Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Sheilbh]

Then if we declare meat packing to be essential, how about we pay a lot more per hour, give benefits, and institute proper PPE and the like - I mean, it is essential, so therefore valuable.  This is all about the workers being safe, secure, and willing to brave the risks of infection, right?

According to Manu Raju:

McConnell made case to his colleagues today about including in any package provisions to shield businesses from lawsuits, saying that liability reform is "the thing that relates the most to regular people," per sources on call. Later on Fox, he reiterated that as his "redline"

I've a lot of queries about "relates" in that sentence

[HisMajestyBOB]

Then if we declare meat packing to be essential, how about we pay a lot more per hour, give benefits, and institute proper PPE and the like - I mean, it is essential, so therefore valuable.  This is all about the workers being safe, secure, and willing to brave the risks of infection, right?

According to Manu Raju:

McConnell made case to his colleagues today about including in any package provisions to shield businesses from lawsuits, saying that liability reform is "the thing that relates the most to regular people," per sources on call. Later on Fox, he reiterated that as his "redline"

I've a lot of queries about "relates" in that sentence

I bet everyone he knows is talking about it.

[PDH]

Then if we declare meat packing to be essential, how about we pay a lot more per hour, give benefits, and institute proper PPE and the like - I mean, it is essential, so therefore valuable.  This is all about the workers being safe, secure, and willing to brave the risks of infection, right?

According to Manu Raju:

McConnell made case to his colleagues today about including in any package provisions to shield businesses from lawsuits, saying that liability reform is "the thing that relates the most to regular people," per sources on call. Later on Fox, he reiterated that as his "redline"

I've a lot of queries about "relates" in that sentence

So we pay them the same low wage, we force them to work in conditions that have been blooming covid infections, and we do not allow them recourse through legal means.  Trifecta!

[Admiral Yi]

A casual reader of your posts might be forgiven for thinking that 2020 wasn't the year of Covid19, but TEh Year Of Too MUch Unemployments! Speaking as one of the freshly unemployed your concerns seem rather odd. On one level I agree with you, of course people shouldn't receive girthy unemployment benefits in normal times, but these aren't those times and there is a gigantic number, unprecedented in suddenness, of unemployed Americans who are desperate for help, watching the blazing and unremarked speed, efficiency and generosity of handouts to the magnificently rich, worried sick about wether or not they'll have a roof over their heads by the end of May.

Nothing unremarkable about your snide tone describing these people, including yours truly, but for what it's worth I can assure you I'm not looking for any teats to suck on, nor will I be screaming when the hypothetical assistance comes to an end.

Like 26 million other people it was mandated that I no longer go to work to save hundreds of thousands of American lives. Perhaps for months, no one was sure, and hurriedly the government thought best to throw me a bone so I don't lose everything while we are doing that.

I say hypothetical because like most in Florida (DeSantis {R}) I haven't gotten a penny of my ill deserved moral hazards, not a cent or a centime since applying 5 weeks ago when my employer was shut down. The news is beginning to roll in from my colleagues that after 5 weeks of waiting, their claims have been denied. No teats for these poors down here! Sad!

My point wasn't clear.  I shouldn't have taken the bait about cry babies.  I'm saying that the UI bonus makes staying at home more profitable for some people than working.  That's true now, and it'll be true in two years when we have a vaccine.  That's a perverse incentive.  I'm not saying now is a great time for businesses to open back up (seems a bit early to me).  I'm saying when they do, some people will be losing money.

[Razgovory]

At least all those lucky people won't be getting those fat UI checks. Look on the bright side.

Well, at least their morality will not be hazarded.

[fromtia]

My point wasn't clear.  I shouldn't have taken the bait about cry babies.  I'm saying that the UI bonus makes staying at home more profitable for some people than working.  That's true now, and it'll be true in two years when we have a vaccine.  That's a perverse incentive.  I'm not saying now is a great time for businesses to open back up (seems a bit early to me).  I'm saying when they do, some people will be losing money.

The UI bonus expires at the end of June. So it's intended to be an emergency relief to struggling Americans for 12 weeks. So you only have to fret for 8 more weeks. You aren't wrong, for some people the generous UI is better than a paycheck and that's not a great idea, I agree, but its temporary and intended as a stop gap for an emergency. So in Florida, come July your UI goes back to $275 a week as an absolute maximum, that's assuming that you are eligible , which not many are. Providing of course that Florida is paying out anything at all of course.

[The Larch]

So, the government has unveiled the descalation plan. It will be in 4 phases, and it will last 2 months if everything goes well. Provinces will begin at Phase 0 (current situation) on May 4, and will be able to advance to the next phase after two weeks of meeting several criteria (infection rate, testing, etc...). Some islands (Hierro, Formentera, Menorca, Graciosa) will begin straight at Phase 1.

Phase 0: current state.
Phase 1: small shops open, hotels open but not common areas, sports are allowed to go back to training. Restrictions on personal mobility are lifted, but can't leave the province.
Phase 2: restaurants, bar, cinemas, museums, malls, etc... open with a 30% capacity limitation (I doubt many of these businesses are profitable at 30% capacity, but I guess it beats being shut down). "Mass gatherings" of 50 people indoors and 400 outdoors allowed.
Phase 3: "New normal". Capacity limits lifted to 50%, beaches reopen. Interprovincial mobility restored (if all are in the same phase).


The whole thing about making it per provinces makes sense, but I see issues with people who moved to a different province for work.

School to return in September.

I've had to go over all the stages with my mum on the phone as she's really insisting that it's ok for me to go have lunch with them this sunday for mother's day, and I keep telling her that according to the plan it should still wait a couple of weeks as the earliest. I guess that they'll refine the plan and maybe correct some of the wonkier stuff. It's weird that, if everything goes well and we move to phase 1 in a couple of weeks, I still can't go over to visit my parents (social visits are allowed in phase 1, but not to vulnerable populations, if I understood it correctly), but we could meet for a coffee in a bar by then.

