Discuss Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Einstein]

Welp. Its here. And where ever you are, its probably there too. Lets talk about it - calmly.

I am from the United States, currently living in the Nashville Tennessee area, and we have a couple of confirmed cases here (not surprising when there are over a million people). People are panic-buying items like toilet paper (???) soap/disinfectants, cleaning supplies, bread, eggs, meat, etc... While filling up my truck with gasoline earlier (yes I was actually empty, 0.5 gallons remaining), I noticed an older gentleman next to me filling up small Diesel and Gasoline cans in the back of his truck. In the supermarket (walmart in this case), the grocery section was a little on the wild side, very crowded, with most people trying to look like they aren't panic-buying, and shaking their heads in disapproval at the empty shelves which would normally hold things that you wouldn't expect to be sold-out in a "crisis".

We currently have some traveling restrictions in effect for going/coming into/out of the country, but nothing internal, yet. There is a rumor that some sort of, dare I say it, self-"quarantine" protocol (basically a strong suggestion to stay at home unless absolutely necessary) might be put into effect "soon". Most people here are handling it quite well I believe. Others, well...yeah others have lost their minds, but I've not seen too many of those yet.

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What about there? Where are you? What are your federal and local governments doing in response? How about your citizens?

Keep this thread civil and panic-free please. Panic helps nobody. And if you don't know the facts, then don't speculate. There is no need to spread misinformation.

[Raap]

I decided to bunker down for the next 12 months and just order things in while working from home.

This modern-era plague is currently estimated to last a minimum of several months, but more likely at least a year. At the peak of it, 2/3rd of the population will have either had or have the virus. After this point, crowd immunity will take effect and the spread should hit a slow-down.

Best advice right now is, keep a distance from elderly and vulnerable people. And use your brain, apply common sense.

Silver lining? I get more time to work on W3D. Hooray!?!

[Einstein]

So there is actually a briefing (USA) going on right now.

Spoiler

 

 

[NodGuy]

I live outside Portland, OR in Washington County. There are a few cases near me and a death or two too. I heard that a few cities and states are on lock down, I wonder when that will happen here? I can't work from home so I guess no pay for me. I don't want them to force my sick and PTO time because I already have plans for that.

[dblaney1]

If you vape or smoke please quit as soon as possible. Your chances of a severe reaction are approximately 14 times higher if you have done either within the last 3-4 weeks. It has to do with the hairs in your throat becoming desensitized to needing to cough which increases your risk of pneumonia. The hairs do recover mostly within a few weeks. This is important for those young and old. We do not have enough hospital beds and respirators so the more people with severe reactions the more people will die if we run out of resources. 

[Guard55]

I live in the land of virigins. Virginia. Northern Virginia to be exact (yeah I know.)

Thankfully, I have all I need to last a month.

[Nodlied]

I live somewhere near Rotterdam and the Hague, the Netherlands.

Things have become quite wild over the past two weeks over here. My mother became ill last week but didn't want to go to the doctor until I made her cry. Due to the lack of fever, she didn't get tested, but all other symptoms are there. She's been recovering well now, doctor adding that that it's a mild infection.

Since the first minor lockdown began last thursday, I've seen quite a few idiots panic buying whatever they could in the super markets. Some of them don't seem to realise that they could just purchase things as they normally would, as these crowds only serve to further the spread of the virus.

However, yesterday it was decided that everyone should work and stay at home unless they either had not choice or were on a list of highly important professions. (People like doctors, nurses, transport sector, farmers, supermarkets, energy, water, public transport, etc).

Schools were closed as well, but despite that, teachers like me still have to show up for work. One of my schools simply wants us to show up on monday and thuesday to work on administration and to prepare some digital classes. My other school simply wants us to show up every day, not even truly knowing why they want us there... So yeah...

 

Life's not fun, but eh, I've survived worse.  

