Coronavirus thread

[Florestan]

And as someone said above, now is the right time to read those books and listen to those musics it was high time to read and listen to! And more important, to spend more time with our children and parents!  As St. John Apostle said, Love each other and it'll suffice!

I love you all, guys!

[greg]

And as someone said above, now is the right time to read those books and listen to those musics it was high time to read and listen to!

Helllll yes. 
Turn this into a opportunity.  0:)

Though I do feel bad for the extroverts out there who don't many hobbies at home. Good luck, I guess.

[Florestan]

Also an opportunity for all of us to think about and ponder our own unavoidable mortality and order our priorities in this short life we're alloted.

Carpe diem!

[drogulus]

     

Also an opportunity for all of us to think about and ponder our own unavoidable mortality and order our priorities in this short life we're alloted.

Carpe diem!

     I'll probably order chicken kee mow with unavoidable sauce.

[Karl Henning]

Even when I enjoy them, the sauces I order are always avoidable.

[drogulus]

     We have a very nice delivery option in Watertown, a little Thai place that was all takeout and delivery, then added a few tables, and now is back to the original format until the all clear sounds.

[JBS]

God bless you & yours, brother!

Amen!

Helllll yes. 
Turn this into a opportunity.  0:)

Though I do feel bad for the extroverts out there who don't many hobbies at home. Good luck, I guess.

And prayers and sympathy. I am an extreme introvert, but even for me the growing self isolation is draining. Possibly it's the knowledge of why all this is going on that is depressing.

But people still can go out for a walk, and wave and say hello to each other even if they are strangers and even if it's from six feet away.  And I noticed as I took a walk this evening, that's what all of us seem to be doing.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Thank you PD for your inspiriting and kind words. And thanks to others for comments.
Frankly I regard the whole 'online, virtual-reality lesson' as a total nightmare. It has caused me more stress than the Coronavirus. Like many others, I suspect, I hardly slept last night. Having said that there is a very supportive IT team in the school and they have told me that when I deliver my first online lesson next week I can do it from the school with their support which is very reassuring. I went for two days in a row to the training session after school. What usually happens is that I cannot get into the laptop in the first place and by the time that it finally lets me in the lesson moves on to a place where I no longer understanding anything that is going on and just stare blankly at the screen. For the younger staff, of course, the whole thing is a walk in the park. Anyway, we shall see and thanks for the support and advice which is much appreciated.

To add to all this it it my daughter's birthday on Monday and we have invited her (we live in a quiet village) here to celebrate. However, she insists that we go up to London. She lives in West Dulwich which is one of the worst areas for Coronavirus infection. I explaned to her that this was like being invited for a birthday celebration in one of the main plague villages during the period of The Black Death. This at least amused some of my colleagues at work.

Oh, boy!  Wonder why that is?  I wouldn't think that there would be that many people trying to access how to host a teaching session?  Or is it a combo of how to host and how also to access the lesson causing the issue...maybe all the students trying to access it too?  If so, I would think that they should have a for teachers' only vs. a student access.  Though perhaps it's just a case of too much activity overall on the school's network?  Good to hear that someone will be with you for your first lesson at least.  Sorry that this has turned into such a complicated mess though.     I know, computers and technology can be frustrating; I hate to think how many hours (days?) I've spent working with someone over the phone trying to either fix things or learn more about the technology so that I know what I'm doing!  It can be rewording though to learn something new...perhaps try and think of it that way when you succeed (and you will).   

And, yes, a very happy birthday to your daughter....must admit that I'm rather surprised where she wanted the family to go!  Has she been taking any preventative measures (like trying her best to do 'social distancing', etc.)?

Best wishes and stay as safe as you can,

PD

[mc ukrneal]

I find the whole coronavirus very frustrating, mostly because the communication about it has been so poor (unclear, contradictory, etc.). I finally found an article that explains it quite clearly: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/coronavirus-will-radically-alter-the-u-s/ar-BB11pF6k?ocid=msedgntp

We're told that this will last through July/August - but that is only if we have a worst case scenario and everyone gets sick now! The whole timing of it is being misunderstood. If we need to shelter in place for 3-6 months, we are still looking at another major wave in the fall.

