covid-19

A microscopic organism is laying bare the flaws in our consumer-based democratic societies. We are at "war" with a germ that doesn't recognize borders or politics.

What Italy is going thru scares the bejesus out of me.

:cry:

The other thing that scares me are guys like Lewk, and president Trump and his supporters, who treat this crisis with a ho-hum "anti-government" attitude. As if healthcare in the 21st century should include trading a chicken for medical services, remember that (R) talking point that was all about Freee Markets and Freee Trade? omg

And there's the Olympics in Japan....

Accepting passports today, looks like my first 2 appointments are no shows. Library in general is dead so far, even with early voting going on.

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Originally Posted by GGT

Lewk, they're just giving students a break from paying interest on their loans.

It's arguably the same thing the fed is doing for banks that loan to large corporations (by lowering their interest rate to nearly zero), but it's directly targeted to the people who need it most.

If you 100% disagree that the government should "help", then what are you thinking?! :eek:



Never mind. Trolls never answer direct questions. They're good at denial, delusion, and deflection. :down:

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"people who need it most" DA FK? People with college degrees tend to have higher income potential than those who don't. In what world is being college educated an indicator that they "need it most." What are you even basing that off of?

Income "potential" yes.

"Potential" is not worth much when the economy has shut down at the minute. Hence waiving interest alone not waiving the loaned amount.

Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released an official statement discouraging all travel abroad. Very important step; many thousands of people will be able to cancel trips and get full refunds now, rather than just being screwed, or being forced to re-book them for later this year. My schedule for this spring is going to be weird, with either three bonus weeks of research, or three weeks of absolute hell on call - depending on how things develop at my hospital and at my clinic - or, you know, quarantine. Radical acceptance is my salvation. That said, I'm getting increasingly worried; my mother's in a high-risk group and she's living all on her own in a city where you can't get about without subways and buses and where we might see high rates of community transmission in a couple of weeks. Sthlm is a very vulnerable city, with a large at-risk population and a healthcare system that has no hope of coping with a surge of severely ill patients. Up here, life isn't all that complicated yet. The weather's beautiful, and people are enjoying the weekend without gathering in large numbers. I have never appreciated this town more - eminently walkable, lots of fresh air, open spaces, oodles of natural beauty just a stone's throw from our home. The baby is thriving, and she video-chats with my mum a couple of times a day, enhancing this pervasive sense of coziness. I'm locking down my mortgage at a very good rate next week, and I have very little direct exposure to the market r n.

Trump offers 'large sums' for exclusive access to coronavirus vaccine
https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/18...ine-surpremacy

US is acting like an enemy of Europe and the world

Well, if we're gracious it's likely that it's commercial access, i.e. they'd get the exclusive rights to license it to everyone else.

That would still make it a rather scummy move - and I'm not really sure how his Supposedly-Christian buddies square "Profiteering from a global pandemic" with their Buddy Jesus.

Health Experts Worry Coronavirus Will Overwhelm America’s GoFundMe System

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Originally Posted by Khendraja'aro

Well, if we're gracious it's likely that it's commercial access, i.e. they'd get the exclusive rights to license it to everyone else.

That would still make it a rather scummy move - and I'm not really sure how his Supposedly-Christian buddies square "Profiteering from a global pandemic" with their Buddy Jesus.

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Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and exclusive licensing rights were given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

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Originally Posted by Aimless

Health Experts Worry Coronavirus Will Overwhelm America’s GoFundMe System

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Hah that's pretty good, so is this one. ;)

https://babylonbee.com/news/pence-ca...e-coronavirus/

There's some hope mortality can be pushed down dramatically. #tocilizumab

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Originally Posted by Lewkowski

Hah that's pretty good, so is this one. ;)

https://babylonbee.com/news/pence-ca...e-coronavirus/

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No, that's low-rent boomer garbage. Do you have no sense of pride?

This is Disney 1 hour before closing tonight for 2 weeks.
http://imgur.com/gallery/7xJsEGa

Covid-19 is still a joke in the US

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Originally Posted by Ominous Gamer

This is Disney 1 hour before closing tonight for 2 weeks.
http://imgur.com/gallery/7xJsEGa

Covid-19 is still a joke in the US

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To be fair you're extremely unlikely to catch it in that crowd at this stage of the development. Outdoor moving crowds are not the major method of transmission.

The US is struggling because it isn't an authoritarian nation like South Korea:

Twitter Link

According to a growing number of stable geniuses, Trump admin isn't incompetent - the media is just exaggerating to hurt Trump. Too many too dumb people to quote. Meanwhile, it's clear the US's testing ability was severely harmed by an early (and currently unexplained) decision by the admin to not use available test-kits, and instead trying to develop a new domestic one.

Trump is worst occupant of the Oval Office ever. Lincoln would be turning in his grave to see what the heir to his party has been up to.

Maybe if Trump hadn't sacked the CDC Pandemic the CDC response may have been prompter and better.

