The Covid-19 Info thread (keep politics out please)

[Prediction? Pain.]

Depends on what you mean by required. We are a 2 income family with 2 kids in college, so an income is needed. But, when your choice is working, endangering your health, and endangering your clients; or not working and losing your client base, losing your place of business, and wiping out your personal finances - it's not fun either way. And don't give me the "but they work in flu season every year" - it's not at all the same.

There are a few legit businesses that should be closed because of the likelihood and risk to those involved - massage therapists are one. And I'm one who thinks that a lot of the closures have currently gone too far.

If you don't mind me asking, Brunswick, what's her insurance carrier advising? As much as we're focused on what politicians are or should be saying, I suspect many -- if not most -- businesses are listening to their insurers more. Whether or not Kemp should've given the green light to movie theaters to open next Monday, I imagine his input is irrelevant until theaters assess their risk exposure to be worth the cost of doing business.

A great example of this is dentist offices. My neighbor's a dentist and even though he falls under the umbrella of "essential services" in Tennessee, guidance from the American Dental Association and insurers made him decide to close shop for all but emergency procedures, which constitute a tiny fraction of business for many dental practices. So "reopening" wasn't a matter of waiting on the green light from the governor or mayor but rather from a business decision professional and insurance organizations. He's obviously in a different position than your wife or the owner of a theater, spa, or tattoo parlor, whose closure was government mandated. But when your insurance carrier and accrediting agency says you're not covered if you proceed, the result's pretty much the same.

And for what it's worth, our situation is somewhat similar. My office building isn't open to the public right now, but we're operating more or less at full capacity (even if partially from our houses, where I've spent the past month working). My wife, however, works at a large nonprofit whose revenue is solely derived from guest admissions. (Think museums, zoos, aquariums, kids' science centers, etc.) They've been losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a week and have already laid off over 100 people and cut many others' salaries, including my wife's. Their reopening is probably on the same timeline as movie theaters and other entertainment venues, which, as I noted above, may have way more to do with what their attorneys and insurance agents say than the state and local government. (They, along with other similar businesses in town, closed before any "shelter at home" orders were in place.)

We're really lucky that she's still able to work (mixture of remote and in her office) and get paid even at a reduced rate. But the status quo can only last so long. I'm interested to see how things progress as places with low enough new-case rates start testing the waters.