Hero-of-Time Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 Yeah, the whole "It's just flu" response that people are giving is infuriating. The numbers are showing its doing far more damage than the flu. I've also seen responses, both online and in everyday life, of people not caring purely because their age group isn't under threat. It's an absolutely disgusting attitude that will put many elderly people at risk. We had a meeting at work about it and we've already started implementing work at home procedures should it come to that. Not sure how it's going to work for me though. Unless they ship the X-Ray machines to my home there isn't much I can do. 1
MindFreak Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 (edited) Denmark has now been closed down. Schools are closing for 14 days from Friday (they couldn't do it earlier than that) and the public sector has been completely shut down, people are being sent home to work and if they can't work, they just get the time off (paid). It's a drastic move but I think it's the right one. Over the past week, things have been growing more and more intense. Today at work, noone really got anything off their hands. The private sector has been recommended to make employees work from home - so I'll be doing that the coming weeks. However, as my wife is a doctor she has to work so I'll be home with my son (2.6 years old) so I'll probably not be able to work very efficiently. I just hope there isn't any panic where people just run amok in the grocery stores. That would make this thing terrible. If we can just go about without feeling it much more than we have to maintain a bit of a distance to people, it will be fine, albeit a bit boring to work from home for such a long period of time. Edited March 11, 2020 by MindFreak 1
Julius Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said: Yeah, the whole "It's just flu" response that people are giving is infuriating. The numbers are showing its doing far more damage than the flu. I've also seen responses, both online and in everyday life, of people not caring purely because their age group isn't under threat. It's an absolutely disgusting attitude that will put many elderly people at risk. We had a meeting at work about it and we've already started implementing work at home procedures should it come to that. Not sure how it's going to work for me though. Unless they ship the X-Ray machines to my home there isn't much I can do. Yep, 100%. The way I'm dealing with the "it's just the flu" talk is "well, I've never seen the flu spread this quickly or be talked about this much", to at least attempt to get them to open their eyes to how big of an issue this could become. I feel like the media oversaturation and exaggeration of almost all major news stories in the last 5 years in particular has made it difficult for the average person to come to terms with how serious this already is. And it is disgusting. I don't understand how any human being could ever do that, but hey, with over 7 billion people on the planet I suppose that there statistically has to be some of those idiots around Hope you don't mind me asking, but what do you do for work H-o-T? Your talk about x-ray machines has piqued my interest, hope you don't mind me being nosy I'm working in a call centre at the moment for one of the bigger banks in the country, there must be around 1000 people in the building in total and we're located in central Birmingham. They just seem to be far too relaxed about the situation for me to believe that they have any inkling of what's going on out there. And because of how poorly set up my job is, even though it could easily be done from home, we haven't got the systems set up to allow for us to do that. 42 minutes ago, MindFreak said: Denmark has now been closed down. Schools are closing for 14 days from Friday (they couldn't do it earlier than that) and the public sector has been completely shut down, people are being sent home to work and if they can't work, they just get the time off (paid). It's a drastic move but I think it's the right one. Over the past week, things have been growing more and more intense. Today at work, noone really got anything off their hands. The private sector has been recommended to make employees work from home - so I'll be doing that the coming weeks. However, as my wife is a doctor she has to work so I'll be home with my son (2.6 years old) so I'll probably not be able to work very efficiently. I just hope there isn't any panic where people just run amok in the grocery stores. That would make this thing terrible. If we can just go about without feeling it much more than we have to maintain a bit of a distance to people, it will be fine, albeit a bit boring to work from home for such a long period of time. Damn, it's crazy to read but at least I'm glad to hear that they're taking the action necessary at the moment. I'm concerned about that as well. At least in the UK, I feel like shutting down supermarkets and having those businesses focus almost solely on delivery (online, putting out catalogues and having a number for the not-so tech savvy) or something along those lines would be drastic, sure, but for the best - I'd put closing supermarkets down as being as important as closing schools, in all honesty; there are just too many people from too great a distance for it to be safe at this point. Your family is in my prayers, your wife especially for continuing to carry out her job in the face of all of this! Definitely sounds like a crazy time for the three of you, all the best @MindFreak! Edited March 11, 2020 by Julius
Hero-of-Time Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 @Julius I'd tell you but then i'd have to kill you. I do R&D work with X-Rays. 1
Dcubed Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 (edited) Well work has been fun recently! Exciting time to be working in a hospital! I think what has been far scarier than the virus though is the spread of sinophobia... Whole lotta racism coming outta the woodwork as of late against Chinese people and it’s really sad to see Edited March 11, 2020 by Dcubed 2
Aperson Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 I think one other side effect of this situation is that if anyone gets unwell in any way it can lead to anxiety over having the Corona Virus even if such unwell state is merely a fever or flu and not something that could lead to the Corona Virus.