I've been reading contradictory reports about whether phase 1 allows you to visit other people at their homes or not. I guess we'll need to wait until they publish the plan in full, and then they'll probably go and change something at the last minute like usual...

Yeah, I'll wait a couple of days until things get clarified. I don't mind them changing their mind on this later on, like with what children were allowed to do, as long as they end up getting it right.

[Admiral Yi]

The UI bonus expires at the end of June. So it's intended to be an emergency relief to struggling Americans for 12 weeks. So you only have to fret for 8 more weeks. You aren't wrong, for some people the generous UI is better than a paycheck and that's not a great idea, I agree, but its temporary and intended as a stop gap for an emergency. So in Florida, come July your UI goes back to $275 a week as an absolute maximum, that's assuming that you are eligible , which not many are. Providing of course that Florida is paying out anything at all of course.

End of July is what I'm reading.

[fromtia]

End of July is what I'm reading.

I'm sure you are right. It was initially 12 weeks, looks like it went to 16 at the last minute. 4 more weeks.

[PDH]

I'm just barely gonna be unemployed by then 

(The UC President said no furloughs or layoffs through the fiscal year)

[Tamas]

Sheilbh, Cummings pushing for a more severe lockdown sounds at odds with every bit of his personality found on his blog and writings, so I am not buying it :p Plus earlier there were anonymus reports of him arguing for the opposite so at best these even themselves out :p

[garbon]

A casual reader of your posts might be forgiven for thinking that 2020 wasn't the year of Covid19, but TEh Year Of Too MUch Unemployments! Speaking as one of the freshly unemployed your concerns seem rather odd. On one level I agree with you, of course people shouldn't receive girthy unemployment benefits in normal times, but these aren't those times and there is a gigantic number, unprecedented in suddenness, of unemployed Americans who are desperate for help, watching the blazing and unremarked speed, efficiency and generosity of handouts to the magnificently rich, worried sick about wether or not they'll have a roof over their heads by the end of May.

Nothing unremarkable about your snide tone describing these people, including yours truly, but for what it's worth I can assure you I'm not looking for any teats to suck on, nor will I be screaming when the hypothetical assistance comes to an end.

Like 26 million other people it was mandated that I no longer go to work to save hundreds of thousands of American lives. Perhaps for months, no one was sure, and hurriedly the government thought best to throw me a bone so I don't lose everything while we are doing that.

I say hypothetical because like most in Florida (DeSantis {R}) I haven't gotten a penny of my ill deserved moral hazards, not a cent or a centime since applying 5 weeks ago when my employer was shut down. The news is beginning to roll in from my colleagues that after 5 weeks of waiting, their claims have been denied. No teats for these poors down here! Sad!

My point wasn't clear.  I shouldn't have taken the bait about cry babies.  I'm saying that the UI bonus makes staying at home more profitable for some people than working.  That's true now, and it'll be true in two years when we have a vaccine.  That's a perverse incentive.  I'm not saying now is a great time for businesses to open back up (seems a bit early to me).  I'm saying when they do, some people will be losing money.

Given uncertainty about the existence of roles and the safety of said roles as things continue, I'm not sure what's so bad about people making a little extra so they have a cushion once the emergency tap turns off.

[garbon]

Sheilbh, Cummings pushing for a more severe lockdown sounds at odds with every bit of his personality found on his blog and writings, so I am not buying it :p Plus earlier there were anonymus reports of him arguing for the opposite so at best these even themselves out :p

Eaither way so much for him only showing up as an observer. Of course the government already blew up their own spot when they said he was largely just observing.

[Admiral Yi]

A casual reader of your posts might be forgiven for thinking that 2020 wasn't the year of Covid19, but TEh Year Of Too MUch Unemployments! Speaking as one of the freshly unemployed your concerns seem rather odd. On one level I agree with you, of course people shouldn't receive girthy unemployment benefits in normal times, but these aren't those times and there is a gigantic number, unprecedented in suddenness, of unemployed Americans who are desperate for help, watching the blazing and unremarked speed, efficiency and generosity of handouts to the magnificently rich, worried sick about wether or not they'll have a roof over their heads by the end of May.

Nothing unremarkable about your snide tone describing these people, including yours truly, but for what it's worth I can assure you I'm not looking for any teats to suck on, nor will I be screaming when the hypothetical assistance comes to an end.

Like 26 million other people it was mandated that I no longer go to work to save hundreds of thousands of American lives. Perhaps for months, no one was sure, and hurriedly the government thought best to throw me a bone so I don't lose everything while we are doing that.

I say hypothetical because like most in Florida (DeSantis {R}) I haven't gotten a penny of my ill deserved moral hazards, not a cent or a centime since applying 5 weeks ago when my employer was shut down. The news is beginning to roll in from my colleagues that after 5 weeks of waiting, their claims have been denied. No teats for these poors down here! Sad!

My point wasn't clear.  I shouldn't have taken the bait about cry babies.  I'm saying that the UI bonus makes staying at home more profitable for some people than working.  That's true now, and it'll be true in two years when we have a vaccine.  That's a perverse incentive.  I'm not saying now is a great time for businesses to open back up (seems a bit early to me).  I'm saying when they do, some people will be losing money.
[/quote
Given uncertainty about the existence of roles and the safety of said roles as things continue, I'm not sure what's so bad about people making a little extra so they have a cushion once the emergency tap turns off.

Unless they're working and don't qualify for UI.

[garbon]

Well yes and the government should have done something to help those seen as essential.