Coronavirus, how are you preparing for it and how it is affecting you so far?

[Trenchcoat]

No Trench,

They are the sort of people that think of others

Then you wonder why you can't find a woman ... ?

Mobe, FSW want a strong man, currently that's the ones of us that are holding gas masks

[BC]

Billy,

Containment will get much harsher before it gets better, for all of us. Within the next week, the situation will become much more 'real' as the extent and effects of the virus come out of the woodwork from more widespread testing. 

Taking Italy, we don't know when the peak will be reached.  I think we are near but could well be wrong.  When the peak has been identified we will not be 'halfway home' as much will still have to be done to keep a second or even third wave of infections from happening to those that have not been infected.  Travel in general and especially international travel will remain very restricted.

After this 'peak' is over we will all end up getting tested, or 'certified' if you will and be segregated accordingly until a proven and a working vaccine is available.  Not something like the flu vaccine with efficacy of 50% but something like 95% or more.  Only then will life begin to become more normal.

Until then, the largest group, with or without acquired resistance will naturally be accorded more freedom than the other group.  That's democracy for ya.  Some countries may quarantine those with resistance and other countries might 'free' those that do have resistance.  We may well end up seeing things like a positive and negative box to tick when making an airline booking with the two groups flying on different flights to selected destinations that will accept that group. Even hotel bookings.  Segregated hospitals will surely be in the mix along with which friends and family one can visit or not.

The only real solution is a vaccine. But... before this happens we will have to know whether this virus mutates over time like influenza - whether or not new strains appear that might affect the efficacy of any vaccines that have been developed.  Remember we have not been that awful successful when it comes to normal influenza vaccines.  We can't change the speed of time.

Only one thing is sure... this process will take time and much more than many think we will need today.

What I fear is not so much this virus, but the negative effects long term isolation will have on society and of course the economy.  I consider myself very lucky with a somewhat isolated home I work from, enough land to stay safely outside, start a sizeable veggie garden (already have seeds etc) and keep a decent number of small farm animals if need be.  Others are not so lucky, cooped up in small apartments, have lost their job or business.  It is difficult to imagine how such conditions will affect otherwise 'sane' minds over an extended period of time.  Can a sense of purpose, support and hope prevail that prevent us from going totally postal?  Will the 'solution' that can only come from those wearing lab coats come quick enough?

Over the next months, we are going to learn a whole lot about ourselves, and our society as a whole.

 

[BC]

Krimster, you are one sick puppy!!!   I have no idea why the moderators allow you to continue to post.

Maybe it's the artistic value of his posts.  His last post would be an interesting plot for a porn series.

[fathertime]

I've now been in isolation for two months in China.  It may surprise you to learn that I am not in Wuhaan or even Hubei Province, but Wuxi, a city in Jiangsu, over 700 Km away from the epicenter of the virus.

The impression created in the Western media is that by asking the residents of one city to self-isolate, China managed to bring the outbreak under control. It’s a dangerous misconception leading to a cavalier attitude and the false assumption that putting London in lockdown would somehow make things right. The truth is that China’s measures went far beyond anything imaginable in Western cultures and extended, at the worst of the epidemic, from Guangdong Province in the South to beyond Beijing in the North.

News of the virus made little impact outside of Hubei until shortly before Chinese New Year. The holiday is a time of mass migration when workers in the cities generally return to their hometowns to visit family. Faced with the prospect of millions of people moving around the country and potentially spreading the virus further, on January 23rd we went into official lockdown.

Initially we were told that the week-long New Year Holiday would be extended by a few days but as time passed and schools were closed indefinitely, we realized that we were in for the long haul. Today, two months later, some of the stricter controls here are starting to be relaxed but we are still in lockdown mode. Our business, a restaurant is still closed by order and this will not be reviewed until April 1st at the earliest. There is no confirmed date for schools reopening and movement is still highly restricted.

