Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[The British Sausage 5,449]

So I haven't posted anything in this forum for months now, perhaps a couple of years! But one item of current news not on this thread is the coronavirus.

Like the thread I started four years ago about Donald Trump and his administration, this thread is to keep a track on the coronavirus which is beginning to ravage Wuhan and seems to be on the verge of getting footholds in major Chinese cities.

A quick and useful summary can be found here:

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/6000-quarantined-italian-cruise-ship-due-virus-scare-russia-closes-border-china

My gut feeling is that the cat is out of the bag because of that accursed asymptomatic human-to-human infection- which means you could have contacted someone with the virus, not show any symptoms, and still pass it on to a few others! I just hope the death rate stays in that 2% to 3% interval. Though I feel China, which has a rich history of massaging figures and official data (starting from the Communist Revolution), has been concealing the figures to keep the public calm. One part of me can understand that to stop a panic, on the other hand the WHO and other countries are reliant on Chinese data and if the Chinese government have been fudging the number of infections and deaths...

I'm also looking for the percentage rate of infected people who contract pneumonia from this virus- that's what is killing so many of those who died because of coronavirus.

So, anyway, any useful articles or videos from inside Wuhan would be much appreciated.

[Haljackey 17,267]

My city's got one case now

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/coronavirus-london-ontario-1.5447711

 

My reaction:

[Yarahi 1,816]

Just going to leave this here....

 

[The British Sausage 5,449]

4 hours ago, Haljackey said:

My city's got one case now

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/coronavirus-london-ontario-1.5447711

 

My reaction:

I'll be relaxing after the end of this month if the case trajectory decreases, progress on a vaccine is found and the Chinese government become more transparent about what's happening.

 

4 hours ago, Yarahi said:

Just going to leave this here....

 

Most anger and resentment about the virus is not directed towards the Chinese people but to their Communist government. Even some Chinese stuck in the quarantined cities are venting their anger and frustration and worries on Chinese social media. It is not racist to criticize the Communist government of China, or express concerns about how it operates and the systems of censorship, both with the internet and with that social credit score, which are fuelling panic and concern within China and perhaps elsewhere in the world.

That most cases in the west and out of China are Chinese, who are either tourists or who have left Wuhan, is not racism nor xenophobia, it is simply the current state of affairs. The panic and hysteria is largely stemming from many people's lack of trust in the Chinese government and for good reason- historically Chinese government officials have been fudging data, usually economic, since the days of the Communist Revolution. It is also well known that to rise in the party ranks it doesn't hurt to massage data from time to time to achieve party objectives. It is also historical fact that Communist governments will under-report the extent of a disaster to alleviate public concern, to save face and to project order: Chernobyl, 1976 Tangshan earthquake, etc. This is largely why any panic and hysteria which has arisen has happened- most of which in China itself.

My concern is strictly with the Chinese government's response and also the WHO's sluggish response. My other concerns is the (at most) one fifth of confirmed cases who are in hospital being treated for pneumonia. In a hospital the chances of survival are very high and it's not a problem when case numbers are low, yet if the trajectory and growth of new cases continues, as it has done, by the end of this month the number of cases will easily be a million plus. What provisions are being made to treat a sudden upsurge in viral-induced pneumonia? Or to prepare for the possibility of large numbers of people suffering from pneumonia? Are hospitals in the West ready? Has there been any coordination with the army to bolster medical resources?

My biggest concern is the asymptomatic spread of the virus which is a 5 to 14 day period, I think the infectiousness of the virus is just under a sixth of the common cold- which makes isolation even harder. So quarantined cases must have an investigation of at least the last two weeks with regards to where they've been, who've they've contacted, what they touched and handled. We'll know in about two weeks how this virus will spread beyond China- whether in isolated cases or a steady growth in human-to-human transmission in native populations. Isolated cases can be quarantined, a spread in native populations will be a nightmare for investigators as they track everyone who ever was close to an infected person.

This month is the most critical month and I hope to God the Communist Party is being honest and transparent since much of the global response to the prevention and isolation of this virus is dependent on case data from China. In a country known for censorship, this has made many people very eager to know the full extent of this virus.

