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Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

Azeroth

Dreamer
It's worth saying that a society cannot conduct business as if the world was going to blow up at any moment. We can't build hospitals with thousands of empty beds just in case a once-in-a-century plague might come along, nor can we staff them that way.

Oh I agree, the problem being that there already wasn't enough hospitals and staff before this chaos began.
 

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
Avocado lattes are definitely a real thing. Just a latte served inside a scooped out avocado.
 

Slartibartfast

Minstrel
That sounds like something you'd order via an app on your limited edition Apple watch, whereupon a man in jeans and sandals hoverboards over to your co-working space to deliver it.
 
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Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
That sounds like something you'd order via an app on your limited edition Apple watch, whereupon a man in jeans and sandals hoverboards over to your co-working space to deliver it.
Only if the man also invites you to his slam poetry improv show inside a jazz cafe where kombucha will be served.
 

MauEvig

Minstrel
People probably think I'm a total nut case, but that's fine. My opinions have never been the most popular anyway.
I feel like I'm one of the only people more afraid of the Government's control over the quarantine and the masses than the virus itself. Some governments in the world are stricter than others, as I've read here for those living in the UK, the one person in one person out rule is a lot more strict than "no more than 10 people" rule we have here in the United States.
No one's considering how quarantine is going to effect the rate of depression or the suicide rate. The anxiety could cause more heart attacks. But what are we going to blame? The virus? Or the Government order? There was a post about it on Facebook, then Facebook tried to block it saying it was "False information." But I raise an eyebrow, I'm more suspicious of the fact that Facebook is vehemently trying to block that post, than the post itself. If anyone says anything that contradicts what's on mainstream media right now, it's getting blocked. Sounds like a conspiracy to me!
The Philippines is out right shooting people if they leave their homes even if it's just to get supplies.
Is it serious? Absolutely! And I have no issue with the whole social distancing thing, washing your hands, etc. Technically the latter we should be doing anyway, virus or no virus.
But I do think the government stepping in and telling us how to handle it, or else facing criminal punishment, is going too far. How we're treating people who do come down with it as sick, are treated like dung. What ever happened to having compassion for the sick?
I'm just frustrated. The idea of being on lock down, the idea of the government stepping in, scares me more than the COVID-19 virus. Am I being unreasonable? Am I crazy? I'll admit the idea of quarantine triggers a lot of anxiety for me. Being interrogated at the Doctor's office just for a routine therapy session is enough to ruffle my feathers and I'm tempted to outright cancel the therapy, even though I need it. My mental state the way it's being right now means I probably need therapy more than ever, but at the same time the initial stress to get therapy is going to go up as well. It's a lose-lose situation for me.
Plus you know, getting pulled over just for taking a joy ride in the car? Since how exactly does riding around closed inside a vehicle going to spread anything? You're more likely to spread something if you go into the shop than just stay in the car and ride around. None of this makes sense to me.
And speaking of which, it's absolutely horrid how some people are treating service workers. Maybe they'll think twice about it once they services are forced to close shop. If this insanity keeps up, I'm sure it'll be inevitable.
 

Slartibartfast

Minstrel
I’m sorry you’re not feeling great about this and I don’t think you’re nuts. I started responding because I think this was probably from my post:
...I've read here for those living in the UK, the one person in one person out rule is a lot more strict than "no more than 10 people" rule we have here in the United States.
It’s a minor point really but the ‘one in one out’ at shops is something which private businesses have decided to implement themselves not an actual law. It’s something I, and I think most people, welcome and it’s been done by freely acting shop-owners who have simply looked at the market conditions and found the best way to keep a bit of calm and order in their businesses and protect their staff. Years ago I used to work in retail and yes, people are really quite horrible. While there will always be unpleasant people I think this crisis has actually brought a wider sense of appreciation of service workers.

The police response to the new quarantine laws over here was too much. It's good to be skeptical but the laws themselves are set to automatically expire and the courts have already thrown out some prosecutions which were to heavy-handed. After the initial public backlash new guidance has been issued to police-forces and government ministers and Lords (yes they’re still a part of our political system) have given the police a good thrashing in public statements. Apologies have been made and practices changed overnight. This is the system working to protect the public and responding to public will. More laws and more interaction from the police is never welcome however this is a crisis which will kill hundreds of thousands of additional people in both our countries if this action is not taken. I’m reminded of the saying ‘never let the perfect be the enemy of the good’. That hypothetical scenario where everyone lives but no action is taken doesn’t exist and we can’t let the thought that it should exist stop us from doing what’s necessary to save lives.

Censorship is always a fun discussion but I don’t think it’s backed by any law. Facebook caught a lot of flack when it was found to be actively promoting, let’s not mince words here, outright lies throughout at least one USA election, two UK elections and our Brexit vote. They were doing this for advertising revenue and engagement statistics. There’s no law that I know of in the USA or the UK which stops people from telling outright lies or expressing opinions which are calculated to polarise and mislead people as to risks or consequences. I guess Facebook have just made a business decision as to what they are willing to publish and promote. I’ve heard a lot of free speech arguments since the start of Web2.0 and I think a lot of people confuse the right to say what they want with a right to be published and promoted on someone else’s international media platform. You can actually still say what you want it's just that if your view is unpopular enough you might just have to shout it out of your window which is pretty much how it's always been.

