AA Meetings & Coronavirus
 

No going to re-state what's happening with the coronavirus here. Most folks know it's a problem. I just read that Twitter recommended that all their employees work from home and internationally entire cities are on lock down.

So what about AA meetings? Not only are we in close physical proximity we all hold hands at the end of the meetings. Seems like a risky thing to do right now. I do not see this as a permanent situation but it certainly seems possible that one may have limited access to AA meetings in the near future for some period of time.

I am thinking one of the most constructive things I can do this week at AA meetings here on the east coast USA is let folks know about our on line SR community before meetings are shut down or before many stop attending out of concern for the disease.

Thoughts?

If you're worried, go to online meetings I guess?

D

I think it's best to follow the same guidelines we'd follow for any health issue- wash your hands, stay home if you are sick and follow any guidelines prescribed by your local health authorities.

Using online resources like SR is certainly a good way to access recovery resources from home.

I'd also say be wary of what you read on the internet regarding the virus - there is good info but also a lot of misinformation and fear-based reactions too

the consistent advice here in Canada is to wash hands wash hands wash hands.
so no, i would not hold hands at a meeting, as touching my face afterwards would be likely.
many hospital meetings don't have the hand-holding thing to begin with. for different reasons, but nevertheless....primary purpose can easily be achieved without any hand-holding whatsoever.

I agree with all of the above..

I attend some good size 35-50 people meetings weekly. If I noticed anyone with an ugly chest cough, I’d prob just leave.

If you don’t want to do the end of the meeting prayer I’d slip out 10 min before closure.. that’s not disrespectful and happens often..

I was going to be a wise guy last week and brought a mask, wasn’t the N95 bla, bla bla mask but a doctors mask. I was going to put it on while we did the opening serenity prayer and have it on after the prayer but I chickened out.. I’m a wise guy by nature but didn’t want to get any kind bad mojo from the group!!

I know what I won’t do.. I’m not going to let this virus make me complacent.. too risky for this alcoholic -addict..

Have you been to a meeting lately? We're all using arms or elbows and not hands....

Corona virus doesn't scare me. Little bit of common sense and a lot of hand washing. I still go to meetings. Still hold hands at the end. Just wash my hands after contact with people or potential surfaces. But if it makes you uncomfortable, you could try online meetings. I'm sure there is something available.

SB - Yes I have. As of Monday the noon AA meeting at the Alano Club in Columbia MD is still holding hands. That's less than 25 miles from you. Maybe we need to learn something from the Baltimore team.

I'm going and held hands. Everyone in that room had kids, jobs, interactions with restaurant staff, on and on. Here, we can no longer find the kind of hand sanitizer that doesn't wash off so the only stuff left is the pretty smelling natural whatever stuff.

Don't know that we've yet made any decisions about flights in April given how fast things have changed in just a couple wks.

I don't seek large crowds so AA is the biggest group I'm about ever around and I'm ok with that. If what I just heard on the news as disseminated info from the WHO, then even w/in 6 ft and no shown symptoms we can catch it. Short of isolating indoors except when the dogs have to go out - oh, and my husband has to go to work since he's the one making decisions for a 93K student public school system- what's to do?

Been to a meeting last night and tonight.Still holding hands.,even though the advice is not to here in the U.K.

I am washing my hands more than normal and will miss meetings if the situation worsens,which I am sure will.It will be online meetings for me,

Take care of yourselves all.

I went to a meeting in Montgomery County tonight. Just after the Maryland governor announced the first three cases were detected in our state. I mentioned our smart friends up in Baltimore were not holding hands. After discussing it we decided no hands or arms or elbows. We stood in a circle but did not touch at all. Still a great meeting.

This too shall pass.

Interesting question. I think I will bring this up at the next meeting I attend. I think it makes sense to skip the hand-holding for now.

The Corona virus is selling a lot of ad time on media. I’m just gonna live my life and let my Higher Power decide when it’s time to become worm and bacteria food.

sure, Db, but the hand-thing isn't just about avoiding becoming infected; it is very much also about not potentially spreading it to others.

Do we really think the hand washing we should have been doing all along is going to stem the tide here? I don't.

the hand-washing will not by itself slow things to a crawl but will be hugely helpful for individuals, if we do it often, as then our hands are clean when we touch our eyes, noses, mouths. which is how we’d most likely transmit it. hand to mouth.

handwashing: better than handwringing anytime:)

and no, i will confess i am not doing it more often than i used to.

That describes most of the AA folks in my home group. At 59 I am one of the younger ones.

I happen to be one of those people that fall into the category of "it's mostly dangerous to" due to "other health conditions", and my doctors have told me for many years to treat the regular flu as a serious threat to my health. So I think it's a stretch to consider this virus as a "hoax". While still low the mortality rate appears to be around ten times that of the regular flu.

The other thing to consider, even if you are young and healthy, are the odds of passing the virus to someone who is not. Since this virus is novel it seems to be more virulent, as no one has any built up any natural immunity to it. So it may be true that the average person is at low risk of experiencing serious symptoms from this virus, but do you really want to be the one who passed it along to someone who isn't "the average person"?

I'm in my late 50's and have had 2 open heart surgeries. I also have a couple of parts that are not OEM keeping me running. I have also had bronchitis twice this winter, so I'm taking the virus very serious as it seems my immune system is not at 100%. That doesn't mean I'm panicking, just being prudent. For now I am skipping meetings and doing the social distancing thing. I am not sponsoring anyone atm which has made that decision a bit easier.

I don't think we've seen the worst of this pandemic yet, but I do have hope that it may wane over the summer months. If it does that will buy everyone some time to come to understand what we are dealing with a bit better and hopefully get closer to developing a vaccine.

FYI in GA the three known cases are identified and in quarantine.