Novel Coronavirus COVID-19

[LivingWaterPlease]

4 hours ago, carhill said:

 

Thanks for posting this, carhill. I hadn't watched it earlier so was able to watch it in its entirety using your link.

[eleanorrigby]

 

👩‍❤️‍👨 I love these videos of Italy getting through this crisis together.

[mark clemson]

https://www.loveshack.org/forums/topic/593319-dating-and-coronavirus/?do=findComment&comment=7777951

[SincereOnlineGuy]

 

Now consider the two most populated countries on the planet:

 

One has added 950 new cases of coronavirus in 13 days.

 

The other has 102 known cases total.

 

As for the two largest countries on the planet:

 

One has 59 known cases of coronavirus

 

the other lists 252 cases.

[basil67]

8 hours ago, sothereiwas said:

All I want is my towels to continue to smell faintly of Clorox, people, is that such a big ask

Drying them in sunshine is also antibacterial and has the bonus of giving a fresh smell.   

[basil67]

7 hours ago, major_merrick said:

 Personally, I think the people who buy things at the store and then price-gouge are likely to be left with a whole pile of merchandise they can't use.  Some may make a little profit, but overall it is a poor and unoriginal plan from people with small minds. 

Good prediction - I just saw this on my FB feed.  A guy went and bought a heap of hand sanitizer, masks etc but since Amazon, eBay etc have banned price gouging, he has nowhere to sell it.  Since going public with his plight, he's now also being investigated by the Attorney General.

He feels that the anti price gouging stuff shouldn't apply to people like him who are just making a living. 😂   Small minds indeed.  

[carhill]

Delta grounded 1/3 of their fleet and flights to Europe or 30 days.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tedreed/2020/03/13/delta-will-cut-flying-by-40-halt--europe-service-and-ground-300-airplanes/#2dd23b6e3838

[Ellener]

2 hours ago, basil67 said:

Good prediction - I just saw this on my FB feed.  A guy went and bought a heap of hand sanitizer, masks etc but since Amazon, eBay etc have banned price gouging, he has nowhere to sell it.  Since going public with his plight, he's now also being investigated by the Attorney General.

He feels that the anti price gouging stuff shouldn't apply to people like him who are just making a living. 😂   Small minds indeed.  

He should apologise and give it away. Too much of what gets called 'business' is unethical ( if not illegal! )

[Ellener]

Two doctors describe the experience after they had and recovered from Covid-19.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51895246 he describes the test process ( one swab is for this specific coronavirus, the other a standard 'viral panel' to detect 'flu strains )

and this lady describes how ill she felt ( sore throat, high fever, very tired ) https://www.bbc.com/news/av/health-51886553/uk-doctor-on-recovering-from-grim-coronavirus She is now recovered.

 

[Ruby Slippers]

29 minutes ago, Ellener said:

He should apologise and give it away. Too much of what gets called 'business' is unethical ( if not illegal! )

My first reaction to the price gougers is "eww."

Second reaction is: this is exactly what big business does to us all day after day. These overnight "entrepreneurs" learned from "industry leaders." Hell, Nikola Tesla came up with a way for everyone to have free electricity forever, and his ideas were suppressed by big business interests so they could continue fleecing us indefinitely. That's capitalism as we know it.

[littleblackheart]

@eleanorrigbySame. 

 

Also completely blown away by science, and how swiftly scientists have reacted. Discovery of the virus under a week from first case becoming public, already a handful of  peer-reviewed scientific articles written about it, we already have pretty reliable testing kits to detect it, plenty of teams worldwide  are working on a vaccine,...

 

When you compare that timeline to the response to other pandemics even in the last few decades, it's impressive to see how far science have come.

 

Plus it has definitely helped bring communities together; we have an fb group set up in my area to connect people who may be in need to those who can help.

 

It's not all doom and gloom, thankfully!

Edited March 15, 2020 by littleblackheart

[Ellener]

1 hour ago, Ruby Slippers said:

My first reaction to the price gougers is "eww."

