COVID-19 Coronavirus

[Helmut83]

Mar 16, 2020 21:24:38 GMT orioles70 said:

Jeff's album Alone in the Universe may be sadly fitting for a period of self quarantine.

I can only take one of those two at a time. I fear quarantine plus Alone in the Universe at the same time might be too much for my anti-depression neurons to fight off.

Mar 14, 2020 17:28:30 GMT orioles70 said:

Trimming the list really isn't a good option, that's why I mentioned "eloping". I don't know how socially acceptable that is in Argentina.

Argentina is a very social -and very socially sensitive- country, you have to be very careful of the way you treat people or you might offend someone, and people normally care about not offending others, at least if they are acquaintances (about others they don't give a shit though). It's probably not very different than the US and the UK in that regard (and completely different from, for example, Germany, where they have a more practical albeit less sentimental approach to things). So yeah, it's not acceptable.

And we got proof of that: my sister and my to-be brother-in-law told me that they knew someone who had had the same issue (wedding last Saturday) and had opted for trimming the list from 400+ down to 200, the minimum allowed. The result, as I had expected, was lots of offended people.


Your tale about the groom and bride getting so stressed over their wedding and simple fleeing away is epic, something to be remembered. I'd totally do that, I don't think I could take a standard wedding with all the typical features that they have nowadays. Meh, what do I worry about?

[Helmut83]

Down these parts the alarms are already sounding and hysteria has unchained in the government and media. The number of cases is 56 and there has already been some local cases (people who contracted the virus without travelling abroad). The deaths are 2 and the cases of recovery, 3. Classes were suepended and politicians urged people to stay at home unless absolutely necessary.

Today I went out to the supermarket for some panic buying (I made sure I screamed and ran randomly through the aisles from time to time so that people wouldn't mistake it for regular buying) and the panorama was pretty much the same as every day. There was as many people as usual both in the streets and in the supermarket, doing the usual stuff... nothing seemed different. There was no shortage of toilet paper, soap or hygiene articles. However I stockpiled myself for a good few weeks so I don't need to go there again and can comply with my quarantine as good as possible.

I fear that if the virus keeps spreading it will cause a disaster here. This country is extremely disorganized and there's not a sense of civilization and community, people don't care about anything until it affects them directly.

[Timeblue]

Some shops here are having periods where only OAPs are allowed in (on a morning for two hours before anyone else) which will help as panic buying is setting in....

[Timeblue]

I reckon the tour will probably be cancelled now,or at least re scheduled.

[Helmut83]

My dear British friends, how is the panorama in the UK? Have things changed a lot in the day-to-day life? I understand that Boris Johnson's government has taken quite a different approach than most countries, keeping the country mostly open and working as usual; is this so?

[Horacewimp]

Mar 17, 2020 18:46:00 GMT Helmut83 said:

My dear British friends, how is the panorama in the UK? Have things changed a lot in the day-to-day life? I understand that Boris Johnson's government has taken quite a different approach than most countries, keeping the country mostly open and working as usual; is this so?

Mrs Wimp and I took a walk up the road this evening to the shops, the streets and roads were quiet. We went into three mini supermarkets all had good stocks of everything except toilet paper and hand gel. We walked passed about seven restaurants and take a ways (Indian, Chinese, Italian, Fish and Chips, Fried Chicken) all of them were open but empty, the wine bar had about five people in it.

Daughter ones school is still open but many of the kids are been kept at home and the staffing levels are reduced with the elderly and pregnant people staying at home. Daughter twos university closed today and they are working online she is contemplating coming home. Mrs Wimps operating theatre is to stop doing routine operations and they are working out how many high dependency beds they can fit into each theatre, they are going to give them some basic training for high dependency nursing and the use of ventilators.

It’s all a bit surreal.

As for me I’m still digging the garden, painting and tiling, got a beer and curry evening pencilled in for Friday not sure it will happen.

[Timeblue]

All this panic buying like it's the end of the world is driving me nuts. Where I live,all my local supermarkets are running dry of essentials (bog roll,cleaning stuff etc) I will NOT join these idiots in stock piling.....

[vlogdance]

My company has decided that all my team will be working from home, starting in the next couple of days.

I'll be one of the first to be moved out, so to speak.

I've had a week or so away from work because of a persistent cough (nothing worse). So I'll go back to work tomorrow morning - and in the afternoon I'll be going home with a company PC, router, etc. As from Thursday, my living room will be my new office - maybe for the next three months!