The crux of the issue is this- if the Communist Party is lying about the full extent of coronavirus then other countries will face an uphill battle as they take measures believed to be proportionate to the official extent of the virus. Other governments and the WHO appear to be operating on the believed facts that there are, right now as of today, 12000 cases and about 250 deaths. For all we know there are 100000+ cases in China and without the full transparency from the Chinese government, it will become all the more harder to contain coronavirus if the powers that be are operating under faulty information. Transparency is also the best solution to quell any rumours, racism or xenophobia.

The purpose of this thread is simply a record of coronavirus history.

Godspeed and the enjoy the rest of your weekend.

[The British Sausage 5,449]

A useful overall of the spread of Coronavirus- WuFlu.live

https://wuflu.live/

Interesting to see Thailand have so many recoveries. I heard they're using drugs for HIV/AIDS treatment which reportedly really helps with recovery and possibly fighting the virus too.

[The British Sausage 5,449]

Good to see the rate of change of new cases decreasing, let's hope this can be maintained. Let's also hope the Chinese government is still being honest and not trying to gloss over the situation.

https://wuflu.live/

[The British Sausage 5,449]

So the Chinese government and local officials in Hubei province have been fudging the case numbers after all!

FYI, for alarmists and those underestimating the virus, this jump is not so much a surge in cases as it is the data beginning to reflect reality. Over the last several days there have been reports that asymptomatic individuals with coronavirus were not being counted as infected and discharged from hospitals and placed in quarantine/isolation! The 2nd greatest peak in cases was about 4000 nine days ago on the 4th of February. Perhaps there are now 5000 new cases per day given this data revision or more.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/china-reports-huge-jump-new-coronavirus-infections-deaths-oil-stocks-tumble-gold-soars#comment_stream

Local Hubei health officials: health commission head Liu Yingzi and party chief Zhang Jin have been sacked from their posts as the CCP place the blame on them. God help given the Communist Party's track record of scapegoating officials and the stuff they do to prisoners.

Will there be further disclosures and surges in cases over the next two weeks? Is there any bearing to reality about higher death tolls and increased sulphur dioxide emissions over Wuhan? Is the case numbers in the hundreds of thousands right now? I believe we'll found out very shortly.

For a good update on a deteriorating situation here is Zero Hedge:

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/beijing-fires-top-party-officials-hubei-after-death-toll-bombshell#comment_stream

 

Again, the number one issue is the spread of the virus by asymptomatic individuals and the next issue is what developing and third world countries are going to do when the coronavirus (Covid-19) arrives.

Pray for the Chinese and those under quarantine, especially in Wuhan, it looks like they're (citizens of Wuhan) slowly going through hell what with apartments and flats being locked shut with iron bars on the doors and windows.

[weixc812 509]

I have to say, objectively, the endeavor China adopted has significantly slowed down the spread of new coronavirus to the rest of the world. Compared to what happened with SARS in 2003, our reaction is more accurate and scientific this time, resulting in we nearly wipe out the virus within 2 months.

However, the situation is still severe all over the world. What we should do is getting united and being strong, fighting against the virus spearing no effort.

[The British Sausage 5,449]

On 3/10/2020 at 2:19 PM, weixc812 said:

I have to say, objectively, the endeavor China adopted has significantly slowed down the spread of new coronavirus to the rest of the world. Compared to what happened with SARS in 2003, our reaction is more accurate and scientific this time, resulting in we nearly wipe out the virus within 2 months.

However, the situation is still severe all over the world. What we should do is getting united and being strong, fighting against the virus spearing no effort.

I don't believe the data coming from the Chinese Communist Party, I've seen too many videos of Chinese citizens scuffling with medical workers, police and quarantine enforcers, too many videos of doctors saying local officials are narrowing down the criteria for new infections (i.e. symptomatic or severely symptomatic) or even just ignoring it entirely and registering the cause of death being pneumonia or respiratory complications.

Here's some particular videos/pointers that alarmed me about CCP duplicity:

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/wuhan-nurse-fears-90000-infected-emotional-plea-help

This is six weeks old and a Chinese Nurse claims at that point there were already 90000 infected in Wuhan.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/health/did-chinas-tencent-accidentally-leak-true-terrifying-coronavirus-statistics#comment_stream

This leak was discovered about five weeks ago and happened for a few days. If it is a glitch then this is a nothing-burger, but if this an accidental leak then it suggests that, on 1 February, there were already over 150000 cases and about 24500 deaths, suggesting a death rate of about 15%.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/health/does-sudden-surge-so2-levels-suggest-huge-surge-cremations-across-china#comment_stream

The rise in SO2 levels in Wuhan from burning materials (as of a month ago) despite the city being under lockdown, traffic almost non-existent, factories closed and power usage substantially down. About the best indirect evidence available of a period (however small) of mass cremations.