Overnight, the security guards at the gate of our complex were equipped with thermometers and our temperatures were taken each time we passed. Registering an elevated temperature carried a constant fear of being reported to the authorities and quarantined. We were fortunate in being allowed relatively unrestricted access to and from our home but for many of our friends, only one person per apartment was allowed out to buy supplies every two or three days. No deliveries were allowed into the complex and a makeshift collection point was set up at the gates. No visitors were allowed and social gatherings prohibited. All cars were stopped on roads and highways as police conducted detailed questioning about recent movements and checked temperatures. Long distance travel between provinces was either suspended or reduced.

The Chinese mobilized technology to establish highly sophisticated movement and contact tracing. There is almost universal usage of WeChat (social media) and AliPay (payment system) here so everyone was required to register and give a detailed description of their current location and recent travel history. Based on this we received a QR code and our estimated risk-level. We needed to scan this to gain access to a supermarket or public building. As a result, I have friends who received a knock on their doors and were taken into official quarantine for two weeks because someone on their incoming flight or in the supermarket at the same time had tested positive for the virus. A friend has just returned from Europe (a day before mandatory quarantine for returning European travellers was imposed) and is now in compulsory lockdown in her apartment. Movement is monitored by app; the complex management has electronically sealed her windows and doors. Trapped with 4 children and with her husband who had not travelled moving into a hotel to avoid quarantine, this is unbelievably hard to navigate in good spirits but she understands, as do we all, that it’s necessary. If it all sounds very 1984, that’s because it is! But ultimately this testing, contact tracing, and shutting down chains of transmission, is what stopped the virus from spreading.

In spite of this use of technology, one hangover from the early days of the Mao era is the habit of physically pasting notices and public announcements onto the doors of homes. As such we learned within hours of the lockdown that all weddings and funerals (or at least attendance at funerals) were to be cancelled, the wearing of protective masks was compulsory and that financial incentives would be offered to those who reported undocumented travellers from Hubei province. There has been much discussion about the efficiency of using surgical masks but one thing is for certain, the physical act of having to put on a mask, wearing it and seeing others do so, focuses the mind! It is impossible to “forget” that there is an epidemic. It never feels ok to drop your guard and as such, remembering to wash your hands thoroughly and use sanitizer and wipes becomes second nature. That small strip of surgical mask becomes a constant reminder of potential danger and the need to protect yourself and those around you.

Pharmacies were immediately prohibited from selling any pain/fever/symptom relief medication; the logic being that self-medication was detrimental to the public good and that anyone displaying symptoms should be under the care of the medical profession, allowing cases to be documented and all contacts traced. This caused us endless problems as our daughter is currently staying with us. She is an AS sufferer who came from the UK for the holidays and has since been trapped! As she is on a schedule of TNF inhibitors she is immune-compromised and as such is in a high-risk category. Flying (on the one or two routes still open) was too risky. Now that the danger is subsiding at this end, flying back into an uncertain situation in the UK seems equally challenging. We found extraordinary generosity from friends who shared what medical supplies they had. In Wuhan, HIV patients, who are often vilified and ostracized in society, willingly donated their meds to trial therapies in an act of selfless compassion that was truly humbling.

Thanks for that accounting.   

It is obvious that China has done something very right.  Their people and system shows how much they can and will sacrifice for the greater good.   I was out and about doing my 'essential' job and saw 100's of people maybe even 1000's...and we are on 'lockdown' here in California.    We in the states have no real willingness  to follow instruction like they do in china.   Which is why we will have to face martial law, if the virus turns out to be as deadly as it seems it could be here in the states.   

If the way China handled it, is the real solution, then the hoarders are going to be the ones living best for a month or two...or maybe longer.

Fathertime! 

[fathertime]

yo Rocket Man
you got kids, don't turn your back on them
they WILL... ALL OF THEM, turn on you and TRY TO INFECT YOU!!!
even your OWN KIDS!!!
it's happening EVERYWHERE!!!

