Coronavirus (NO POLITICAL OR SOCIAL COMMENTARY PLEASE)

[DanTheMan]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

While the effort is appreciated, coughing/sneezing can still occur on either end of that glass and can just as easily affect both the customer and the cashier. Most people I’ve seen, myself included, stand and wait by the payment device anyway to swipe the card or hand over the cash.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Originally Posted by chip75

Mate, we had over 15 years of rationing in the United Kingdom during and after World War II. It ended in the mid '50s. Apart from food, things like clothing, fuel, and soap were rationed. Couples had plastic wedding cakes.

We want to consume things because we've been indoctrinated to do so, "a healthy person needs to consume, to be a consumer". Yes, we feel better consuming, but it's a high that can be weaned away.

Necessities are necessities, luxuries are luxuries. Most have us have lived in a World were certain things were seasonal, we may have to go back to that to some degree, we may not have a 24/7 365 days a year option for a while.

Yesterday in Derbyshire police had to break up a karaoke party of nearly 30 people, that's 30 people that believed that their personal enjoyment trumped the safety of others.

The mindless irresponsibility of some sections of the population over the last three weeks beggars belief to the point of trying to attack the emergency services and NHS staff. Too much entitlement, me, me, me and all about my rights and not a thought about responsibilities.

By their selfish actions these individuals could end up infecting a vulnerable group and contributing to the overwhelming pressure on health professionals.

Such as setting fire to the moorlands outside of Manchester. Or even driving out causing an accident or breakdown resulting in the emergency services having to attend or AA/RAC. Accidents will happen but everything that can be done to minimize problems needs to be done.

Mass consumerism, rampant capitalism and the need to judge one on the basis of material wealth has been ruinous to the planet. Life should be more than empty accumulation.

What this crisis has also highlighted is the real underpinners of society. The refuse collectors, shop workers, delivery drivers, scientists and health professionals and engineers. Not vacuous celebrities. And how politicians certainly here in the UK especially the nasty Dominic Cummings placed more interest in money than life ignoring the scientific literature and the need to implement lockdown measures far earlier.

The UN also needs to put into place pressure on China and other south eastern Asian countries to close wet markets for good. Barbaric places where endangered animals in direct contravention of CITES are traded as pets or as meat without a shred of humanity as well as being the perfect laboratories for viruses to species jump.

Adversity reveals the true nature of people. And while we have had the despicable hoarders, antisocial louts they have been more than counterbalanced by the volunteers giving their time and skills and the way organizations like UCL and Mercedes F1 for example have designed more efficient CPAP ventilators that will be mass produced from next week. Not to mention the sacrifice including the ultimate one from medical staff on the frontline.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by DanTheMan

While the effort is appreciated, coughing/sneezing can still occur on either end of that glass and can just as easily affect both the customer and the cashier. Most people I’ve seen, myself included, stand and wait by the payment device anyway to swipe the card or hand over the cash.

The glass is to protect transmission from talking and breathing just as much as, or more than coughing or sneezing. If I were a cashier I would certainly appreciate the barrier (and as a customer I'm glad they'll be there). They are going to help.

I would avoid cash payments if you can.

[Lee A Stewart]

Texas to enforce quarantine orders to Louisiana drivers entering state

Gov. Greg Abbott is tightening travel to Texas by ordering some motorists from Louisiana to self-quarantine for two weeks.

The new travel restrictions come as Louisiana's status as a novel coronavirus hotspot grew Sunday to more than 3,500 positive cases statewide. Abbott said drivers with commercial, medical, emergency response, military or critical infrastructure purposes for entering Texas would be exempted.

State troopers will enforce the order at checkpoints at major roadways along the border. Those asked to quarantine will be asked to provide an address for where they plan to hold up in Texas, either for two weeks or until their return to Louisiana, whichever is comes first.

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

[bruceames]

Iceland did random testing to anyone that filled out an online form and found that 6.3% of them tested positive. 6.3% would be 20 million people in the U.S. Iceland doesn't use lockdowns but rather aggressive testing and social distancing guidelines. Schools are open there.



https://fortune.com/2020/03/27/coron...ovid-19-tests/

[Moe Szyslak]

"Why Iceland’s approach to coronavirus testing may be better than America’s"...

Or, really, "Why Iceland's approach to coronavirus testing is obviously better than America's"

[MifuneFan]

If the US had a population as small as Iceland, we could probably contain it too. The people of Iceland are also more likely to listen to the government, and not be YOLO idiots like people here in the US.

[Underworld54]

Originally Posted by bruceames

Iceland did random testing to anyone that filled out an online form and found that 6.3% of them tested positive. 6.3% would be 20 million people in the U.S. Iceland doesn't use lockdowns but rather aggressive testing and social distancing guidelines. Schools are open there.



https://fortune.com/2020/03/27/coron...ovid-19-tests/

That's actually irrelevant since Iceland has a total population of under 400K people. Of course it's easier to contain and monitor when you have much fewer people.

