Just thought I'd create a thread for updates and discussion on the Coronavirus.  As of right now there's about 120,000 cases worldwide with 4300 deaths. 

I'm sorry if this sounds cold-hearted, but I do think this is getting out of hand. I don't mean to diminish the tragedy of those who have died, but let's get some perspective here: so far there's been around 155.000 cases worldwide, with roughly 5.900 deaths.

In 2018 there were around 228 million (!) cases of malaria in the world, with 405.000 deaths! Yet, borders were not closed, traveling was not forbidden, people weren't stock-piling toilet papers in their basements.....

 

But I guess since this virus is afflicting the more "developed" parts of the world (Europe, North America etc) compared to malaria which mostly hits third world countries, this corona outbreak is so much worse.... 

 

 

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

 

 

Someone in the replies to the tweet works at a store and said if they have limits, a person will leave the store, then come back not long after and buy more. It's better than someone buying a thousand things at once, but only marginally so.

 

I think there's a point where if you are buying dozens and dozens of rolls of toilet paper and you are only taking care of yourself or a few other people, then you should consider leaving some behind. 

 

Unfortunately most masks are not made in the US and the few who make them are in heavy demand. A Chinese businessman is donating a million masks, but those will go very quickly. 

 

A great deal of the lack of supplies is because this country has shuttered so many of our businesses and factories. And that isn't likely to change, sadly. 

Very true. I'm glad I have an organic vapor respirator with pre filter that I regularly use for my work that will work beautifully for things like this. 

8 minutes ago, I Am A Swede said:

I'm sorry if this sounds cold-hearted, but I do think this is getting out of hand. I don't mean to diminish the tragedy of those who have died, but let's get some perspective here: so far there's been around 155.000 cases worldwide, with roughly 5.900 deaths.

In 2018 there were around 228 million (!) cases of malaria in the world, with 405.000 deaths! Yet, borders were not closed, traveling was not forbidden, people weren't stock-piling toilet papers in their basements.....

 

But I guess since this virus is afflicting the more "developed" parts of the world (Europe, North America etc) compared to malaria which mostly hits third world countries, this corona outbreak is so much worse.... 

 

 

This is because Malaria is spread by mosquitos and not people. 

Edited March 14, 20205 yr by alphanguy74

1 hour ago, I Am A Swede said:

But I guess since this virus is afflicting the more "developed" parts of the world (Europe, North America etc) compared to malaria which mostly hits third world countries, this corona outbreak is so much worse.... 

Well, I'm not quite sure why major countries such as France, Germany, and the US would shut down in response to a disease that is not rapidly spreading among their own populations.

 

 

The malaria comparison might not have been the most relevant, but the point I was trying to make was that it feels like everyone's panicking over this. It's not the bubonic plague. Entire countries shutting down, closing borders, cancelling all sporting events, restaurants, theatres and cinemas closing etc....

In Norway, Denmark and Sweden together we've had somehere between 2,500 and 3000 confirmed cases so far, and 5 deaths combined. All of them elderly people with prior health issues.

It's not a death sentence if you catch this virus, but people are acting like it is. For the vast majority it will probably be like a bad case of the flu, or even less than that.

I'm not saying we should completely ignore it, of course not, but let's not get carried away.

 

2 minutes ago, I Am A Swede said:

The malaria comparison might not have been the most relevant, but the point I was trying to make was that it feels like everyone's panicking over this. It's not the bubonic plague. Entire countries shutting down, closing borders, cancelling all sporting events, restaurants, theatres and cinemas closing etc....

In Norway, Denmark and Sweden together we've had somehere between 2,500 and 3000 confirmed cases so far, and 5 deaths combined. All of them elderly people with prior health issues.

It's not a death sentence if you catch this virus, but people are acting like it is. For the vast majority it will probably be like a bad case of the flu, or even less than that.

I'm not saying we should completely ignore it, of course not, but let's not get carried away.

 

 

I think part of this is because of poor leadership making people feel they have no real hope or answers. The UK and the US have abominably bad leaders, as does Australia. 

I think we are just starting to find out how dangerous or not this virus is.  Most information about it was based off data from China, which I'm not sure can be 100% trusted.  A lot of our medical experts have been saying only 2% of people who get this will die, because that's what happened in China. South Korea's is way lower than that, but Iran's death rate is 4.8% and Italy's death rate is at 6.8%. They have been saying it mostly affects older people because that's what the data from China showed, but both Italy and France have announced people under 60 are also in the ICU. Today France said 50% of their people in the ICU due to this virus is UNDER 60.  I think the more data we get from other countries the more we'll know if this is overblown or not. 

I find it mind boggling that New Orleans canceled all schools yet Bourbon Street was jammed pack....lord....how irresponsible .

9 minutes ago, wingwalker said:

I think we are just starting to find out how dangerous or not this virus is.  Most information about it was based off data from China, which I'm not sure can be 100% trusted.  A lot of our medical experts have been saying only 2% of people who get this will die, because that's what happened in China. South Korea's is way lower than that, but Iran's death rate is 4.8% and Italy's death rate is at 6.8%. They have been saying it mostly affects older people because that's what the data from China showed, but both Italy and France have announced people under 60 are also in the ICU. Today France said 50% of their people in the ICU due to this virus is UNDER 60.  I think the more data we get from other countries the more we'll know if this is overblown or not. 

 

Given the state of health care and of the common person's health in the US I'm expecting the worst. The sad part is nothing will change. McConnell is still dragging his feet. The bill passed was important but still nowhere near enough. And Trump is as popular as ever. 

