News COVID-19 pandemic

[Notebook]

There's an old joke about airlines that goes something like this:
Q: How do you make a small fortune in the airlines?
A: Start with a large fortune!

Copyright Howard Hughes 1929...

 

[Notebook]

wrong link

 

[jedidia]

That's a link to the homepage, not to the article...

 

[tl8]

It was one crazy morning that is for sure. And it looks like we slept through a bit as well.

Who loses money on this?

Just curious considering Formula One's financial history...

The promoter, which is a company that only runs the GP.



Our Home Affairs minister has it now, and it is the first week of Rugby League football. Going ahead with crowds for now, but that might change fast.

 

[4throck]

Did I mention that I have a huge stockpile of guitar strings ...

Do you play ? I play the electric guitar... amateur level, but was part of bands in my teens :thumbup: It's a fun hobby!

 

[Urwumpe]

Do you play ? I play the electric guitar... amateur level, but was part of bands in my teens :thumbup: It's a fun hobby!

Same here. I am a very bad guitar player, but I enjoy it. :lol:

 

[4throck]

Uefa: All competitions including Champions League and Europa League postponed

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/51870540

 

[Notebook]

Looks like Pendragon are cancelling their shows.

 

[Urwumpe]

Some German states already declared that schools will be closed next week, its likely that other states will follow.

 

[4throck]

112 cases here, schools will close Monday based on an European recommendation (local health authorities didn't see a problem, and recommended they stayed open...).
Unclear if the teachers and staff still need to go there everyday or stay at home.

Religious celebrations suspended, no football. Many stay at home appeals, yet no measures to enforce it and business are open.

It's inconsistent at best.
Basically if your boss cares, you work from home, if he doesn't it's business as usual.

 

[BrianJ]

Hi,
interesting times we live in, eh. Just thought I'd chip in my :2cents:
I had to travel to, and across, London by train and underground, two days ago.
Now I'm just waiting to start a fever and cough!
No sign of any change to commuter behaviour. Out of several hundred fellow passengers, I saw nobody using a tissue to catch their sneezes or coughs, only one person using hand-sanitizer, maybe three others wearing face masks. No army of cleaners wiping down trains or stations. No protective gear for station attendants or ticket inspectors. Nothing.
I fear the hammer is going to fall hard on London :facepalm:
I'm not sure what the point of banning football matches is, if you allow several million people to cram themselves together twice a day into the warm bath of pathogens that is the London Underground.
Apparently the UK has less than half the emergency care beds that Italy does. And they are ~80% occupied anyway - I hope the government are rectifying this situation rapidly (and just not telling us about it).
Well, I'm a bit worried and I just needed to vent, I guess ;-)
Good luck, everybody.
Brian

 

[jedidia]

I don't quite get the school closures... As far as I understand, children are practically not threatened by the virus at all, and are comparatively ineffective vectors for it to spread.

 

[RisingFury]

I don't quite get the school closures... As far as I understand, children are practically not threatened by the virus at all, and are comparatively ineffective vectors for it to spread.

20 to 30 kids in a classroom together for many hours every day. Hundreds in one building. Then they come home sick, infect their parents, who go to work sick, infecting coworkers, who infect their kids and send them to school.

Wildfire.

 

[4throck]

Here we are following the recommendations from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control:
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/de...ures-in-response-to-the-COVID-19-epidemic.pdf

On page 4 they mention schools:

Closure of educational
institutions
• Schools (including day care centres,
kindergartens, primary and secondary
schools)
• Closure of higher educational institutions
(including universities, research institutes,
etc.)

Rationale:
• Preventing contact among children is a known
prevention measure in influenza outbreaks and
pandemics
• Universities and other educational institutions are
also areas where large numbers of people
congregate in confined spaces
• In studies of influenza outbreaks, both measures
usually have the biggest effect when applied early
in the transmission phase and when they last until
the circulation of the pathogen decreases (i.e. after
several weeks)
• Need to also prevent meeting/gathering of youths
outside school in order to ensure effectiveness

 

[jedidia]

20 to 30 kids in a classroom together for many hours every day.

On the other hand, keeping kids at home without them going out and seeing anybody is just not a realistic option...

 

[Wolf]

112 cases here, schools will close Monday based on an European recommendation (local health authorities didn't see a problem, and recommended they stayed open...).
Unclear if the teachers and staff still need to go there everyday or stay at home.

Religious celebrations suspended, no football. Many stay at home appeals, yet no measures to enforce it and business are open.

It's inconsistent at best.
Basically if your boss cares, you work from home, if he doesn't it's business as usual.

It's amazing. Not just Portugal, all other countries seem not to realize how this thing will soon escalate. They have us (Italy)as an example, we were the first to be hit. I am quite sure very soon they will have to lockdown the country aswell but it might be too late to avoid overcrowding hospitals and saturate ICU's. I really really hope they will act soon guys, for the sake of everyone.
As far as kids are concerned, they are an extremely effective and vicious vehicle of the Covid-19 since it appears they show very little or no symptoms at all but can easily transmit the pathogen to adults (teachers, relatives, etc.) so yes schools should be all closed.

---------- Post added at 05:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:44 PM ----------

On the other hand, keeping kids at home without them going out and seeing anybody is just not a realistic option...

It is happening here so it is realistic. I remeber last week many parents literraly panicking on the social media about having to keep kids at home 24/7, now by magic no one complains anymore. People realized there much more at stake than kids at home. It is amazing how fast our perspective on issues can change..

 

[Urwumpe]

Situation in Wolfsburg: We have now 4 cases in town and the first VW employee ill in Kassel-Baunatal.

All sports events are getting cancelled, including the football leagues. The indoor swimming pools will close tomorrow. The local hospital is no longer allowing visitors, schools and kindergarten will close next week. People already try to find work-arounds for still having to go to work and care for their children. It is no big problem, just a challenge to be solved.

 

[Ripley]

On the other hand, keeping kids at home without them going out and seeing anybody is just not a realistic option...

Well, we are making it real in Italy.
Edit: sorry, didn't read Wolf's post before mine.

 

[fred18]

On the other hand, keeping kids at home without them going out and seeing anybody is just not a realistic option...

I have 2 daughters, 2 and 1 years old. They were both starting to enjoy activities like ice-skating, music courses, painting with the other kids and all the various services in our city (which is milan and on this side offers a lot of options). And guess what: they are at home and never got out since this started. It s a hard marathon to keep up with for me and my wife, we are trying to invent new stuff and games daily, and from what i see on socials and hear from friends everybody is doing the same. We all live in a period where peace and personal rights are not in discussion, but when something like this arrives everything changes, what you thought impossible suddenly becomes needed, so you just do it. My cousin has a 10 year old boy who is making school lessons via skype with all the kids connected to the teachers, universities are doing exams through skype.
To be honest to see this is something to be proud of.

 

[Notebook]

As someone once said...

National emergency, if the government is honest and presents a workable plan its amazing what can be done.

Look after yourself and yours.