Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Sheilbh]

On a nerdier note, it would be interesting to compare how pre-modern societies reacted to disease outbreaks with our modern societies, esp. the mass psychology of it.

So yesterday was the first day I'd left the house in weeks due to my unrelated injury (me: "YAAAAAAY! I can finally leave my flat!" the entire world: ) and I just walked down to the shops, but I was thinking about this.

London's a plaguey city historically - and I'm sure it's the same in all other cities. Like its entire history is dotted with mass outbreaks of plague, typhus, cholera and it felt weird because that's a version of London that, mentally, was very much in the past. It sort of shows how fragile those barriers are between awful scary things that we associate with the past, and the world today. Because I suddenly felt connected to the versions of London that existed at the time of John Snow and the cholera outbreak, or the Great Plague year of 1665.

I'd love for some writers around the world to explore it in their cities - nominating Peter Ackroyd for London.

[Syt]

I'm currently concerned about the US. What are the current projections for how things might go?

[Tamas]

On a nerdier note, it would be interesting to compare how pre-modern societies reacted to disease outbreaks with our modern societies, esp. the mass psychology of it.

Hopefully we'll have fewer pogroms.

[Legbiter]

Because I suddenly felt connected to the versions of London that existed at the time of John Snow and the cholera outbreak, or the Great Plague year of 1665.

Isaac Newton never was as productive as in the Great Plague when he had to self-isolate. 

[Syt]

Vienna is setting up a trade exhibition hall as sick bay. In a first step, Hall A will have 880 beds. This a precaution in case the numbers rise sharply and there would be a significant number of patients who are too sick to be cared for at home, but not so sick that they require a hospital bed.

[crazy canuck]

I'm currently concerned about the US. What are the current projections for how things might go?

Given the lack of testing in that country - anyone's guess.

I think BC has still done more testing that the whole of the US

[Legbiter]

Czech Republic are locking themselves in. No foreigners are allowed in, no Czechs are allowed out, with a small handful of exceptions, like Czechs working near the border.

Slovakia's doing the same apparently they've literally got border guards out on the road

We're slowly rediscovering the pandemic heuristics of the middle ages. We'll have to completely rethink supply chains, decentralize them much more, etc.

[The Minsky Moment]

I'm currently concerned about the US. What are the current projections for how things might go?

EVERYTHING IS GREAT
WE ARE WAY BETTER THAN EVERY OTHER COUNTRY!  WAY MORE PREPARED!  OUR TESTS ARE BEST AND EVERYONE CAN GET ONE!



(we're screwed)

[Sheilbh]

Czech Republic are locking themselves in. No foreigners are allowed in, no Czechs are allowed out, with a small handful of exceptions, like Czechs working near the border.

Disgraceful 

What would Schweik do? Drink beer and eat pickled herring in a cosy Prague pub of course till the crisis was over, not panic!

Quite. I always associate the Czechs with a phlegmatic approach to things.

At least the Belgians are living up to stereotypes with lots of dark humour. I saw one Belgian pub (which have now been *closed down* in *Belgium* ) that was doing a special offer on buying Corona and Mort Subite

[Sheilbh]

I'm currently concerned about the US. What are the current projections for how things might go?

EVERYTHING IS GREAT
WE ARE WAY BETTER THAN EVERY OTHER COUNTRY!  WAY MORE PREPARED!



(we're screwed)

What else do you expect, as you enter into President Obama's 12th year in office:

For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied,  its testing system, but did nothing about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes that only complicated things further.....
.... Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!

[The Minsky Moment]

Ridiculous.
The "Red Tape" could have been cut over a month ago if the head of the executive branch wasn't busy insisting the problem didn't exist.

[Oexmelin]

The problem is that there are conservative outlets who, by actively peddling the « Democrat conspiracy » angle, are actively undermining efforts to fight the pandemic.

[Valmy]

Swine Flu was a disaster?

I thought the international community handled that pretty well.

[Sheilbh]

Really interesting article on the Italian and South Korean responses:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/italy-south-korea-differ-tackling-coronavirus-outbreak-200313062505781.html

[Sheilbh]

The problem is that there are conservative outlets who, by actively peddling the « Democrat conspiracy » angle, are actively undermining efforts to fight the pandemic.

Yeah. I worry about this. I mentioned earlier but I was ina cab and my Romanian (I think) cab driver was directly citing one of Trump's tweets about why people are panicking and it's just another seasonal flu.