Are you social distancing from DH?

amother

Lemon

Tue, Apr 28 2020, 7:37 pm

amother [ Salmon ] wrote:

Yes. I am in healthcare. I live in the basement.
I have not touched anyone since Purim. He snuggles the children. They (DH and teens) make all the food, cleaned and kashred the kitchen for Pesach.....
I call them before I get home and they evacuate the first floor entry area, and I go right down to the basement and shower immediately. They put food at the top of the basement steps and after they walk away I go up to get it.

We sit at the basement steps me on the bottom and DH or DCs at the top and sometimes eat there. We sometimes go for walks, 6-10 feet apart, and we text/talk on the phone.

In case you this is crazy and I am OCD, 90% of my coworker's do the same.

I am not advocating this as a general precaution, DCs and DH don't SD, but I do this as a healthcare worker.

Since you're anon anyway, could you please clarify more about what you do and where, and what PPE you're using? "In healthcare" is quite broad. Do you interact with Covid patients? I'm not asking out of idle curiosity. I'm an MD in Brooklyn who works in my private office seeing patients remotely via telehealth since this all began.

I haven't set foot in the hospital across the street, which definitely has many Covid patients, but DH is still nervous and would probably prefer that I do something like what you're doing.

And what do you do for Shabbos/Yom Tov? Even if I could theoretically see myself doing something like you during the week, the idea of being alone on Shabbos seems quite challenging.

amother

Bisque

Tue, Apr 28 2020, 7:46 pm

Salmon I truly salute you and the many healthcare frontline workers who are doing this and more.
May Hashem End this magefa and may you not have to do this and may you get the many rewards you richly deserve.
Thank you.
Heartfelt thanks and brochos to you and your family and colleagues and patients and everyone.

HonesttoGod

Tue, Apr 28 2020, 7:49 pm

I opted for the “house is too small” but also I need to be normal.
My husband has been working as normal since the beginning. Taking precautions obviously but not as many as I’d like him to
Then again he’s been doing 99% of the grocery shopping for us and many others too. He’s doing his best. We all are.
Bh I am not high risk neither is he and neither are our kids. To be socially distant with him would mean him moving out somewhere for 3 months? Not happening.

amother

Amethyst

Tue, Apr 28 2020, 7:56 pm

For us it, it really isn't feasible to social distance. We live in a small townhouse and we are taking precautions seriously. DH is the only one who leaves the house for work and to do the grocery shopping. When I'm able, I order our groceries online to be picked up but most stores in our area aren't equipped for that so we just try to make a list and only go once a week at most. He washes his hands constantly, he doesn't touch anything when he gets home he immediately changes his clothes and puts the dirty ones in the wash and washes his hands, disinfects his phone, etc. We do have separate bedrooms but we had that before Corona (our marriage is happy and wonderful, we have different schedules and both had a terrible time sleeping when we shared a bed/room). Neither of us work in healthcare anymore so we're comfortable with the way things are given the precautions we are taking.

Mama Bear

Tue, Apr 28 2020, 9:02 pm

amother [ Salmon ] wrote:

This is so heartbreaking Sad

Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

amother

Fuchsia

Tue, Apr 28 2020, 11:52 pm

amother [ Cerise ] wrote:

I’m a healthcare worker too. None of my coworkers do his. Then again we all live in manhattan apartments where this isn’t possible. But no way would I not touch my kids for 2 months. Even 2 days is too many for my child’s mental health. But kol hakavod to you for doing what you think is necessary

Ditto. Well, 1 of my co workers sent her kids to her sister when all the craziness started, but that’s really because both her and her husband are healthcare workers and their kids needed supervision since the schools closed, not because she wants to SD from them.
It’s very rare for children to get truly sick from covid, and since my DH is comfortable doing grocery shopping in a mask and gloves, I don’t think the risk is much different if I change and wash up when I leave the hospital and then interact as usual in my house. I work on ‘covid floors’ but do virtual rounds- discuss patients verbally and make recommendations in a huddle or a secure chat rather than actual bedside rounds. I have yet to enter the doorway of a covid room.

HonesttoGod

Wed, Apr 29 2020, 12:07 am

Ps I think it’s worth it to note everyone who IS social distancing in whichever form has noted that they sleep in a separate area and use their own bathrooms.

I live in a tiny 3 bdrm apartment with 1 tinier bathroom. Yeah, social distancing *from my family is practically impossible for me as it is for many in NY.

frumarochel

Fri, May 15 2020, 7:41 pm

My husband does not wash his hands well, change clothes after shopping in the grocery store or other safety practices. I don't feel safe being close to him since I have had trouble getting rid of colds. We are getting along nicely and I put a lot of effort into that, cooking things to tempt him (but healthy) and doing things he wants done.