This graph shows it with a timeline (the first I've found with a concrete timeline):


SO if they could have a vaccine become live later this year, we could avoid the worst (if the measures they are trying to enforce work). Why isn't every country of the world getting together and pooling resources to get this done asap? We need to be funding research (if that is necessary), making the approvals process as streamlined as possible, getting the trials done in the shortest amount of time possible, getting the production ramped up so that mass quantities can be given round the world as quickly as possible, etc. I know there is one company that just started a trial, and if we are lucky, that will work just as needed. But there is no guarantee. And even if it is 'the one', production will be strained to keep up with worldwide demand.

[mc ukrneal]

And it looks like we knew how badly we were prepared prior to this outbreak:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/virus-outbreak-cascade-warnings-went-193648556.html

"The outbreak of the respiratory virus began in China and was quickly spread around the world by air travelers, who ran high fevers. In the United States, it was first detected in Chicago, and 47 days later the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. By then it was too late: 110 million Americans were expected to become ill, leading to 7.7 million hospitalized and 586,000 dead.

That scenario, code-named "Crimson Contagion," was simulated by the Trump administration's Department of Health and Human Services in a series of exercises that ran from last January to August.

The simulation's sobering results — contained in a draft report dated October 2019 that has not previously been reported — drove home just how underfunded, underprepared and uncoordinated the federal government would be for a life-or-death battle with a virus for which no treatment existed."

[Ratliff]

If you can believe it was laid off just before Christmas (company financially failing) found a better job, sold the house in California, rented a house in Houston, Texas where I will be working, am on payroll pending relocation. Movers are supposed to come on April 2, My wife and I had planned to drive with our young child to Houston, and did I mention my wife is pregnant?

Now, with confirmed cases growing exponentially in California, the governor has issued a "stay at home order," and effective next week we have no home. We are wondering if we will find travel forbidden, or travel hotels along the route shuttered.

Being stuck at home, watching Netflix and nervously checking dwindling checking accounts and 401Ks seems like paradise to me. I fully expect I could be dead before a month has past, and that is not the worst scenario I can imagine.

[mc ukrneal]

If you can believe it was laid off just before Christmas (company financially failing) found a better job, sold the house in California, rented a house in Houston, Texas where I will be working, am on payroll pending relocation. Movers are supposed to come on April 2, My wife and I had planned to drive with our young child to Houston, and did I mention my wife is pregnant?

Now, with confirmed cases growing exponentially in California, the governor has issued a "stay at home order," and effective next week we have no home. We are wondering if we will find travel forbidden, or travel hotels along the route shuttered.

Being stuck at home, watching Netflix and nervously checking dwindling checking accounts and 401Ks seems like paradise to me. I fully expect I could be dead before a month has past, and that is not the worst scenario I can imagine.

Whoa. I feel for YOU! I can only say that I hope you (and your family) stay safe and healthy.

[Symphonic Addict]

My only contribution to this thread is this: my opinion about this virus is that it was intentionally created and spread. I don't believe that it came from an animal origin by mutation. The real rulers have the worst intentions towards people, and I'm not mentioning presidents or kings. I suppose you can guess who they are.


I really hope all of you stay safe in your respective countries. I wish you all the best including your families.

[SimonNZ]

My only contribution to this thread is this: my opinion about this virus is that it was intentionally created and spread. I don't believe that it came from an animal origin by mutation. The real rulers have the worst intentions towards people, and I'm not mentioning presidents or kings. I suppose you can guess who they are.


I really hope all of you stay safe in your respective countries. I wish you all the best including your families.

I can't guess who you're talking about. Or what you might be basing this opinion on.

[arpeggio]

I had an interesting discussion with my wife concerning the virus.

For over forty years she worked for the United States Government as an IT specialist.  She spent twenty-five years with the Department of the Army and the last fifteen years working for the Department of Justice.  As a senior manager of the Department of Justice she worked on and signed off on plans on how to deal with the outbreak of a virus like Corona.  She knows of plans that were developed by the Department of Defense decades ago in order to deal with such a crisis.  As far as she is concerned any claims by the current administration that we were caught by surprise are completely bogus.  The Trump Administration was more concerned about tax breaks for the wealthy than preparing for a potential pandemic.

[prémont]

My only contribution to this thread is this: my opinion about this virus is that it was intentionally created and spread. I don't believe that it came from an animal origin by mutation. The real rulers have the worst intentions towards people, and I'm not mentioning presidents or kings. I suppose you can guess who they are.
.

