Note. Our island now has one reported case of coronavirus which has changed the situation here. Stay at home and face masks are required now.
DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #857: THE INSANITY HAS SPREAD
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OP
DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #857: THE INSANITY HAS SPREAD
This past weekend I finally saw the insanity reach the shores of my beloved Catalina. During this corona virus threat, I have welcomed a number of appropriate actions taken by our city to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to our residents. I believe they were correct in enacting them.
The passenger ferries have been discouraging any visitors from coming here and possibly bringing the infection to our town. Makes sense. They have also requested that only essential trips be made by residents as well, as we could return with an infection from The Big Island. I have not gone over to doctor's appointments or my regular blood tests for three months. Fortunately my chemo pills are shipped over by the UCI pharmacy so I can continue my treatments two out of every three weeks.
Hotels are closed which, again makes sense. Restaurants are closed as well for in-house dining. Again, I can't argue with that! A friend and I tried "to go" a while back and I won't even do that again! Despite my rather meager culinary skills, I will wait until it's safe before dining out. I'll survive on unintentionally "blackened" meals and floppy omelettes that turn into cheese scrambled eggs instead.
However, last weekend things turned silly out here IMHO. It was mostly due to a number of residents out on mainland beaches that were stupid and showed little social distancing as required. Beaches within the County were immediately closed. I agree it makes sense "over there," but residents here that went out onto our beaches were almost uniformly practicing social distancing. It was rare I saw more than two or three out there once the ferries restricted spring breakers and others from coming over.
According to the guidelines I've seen, we can still go outside and walk as long as we practice appropriate social distancing. Heck, back in high school the rule was 6" of separation when we were dancing! Six feet is a no brainer in my opinion, and I practice it without a thought. However on Saturday I was sitting on a bench reading a book in the fresh air and sunshine (good to fight the virus as was practiced during the 1918 flu epidemic). There was no one within 100 feet of me...
... Until a Sheriff's deputy came up to me and said I couldn't sit still, I had to keep moving like those out walking. They were very nice about it and I complied, respecting that they were only following the directives given them. Why are those moving about (and potentially spreading the virus over a broader swath if infected) allowed to continue walking and I can't sit still well-distanced? Makes no sense to me.
Another Sheriff's deputy was out patrolling the Casino Point dive park when I went out there. It had been closed as of that date. Now I've made a lot of trips down to the park the last few weeks to check things out and occasionally do a few dives myself. Once the cruise ships stopped coming and the ferries discouraged non-resident travel, local divers and staff were pretty much the only ones out there and they were practicing social distancing.
SCUBA diving may be the ultimate in social distancing. Salt water, fresh air and sunshine kill the virus. Besides, when we dive we're often 60 feet (or more) under. I consider that a very safe distance. Casino Point is by no means a "beach" based on any definition I'm familiar with as a marine biologist of 50+ years. A beach is defined as a landform adjacent to a body of water that is composed of unconsolidated material; such as sand, pebbles, cobbles or small rock. Casino Point is a rocky shore!
Please let's show some sanity in dealing with the virus. That applies to people... and to our leaders.
© 2020 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 850 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Perfect examples of social distancing IMHO.
This past weekend I finally saw the insanity reach the shores of my beloved Catalina. During this corona virus threat, I have welcomed a number of appropriate actions taken by our city to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to our residents. I believe they were correct in enacting them.
The passenger ferries have been discouraging any visitors from coming here and possibly bringing the infection to our town. Makes sense. They have also requested that only essential trips be made by residents as well, as we could return with an infection from The Big Island. I have not gone over to doctor's appointments or my regular blood tests for three months. Fortunately my chemo pills are shipped over by the UCI pharmacy so I can continue my treatments two out of every three weeks.
Hotels are closed which, again makes sense. Restaurants are closed as well for in-house dining. Again, I can't argue with that! A friend and I tried "to go" a while back and I won't even do that again! Despite my rather meager culinary skills, I will wait until it's safe before dining out. I'll survive on unintentionally "blackened" meals and floppy omelettes that turn into cheese scrambled eggs instead.
