Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Sheilbh]

In Hungary almost nobody is eligible for free testing, most people would have to pay for it. That helps keep number of cases down.

I feel like the presence of free testing in this country which is fairly easy to request (although it makes me wish we had a national ID scheme ) is probably very helpful. I've tested myself because I had symptoms - I know people who've ordered tests because they've been on holiday to another area and just want to be on the safe side when they get back etc.

It is creaking on the testing for key workers (which are prioritised) because that's done at specific sites because it's quicker than doing it in the mail and people are getting offered spots that are not particularly close by - but that can be fixed.

I think cases are spiking in the UK but it does feel like its "known" spiking if you know what I mean. Also I spend far too much time looking at the local figures which still aren't good enough - for some reason it does feel like it's mainly in cities (other than London which is still fairly low - I think maybe because we got it worst in the first round?):
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=47574f7a6e454dc6a42c5f6912ed7076

[Valmy]

I guess they think these gun masks will trigger teh libs somehow? :/

See because they have to wear a mask to go inside but now they will have a gun!!111

[Malthus]

I guess they think these gun masks will trigger teh libs somehow? :/

If teh libs trigger those gun masks, the mask wearers would be in trouble ...

[Sheilbh]

Social gatherings of more than 6 people banned in England again from Monday, which seems sensible given that it doesn't seem to be localised at the minute and is trending up. I've mentioned before but I've always suspected that there'll be a trade-off for schools re-opening and that should be the priority.

[Tamas]

Social gatherings of more than 6 people banned in England again from Monday, which seems sensible given that it doesn't seem to be localised at the minute and is trending up. I've mentioned before but I've always suspected that there'll be a trade-off for schools re-opening and that should be the priority.

I agree that schools should be kept going and be the very last thing to close.

It seems to me like apart from mask wearing inside, not much if any of restrictions have survived. Rush hour traffic is absolutely back to normal nigthmare-ish levels, I regularly see people just mingling outside with SOME distance held but not exactly paranoid, and even a colleague who were until very recently pretty careful about this stuff has now plans of meeting groups of friends and whatnot.

[Sheilbh]

Agreed. I can't comment on rush hour because I'm not back in the office. The buses seem a little busier but nowhere near back to normal. But I'm surprised how much other things have gone back to normal.

But otherwise I agree. I'm not sure how much of this is inevitable because I feel like easing lockdown safely was always going to be more difficult than just going into lockdown and similarly the message was always going to be more nuanced, which is difficult for people to understand or keep track of - I've spoken to people in local lockdown areas and they've actually said it's kind of easy because they have simple rules again. So I feel like going back to no more social gatherings of six plus, masks etc is at least easy to undersatnd.

[11B4V]

So what excuse will these fuckers use when the COVID doesn't disappear after the election.

[Valmy]

So what excuse will these fuckers use when the COVID doesn't disappear after the election.

They never bother to go back and review how they were wrong, they just go right to the next thing. Got to keep stirring the pot.

[viper37]

There are two colleges in my home town.  Well, what you anglo-saxon types would call technical colleges, I guess, since our school system is different (out of high school you go to a college for 2-3 years, than you may go on to university, but there are exceptions to the rule).

One is a general college, the other is specialized in agriculture.

There was an initiation party with over 100 people from all corners of the province in a private residence, 8 days ago (why no one bother to invite me, I don't understand... ).  The city's population is less than 5000 (4266 as of 2011).

So, there were 4 people there, including one who did not attend the school who tested positive to covid-19, i.e. they were infected before attending the party.
And last week-end was labour-day week-end, so lots of people went back to their families for the 3 day break.  Some of their families have begun experiencing symptoms, which prompted students to get tested and the school to react. The other college is set to react tomorrow.

So far, the confirmed infected have been in contact with people 2 counties over.  But not everyone has had their result yet.

We're fucked.

[Grey Fox]

You are.

Written from 1 of the 4 Yellow alert region of Quebec.

[Zoupa]

But viper, I thought that it was only dirty Montrealers that weren't washing their hands??!11????!!1

How come the pristine, pure hearted and smart folks of the regions got affected???? Unpossible! You guys up there are smart and don't need masks!

[Razgovory]

Viper, you really need to understand what "Anglo-Saxon" means.  It doesn't mean "people who speak English".

[garbon]

Agreed. I can't comment on rush hour because I'm not back in the office. The buses seem a little busier but nowhere near back to normal. But I'm surprised how much other things have gone back to normal.

But otherwise I agree. I'm not sure how much of this is inevitable because I feel like easing lockdown safely was always going to be more difficult than just going into lockdown and similarly the message was always going to be more nuanced, which is difficult for people to understand or keep track of - I've spoken to people in local lockdown areas and they've actually said it's kind of easy because they have simple rules again. So I feel like going back to no more social gatherings of six plus, masks etc is at least easy to undersatnd.

Yes, crystal clear apart from say all the exceptions:

The only exemptions are when households or support bubbles are larger than six people; where gatherings are for work or education purposes; or for weddings, funerals, and organised team sports conducted in a safe way.

[Sheilbh]

That seems pretty clear to me. Social gatherings = no. Non-social gatherings like households, support bubbles, work, education etc still allowed.

[Tamas]

Wedding-themed parties FTW!