Topic: Covid, people!

[floyd111]

I know this is an excellent forum with almost strictly adult talk about cars. But how's everyone doing, in your respective houses, countries?
We, for one, are in the lucky seat, with Taiwan pretty much Covid-free coz we closed the borders in december 2019 and having taken all possible internal measures.
But how are you guys doing?

[s class]

Was wondering when this topic would come up.  Here in South Africa, Covid became an issue weeks or months later than other countries, so there was more time for the authorities to act.  A super strict full lockdown has been in place since 23h59 on 26 March, at this stage anticipated to last for 21 days.  The lockdown is enforced by vaious police groups and the army and it is very strict.  All businesses are closed, apart from essential services.  SMall businesses like my own are severely affected by having no cash flow. 

So far, the decisive and extreme action taken by the authorities seems to be having the desired effect with a significant decrease in day-to-day growth in infection rates. 

[TJ 450]

Here in Western Australia it's under control for now and there are considerable restrictions in place. A fair proportion of businesses have closed in the hospitality and other sectors and we are only to travel for essential purposes.

It is expected to accelerate over the coming weeks although hopefully nothing like some of the eastern states of Australia which are well ahead in terms of numbers.

Tim

[ptashek]

In Ireland, we're currently under strict lockdown. All creches/schools/universities have been closed for two weeks now. You can only go out to buy food, to a pre-scheduled doctors appointment, to the pharmacy, and for a walk within 2km of the house. Some parks have closed, but most are open. That's it. All non-critical (food, pharmacies etc.) shops are closed, including all pubs and restaurants. Only take-out places with delivery service can still operate.

I've been working remotely for six weeks now, looking at at least another four.
Sitting in an office ain't my thing, so that bit of the lockdown I don't mind at all

The infection curve is still accelerating, so it'll be a while, but at least the mortality rate is reasonably low (~2.5%).

In all fairness, the government here has done the right thing very early on. It's going to cost the country several billion euro in lost tax intake, unemployment benefits and other crisis support mechanisms. Unemployment is expected to rise to near 20% short-term, but we'll get through it. The economy is quite modern, and was going strong before the pandemic (4% growth).

[adamb]

Over in London despite the lockdown many people continue to move around. We live in the middle of a small park where people take their dogs and children for walks. My partner and I are both working full time from home and having to timeshare parental responsibilities. We go out for a walk once a day but have now learned to avoid peak times as there are just too many people around and social distancing is not being practiced consistently. The COVID peak is still to come and personally I am anticipating another 3 months of lock down as numbers of infected and critically ill people rocket up and up. Places like London and UK in general where there is a very liberal mindset, lockdowns work only so well. I expect COVID to hit Britain hard and London in particular. Older members of my family have now been in self-isolation for 2 weeks and I am responsible for delivering food supplies to them once a week. Otherwise we just Skype or Zoom each other.

Having my 6.9 parked in a relatively spacious underground car park nearby makes it easier for me to dedicate some of the scarce free time to getting some jobs done (as per my other posts recently). Many companies try to maintain an online presence and there are lots of courier deliveries still. So if you want something relatively generic then it should be possible to get it delivered.

Overall for us things are okay for now but it's truly scary to imagine that if somebody in my family is taken ill and goes to hospital that I may never see them again alive or dead. Please protect yourself and others by wearing a mask and taking other hygiene precautions.

[marku]

As Adam says it is really going from bad to worse. Those institutions you would expect to have to deal with it are struggling simply because we have had for the last 10 years a government that thought we could do without them. They either closed down or sold off anything that was not nailed down. There was a time when these organisations staged practice responses to emergencies to see how effective they could be. Not now and that is why we are in this mess. One good thing is that the PM has got it and is in hospital. He is at least out of the way and not interfering. Perhaps the rest of the government will get it.

[rumb]

The main rational in the USA for self quarantine is to "flatten" the curve so hospitals are not overloaded. However blanket orders by state have left many hospitals laying worker off for lack of work. However in many places restrictions were put into place up to 3 weeks before a single person in a County had the virus, causing mass hording.

The government has worked with suppliers to ramp up production of needed supplies and is backing States in their need for these items. Some states failed to procure and stockpile  these items in the past despite previous CDC recommendations.  A law was rescinded that prohibited shipments directly from hospitals to other hospitals.  In many places restrictions were put into place up to 3 weeks before a single person in a county had the virus, causing mass hording.

On the ridiculous side  a few people have been arrested for sitting on a beach watching a sunset or even just going for a drive. Churches have been attempted to be shut in complete violation of our First Amendment to Constitution.  Now the grocery stores are empty and some are dropping prices because they have too much product.  Hopefully the just in recent days use of ~quinine in NY will allow our FDA to allow widespread use.  If so the curve here could drop drastically. Good news in illegal immigration and flow of illegal drugs has dropped. So has Legislatures being closed stopped the passing of unneeded legislation.

