quote:

Originally posted by Piano*Dad:
If that is indeed the Spanish approach, it reflects a very dirigiste and almost authoritarian mindset. It also places lots of power in the hands of often-petty people, which goes along with how weak states often operate. I'm not at all surprised that this is thought useful in a Mediterranean nation (where governments pass lots of useless laws and people routinely ignore the government).

quote:

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday made an extraordinary threat — to shut down Chicago parks, Millennium Park, the downtown Riverwalk and the entire lakefront — if residents and visitors continue to thumb their noses at the statewide stay-at-home order aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

Lightfoot instructed Chicago police officers to break up large gatherings and threatened to use what she called “every lever at my disposal” to compel compliance.

On Wednesday afternoon and evening, police appeared to be doing just that. Photos surfaced on social media showing barricades along parts of the North Side of the Lakefront Trail. The website Patch posted a video showing officers parking a police SUV across the trail near North Avenue and telling people it was shut down.

City officials wouldn’t say whether those shutdowns were being done as part of a coordinated effort — or whether the closures would remain in effect Thursday. Attempts to clarify the presence Wednesday of barricades and SUVs blocking paths were not answered.

Lightfoot was moved to action by the large gatherings she saw along the lakefront, the crowds at playgrounds and basketball courts and the warm weather luring stir-crazy Chicagoans outside even though they’re supposed to be staying home.

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Originally posted by LL:
One should not NEED to be mandated.

For so many reasons suggested here by others.

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Originally posted by Nina:
Hold on, everyone. Even here in Oregon, where we have a "stay at home" mandate, they acknowledge that people need to get out of their houses. Hiking, walking, jogging is OK as long as you observe social distancing parameters. In other words, if someone wants to go out jogging, just stay far away from someone else.

As for a larger aerosol cloud, just expand your distance accordingly. FWIW (and I don't know why I have this factoid in my brain), when you sneeze droplets can travel as much as 25 feet. So yeah, 6 feet if you're breathing hard is probably not enough. But no way are you breathing as hard as when you sneeze, so what's the distance? Somewhere between 6 and 25 feet.

I don't think that people going out for walks, runs, walking their dog will endanger people's lives if they maintain appropriate distancing. Another fun fact (this one I had to look up): a droplet can travel for up to 10 cm before it dries in the air. That's about 4 inches.

quote:

Originally posted by Nina:
Another fun fact (this one I had to look up): a droplet can travel for up to 10 cm before it dries in the air. That's about 4 inches.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
That was the story I told earlier in this thread, Nina. The jogger who came up right behind me, huffing and puffing, and passing me on the sidewalk; she didn't even go on the parkway, much less into the street. She was like 2 feet away from me.

I'm keeping my distance; other people aren't.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:

quote:

Originally posted by Nina:
Another fun fact (this one I had to look up): a droplet can travel for up to 10 cm before it dries in the air. That's about 4 inches.

There's a question about whether it can be aerosolized. Those particles can stay in the air for up to 3 hours.