Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Tamas]

There will be no political fallout from this for China: first the West will be busy to work through its own policy failings and its arrogance of not learning from East Asian experience and second when the world economy is trying to come back from this disaster, China as the world's biggest/second biggest economy will be needed and we still nedd Chinese consumers and suppliers.

Yes.

Speaking of which, will be interesting to see how Eastern Europe will fare. I mean their healthchare systems must be in worse shape than the western ones, but if their official figures are to be believed, they went into lockdown mode far earlier than the UK did. Will be interesting to see if it pays off and if the disease will return there with a vengeance during winter.

[garbon]

There will be no political fallout from this for China: first the West will be busy to work through its own policy failings and its arrogance of not learning from East Asian experience and second when the world economy is trying to come back from this disaster, China as the world's biggest/second biggest economy will be needed and we still nedd Chinese consumers and suppliers.

So this will be our new normal.

[Syt]

There will be no political fallout from this for China: first the West will be busy to work through its own policy failings and its arrogance of not learning from East Asian experience and second when the world economy is trying to come back from this disaster, China as the world's biggest/second biggest economy will be needed and we still nedd Chinese consumers and suppliers.

Yes.

Speaking of which, will be interesting to see how Eastern Europe will fare. I mean their healthchare systems must be in worse shape than the western ones, but if their official figures are to be believed, they went into lockdown mode far earlier than the UK did. Will be interesting to see if it pays off and if the disease will return there with a vengeance during winter.

Some are using their time well https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/29/polands-coronavirus-crisis-election-unleashes-political-warfare-154852

[Tamas]

There will be no political fallout from this for China: first the West will be busy to work through its own policy failings and its arrogance of not learning from East Asian experience and second when the world economy is trying to come back from this disaster, China as the world's biggest/second biggest economy will be needed and we still nedd Chinese consumers and suppliers.

So this will be our new normal.

What. China getting away with everything because of the big profits they are  making for everyone? That's the old normal.

[Josquius]

Early days yet but British numbers looking promising. Total new cases have gone down the last 2 days.
Assuming this is massively weighted towards serious cases with carriers going unnoticed, it's still promising with the lock down in effect.
Just have to hope if any dick heads do get the disease they're bid ridden.

[Monoriu]

There will be no political fallout from this for China: first the West will be busy to work through its own policy failings and its arrogance of not learning from East Asian experience and second when the world economy is trying to come back from this disaster, China as the world's biggest/second biggest economy will be needed and we still nedd Chinese consumers and suppliers.

I am not as optimistic, but I hope you are right and I am wrong. 

[garbon]

There will be no political fallout from this for China: first the West will be busy to work through its own policy failings and its arrogance of not learning from East Asian experience and second when the world economy is trying to come back from this disaster, China as the world's biggest/second biggest economy will be needed and we still nedd Chinese consumers and suppliers.

So this will be our new normal.

What. China getting away with everything because of the big profits they are  making for everyone? That's the old normal.

I'm not sure I can think of a recent time where decisions made in China impacted lives around the globe this abruptly and thoroughly.

[Maladict]

Total new cases have gone down the last 2 days.

That's what happens here during the weekend, followed by a spike on Mondays. They are just not reported until then

[Maladict]

Reports coming out of hospitals that 80% of IC patients are overweight/obese. Doctors are urging people nog to go on crash diets, but not denying the stories.

[celedhring]

Crime down 80% during the quarantine in Catalonia. This is mostly due to the near-extinction of pickpocketing (duh) which usually makes up 50% of complains to the police.

There's been - unsurprisingly - an uptike in online scams though.

[Sheilbh]

I feel like there will be some pressure on China after this, maybe "reckoning" is a bit dramatic.

In part it will just be the result of on-shoring and which I think will definitely affect medical equipment but may go wider. Separately I think there'll be pressure on transparency. From my understanding I think that there were reports of this in December but China (and the WHO) were denying there was any human-to-human transfers until Chinese New Year, by which point it had already reached North America and Europe. And, given Taiwanese success in containing coronavirus, there is a lot we could all be learning from Taiwan so I wouldn't be surprised if countries who had decisively turned to China open a door again to Taiwan.

One other point - which may just be European - is the EU gave China tens of millions of Euros worth of aid at the start of this crisis, which at China's request was done quietly and discreetly. I think there'll be frustration in Europe at how loudly China has given Europe aid back, especially given that a large proportion of the tests and masks etc don't seem to be fit for purpose.

I was just speaking to a Polish colleague who got back to Warsaw from an international trip more or less just before lockdown. But Poland is imposing quarantine on international travellers so he was given the option of downloading an app that allows the Polish government to locate him at any time. Apparently he should also walk around the perimeter of his flat and any outdoor space he has so they know if he's leaving the property and they will at random times request a photo of him in his flat. I'm not sure what the other option was but it's a little bit unsettling

[celedhring]

+812 dead (+12%). Third day straight where the amount of new dead has stayed flat instead of increasing. Hopefully we're turning a corner here.

[Josquius]

So Poland is following the Korean approach. Interesting. Though wonder why its app based rather than just phone signal tracking.

[celedhring]

So Poland is following the Korean approach. Interesting. Though wonder why its app based rather than just phone signal tracking.

That would be illegal under EU GDPR rules, unless they anonimize the data (which would make it pointless for this). I know, Poland, but I guess there's limits and you'd need the carriers to play ball.

[Zanza]

So Poland is following the Korean approach. Interesting. Though wonder why its app based rather than just phone signal tracking.

The signal is not precise enough, you need GPS and bluetoith (for device-to-device) and for that you need an app. Triangulation based on signal can be 100m or more off.