Hey all.. I have a friend who works at a local grocery store in Atlanta, massive chain store. He requested leave of absence because he takes care of his partner who has cancer and is extremely high risk. He emailed a docs note from his partner stating that he should not work right now due to the covid situation.
To this day he has still heard no official word on what his status is. What do you think he should do if he is let go, even with concrete documentation? He says he has texted his manager and she has not responded and it has been about 10 days.

Absolutely, though Pittsburgh has a relatively small downtown, and the residential population is only a few thousand.

A fair number of downtown residents have historically been students at a smaller, second-tier university (Point Park University). Since school is no longer in session, I am guessing that not only those in the dorms, but most in off-campus housing as well have returned to their parents.

So, no mo' auto-immuno mojo from BoJo?

Was your friend's LOA officially approved? I would have your friend keep texting the manager and save those texts as documentation, proving that he kept trying to contact her. I would try calling her directly as well, on top of the texts. Documentation is important, as well as proof that he tried to contact his employer.

If he's not officially married to his partner, then of course he would not qualify for FMLA, which he probably didn't think to apply for anyway. FMLA isn't paid leave, but it protects your position for 12 weeks.

I would also have him start looking up labor laws for the state of Georgia. I know that with this pandemic, these are extraordinary circumstances, but I would think labor laws would still be in effect. He should have already applied for unemployment benefits if he hasn't already. And if he were married to his partner and if this were California, he would also have applied for Paid Family Leave.

Provided he has access to health insurance, he should have requested FMLA rather than a leave of absence.

Regardless, he should apply for unemployment. As long as hes not getting paid, he should be eligible for it - including that $600 per week top-off money.

hey doc, what is your take on wearing masks? i wear one doing errands, like grocery or drug store, but do i need one for a morning jog? that seems impractical for runners.

there seems to be some debate about it. :shrug:

https://nypost.com/2020/04/02/does-w...t-coronavirus/

One of the interesting aspects about the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in the new stimulus bill is you can quit your job for reasons directly related to COVID-19 and still collect unemployment - including that $600 per week top off.

Thanks to you guys who replied,,,Lots of excellent info...

So I usually stock up on TP, with about 2-4 months worth at a time. It just so happens I will be running out in about 5 days or so.

I also stock up on germx, I now only have about a 2 weeks supply.

I also stock up on Lysol, I now only have a few day supply left.

I have always been cautious about germs because of my often skin infections. I germx my hands after I leave the train etc.

People are pissing me off. You bastards were dirty and now you're trying to act more like me and you bought up all the shit lol

Seriously, how could tp still be sold out? Three weeks of heavy buying...there is at least a sizable portion of Americans who have AT LEAST a 6 month supply right now.

Bidets are getting bought up now since people were having a hard time finding TP.

Hand sanitizer is also hard to find, and the bulk ingredients to make your own at home like isopropyl alcohol is out of stock.

Freezers are also out of stock since people are stocking up on frozen goods, or buying fresh stuff and freezing it.

We've had a low cost bidet in a box for a year that we never bothered to install but we've installed it now. We have a friend who works as a buyer for Costco and she scored a mega package of TP for us. We're making our own hand sanitizer because there is none to be found anywhere. My guy has a CPAP and he needs distilled water for it and that's been surprisingly hard to find. Most dairy products remain hit and miss and most paper products (paper towels, paper plates, etc) remain hit and miss.

https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/20...a-1704x959.jpg
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/04/02/ca...r-coronavirus/

Today's press conference (Cuomo):



https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...a09110eaf.jpeg

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...9f3d66a5f.jpeg

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...03ace9f41.jpeg

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...1957ccf5a.jpeg

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...de0904734.jpeg

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...4bbda3e89.jpeg

^Cuomo also made the point today that almost all first responder activity is COVID-19 related now. He suggested that crime and traffic accidents inn NYC have fallen substantially, but did not give official numbers.

I am really disgusted with attitudes back home (Upstate NY); there is a huge backlash against Cuomo and contingency plans to use hospitals in the region as overflow from the city and downstate. I mean the comments are pretty fucking nasty and ignorant. Even some from my own family..

Here in Brazil the Ministry of Health reported that there were a considerable fall on traumas handled by hospitals, another good side effect of quarentine.

NJ Conference going on at the moment. Murphy speaking.

What are they saying?

That downstate's problems are downstate's problems and that they should stay there and not infect the rest of the state regardless of how bad it gets. Upstate is already highly infected. Kind of like the attitude with the cruise ship recently stranded off the coast of Florida. That attitude was that they weren't from Florida so fuck 'em.

NJ conference (Today). Some highlights.

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...e9887d244.jpeg

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...008c05a1e.jpeg

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...f74223b67.jpeg

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...b3cbe8e94.jpeg
https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...42aff6c92.jpeg
https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...362500005.jpeg
https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...f81fb3118.jpeg