 

This is NOT official evidence just pointers which suggest, I repeat suggest, that the CCP is concealing from the world a much wider outbreak. Thus take with this a pinch of salt, but, if the worse case scenario is happening right now, we have thus potential figures for the worst case scenario: 10% to 15% death rate and transmission spreading like wildfire.

Remember, this is a Communist government and I'll put down everything I own that a Communist government will lie and suppress the truth like the Soviet Union did with Chernobyl. The CCP badly want 2020 to be the year they double GDP growth within a decade period. Finally some of the interesting Western commentary from two men who have lived in China for more than a decade comes from ADVChina- they had an interesting video and great insights into the Chinese mindset and how the broader Chinese society functions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFoS-M4uF0

 

Remember- for all those worried about bigotry, racism and all those mods out there. My criticism has always been with the Chinese government and their communist system, never the Chinese people (pray for them).

Because of this I'm going on the assumption that Covid-19 has Spanish Influenza death rates (5% to 10%), possibly higher if and when the CCP finally comes clean. A better picture will come by the end of this month and the next when we get a batch of data from the rest of the world and from more reliable and trustworthy governments.

Here's a roundup of the madness that has been 2020:

1. Major outbreaks in Italy, Iran and South Korea.

2. Most of Europe and the USA having batches of new cases with community transmission.

3. Airline traffic, tourism and global trade plummeting.

4. Stock market crash so severe and sharp it has caused a bear market for, within three weeks, the US stock indices (Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq) entered bear markets with 20+% percent drops from the record highs.

5. Black Monday (9th March) and today's Black Thursday with the 4th largest percent drop ever in the Dow Jones (with only 1987's Black Monday and the two days of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 exceeding it)

6. Supply chain disruption (very important this!) spreading as China struggles to get people back to work as many are too scared to go out for fears of Covid-19, a lot of drugs and medicines are made in China. Just in time inventory management is the cause of this.

7. Politicians becoming infected, including several deaths of Iranian politicians, and potential exposure to Covid-19 for the following world leaders: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau.

8. Half of China under some form of lockdown/quarantine and all of Italy under lockdown.

9. WHO declaring Covid-19 a pandemic.

This will challenge many of the things/ideas/countries/politics/economics/ideologies that we have become complacent about. The Chinese Communist Party distortion of the truth will be its Chernobyl and downfall. The EU will either radically change or shrink some more in the face of Covid-19, Brexit, coming depression and a possible 2nd Migrant Crisis coming from Turkey. Globalization's Achilles Heel has been exposed as its lack of redundancy will become painfully obvious due to supply chains shutting down due to resource extraction and assembly being scattered all around the world and the need for just-in-time inventory management. Third world and developing countries will suffer horribly as they inevitably get swamped by Covid-19 and the lack of adequate healthcare provision- just look at Iran already. Most ominously of all, the greatest economic/financial bubble mankind has ever created appears on the verge of bursting or has burst already and everyone has gone all in: central banks, record debt, record liability...

In terms of world change, Covid-19, whether burning out in the middle of this year or ravaging the whole world, has set off a course of events which can't be turned back. From this point on we can't go back to the complacency and ambivalence of the last decade.

I'll repeat again- good luck folks. This year WILL define this century just like 1914 did for the 20th century. Stay safe and my prayers are with you in these rapidly changing times.

This will be my last update, unless of course there is any further posts on this thread. Again- good luck folks.

  Edited March 12, 2020 by The British Sausage  

[AsimPika3172 1,129]

So many newest box office movies with release date was delayed due to coronavirus.... How rude? 

[The British Sausage 5,449]

21 hours ago, AsimPika3172 said:

So many newest box office movies with release date was delayed due to coronavirus.... How rude? 

It's part of Social Distancing. That's the phrase going around these days. It's a combination of a semi-quarantine and a semi-lockdown. So cinemas (movie theatres) will be closed since people are packed too closely together.

