Corona Horse, Corona Rider - Covid #9

[DireWolfSpirit]

The Pangolin trade is illegal in China as you can read here-

 https://america.cgtn.com/2015/11/03/thousands-of-smuggled-pangolins-confiscated-in-smuggling-bust

As I posted upthread, a growing number of scientists attribute the origins of Sars2 spreading from bat-to-pangolin-to-human, but these people were illegally trading in pangolins. It's not as if the Chinese are encouraging them, the pangolin are an endangered species.

 

[RhaenysBee]

19 hours ago, Meera of Tarth said:

 thanks for asking and don't worry. It's normal.

I'm doing fine. It's been 3 weeks and now till the 26th we will still be in lockdown. I was very nercous at the start (also bc I also had low fever and not feeling well in general for a while...) But now I'm a little bit better. Lots of anxiety nervous seeing daily the figures on TV.... so I know what it is...

My main issue has been to adapt to the master online. We will finish the course this way. But since it's a lot of work this distracts me. However not socialising physically it's also difficult, probaly the worst. Not moving in general... Looking at the screens for so many hours... But we get accustomed.

I don't have to work. Since I worked at the university but my job necessarily needs to be there and now it is completely closed I can't even connect to the computer there. We didn't think of it since they closed it out of a sudden. We will see. My boss said we would talk when it's finished. He works online but I bet he can't do half of what he did.

Now they have said around 15x100 of the population might have had it.

 

Oh dear... no lockdown here, but we have been in self isolation at my mother’s house for 3 weeks too. I haven’t been anywhere aside from my flat in the city, but that involved zero contact as I just got in and out of and back in the car. We are going back today again and staying there for a few days (again, zero contact involved). 

I really understand the struggle, my mother teaches and my sister studies at a university, from what they both tell me, it’s  a lot of struggle and frustration on both ends. Do you see when the situation at your uni might improve? In terms of the uni job or the completion of your course, I mean. Would you be graduating  this semester? 

Also sympathize with the anxiety of following the news. I try to limit myself and  consume much less of the media coverage of the topic than I did in week zero, or week one. It’s difficult to tell what’s true and what isn’t with all the contradicting information. Stay strong and take care! And please don’t hesitate to PM me if you ever need to talk or just fancy a chat about something unrelated to coronavirus!

 

 

We have... 700+ infected, we seem to have a steady average 50-case increase these days. That’s not too bad I suppose but it’s also a guarantee that we’ll be stuck in quarantine till the end of the year. In more positive news, a nice lady in our street brought us reusable masks. It’s such a thoughtful gesture. And it makes the never ending quarantine life a bit more environmentally friendly. 

 

[Heartofice]

Surely the issue with Wet Markets is that they often sell freshly killed or live animals, in poorly maintained conditions which I’m sure wouldn’t meet most health and safety requirements. That so many of these diseases emirate from these places suggests it’s very far from being some right wing conspiracy theory 

[rotting sea cow]

27 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Surely the issue with Wet Markets is that they often sell freshly killed or live animals, in poorly maintained conditions which I’m sure wouldn’t meet most health and safety requirements. That so many of these diseases emirate from these places suggests it’s very far from being some right wing conspiracy theory 

People often think that China is an all-knowing totalitarian state. This is far from the truth, otherwise crime wouldn't exist there.

If live animal commerce is forbidden, nothing guarantees that illegal markets won't flourish, maybe in worse conditions and a similar scenario could have happened anyway.

[Tijgy]

In Belgium we are starting to win against the virus. Over the last 24th hours more people could leave the hospital than they had to be taken in the hospital. Almost three weeks after the start the lockdown! And a day after the numbers in Italy are also getting better (less people on intensive care)

So, people, it really works to stay inside! Big courage to everyone!

[karaddin]

The context of my reply was responding to a post discussing reports of wet markets reopening and expressing some hostility to China if that had happened.

In that context saying "wet markets doesn't tell you much in and of itself" is perfectly accurate. I haven't seen the reports myself so I don't know if they allege any further specificity on what is being sold there or the conditions in which they are being sold.

My larger point is that there are plenty of dodgy practices across the globe and we could just as easily been the country in which a major outbreak started, and that there is plenty of blame to go around in early failures addressing it but not to fall into the trap of being tricked into just blaming the foreign other, and yes that is absolutely right wing propaganda. 

[Heartofice]

That the virus started there isn’t really propaganda. Unlike Chinese propaganda which is the real propaganda 

[Luzifer's right hand]

Better practices reduce the risk of zoonosis transmissions but they do not eliminate the risk. 

