COVID-19 general discussion thread

yes it has blown 4 of my wife’s major meetings out of the water, both daughter’s schooling is affected.

think of the thousands upon thousands whose paychecks come from sports that just got tossed out.

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All hail the power of the :glowforge: forums - I’m doing more talking with ya’ll than anyone who doesn’t live in my house

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I am an extreme introvert so this has done nothing to my social life :laughing: Except now I have more people to talk to online because they are afraid to go outside.

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I just saw some jack hole on the book of faces try to minimize what we are facing by pointing out that J Dahmer had killed more people than have died thus far in the US.

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Well, that’s a messed up comparison

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Have read every post since the beginning. 487K posts. Very noticeable that the posting frequency has dropped in the last 4 hours, compared to other Thurs nights. Thinking people are preoccupied.

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My granddaughter is here. We went for a walk in the woods and saw a herd of feral pigs with at least 2 dozen small piglets. And she caught a frog. :slight_smile:

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In the spirit of reaching every audience here’s a somewhat snarkier take on this. The url contains profanity so I’m spoilering it, but the advice is sound and some people will relate to this better than a dry analysis. Anyway:

i have the option to work from home when i don’t have to be in in-person meetings. i’ll probably start taking advantage of that some next week.

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What I objected to were his statements about method of transmission through air that I’ve not seen any other expert claim, and he stated it as fact. Possibly I misunderstood, but I do believe if you are an expert you have a responsibility to stick to verifiable facts. His demeanor was off putting to me as well, he came across as trying for maximum scare effect.

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I can identify!

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Start NOW. And not just “some.”

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Bill warned us…

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Droplet transmission is what everyone has said all along–although they’re really just guessing right now. I didn’t hear him say any different --? (Not gonna listen again because Gkid is beside me and I’m not supposed to scare her. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: ) They really don’t KNOW yet…but health care workers get it the worst, which implies possible airborne (floating particles) transmission and a loading effect with more exposure.

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Transmission through air I think is one of those things that can mean two things: long-range transmission through air, and being in close contact (6-feet) and ingesting droplets.

So air transmission is more of a technical term. I felt the whole interview was expressed in a manner to communicate in a way that the lay-person could understand it. If he wanted to be technical about droplet size, etc. I don’t doubt the ability for him to do so, but what does that do for the average person listening?

It’s like listening to engineers talk about load balancing etc in straight book terms / means little to most of us.

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Besides, it’s best practice to assume it’s at least close-quarters air transmissible. Follow the right protocols, and if the theory is wrong, so what? If it’s correct you might have saved lives.

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not everything i do is easily done remotely. but what i can do, i will.

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And as usual FB is wrong. Dahmer killed 17 men. Johns Hopkins is reporting 31 US deaths so far.

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911 was an incredibly pivotal event in our history, one that changed us forever. Many lives were lost. Businesses crumbled. At the time, some events were cancelled or postponed as we grieved as a nation. Our military presence in the middle east escalated. Beyond that, our overall sense of security was threatened such that travel and entry to sporting events and concerts and the like will never be the same. And though the ripple effects were felt far beyond the families and friends of those on the hijacked planes or those killed on the ground, day to day life styles for most of us were largely unchanged.

Covid-19 changes everything. It is affecting all of us. Every day. Certainly, there has been widespread over-reaction, spurred by panic. Supermarket shelves have been needlessly emptied. Fights have broken out in stores over bottled water, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and other such products. Racial attacks against Asians, by misguided, angry people putting blame where it does not belong, has marred our national temperament of tolerance. And never before have so many events been abruptly cancelled, schools closed, and sporting leagues suspended on a global basis. The stock market is crashing. And the country, the world is on edge.

Clearly, there is no place for the racial discrimination and violence that has used the coronavirus as an excuse. But the question remains as to whether ANY of the actions/ responses by panicked people are justified.

There is a slew of information and misinformation, rumors and conspiracy theories about Covid-19. People who fear the worst over-react. People who downplay it face the greatest risk of being exposed. The calm, true course lies somewhere in the middle.

What everyone really wants to know is how infectious this virus is (what are the chances I get it), what is the realistic forecast of how many people will get it in the USA, what is the government doing to control the spread, what can I do to reduce the risk of getting it myself, how will I know if I or someone else has it (symptoms, testing availability, etc.) how lethal is it (what can I expect if I get it), and what things are being done to prepare for the support of those who are infected (cures, treatments, hospital beds, insurance coverage, etc.). Moreover, we all want to understand what impact the virus will have on the world we live in, in both the short and long term, relative to our jobs, communities, schools, retail shopping, medical assistance, etc., etc.

Just as in every other country, the reported number of cases of Covd-19 in the US is growing exponentially by the week. However, our number is still relatively low because test kits have not been readily available until the past few days. This means there are lots of infected people out there who don’t know it yet. Once they are tested, the number of infected cases in the US will spike dramatically. The director of the NIH projects that the number of cases in the US could grow to be in the millions. The key is that the virus can be passed as easily as the flu and is indiscriminate to the race of the infected; it can be any one of us. That is why some level of controlled caution (not wild fear) is warranted.

The other element to be considered for those infected is the mortality rate. The mortality rate of the flu last year was less than 1/10 of 1%. The mortality rate of the coronavirus seems to be running by some estimates at 3% (6% in Italy). If that is a true number, if as many people catch Covid-19 as caught the flu, that means there will be a million people dead this year. Let me repeat that, if the mortality rate of Covid-19 maintains the rate shown early on around the world, it will kill a million people this year.

For those infected who survive, if only a third of them are seriously ill, that will require 10 million hospital beds and respirators that don’t exist today. That’s a big deal. But if we act swiftly and smartly and be careful about our interaction with the world around us, we can get through this, together. But things will be different.

I have felt since the end of January that this was going to be a major disruptive event when our business was inundated with requests for masks, disposable coveralls, chemical goggles, etc. I could see a panic running greater on a worldwide scale than we had seen previously with SARS and MERS. First hand, we knew about extended factory closures in China which would delay or reduce shipments of products to the US, thereby hurting American business. I saw it also putting US workers across many professions (medical professionals, manufacturers, etc.) at greater risk because of needed of protective equipment they could not get. I expected a mammoth hit to the global economy. And I under-estimated.

But Covd-19 is more than financial disruption. It is threatening everything. When people greet friends, I see their hesitance to touch one another. People are also hesitant to touch public door handles without a barrier / napkin to dispose of. People are bowing out of events with indoor gatherings. Restaurant business is down. People are engaging in “social distancing”. We are isolating ourselves, both literally and figuratively

We can all hope for a quick turn around on a vaccine, but that is not likely. So we need to adjust ourselves and where we go and what we do until then. Expect a lot more online shopping. Expect a lot more people working from home. Expect a lot more empty businesses and roadways. Expect a lot more online movie watching. And expect a lot of fearful faces covered with masks when you go into medical facilities.

As Mark Cuban said last night when he was interviewed after getting word that the NBA had suspended their season, this is like something out of a movie. It is definitely a surreal experience for all of us. And while some may over-react, no one should take the other point of view that this is a media concocted, overplayed situation or even a hoax. It is real. Accept that and make changes to your routines and habits and plans, as necessary, to protect yourself and your family, and respect the concerns of others. Don’t make light of it like Rudy Gobert did earlier this week and allow karma to come back and bite your head off. Neither panic, nor be complacent.
Step calmly and assuredly into the good night with awareness and respect.

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What a well-thought piece of writing. Good sense tempered by caution. Thank you.

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