The daughter of my very elderly neighbor (97) has put a sign on her door.

“Social Distancing practiced here.“

Perfect!

Maybe be honest and send an email message to clients (and put a matching sign on the door for everyone else) that proclaims "Due to health concerns, we must avoid all contact with humans for the forseeable future. Sorry." Phrase it nicer. You may leave it vague so it comes across as though maybe YOU have the virus!

Do not answer the door.

Or, at the very least, DH needs to drag them into his office and not into the living areas!!

Does your DH not have a separate office space that isn’t in your living space? If he does then it’s his responsibility to meet with clients there and not in your dining room. If he doesn’t then I’d highly recommend he figure out a way to get one.

I'm not letting anyone into my house until we know more about how this virus is transmitted. We have cases of the virus here and our local library has closed conference rooms, which is an awful lot like your husband conferencing with a client in your dining room.

All the hand sanitizer/washing does not address your observation "we are now breathing his spittle". It is a fact when we talk moisture leaves our mouth and if we have the virus this is how it spreads. Social distancing is the only hope you have. As other's have asked why did he linger in your dining room? Escorting to the office, leaving them alone with a magazine seems like the prudent response.

Now is not the time to be overly concerned with the normal social constructs. Protect yourself and your home by establishing clearly communicated boundaries. Anyone who might take offense is not clued in to the gravity of this issue, but you certainly don't have to coddle them. Be forthright and firm. Your life may depend on it.

I like the sign idea but not sure if DH would go for it. Clients generally don't pop in without calling, and because it's cold and rainy there was no sitting on the porch. And to be honest I don't think DH gave the virus a thought when the doorbell rang because it's all so new.

I never said the client lingered, he was here an hour and a half, and they had one of those super thick files opened and spread out. They needed a large table which DH does quite often. Normally it's no big deal for me, I have a couple of places in the house to play in.

DH does have his own office space but clients come in through the front door. This is small town America, think of those small town doctors and lawyers working from home we used to see on TV. Instead of fully retiring DH opened an office here. It's not like when he was working from downtown with clients all over the place.

DH and I definitely need to talk about this because I'm sure we'll have a friend or two pop in to say hello while not even thinking about the virus. I think from now on the front porch or patio will be his office, both have table and chairs.

I did spray Lysol from the DR to the front door. :)

Why can't you be honest and tell clients that both of you have health issues that put you at risk and will not be seeing clients at your house?

What if someone is a carrier, exposes you unknowingly and one of you passes away due to complications. That visitor/client would feel awful and wonder why you "invited" them into your house.

Couldn't the 1.5 hour conversation have happened over the phone?

If you know you are at risk, it is your responsibility to protect yourself, even if that means self quarantine. You can't put the blame on the people you invite/allow into your house.

They have now determined that the virus lives on surfaces as well, so not just spread through social contact.

I had already scheduled the inside termite inspection and range door replacement on Monday. Now we are on self-imposed lockdown. I am going to cancel both.

I finally put my foot down and told DH he is NOT going to keep going to the Y. He was thinking because he gets there when it opens at 5am and is leaving about the time people start coming in, he was safe. Um, no.

Oakley, I agree with having DH send an email to his clients to let them know in advance, and putting a nice but firm sign on the front door.

We aren’t going to the gym either. I am still going to the swimming pool though for water aerobics. We are also still taking our three dogs to the dog park but not shaking hands or sitting close to anyone but each other.

Oak, it seems to me it‘s time to have a “come to Jesus” discussion with your husband. He is the one who should have told the client to go home and give him a call, or meet him elsewhere.

Kind, direct honesty is the best choice for me, too.

I realize that clients can be tricky - especially if they don't think they could be sick or that "this virus stuff is overblown." In that spirit, I'll offer what my mother, a Southern Belle who told some spectacular lies in the name of not hurting feelings, would do. "Oh hi, Joe. Wait just a second while I grab my jacket so we can sit on the patio. Mrs. Oakley is under the weather and she doesn't want to pass it on." It wouldn't have mattered one iota to Mother if the patio furniture was covered with snow. She'd have just offered a shot of bourbon in the hot coffee.

Oakley, hand your DH the cleaning products and tell him that it's his responsibility to clean up after his clients!

"They have now determined that the virus lives on surfaces as well..." This has been the issue from day 1. This virus lives HOURS on hard surfaces--most don't survive minutes w/o a warm moist host. Social Distancing is fine but the reason they say wash wash wash your hands and don't touch your face is this virus could easily be on door handles/counters/staircase railings etc.!!

