with input for a daily schedule at home with time for exercise, various school subjects, music practice etc so the weekdays have a routine with changes each 45 min-1 hr.

 

[Christy]

My sister-in-law, who is a nurse in a university hospital in Iowa, just told me that they are having supply shortages and staff are no longer allowed to wear gowns for anything except Covid 19 patients. Which of course puts staff at huge risk. They are dealing with a big outbreak because of a large group of seniors that just took a cruise on the Nile and 16 came back and tested positive.

 

[Little Lightning]

Yep, federal officials were not helping for a while and have probably contributed to community spread in multiple states and cities. WHO and other sources were clear in January that the contagious period for COVID-19 starts before symptoms and can last for several days. That's much longer than seasonal flu or a cold. The importance of "social distancing" and hand washing is to stay away from EVERYONE and avoid picking up the virus from a surface to getting it into your body, because it's impossible to know who is infected and who isn't. That's why gatherings with hundreds and thousands of people are a really bad idea.

A death when there hasn't been much testing means COVID-19 has probably been around that local area for 2-4 weeks. If the patient didn't go for treatment until too late, think about what that means for the days or weeks before they went to the hospital with moderate or severe symptoms. All the early deaths in Italy . . . meant COVID-19 had been around for a while. Same for the deaths in the U.S. such as reported recently in Colorado.

Everyone has to do their part to FLATTEN THE CURVE. The basic ideas are not that hard. Not just for a few days, but for a few weeks or more. This pandemic will end eventually. As did the pandemics of 1918, 1957, and 1968. The question is how many people will die before the number of new cases (detected and undetected) levels out. So far in 3-4 months, the total is almost 1500 in Italy and still climbing exponentially. Italy has a lot fewer people than the U.S. I hope the American case fatality rate doesn't end up in the same ballpark.

https://www.flattenthecurve.com

I posted this on my Facebook page. Thank You.

 

[StayWarm]

@Mistletoes From what I read on the cdc webpage (I think) it seemed gathering of 2-3 children with lots of emphasis on decontamination of surfaces before and after and lots of hand washing seemed on the “more ok” side of the recommendations, although of course it seems many may be asymptotic.... Better if kids can engage in outside play versus indoor. We also talked and they helped with input for a daily schedule at home with time for exercise, various school subjects, music practice etc so the weekdays have a routine with changes each 45 min-1 hr.

Many of the public health professionals and physicians I know have been sharing this: https://medium.com/@ariadnelabs/social-distancing-this-is-not-a-snow-day-ac21d7fa78b4

Key point, relevant to families with children:

2. No kid playdates, parties, sleepovers, or families/friends visiting each other’s houses and apartments.
This sounds extreme because it is. We are trying to create distance between family units and between individuals. It may be particularly uncomfortable for families with small children, kids with differential abilities or challenges, and for kids who simply love to play with their friends. But even if you choose only one friend to have over, you are creating new links and possibilities for the type of transmission that all of our school/work/public event closures are trying to prevent. The symptoms of coronavirus take four to five days to manifest themselves. Someone who comes over looking well can transmit the virus. Sharing food is particularly risky — I definitely do not recommend that people do so outside of their family.

I don't have children, so can only imagine how difficult this is for you. I would make liberal use of FaceTime/Skype playdates, and not limit teens' use of phones so that they can maintain contact with friends.

I'd also turn to PBS (and Mr. Rogers!) for guidance on talking about these things with children: https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-coronavirus

 

[marzNC]

@Mistletoes From what I read on the cdc webpage (I think) it seemed gathering of 2-3 children with lots of emphasis on decontamination of surfaces before and after and lots of hand washing seemed on the “more ok” side of the recommendations, although of course it seems many may be asymptotic.... Better if kids can engage in outside play versus indoor. We also talked in our family and they helped with input for a daily schedule at home with time for exercise, various school subjects, music practice etc so the weekdays have a routine with changes each 45 min-1 hr.

Like everything that involves families, every situation is different. What you don't want is an ever widening circle of "friends" going back and forth for playdates. However, I can definitely understand the value for a small family with 1-2 kids spending time with another small family close by who are already good friends. That relationship is more like an extended family unit in this era when first-cousins usually live pretty far away.

I have only one child. Not little any more since she's in college. We are hosting a friend from college who didn't go stay with family over spring break. However, if she were still in grade school I would probably be working out something with another family that included one of her good friends who also didn't have anyone to play with. It would help keep both kids and parents happier in the short run and the long run.

Working to achieve "social distancing" is not the same thing as "self-isolation" when someone is sick or suspects they had close contact with someone at likely to have COVID-19 for whatever reason. Goal is to slow down the spread in the short run so that the health care system isn't overwhelmed, as has happened in Italy and probably Spain and France as well.

Just my personal opinion.

 

[slyfox4]

Boyne Resorts has closed their mountains until further notice.
So...I guess you could say it’s changing my ski plans. Ugh.

 

[contesstant]

Powder Mountain is a really special place, and I'm optimistic that they'll do this right. Fingers crossed, and I'd love to hear how your experience there goes if you go up this week.

We'll see. Snowbasin closed the enclosed lifts today and the dining halls and are limiting guests. What's sad is the responses from people on Twitter and FB who are mad that they "drove an hour only to be turned away." Cry me a river, I say. If you are on Twitter responding, you should have been on there checking before you left. This kind of "me-ism" attitude is gross.

My sister-in-law, who is a nurse in a university hospital in Iowa, just told me that they are having supply shortages and staff are no longer allowed to wear gowns for anything except Covid 19 patients. Which of course puts staff at huge risk. They are dealing with a big outbreak because of a large group of seniors that just took a cruise on the Nile and 16 came back and tested positive.

How many are gravely sick, do you know?

Many of the public health professionals and physicians I know have been sharing this: https://medium.com/@ariadnelabs/social-distancing-this-is-not-a-snow-day-ac21d7fa78b4

Key point, relevant to families with children:

2. No kid playdates, parties, sleepovers, or families/friends visiting each other’s houses and apartments.
This sounds extreme because it is. We are trying to create distance between family units and between individuals. It may be particularly uncomfortable for families with small children, kids with differential abilities or challenges, and for kids who simply love to play with their friends. But even if you choose only one friend to have over, you are creating new links and possibilities for the type of transmission that all of our school/work/public event closures are trying to prevent. The symptoms of coronavirus take four to five days to manifest themselves. Someone who comes over looking well can transmit the virus. Sharing food is particularly risky — I definitely do not recommend that people do so outside of their family.

I don't have children, so can only imagine how difficult this is for you. I would make liberal use of FaceTime/Skype playdates, and not limit teens' use of phones so that they can maintain contact with friends.

I'd also turn to PBS (and Mr. Rogers!) for guidance on talking about these things with children: https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-coronavirus

We had a small birthday dinner scheduled for tonight. We cancelled and will meet our friends to go ride one of the few open mountain bike trails. Going to get basic groceries is horrifying. We went to check out Costco at opening and drove right on by-a line snaking out the door and down the sidewalk was there. I'm grateful for my family of 3 as we have a lot of stuff stashed and I'm very creative with "what's in the pantry and freezer." But, ironically, I WILL need TP in the next two weeks! And can find none.

 

[newboots]

By the way, the thinking about anti-inflammatory meds may be changing with this outbreak:

https://www.thelocal.fr/20200314/co...inister-issues-warning-over-anti-flammatories