 

Gave my kids a big hug but I'm not dead just yet!
Perhaps I"m 'essential' to the family.  Reminds me of the one armed digger or the lucky hinge maker who thought of themselves as 'essential workers' in Schinder's list.



Fathertime! 

[msmob]

Mobe, FSW want a strong man, currently that's the ones of us that are holding gas masks

How's that 'strong man' stance working out for you from your parent's place in Dorset ? ...

[2tallbill]

Warning Justice department power grab. The Justice department
has enough power and congress should be very wary of giving
them any more. The way they do this is by asking for more
power just during the Coronovirus emergency.

For those who are curious you can do a google search to see
how many emergencies were ever rescinded. They have national
emergencies still in effect from when Jimmy Carter was president.   

If any emergency powers are designated they should sunset the
emergency powers in the bill itself. For example give them 90
days and then they must go to congress to extend them for
another 90 days.

DOJ seeks new emergency powers amid coronavirus pandemic
http://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/21/doj-coronavirus-emergency-powers-140023


DOJ Wants to Suspend Constitutional Rights During Coronavirus Emergency

Rolling Stone   
Peter Wade
http://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/doj-wants-suspend-constitutional-rights-205444026.html


Here's a list of the 31 national emergencies that have been in effect for years
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/list-31-national-emergencies-effect-years/story?id=60294693

[fathertime]

Warning Justice department power grab. The Justice department
has enough power and congress should be very wary of giving

Trump is trying to keep the new unemployment numbers secret.  He wants to be announced as 'high' rather than the new unemployment claim number.  Let's just have the same transparency on the numbers.

Fathertime! 

[GQBlues]

Cepheid, a Sunnyvale company, released a test kit that yields result in 45 minutes. While shipments will begin next week, in reading the article, there seem to be apprehension in its distribution.

[Trenchcoat]

How's that 'strong man' stance working out for you from your parent's place in Dorset ? ...

Well enough so far and you? What are your plans now? I know I don't need to ask about the forthcoming divorce papers you've proved your mastery in that domain countless times. But what about the next relationship? A local lass or hold on for the long wait for borders to reopen?

[fathertime]

If Trump locked down the nation using the National Guard and military as the enforcement I'd support and trust he was doing the right thing.    It may be kinda late now though.  It is also possible that Trump and his people have made a calculated decision that a lot of people are going to wind up dead, but that number is acceptable given the lack of good options. 

800 dead today in Italy...that is a high total for 1 day. 

Fathertime! 

[Trenchcoat]

Looks like Ukraine has lost control of the situation:

http://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/ukraine-confirms-record-15-coronavirus-cases-in-one-day-total-rises-to-41.html

It'll be a fact of life for them all too soon as well now.

[Trenchcoat]

If Trump locked down the nation using the National Guard and military as the enforcement I'd support and trust he was doing the right thing.    It may be kinda late now though.  It is also possible that Trump and his people have made a calculated decision that a lot of people are going to wind up dead, but that number is acceptable given the lack of good options. 

800 dead today in Italy...that is a high total for 1 day. 

Fathertime!

Jesus 800 dead in one day!!! They won't know where to put them. Must be a depressingly morbid sight.

[ML]

Wife reports some good actions in  Ukraine.

Many persons with autos have been offering to give free rides to those who need and who are authorized.

Some hotels have offered free rooms to medical personnel who cannot get back and forth now because of shut down of all transportation.

[krimster2]

http://www.cnn.com/2020/03/21/us/toilet-paper-calculator-coronavirus-trnd/index.html

you can take this handy calculator, and figure out what the global demand curve for TP  is gonna be...
and then...
if you KNEW there were some RATHER LARGE pending supply problems that you heard from the ipsnay company-eh rep-eh
that was gonna send TP futures to "THE MOON!"
and then...
you heard here about bulk TP investment opportunities...
just for YOU!!!

then you'd better get it on the ground floor before you miss the only positive investment you'll ever make this year

[Boethius]

Could be a learning experience for readers of this board to see whether SC sticks with you or cuts you loose. Being so far apart and for an potentially unknown length of time one or either of you might decide it's better to move on with your now very separate lives.