Chispa, did you read what I wrote above your reply? "It's all so new.." "Clients generally don't pop in without calling," And where exactly did I put the blame on the client?

What you fail to grasp is how all of this seemed to happen over night, and so far in my state there are only 2 cases. We are not a large populated area but we are close to the city. Like most of the USA who aren't in high impact areas, the day after Tom Hanks announced he had the virus is when our adult kids notified us that we are to stay home unless it's absolutely necessary to get out, we can't see the grandkids in case they have the virus. My DIL is a cardiac RN so they expect to eventually get it. ALL of this happened 48 hours ago so we had not gotten to the point of thinking a client would come over without calling, which RARELY happens.

I'm in no mood for lectures, I'm not stupid, all I wanted to know is WWYD basically to sanitize if this happened to you.

Edited for more emphasis on it being new to us. We're not in NYC, Seattle, or any of the hot spots, we're not even close to them, our state isn't included in the national emergency. I do know if I lived on either coast, I would have isolated myself a long time ago.

This is exactly what our kids did the other night No need to watch the video.

I'll read the rest of the replies in a bit.

If weather permits, I'd go with Moxie's mother and meet them outside. Maybe take a walk if that's possible.

@Moxie, I want to be your momma when I grow up! You made me laugh!

Oak, not to beat you up but what do you mean when you say that your state is not part of the national emergency?

I would not be terribly worried about catching covid 19 from this guy if there were only 2 reported cases in my entire state. I would consider it an opportunity to do exactly what you are doing, Oak, thinking it through for what to do in the future.

Oakley, respectfully this is new to EVERYONE. It's been breathtaking to watch the quite literally hour-by-hour transition within the past week in our entire society.

Also respectfully yes your state is part of the national emergency.

And finally (add the R word here ;) bristling at people's reactions is somewhat unkind IMO. *You* posted about a concern related to the coronavirus pandemic in which you noted you and your husband's health issues, that an unusual situation occurred with someone coming to your house for professional consultation who did not stay in an designated office area. Your final question was regarding what to do other than your own solution which was to ask people coming into your home to use hand sanitizer.

I think people responding were simply trying to give you some additional options, the most logical and effective of which is to prevent possibly exposed or infected people from coming into your home until this crisis passes. It's the micro version of why many public gathering places and events are being cancelled-avoiding other people is how to hopefully stop the spread of the virus.

Stay healthy and please trust respondents are not trying to dis you, just give you helpful advice to relieve your worries.

Maddie, you're not beating me up, it's a good question. Before Trump declared a national emergency yesterday our state was one of the few who wasn't under a "state of emergency" meaning no self-isolation was needed. The client came over before a national emergency was called.

Running, I understand what you're saying except I take offense when I keep being lectured on something I never said or that it was obvious my replies weren't read. I was pretty clear in my above replies about how often clients show up without calling, and how this was all new to us. We didn't even have time to talk about clients coming over. Not enough time. Also, no one will be allowed inside at all, not even in his office.

Posters are responding like clients are standing in line outside & I'm telling them to come on in!
lol. It was a first and it took us by surprise.

We're in the country, no one in the country shows up without calling first unless they're family.

K, having a "Come to Jesus talk," seriously? Once more, where did I say DH was against protecting himself, the man has a serious heart condition and when the doorbell rang the thought of the virus completely slipped his mind.

Sorta like being told not to touch your face and you end up doing it a 1,000 times until you get it down.

I'm concerned about mail and packages. Our mail comes directly from the city the morning it's delivered to us. Spray it all down first?

Oakley, please consider that the strong responses to your post stem from a genuine place of concern for you and your husband. As you are aware, you only have to be exposed once. Stay safe.

Sorry graywings, I disagree.

If your mail carrier has the virus, he may not even know if he/she has it. Don’t be in a hurry to open that mailbox or mail without gloves.

From a study released this week - this from npr

“How long can the new coronavirus live on a surface, like say, a door handle, after someone infected touches it with dirty fingers? A study out this week finds that the virus can survive on hard surfaces such as plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours and on cardboard for up to 24 hours.

"This virus has the capability for remaining viable for days," says study author, James Lloyd-Smith, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who researches how pathogens emerge.”

There are some guidelines on how long viruses live on different surfaces. DD and I were just texting about this. It is a long, deep rabbit hole to fall down. You can put on rubber gloves before you touch your mail or your groceries or whatever. But then what do you do? How far is far enough? I’ve decided that I’m not going to wear gloves to open the mail or packages, but I am going to wash my hands afterwards.

