Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[alfred russel]

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

That sucks. My boss is a huge skier and was considering getting a place for a month or two by Whistler while our office is shut down - he can work remotely from there as easily as here, and ski in the downtime. It really doesn't seem like operating a nonenclosed ski lift should really have a risk of virus transmission and you don't need to have restaurants open.

I'm looking at getting a rental near outdoor areas, or even putting together a roadtrip across the country visiting a bunch of national parks.

[Grey Fox]

All those things will be closed.

[celedhring]

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

Their population is what, 5 million? That must be a pretty significant amount of their workforce...

[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

Their population is what, 5 million? That must be a pretty significant amount of their workforce...

Yeah just under 5 million, so it's a huge number. I think it more than doubles the number of unemployed.

[Tamas]

Surely that number can't be serious.

But if it is at least we know why Johnson has opted to eradicate poor people via a pandemic instead of making them unemployed.

[Sheilbh]

Number's from RTE - needless to say the Irish government are advising people not to go to their local job centre and try and use online portals to claim any benefits they're eligible for:
https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2020/0316/1123480-coronavirus-ireland/

I also really worry about the health service in Ireland. It's not nearly as universal or strong as it is in most European countries - which is why it was a big issue in the election. I'm not sure how equipped it'll be to deal with this pandemic .

Incidentally in showing there is no issue too big for sectarian issues in Northern Ireland, the Northern Irish government is having a fierce row over school closures. Basically Sinn Fein and the SDLP (the nationalists) want to follow the Irish government and close schools immediately; the DUP and UUP want to follow the British government and keep them open, subject to local closures

Edit: Also rumours of something big coming in France - Macron's got an address to the nation this evening and so far today has met with the PM, Health Minister, Interior Minister, Defence Minister and the leaders of the Senate and Assemblee Nationale.

[Tamas]

Hungary is closing its border to all foreigners from midnight.

[Sheilbh]

Sounds like they have a good handle on it. Still, hopefully your mum will be able to WFH soon. Your dad does sound like this could be rough for him.

The biggest issue with the elders in my family is they are of the "keep calm and carry on" generation. They were all bombed as children in the Liverpool blitz or came up in immediate, bomb-ruined, shell-shocked post-war Liverpool. It's difficult to get across the message that this is serious and they need to change their behaviour when that generation is very, almost proud, of not being cowed or over-awed by things. They'll carry on and they're not going to let this illness get them or get them down.

And I'm there like: "PLEASE HERMETICALLY SEAL YOUR HOUSE FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS THX!"

I don't really expect it, but I hope the one positive coming out of this mess will be a change of views on working from home. A lot of the white collar work people do nowadays can be done remotely, and the slight loss in efficiency would be offset by less pollution.

Totally - we don't even necessarily all need to live round London so much

My personal goal as we're all moving towards all wfh is to finally master the conference call.
"Hello who..."
"Hi you've got...sorry go ahead?"
"Hello it's....no go ahead please."
Repeated for five minutes every call

[Sheilbh]

Hungary is closing its border to all foreigners from midnight.

Orban's also taking measures to respond to Covid-19.

[Tamas]

 


On the calls: for the previous 6 years I worked almost exclusively with remote teams so I am well used to it. Also it is just the way of things.

My office's leadership seems to be still very much debating whether we need to switch to WFH or not, so my Incredible Saga continues.

[celedhring]

Surely that number can't be serious.

But if it is at least we know why Johnson has opted to eradicate poor people via a pandemic instead of making them unemployed.

Again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVltOSC0JMQ

[Josquius]

Soooo seems a kid at my girlfriend's school, a delightful fellow with a habit of violently attacking and spitting on everyone, probably has it. She has a cold too.

[mongers]

The skies empty:

Airlines cancel most flights as coronavirus spreads

Coronavirus: More flights cancelled by Virgin, Ryanair and others16 March 2020 

Travel restrictions and a slump in demand due to the coronavirus have forced airlines to cancel most flights and temporarily reduce staff.

Virgin Atlantic will cut four-fifths of its flights and has asked staff to take eight weeks of unpaid leave.

Ryanair and EasyJet are grounding most of their fleets, while BA owner IAG is to cut capacity by 75%.

Norwegian Air has cancelled thousands of flights and will temporarily lay off more than 7,500 staff.

Holiday company Tui has said it will suspend the "majority" of its operations, affecting "package travel, cruises and hotel" bookings.

...

Full item:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51904769

[Syt]

Austrian Airlines will also shut down service.

[crazy canuck]

Big announcement by the Federal government in about half an hour followed by an announcement by the Province. 

Anticipating Employment Insurance changes to pay employees who cannot work and an announcement that employees should stay home.