Only moving away from animal based foods can do that. 

But the pleasure people get from eating animals is more important than health just like it is more important than the environment or the right of animals.

[Heartofice]

2 minutes ago, Luzifer's right hand said:

Better practices reduce the risk of zoonosis transmissions but they do not eliminate the risk. 

Only moving away from animal based foods can do that. 

But the pleasure people get from eating animals is more important than health just like it is more important than the environment or the right of animals.

I mean you could reduce the risk HUGELY if you had better practices. 

[Luzifer's right hand]

Just now, Heartofice said:

I mean you could reduce the risk HUGELY if you had better practices. 

Why stop at reduceing a risk if you can eliminate it?

Even countries with "good" practices often have problems with things like salmonella or mad cow disease. All of those things could be as good as eliminated instead of just reduced. 

[john]

So the virus started in China then Europeans spread it wildly by their governments failing to adequately prepare and their citizens fleeing lockdowns, ignoring advice and congregating in the sun.

Plenty of blame to go around.

[Heartofice]

5 minutes ago, Luzifer's right hand said:

Why stop at reduceing a risk if you can eliminate it?

Even countries with "good" practices often have problems with things like salmonella or mad cow disease. All of those things could be as good as eliminated instead of just reduced. 

Because people wanna eat animal products? 
 

Most of those diseases happened  exactly because those countries didn’t have good practices.

[JoannaL]

New diseases we get from animals are almost always from wild animals not farm animals. so there is no reason to start a discussion if a vegetarian lifestyle would be better. It is also scientifically clear that a market with dead and alive animals (some of them exotic) is dangerous. these markets not only exists in China but also in Afrika for example, and are a breeding ground for new diseases. I do not blame the Chinese for SARS (they couldnt know), and also not for Covid-19 (SARS could have been a very unlikely 1 in a million evolutionary event), but now that we have it (and know this is a not-so -unlikely-event) I think they are responsible (as we all are) to do everything possible that this is not repeated.

[Cridefea]

Don't know if someone already posted this, but a journalist in Bergamo tried to count the real number of victims in his province.

https://www.ecodibergamo.it/stories/bergamo-citta/coronavirus-the-real-death-tool-4500-victims-in-one-month-in-the-province-of_1347414_11/

[Meera of Tarth]

4 hours ago, RhaenysBee said:

Oh dear... no lockdown here, but we have been in self isolation at my mother’s house for 3 weeks too. I haven’t been anywhere aside from my flat in the city, but that involved zero contact as I just got in and out of and back in the car. We are going back today again and staying there for a few days (again, zero contact involved). 

I really understand the struggle, my mother teaches and my sister studies at a university, from what they both tell me, it’s  a lot of struggle and frustration on both ends. Do you see when the situation at your uni might improve? In terms of the uni job or the completion of your course, I mean. Would you be graduating  this semester? 

You and your family are doing extremely well isolating! Please, continue this way!

Oh I'm suprised they are not doing a national lockdown, maybe bc there are less cases? We didn't have it till some thousands, aroound the 4000 thousands IIRC

Indeed, it seems it's working, these last days we had peaks of cases, almost a thousand, now we just have seen a minimum, so we might be on the "valley" of the peak.

As for my uni... well, at first if was for two weeks but we already know it would be more. Problem is that I have 8 subjects and a couple of them I just wanted to go to the final exam; otherwise I would not have signed up for so many...

also following a Master of Engineering for me it's not easy online. I see that some professors are recording classes (we can watch videos with the slides and their voice); with this I'm quite content; but  in others we are doing less applied problems (real classes have been reduced to 10% as videoconferences), and we are asked to do a lot of self-work on our own, which is quite stressful. Some of this work is not easy and you accumulate questions, etc. Problems in groups are not easy either, you lose a lot of feedback without face-to-face interaction, and you are also asked to work in groups, resulting in endless skype videoconferences...

We received a mail from the dean saying the rest of the course Will be online, except for, maybe, the final exams, which would take place late June or even July instead of June. I guess we Will not have the week of july in which we had extraordinary exams, then.

We should have had midterm exams last week and they were moved to what it's now the last week of lockdown. I guess they Will be online in some sort of test. No idea how problema-olving activities Will be held, because time is gold and you lose a lot of time uploading things via photos or whatever….I fear they willl just ask for final numbers, which is not a Good idea..