The downside of social distancing is that the economic carnage is spread out longer and it won't stop hospitals becoming overwhelmed if supply chains break down due to quarantines and lockdowns. It's a compromise measure which has three things going against it: the asymptomatic spread of the virus (thus complacency from people), the virus spreading in droplet form (thus air-conditioned buildings could become problematic) and, most worryingly, the big impact on the service sector due to lower consumer purchases.

This third point is important because the chief spread of coronavirus is economic activity: shopping, sports, cinemas, clubs, bars, restaurants, weddings, tourism, air flights, cruise-liners, office work, etc. Social Distancing is going to substantially cut into this and going to devastate the service economy in the West and cause a whole bunch of unemployment. Too many people, working low-paying jobs in the service sector, live paycheck to paycheck and, as they face homeless and destitution, they may say stuff it and want to work and take their chances with the coronavirus. I'm talking protests and riots as these workers demand the quarantine measures be lifted

Personally either go full in on a complete lockdown (ala Chinese style) and forcibly confine even sick, infected people in their homes and go full-on totalitarianism- even if Western countries may not be capable of achieving this. OR mobilise the economy, ala war economy during the 2nd world war, and rapidly increase medical equipment and training of volunteers to help out doctors and nurses, that way doctors could have more manpower available. Get the army involved as well plus throw MEGA wads of money at companies to build new assembly lines to churn out medical products

Make fighting coronavirus a war effort, turn a large section of the economy towards making medical and sanitation supplies. That way the death rate won't go up beyond 5% and hospitals won't get overwhelmed. There's needs to be a massive, intense focus RIGHT NOW on rapidly bolstering medical resources and working out ways of allocating less-medically challenging tasks to volunteers, thus freeing up doctors time to focus on the more serious cases.

If the health system becomes overwhelmed then it's 15% to 20% deathrate.

The biggest variable in all of this comes from the reports in China of reinfection- this virus (possibly due to it being genetically manipulated in a biolab and parts of the HIV virus grafted onto Bat SARS) could be a unique one where herd immunity is not guaranteed. In which case Social Distancing would have to be extended out for even longer and cause more economic carnage. Given mankind has created the greatest economic bubble ever existed, and given the record amounts of debt and inequality and people living paycheck to paycheck, I think there's only so much time people can endure lockdown before they don't give a damn, they take their chances, because they need that paycheck to avert homelessness and destitution.

I honestly think Social Distancing, given the peculiar features of this virus, is going to cause a depression and societal breakdown in the long run. While full-on totalitarian lockdown is not possible in a democratic society and its efficacy has yet to be determined in China (for a number of reasons that I'll explain in a later post).

I honestly think our only true hope is a relaxation of quarantine measures which is slowly phased in as coronavirus economic mobilisation takes effect to rapidly increase medical capacity. That way the economy won't be too severely impacted and the deathrate won't go beyond 5%.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

Not to fear. Vice-President Leslie Nielsen is on the case.

Besides, nobody gets sick in SimCity...unless you  build a research center.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

The Seattle Metropolitan Area is the worst hit out of the USA and our local governments have enacted drastic measures to help. I'm sure we will be fine. My mother and I managed to convince Grandma to stay inside to quarantine herself away from potential infections.

[weixc812 509]

On 2020/3/13 at 7:44 AM, The British Sausage said:

I don't believe the data coming from the Chinese Communist Party, I've seen too many videos of Chinese citizens scuffling with medical workers, police and quarantine enforcers, too many videos of doctors saying local officials are narrowing down the criteria for new infections (i.e. symptomatic or severely symptomatic) or even just ignoring it entirely and registering the cause of death being pneumonia or respiratory complications.

Here's some particular videos/pointers that alarmed me about CCP duplicity:

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/wuhan-nurse-fears-90000-infected-emotional-plea-help

This is six weeks old and a Chinese Nurse claims at that point there were already 90000 infected in Wuhan.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/health/did-chinas-tencent-accidentally-leak-true-terrifying-coronavirus-statistics#comment_stream

This leak was discovered about five weeks ago and happened for a few days. If it is a glitch then this is a nothing-burger, but if this an accidental leak then it suggests that, on 1 February, there were already over 150000 cases and about 24500 deaths, suggesting a death rate of about 15%.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/health/does-sudden-surge-so2-levels-suggest-huge-surge-cremations-across-china#comment_stream

The rise in SO2 levels in Wuhan from burning materials (as of a month ago) despite the city being under lockdown, traffic almost non-existent, factories closed and power usage substantially down. About the best indirect evidence available of a period (however small) of mass cremations.

