Coronavirus (NO POLITICAL OR SOCIAL COMMENTARY PLEASE)

[Eye Candy]

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by Himmel

Hospitals Tell Doctors They’ll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear. Source

It looks like the source was censored and disappeared out of nowhere ...
I just don't know; it's from Bloomberg.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by Lacit170

Wuhan residents are increasingly skeptical of the Chinese Communist Party’s reported coronavirus death count of approximately 2,500 deaths in the city to date, with most people believing the actual number is at least 40,000.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/wuhan-res...164859600.html

I'm certain everyone here have read that "illuminating" article (link from the quote above)?

[Lee A Stewart]

Coast Guard tells cruises to prepare to care for sick people for 'indefinite period'

The U.S. Coast Guard is now directing ships registered in the Bahamas to seek aid from that country first — even if the ships are owned by Miami-based companies. It is also advising ships with more than 50 aboard that they may be sequestered “indefinitely.”

The Coast Guard issued that and other new rules this week in the face of an increasing number of requests to medically evacuate people from the dozen-plus cruise ships hovering off Miami’s coast, according to a public memo. The new framework requires cruise lines to arrange for private transportation for those who are sick rather than relying on the Coast Guard.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/co...cid=spartanntp

[Scottishguy]

Decided to try out Disney + while in lockdown. Just done with The Mandalorian episode 1. Just wow, colour me impressed.

Such a rich literacy of popular cultural understanding on display here, particularly in the context of Westerns/Spaghetti Westerns. And no forced identity politics!

One episode in, like I said, and this show is a bloody revelation! Just wish it would get a physical release.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

Engineers and technicians set-up and test the machines that will be used to manufacture Level 1 face masks Monday, March 30, 2020 at the General Motors Warren, Michigan manufacturing facility.

Aaron Leitz sets up and tests a machine that will be used to manufacture Level 1 face masks on Sunday at the General Motors Warren manufacturing facility. Production will begin next week and within two weeks ramp up to 50,000 masks per day, with the potential to increase to 100,000 per day.

So what about the N95 masks that the hospitals really need? Or even surgical masks? Aren't these level 1 masks about as effective as a homemade mask?

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

People are speculating that Japan was covering up their cases to make a show that they were still ready for the Olympics, but after it was postponed, cases just started to rise a lot because Japan had no reason to cover it up anymore. I mean, it made little to no sense that they would have less than 2,000 cases there, so something was definitely up.

So perhaps Japan too? Maybe have a list of countries whose numbers are suspect. I wonder if some of these other "success stories" are doing the same thing.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by bruceames

So what about the N95 masks that the hospitals really need? Or even surgical masks? Aren't these level 1 masks about as effective as a homemade mask?

The N95 masks are considerably harder to make than the Level 1 masks. Requires very special equipment that is not available in quantity. Most are made in China. 3M is ramping up their N95 production lines but it takes time - weeks.

At least Level 1 masks provide some kind of protection.

[Lee A Stewart]

Why Asia’s New Coronavirus Controls Should Worry the World

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...cid=spartandhp

[Member-222782]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

Why Asia’s New Coronavirus Controls Should Worry the World

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...cid=spartandhp

Those kinds of measures would NEVER happen in the US regardless of how bad things get. One thing I do think should be done is municipal authorities should start boarding up parks, plazas and other public areas where people congregate. Too many knuckleheads out there who don't give a damn about mitigation and containment who are still hanging out and playing basketball like nothing is happening. Put up fences. But, no, I don't think cops will start following people around and handing out $33,000 tickets.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Cinema84

Those kinds of measures would NEVER happen in the US regardless of how bad things get. One thing I do think should be done is municipal authorities should start boarding up parks, plazas and other public areas where people congregate. Too many knuckleheads out there who don't give a damn about mitigation and containment who are still hanging out and playing basketball like nothing is happening. Put up fences. But, no, I don't think cops will start following people around and handing out $33,000 tickets.

No, tracking bracelets will never be used here. The difference is that those other countries, especially Singapore and Hong Kong, are very dense and small in comparison with the U.S. So even if we tried to do something like that, it wouldn't be practical or necessary.

[BLUCanadian]

On Tuesday, China revealed for the first time its number of asymptomatic coronavirus cases. The National Health Commission said 1,541 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were under medical observation. It said it would start including asymptomatic infections in its official coronavirus count, which had until then excluded the figures. On Wednesday, China's updated data included 1,367 asymptomatic cases, down from the previous day. Of the asymptomatic cases, 130 were reported within the last day, making up over three-quarters of the 166 new cases overall in China on Wednesday.

https://fortune.com/2020/04/01/china...tomatic-cases/

[Pondosinatra]

Sadly not an April Fool's joke...

https://www.newsweek.com/one-year-us...laries-1494521

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Cinema84

Boy, Walmart's really taken hold of this country. They've apparently gotten so big that people have forgotten there are other, smaller independent shops that also sell things like toilet paper, toothpaste, meat, etc. What is it about these big box places that have people so entranced that they ONLY shop there?

To quote Flyboy from Dawn of the Dead when Fran aks why the zombies keep coming back to the mall:

"Some kind of instinct. Memory, of what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives."

[MifuneFan]

Walmart are much more likely to restock quicker, have a bigger inventory and selection, and not price-gouge like smaller independent stores.

[Lee A Stewart]

Truck carrying toilet paper catches fire, shuts down all lanes of westbound I-20

A tractor-trailer carrying toilet paper caught fire overnight in Hutchins, according to local officials.

The driver of the truck is OK, authorities told WFAA.

The fire shut down all lanes of westbound Interstate 20 around 4:15 a.m. near Interstate 45 in Hutchins, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tr...cid=spartandhp

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Walmart are much more likely to restock quicker, have a bigger inventory and selection, and not price-gouge like smaller independent stores.

Amen!

I have three choices that are local to me: Target, Albertsons and Walmart. Target has very little fresh meat and what they do have is priced high. Albertsons has lots of fresh meat but they sell in large quantity packages which are very expensive. Walmart sells lots of fresh meat and many are in the $4.50 to $5.50 range. Perfect for a family of two (me). Also lots of frozen fish for less than $4. If you can snag their 4 roll TP it's 68 cents.

[Batman1980]

Frozen fist?

[bruceames]

So this is a boon to huge corporations like Walmart, Costco and Amazon. All selling all kinds of non-essential items, and way more essential items. All at the expense of the smaller stores forced to shut down. The big get stronger and the small get weaker during this crisis. Just great.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by bruceames

So this is a boon to huge corporations like Walmart, Costco and Amazon. All selling all kinds of non-essential items, and way more essential items. All at the expense of the smaller stores forced to shut down. The big get stronger and the small get weaker during this crisis. Just great.

Yup. A massive consolidation of global wealth into even fewer hands. Which is why the conspiracy theorist in me (which is only a small part of me) thinks this was all by design.