Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[RhaenysBee]

Meanwhile, in a so far coronavirusless country,  grocery stores are empty of stock, it’s still impossible to buy sanitizing soap of any kind and people are prepared to lock themselves up for months and live on canned goods. 
At the same time, in the past 24 hours I met FOUR people who came to work or office team building events sick as a dog. It is obvious these people don’t have coronavirus, but infectious diseases are a sensitive enough topic at the moment but people with any type of flu should have their priorities straight and show enough respect for their own and others’ health that they stay home. 

If we are scared enough to hoard a cabinet of cans like in some post apocalyptic bunker, why is showing up to work and demonstrating team commitment more important than recovering our immune systems? How are human beings so insufferably inconsistent and irrational? 

 

[A True Kaniggit]

15 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

Meanwhile, in a so far coronavirusless country,  grocery stores are empty of stock, it’s still impossible to buy sanitizing soap of any kind and people are prepared to lock themselves up for months and live on canned goods. 
At the same time, in the past 24 hours I met FOUR people who came to work or office team building events sick as a dog. It is obvious these people don’t have coronavirus, but infectious diseases are a sensitive enough topic at the moment but people with any type of flu should have their priorities straight and show enough respect for their own and others’ health that they stay home. 

If we are scared enough to hoard a cabinet of cans like in some post apocalyptic bunker, why is showing up to work and demonstrating team commitment more important than recovering our immune systems? How are human beings so insufferably inconsistent and irrational? 

 

Negative. You U.S?

My mother has this problem right now.

 Fucking bronchitis. She's already taken her sick days and gone to the doctor twice over the last two weeks trying to get rid of it. It still hasn't gone away.

So she's supposed to take one for the team?

Risk losing her job by not showing up and going into debt?

[RhaenysBee]

12 minutes ago, A True Kaniggit said:

Negative. You U.S?

My mother has this problem right now.

 Fucking bronchitis. She's already taken her sick days and gone to the doctor twice over the last two weeks trying to get rid of it. It still hasn't gone away.

So she's supposed to take one for the team?

Risk losing her job by not showing up and going into debt?

I’m sorry about your mother’s bronchitis, it is an unpleasant diseases that tries one patience to get out of. I hope she gets better soon. 

I am not talking about any of what you mention though.  I’m not at all referring to someone suffering from a longer term infection like bronchitis that takes two-three weeks to Recover from. I’m referring to, as I have specified, people with common flu, who decided to not take a single Friday off and serve sandwiches with a runny nose instead of giving themselves three days of bedrest and warm tea over the course of an extended weekend.

(This would be a paid sick day around here, and even if one exceeds the given number of sick days and stays on a sick leave of unidentified length, they are Still entitled to 50-60% of their salary every month and cannot be let go while on sick leave. If the employer wants to terminate the employment while an employee is on sick leave, they must wait till the end of the sick leave or up to one year from the start of the sick leave in case it exceeds 12 months to even start the notice period, which is between 1-3 months. So being sick for two weeks here is hardly going to bankrupt anybody, fortunately. This is not my opinion, for the credit, this is the labour code. Which may indicate that no, I am not from the U.S.)

And even more so, I’m referring to people who show up to a non-compulsory, self-paid team building event sick. Because they would rather strain their own bodies and infect others with their sniffly nose rather than risk appearing “uncommitted” and “not in love” with their team. It’s unreasonable. Nobody will or can put you in disadvantage if you prioritize health over drinking beer and playing board games with your colleagues. And if you can’t stay away because you so love beer and board games and fun, that’s the one case when yes, you need to take one for the team and join next time. 
 

[A True Kaniggit]

6 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

This is not my opinion, for the credit, this is the labour code. Which may indicate that no, I am not from the U.S.)
 

Oh. Ok. I apologize for the language.

In the U.S. we don't have these sort of protections.

If this disease does become entrenched in the population over here, people may well have to choose between going to work while sick to keep their jobs, or losing them.

[RhaenysBee]

55 minutes ago, A True Kaniggit said:

Oh. Ok. I apologize for the language.

In the U.S. we don't have these sort of protections.

If this disease does become entrenched in the population over here, people may well have to choose between going to work while sick to keep their jobs, or losing them.

Don’t worry about it. 

