Coronavirus

Fancypantaloons

Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
Are you guys ok? Are your families ok? How are things in your country? My country's situation is not as complicated as others but we've got to be careful and paranoia is running the streets.

I hope you are all doing fine. Take care of yourselves.
 
Things are more or less stable where I'm at. Nobody is panic-buying groceries yet :ganishka:

While I don't discount the seriousness of the disease in the slightest, I blame the media for the mass hysteria it caused. They could have handled things a lot better.

I do worry about my sister, though. She's a doctor and she works in the U.K, and things don't seem to be looking good over there. They've even got a coronavirus patient being treated at her hospital.

So yeah, I'd be glad for all this to blow over as soon as possible.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Whatever else could or couldn't have been done worldwide, in America we're seeing what happens when you don't have strong central leadership a majority of the people trust. It's falling to state and local governments and the private sector to act appropriately, and other than the panic buying and unintended consequences of some unilateral action (where will health workers send their children without school? If we backtrack and open schools for food and babysitting, does it defeat the purpose? People are freaking out about food because everything is unclear, etc), I've otherwise been impressed with the local and private response considering how ineffectual the federal government has been.

Personally, I'm going into work tomorrow and don't know what to expect. It's all in the air whether we'll even open and in what capacity, and given how long the campus may essentially be without a student population, I have to consider the possibility I may not have much a purpose there for the foreseeable future, and that could always become a permanent change. That may be the least of my economic worries though given how widespread the problem is. The destruction of the virus itself may be relatively minor compared to the economic destruction wrought by it, but again, that's because we don't have someone steering the ship to best guide us through this safely, so some of our drastic cures may be worse than the literal disease, like leaving already vulnerable people food insecure.

Of course, that's my concern now until I get it and find out I have a pre-existing condition. *knock on wood* One of my employees already lost her uncle Friday, her aunt is on a ventilator and her cousins have it too, and she can't even go to the funeral because it's in Spain and the travel ban went into place that day, not to mention she was worried about being deported because with classes moved online international students weren't sure what this meant for them being allowed here on the condition of in-person study. Fortunately they did the sensible thing and suspended it, but who knew with this administration, and like I said there's a lot of complicated shit up in the air and nobody on top of it, we're all figuring it out as we go along, and the population of confirmed cases and the stress that will bring hasn't even come yet.
 
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RaffoBaffo

Ex-Newser of the late Berserk Chronicles
I'm in Italy, Calabria
I'm on a forced vacation but, other than this, all is ok, for now.
No shortage of toilet paper here :v
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
France, which is where I live, is in the middle of it now. I've been limiting my exposure to the outside world as much as I could, but I've had this little cough for a week... Probably just a cold. :magni: I've been advising everyone I know to hole up. The French government was late in declaring it an emergency in my opinion, they did it on Thursday, then announced stricter measures on Saturday. General quarantine for everyone will follow soon. I think it should have all taken place last Sunday. As it is right now, people are acting stupidly: still going out and gathering in large numbers. This means hospitals will be way beyond capacity in two weeks when these same folks – or the people they've contaminated – will need intensive care. So many of them will just die in a waiting room.

My advice to anyone in a country not yet fully struck is to be very vigilant and careful. The key here is to get ahead of things and maintain social distance, wash hands properly, and avoid going out more than is necessary. Once the government makes it mandatory to stay home it means it's too late and the virus is already widespread. You've got to be careful before that. This is likely going to be the worst pandemic since the Spanish flu, so acting recklessly means people will die.
 
Ill be staying at home for a while, helping to take care of my 2 nieces (schools closed). Here in Portugal things are mostly okay, not too bad but too good either, government has been very slow when i comes to border control however, but that's just part of the course with the Portuguese government, slow and inefficient.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
We went shopping on Wed, just before it got crazy, but otherwise we've been socially distancing for ~1 week. My wife works in a hospital, so her job isn't impacted, unfortunately. And I've had primarily work-from-home jobs for the past few years, so staying at home during work days is no change at all, for me. But what's a big change is planning meals en masse and keeping a 7-year-old educationally occupied now that school is canceled for ~2 weeks.

We're seeing what happens when you don't have strong central leadership a majority of the people trust.

Succinctly put. This has been in the air for a while. It just took a unifying, global event to make it plain for all to see.