However, last weekend things turned silly out here IMHO. It was mostly due to a number of residents out on mainland beaches that were stupid and showed little social distancing as required. Beaches within the County were immediately closed. I agree it makes sense "over there," but residents here that went out onto our beaches were almost uniformly practicing social distancing. It was rare I saw more than two or three out there once the ferries restricted spring breakers and others from coming over.
According to the guidelines I've seen, we can still go outside and walk as long as we practice appropriate social distancing. Heck, back in high school the rule was 6" of separation when we were dancing! Six feet is a no brainer in my opinion, and I practice it without a thought. However on Saturday I was sitting on a bench reading a book in the fresh air and sunshine (good to fight the virus as was practiced during the 1918 flu epidemic). There was no one within 100 feet of me...
... Until a Sheriff's deputy came up to me and said I couldn't sit still, I had to keep moving like those out walking. They were very nice about it and I complied, respecting that they were only following the directives given them. Why are those moving about (and potentially spreading the virus over a broader swath if infected) allowed to continue walking and I can't sit still well-distanced? Makes no sense to me.
Another Sheriff's deputy was out patrolling the Casino Point dive park when I went out there. It had been closed as of that date. Now I've made a lot of trips down to the park the last few weeks to check things out and occasionally do a few dives myself. Once the cruise ships stopped coming and the ferries discouraged non-resident travel, local divers and staff were pretty much the only ones out there and they were practicing social distancing.
SCUBA diving may be the ultimate in social distancing. Salt water, fresh air and sunshine kill the virus. Besides, when we dive we're often 60 feet (or more) under. I consider that a very safe distance. Casino Point is by no means a "beach" based on any definition I'm familiar with as a marine biologist of 50+ years. A beach is defined as a landform adjacent to a body of water that is composed of unconsolidated material; such as sand, pebbles, cobbles or small rock. Casino Point is a rocky shore!
Please let's show some sanity in dealing with the virus. That applies to people... and to our leaders.
© 2020 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 850 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Perfect examples of social distancing IMHO.
OP
The situation has now changed on the island as we have one reported case of COVID-19. Stay at home (except for essential trips) and face masks are now required. Makes sense.
Be safe Bill.
The insanity is growing. There was an article posted on the Divebums news list that everyone there was agreeing with, despite it being nothing but suppositions and guesses. The article suggested the virus is living in the air, so now even staying in your house isn't safe. The only two places safe now are underwater and in space. I can't afford a rocket, so I'll try to dive as much as possible.
socaljohn
Contributor
Hey Dr. Bill, I appreciate your call for wisdom and common sense from rule makers during this outbreak. Unfortunately rules are usually made taking steps to control those with the least common sense, and wiser types are caught up in the over regulation needed to protect knuckleheads from themselves. Be safe brother.
peterak
Contributor
I'm happy to report that things are better here in Hawaii. From the governor's proclamation:
B. Permitted Activities Outside the Home or Place of Residence...
...7. Outdoor exercise activities, including ocean activities such as surfing and swimming, so long as social distancing requirements are maintained
And while most dive shops here are closed, at least one is open for drive-in tank fills.
B. Permitted Activities Outside the Home or Place of Residence...
...7. Outdoor exercise activities, including ocean activities such as surfing and swimming, so long as social distancing requirements are maintained
And while most dive shops here are closed, at least one is open for drive-in tank fills.
samb521
Registered
^^^this^^^
I envy you your freedom. While that policy makes perfect sense in somewhere like hawaii or anywhere you can reasonably avoid contact with other people, I am taking the more batshit crazy not going outside and touching the same sht that 1,000 other people just touched or breathed on approach.
The city is an amazing place to live and raise a family but when fcked up sht like bombs, airplanes, and pandemics happen, life changes in a New York minute.
So my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone here and abroad. Some day soon puppies will be cute, the highways will be packed, you'll spill mustard on your tie... heck, you might even wear pants, again. But right now, this is the brave new world we live in.
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