Coronavirus: COVID-19

[Vertigo 7]

It was nearing 2000 yesterday. This is a thing that's going to get worse long before it gets better, especially thanks to Trump's wishful thinking.

[felter]

As Matthew said that was what I was getting at, too little too late. Trump has spent the last month or so fumbling around the virus, doing little about it, while not preparing for it, the only thing he did was ban the Chinese and I suspect that had little to do with the virus. I also doubt the decision to not ban the UK had anything to do with the virus and was 100% politically motivated it was probably more, lets make this trade deal move. I doubt it had anything to do with the number of cases, as our numbers are beginning to skyrocket where the count continues to rise every day, likewise within America. It's got to the stage where stopping the spread by stopping travel is a waste of time, as the virus is already there, if he had done it several weeks ago it would have made sense but not now.

Also to move on the F1 story. Mclaren have withdrawn for this weekends Australian GP after the staff members test returned as being positive. There are rumours that the GP will be abandoned, to be honest I think it should not have been going on in the way anyway.

[Vertigo 7]

Things all over the US are being canceled or they're no longer admitting an audience. All talk shows in NY are going to run without an audience starting monday. Tons of conventions across the nation have been canceled. The debate between Biden and Sanders isn't going to have an audience. It's even looking like Florida isn't going to get much tourism for spring break.

Even if Trump isn't taking this virus seriously, the American people are.

[matthewfarmery]

Its like this

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-heal ... SKBN20T2ZY

The real reason he didn't want those people off the ship, is because he was afraid that the number of cases will double. so he just wanted to fudge the numbers, then of course, the WH spoke woman, said that its been contained. Yeah right, like hell it has.

Trump hasn't a clue what he is doing, and I think we are now seeing his true colours on how he handles a real emergency.

But like many countries in the EU, the US cases will only sky rocket. Then of course there not enough kits to test people, so it's very likely that the numbers might end up getting fudged.

[Vertigo 7]

well it's a sad example of a "president" being more concerned with how things appear for him than the health and well being of the people. Unsurprisingly, his white power rallies haven't been canceled. Not to mention, he's doing his damnedest not to declare an emergency, yet somehow immigrants from Mexico warranted an emergency declaration? It's pathetic.

[felter]

Its like this

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-heal ... SKBN20T2ZY

The real reason he didn't want those people off the ship, is because he was afraid that the number of cases will double. so he just wanted to fudge the numbers, then of course, the WH spoke woman, said that its been contained. Yeah right, like hell it has.

Trump hasn't a clue what he is doing, and I think we are now seeing his true colours on how he handles a real emergency.

But like many countries in the EU, the US cases will only sky rocket. Then of course there not enough kits to test people, so it's very likely that the numbers might end up getting fudged.

Believe it or not there are 2 people suing the owners of that cruise ship for allowing them to board the cruise ship here's lawful masses going over the case. Personally I think they will fail due to Trump at that time telling people it was safe and that they needed to still go to work even if they feel ill. Also that there was pretty much limited to no tests kits for the virus at the time. I also say they were there own worst enemy, as they knew about the cruise ship in Japan at the time and they still went and boarded another cruise ship, no one forced them to do so.

140 new cases in the UK yesterday, first time over 100 in a single day, plus the death toll rose to 10. it's only going to get worse, before it gets better.

It's now being reported that the Australian GP has finally been called off, though it has still to be confirmed by either the FIA or F1 itself. This is also putting doubts on the entire F1 season happening.

[fiksal]

Speaking of Cruise lines and suing them, NCL stood out recently


Norwegian Cruise Line managers urged salespeople to spread falsehoods about coronavirus

The recommended lines, written last month by a manager whose LinkedIn profile suggests the person has worked at the company for more than eight years, also compared the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus with the flu and said, falsely, that the virus “cannot live in the amazingly warm and tropical temperatures that your cruise will be sailing to.”

[felter]

I'll give Johnson credit for one thing, at least he has admitted he is more worried about the financial side of things, rather than the health and lifes of the population of the UK.

[RegisterMe]

I'll give Johnson credit for one thing, at least he has admitted he is more worried about the financial side of things, rather than the health and lifes of the population of the UK.

How'd you get to that interpretation?

[felter]

Because he said it in his speech today, that he wasn't willing to take certain precautions that other have taken because it will effect the finances of the country, and that things weren't too bad as we only have 10 dead and 500 plus ill. He also mentioned that they are no longer going to do tests apart to patients in hospitals, which means they are either running out of tests or it is costing too much to continue doing them. Also that people were to stop phoning the emergency NHS line, as they are too busy, besides they are not going to help anyone anyway. It was only a week or so ago they said they were going to take on more people to help answer the NHS helpline, must have cost too much.

[ATTACK_HAMSTER]

Also that people were to stop phoning the emergency NHS line, as they are too busy, besides they are not going to help anyone anyway. It was only a week or so ago they said they were going to take on more people to help answer the NHS helpline, must have cost too much.

Does it not make more logical sense to use the NHS website for further information as he suggests, than clog up the phone lines for people who do not have internet access and must rely on the phone line as their source of information/advice? Maybe it wasn't communicated well enough, but that's what i took from that...

