The Coronavirus Thread

Bottom line is not political point-scoring. It is that none of us want to die of this thing, nor do we want our friends, where-ever in the world the may be, and whether their politics agree with ours or not, to die either. And yes, I know, catching it does not mean certain death: but it can get rather nasty.

Added to which, some of us are a little old. I may have said before: I've never before been in one of the at-higher-risk categories in a world happening, that was always other people. But now I am, and inevitably, many of my friends are too. This is a bit scary.

And there are three world leaders whose actions I am interested in following. One affects me directly, another indirectly, and the actions of the third not only affect another country that I feel for, but have the greatest ripples around the world.

Enough said. I don't get a political vote in the country I have come to live in, but, if I ever do find myself voting in the future, I'm going to be very careful about hair colour.

Apart from that, I'm a bit of a chameleon and have been comfortable on the factory floor and in the yacht club lounge. That is partly because I can do the upper-middle-class-Brit thing that I was born into, but also because it's what people have in common that is more important than what we don't.

 

Yeah man, I've spent enough time in NYC that the out-f**k someone mentality felt like a good way to keep yourself on your toes. But there's also the brother-by-city (or even block) that's just not the same in ANY other city i've ever lived in. It's hard to explain to folks that aren't tourists. But it's invigorating. And, it's also why despite the utterly horrifying numbers we're hearing about COVID-19 in NYC, I feel like there's probably entire neighborhoods that are out there yelling "f**k You, germ shit". (knowing, yes, germs and viral infections aren't the same thing, and that "will power" ain't gonna fix f**k all, but there's a toughness to NYC that i don't think SFC has).

 

Yes, we do have the vibe that we are known for. We don't show it too much unless something serious has happen.

But for me that isn't enough for me to come back Then again, I do truly believed if I stayed in NY when growing up I would most likely be selling stuff, gangbanging, and be arrested and throw in jail. I was heading towards that direction when my family just got enough money to bail out that POS public housing and move to FL.

Today NYC is wonderful if you have the money, patience and savvy to survive. But you know, I was getting sick of tired of being "on" all the time. At least in FL you can relax a little and not worrying about some guy trying to come up behind your back with a gun and rob your ass.

 

What we desperately needed was another forum for the exchange of opinions about how horrible Donald Trump is. And finally we arrived.

 

This leaves me speechless:
Mobile phone transmitters set ablaze in UK amid conspiracy theories claiming a link between 5G and coronavirus

 

Yep, more Monty Python for you. Can you swim?

 

I quite like this guy in S Korea..worth watching, no BS.

 

IMHO: very efficient testing, contact tracing and isolation of infected people.

Tbh, I don't get the fuss about travel bans, because it's much more important how you handle virus spread *inside* your borders. Italy shut down Chinese flights the same day as the US, yet it has fared far worse than some other EU countries, which shut down flights 2-3 weeks later, but implemented better testing and tracing procedures.

Ultimately, there'll be no way around ramping up efficient testing / tracing / isolation for any affected country, in order to get its economy back up and running after the pandemic peak. According to calculations for Germany, achieving herd immunity without healthcare system overload would take about 10-15 years (likely similar in the US), so this is not a viable option. A vaccine may help, but nobody knows when it will be available and how long it will then take to vaccinate at least the high-risk cases.

So it seems, for some time after the first wave, we'll have to take the risk of new outbreaks and try to contain them, while simultaneously bringing the economy back to life. In the EU, there's growing consensus that this might not be possible without automated phone-based contact tracing. Fraunhofer Institute (yes, the one that invented mp3) is already offering a decentralized and anonymous solution, since it's expected that EU-citizens would not accept the "big brother" apps used in Asian countries.

https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-cracks-code-for-coronavirus-warning-app/

Last not least, once countries have gained the ability to very quickly identify and contain new outbreaks *inside* their borders, they might as well rethink their stance on keeping the doors shut...

 

Some thoughts on what things are like currently in Jackson Heights, Queens. I’m living about a 7-minute walk away from Elmhurst hospital.

Ambulance sirens are basically constant. Yes NYC has a lot of noise, sirens, etc that you get used to, but this is different.

The neighborhood is taking social distancing very seriously. Mask use when out and about is probably at 75% and heading towards 100%.

There are lines to enter most grocery stores and pharmacies due to restrictions on how many people can be inside at once. I waited for an hour to get into one of our main grocery stores at mid-day. Once inside, shopping was easy and food/supplies are well stocked except for toilet paper.

People are for the most part calm, courteous, etc. Haven’t seen any ugly scenes or squabbling over hand sanitizer, etc.

NYC stick-togetherness is in full effect. I live in a 360-unit co-op apartment block and we’ve set up multiple mutual aid groups to help elderly residents, or anyone else, get shopping done, laundry, etc. We’ve got a once-a-week Zoom set up to do a group check-in, socialize, give emotional support. Many other buildings in the neighborhood are doing the same. American-style self reliance is fine, but from what I’ve experienced NYC is good at this kind of group reliance and support at tough times.

Being stuck inside a small apartment with two 4-year-olds is difficult. The weather is beautiful and the playgrounds are unsafe. This sucks. Working from home as a parent of small kids who can’t go to school is almost impossible. I’m going to introduce them to Animal Crossing soon.

We know about a dozen people who have had COVID. Thankfully all have been able to get through at home.

I have never washed my hands so much in life. I recommend putting a pump bottle of lotion next to the sink. Use it every time you wash your hands. I did this too late. Skin is finally looking and feeling somewhat normal after weeks of lizard hands.

 

https://clinmedjournals.org/article...ases-and-epidemiology-jide-6-113.php?jid=jide

Ozone treatment is likely effective on Corona viruses.
Survival rate weaning off a ventilator is around 60%.
There is a correlation between the density of virus exposure and the degree of symptoms exhibited.

 

I read that once patients required a ventilator that survival rates were very poor, something like 25%, so 60% would be a big improvement.

 

I hope you guys are doing well and are safe during the lockdown, in Spain the death count at this moment is 12500 people, the stupid virus is very dangerous, way worse than the flu.

I would like to give an update on what I posted a couple of weeks ago (call centers, unemployment, etc)

I'm FINALLY working from home since monday, because...police warned to close down everything if we weren't given the chance to work from home. Surprise, surprise, from friday to monday everything was done and running smoothly without any BS in between, and I am not unemployed (they can't! online and telephone banking is an essential service). Still, very sad that what counted is not the 800 people death per day, but a police warning saying they'll be inmediatly closed and fined.

Anyway, stay safe and be strong during this crap times!

 

Riverside County just made mask wearing mandatory, I expect more people in so cal to wear masks. I haven't been but will start from now on whenever I go shopping. I did wear gloves last time I went shopping, at Target.
Wife cut up an old pillowcase to make some diy masks this morning.

 

We're expecting that to happen here next in San Diego country (it's already mandatory for workers), we've been sewing masks for friends and we currently have 50+ orders. The best we can do is a cloth mask with 5 micron filter fabric insert.

 

Kaiser's instructions for making masks:

 

I saw this earlier and thought it was interesting, the filtrete filter she’s using is made by 3M. There’s a higher grade version that’s a bit better and obviously there are probably better methods of using it in a mask but this would work in a pinch.

https://vm.tiktok.com/t5wexm/