Here we can still go to doctors, grocery store, auto store, hardware store,  parks, bicycle, golf, tennis and exercise outdoors all allowed following social distancing.A few coffee/bakeries are still open with distancing measures and restaurants have delivery or curb side pick up.We try to support a couple of these each week.

My hope is the social distancing, personal hygiene and ramped up production of medicines will greatly shorten this experience. the USA has had a bit more time to prepare than Europe to our advantage.

[floyd111]

Mail services mayhem; Starting 3-5 days ago, post offices in Germany, and probably in some other European countries, no longer accept parcels meant for shipping outside the EU. Some has to do with Russia no longer allowing shipments through their ground and air space.
eBay now simply refunds delayed stuff out of their own pocket. That happened yesterday. Never seen that before. 
Other sellers are one-sided sending money back to me. That is new
I am still buying/paying stuff now, but tell sellers to not ship till further notice. That is new.
Other stuff that was already shipped before the new measures now require the receiver's ID data before delivery is possible here in Taiwan. Not a biggie, you'd say, if only the couriers abroad were accepting calls, so one might leave that ID for items stuck in customs.
It's a mess.

[floyd111]

Looks like more and more countries in Europe are seeing virus numbers drop. I predict Europe is gonna be business as usual within 5-6 weeks, but in a full blown recession. Banks are predicting a 5 to 8 percent shrinkage all along the board. That's gonna be tough, akin to the 1930's. Same in the rest of the western world. China is looking at 6 to 9% growth in 2020/2021. If you're in a volatile seat, making your way to Asia could be a very wise choice.

[rumb]

here more and more states are seeing protests against irrational edicts from some states governors. Michigan gov banned sale of vegetable and flower seeds. Already 》200k online sign to recall gov.

Scattered cases arising from local action violating Constitutional rights.

20 states report less than 50 deaths. With new guidelines I expect some reopening in next 2 weeks. At least 2 states have never implemented lockdowns. At least their economies won't suffer as bad.

Half of all deaths in new york. Commiefornia is giving illegals free money. Crazy.

[floyd111]

Michigan gov banned sale of vegetable and flower seeds.

dare I ask what the motivation is for that?

[rumb]

Michigan gov banned sale of vegetable and flower seeds.

dare I ask what the motivation is for that?

Sheer stupidity?

You can go in the other part of the store but not that section. Apparently crossing that line means people will die.  go figure. Logic is in short supply for many.

I can go in large home improvement store but not into ice cream parlour next door.

I can go into liquor store but not go into the BBQ next door.

I can go into tire store but not the one person barber next door.

I can go into the coffee/bakery but not the toy store next door.

I can go the the spice shop but not the clothing store next door.

But hey gasoline is $1.48 a gallon.

All because 3 people died from a bad flu virus in a town of 200,000. Meanwhile suicides are up 20% and Domestic Violence up 30%.

/rant mode off/

[adamb]

You know, USA is being pretty badly f*cked by this virus. In my limited experience many people in the Western world are bad at taking directions from above or even doing the rational thing like social distancing. 50 dead today is usually 500 dead tomorrow. Be careful, especially if you are vulnerable.

However, I am happy that I can refuel my 6.9 at £1 per litre. It can't go any lower due to taxation mostly. We can't go anywhere so I have been using the old girl to get me to the supermarket. Lots of admiring glances and nods from many folks.

[rumb]

In  my state the death rate is 7.6 thousands of one percent, hardly bad. .000076  At least 25 states the rate is even lower. 6 States never closed.  Our State re-opens in 7 days.     99.99% of people are quite good at social distancing around here. Most people are wearing masks. At least in our state- as well as most - we are free to drive where ever we want to. Hospitals have never reached capacity.

New York City With 29,000 people per square mile and lots of subways has a very bad rate. But a month into CV the Mayor told everyone it was safe to go wherever they wanted. @1/2 the cases in US are in NY. Even there the rate is dropping now.

Perhaps your press has painted a different picture?

Agreed, elderly with compromised health should be careful.

BTW, I read that Merriam-Webster has updated the dictionary. Under debacle it now says "See Covid-19"   


PS We are pretty adverse to taking direction from above because our Constitution Limits Federal and States powers.    The Michigan Legislature has filed for an injunction against the Governor's orders and the US Attorney General has filed as a friend of the plaintiff.

[rumb]

Food for thought.

 It is panic and hysteria, not the coronavirus, that created this catastrophe andnd the consequences in much of the world will be more horrible than in America.

    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/05/05/the_worldwide_lockdown_may_be_the_greatest_mistake_in_history_143119.html