Jonnas Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 Portugal has had minor levels of incidence, with only 41 confirmed cases (Around 300 suspected cases, but that's people being appropriately cautious). Nevertheless, the biggest chunk of those cases is in my city, so everybody's on high alert, with the government suspending several public institutions and activities (such as gyms, pools, and sports centers), and many private entities following suit. Even my local Smash scene (which only draws 15 people at most) was sensible enough to suspend activities for at least a month. My own workplace (which is actually not in Porto) has put preventive measures in place (like keeping every door open, or putting hand sanitizer in every corner). They're taking it seriously enough, but considering the nature of our business, I personally expect them to declare/recommend a quarantine any day now (my sister's smaller workplace has done the same thing). In less reassuring news, my former university is run by opportunistic bellends: to deal with Corona, they declared that they will... lock up the facilities from 22:00 to 07:00. For the record, this is absolutely a cost-saving measure they've been pushing for a while (and I'm heavily against, as it hurts a lot of students), and it's demented that they're using Corona to justify it. It's like they don't realise they can actually be investigated and sacked for dishonest, half-assed responses to a crisis (and they will, the moment a student gets infected). Sorry for the small rant. It's a small thing, but pissed me off so much.
Ashley Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 So the NBA season has been cancelled, USA has suspended all travel from mainland Europe and Tom Hanks and his wife have it. What a year this hour has been.
Will Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 (edited) I see they didn't ban travel from the UK. Thank god for Brexit - knew it would be giving us positives before too long. Edited March 13, 2020 by will' 1
Ashley Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 Turns out it's just the Schengen Area countries, but it still doesn't make any sense. UK has more cases than some of them.
Julius Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 (edited) NBA season suspended. Tom Hanks and his wife have it. World class athletes have it. Monkeys are swarming empty cities in Asia. You really couldn't write this stuff. This year's been a wild ride and we're not even halfway through March. But in great news, China are sending 10,000 pulmonary ventilators, 2 million face masks, 20,000 protective suits, and some of their doctors to Italy after the spread of coronavirus has started to plateau across China. EDIT: They're sending 9 experts, and all of the equipment and supplies are approx. 31 tons. Edited March 12, 2020 by Julius 1
drahkon Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 18 minutes ago, Julius said: This year's been a wild ride and we're not even halfway through March. It's so surreal to me. I've been "part of" a couple instances where history has written itself (9/11, climate change, right wing on the rise again, Trump being elected,...) but this pandemic is taking the cake. It's eerie...a weird atmosphere. I'm trying to not let it get to me. Easier said than done.
Julius Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 2 hours ago, drahkon said: It's so surreal to me. I've been "part of" a couple instances where history has written itself (9/11, climate change, right wing on the rise again, Trump being elected,...) but this pandemic is taking the cake. It's eerie...a weird atmosphere. I'm trying to not let it get to me. Easier said than done. Yeah, it's crazy. And "eerie" is the perfect way of describing it. My train to work yesterday was dead silent, like we'd just witnessed someone die. I only ever hear one or two people talking in a full carriage. Buses are quiet. People are keeping their distance. And it certainly doesn't make me, or anyone else I've spoken to about it, feel better that the world unfortunately runs on money, and until the government declares the country going into lockdown (which is probably going to be a bit too late), big businesses are going to continue to risk peoples' health. It just feels like an inevitability that someone you know will get coronavirus, and that's a worrying thought, regardless of the death rate.