[TemporaryName]

Im waiting when they close my workplace to play Renegade all the time haha 

[moonsense715]

We closed everything here in Hungary slowly, within a week, one step a day. We are doing "pretty good" so far, I hope this serious lockdown will help slow down the spreading.

[NodFan]

Every place in my location has been closed for 2 weeks, I even got an extended spring break from college.

[VERTi60]

For a long time here in Slovakia we had almost no cases except for the people who were/came from abroad, so we were like a sanctuary island surrounded by more cases in each other EU country. However that changed quickly. Over the last few weeks the government started to realize they should be doing something so we took precautions prior the disease actually spread up further. The bad thing is however, that only few weeks passed after parliamentary elections, and our old government doesn't even have minister of healthcare anymore. Most of the other ministers will send their demise by Friday, while the new government is still not fully formed.

We have no deaths so far, but we have a lot of cases now due to irresponsibility of some people not respecting the precautions. Like for example by visiting other relatives who were abroad or should be in quarantine. Already everything is closed, shops, schools, borders, even some services and major factories. Ban on travel, gatherings, going out without purpose, not using protective gear in public, etc.

Here in capital it's worst atm. Few of my family members got sick, I also got sick, but hopefully it's nothing major. Testing is really slow here, getting help via phone is almost not possible due to getting overused. Most doctors and ambulances closed or only taking very severe cases. Shops and pharmacies don't have the protective gear, not even soaps, basic food is getting off the shelves very fast as well, even though government is telling that basic stuff should be available so far.

[VERTi60]

Btw this is suppose to be the source of the whole thing as you might heard, maybe you haven't seen it though:

 

 

[NodGuy]

42 minutes ago, VERTi60 said:

Btw this is suppose to be the source of the whole thing as you might heard, maybe you haven't seen it though:

 

 

Disgusting. Utterly disgusting.

[AZ-Stalker]

If anyone wants to take a look behind the scenes over at how China's shenanigans and WHO corruption is affecting all of this, among anything else related to stuff coming out of China, take a look at the show called "China Uncensored". I've been following their work for a long time now and the content is very informative and, well, uncensored. They also have a show called "America Uncovered" if you're more into US topics.
 

 

Don't trust China's data if it's getting reposed via your preferred news outlet. The CCP is one of the world's biggest human rights violators and like to cover things up a lot. Always double/triple check what you're reading or hearing on the news.

Edited March 17, 2020 by AZ-Stalker

[Yah-Nosh]

I recently moved to the UK for work. No panic just yet, in fact I kind of wish the government stepped up its game in public awareness and action, but other than that, the only nuisance is a lot of empty shelves in the stores. My workplace is taking measures to let us work from home, and while it's not yet mandatory, it's already strongly recommended (i.e "everyone should pack up their projects and get ready to dig in at home")

[Lamar]

I live in Berlin, it's a weird time.  All schools are closed until April 19 (at least), also events with more than 10 people are forbidden. Many shops have to remain closed. Some of them say they can't survive longer than 2 weeks before they get broke.
No gyms are open anymore, nightlife is cancelled as all bars and clubs stay closed.
Border controls just got introduced again in like all EU countries, you can't even buy cheap cigarettes from poland anymore.

And we are just at the beginning.
Good thing is, people like business men see the possibillity of video conferences and learn that its not required to flight every time.
Bad thing is, no football and I still have to go to work.

 

[Nodlied]

11 hours ago, VERTi60 said:

Btw this is suppose to be the source of the whole thing as you might heard, maybe you haven't seen it though:

*Batvideo*

IIRC, that video was from 2016. The real location for the appears to have been Wuhan's wet and live food market. As we all know, hygiene isn't the most important thing on the minds of the people living there. The fact that such conditions are great for decease only serves to show that they dun goofed.

[Liten]

I, for one, welcome the chance to just fucking die. Thank you, based China.

