Stay Safe Everyone!

[mlrg]

Anyone interested in participating in a Zoom of people from this board? Just to get to know each other, share experiences from around the world, etc..?

[Mister Tee]

So, if anyone's interested about Life in The Epicenter...

In the past ten days, I've spent maybe an hour, total, outside my apartment. That's from 2-3 grocery trips, one jaunt to the bank to get emergency cash (though I'm paying most everything via credit card -- which I hand-sanitize as soon as I get home), one to the drug store for shampoo (I figure by the end of this, my hair will be at 1970 college length, so I'd better keep it clean), and a couple of to-the-corner walks to the mailbox.

On these rare trips out, I feel like I'm wandering through Chernobyl -- surgical masks are common (and universal among storeclerks). I'm fortunate to have a box of plastic gloves left from when my wife was sick, and I wear them on every trip.

I'm starting to hear about people infected. Just today, a NY actor, Mark Blum -- who's a friend of a close friend -- died (he was asthmatic, and had been on a respirator for a week). This same friend's sister-in-law -- who I've known for 40 years -- has, along with her two grow sons, been exposed, and her husband is infected. I'm fearful this is the tip of the iceberg.

Life indoors isn't the worst fate, of course...but there's a reason why solitary confinement is viewed as a punishment. You can go a little batty after a while, especially if you keep the TV news running (which it's hard not to do, at least a lot of the time). I've been in telephone/email/text communication with many people -- some of whom are usually once-a-year correspondents, but the widespread feeling of isolation plus genuine concern has brought them out of the woodwork. One friend had a birthday night before last, and he organized a Zoom session, in which about ten of us took part. Just being able to look at familiar faces for a while made me feel like I'd gone out and done something -- though I never left my couch. We're lucky to have all this happening in an advanced technological age: we can do FaceTime or Google hangout or whatever. We also have a wider choice of entertainment/distraction options that generations of just 10-20 years ago would not. I've had a list of "TV shows I should watch but probably won't live long enough to do", on which I'm making startling progress.

To end on a somewhat upbeat note: Last night was one of my brave trips out, to Fairway for some groceries. The place is thinly populated around 9PM in normal times, and was even more sparse last night. But the PA system was playing music, and, while I was picking out produce, the following oldie came on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlKRp2KrJuQ

I couldn't help bopping/softly singing along. And I noticed as I passed by others (at the prescribed six foot distance), they were doing the same. It may have been as close to a moment of joy as I've had since this nightmare began. Assuming I survive this thing, I think I'm going to love that song the rest of my life.

Hope everyone's doing okay.

[Big Magilla]

Coronavirus.jpg (79.83 KiB) Viewed 797 times

[OscarGuy]

Mid-sized city here and while Walmart is the cheapest option, I opt for Target instead for most items I buy on a regular basis.

[danfrank]

Some of us don't live in big cities that give us many options on where to shop.

This is one of the reasons that Walmart is evil; they’ve systematically eliminated competition in less-populated areas. I’m not judging anyone for going to Walmart when there are few alternatives. I just want to encourage people to be thoughtful about where they spend their money.

[Okri]

A plane is flying with 5 passengers on board - Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Angela Merkel, the Pope and a 10 year old school boy. The plane is about to crash and there are only 4 parachutes.
Trump said I need one. “I’m the smartest man in the US and I am needed to sort out the problems of the World!!”. He takes one and jumps.
Boris says ‘I’m needed to sort out Britain’. He takes one and jumps.
The Pope said ‘I need one as the world needs the Catholic Church.’ He takes one and jumps.
Angela says to the 10 year old boy: "You can have the last parachute. I've lived my life, yours is only just beginning”.
The 10 year old replies: "Don’t worry, there are 2 parachutes left, the smartest man in the US took my school bag.

Made me laugh.

[Reza]

Most of Pakistan is on lockdown. No international flights allowed in. Only domestic flights in operation but on certain routes only. Sadly banks are still open (but with slightly reduced hours from 10am to 4.30pm) so I have to go to work with gloves and a mask. All schools, restaurants, shops and cinemas are closed. Only grocery stores and pharmacies are open. It feels quite strange not seeing or getting stuck in traffic jams on the road.

