Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[viper37]

I'm seeing right-wing, Thatcherite people proposing that the government probably needs to nationalise airports, airlines, railways and some elements of the supply chain (at the minute Amazon Prime Now etc are really essential infrastructure - but also we need people who work in supply chain roles to feel empowered to self-isolate/take time off) plus cash payments to individuals and small/medium businesses.

Again, just extraordinary - it all strikes me as sensible.

As disgusting as it sounds, obedience is a virtue with coronavirus

The joke around in virus land is that there are no libertarians in a pandemic, just as there are no atheists in foxholes.
You're not the only one having a crisis of conscience.

[viper37]

That IS grim. It's a bit scary/worrying to be immigrants in such situation, simply because the lack of the generations-spanning contact network that I had via my family and friends back home. Couple of nurses we know could get us around such restrictions to see loved ones or get stuff to them and such.

I do wonder about immigrants like you, Garbon, Oex, etc with your private health insurance (I guess?), if you were to fall sick, would they repatriate you to your respective country or keep you there and pay the full bill (minus deductible) until you are cured?

[viper37]

The Queen just spoke to the nation, a first since the war for the monarchy (besides the yearly new year's speech). Basically she just repeated what the government has said and then told young people to take this seriously. A good speech.

Would the young people generally listen to your Queen?

In here, the Prime Minister asked for public figures (sports&entertainment) and influencers to talk to the young people telling them to respect the social distancing measure and that it was no time to throwing parties.  I've seen/read a few spreading the message (the tage line is : Share the info, no the virus)

[viper37]

My hope for your country as you rebuild from this transformative event is that your country rejects the neocon fallacies and creates good universal systems which help all your citizens.  At least one good thing will have resulted.

Always the optimist, always...

[viper37]

I'm having a real hard time finding any toilet paper. I've got two rolls left. 

Amazon has some decent-prized packs, but it won't be the first one in the search.

[viper37]

Toilet paper is probably one of the most vulnerable items to hoarding.  It has low value, yet is very bulky.  Supermarkets don't have too much incentive to display a lot.  It is also kinda essential, difficult to replace (can't flush regular tissue down the toilet or the pipes will be clogged), and highly visible.  Because they take up so much display space, shortages are much more visible than the disappearance of a certain kind of candy.

Supermarkets do have storage facilities, local or otherwise.  Suppliers do have stock too.  Worst case scenario, there's a shortage for 2 days on week-ends.

[Monoriu]

Supermarket supply is finite.  Hong Kong experienced three weeks of empty toilet paper shelves.  I witnessed people rushing the carts as soon as supermarket staff pushed toilet paper out.  Customers were waiting not at the toilet paper shelves, but at the door where staff pushed the toilet paper out.  It was bad.  The news reported that some people used A4 paper to wipe their asses. 

[viper37]

Supermarket supply is finite.

I'm happy to report the canadian supply chain is holding up.  There is plenty of toilet paper everywhere around here.

[viper37]

Coronavirus: How to protect your mental health

Could be useful to some of us, if not now, maybe later.

[Admiral Yi]

AFAICT Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon are both doing their talk shows from home quarantine.

[garbon]

That IS grim. It's a bit scary/worrying to be immigrants in such situation, simply because the lack of the generations-spanning contact network that I had via my family and friends back home. Couple of nurses we know could get us around such restrictions to see loved ones or get stuff to them and such.

I do wonder about immigrants like you, Garbon, Oex, etc with your private health insurance (I guess?), if you were to fall sick, would they repatriate you to your respective country or keep you there and pay the full bill (minus deductible) until you are cured?

I'm covered by the NHS health system. I also have employer provided UK private insurance.

[Syt]

Vienna Donaukanal yesterday.

[Pedrito]

In Bergamo, Lombardy, the crematory is overburdened so army trucks are in line to bring the dead to other cities. 

Lombardy is getting a so high number of new contagions and dead that's explainable with difficulty.
Either a mutation of the virus, or an enormous number of asymptomatic persons that diffused the virus (estimates say that the real number of cases, between strong, mild and asymptomatic could be around the 80k-100k vs. 35.000 actually diagnosed), or overburdened ICUs. Or a combination of the three.

L.

[Josquius]

Well that's terrifying.
Time to head to the hills and start preparing for the new world?

[Zoupa]

The QC government decided this was the perfect time to pass bill 31.

Main part of the bill is pharmacist can now vaccinate, and we can now prescribe over the counter medication so it goes through people's insurance.

I don't know where the fuck we're supposed to find the time to do this shit. Vaccination requires a dedicated room, fridge, adrenaline, inhalers and defibrillator. The fee paid to the pharmacy is 11 bucks 

Even if owners decide to invest, I don't know of any colleagues that would shoulder all the extra work and liabilities with no pay increase. So that's a no from me, sorry.

The prescribing otc medications is similar in its shittyness, as our fee in that case is ZERO. So we're supposed to go through all the extra time and paperwork so people can claim their tylenol. That's another no. Do these politicians think we have a magical fountain of time to devote to this bullshit? We work 8-12 hour shifts with no lunch, no breaks, and we're rushing the whole time.

Oh, and as a cherry on top, we can now also do pharynx swabs for strep throat testing. Perfect timing guys, right during a pandemic where there's a shortage of gloves and masks. Not to mention we had zero training for that.

I'm about to quit this racket and open a patisserie or something. My last tiny shred of conscience is not letting me quit during a pandemic, but a few more weeks of this and all bets are off. Fuck. This.