The store here were out of macaroni and meatballs, which is about as Swedish as it gets.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Liten

[Jeod]

Richmond area, Virginia here. Went to the local grocery at 7am this morning while everyone else was either sleeping or on their morning commute or getting ready for work. They didn't get a truck today, so I expect grocery restocks to become less frequent over time (used to be every Tuesday). Found some TP at a dollar general on my way home, so I'm now the 1%.

Like it or not this is going to change the world. It's not going to go back to normal in a few months. There will be economic changes, new emergency policies put in place, etc. And there will be investigations into how this really began and who to hold responsible. Hint: It's probably not from bat soup.

[Einstein]

Update on the USA in general: As of yesterday, all citizens are urged to stay home unless there is a really good reason to get out. This new suggested self-imposed "quarantine", or social distancing (new phrase of the week) will last for the next 14 days (15 days from yesterday), and hopefully will slow down the spread of this thing, as well as give hospitals some much-needed time to get people in and out. "Slow the flow", so to speak.

[Raptor29aa]

I work retail... yea these last two weeks were a mud walk. But these memes pulled me through. It’s been a pain and a big pain to most of my team keeping the product flowing. It’s like trying to fill a bottomless hole, and customers are upset it’s not full yet.

Anyways stay safe out there the end of this virus is near

Fun Fact: toilet paper is mostly comprised of  water and a sawdust-like wood pulp (and bleached white).

Edited March 19, 2020 by Raptor29aa
More to add

[MPRA2]

My main concern is how badly screwed all of us Americans (and Europeans) will be due to the incoming economic fallout. Best case scenario, things go back to normal with minimal financial disruption, worst case is the entire world goes into a global depression about on the scale of the 1930s if not worse. I'm really hoping that the world can come together and not think about greed for one minute and help everyone out until this goes back to relative normalcy....

[Einstein]

@MPRA2 That would indeed be a worst case.

While some things have slowed down or stopped completely due to the social isolation protocol, other things with relation to this situation will remain stable, or increase in activity due to the demand of certain goods. I spoke with an employee of NES yesterday (Nashville Electric Services), and he said that the only thing that has changed is that they have been instructed to only work with each other when absolutely necessary, take staggered lunches, etc. Nobody is being sent home, because electricity is pretty important. Likewise, my wife (a nurse) has been told on the subject of getting sent home - "LOL".

People like me, and many many others here who have computer-related jobs, are set up (or getting set up) to work from home. @Jerad2142 just got a new desk . And the government is working on getting those who need it some financial assistance to aid in stabilizing the effect on the economy; to avoid a sharp fall.

Stock markets and national economies tend to work on a "sine wave" sometimes. While there will, I'm sure, be some decline, and maybe for some time even... I don't see this as a doomsday scenario. The future is uncertain, but we'll make it through for sure. And the best ways to aid in that are to stay optimistic, help those around you when you can, and play your part (social distancing, etc).

 

EDIT: AND STOP BUYING ALL THE TOILET PAPER!

[AZ-Stalker]

46 minutes ago, Einstein said:

EDIT: AND STOP BUYING ALL THE TOILET PAPER!

No idea why people need so much TP... cause if all else fails - showers are a thing. Heck washing up in general is just good hygiene.

Edited March 18, 2020 by AZ-Stalker

[Einstein]

@AZ-Stalker JP is the man!!

[Mojoman]

This is a real "virgin hoarder vs the chad raider" deal.

Thanks for everyone who said they had TP.

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But seriously though if things go super sideways, don't let people know what provisions you have willy nilly.

[Einstein]

How is everyone doing? We have curfews and shutdown orders going in effect here.

[Nodlied]

29 minutes ago, Einstein said:

How is everyone doing? We have curfews and shutdown orders going in effect here.

I've been reduced to teaching via Microsoft teams. Man do I hate that program already...

[Jeod]

Virginia blames Washington, Washington blames local and state gov't. Congress is asshole.

[Einstein]

42 minutes ago, Jeod said:

Congress is asshole.

2020 summed up so far.