The sad part is there are still millions of folks here still not taking precaution. I constantly see people on streets huddling together, shaking hands and embracing each other in greeting. Kids sauntering around the neighborhood in groups. I've stopped my car and from a distance warned them of the danger but get a dirty look from them or one of confusion. People still remain ignorant despite the government screaming out warnings and instructions through various media.

Two guys who help out at home say that their families back in their village are totally oblivious to what is going on and entire villages in many parts of the country are continuing life as if all is well. Ignorance and lack of education is such a curse. The boys say that if the virus hits their village it will be devastating as almost everyone is bound to get it since men and women are constantly socializing in huge groups at weddings and funerals.

[Big Magilla]

A plane is flying with 5 passengers on board - Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Angela Merkel, the Pope and a 10 year old school boy. The plane is about to crash and there are only 4 parachutes.
Trump said I need one. “I’m the smartest man in the US and I am needed to sort out the problems of the World!!”. He takes one and jumps.
Boris says ‘I’m needed to sort out Britain’. He takes one and jumps.
The Pope said ‘I need one as the world needs the Catholic Church.’ He takes one and jumps.
Angela says to the 10 year old boy: "You can have the last parachute. I've lived my life, yours is only just beginning”.
The 10 year old replies: "Don’t worry, there are 2 parachutes left, the smartest man in the US took my school bag.

Except that hopefully the Pope wouldn't say that, not when priests are dying, giving up their ventilators to younger patients in Italian hospitals. I would substitute Jared Kushner who would say "the world needs me to bring peace to the Middle East" or someone just as irrelevant.

[Big Magilla]

Friends don't let friends shop at Walmart: https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/walmar ... d-company/

Some of us don't live in big cities that give us many options on where to shop.

So true. If I had the option, I wouldn't patronize the place but it's the closest to my home and was close to where I had to go for my bloodwork.

My local grocery store closed five years ago. One is finally supposed to open in its place later this year. In the meantime, there are others farther away but their parking lots are always packed and they don't always have what I need.

The people who work those non-union jobs for low wages are just as needy, if not more so, than the people who work for union stores, some of the owners of which are not much better than the owners of Walmart.

[mlrg]

A plane is flying with 5 passengers on board - Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Angela Merkel, the Pope and a 10 year old school boy. The plane is about to crash and there are only 4 parachutes.
Trump said I need one. “I’m the smartest man in the US and I am needed to sort out the problems of the World!!”. He takes one and jumps.
Boris says ‘I’m needed to sort out Britain’. He takes one and jumps.
The Pope said ‘I need one as the world needs the Catholic Church.’ He takes one and jumps.
Angela says to the 10 year old boy: "You can have the last parachute. I've lived my life, yours is only just beginning”.
The 10 year old replies: "Don’t worry, there are 2 parachutes left, the smartest man in the US took my school bag.

[dws1982]

Some of us don't live in big cities that give us many options on where to shop.

[danfrank]

Then I proceeded to Walmart

!!!

Friends don't let friends shop at Walmart: https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/walmar ... d-company/

[Big Magilla]

Yesterday, I checked to see if my six-month appointment with my doctor was still on for next Monday. It is, so today being the only day this week in which we're not supposed get heavy rains, I fasted in order to do bloodwork this morning, not knowing at all what to expect.

I have my blood taken at the Urgent Care facility that is affiliated with my doctor. It's closer and quicker than going to the hospital. It opens at 8 a.m. I left the house around ten to 8, knowing there wouldn't be too much traffic to contend with. About hallway there, I realized I had forgotten my paperwork so back I went to retrieve it. I must arrived at the Urgent Care around 8:15. It was eerie. There were signs on the outside door not to enter if you were sick, to return to your car and call them and they would diagnose you over the phone. I used a spare handkerchief to open both the outside door and the inner door to the walk-in side of the facility. There were only three or four chairs you could sit on, others had notes on them saying they were off-limits due to social distancing. The receptionist greeted me, asked if I was sick, I said no, that I was there for bloodwork. She opened the partition just wide enough for me to hand her the script sideways.

Another receptionist, perhaps a doctor or nurse (I couldn't tell which) then came out to sit and take calls from sick people, and I was again asked if I were sick. I said no. I listened to her asking all the questions people should already know the answer to in order to discourage them from asking to take the coronavirus test which you can only get at the hospital if you have fever, are coughing and have shortness of breath.

