Coronavirus

[Whack9]

Downtown G'ville was like a ghost town tonight. Especially for such a beautiful evening.

Not that I intentionally stocked up for a crisis or am planning on sealing myself in, but looking at my shelves I could probably go 3 months or more if I forsook perishables.

Yeah, but do you have three months worth of TP?

Not a problem in this household. I keep a bucket next to my toilet with a sponge wrapped around a stick. Whip it out, scrub it down, and throw it back in the bucket.

It's time we move towards reusable alternatives to TP anyway.

[Vrede too]

I just watched PART OF an admin* COVID-19 press conference, impressions:

45SHOLE not there, always a relief.

MC VP Q-tip is still an unqualified asshole, but he's a paragon of maturity and intelligence compared to IMPOSPOTUS. In particular, he lets the experts discuss things that he's ignorant about.

Woman scientist/health official gave out good info.

Chad Wolf, acting Secretary of Homeland Security, coherently discussed the travel restrictions, after the obligatory praise for Dolt. 45. I don't know for sure if they're helpful, but he did say that the UK & Ireland were being added to the Euro ban. I never understood why they were exempt in the 1st place.

Mnuchin, after the obligatory praise for Dolt. 45, began by discussing the need for people to self-quarantine, which I thought was out of his wheelhouse. However, that was just the launch pad for mandating that businesses pay sick employees and how IRS will then reimburse business through tax credits and other means . He also effusively praised Pelosi.

Carson and the Surgeon General were also there, but I did not catch their sections.

Overall, it feels like the feds are finally doing the right thing, albeit a month or more late. Now, if Putin's Agent Orange will just STFU.

[Whack9]

Guy goes on a 1300 mile trek to rural communities across the US buying up the entire stock of hand sanitizer and clorax wipes to sell at a market. Says he's fixing "market inneficiences" and is actually doing the public a service.

Amazon pits a stop to it and now he's stuck with 17k bottles of wet wipes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/tech ... wgXw4700Hy

[O Really]

Guy goes on a 1300 mile trek to rural communities across the US buying up the entire stock of hand sanitizer and clorax wipes to sell at a market. Says he's fixing "market inneficiences" and is actually doing the public a service.

Amazon pits a stop to it and now he's stuck with 17k bottles of wet wipes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/tech ... wgXw4700Hy

[O Really]

Albertson's and the Farm Market store were both fairly normal crowds today, but there had definitely been some raiding. For some reason, chicken products were empty, although other meats and seafood were normal stock. On a totally empty shelf, Albertson's had a sign saying "Due to high demand, we will limit sales to ..." I wonder why they didn't think of that when the first person came in with their wheelbarrow.

Bought gas today for $2.95. First time it's been under $3.00 since we left Washington months ago.

[Vrede too]

Albertson's and the Farm Market store were both fairly normal crowds today, but there had definitely been some raiding. For some reason, chicken products were empty, although other meats and seafood were normal stock. On a totally empty shelf, Albertson's had a sign saying "Due to high demand, we will limit sales to ..." I wonder why they didn't think of that when the first person came in with their wheelbarrow....

Maybe they did and the sign caused EVERYONE to buy to the limit .

"chicken products" = irony.


Trump disbanded NSC pandemic unit that experts had praised

We will be coping with the negative consequences of Dolt .45's (hopefully) single term for years and years.

[neoplacebo]

Guy goes on a 1300 mile trek to rural communities across the US buying up the entire stock of hand sanitizer and clorax wipes to sell at a market. Says he's fixing "market inneficiences" and is actually doing the public a service.

Amazon pits a stop to it and now he's stuck with 17k bottles of wet wipes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/tech ... wgXw4700Hy

If trump knew about this, he'd praise the guy and say he's "doing a terrific job; better than anyone could imagine. I will tell you that."

[Vrede too]

Buncombe County (Asheville) is banning gatherings of more than 100 people....

Now statewide NC and all K12 schools closed for 2 weeks. Whoa.

[Vrede too]

I've not seen this discussed anywhere, so either I'm an idiot, or novel like the virus.

I'm just amazed and amazed at the lack of preparedness of the United States. (Pretty much like every sane human being...) I'm looking at it from the militaristic side though. How do we spend so much goddamn money on the military and we're this unprepared for biological warfare?

I'm not saying it is biological warfare, don't get me wrong. Just that it works a lot like a biological war would and we're just pants down and bent over waiting on it even with a relatively minor person to person transmission rate.

That's the real WTF.

I still stand by a minimum of 1 million people infected within the next 28 days unless something drastic changes.

One of the consequences of inadequate testing is that we just don't have enough info. to make an educated guess.

'Don't believe the numbers you see': Johns Hopkins professor says up to 500,000 Americans have coronavirus

[bannination]

Guy goes on a 1300 mile trek to rural communities across the US buying up the entire stock of hand sanitizer and clorax wipes to sell at a market. Says he's fixing "market inneficiences" and is actually doing the public a service.

