Adjusting to COVID 19 in my private practice and tid bits about my opinions

COVID 19 has kept me busy. First I have to keep up with the latest and then I had to decide how to open face to face once again. When the government opened to stage two, then the pressure to open started, not by the college but by the people. As you know I started an on line practice with the best I could find which costs me more than I need to pay if I chose another. But nothing electronic is ever guaranteed to ensure privacy. Neither is the telephone or cell. There are so many hackers out there. The only way to ensure privacy is face to face with my double brick office and windows closed. So, when I began to receive calls for face to face again, I continued to educate myself from reliable resources. I did not know that the virus could live on my fibre sofa for two weeks unless I used a foam soap to clean it. I do. However, it is not practical in between clients. It takes time to dry. So then it was recommended that I use wood, by Public Health and use cushions I can wash. How many cushions would I need? I do have one chair made of wood. Lysol 99.9% was recommended. I got one spray bottle, one arsenal bottle I already had for the air. Now it can linger in the air shortly it appears. I also had many wipes. So, I moved the sofa for my own personal use and left my favourite worn out chair on the sidewalk where a boy decided he liked it and dragged it down the street. I never would see my favourite chair again. Next I moved all fabric chairs into different rooms for personal use. Again I placed an antique chair outside with a broken arm that sits neglected waiting for the right garbage day. Antiques are no longer appreciated it seems. Then I called Lysol because I was trying to decide on a leather sofa or synthetic one. I had been advised by Lyons not to spray Lysol directly to the sofa and I wondered if it would lose its effectiveness. The Lysol man had a distinct American accent and he was wonderful. If I used Lysol on leather or synthetic it would damage and begin peeling off and once it did, there would be no protection from the virus. He told me about his dentist replacing everything with metal seating. So, I thanked him and ordered chrome chairs with wooden seats. In the meantime I am using a synthetic chair and my wooden chair and if there is a couple, I can drag out another synthetic. I taped off the chair six feet from where I sit. Family Therapy at this time can only be done on my computer. I can have more than enough spaces where we can all see each other from anywhere. I am waiting for my chairs from Costco and then I shall return the synthetic chairs for private use. It was a great sale and budget friendly at the time. I removed an enormous amount of books and kept one book case on my side of the office. I placed books I have still to read in my “books” office. I will be donating all my books to a professor of mine who is now in a retirement home and who has already asked me to order one book for him. Once, I am able to see him, I have bags of books for him to keep busy. The books are scholastic and I suggested he place what he thinks is suitable in their library once he his finished reading them. I made sure the books he has written is not in the batch. When my office looked empty I returned a few things I like. My objective is to have myself and my clients safe. I am not opening up to everyone. I consider each case individually. So, now I utilize three systems for clients. I space clients apart even more than before and I disinfect all spaces right after the client leaves. So, it has been busy and I am behind in my paperwork once again. However, I am all set in my practice. I do prefer seeing people on line during the pandemic. Please be careful out there. This pandemic is killing people of all ages. I see that people are still not social distancing as much as they can. Though patios are now open, I did stop once at Harvey’s and noticed that they did not clean the tables or chairs while I was eating outside. When I asked about taking the tray out and how it worked, I was told there was take out only. I suppose they were advised that if they say it is take out, than they are not further responsible. I beg to differ. At no time was I cautioned about their tables and chairs outside not being cleaned. A man also walked near me while I was eating. There were no rails to separate. I understand that all businesses have suffered but there has to be a responsibility to do your outmost to keep people safe. If you do not want to clean the tables and chairs, keep them in. I don’t think it is enough to say “take out.” If a lawyer advised them of that, perhaps a second opinion is warranted. Hang in there. The world is trying to find a vaccine for this pandemic. I also think it would be nice for communist countries to join us rather than try to steal from us. This is not the time. We need to seriously take the time to keep each other safe. Have faith. Next week it is back to theology notes.