Anyway I don’t know what the effect of quarantine will be on people’s mental health. I can see loads of possible options and some of them are even good. Maybe our sudden shift to remote working will allow people who have certain anxiety problems to engage better with their work on their own terms, reducing their marginalisation. Maybe our new awareness of social isolation and the technology and techniques we are now using en-mass to deal with it will become part of our way of living and benefit people who are socially isolated during more normal times. It's certainly not all good, and you're not crazy, but there is hope. I feel that just like we all have to work together to stop the virus spreading we have to work together to make sure the lessons we learn from the experience get carried forward when life returns to normal.

TLDR: You're not crazy.
 

Red Star

Scribe
I'm in northern NJ and it feels like I'm living in a sci fi novel. Its pretty scary, not gonna lie. The worst part is the boredom really. I'm getting by though.
 

Miles Lacey

Archmage
It was certainly a weird day on Saturday. Every April 25th is ANZAC Day when we have dawn parades and other events to remember our war dead. This year all those events were cancelled so people went out and stood in their driveways at 6am to honour them.

We've lived under very tough laws since late March but we are now relaxing the rules tomorrow (April 28th) so a few more shops will be opening. Construction and manufacturing will be resuming but with strict social distancing rules still enforced. We can now extend our social bubbles (the group that we live with) to include relatives and close friends living nearby. But we'll still be largely under lock down down here in New Zealand.

Everyone who couldn't work got a twelve week wage subsidy paid in a lump sum and the usual rules for the unemployment benefit have been relaxed. That''s helped a lot.

A lot of people I talked to actually like the lock down because of the time they've been able to spend time with family and a lot of people have been cycling and going for walks. They keep their social distance of two metres, though. We're also getting to know our neighbours. For me the lock down hasn't changed anything except the buses are free and run on a Sunday timetable.
 

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
It's King's Day in the Netherlands, which normally means people go outside to drink and wear orange, but ya know. This year's visit was to be Limburg, but better luck next year. Wonder what he's thinking of all this. Probably enjoying a break from travelling around nonstop.

A toast to sitting at home with a fridge full of beer.
 
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Miles Lacey

Archmage
Tourism industry? What tourism industry? It''s effectively been wiped out. Yes, the tourists will come back but by the time they do a lot of the businesses that rely on them will have long gone and many of the people whose livelihoods depended on tourism will most likely be working for one of the public works programmes the government is planning to set up to provide the unemployed with work (assuming the current government gets re-elected later this year). It''s basically dependent on what other countries do.

Imports are not such a big issue because most of our trade is with the Asia-Pacific countries and goods are still coming in and out of the country. So far there hasn't been any shortages but panic buying has meant that most supermarkets restrict the number of certain items that can be sold and prices have gone up on certain food items that we don't produce in New Zealand.
 

zoey

Acolyte
For us it has been a chance to play catch up - with relatives and friends. Of course its only been over video calls, but those are pretty good. In fact we have even checked out some of the museums and live safaris. Yes, there is fear and lack of clarity about the future, but at this point we have little say over those things. So we are sitting tight and enjoying the unexpected times together!
 

Insolent Lad

Maester
It seems I had a milder case of the CV back in March. There was some shortness of breath, more annoying than truly debilitating, that lingered for quite a while. I'm close to an hundred percent again now, and managed a long bike ride yesterday without discomfort. Maybe I was simply fortunate or maybe I can thank being in rather good condition with no underlying heath problems (that I know of!). Can I be reinfected? I don't know but I'm sticking with gloves and mask when I shop at least till the end of May.
 

Miles Lacey

Archmage
Insolent Lad - Yes, you can get the coronavirus again. This is why it''s not like the normal flu. As a precaution for both yourself and others it''s a good idea to practice social distancing (here in New Zealand it''s two metres but in many other countries it''s one metre or six feet) as well as wearing a face mask and gloves whenever you're close to people you don't live with (what us Kiwis call a social bubble) such as public transport, walking around etc.

This has been drilled into us Kiwis for over six weeks now and we have all but defeated the coronavirus here.
 

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
Insolent Lad - Yes, you can get the coronavirus again.

It's a possibility that you can get it twice as there might be multiple strains (Though I remember that being deemed unlikely), but so far nothing has been proven conclusive. Let's not spread uncertainties as facts. Lingering dead cells being the culprit for false positives is an interesting phenomenon.

WHO on why you can test positive for coronavirus twice
 

Miles Lacey

Archmage
It's a possibility that you can get it twice as there might be multiple strains, but so far nothing has been proven conclusive. Let's not spread uncertainties as facts.

There has been news reports indicating that you can get it twice:

South Korea’s New Coronavirus Twist: Recovered Patients Test Positive Again

However, some publications suggest that it might be that the coronavirus may still linger in people who've had it before. In other words, it may be the same infection flaring up again rather than a case of re-infection.

Can I get the coronavirus twice?

The comment below from the second article cited sums up the situation best:

SARS-CoV-2 is so new that we won’t know for sure until we’ve found out just how protective our immune response to the virus is, and how long it lasts.

The advice I gave to Insolent Lad is still valid, though, and it has been practised in many countries including here in New Zealand.


 
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