If you are serious, I suggest that you change your username to

"fake news addict".

[pjme]

Josie Golding, PhD, epidemics lead at UK-based Wellcome Trust, said the findings by Andersen and his colleagues are "crucially important to bring an evidence-based view to the rumors that have been circulating about the origins of the virus (SARS-CoV-2) causing COVID-19."

"They conclude that the virus is the product of natural evolution," Goulding adds, "ending any speculation about deliberate genetic engineering."

read more at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200317175442.htm
or
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9

[Irons]

     I'm following the French lockdown, and the word is that it's likely to be extended beyond 15 days or whatever it is now, initially by another 15 days. Our Paris hotel is shuttered and our contact Laure sent a form letter that casts doubt that it will reopen soon.

We regret to inform you that Chouette Hotel is closed for an indefinite period.

We can respond to your requests as soon as the establishment reopens.

We ask you, Madam, Sir, to accept our apologies for this situation.

     I don't think a trip in May is going to happen.

     OK, off to Air France........

     US and French travel restrictions permitting, I have months of rescheduling room at no additional cost.

My son works for a large company in the travel industry. He had someone on the phone yesterday demanding immediate refund of deposit paid for expensive holiday. It was explained to the client that the company were working through £millions worth of deposits which takes time and eventually his money will be returned. With this my son received a blast  - My business has gone. Today, I sacked a dozen employees and I am ruined - I want my (deleted) money NOW!

[pjme]

We won't be able here at GMG to solve all the problems and questions surrounding Covid!
This article explains a few (China related) issues (well, for me, at least) :

"And that's where China really does have issues. The country's food safety standards are notoriously bad, despite numerous government-led initiatives to improve them. Food scandals are common, and diarrhea and food poisoning are a distressingly regular experience. Markets, like Huanan, that aren't licensed for live species nevertheless sell them. Workers are undertrained in basic hygiene techniques like glove-wearing and hand-washing. Dangerous additives are commonly used to increase production.

China's conditions are not unique. It looks, in fact, a lot like the United States did in the past, before muckraking exposés led to the creation of modern regulation systems. Even today, the United States can lag behind best practices on such issues as antibiotics in feed, cattle slaughter, or poultry washing. And, as with the American public of the 1900s, the Chinese citizenry badly wants change. Seventy-seven percent of the public ranks food safety as their single biggest concern.

As with so much else in China, politics gets in the way of sensible policy. Exposés of the kind that drove reform in the United States have a hard time finding traction in China's censorious media environment, where the interests of billion-dollar corporations and their party backers often override those of the public. When the author Zhou Qing wrote a groundbreaking exposé, What Kind of God, on the Chinese food industry in 2006, two-thirds of the book was removed before publication and its success eventually forced him into political exile.

Part of China's problem can be attributed to the power of traditional Chinese medicine, which is responsible for much of the trade in wildlife. Many wild animals in China are killed not for culinary reasons but for essentially magical ones. Whether it's tiger paws or pangolin scales, quack cures persist on a vast scale—even in cases like bear bile where a real active ingredient existed, has been discovered, and can be produced in labs without animal cruelty. The government has been heavily promoting traditional Chinese medicine, especially under President Xi Jinping's new nationalism, and while officially pharmaceutical companies following this model eschew the wildlife trade, the propaganda around such traditional medicine in general helps ensure belief survives."
Source:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/27/dont-blame-bat-soup-for-the-wuhan-virus/

[aligreto]

From Romania with love, to all GMGers!

Stay safe, obey all rules and restrictions imposed, keep strict hygienic rules and be optimistic! I wish you and all your loved ones and fellow countrymen all best of luck and very good health in these hard times!

As for myself, I'll isolate myself as much as I can together with my 79yo father which I can't leave because he can't move out from his bed and one of my maternal aunts 83yo who lives next door to us. My wife, 7yo son and my inlaws are isolated in a county 2 hours drive away fron Bucharest where no case has been reported as of yet.  As of yet the disease spreads in Romania at a moderate pace and I hope the trend will not going to
explode. The measures taken by the government proves quite effective, the irresponsibility of some people notwithstanding.

I'm sure that we all will get over this bloody crisis! May God and our own civic sense and respobsibility proect us alll!

Best of luck to you and yours my friend.