Quote

Also sympathize with the anxiety of following the news. I try to limit myself and  consume much less of the media coverage of the topic than I did in week zero, or week one. It’s difficult to tell what’s true and what isn’t with all the contradicting information. Stay strong and take care! And please don’t hesitate to PM me if you ever need to talk or just fancy a chat about something unrelated to coronavirus!

 

 

We have... 700+ infected, we seem to have a steady average 50-case increase these days. That’s not too bad I suppose but it’s also a guarantee that we’ll be stuck in quarantine till the end of the year. In more positive news, a nice lady in our street brought us reusable masks. It’s such a thoughtful gesture. And it makes the never ending quarantine life a bit more environmentally friendly. 

 

You are doing really well consuming less media. I did the same, and I could not stand it anymore. And yes, lots f contradictory information, even for different authorities. It's healthy to try to watch movies, and any sort of entertainment from channels that don't talk about the topic, this has helped me.

Thanks, I probably Will! Same for you quarantine is not easy

I don't think you'll have quarantine till the end of the year, maybe your government Will decide on doing a big one, but then there Will certainly be a deescalation of the process, gradually.

The MP of Spain told us that the State of Alarm Will still continue after the 26th but things Will be more normal gradually. I have read a document on how Andorra Will do it, and I think we Will follow a similar pattern. I don't know if it Will involve a month two, three, four,....but we Will need to test thousands of people, be aware, and leisure activities like cinemas, gyms, big restarants, clubs.....I don't know when these Will open again.

Here, one og the imported things from other countries that I like the most is the applauses every day we have at 8pm to the sanitary professionals, as well as songs that became "anthems":
 

Spoiler

ok, not the best video...I might send you one of mines....but you get the idea I could not find anything better

 

A song from 30 years ago calledResistiré (I Will resist) has become like an anthem, -although the song, I must say is as resilient in its message as is depressing in its lyrics.

but the Melody is really, really, cool…..

new version with transferred rights to other artists to raise funds for covid: paraphrasing some lines:

When dream loses all its magic, When I lose all the games, When I dream with loneliness, When nostalgy stabs me, when my dreams break in pieces, when exists get closed in front of me..... I Will resist, I 'll become iron to strenghten the skin....I Will never surrender...

old one

We also have this Catalan song from former 2019 Eurovision Spanish Singer that in Catalonia has become some sort of it...

"We'll write that not everything was easy, we'll sing our life in a paper, we'll leave with gifted days, and the smile of those who can not longer be with us"

He wrote it last year. It's about his stay on the academy where he went to learn singing- and from there he was elected to go to Eurovision, but he says it can be applied to anything, friendships, romantic, etc.

Of course, to this situation.

 

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 hours ago, rotting sea cow said:

People often think that China is an all-knowing totalitarian state. This is far from the truth, otherwise crime wouldn't exist there.

If live animal commerce is forbidden, nothing guarantees that illegal markets won't flourish, maybe in worse conditions and a similar scenario could have happened anyway.

One can have a totalitarian state and a vast network of crime. They often go hand in hand. 

[karaddin]

16 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

One can have a totalitarian state and a vast network of crime. They often go hand in hand. 

Of course, but it does mean that it's not all knowing. Or it is corrupt. And we all know that in reality it's both.

And I never said it didn't start it China, it clearly did. I said that isn't a reason to damn the Chinese people and hold blame against them while ignoring the failures of our own governments. That's not at you Tywin.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 minutes ago, karaddin said:

Of course, but it does mean that it's not all knowing. Or it is corrupt. And we all know that in reality it's both.

And I never said it didn't start it China, it clearly did. I said that isn't a reason to damn the Chinese people and hold blame against them while ignoring the failures of our own governments. That's not at you Tywin.

Well Jesus, why did you quote me then, lol? 

And it can be all knowing because it actively is dabbling in the crime and corruption. 

[karaddin]

6 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Well Jesus, why did you quote me then, lol? 

And it can be all knowing because it actively is dabbling in the crime and corruption. 

The first part was at you! I just meant the second part. I think the early fuck ups with recognition of the outbreak show it's not all knowing. Certainly is totalitarian and the failure in information gathering should not be taken as me saying positive things about them. They just aren't as effective as they'd like to be/like to to think they are.

None of my comments are meant to be taken as in favour of their government, just China as a nation and the Chinese as a people.

[Rippounet]

So French experts are cautiously optimistic about the peak being close... We've been confined for three weeks now and the rate of admissions in ICU seems to be slowly going down.

We've had 7560 deaths and there are still at least 6000 people in ICU.