 

This is NOT official evidence just pointers which suggest, I repeat suggest, that the CCP is concealing from the world a much wider outbreak. Thus take with this a pinch of salt, but, if the worse case scenario is happening right now, we have thus potential figures for the worst case scenario: 10% to 15% death rate and transmission spreading like wildfire.

Remember, this is a Communist government and I'll put down everything I own that a Communist government will lie and suppress the truth like the Soviet Union did with Chernobyl. The CCP badly want 2020 to be the year they double GDP growth within a decade period. Finally some of the interesting Western commentary from two men who have lived in China for more than a decade comes from ADVChina- they had an interesting video and great insights into the Chinese mindset and how the broader Chinese society functions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFoS-M4uF0

 

Remember- for all those worried about bigotry, racism and all those mods out there. My criticism has always been with the Chinese government and their communist system, never the Chinese people (pray for them).

Because of this I'm going on the assumption that Covid-19 has Spanish Influenza death rates (5% to 10%), possibly higher if and when the CCP finally comes clean. A better picture will come by the end of this month and the next when we get a batch of data from the rest of the world and from more reliable and trustworthy governments.

Here's a roundup of the madness that has been 2020:

1. Major outbreaks in Italy, Iran and South Korea.

2. Most of Europe and the USA having batches of new cases with community transmission.

3. Airline traffic, tourism and global trade plummeting.

4. Stock market crash so severe and sharp it has caused a bear market for, within three weeks, the US stock indices (Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq) entered bear markets with 20+% percent drops from the record highs.

5. Black Monday (9th March) and today's Black Thursday with the 4th largest percent drop ever in the Dow Jones (with only 1987's Black Monday and the two days of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 exceeding it)

6. Supply chain disruption (very important this!) spreading as China struggles to get people back to work as many are too scared to go out for fears of Covid-19, a lot of drugs and medicines are made in China. Just in time inventory management is the cause of this.

7. Politicians becoming infected, including several deaths of Iranian politicians, and potential exposure to Covid-19 for the following world leaders: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau.

8. Half of China under some form of lockdown/quarantine and all of Italy under lockdown.

9. WHO declaring Covid-19 a pandemic.

This will challenge many of the things/ideas/countries/politics/economics/ideologies that we have become complacent about. The Chinese Communist Party distortion of the truth will be its Chernobyl and downfall. The EU will either radically change or shrink some more in the face of Covid-19, Brexit, coming depression and a possible 2nd Migrant Crisis coming from Turkey. Globalization's Achilles Heel has been exposed as its lack of redundancy will become painfully obvious due to supply chains shutting down due to resource extraction and assembly being scattered all around the world and the need for just-in-time inventory management. Third world and developing countries will suffer horribly as they inevitably get swamped by Covid-19 and the lack of adequate healthcare provision- just look at Iran already. Most ominously of all, the greatest economic/financial bubble mankind has ever created appears on the verge of bursting or has burst already and everyone has gone all in: central banks, record debt, record liability...

In terms of world change, Covid-19, whether burning out in the middle of this year or ravaging the whole world, has set off a course of events which can't be turned back. From this point on we can't go back to the complacency and ambivalence of the last decade.

I'll repeat again- good luck folks. This year WILL define this century just like 1914 did for the 20th century. Stay safe and my prayers are with you in these rapidly changing times.

This will be my last update, unless of course there is any further posts on this thread. Again- good luck folks.

Hi, my friend.

I fully understand your supposition about CCP's attempt of concealing the number of affected cases. But from my point of view, there's no need for the CCP to do that since we've already seen a number of cumulative cases ten times of SARS cases reported in China in 2003. If CCP don't want this result, they have much space to make the number even smaller. And considering China's infected rate is much greater than that of Singapore, why don't you think Singapore is cheating anyway?

