How is your job being affected right now?

[Kingspoint]

He didn’t just say dentists. He said hospitals, labs, and dentists.

If this goes south they are going to have to expand hospitals or convert places like hotels into makeshift hospitals. These will have to be fitted with tables and cabinets I’m sure.

Also, labs are going to be expanding as well to be handling all of the testing going on.

This is like a beyond obvious essential business.

I doubt this. The "essential" needed employees is definitely not "business as usual".

[Kingspoint]

He didn’t just say dentists. He said hospitals, labs, and dentists.

If this goes south they are going to have to expand hospitals or convert places like hotels into makeshift hospitals. These will have to be fitted with tables and cabinets I’m sure.

Also, labs are going to be expanding as well to be handling all of the testing going on.

This is like a beyond obvious essential business.

You're totally missing the point, which is the exact attitude why this virus is spreading so much and why it will take longer than it should to get contained. There should not be a Starbucks open as was mentioned in this thread already. They are not essential while at the same time they are not maintaining proper social distance from each other and can't possibly in any fashion be practicing sterile hygiene 100% of the time, and probably not 1% of the time.

Too many people think they are "essential" and they simply are not right now.

[Redsfaithful]

Dentists probably would be essential normally, but I don't think you can safely do dentistry without being exposed to this.

[Kingspoint]

Nothing's more essential than the economy of New York City and it's been deemed non-essential. People have a self-inflated ego about what they feel is essential about their individual job. By not using common sense and staying home it puts those who are essential in harm's way of the virus and makes this outbreak greater and more deadly than it needs to be. See the 500+ Officers now infected in NYC and the 1000's of more health workers and essential people who are and will be in the coming months. Seriously, essential? Give me a break.

[Boss-Hog]

I'm in a similar situation to some in that I'm able to work from home relatively easily. My wife, however, is a physical therapist and treats patients in their homes. Most, though not all, of her patients are elderly, which makes the situation even worse. We're both concerned that she could get the virus and bring it home to our family and/or pass it on to her patients.

[North]

Dentists probably would be essential normally, but I don't think you can safely do dentistry without being exposed to this.

I posted this from my dentist on March 17:


As your dentist, I'd like to share the decisions I have made as a part of the healthcare community and my responsibility in the prevention and mitigation efforts recommended by the Ohio State Dental Board (OSDB) during this outbreak.

Governor Mike DeWine contacted the Board and the Ohio Dental Association and asked for our help in addressing the spread of COVID-19. Dentists are in one of the highest risk categories for both transmission and contraction of the Coronavirus as many of the procedures we perform creates significant aerosols in the treatment rooms. As a part of the healthcare community and the community at large, we have to protect the safety of our patients and staff. The OSDB is closely monitoring the situation and decided to impose these recommendations to practicing dentists in Ohio.


This is a very difficult decision, but it comes at a critical time and it is our responsibility to take leadership in this situation and have protocols in place to reduce the spread and impact of Coronavirus among the communities where we practice and live. This plan & OSBD recommendations will change as the situation demands and evolves.

As of today, March 17, we will only be treating emergency patients as recommended by the OSBD. We will be reaching out to our patients and rescheduling elective procedures including, but not limited to:

Any cosmetic or aesthetic procedures, such as veneers, teeth bleaching, or cosmetic bonding
All routine hygiene appointments
Initiation of any crowns, bridges, or dentures that do not address or prevent pain or restore normal oral functioning
Delay all appointments for high-risk patients, unless it is an emergency
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we manage through these very difficult and unprecedented times.

[vaticanplum]

My wife was working from home for a week and then her job implemented a staggered work schedule, half her office working every other day, and, on her second in-office day, several members of the office that were supposed to work from home came in anyway because they were “bored” working from home. It’s hard to balance respecting your spouse’s autonomy and pushing them into making the correct choice but I think health comes first. I had to be a bit of a focused a-hole (or at least I felt like one since I’m not naturally aggressive or controlling) but my wife decided to bring up her concerns about her co-workers coming in on ‘off days’ and her boss agreed with the concern and now my wife is working indefinitely from home. And I’ve been reassured that I only felt like a jerk and she appreciated me pushing her to say something. I hope your wife decides to make the better choice for the health of both of you.