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Originally Posted by RandBlade

To be fair you're extremely unlikely to catch it in that crowd at this stage of the development. Outdoor moving crowds are not the major method of transmission.

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People in that crowd from all over the US, including from areas where there is community transmission. Impossible to say how many have been infected, and where the infected have gone. Feels kinda irresponsible.

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Originally Posted by Aimless

People in that crowd from all over the US, including from areas where there is community transmission. Impossible to say how many have been infected, and where the infected have gone. Feels kinda irresponsible.

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At this stage there may be some community transmission in that crowd but if so it will go to a couple of people, not hundreds or thousands. You could get just as much community transmission on public transport or in the shops or in a bar.

Impossible to say how many have been infected and where the infected have gone, but considering America has failed to do even basic testing or tracing since this started they don't have a clue about that in the first place anyway.

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Originally Posted by RandBlade

At this stage there may be some community transmission in that crowd but if so it will go to a couple of people, not hundreds or thousands. You could get just as much community transmission on public transport or in the shops or in a bar.

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That is indeed a great reason for not standing around in a crowded train, bus, shop, bar or massive amusement park at this point in time.

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Impossible to say how many have been infected and where the infected have gone, but considering America has failed to do even basic testing or tracing since this started they don't have a clue about that in the first place anyway.

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The appropriate response to this is to not do things that may make matters worse. If your leaders are irresponsible, it's not a genius move to embrace fatalism and emulate their irresponsible posture.

Continuing the COVID19 diary, we've had another day of beautiful weather. I'm working every other night, which has two major benefits: it reduces my exposure (compared to working during the day, when I will regularly come into close contact with dozens of people, and be in close proximity to hundreds over the course of the day), and it means I can spend much more time with my family (because I'm free between night shifts). I spent a few hours strolling around with the baby on a practically deserted stretch of road by the river, while my wife got some time alone for the first time in months, and then we had a long video-chat with my mother. Trying to maximize opportunities to do that when I'm at home during the day. I also bought a diary - feels like a good time to resume that practice, although I can't help but feel a little morbid.

Several of my colleagues are in temporary quarantine awaiting test-results, but wait-times for those are down to 6 hours or so now. We currently have no clear signs of community transmission in our city, but it's probably just a matter of days. The coming months will see a lot of ad hoc scheduling changes. Like much of the Swedish healthcare system, there isn't a lot of slack in our day-to-day operations; we have some elective investigations, procedures and follow-up we can divert, postpone or cancel, which gives us some margins, but wrt staffing our clinic is in an unenviable position because we need to fill a large number of positions with residents and senior consultants 24/7/365. My shift on call last night, the ED was much less busy than it usually is; patients are responding to recommendations.

One thing that has disappointed me is the fractured and inconsistent response from regional healthcare-providers (equivalent of NHS trusts, under county govt). Recommendations vary slightly from one region to the next without clear justification, indicating lack of coordination. Another disappointing thing is that, though we've established routines, we haven't changed our day-to-day operations in anticipation of an inevitable surge in both severely ill patients and ill or unavailable staff. There is no info on when (or in response to what triggers) we'll cancel planned visits, investigations and procedures. The vast majority of patients here are elderly, and it seems irresponsible to not even give them a heads-up.

Wrt financial matters, hard to say what one should do or when. I've decided to take things one day at a time.

On a conference call this morning (my London office are all instructed to work from home for the forseeable). Chit chat before the meeting kicks off, colleague 1 (UK) asks colleague 2 (India) how his sickness is going. Colleague 2 responds that his fever seems a bit better but the cough is still there so he decided to come into the office. Cue

https://jeff.hoopla-dev.net/fileSend...alm-statue.jpg

from colleague 1 and myself.

I know India hasn't been badly affected yet, but come on

Jeez, how hard is it to understand that coughs spread viruses - and even if its not the CV it would be another one and there's no need to spread contagions at the minute.

Mitt Romney has decided to fuck with Steely

Twitter Link

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ERgNaitW...g&name=900x900

All bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues have been closed state-wide in Washington state starting at midnight tonight. Take-out is still permitted. Gatherings of more than 50 people are also now banned (was 250).

Johnson bungled that conference. Hope they fix this immediately.

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Originally Posted by Wraith

All bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues have been closed state-wide in Washington state starting at midnight tonight. Take-out is still permitted. Gatherings of more than 50 people are also now banned (was 250).

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Same here since yesterday, and all schools are closed as well. And all coffeeshops, causing a national run on weed and massive lines. And after a marked increase in illegal sales they're now allowed to sell weed as a takeout again :haha:

I had a trip to London planned for next weekend, until last week I still had hope we could go but by now I think it's not responsible to go anymore (even if everything remains open there and flights aren't cancelled). And we had tickets to the book of mormon, which I was really looking forward to :(

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Originally Posted by Flixy

Same here since yesterday, and all schools are closed as well. And all coffeeshops, causing a national run on weed and massive lines. And after a marked increase in illegal sales they're now allowed to sell weed as a takeout again :haha:

I had a trip to London planned for next weekend, until last week I still had hope we could go but by now I think it's not responsible to go anymore (even if everything remains open there and flights aren't cancelled). And we had tickets to the book of mormon, which I was really looking forward to :(

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Hopefully they'll make an announcement before then that might help you get your money back at least.