By serendipity, I'm also most of the way through reading The Road for the 4th or 5th time. Highly recommended for dads during these troubled times :ganishka:
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
I travel between the local casinos in my state for work and for the first time in the 13 years I've been at this job, they've actually shut the doors to the casinos for a whole week (except for the one day years ago during a particularly bad blizzard). So I basically get a week off, with pay, without eating into any personal time or vacation time. Schools have also been closed for two weeks as of right now. So the whole family is strapped in, pulling out and dusting off old board games, books, dvds and video games to pass the time. Doesn't help that the NHL hockey season is also on pause (of course when the Bruins were on top and have the best shot at the championship this season). It's kind of surreal. I went to the market late and there were many empty isles. It's also weird watching certain live tv programs with no audience. Crazy.
Whatever else could or couldn't have been done worldwide, in America we're seeing what happens when you don't have strong central leadership a majority of the people trust.
You actually doubted the big orange man when he said it was still safe to hold rallies amid the outbreak? You must be part of the that group that's trying to make this a bigger deal than it needs to be as a way to make him look bad. Well jokes on you because his crowds will still be the biggest crowds to have ever crowded in the history of the country (according to him).
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
Montréal, Canada, the town is mostly dead with only a few places open (like my work). We dont have many cases so far in the province. Last time I checked we had around 25 confirmed cases and over a thousand with negative results. I'm not too stressed out for the moment. Doing my best to avoid places and stuff but I'm mostly an ermitt in regular times so that doesnt change a lot of things in my life.

Stay safe skullknighters!
 
Greece, our Universities and Schools closed last Wednesday and almost everything else on Thursday. I hear many people in other countires have a problem with shortage in supermarkets but everything's alright here (for now).
I moved back to my parents house a week ago when my university closed and I was very lucky I decided to do that, because now they are thinking of closing the borders from that city to here...
And now that the news scared everyone shitless, the city is almost empty so it's the best time for jogging. :ganishka:
Also, since I don't have anything else to do, I can catch up on some manga and finish some games I didn't have time to before.
So... I guess if you know how to stay safe, the quarantine is pretty fun for students :griffnotevil:
 

Grail

Feel the funk blast
I'm very lucky and am easily able to work from home for my job, so I took advantage of it starting Wednesday of last week.

I'm happy to say that (at least it seems to me) that the San Francisco bay area has taken the threat pretty seriously, and many workplaces and schools are taking measures to ensure social distancing. I have heard some grumblings about how "everyone is overreacting" and that "this isn't a big deal," but I think in this case (hand sanitizer hoarders aside), I think that any overreaction in this case may save lives. I've had to start moisturizing my hands because they've gotten raw from over-washing! :daiba:

The big question mark at the moment is senior living facilities, where a lot of the elderly residents are exposed to germs unwittingly passed by caregivers who may not know that they have the virus. This was covered recently on my local news, so it's been on my mind. My fear is that there might not be a simple answer to helping people in this position, but I hope that we can figure out a solution that doesn't compromise old folks' needs for socialization.

EDIT: Listen to Ahnold: stay home (no restaurants or gym) eat vegan food and feed your little weird donkey children

 
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Fancypantaloons

Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
One of the problems we have here with this situation is that people go crazy-shopping. I understand that they need food and stuff for their families, but one should take what is needed, not everything that you can fit in 2 cars, other people need food and stuff too.
 
I am fine, here in Warsaw, Poland, things are not that severe at the moment. University went online, job is still at the office, though now we have much more sanitary measures (which is very good in my opinion). At first people went crazy with buying toilet paper and all kinds of food, but situation stabilized.
 

Franz

It's a dolphin.
Almost since the new year I've been working from home. Now, it is basically mandatory. I should be very grateful to work for a company that both permits and encourages this, but my mood hasn't been great since December. The fact that I'm home should be good, but on the other hand my wife is an ICU nurse working nights (and we have kids + new puppies so I'm bearing all the weight on my shoulders). So far no patients at her hospital have Coronavirus, but it is likely just a matter of time. I seem to have a shit immune system so I'm just planning on contracting the illness.

Feb-May tends to be the busiest season for me at work, with multiple conventions and expos to prepare for + new releases. Of course a lot of expos have been cancelled, such as Bologna, but nevertheless it's very busy and stressful. While I have a nice work setup in my home office, because of the new puppies + tile + training, I can't trust the dogs upstairs on the carpet and with so many beautiful things to destroy. Instead I have my old monitor on top of the kitchen counter which is manageable but not the best. =\
 

Fancypantaloons

Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
Almost since the new year I've been working from home. Now, it is basically mandatory. I should be very grateful to work for a company that both permits and encourages this, but my mood hasn't been great since December. The fact that I'm home should be good, but on the other hand my wife is an ICU nurse working nights (and we have kids + new puppies so I'm bearing all the weight on my shoulders). So far no patients at her hospital have Coronavirus, but it is likely just a matter of time. I seem to have a shit immune system so I'm just planning on contracting the illness.

Feb-May tends to be the busiest season for me at work, with multiple conventions and expos to prepare for + new releases. Of course a lot of expos have been cancelled, such as Bologna, but nevertheless it's very busy and stressful. While I have a nice work setup in my home office, because of the new puppies + tile + training, I can't trust the dogs upstairs on the carpet and with so many beautiful things to destroy. Instead I have my old monitor on top of the kitchen counter which is manageable but not the best. =\

My best wishes for you, my friend.
 
I'm living in Norway at the moment and the Norwegian government seems to have things under control. The people are a bit anxious, but overall not a lot of hoarding or panic going on. The fact that the population over here is spread out and quite low in number should help with containment.