Proves yet again you know little about love.  I was separated from the better half for years.  It made our bond stronger, not weaker.

Ive spent quite a bit of time in China, and will say that's a PR piece

The account conforms with those of a Ukrainian relative who has been teaching Russian in Central China for five years.  It also conforms with accounts of relatives of our daughter's university friends.  When Quebec cancelled classes and quarantined students, they all flew back to China for the summer.

I just posted that account because it wasn't in the drips and drabs others have given us over time.

This post was composed without the aid of google.

[fathertime]

one infected young person can kill more people than 10 suicide vests can
and THEY KNOW IT and THEY"RE ALREADY USING IT!!!!
I'm telling you, I saw it with my own eyes today!!!
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE DELIBERATELY SPREADING THE VIRUS - BECAUSE THEY THINK IT WILL ONLY KILL OLD PEOPLE!!!!
none of them are in the least bit worried about this virus!!!
in fact, just the opposite!!!!!

Looks like it is called "operation Boomer removal"  just lovely. 
Fathertime! 

[Maxx2]

Didi madloba  Maxx !

If my business ever opens you and SC are welcome to dine there on the house! *


* For the first time of course! 

[Maxx2]

I was born in 1953, but I grew up with the World War 2 generation. It feels like those times again.

[BillyB]

Got some good news to report.

1) A couple of days ago my wife's friend was in the biggest hospital in Seattle which is located in King County, hardest hit county, and she said the hospital wasn't busy.

2) Washington State governor yesterday said he didn't think it was necessary to order people to isolate in place. Only a few States have done so which tells me USA's curve will be flatter than other Western nations. Our government did a lot of right things.

3) Went on a road trip with the wife and she wanted to stop in Costco. They had toilet paper but she didn't buy any since I bought a case awhile back.

[msmob]

Well enough so far and you? What are your plans now?

Trench,

My plans are to TRY to protect my Mum from getting the virus .

I know I don't need to ask about the forthcoming divorce papers you've proved your mastery in that domain countless times. But what about the next relationship? A local lass or hold on for the long wait for borders to reopen?

You're 'right'..about us being 'separated' ..SC is being 'capricious and a handful'..  She 'never' calls in the mornings to say how she is and gives me no reason to miss her 

[Trenchcoat]

Wife reports some good actions in  Ukraine.

Many persons with autos have been offering to give free rides to those who need and who are authorized.

Some hotels have offered free rooms to medical personnel who cannot get back and forth now because of shut down of all transportation.

Free? In Ukraine, all are surely scams!

[Trenchcoat]

Trench,

My plans are to TRY to protect my Mum from getting the virus .



You're 'right'..about us being 'separated' ..SC is being 'capricious and a handful'..  She 'never' calls in the mornings to say how she is and gives me no reason to miss her 

Given how you fouled up with SC being stuck apart from you I don't hold out much hope for your mother, she could literally end up anywhere to fend for herself, lol

I'm sure it won't be long before SC realises how long you are likely to be separated and finds comfort in the hands of a 'real man'

[Trenchcoat]

Coronavirus deaths up to 323 in the US but it's a big country to make its way through:

http://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/03/22/health/us-coronavirus-wrap-sunday/index.html

Italy annouces stricker measures to deal with the virus:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51991972

Not looking good BC.

[msmob]

Given how you fouled up with SC being stuck apart from you I don't hold out much hope for your mother, she could literally end up anywhere to fend for herself, lol

Trench, are you always this emphatic..?  I can 'see' how you so easily 'pull' ..

IF we had actually REALLY fouled up ...SC would be in Cyprus - locked up ..and IF you read the news .. Cypriots have proven to be THE most xenophobic nation in the EU ...

 
I'm sure it won't be long before SC realises how long you are likely to be separated and finds comfort in the hands of a 'real man'

Let's see on that one ... You've posted it for all to judge ..