Second reaction is: this is exactly what big business does to us all day after day. These overnight "entrepreneurs" learned from "industry leaders." Hell, Nikola Tesla came up with a way for everyone to have free electricity forever, and his ideas were suppressed by big business interests so they could continue fleecing us indefinitely. That's capitalism as we know it.

Most modern economies are a mix of private and public enterprises, it's extreme capitalism particularly such 'short-term' planning and benefits which causes so many of the world's current problems, 'profit at any price'.

When people do unethical things which abuse the planet or animals or other nations it has negative long-term consequences.

 

 

[littleblackheart]

Yes, it feels like this virus is testing the absolute limits of an economic system that has already been stretched to its maximum capacity in its extreme form.

 

Hopefully we'll all start to reassess whether prioritising protecting the markets / cynically trying to delay public spending while many health services are woefully underfunded really is the best response to a human crisis. 

 

Not sure how else to describe it, but I personally have pangs of guilt for having a secure job and not having to worry about life's basics while so many will be at risk of contracting this virus, even in its mildest possible form, just because they can't afford not to go to work. 

[Philosopher]

9 hours ago, littleblackheart said:

I agree.

 

To be fair, I feel some of the anxiety stems from a fundamental lack of trust that the gvt is doing right by the country. That's how I feel about the UK anyway. The 'vibe' is completely different back home in France. There seems to be more trust in the institutions, even though Macron is not really well liked at the moment (I am definitely not a fan) and even when the death toll is rising sharply.

 

What's disconcerting, at least in the UK, is that the gvt is asking us the impossible, that is to trust that their crazy herd immunisation strategy is a winner against WHO advice, without giving any rational explanation or offering a backup plan for those in precarious situations. They are, it seems, exclusively counting on our 'community spirit' without giving anything back in return. This is a recipe for disaster, imo. 

 

My own mindset of going with the flow (ie scientific evidence + follow guidelines + common sense + no panic + consideration for others + adapting to events as they come)  is much easier to follow when I feel the guy at the top has our back in case things go pear-shaped. I don't think the current PM is that guy, unfortunately.

 

I too am rather concerned about the UK’s government herd immunisation strategy which basically relies on the young and middle aged getting the illness. While for my age the death rate from this illness is 0.2%, which does not seem that much, for me it is still uncomfortably too high, so I would feel a lot more comfortable if I knew the government was doing everything to reduce transmission of this illness.

I think in the UK we are past the point where tracing contacts and isolating the contacts can work so I can only really see a lockdown as the only option for controlling transmission now here. I would much rather have a few weeks disruption if means the risk of getting ill is considerably reduced. I do think given the rate of growth of transmissions here over the past few days and that at least one hospital so far has already declared a major incident over this, I think ultimately the government will have no option to impose a lockdown. 

 

[Ellener]

52 minutes ago, littleblackheart said:

I personally have pangs of guilt for having a secure job and not having to worry about life's basics while so many will be at risk of contracting this virus, even in its mildest possible form, just because they can't afford not to go to work. 

That's why it's important to have government- to make the decisions for the nation and to set up systems of support. 

A government and its politicians who don't do those things are redundant, and a populace who vote based on party allegiance or personality undermines fixing the life's-basics things.

At least you have empathy and compassion, but don't feel guilty, there will be someone you can help and encourage no doubt!

 

[littleblackheart]

31 minutes ago, Ellener said:

there will be someone you can help and encourage no doubt

That's the easy part, tbh. My local community as a whole has been quick to organise things. But it really feels as though more things should be done at national level, you know?

[elaine567]

4 hours ago, littleblackheart said:

When you compare that timeline to the response to other pandemics even in the last few decades, it's impressive to see how far science have come.

I guess that is because it started in China,  had it been somewhere else...
Why are all these old folk dying of 'flu'???
No idea...

[some_username1]

4 hours ago, littleblackheart said:

@eleanorrigbySame. 