The true fact is, we did have a chance to turn down the outbreak within its babyhood, but we lost it, for multiple reasons. It is possible that hundreds of people were dead and burned in Wuhan before they were able to be tested. The government never deny these early mistakes and is still investigating why we reacted so slowly when the first cases occurred.

However, it's not time to look back and talk about the history. From our knowledge, the virus will disappear automatically after 3 or 4 generations of transmitting (in 2 months or so), no matter what measure we take. The problem is, how many deaths can we afford during the whole outbreak period? I hear that some countries have given up the effort to isolate and stabilize people, which is totally unbelievable . We have to do something though there's not much we can do.

[catty-cb 4,381]

New Zealand now has 39 people with Covid-19 and on Thursday the government made the decision to close the borders, only NZ citizens (there are a few exceptions to this rule) will be allowed back in and they must isolate themselves for 14 days upon arrival .... always assuming they can get back given the number of airlines that have cancelled flights.

[The British Sausage 5,449]

On 3/15/2020 at 7:05 PM, Ocram's Razr said:

The Seattle Metropolitan Area is the worst hit out of the USA and our local governments have enacted drastic measures to help. I'm sure we will be fine. My mother and I managed to convince Grandma to stay inside to quarantine herself away from potential infections.

Let's hope the USA moves quickly, otherwise it's going to be facing what Italy is facing right now- when the coffins are being shipped in the dozens every day in one town alone and the bodies are being burnt, control has been lost.

 

On 3/17/2020 at 3:38 PM, weixc812 said:

Hi, my friend.

I fully understand your supposition about CCP's attempt of concealing the number of affected cases. But from my point of view, there's no need for the CCP to do that since we've already seen a number of cumulative cases ten times of SARS cases reported in China in 2003. If CCP don't want this result, they have much space to make the number even smaller. And considering China's infected rate is much greater than that of Singapore, why don't you think Singapore is cheating anyway?

The true fact is, we did have a chance to turn down the outbreak within its babyhood, but we lost it, for multiple reasons. It is possible that hundreds of people were dead and burned in Wuhan before they were able to be tested. The government never deny these early mistakes and is still investigating why we reacted so slowly when the first cases occurred.

However, it's not time to look back and talk about the history. From our knowledge, the virus will disappear automatically after 3 or 4 generations of transmitting (in 2 months or so), no matter what measure we take. The problem is, how many deaths can we afford during the whole outbreak period? I hear that some countries have given up the effort to isolate and stabilize people, which is totally unbelievable . We have to do something though there's not much we can do.

Singapore is not cheating. They are a city state and a highly organized authoritarian government. They moved immediately and covered up nothing. But still, the number of cases creeps upwards. Let us hope it stays like that and stays as a slow creep.

As for China... It's in a Schrödinger state right now: either the official narrative is correct and there are no new cases, or the fragmented bits of social media information and indirect air pollution (and economic information) reveal the battle is still very ongoing. Schools are still closed, Russia and North Korea have not opened the border, and the CCP have not gathered for their annual conference. I suspect totalitarian communistic propaganda has lost none of its potency.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/beijings-claim-no-new-infections-contradicts-reality-ground#comment_stream

 

11 hours ago, catty-cb said:

New Zealand now has 39 people with Covid-19 and on Thursday the government made the decision to close the borders, only NZ citizens (there are a few exceptions to this rule) will be allowed back in and they must isolate themselves for 14 days upon arrival .... always assuming they can get back given the number of airlines that have cancelled flights.

Let us hope the New Zealand government take more stringent measures. It cannot rely on its geographical isolation forever. And it cannot face what Italy is facing right now.

 

Anyway:

More than 250000 cases, the death rate is slowly rising, more countries under lockdown and now, even Britain has come under a lockdown with all restaurants, bars and public leisure facilities closed until further notice. I skateboard weekly but with my local skatepark closed I can't go and I won't be going to the local outdoor skateparks. I don't want my grandmother to die from this disease, or her neighbours who live in the old person's home (where she lives).

At least I should be able to work as I'm part of a call centre staff for Royal Mail pensions. Also people can go out for walks as long as they maintain social distancing...

Good luck people. And please follow the lockdown measures.