Amazon pits a stop to it and now he's stuck with 17k bottles of wet wipes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/tech ... wgXw4700Hy

Capitalism!

[O Really]

Downtown G'ville was like a ghost town tonight. Especially for such a beautiful evening.

Chi-town ain't afraid of no virus...

DOWNTOWN — As pub crawlers packed bars from Wrigleyville to Wicker Park Saturday and others swarmed grocery stores, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced 18 new cases of COVID-19 in the state and admonished people crowding into bars to “please go home.”

During an afternoon news conference Downtown, Pritzker said he saw long lines of people waiting to get into nearby bars.

“I realize it’s St. Patrick’s Day weekend,” Pritzker said. “But
large groups gathering is just not helpful. People, please stay in your neighborhood, stay home if you can.”

[Vrede too]

What Trump’s new coronavirus travel restrictions mean for Americans abroad

It's ironic that White European Christians and some Asians are now being treated just like Muslim Arabs and Africans.

[bannination]

Added the total active number of coronavirus cases to the header of the website.

The data is coming from here: https://thevirustracker.com/ with an unknown reliability.

[Vrede too]

Tell The Senate to Pass The FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT (H.R. 6201) Now!

[O Really]

Not that I oppose the bill, but what objective reason is there for requiring such things as paid leave, etc. for coronavirus and not for other (possibly/likely) more serious illnesses that people get all the time? And why protect employees against layoff for coronavirus and not from times when employers have layoffs for other reasons? Just askin'

[Vrede too]

Not that I oppose the bill, but what objective reason is there for requiring such things as paid leave, etc. for coronavirus and not for other (possibly/likely) more serious illnesses that people get all the time?

Flatten the pandemic curve so that the healthcare system is not overwhelmed in the short term despite the fact that we'll all likely be exposed eventually. That said, it is obscene that localized populations are endangered by employees who are sick with other diseases and can't afford to stay home.

And why protect employees against layoff for coronavirus and not from times when employers have layoffs for other reasons? Just askin'

Because mass pandemic layoffs threaten the economy, not just the laid off. That said, I'm all for future enhanced layoff protection and mediation in general.

Those are off the top of my head. I'm pretty sure they're valid, though perhaps not sufficient. Maybe the sponsoring pols and/or the American Federation of Teachers have more detail on their websites?

[O Really]

So not all the Coronavirus news is bad...
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/more-r ... columnist/

"More Republicans than Democrats will die because of right-wing coronavirus lies: conservative columnist"

[O Really]

Certainly valid reasons, but still - not having any paid sick leave makes the food server go to work with colds, flu, whatever all year long. Probably a greater risk overall than the direct risk of coronavirus.

My theory - Dems are taking advantage of the situation and getting a start on some things that need to be done long-term but wouldn't get passed under "normal" circumstances. We'll see.

[Vrede too]

So not all the Coronavirus news is bad...
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/more-r ... columnist/

"More Republicans than Democrats will die because of right-wing coronavirus lies: conservative columnist"

That would be the case even without the right-wing coronavirus lies since the elderly are more at risk. Clearly, god and cons have united for the good of America and the world.

[Vrede too]

Not that I oppose the bill, but what objective reason is there for requiring such things as paid leave, etc. for coronavirus and not for other (possibly/likely) more serious illnesses that people get all the time?

Flatten the pandemic curve so that the healthcare system is not overwhelmed in the short term despite the fact that we'll all likely be exposed eventually. That said, it is obscene that localized populations are endangered by employees who are sick with other diseases and can't afford to stay home.

And why protect employees against layoff for coronavirus and not from times when employers have layoffs for other reasons? Just askin'

Because mass pandemic layoffs threaten the economy, not just the laid off. That said, I'm all for future enhanced layoff protection and mediation in general.

Those are off the top of my head. I'm pretty sure they're valid, though perhaps not sufficient. Maybe the sponsoring pols and/or the American Federation of Teachers have more detail on their websites?

Certainly valid reasons, but still - not having any paid sick leave makes the food server go to work with colds, flu, whatever all year long. Probably a greater risk overall than the direct risk of coronavirus.

I'm not sure about that.
CV-19 is 20-30 times more lethal than the flu and apparently just as contagious.
The flu has the potential to overwhelm the healthcare system and in rare years does so, but usually not. We've already seen CV-19 do exactly that in some nations or parts of them.
"colds ... whatever" can be bad for those affected, but the system copes.

My theory - Dems are taking advantage of the situation and getting a start on some things that need to be done long-term but wouldn't get passed under "normal" circumstances. We'll see.

Nttawwt, but I suspect the bill's language is more specific than that, and will sunset. We'll hear the screeching if more fundamental change is being proposed, but I believe this is a bipartisan compromise.