This is exactly what my husband's work did, with the added kicker that they have an open work plan with no assigned seats, so everyone's in a different place every day. I threw a fit. He's immunocompromised and can 100% do his job from home; in fact, most of his team already works from home, and his boss is in Canada. I'm not losing my husband, or even letting him weather a brutal contagious illness, because some of his coworkers are "bored" and/or the company doesn't trust its employees to work from home.

He chose to work from home and it was fine. The company didn't bite the bullet on keeping everyone home until the state of PA forced it. Unbelievable.

[RichRed]

I’ve been working from home since 3/13. My company makes label stock for food and beverage packaging, prescription bottles, package delivery boxes, hand sanitizers and soaps, etc., etc. My role is in supply chain so I’ve been extremely busy, and am grateful for it. I’ve gotten kind of used to working from home and hey, you can’t beat the commute.

My wife is an x-ray tech at an orthopedic/urgent care office so she’s the one I worry about the most, as she’s exposed to a large number of different people on any given day. And I’ve frankly been concerned with her company’s poor preparation and communication during this whole thing. In addition to that, the vast majority of the patients who are coming in have non-urgent issues that can wait. The company is supposedly “pre-screening” patients now but my wife says not a single one has been turned away.

[RedTeamGo!]

You're totally missing the point, which is the exact attitude why this virus is spreading so much and why it will take longer than it should to get contained. There should not be a Starbucks open as was mentioned in this thread already. They are not essential while at the same time they are not maintaining proper social distance from each other and can't possibly in any fashion be practicing sterile hygiene 100% of the time, and probably not 1% of the time.

Too many people think they are "essential" and they simply are not right now.

Starbucks? I am talking about a business that supplies hospitals and labs.

I agree Starbucks is not essential, and trust me I am not part of the reason this is spreading.

[Roy Tucker]

CFC? Have I asked this before? My dad worked at CFC from 1972-1992.

Yep, that’s the place.

[BernieCarbo]

If there's one person from this website I would be the least worried about if things got to the ultimate worst, it would be you. Very resourceful personality.

No, it was just how I was raised and had no choice. People in the midwest and places like Boston and NY look back fondly to the 50's and 60's because the economy was going gangbusters, but if you lived in rural America it was a slog. I probably do have more of an independent personality than most, but mostly I just live the way I was raised.

[Tuff Nut]

Is everyone maintaining 6 feet from each other at all times, including where employees walk, use the restroom, put their personal belongings, etc., at all times? If not at all times, and I doubt if they are, they should be reported to the state. It's that kind of non-essential place that's spreading the disease. There are hundreds of places like that here in Oregon that are disregarding the social distancing order and putting everyone in this country at risk. Hundreds of whistle-blowers are doing their part and calling them in. But, because this is a free country, the government can't do anything, even a fine, to stop them. Public shaming is the only tool.

Yes there is ample space between employees. The presses I program and operate are at least 10-12 feet apart. This is a very large building, so it is not like things are compact.

[krm1580]

Is that what they call it now? When I did that in 1984 it was called Computer Operator. We used Omegamon at the time for monitoring all of the nation's systems.

Normally my job is adding network capacity or reshaping traffic over existing links. Its a little slow so we are helping out with the monitoring piece. I think their title is Engineer 1 or Engineer 2.

It is amazing to think how much things have changed since 1984 from a capacity standpoint. I want to say it was 1988 when the NSFNET (pre-cursor to the internet after ARPANET) was full T-3 (45Mbs). The connection to my home today is 5x that. I remember working at AT&T in the 90s when they were putting in an OC-48 backbone (2.5Gbs) and this crusty old engineer who was probably old enough to actually have met Alexander Graham Bell telling me "These pipes are huge! We will probably never need anything bigger than this." At the time, I thought that was an amazing statement and these days I am amazed by the folly of the statement

[Strikes Out Looking]

I'm an attorney who went back to the feds last May and already teleworked part of the time. Now teleworking all the time until further notice. I am very lucky (I was in solo private practice for 16 years and I'm pretty sure I'd have had my income go way down if I still was going that).

I hope the curve flattens soon, much like Sean Marshall's did when he was a Red.

[dougdirt]

I hope the curve flattens soon, much like Sean Marshall's did when he was a Red.

Dude. Harsh.