They're for the protection of not so much you but the old and vulnerable. You're carelessness could mean your grandparents, your old relatives, your unwell relatives or those with immune issues (like allergies or asthma) getting Covid-19 and some will die. And don't think you're safe under the assumption that the young are being spared, the more this virus spreads the more time it has to mutate. Besides it's not just the old dying in Italy, a significant proportion (I think about a third) are those of working age too (above 40).

Take care and follow the lockdown measures!

THIS is what happens when viral control is lost:

A convoy carrying the bodies of the dead who are to be cremated.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

There is a bit of levity in all this. The Hunt, a controversial movie involving hunting your political rivals for sport, scheduled to be released last year, was pulled after a wave of mass shootings. Re-released a few weeks ago when theaters started closing because of the virus, it is now going to premier on TV. I guess they figure a captive audience is better than no audience at all. Eventually, they might get 6 people to see it.

[AsimPika3172 1,129]

Update coronavirus in my country Malaysia!

Inflected = 1183, Recovered = 114, Death = 4

#juststayathome #togetherwecare

New updated! I watching Youtube live owned by Awani under Astro Malaysia!

[Lucario Boricua 7,027]

In Puerto Rico and the Caribbean:

 

* Puerto Rico: Disparate testing efforts by private enterprise and municipal governments due to the sluggish and skeptical response of the Commonwealth's government. Most worrisome part being that travel restrictions and screening of travelers wasn't enforced and the initial spread might have been far greater than authorities care to admit. We've been on island-wide quarantine mode since Sunday (March 15) night, with only essential errands, jobs and services allowed during daytime hours (5am to 9pm) and only emergencies + 24/7 essential workers during the nighttime (9pm to 5am). Rum distilleries have shifted some production capacity for alcohol-based disinfectants, with Serrallés producing alcohol for direct medical use while Bacardí is supplying alcohol to a hand sanitizer manufacturer. Amid the whole mess, the las remaining earthquake refugees are being abandoned and are at a higher risk of infection. Problems faced include tourists who have defied the curfew and have continued to enjoy public spaces, and especially beaches and house parties, despite the steep penalties and active enforcement. Puerto Rico is also tasked with treating the cases of suspect and infected patients from cruise ships, who are brought in by the US Coast Guard. Preliminarily there's 14 confirmed cases here (nominally at 4th place in incidence), with lots of suspicion of there enough suspect cases to reach around 100 already.

* Dominican Republic: leads the case count among Caribbean jurisdictions, with 72 confirmed cases as of Friday (March 20) and border closures.

* Cuba: second place in number of cases (21 as of March 20) and receiving lots of medical aid from China. Out of all the Caribbean jurisdictions I feel like they're the ones most prepared to deal with this mess.

* Jamaica: third place in number of cases at 15, was more aggressive in rejecting cruise ships with high amounts of suspect cases.

* Haiti: very little information has surfaced about them. No idea on how many cases beyond the first two reported, and not that optimistic about their preparations, given previous health crises and their condition as poorest Caribbean country.

* Bahamas: has 5 reported cases

* Trinidad & Tobago: They have 9 reported cases.

 

Overall situation: the Caribbean has a high population density and a proportionately high influx of tourists as a premiere economic tropical resort destination, with lots of aerial connectivity to Europe and the major countries of the Americas, as well as high inter-island traffic through general aviation and cruise ships.  All of these result in a theoretically high rate of contagion, ultimately dependent on how quickly strict controls are put into place. The fact that many of the jurisdictions are dependencies means that there's fewer political tools to enforce border closures and travel bans unless the colonial power (UK, USA, France, Netherlands) takes such action. Then there's also the particularity of contending with cruise ships which have become outbreak focii.

[catty-cb 4,381]

11 hours ago, The British Sausage said:

Let us hope the New Zealand government take more stringent measures. It cannot rely on its geographical isolation forever. And it cannot face what Italy is facing right now....

I think our government is doing what it has to ... as of lunchtime today when our prime minister did a live broadcast to the whole of the country we now have a COVID-19 Alert System, you can listen to her speech here

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120468079/coronavirus-new-zealand-has-a-threat-system-heres-how-it-works-and-how-it-will-affect-you

The alert levels are

We are at Level Two

[jmsepe 2,038]

Hi all,

Metro Manila and the whole island of Luzon in the Philippines is in a lockdown (around 48.52 million out of the 100 million PH population).