Yes, I suppose tackling the epidemic brings about different challenges for each affected country. We will certainly face trouble lining up the required resources to contain the virus, which is not something likely to affect giant economies like the U.S. or China. Then again the situation you describe is something that will likely  impact a huge percentage of the U.S. population. How do you see the health insurance system will cope with the virus if it reaches Northern America? 

[A True Kaniggit]

20 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

Don’t worry about it. 

Yes, I suppose tackling the epidemic brings about different challenges for each affected country. We will certainly face trouble lining up the required resources to contain the virus, which is not something likely to affect giant economies like the U.S. or China. Then again the situation you describe is something that will likely  impact a huge percentage of the U.S. population. How do you see the health insurance system will cope with the virus if it reaches Northern America? 

In this scenario, it has less to do with what health insurance providers will do, than the whole concept of "sick days" that are set by employers in the first place.

As if a person can account for how many diseases they will contract, and be sick for in a given year.

 

So if a person runs out of sick days, what are they supposed to do? Go to work diseased to infect others just because their sick days have run out?

 

[maarsen]

15 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

A friend of mine just posted a Snopes article confirming that yes, indeed, Trump had the entire Pandemic Response Team at the Executive branch fired as a cost-saving measure.

Rear Admiral Timothy Ziemer ‘abruptly departed’ his position leading the global health security team on the National Security Council in 2018 and then his team was disbanded. And Tom Bossert, who WaPo reported called for a comprehensive bio defense strategy against pandemics and biological warfare, was fired the month before.

You may recall that when a certain Colonel who testified about his concerns after hearing the infamous Ukrainian call was escorted out of the White House Trump said the NSC was ‘way too big’.

This is what you get when you have an idiot for a boss. The US Stupido-in-Chief not only makes stupid decisions on his own but hires similarly stupid people to work under him.

Come to think of it, where are all the people who complained of how China handled this epidemic and how a  western democracy would be so much better at containing an outbreak? The silence is deafening. I guess their comments aren't airborne.

Birdy, whatever you may hear, don't think hospitals in Ontario are prepared. I don't know if you remember the scandal at the hospital I retired from, but when I left we had a chronic problem with the isolation rooms not really working. And yes that was part of the issue that the Globe and Mail wrote about with corruption with the contractors. The motors to draw out the contaminated air were undersized, the control valves never worked properly, staff were not trained on how to operate the rooms, amongst other problems. And yes every hospital renovation in the last 10 years has all the same equipment as my hospital did, along with all the same problems. Hospitals are now covered under the Freedom of Information Act and you can do a request for emails about maintenance staff putting complaints in emails just for this reason.

[sologdin]

it's almost a standard trump perfect storm: numbnuts doesn't listen to expert advice and consequently violates the applicable regulations, which blunder creates a serious problem, the existence of which problem he first denies and thereafter alleges to be a media hoax while retaliating against a whistleblower, and then eventually appoints someone completely unqualified to whitewash the problem away, while taking credit for solving it.  the only missing part is how he personally profits from the mess.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

I see Brazil now have their first case...

Mind you, it also suggests that UK's only individual is in Northern Ireland (announced today, at the same time as Wales' first case) I wonder how England's 17 feel about that?
I'll stick to this one for now (love a good data map): https://infographics.channelnewsasia.com/covid-19/map.html

 

On 2/27/2020 at 9:47 AM, Tywin et al. said:

Dang BIRD!, you weren’t kidding. Down 800 right now and roughly 3,000 in less than four full days.

Still, I’m more concerned with the first case in Brazil. Having lived in South America, I could see this sweep through the shantytowns and favelas with extremely lethal force, and that in turn will lead to mass exposure to huge segments of people.

I only ninja'd you by two days, but yes, this is where the real horror show could be. South America is like a forest with wood chippings all over the ground. One spark could ignite an inferno that could be impossible to stop until it’s run its course. Just take one look at a slum in Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro.

On a different note, did I hear correctly that the number of confirmed cases in CA went from 1 to 60 overnight?

[Fragile Bird]

14 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

 

I only ninja'd you by two days, but yes, this is where the real horror show could be. South America is like a forest with wood chippings all over the ground. One spark could ignite an inferno that could be impossible to stop until it’s run its course. Just take one look at a slum in Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro.