[DanTheMan]

Originally Posted by bruceames

The glass is to protect transmission from talking and breathing just as much as, or more than coughing or sneezing. If I were a cashier I would certainly appreciate the barrier (and as a customer I'm glad they'll be there). They are going to help.

I would avoid cash payments if you can.

Guess it depends which store chains are getting them. Publix supermarkets and several others here have additional employees who bag the products at the end and have conversations with the cashier and the customers and vice versa, so there goes the protection of the breathing and talking.

Honestly, the glass should’ve either been much longer, or stores could’ve taken more drastic measures by having customers put the items on the belt and wait at the next register over until everything has been rung up and payment/coupons are ready.

Again, the effort is nice, but they could’ve done more, I feel.

[bruceames]

The point is, low population or not, 6.3% of the random samples tested positive. That's 20 million people here. If the small population was contributing to containment, then the number of infected here would be even worse. So 20 million may be conservative. They may have more hospital beds and ICU units per capita, which enables them to take a more relaxed approach than other countries, I don't know. But they think testing is the answer.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by bruceames

The point is, low population or not, 6.3% of the random samples tested positive. That's 20 million people here. If the small population was contributing to containment, then the number of infected here would be even worse. So 20 million may be conservative. They may have more hospital beds and ICU units per capita, which enables them to take a more relaxed approach than other countries, I don't know. But they think testing is the answer.

Think about it. If 20 million people had it now we'd know it because hospitalizations and deaths would be several times higher than what they are now. We know that about 20% of those that are infected need to be hospitalized. Let's even play devil's advocate, and say only 5% of the 20 million need to be hospitalized, that would still be 1,000,000 people. We're obviously nowhere remotely close to that amount. Even 1% would be 100,000 people. You might not be able to figure out how many people are truly infected without antibody tests, but you can sort of work backwards from typical statistics.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Underworld54

That's actually irrelevant since Iceland has a total population of under 400K people. Of course it's easier to contain and monitor when you have much fewer people.

Ok, so the fewer people that live in a country, the less relevant their containment measures are. Got it. So credit their small population since "only" 6.3% of their population tested positive in a random sample. That percentage would be bigger here surely, more like 10-12%.

[Moe Szyslak]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

If the US had a population as small as Iceland, we could probably contain it too. The people of Iceland are also more likely to listen to the government, and not be YOLO idiots like people here in the US.

Much smaller population, no doubt. But USA showed a generally disinterest in random testing and tracking from the onset. And you have to remember that people did listen to the Government's message: This is under control and not worth worrying about. Although that's been modified with the ever-changing circumstances there is clearly a sizable part of the population who are tripling down on that notion.

[LordSummerIsle]

The possibility of 100,000 deaths in the US alone... Never expected this.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by scwilli1

The possibility of 100,000 deaths in the US alone... Never expected this.

I don't see it happening personally unless all shelter in place, and social distancing was abandoned. We're at 2,600 deaths now. It's going to take some time before we even get to 10,000 deaths here, and that's just 1/10th of the 100K figure. So even if things start escalating here, I don't see us reaching that many deaths. I would say perhaps half that over the course of a year or more maybe. And if things did start exploding, more and more places will quarantine, if not the country as a whole.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Think about it. If 20 million people had it now we'd know it because hospitalizations and deaths would be several times higher than what they are now. We know that about 20% of those that are infected need to be hospitalized. Let's even play devil's advocate, and say only 5% of the 20 million need to be hospitalized, that would still be 1,000,000 people. We're obviously nowhere remotely close to that amount. Even 1% would be 100,000 people. You might not be able to figure out how many people are truly infected without antibody tests, but you can sort of work backwards from typical statistics.

Well maybe their sample size testing was flawed, but I think there could be 10x more people infected here then was is being reported.

[Lee A Stewart]

Wuhan COVID-19 Deaths May Be in Tens of Thousands, Data on Cremations Show

A stack of urns at a funeral home in Wuhan, the city's official cremation rates, and reports of an overwhelmed health care system have prompted speculation that Wuhan's real COVID-19 death toll could be in the tens of thousands—despite the Chinese government reporting 2,535 deaths from just over 50,000 coronavirus infections.

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

[Lee A Stewart]

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by bruceames

Well maybe their sample size testing was flawed, but I think there could be 10x more people infected here then was is being reported.

Yes, there's definitely a lot more out there that are infected, and it could very well 10x's as much. Hopefully many of whom are following protocols to stay home even if they're asymptomatic, thus reducing the spread. The asymptomatic carriers who aren't following guidelines are our biggest "enemy' right now.

[Himmel]

In Midland, Texas, a man stabbed three Asian American family members, including a 2-year-old and 6-year-old. The suspect indicated that he stabbed the family because he thought the family was Chinese, and infecting people with the coronavirus. Source

.