Edited March 14, 20205 yr by DRW50

Which is to say, not very outside his base. He is nowhere near GWB levels in '04.

 

6 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I was reading about some of the shitfaces who mass bought hand sanitizer and other products to sell at hugely inflated prices (the New York Times, surprise surprise, gave one of them a glowing profile, complete with a "cute" photo where he's embracing his wife and baby). Enraging. These people should be put in jail. 

 

In more positive news (for now, anyway - unless action is taken these places will just double down into burning everything once this is over [if it's over...]).

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2020/03/11/coronavirus-lockdown-may-save-more-lives-from-pollution-and-climate-than-from-virus/

 

And also this, which is mostly just something that needs to be said over and over and over:

 

 

 

My pregnant co-worker was upset today because her husband was out shopping for the and he said that the store was out of diapers. She's six months pregnant and was really worried about that, because she also has an 18 month old at home and she only had one pack of diapers left. Thankfully when someone went on break, they were able to go out and find a pack of a diapers for her, in one of the stores. (Though, my other co-worker stated it was one of the few packs left and it was a small pack) 

 

But people really do need to stop with the hoarding of important items. They are being incredibly selfish. My dad told me that he saw a lady with two shopping carts of toilet paper, coming out of the store today, leaving the shelves completely bare. I went to three stores today and they were all out of toilet paper. Thankfully, I have some rolls at home.   I also saw someone on Twitter say that their friend bought 14 cases of water. Nobody needs that much water, unless they have an incredibly large family at home. (Which I don't think that person did, they may have even been single/childish).People are being so greedy, it's okay to get a little extra in order to prepare, but it's wrong to take way more than you need. 

 

 

4 hours ago, DRW50 said:

 

 

Someone in the replies to the tweet works at a store and said if they have limits, a person will leave the store, then come back not long after and buy more. It's better than someone buying a thousand things at once, but only marginally so.

 

I think there's a point where if you are buying dozens and dozens of rolls of toilet paper and you are only taking care of yourself or a few other people, then you should consider leaving some behind. 

 

 

This is trifling IMHO. Maybe some of these people will end up becoming low on money from all of this selfish, greedy, hoarding. And maybe that will enable some other people of having a chance to get what they need, when the stores restock.

Edited March 14, 20205 yr by xtr

6 minutes ago, xtr said:

 

My pregnant co-worker was upset today because her husband was out shopping for the and he said that the store was out of diapers. She's six months pregnant and was really worried about that, because she also has an 18 month old at home and she only had one pack of diapers left. Thankfully when someone went on break, they were able to go out and find a pack of a diapers for her, in one of the stores. (Though, my other co-worker stated it was one of the few packs left and it was a small pack) 

 

That's so awful. I hope everything works out for your co-worker. 

 

In one of Newt Gingrich's rare bits of sanity:

 

 

John Cornyn is trolling, as the sociopath Republicans who hate us and want us to die do. I'd say give money to his opponent, but there's little chance he's going to lose, so just use that money to stay safe, and maybe just tell people you know in Texas about the race instead.

 

https://mjfortexas.com/

Louisiana had already postponed their Democratic primary until June. Now Georgia - who was scheduled to vote on March 24th - has postponed their primary until May.

1 hour ago, I Am A Swede said:

The malaria comparison might not have been the most relevant, but the point I was trying to make was that it feels like everyone's panicking over this. It's not the bubonic plague. Entire countries shutting down, closing borders, cancelling all sporting events, restaurants, theatres and cinemas closing etc....

In Norway, Denmark and Sweden together we've had somehere between 2,500 and 3000 confirmed cases so far, and 5 deaths combined. All of them elderly people with prior health issues.

It's not a death sentence if you catch this virus, but people are acting like it is. For the vast majority it will probably be like a bad case of the flu, or even less than that.

I'm not saying we should completely ignore it, of course not, but let's not get carried away.

 

 

I can understand why people are concerned and want to be cautious. That being said, I definitely think you bring up a lot of good points. I don't think that some (maybe even a lot of the) panicking is doing more harm than good. Including people panicking and doing all of the hoarding and as well as causing people (especially those who suffer from it) to have anxiety. I do believe that if the average person got this they will end up being fine. Of course people need to be concerned about the most vulnerable like the elderly, people with compromised immune systems. But one of the best things a lot of people can do for them is to try and remain calmer and also keep ourselves healthy. Doing things like cutting down on large public gatherings could definitely help but people can't stay completely shut down forever. And I also think that some people are stigmatizing this disease and the people who get it, which I think is wrong.

 

Some people have been acting like it's the bubonic plague and others are acting like it's a dangerous STD and that people that got it have behaved in some sort of very shameful behavior. Granted, there are people that get it like Rudy Gobert who have acted irresponsibly. But the average person that gets it, didn't do anything to intentionally get it or want to intentionally pass it on to someone else. I do agree about people being a bit OTT,  acting like it's going to be an automatic death sentence. (With an exception being vulnerable people.)

 

If healthy people do our best to stay healthy, that will help the more vulnerable people among us. And of course do whatever we can to help them while this is going on. We had a elderly client today call into the office at least five or six times, because he was worried about not being able to come into his appointment. Him and his wife have health issues that leave them compromised. He doesn't have a computer, and I don't think would know how to set up the virtual stuff. But we were able to work with him and set it up so his sister could get his paperwork/info to us. People should definitely help elderly people/compromised people in times like this, and do what we can to look out for them. And remain calmer so they don't panic even more than they already are.

 

 

Edited March 15, 20205 yr by xtr