On a different note, did I hear correctly that the number of confirmed cases in CA went from 1 to 60 overnight?

Uuuurrrrpppp!

I have been watching CNBC and they didn't mention that yet, I'm very surprised, but the most recent article that pops up says 33 confirmed, but hell, that was 15 hours ago. Could easily be 60 now. CNBC has been doing a very good nightly report. I did not watch it yesterday.

This is happening because the government supressed testing. Health authorities had suspected cases but because the people hadn't travelled to China they were refused the authorization to test. And the WH has the nerve to bitch about China's handling of the outbreak?

I heard a description of the wider test criteria - they added some countries and added 'or in cases of severe respiratory problems'. Many many cases are reported as being mild, which means they will never be tested and therefore might not know they have it, and spread it to others who could get very sick and die.

Holy WTF!!!!

The WH does not want this in an election year. Once again, this brings to mind mad cow disease. nope, not here, no cases, nope.

eta: no wonder the Dow is so unstable. Everybody else has heard.

[A True Kaniggit]

Just in case.

Start making sure you cough/sneeze into your elbow. None of that into your hand shit.

Wash your hands constantly.

I don't care if, like me, you're statistically unlikely to die from the disease (probably only get slightly sick if you contract it). What if you spread it to someone who is at risk? Why take the chance?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Sorry FB, cannot confirm the 60 number. I heard it on Morning Joe, but I was working out and only half listening.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

13 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

And in other racist reactions to COVID-19 news that would be funny if not for the racism: Sales of Chinese takeout food are down in New Zealand, and some outlets have had to cut staff because of a fall off in business.

I mean, really! The disease is not even here yet and people are reacting like this. Although, if it does ever turn up here I think I will confine my takeout purchasing to places with drive through that way no mingling in the same airspace as strangers. And unfortunately we don't have any drive through Chinese (or any other ethnic foods for that matter. We don;t even have drive through pizza, so I guess it's Burger King or KFC. Taco bell is only in Auckland, so I can't even get drive thru "Mexican" where I live.

It’s not just in NZ. There are stories about L.A.’s and San Fran’s Chinatowns being complete ghost towns.

And sales of Corona beer are taking a beating too.

[A True Kaniggit]

2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

And sales of Corona beer are taking a beating too.

I think I've made it clear I'm a whiskey man by preference. (more than 3 beers gives me a headache)

But if this true, people are more idiotic than I thought.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

6 minutes ago, A True Kaniggit said:

I think I've made it clear I'm a whiskey man by preference. (more than 3 beers gives me a headache)

But if this true, people are more idiotic than I thought.

https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/corona-beer-sales-taking-hit-because-coronavirus-outbreak/ORXV24ZXMZAZDJCBIM7K55MRUE/

As a Modelo man I approve of this coronaphobia .

[Derfel Cadarn]

Corona’s piss anyway.

[maarsen]

35 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/corona-beer-sales-taking-hit-because-coronavirus-outbreak/ORXV24ZXMZAZDJCBIM7K55MRUE/

As a Modelo man I approve of this coronaphobia .

Sol is the beer of choice for me.

[Zorral]

Perhaps on this continent, as we're to have a very early spring, and flus tend to mitigate and halt in warm months, maybe covid-19 will halt here too?

OTOH, in the southern hemisphere winter is on the way.

I dunno.  All I do know is that with anti-science, it's all god's will to make xtians the Great Winners Again, we're effed, one way and another and 18 more.

 

[A True Kaniggit]

7 minutes ago, maarsen said:

Sol is the beer of choice for me.

You drink our sun?

The nerve.

What you gonna drink next, Luna?

[RhaenysBee]

2 hours ago, A True Kaniggit said:

In this scenario, it has less to do with what health insurance providers will do, than the whole concept of "sick days" that are set by employers in the first place.

As if a person can account for how many diseases they will contract, and be sick for in a given year.

 

So if a person runs out of sick days, what are they supposed to do? Go to work diseased to infect others just because their sick days have run out?

 

So your system does not recognize any form of prolonged sick-leave benefit? That sounds terribly harsh. Is there no chance employers might be bendable in this particular instance? It is after all in their benefit as well that employees don’t spread the virus among one another and the employers isn’t left without staff or quarantined or closed down. 

I hope this won’t affect too many people. It is an awful choice to make as an individual.