Like Lawliet, I'm more concerned about my sister who's also living in the UK and is due to give birth for the first time this week. She must be pretty stressed out right now.

By serendipity, I'm also most of the way through reading The Road for the 4th or 5th time. Highly recommended for dads during these troubled times :ganishka:
I've also recently re-read it, coincidentally. I had found another copy while looking for used books at a nearby store, this one had Viggo Mortensen on the cover which surprised me 'cause I didn't know they made it into a film; now I gotta watch it.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I didn't know they made it into a film; now I gotta watch it.

Not really the same experience, naturally. Film isn’t quite the medium for capturing McCarthy’s descriptions. This book in particular doesn’t have a ton of “plot” to it, such that could easily be transmuted to film scenes. Instead, sentences like this provide its backbone: “The track of the dull sun moving unseen beyond the murk.” It’s conveying that the sun is hidden behind the ash cloud, but the film would just show a second or two of an overcast sky. :shrug:
 
I’m introverted and don’t have any friends locally so I have social distancing nailed.

Classes are canceled but I’m not really affected since I have an online class and a hybrid class. Still have to go to work (outbound loading at FedEx) and don’t know when or if that will change. We were slammed all last week and had a lot this evening, lots of disinfectant and PPE shipping out.
 

DANGERDOOOOM

Rest In Peace, Kentaro Miura. We will miss you.
My wife is 6.5 months pregnant. I work in a grocery store in the USA near the initial outbreaks in the Seattle area (the first place to get hit in the US):magni:I’m constantly worried that I’m going to catch it and bring it home to my wife, possibly endangering our baby.

My job doesn’t allow us to wear face masks because we will ”scare off the customers”:shrug: And I’m put in a tough place to either leave work and use all my sick/vacation pay to avoid working, but then I won’t have much for when my child is born. Or stay working and hope I don’t catch it and bring it home.

Ive never been more stressed and anxious about working. Hope you guys are all going to be safe and healthy. Including your friends and family.
 
An obvious reminder. Be nice to others, especially right now. I feel the strain of childcare costs with school being closed. Not budgeting to go backwards in that sense. Can only imagine what some may go through in the coming months. We all know what people who get pushed into a corner do.
 
I’m constantly worried that I’m going to catch it and bring it home to my wife, possibly endangering our baby.

I'm not sure it will help, but I heard on my local news here in Sweden that a study conducted in Wuhan concluded that pregnant women who tested positive for coronavirus did not transfer the infection to their babies. I found a digital copy of the article and the paper that lead to the article is this one:


While trying to find the article I also came across these pages, which you've probably seen already:


From the second link:

"The risk of passing the infection to the fetus appears to be very low, and there is no evidence of any fetal malformations or effects due to maternal infection with COVID-19."

I guess it's early days and more studies may be needed to reach a definitive conclusion, but the signs so far seem to be positive.
 
I'm not sure it will help, but I heard on my local news here in Sweden that a study conducted in Wuhan concluded that pregnant women who tested positive for coronavirus did not transfer the infection to their babies. I found a digital copy of the article and the paper that lead to the article is this one:


While trying to find the article I also came across these pages, which you've probably seen already:


From the second link:

"The risk of passing the infection to the fetus appears to be very low, and there is no evidence of any fetal malformations or effects due to maternal infection with COVID-19."

I guess it's early days and more studies may be needed to reach a definitive conclusion, but the signs so far seem to be positive.
A baby was just born today here in Portugal, of witch the mother also had the corona virus.
 
One of my employees already lost her uncle Friday, her aunt is on a ventilator and her cousins have it too, and she can't even go to the funeral because it's in Spain and the travel ban went into place that day, not to mention she was worried about being deported because with classes moved online international students weren't sure what this meant for them being allowed here on the condition of in-person study.

That's heartbreaking to read.

Hope everyone's safe. Hang in there. Sorry for the late post in here. I live in Elmhurst (NY) where the situation has been escalating compared to other parts of New York city. I work downtown and my boss was adamant that we continue to come in to the office because he suspected this would blow over by end of March, it was just a scare tactic, blah blah blah. He gets his credible news from WhatsApp forwards and it's been hard to talk to him about safety because of that and how hard headed he is. It's only been 2 weeks since I put my foot down in an office meeting and asked for the us employees to work from home. There was a full week prior to that when I had to travel by the trains to get to and back from work, riding empty subway cars because everyone else had already begun working from home. Working from home is a big adjustment and I'm having a hard time setting boundaries of when I should switch off because there's no travel and I notice my lunches don't last more than 15 mins, which usually are about 40/45 mins when I'm at work cos everyone's chatting/ catching up. Temporarily closed the record label to eliminate going to the post office to fulfill orders. Amazon deliveries are taking 4/ 5 days which takes me back to 2010, we're so used to next day delivery with Prime. So far, we're managing okay. My wife has asthma and a weaker immune system compared to mine, so I've been stepping out for the weekly grocery/ milk run. My immediate family abroad are also doing okay.
 
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