ETA: NPR on life span of virus on various surfaces

Oak, i am merely suggesting that you let your husband know how important this is, and is to you, to remind and reinforce as many times as it takes. There is no magic bullet of cleansers that will prevent virus transmission. There is only changing behavior. I am not criticizing you or your husband and have no idea how you even got that from what I wrote.

I would put a sign on the door that reads "This house is under quarantine because of the possibility of infection." Any unannounced visitors might read this and assume that you are already infected and take off in the other direction.

This study says that the virus can linger in the air for up to three hours.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/487110-tests-indicate-coronavirus-can-survive-in-the-air

Oakley, I wish you could be a little less defensive. Your reply to chipsa (Chispa, did you read what I wrote above your reply? "It's all so new.." "Clients generally don't pop in without calling," ) is not what you said. There is nothing from you (at least no post that I can see) before her post other than your OP in which you said that it would normally be okay for clients to come without calling first. Everyone is trying to be helpful and address your original issue. I understand that this is especially worrying for you considering recent health scares. I hope we all stay healthy!

I think I should have stayed in bed this morning, I fell and hit my bad shoulder and shoulder blade.

Cyn, 8th post down, first paragraph. Now do you understand why I get so defensive?

K, he does know how important this is! Nowhere did I say he was blowing it off. I said it hadn't crossed our minds about clients dropping by unexpectedly because it happened so fast, from being cautious, to taking it very serious. When we were discussing how to stay safe we didn't even consider the odd client stopping by. Don't forget, we weren't under a state of emergency or a national one either.

Can we please end the discussion now? I guess I didn't articulate our lifestyle very well.

If you're bored and need to talk to others about how serious they should take the virus, check out the link below. ;)

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5881446/are-you-canceling-your-house-cleaner-or-not#n=31

oakley, when I go back and read that paragraph, I can see that it could be taken two ways. I read it as a simple suggestion, but I can see it could be read as an accusation. The many difficulties of communicating electronically.

Are you sure you're not confusing Oakley with another member?

I'm thinking the same as Toby. And even if it were true, it's inappropriate to bring up.

You're right Daisy.

Running, you said, " I think people responding were simply trying to give you some additional options, the most logical and effective of which is to prevent possibly exposed or infected people from coming into your home until this crisis passes. It's the micro version of why many public gathering places and events are being cancelled-avoiding other people is how to hopefully stop the spread of the virus."

But you and others in this thread are still having your house cleaned by someone who could very well be carrying the virus. The client who came over was a one time thing. The person who will be constantly going to your home and other's homes, will be ongoing.

Why are housekeepers safer than the one client who came to my house? My head is spinning at the hypocrisy. Those of you who have housekeepers have no idea where they've been, where their families have been.

I agree with everything posters have said, but I'm not understanding why some posters are being contrary to my one and hopefully only situation.

Wow. I know I don't read everything on here and may have missed it, but I never got that impression of Oakley's husband, in all these years.

I have been a semi lurker for years, and yes, about a year or so ago, Oakley did post about her husband, referencing some of the behavior described above.

That's too bad. Some people share too much about their personal lives, IMO.

Well, sometimes you get a real sense that you're among friends here. Maybe that's not necessarily the case. Too, there's no way for others to have a complete picture of a situation, but our minds tend to pencil in details based on our own experiences. We don't really KNOW one another, I have discovered.

I’ve examined my decisions and realized I’m totally making them on an ad hoc basis. There is no rhyme, reason, or consistency to what I’m doing or not doing. It is just what feels right for the particular situation at the particular time I’m required to act. And I’m reserving the right to change my mind at any time for any reason.

In my case I'm making the judgment call now that we aren't endangered to the extent we should completely quarantine ourselves.

But social distancing isn't about just what's good for you, it's about society as a whole.

”But social distancing isn't about just what's good for you, it's about society as a whole.”

exactly this.

if you do not have food, supplies for at least 2 weeks, make arrangements NOW to get them in.

The numbers and locations of active Coronavirus cases will spike when tests are more available, Get you hunkering in supplies in now. When active cases start showing in your area, Good luck shopping for anything.

Oakley, I saw that comment you posted about as a suggestion, not an accusation at all. I think sometimes we all have difficulty being honest with people because we think it might be rude to do so. It isn't. Women especially seem to have difficulty just coming right out and saying something like "I am sorry, but we are high risk and we are distancing ourselves at this point." Easy peasy. I think people are responding because this is your thread, not theirs asking about having their cleaners in weekly.

Sorry about your fall. With everything else, you certainly didn't need that.