[RegisterMe]

Because he said it in his speech today, that he wasn't willing to take certain precautions that other have taken because it will effect the finances of the country, and that things weren't too bad as we only have 10 dead and 500 plus ill. He also mentioned that they are no longer going to do tests apart to patients in hospitals, which means they are either running out of tests or it is costing too much to continue doing them. Also that people were to stop phoning the emergency NHS line, as they are too busy, besides they are not going to help anyone anyway. It was only a week or so ago they said they were going to take on more people to help answer the NHS helpline, must have cost too much.

Or that a (the) response is sensible and proportionate, and people should behave likewise?

[Antilogic]

UK government response so far is mostly reasonable, if slightly delayed. I would like to see more urgency in some areas, such as the banning of large scale events, to release public resources to tackle the virus.

School closures, etc are not required in the UK YET. Soon, YES, but they should be done in a managed fashion - baring in much that such closures will damage NHS response capability as well.

Using NHS site and self-isolation and management are good measures. 7 days is not sufficient, neither is 14, 21 days should be required with more resources devoted to assisting people in isolation.

As we go into the next couple of weeks, city - county-level travel restrictions and lockdowns should be imposed in the major outbreak zones.

All people who are able to work from home in some capacity should do so as much as possible.

[Mightysword]

Colorado opened its first drive through testing stations yesterday. Think we're the 2nd state after Washington DC to open these facilities. Also anyone with a doctor note will receive the test free of charge.

Spring break start the week after next week, and its seem most (and probably eventually all) higher education institutions already start migrating to remote teaching, since we expect to close after spring break week, probably till the end of the semester.

[Stars_InTheirEyes]

In the UK, schools will soon be on 2-week easter term break. The school trust where my mum works are currently considering extending that to 4, with an additional week either side, because of the rapid spread.

For sport, Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal head coach, has tested positive for it and I think the Premier League MUST stop fixtures being played. Arteta is the youngest and healthiest coach in the league so he'll probably be fine, but if he can get it, so too can Roy Hodgson who is 72 and would be at serious risk. There's so much money in football that I think the Premier League/FA are really trying to not stop it, but surely it has to stop now. Void the season.

[pjknibbs]

It's confirmed that the Australian GP has been cancelled, and doubts have been raised for Bahrain next week:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/51849163

[Mightysword]

Comcast in Colorado now offers a 60days cable Internet service package for 9.99$/months to all low income families that's receiving any kind of public assistance. No contract, shipping or installation fee required.

[felter]

Well it's nice to see I'm not the only one that thought Johnson response to the virus was total BS. Even Hunt thinks it is BS and that must be the first time I agree with him the other parties are asking to see the scientific evidence for what he is doing and so far he i struggling to produce any I stand with what I said hos response is all about the money, money before lives.

The Australian Grand Prix being cancelled is turning out to be pretty comical. I've been saying it for weeks that it should be cancelled, but there are so many that are surprised by it and are quite angry. Some of the comments are more than a little bit ridicules, for example: I read one where the person said it only effects the old and sick, so just ban them from the race, if ever there was a face palm moment. Both the Barkain and the new Vietnam races have also been cancelled. They hope that the season will be able to start in may. I think the Australian Grand Prix had no choice but to cancel mainly due to the fact Mclaren pulled out, but also 8 hours before they announced that it was cancelled, Kimi and Seb were already on their way home, so basically you can't have a race without any competitors, hence it was cancelled.

Keeping on the subject of sports, all major football games in the UK have now been cancelled, along with all major sporting events in America, and none of them were closed down by their respective countries Governments. Kudos to them for doing so and shame on those Governments that don't have the balls to do so.

Numbers show 208 new cases in the UK yesterday, this is the main reason Johnson is not wanting to continue testing, as he doesn't want it to be seen as getting out of hand more than it already is as it makes him look bad.

[CBJ]

I'm no fan of Boris, or indeed politicians in general, but I really don't see where you are coming from on this. Overreacting to the situation, and especially doing so to pacify press and public hysteria rather than basing actions on actual data and modelling, would be a really stupid thing to do at this point.

Taking one example, shutting down schools at a point in the progression of the epidemic when it won't make a significant difference to the spread of the illness is a bad idea. They've explained why. It forces parents to take time of work, including those who work for the NHS and are therefore needed to help deal with the epidemic. And yes, it also has an effect on the economy, which would be an unacceptable reason if it was being done without taking into account the spread of the virus, but as they just explained we're not at that point yet. It will almost certainly come to the point where the balance tips, and closing schools becomes a net benefit (not just economically, but to the overall management of the epidemic), we just haven't reached that point yet.

As for not wanting to look bad, I'm afraid I don't buy that argument. Boris may be unscrupulous, but he's shrewd enough to know that he's ultimately (by which I mean at the next election) going to be judged on the overall handling of the virus situation after the worst is over, not on the numbers of infected people during the build-up.

I have no objection to the other parties requesting access to the scientific data so that they can make an informed decision on whether to support the government's handling of the situation, but people objecting to it without having access to the data should stop insisting that they know better and that "obviously" such-and-such should be happening.

[Tamina]

Austria is going to close most stores next week.
Meanwhile in Germany, on my walk home, to my surprise, there was a big food market in the middle of town with thousands of people. Like seriously? We have multiple infections in the city but yeah sure let's make Wuhan great again.