Then the blood taking nurse, not the regular one, but one from the hospital, came out and again asked if I were sick. Again, I said no.

The blood taking was itself odd. Instead of attaching the vials to the needle as they usually do, they had a long tube that took the blood from my arm to the vials about six inches away. I thanked her for taking my blood, and used the spare handkerchief to open the three doors that led to the street.

Then I proceeded to Walmart, which proved to be a pleasant surprise. They didn't have everything, but had what I wanted, although I forgot to pick up ketchup but can live without it for however long I need to.

A week ago, Walmart had no eggs, now they had several choices. I picked up a carton of 18 with an expiration date sometime in May. I couldn't get a large box of Bisquick, but I was able to get a couple of small boxes and a big carton of fresh blueberries. Best of all, I was able to get two boxes of Entenmann's hot cross buns! It's the first time I've seen them in Walmart's in several years!

So, what is this idiot governor of Texas doing, saying he agrees with Trump that we need to end isolation and get back to business by next week, saying this is an opportunity for seniors to sacrifice to keep the country intact for their grandchildren. In other words, we should all get sick and die of this thing, right?

[Precious Doll]

I really don't think most Governments know what to do and having one eye on the economy isn't helping.

A whole bunch of things closed in Australia on Monday - restaurants, cafes, cinemas, gyms, places of worship etc and from midnight on Wednesday more things are closing. Retail remains open but a growing number of shops are closing because people aren't spending. By next Monday up to two million people will have lost their jobs - the images of people lining up for Government benefits is very upsetting. Australians have also been banned from leaving the country because people were still leaving for holidays despite Government advice not to travel. Incoming flights stop from next Tuesday though ships and planes related to freight and trade will still be permitted.

Also, no parties, barbecues, dinner parties. Funerals to be capped at 10 people and weddings to be capped at 5 (including the celebrant).

Australians trapped overseas (of which there are hundreds of thousands) have basically been told not to rely on repatriation by the Australia Government as overseas diplomats scramble to get home. Most look like they'll be stuck just as foreign nationals will be stuck in Australia if they can't get a flight out by next Tuesday. And there are something like over one million of them. The Government is granting bridging visas to foreign residents and they will need to provide them with income support.

More than half of the coronavirus cases in Australia are from returning residents from overseas with people returning from the US, Italy and UK being the highest number. Also, our idiot State Government let a cruise ship disembark in Sydney last week and since then 133 people from the ship have tested positive for the coronavirus. Thankfully, our Government is very good at tracking, tracing and isolating people but we do have about 78 people whose cause of infection has not been about to be tracked to a returning resident or a known infected person. The State Governments are also doing spot checks on people who are in home quarantine due to returning from overseas and heavy fines apply if there are found to be not complying.

With things rapidly changing I would not at all except a complete lockdown by the start of next week. I've left the house every day but its to do things that I have to do (some grocery shopping and check on my mother). To be honest I'm sick of my 'new life' which though shared by much of the worlds population doesn't make it any easier to accept.

When this is all over Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other members of the WHO should be placed on trial for mass murder. Slow to response, reluctant to call what was about to unfold. For fucks sake I knew on 23 January what was going to happen both health wise and economically in the blink of an eye when China placed Wuhan in lockdown!

I don't think in my entire life I've been as furious as I am with Ghebreyesus and the WHO. I can pretty much forgive anything because we are all flawed but what is happening is unforgivable.

[Heksagon]

I'm more than a little annoyed by how slow the Western countries have been at reacting to this. I never had a very high opinion of the health care authorities in here, but I didn't imagine they were this bad. They either imagined that this is just a regular flu virus, or that it would be trivial to track and isolate the infected people, and they were very slow at revising that view even in face of mounting evidence. They learned nothing from the experience in China and Korea, and were very slow to learn what was happening in Italy.

I no longer wonder why we're so slow at reacting to climate change after following this. The same pattern of disbelief and not acting until it gets acute was characteristic of the response to the last financial crisis as well.

We're lucky that our own country is so remote and the virus got here later than most of Europe, since our own notoriously inefficient government and inept health care authorities are particularly slow at taking necessary action. We still haven't closed even the restaurants and the authorities are not even talking about curfew yet. USA was slow to wake up to this, but at least they're reacting aggressively now.