 

Also completely blown away by science, and how swiftly scientists have reacted. Discovery of the virus under a week from first case becoming public, already a handful of  peer-reviewed scientific articles written about it, we already have pretty reliable testing kits to detect it, plenty of teams worldwide  are working on a vaccine,...

 

When you compare that timeline to the response to other pandemics even in the last few decades, it's impressive to see how far science have come.

 

Plus it has definitely helped bring communities together; we have an fb group set up in my area to connect people who may be in need to those who can help.

 

It's not all doom and gloom, thankfully!

And you can bet your bottom dollar that the brilliant minds working on this stuff and trying to limit the damage are paid a fraction of that paid to a professional footballer or an investment banker.

I take my hat off to them for their service to humanity.

[littleblackheart]

3 hours ago, Philosopher said:

I think ultimately the government will have no option to impose a lockdown. 

Probably.

 

Lack of clarity on the strategy used + seemingly stalling on action while at the same time telling us it's a major public health emergency is not a great move, imo.

 

It's the cognitive dissonance that is unnerving, tbh.

 

Our economies are grinding to a halt, people are wearing masks everywhere and expected to telecommute, we are worrying for our loved ones, borders are closing, while whole countries have been left to die of entirely preventable causes for ever because they can't afford to protect themselves. I wonder what they must be thinking right now, while they're waiting their turn to get hit by the virus.

Sincerely hoping this crisis will help us readjust our priorities to what's important - I'm idealistic like that...

 

 

[Redhead14]

Another piece to the panic buying is that lots of people are not just stocking up for a month or so of supplies in case of quarantine or lock down, etc., they are stocking for up a longer term scenario -- i.e. people who are likely to either lose their jobs, have pay cuts or furloughed.  My son was furloughed on Friday.  He can collect unemployment, but that's not gonna cover it all. 

[Gaeta]

In my Province (Quebec) we are pretty satisfied with our Province-PM and pretty unsatisfied with our Country-PM Trudeau. Our Province PM took drastic measures quickly with daily press conferences answering people's worry,  while Trudeau is in hiding and refusing to close our borders! 

[some_username1]

19 minutes ago, Redhead14 said:

Another piece to the panic buying is that lots of people are not just stocking up for a month or so of supplies in case of quarantine or lock down, etc., they are stocking for up a longer term scenario -- i.e. people who are likely to either lose their jobs, have pay cuts or furloughed.  My son was furloughed on Friday.  He can collect unemployment, but that's not gonna cover it all. 

That’s why we in the UK have food banks...oh no wait, the food banks are f***ed because of the panic buying. Another example of how panic buying ruins it for everyone, specifically those most vulnerable.

[Gaeta]

Yesterday majority of our grocery stores have put a limite of 2 items per customer on several products to fight back that panic. 

[littleblackheart]

13 minutes ago, Redhead14 said:

  He can collect unemployment, but that's not gonna cover it all. 

Sorry to hear that @Redhead14. 

 

I feel like this is exactly where our gvts are coming short.Totally pointless to close borders and ask people to 'be careful' if we're not willing to pick up the tab for those in precarious / vulnerable situations.

 

France, Spain, Israel and some parts of other countries are closing down restaurants, cinemas, bars, clubs for the foreseable - it's bad, but at least these countries have a fairly sound social safety net.

 

What would happen to workers in that sector in the UK (or the USA) when the hospitality sector is a gig economy swamped with zero hour / temporary contracts, and they are more likely than most to contract this virus? Who is going to help small businesses?

[Ellener]

4 hours ago, littleblackheart said:

That's the easy part, tbh. My local community as a whole has been quick to organise things. But it really feels as though more things should be done at national level, you know?

Every little helps, and though other people are already taking national credit for some of the local initiatives etc it doesn't matter overall so long as things get done and as many people feel supported as possible, particularly if 'self-isolation' is a big part of the infection control and particularly for the older people who don't have such engagement with the internet as younger ones do. It'll be a long few weeks for them.