Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Syt]

Hilarious first world problem of the day: people complaining on my twitter feed that their phones' facial recognition doesn't work with a face mask on.

I do miss the infrared iris recognition I had on the Note 8. The Note 10 plus doesn't have it anymore.

[Sheilbh]

Has anyone read anything interesting on what's going on in Japan?

Initially there was lots of talk about a coverup ahead of the Olympics, but they've been postponed now. There has been a lot of new cases but they've plateaued and deaths never reached 50 per day. They've not gone into a type of lockdown, but they also don't have much of a test and trace regime. There's clearly a degree of social distancing going on but it's not much (in comparison with the rest of the world).

From what I can see people think it's due to: masks/compliant culture/closed universities/closed schools/still, somehow, a coverup/the TB vaccine thing etc.

It seems like a very interesting anomaly but I'm not actually seeing any real explanation of what's going on or why they're not experiencing such an outbreak

[Zoupa]

No need to worry if other people wear masks.  Just wear one yourself.

Masks only works if everybody wears one. The kinda masks people wear en masse are meant to protect other people, not the wearer.

For the wearer to be effectively protected, it would need to be N95, have it fit-tested in a hospital, and change it every 3 hours maximum. In short, impossible.

[Maladict]

I haven't seen a single mask yet. We still don't seem to have any to spare, it's medical personnel only and maybe teachers when schools open next week.

[Josquius]

Has anyone read anything interesting on what's going on in Japan?

Initially there was lots of talk about a coverup ahead of the Olympics, but they've been postponed now. There has been a lot of new cases but they've plateaued and deaths never reached 50 per day. They've not gone into a type of lockdown, but they also don't have much of a test and trace regime. There's clearly a degree of social distancing going on but it's not much (in comparison with the rest of the world).

From what I can see people think it's due to: masks/compliant culture/closed universities/closed schools/still, somehow, a coverup/the TB vaccine thing etc.

It seems like a very interesting anomaly but I'm not actually seeing any real explanation of what's going on or why they're not experiencing such an outbreak

Big things are happening there.
Traditionally Japan has had a huge problem with presentism in business. You have to be at work until your boss goes home even if you don't have anything to do. Work from home was simply unimaginable.
Now though, it is happening. People are working from home in large numbers.

Problems remain, the most interesting one I find is down to Japan's love of paper and having to hanko (seal, used instead of a signature) every single thing. Its due to this that fax machines remain such a big thing in Japanese business.
Working from home is happening but people are often having to travel to the office anyway as thats where the company hanko is kept and every single little thing needs stamping. The government is discussing reforms to the hanko system. Its Japan of course, so its more a committee to discuss forming a committee to reform the hanko system rather than advanced talks of simplifying bureaucracy, nonetheless its progress.
It would be really great for Japan even outside of the corona crisis if they could reform these aspects of their business culture.

In terms of corona numbers...yeah, considering the number of Chinese tourists they get it is a surprise there aren't higher numbers in the major cities. Even discounting the mask culture and socialising in small numbers culture, the public transport and general high density in the cities should make them rife for corona. I can only suspect as with Korea past experience with SARS and MERS have taught them well, in addition to the culture of not wanting to cause a fuss leading most people with symptoms to lock themselves away until long after they feel better, not showing up in official figures.

[celedhring]

I haven't seen a single mask yet. We still don't seem to have any to spare, it's medical personnel only and maybe teachers when schools open next week.

Over here it was like until 3-4 weeks ago. They imported massive amounts from China (which included several defective batches...) and some domestic factores switched to PPE production. This has enabled the government to make masks mandatory in stuff like public transport (of course, when there weren't any masks to go around they just said they weren't necessary outside hospitals...).

[Monoriu]

No need to worry if other people wear masks.  Just wear one yourself.

Masks only works if everybody wears one. The kinda masks people wear en masse are meant to protect other people, not the wearer.

For the wearer to be effectively protected, it would need to be N95, have it fit-tested in a hospital, and change it every 3 hours maximum. In short, impossible.

That's not what the local experts are saying.  Even surgical masks confer some protection to the wearer.  In case of infection, the viral load will be lower and the chance of hospitalisation is lower.  What do Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Macau, and Taiwan have in common?  Most people in these places wear surgical masks, and they don't have the nightmarish scenarios of say the UK, Spain and Italy. 

[DGuller]

No need to worry if other people wear masks.  Just wear one yourself.

Masks only works if everybody wears one. The kinda masks people wear en masse are meant to protect other people, not the wearer.

For the wearer to be effectively protected, it would need to be N95, have it fit-tested in a hospital, and change it every 3 hours maximum. In short, impossible.

That's not what the local experts are saying.  Even surgical masks confer some protection to the wearer.  In case of infection, the viral load will be lower and the chance of hospitalisation is lower.  What do Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Macau, and Taiwan have in common?  Most people in these places wear surgical masks, and they don't have the nightmarish scenarios of say the UK, Spain and Italy.

Yes, most people.  Hard to have most people wear masks if you're the only one wearing them.

[Syt]

A guy was arrested after punching a store clerk because they refused to let them into a shop without mask (which is required by law).

[Legbiter]

Primary schools start normal operations from today, 50 people can congregate and barbers, dentists and related businesses can reopen. The number of daily briefings by the health authorities will be scaled back to 3 a week.

[celedhring]

Has anyone read anything interesting on what's going on in Japan?

Initially there was lots of talk about a coverup ahead of the Olympics, but they've been postponed now. There has been a lot of new cases but they've plateaued and deaths never reached 50 per day. They've not gone into a type of lockdown, but they also don't have much of a test and trace regime. There's clearly a degree of social distancing going on but it's not much (in comparison with the rest of the world).

From what I can see people think it's due to: masks/compliant culture/closed universities/closed schools/still, somehow, a coverup/the TB vaccine thing etc.

It seems like a very interesting anomaly but I'm not actually seeing any real explanation of what's going on or why they're not experiencing such an outbreak

Big things are happening there.
Traditionally Japan has had a huge problem with presentism in business. You have to be at work until your boss goes home even if you don't have anything to do. Work from home was simply unimaginable.
Now though, it is happening. People are working from home in large numbers.

Spanish workplace culture was extremely presentist, too. All of a sudden hundreds of thousands are WHF, and I doubt many will want to switch back.

[Sheilbh]

And I think companies will clock how much money they can save on rent in slightly smaller, more agile offices.

Edit: Incidentally UK government has published the list (where they've had permission) naming the people on the scientific committees advising them:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-sage-coronavirus-covid-19-response-membership/list-of-participants-of-sage-and-related-sub-groups

[Syt]

Initial indication from my company is that presentism wil be re-instated once the worst is over

[Caliga]

Initial indication from my company is that presentism wil be re-instated once the worst is over

Same here.  My CEO is fixated on face-to-face meetings, interactions, etc.

[Iormlund]

That's not what the local experts are saying.  Even surgical masks confer some protection to the wearer.  In case of infection, the viral load will be lower and the chance of hospitalisation is lower.  What do Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Macau, and Taiwan have in common?  Most people in these places wear surgical masks, and they don't have the nightmarish scenarios of say the UK, Spain and Italy.

They might be saying that to encourage people to wear them. The way surgical masks work is by making it much harder for your fluids to reach surfaces or other people's faces. Once enough people wear them, the virus has nowhere to go.