Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Tamas]

Nerds!

[Tamas]

171 new cases in the UK, but I have not been following the number of tests to know if those went up or down comparatively.

[celedhring]

I'm used to Met productions so the scenery seemed minimalist but I kind of prefer that approach.  The only thing that broke immersion for me was Donner's hammer.  In theory size shouldn't matter, but it just looked a bit silly to wave around what looked a rock sample hammer.

The Met production I watched in the late 2000s was rather minimalist. It remains my favorite.

Yeah, the hammer was silly. I also couldn't figure out what the watery orb in Froh's hands was supposed to represent.

[Sheilbh]

171 new cases in the UK, but I have not been following the number of tests to know if those went up or down comparatively.

Going back up about 3,800 new tests. So still ramping up to the 8-10,000 per day which is the aim, but significantly higher than a week ago which was about half that (and declining).

Hopefully yesterday's low number was just a blip.

This is one of those bits of social media that I find frustrating now is the big story by critics that the UK government isn't testing and that we need to test all NHS staff (all 1.2 million of them ). We're not at South Korean levels yet but the last week testing has doubled in the last week and it looks on an upward trajetory. It's not wide enough yet but it is improving and while it's still low-ish I feel like the focus should be people with symptoms not all NHS staff however healthy they are (not least because hopefully because those people will be following hospital hygiene procedures).

[Syt]

My favorite version of Rheingold possibly remains the Karajan filmic version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBi0YXM3zmI

I once saw it at the Kiel opera house. They were on a shoestring budget, but they made the best of it. The giants were created by projecting the actors' shadows larger than life onto white linen sheets. Though having Alberich's toad form represented by hand puppet was a bit silly. The production used almost no stage design. In fact, the back was open, and the performers sitting at a large table where they waited for their parts, going over their notes. It was weirdly distracting at first but it soon disappeared from your mind.

[The Minsky Moment]

Yeah, the hammer was silly. I also couldn't figure out what the watery orb in Froh's hands was supposed to represent.

Valhalla = Saudi Arabia?

[celedhring]

My favorite version of Rheingold possibly remains the Karajan filmic version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBi0YXM3zmI

I once saw it at the Kiel opera house. They were on a shoestring budget, but they made the best of it. The giants were created by projecting the actors' shadows larger than life onto white linen sheets. Though having Alberich's toad form represented by hand puppet was a bit silly. The production used almost no stage design. In fact, the back was open, and the performers sitting at a large table where they waited for their parts, going over their notes. It was weirdly distracting at first but it soon disappeared from your mind.

One of the most fun things to watch for on Ring productions is how they solve all the special effects that they require. There's a shitload of magical stuff happening in every one of them that it's super-hard to put on stage, even with modern technology.

[The Minsky Moment]

Anyways Metropolitan Opera doing the same thing.  Starting with Carmen tonight.

[The Brain]

In fairness Thor's hammer has never been found, so we don't know what it looked like. Maybe it looked like a toffee hammer.

[crazy canuck]

Hey what should the Barrister clan do here.

The week of spring break my wife was going to take the kids for 2 nights to Banff (well actually Canmore) to hang out in the mountains.  Plans were basically just to do some walking/hiking outside, and to swim in the hotel pool.  They're driving (not flying), not leaving the province.  I figured really the only risk factor would be eating at restaurants, but they can order out and eat at the hotel too.  I was going to stay back and keep working.

Should they go on this trip during the current health crisis?

The ski resorts in BC are closing - Banff can't be too far behind

Nobody is going skiing.

Restaurants will be closed

[The Larch]

The largest factory in my hometown, which employs thousands of people and is still open just announced that it'll stop production... on wednesday. 

Some massive call centers are still open today, which has plenty of people around here up in arms.

[The Larch]

Also, regional elections due for early april have been postponed.

In France they just had local elections yesterday and are planning to have the second round next weekend... 

[Sheilbh]

An estimated 140,000 people have been laid off in Ireland - 70,000 restaurant workers, 50,000 pub and bar staff, and around 20,000 crèche and childcare workers - there is an emergency payments scheme in place which has already had 20,000 applications. But that's a huge shock and surely the creche/childcare workers are still needed if only for public service workers

[Sheilbh]

Also, regional elections due for early april have been postponed.

In France they just had local elections yesterday and are planning to have the second round next weekend... 

Yeah - ours in early May have been postponed I think for a year. It seems like the right decision probably

[The Larch]

An estimated 140,000 people have been laid off in Ireland - 70,000 restaurant workers, 50,000 pub and bar staff, and around 20,000 crèche and childcare workers - there is an emergency payments scheme in place which has already had 20,000 applications. But that's a huge shock and surely the creche/childcare workers are still needed if only for public service workers

Burger King announced that it's closing down all its restaurants in Spain as well via a temporary mass layoff, that's a ton of people affected.