Jimbob Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 I'm waiting on being told to work from home. Everyone is expecting it, which would make perfect sense in the current climate. We all use laptops to work from, so that isn't going to be an issue taking it home. We had a scare on Monday when someone came in and left an hour later coughing and spluttering, luckily the test they had done confirmed a chest infection and not Corona.
Nicktendo Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 Only seven confirmed cases where I am but watching this spread across Western Europe means it will inevitably come here too soon. Looking at statistics, we’re in a better position than the U.K. to deal with extreme cases, way more ICU beds per 1000 of the population. However the population is old here, very old. Maybe not Italy levels, but it has the potential to be disastrous. We have 100s of flights going to and from Western Europe. Italian flights have been cancelled for the past few days, 250 staff at Air Baltic temporarily laid off... can’t imagine how they’re going to pay the bills. People arriving on flights from badly affected countries are being advised to self-isolate for two weeks. Whether they actually will is another question. School holidays start next week and have been extended by a week. Sensible move. In about an hour they’re going to take a decision on whether to close the border. I honestly think they should, given how few cases we have and the age of the population. As for me, I work from home most of the time but teach older teen kids twice a week in a language school. My next classes are in three hours and I think they’re going to be my last for the foreseeable future. No problems with supermarkets so far, plenty of stock, no empty shelves but that may change over the weekend. I might get stocked up on dry food, just in case. Lucky that it’s just me, can’t imagine going through this as a family. Hopefully the numbers in Europe start reflecting Korea soon (don’t trust China’s at all) and after what will undoubtedly be a tough period, we can slowly get back to normal.
Ashley Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 It's been weird being in South America during the last few weeks. I've been keeping up with what's happening (more in case I need to change plans rather than any particular desire to) but reading/hearing about what its like at home its another world. It's on the news here, but things seem less dramatic. I read yesterday Brazil's cases have shot up a bit (when I was there I think it was 1 or 2) but still as a whole SA is pretty low on numbers. I'm almost tempted to start shipping hand sanitizer and toilet roll back.
LazyBoy Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 A nice story for you guys. My wife works with Chinese suppliers, and one of them sent her a box of facemasks out of the blue, accompanied by a note asking her to take care and that she hopes everything goes ok. Thought that was really sweet. 3
Aperson Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 They will probably have to play this music in the real life overworld while the Corona Virus is about...
Sheikah Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 Work just told us to work from home until at least 31st March.
Rummy Posted March 13, 2020 Posted March 13, 2020 On 11/03/2020 at 6:12 PM, drahkon said: Edit: Forgot to mention: Those measures taken by our university will be in place from next Saturday onwards. Why not starting now? Your guess is as good as mine... I believe the idea is to implement the isolation measures in greater unity across the country at a certain point or peak in the curve - going too soon or ofc too late will possibly have less efficacy. You could self-isolate the whole country for 2 weeks now but what happens when we all leave our homes and still the virus is out there ready to spread? It's all quite a dynamic touch and go situation I imagine (not defending any actions here just speccing the possible reasons; i do personally think the UK response has been relatively rather weak and limp) Quote I love the WHO. Over 125,000 cases worldwide across 121 countries, and now it's a pandemic? Again Nerdy Nelly here - it isnt just average numbers I believe it refers to the specifics of the geographical spread and technically can't be called a pandemic over an epidemic until its no longer obviously clear where the original epicentre was. 1
Dufniall Posted March 13, 2020 Posted March 13, 2020 12 hours ago, Sheikah said: Work just told us to work from home until at least 31st March. Same here. The Dutch government held a press conference yesterday and for now schools remain open, but for everyone who can work from home it's adviced to do so. Avoid travelling in public transport during peak hours, and all events with >100 people are postponed. All until March 31. My cats at least are happy that I'm home on a weekday!
MindFreak Posted March 13, 2020 Posted March 13, 2020 Denmark has now closed the boarders. Only people with a real purpose (living or working in Denmark) may enter the country. And cargo trucks with food and other goods may of course enter.
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