Going to miss the colleagues. Hopefully we'll keep in touch throughout.

[unomusette]

I agree the panic buying is ridiculous. Hopefully if the situation goes on for a while people will be reassured when the shelves are refilled and calm back down. Great idea to let the elderly and vulnerable in first though.

[Timeblue]

Our local 24 hour Asdas are closing overnight tonight so they can re-stock and clean the stores...

[unomusette]

We went out for a walk today and ate at Wetherspoons. It was quieter than usual but nearly all the customers I'd say were over 70 (including my mother who was the one who insisted we go in the first place) Old dears are a lot less freaked out than the rest of us by the look of it.

[eloneen]

It is absolutely beyond me why people are just hanging out in American cities whose leaders have given orders to shelter in place, when all of the models show that we in the US are following the same trajectory as Italy, and that the window to slow down the surge on our medical system is closing fast. It is just infuriating how selfish some young people are being, confident that they will not experience the worst consequences of this virus. Countless innocent older and medically fragile people, and far too many heroic first responders will needlessly suffer and die because of their selfishness.

We do not need to panic, but we need to use good sense and take the science seriously, as well as the admonitions from health experts, so as to avoid some very dire consequences for a lot of people. Take it from these people in Italy. This is real, folks!

[Helmut83]

Thanks for the insight, Horacewimp, Timeblue, unomusette and vlogdance, very illustrative and doubt-clearing.

Mar 17, 2020 20:51:10 GMT Timeblue said:

All this panic buying like it's the end of the world is driving me nuts. Where I live,all my local supermarkets are running dry of essentials (bog roll,cleaning stuff etc) I will NOT join these idiots in stock piling.....

Mar 17, 2020 21:41:27 GMT unomusette said:

I agree the panic buying is ridiculous. Hopefully if the situation goes on for a while people will be reassured when the shelves are refilled and calm back down. Great idea to let the elderly and vulnerable in first though.

Timeblue and unomusette: I wouldn't be so terminant about this so as to call those people "idiots" and what they do "ridiculous" (well, partly because I did some of that too ... my idea is to flee to the countryside when the worst of it comes so I need to have my stocks). What do we know about what's going to happen? Besides, if you want to comply with your quarantine properly you have to make sure you have enough food and basic goods to spend many consecutive days or even weeks inside your home.

Sometimes we assume that food simply grows on supermarket shelves and we take for granted it's presence there, but for food to be there a hell of a lot of business has to be conducted first, and it involves a lot of presential, face-to-face, hand-to-hand business. The whole economic activity of the world is being reduced drastically, so I find it far from ridiculous to think that if things keep on going wrong at some point the production, treatment and distribution chain of food could be affected and reduced. If a shortage of food happens and it catches you guys with low supplies, then the "idiots" who did panic buying will likely be in better position than you.

That's why until all is said and done I wouldn't hurry in calling them idiots, because we don't know how thing will play out.

[eloneen]

I agree with much of what Helmut83 has said. I do think it's important to distinguish between stocking up for staying put, which we have been strongly encouraged to do, versus hoarding or panic buying. Hoarding involves excessive accumulation of items that are not necessarily useful, or selfishly taking more than one needs when others are also in need. Some people who did not or were not able to prepare find themselves panic buying or hoarding now because they are afraid and find themselves competing with others for scarce resources.

I have a good supply of food for my family for a few weeks, which I bought over a period of weeks. We usually have winter storm and hurricane emergency food supplies anyway, so this was like a refresh and major supplement to that. I bought extra wipes and hand sanitizer a few weeks ago, too, for home and school, but not in huge  quantities. I bought some extra paper supplies online a few weeks ago (paper towels for cleaning, and yes, toilet paper), some concentrated disinfectant liquid and empty spray bottles (in stores) so I could mix up my own cleaning solution when the wipes run out, and use that with the paper towels for cleaning. I'm not worried so much about a low supply of food, but perhaps tighter restrictions on movement at some future point. Limiting my trips to the store as the virus becomes more prevalent also means minimal exposure to something that I could bring back to infect my mother at home.

I'm a planner. Having an elderly person, two other adults in the house with special dietary and/or health needs, and a ravenous teenager,  means that planning for emergencies is a must. There are things that cannot be controlled, but if I can see a way to be prepared, I'll try. 

[Timeblue]

When folk are seen leaving a shop with for example 4 or 5 packs of toilet roll leaving the shelves empty and the old and vulnerable are left with nothing,I will continue to call them idiots.....