Currently working from home. Keep safe to all.

[catty-cb 4,381]

We went up to Level Three at lunchtime and midnight Wednesday we will be moving up to Level Four.

So about to go into total lockdown here, am one of the lucky ones as I can still work from home.

Take care everyone

[Lucario Boricua 7,027]

Updates for select Caribbean jurisdictions:

• Dominican Republic now at 202 cases, highest number of confirmed cases among the Caribbean island jurisdictions.
• Guadeloupe has 56 confirmed cases
• Trinidad & Tobago rapidly climbing, just reached 50
• Martinique at 37 cases
• Cuba at 35 cases, another significant growth case
• Puerto Rico at 23 cases, numbers will update sometime today
• Jamaica at 19 cases still
• Barbados at 14 cases
• US Virgin Islands at 6 cases
• Aruba at 3 cases
• Bahamas at 4 cases
• Haiti still at 2 cases

 

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

On 3/23/2020 at 4:11 AM, Lucario Boricua said:

• Haiti still at 2 cases

 

That country is in such bad shape, even a virus doesn't want to go there.

CV Food for Thought:

Most restaurants are closed or closing- so why do they keep advertising on TV?

Cadillac keeps running an ad about their deep concern for our citizens- because when you lose your minimum wage job, the first thing you think of doing is shopping for a luxury car.

If you ever had romantic notions of communism/socialism you can now get a taste of it personally- no jobs, no food on the store shelves, over-worked medical facilities and an economy on the brink of self-destruction. But there's still plenty of vodka.

[AsimPika3172 1,129]

Update coronavirus Malaysia!

Inflections = 1624 cases, Recoveries = 183 cases, Death = 17 cases

Meanwhile, Movement Control Order (Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan - PKP) was continues until April 14. 

Another 2 week holiday! 

[The British Sausage 5,449]

The fallout from Covid19 has come to the UK. Right now at the place I work, a call centre office, there is a mad scramble to ensure people can work from home. My place of work has become ghostly with only about a hundred left from at least eight hundred- the rest are working at home including my brother. Commutes are easy with no delays and the streets barely have a car.

We have passed the milestone of half a million cases. The virus is everywhere in all continents but Antarctica, warm or cold this virus doesn't care for look at the cases growing in Brazil and South Africa. Who knows how many cases there are in the poorer African countries, the war-torn regions of the Middle-East, in India and of course in the refugee camps in Turkey where there are over four million refugees.

As for New Zealand's alert levels it's all back-to-front. The best chance to eliminate the virus is a strict tracking and quarantine of those suspected of having the virus. This only works when there's less than a thousand cases spread over a few months.

Anyway, I'm rather worried about government overreach, not so much a permanent lock down but a legacy of greater centralized authority and increasing totalitarian/communistic measures. I'm also worried that what was planned to be a two- or three-week lockdown becomes longer and causes economic paralysis to economies that rely on ever increasingly amounts of consumption and ever greater amounts of debt.

2020 could be this century's 1914 for radical, irrevocable change.

[catty-cb 4,381]

10 hours ago, The British Sausage said:

The best chance to eliminate the virus is a strict tracking and quarantine of those suspected of having the virus. This only works when there's less than a thousand cases spread over a few months.

The problem with that statement is people have to report they are sick .... my uncle was in isolation in the UK as he's over seventy started feeling unwell put it down to having a cold or something similar by the time he told someone he was feeling really unwell ... and it's been confirmed that he has Covid-19 ... he's now in intensive care on oxygen, but he could have just as easily if he'd been under seventy been wandering around the place passing it on to anyone he met all the while thinking he had a cold.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

Fortunately, $25 mil of the new CV bill is going to help the JFK Arts Center. In this crisis, nothing is more important than ballet(no comment), opera(fat people rock) and artwork nobody understands.

[AsimPika3172 1,129]

United States is now number 1 highest positive cases! Italy number 2 and China number 3. Total all positive cases is now over... 500,000!!! Wow.... 

[Lucario Boricua 7,027]

2 hours ago, AsimPika3172 said:

United States is now number 1 highest positive cases! Italy number 2 and China number 3. Total all positive cases is now over... 500,000!!! Wow.... 

Maybe it's about time someone commemorated this extreme world event in SimCity 4!