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Originally Posted by Aimless

Hopefully they'll make an announcement before then that might help you get your money back at least.

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Would be nice, but eh, it's only money, not the biggest concern at the moment. Would be nice if we can rebook to a future visit though. At least we were smart enough to book a hotel with a free cancellation policy.

Speaking of money, i have friends working in the cultural sector and in restaurants, where a majority of all employees have zero hour contracts or are freelancers, so effectively out if income now their employers are forced to be closed. Government says they'll support but not clear how, yet.

My library system is closed for the next 30 days, but I'll still be reporting to work once my vacation time is over. The beaches down here are being closed city by city, which is crazy since spring break started today and that's huge for our economy. The county one over banned childcare services so if that spreads that might start to mess with our income since my wife is a vpk teacher.

and there it is:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/ale...trategy-deaths

Sweden also decided to follow their guidance, and I can only hope they'll reassess first thing tomorrow.

Strong political responses. Swedish govt announced a crisis intervention package equivalent to a third of the national govt's total tax revenues (around 6% of GDP), in order to reduce the financial burden on employers and employees. Will facilitate technical unemployment (employers pay up to 50% salaries, govt covers rest up to 90%), reduce costs for paid sick leave (employers ordinarily responsible for first two weeks before govt steps in), refund several months' worth of tax payments, etc. Similar response in France—everyone knows what they need to do, they're just trying to figure out the numbers. EU response has been slow and disappointing, very unfortunate but understandable.

All state liquor stores in Pennsylvania will close indefinitely due to coronavirus

https://www.ydr.com


Well WTF?! All non-essential business is closed (including bars and restaurants) and some grocery stores sell beer and wine, but the only place to buy "spirits" are the state liquor stores. :rolleyes:

Also, the PA turnpike is no longer accepting cash or credit cards, with limited service at some rest-stops.

https://joop.bnnvara.nl/content/uplo...ve-370x259.png

Nice graph showing why slowing down transmission is important.

In a bout of Murphy's Law our fridge freezer died last week. Took the milk out of the fridge on Friday and thought it felt warm, smelt off despite being in date. Fridge display showed it was 2 degrees but felt warm, so I powered it off and on again and when it restarted the fridge said 20 degrees. Everything was ruined. Couldn't get fridge to cool down.

Bought a new one (Samsung offered a repair or a 25% discount on any new one, given COVID and there wasn't much of a cost difference figured waiting a while for a repair that may cost the same as a new machine was not a good idea). New one arrived yesterday. Can't get a delivery slot for groceries as they're all sold out (we've had our groceries delivered for years now) so going to try to go to the shops today and going to have to do a big shop not due to panic buying but because we literally have nothing in now. :cry:

Twitter Link

A lot of other countries may have to make this decision very soon aka. yesterday.

Hopefully not too many countries will have tens of thousands of political prisoners.

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Originally Posted by RandBlade

Hopefully not too many countries will have tens of thousands of political prisoners.

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Just to be clear, many countries will have to make this decision also about those who aren't simply political prisoners.

Meanwhile, leaders show true colors in crisis:

Twitter Link

In the UK, schools remain open for the time being.

My sister, a deputy-head teacher at an inner-city school in one of the poorest parts of London, sent the following in a whatsapp conversation:

I have 1 staff off with symptoms, and 7 isolating because they are living with people with symptoms, another 3 off with other issues. I have had to tell a member of staff who doesn't want to continue to come into work because they are scared they will get sick, infect their 92-year-old mother who will then die, that they have to come in to work. I have spoken to a parent who is isolating with their sick child who only has enough food to last the day, and £1 left on the gas meter and no money for more, and another whose wife was sectioned last night. I am now in a small room with 6 probably virus ridden children doing mock tests.

I responded and asked why the hell schools were still open.

She responded:
Because if we close there are families who cannot feed their children as they rely on school dinners as their main meal (currently planning to run our own food service in event of closure), what happens to the workforce if parents have to stay home to look after kids- nurses, doctors, bin men, police force, supermarket workers for food and delivery workers all reduced?
Because in London, many 14, 15, 16 yr old gang members are safely in school all day and if schools close long-term they are out on the streets doing (stabbing) god knows what. It's a balancing act! I suspect the governments reasons are much more about the economy but reasons above are why we feel being open is important. Not that I love the idea of not being here!

Christ :(

Schools must be closed—there's no getting around it. It was true when RB was mocking Stewart, and it's even more true now. A modern, developed nation that can't feed its children—in a pandemic or at any other time—is a failure. But especially in an emergency such as this you must be able to ensure your people have food. It's a matter of political will.