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Originally Posted by themartianchick
My husband and I became snowbirds when he retired 5 years ago. I was an independent contractor and could work from anywhere. We own our condo and tended to spend at least 2 months each winter in it. Last year, we were unable to spend any time there due to caring for my mom. This year we only spent a couple of days for the same reason and the added fact that I decided to go back to work. This upcoming winter, I could probably carve out a couple of weeks to visit our condo. (We really miss it!) However, the threat of COVID-19 makes us unwilling to travel to Florida now. Florida's unwillingness to take strong measures to combat the virus make us unwilling to risk our lives. We know that we could shelter in place in FL, as we have in NY. However, we don't really see the advantage to doing so. If there is snow shoveling to be done, we can either do it ourselves of hire someone else to take care of it. Our area of NY gets a lot of it!
In NY, people seem to take the precautions more seriously and it shows in our current COVID #s. My county is below 1% for new cases. Don't get me wrong...we aren't perfect but we don't see the same level of resistance to masking as we hear about in the south. We won't be coming back to Florida until the state gets a handle on controlling the virus. We personally know of people who have gotten the virus in NY and died. We know of two who have had extremely rough bouts with COVID. One had lesions in her throat due to being intubated. She is in her mid-50s with no underlying health conditions.She now has serious scarring of the lungs, too.The other is a man in his early 50s who likely had the virus (thought it was flu) earlier than was believed possible. He tested positive for the antibodies and is still having issues with walking and digestion. He's lost nearly 40 pounds and he really didn't have any weight to lose.
There is no reason to believe that herd immunity is even possible at this point because most people's antibodies to COVID drop within a few months after contracting the disease. In other words, they can become infected a second time and have different organs attacked by the virus. We also know that the experiences of New Yorkers and those from other states that were hit early in the Covid-crisis are the reason that the number of deaths in Florida and other late-blooming states are not higher. Doctors have learned about the virus by studying the situation in NY and Washington State. That information is helping to inform new treatments and keep folks alive in Florida today.
Coincidentally, my husband and I were planning to buy a house in Canada to serve as our main summer residence. That plan has been placed on hold because we cannot cross the border due to COVID. However, most Canadians that we've spoken to are absolutely appalled by the way that the disease is running through the American population. They don't want the border to open anytime soon and many are re-thinking their winter homes. There are many other warm places that would welcome Canadians and their dollars during the winter months. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this triggered some shift in winter in migrations from Canada...and also from the UK. The entire world is watching the US and they are giving us a failing grade.
Personally, we aren't planning to sell or rent our Florida condo. We can afford to wait out the coronavirus. We bought before the prices fully recovered from the 2008 crash. However, we can't afford the long-term health effects that COVID can cause. For that reason, we won't return until things are reasonably safe again.
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Not sure where you get your information about antibodies. Probably the same "experts" who said 2.1 million would die in the US from this. I just looked at the wecams for NYC and they tell a different story - along with the APPLE mobility index being up there also - I don't see a lot of masks, and there are a lot of people out. Looks sort of like the Orlando and Miami webcams.
This virus seems to take the same route when it gets a hold in an area - look at the NY case curve and the florida case curve will look the same in 2 months. They all do.. and before you criticize Florida 32,401 have died in NY. 7083 in Florida. Florida has about 3 million more people. 32 total Covid deaths in Sumter county with the oldest average age in the USA says to me they have done a much better job than NY. Those are the facts.