You can’t make stuff like that up… people do not realize the destructive potential of this virus yet!
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Back in 1973 shortly after the start of the gas crisis/shortages, Johnny Carson made a joke on his show one night saying there was a shortage of toilet paper. Panic ensued, and there became a shortage of toilet paper. Carson apologized and sanity (sanitary sanity, if you’re feeling whimsical) slowly returned.
I’ve thought about this some over the years wondering if people really thought that paper mills were going to shut down. Did they think maybe paper mill workers wouldn’t be able to get to work because there was no gasoline?
Do they think today that the mills will shut down because the operators are all going to die from Coronavirus?
Do they think? That’s the one.
Over here we had a quickie discussion.
Somebody said he will just self-isolate and not worry about electricity or water.
Unitl somebody pointed out what if COVID-19 cause a disruption in electrical and water supply… (infect/kill off enough employees to guarantee that the production of whatever will stop)… this happened in China as some, if not most, factories had to close in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
I got an email last night saying that two people who attended the RSA conference (which I was at) tested positive for it. If I were going to get it, though, I’d be sick by now. RSA was just over two weeks ago.
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The joke in Maryland (at least) has been that a heavy snow warning will elad to a panic-buying surge in Bread, Milk, and Toilet Paper.
I think a little bit of panic-buying is somewhat reasonable… But people are apparently going way too far. It’s a sing that we are an interconnected society.
We just had our first reported case in Ottawa.
I’m expecting people to lose their fucking minds in 3 … 2 … 1 …
We all are waiting and watching to see what Coronachan is planning for us here in ZA.
A lesson from the past with Spanish Flu was highlighted recently - apparently poor quarantine controls and poor inspections allowed the flu to spread to the rest of the country.
Meanwhile, on twatter some blacks are taunting people by saying that they will not get infected with COVID no matter what happen.
If ECCC hadn’t decided to postpone, today’s announcement by Governor Inslee would have made the decision for them. All events with more than 250 people are banned in three counties through the end of the month. If under 250, they can proceed if certain conditions are met. You know, going to a movie theater would count on that limit, so unless attendance is down, which it probably is right now, theaters in the affected counties might have to close.
The US Secret Service issued a press release (link to the PDF) to watch out for scams relating to the virus: phishing, social engineering, auction fraud and non-delivery. On the last one, either the item is never sent or never existed at all. At present, no known cures exist so any products being sold as a cure or preventative are bogus. Watch out for fake charities and fake sources of info, especially with any email attachments or links.
I knew I should have gone grocery shopping last night. I already had a lot of canned and frozen foods even before this started, but I’m getting low on milk and a few other things. Tomorrow’s going to be interesting. Ain’t gonna try it tonight.
I’m supporting one team at my work rolling out tons of laptops to employees who normally have desktops. Not a huge deal, but it was a panic-drop-everything kind of project. I might see my desk tomorrow, I think.
I will admit I ordered a couple cables so I can rearrange my home workspace if we’re home for either a test day or actual shutdown. One rule I expect is if we’re doing WFH then everyone needs to be on video for meetings so bosses know we’re still able to dress ourselves: My current desk configuration at home has the laptop basically behind me (connected to a KVM) so all they can see is my head.
Have a horrible feeling.
At the height of the COVID crisis in China, a lot of doctors tried to warn the West.
Now with the current COVID situation in Italy, a lot of doctors are doing the same…
Buckle up, we’re going in hot, guys and girls.
And sadly, you get people who still bleats “it is just a flu” but they do not consider that it clogs up ICU and what do you do when you need ICU (car accident, heart attack, stroke, whatever), but the ICU ward is full?
Also to consider are things like electricity and water. If the electricity goes (power utility workers are down with COVID), all bets are off.
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We went out to do our normal weekly shop but also trying to buy extras so we can have a stash to fall back on if we have to self-isolate or quarantine.
It’s mental - rows of empty shelves (no rice, pasta, tissues, toilet paper, bottled water, soap, hand sanitiser, aspirin) where people have gone mental. Oddly enough, things like potato chips, soft drinks (all the crap that people normally buy) were seemingly untouched.
Given the (relatively) massive increase in people testing CV+, our moronic government’s refusal to close the borders (or close schools, or ban large gatherings of people, or really do anything at all useful or constructive), and the infectiousness of this thing, Oz is in for a rough ride.
I expect that most of the Western World won’t be far behind. Strap in folks…
BTW - Tom Hanks and his wife have both tested CV+
So, gatherings of people over 250 have been “banned” in Indiana. Our Church is going online, sounds like my wife’s office is going online, and school is waiting out spring break to announce anything. Sports are delayed until at least April, and schools with later spring breaks are closing until spring break is over.
Only a couple conventions have cancelled so far, GenCon should go off without a hitch in August.
Interestingly enough, China has their factories back up for a couple weeks now and Apple has opened their stores there again. I think we’re all in for a rough month and then we’ll see.
Also, let’s see what excuses companies make to pull everyone back into the office after a month or two working at home iwth no productivity loss.
Also, what a great idea to push communal living in these huge cities with millions of people living on top of each other.
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School closings have started and a travel ban from a good chunk Europe begins today in the U.S.
I saw the same disparity at the grocery store I went to for shopping trip. Yeah, it’s mental but it’s also logical. People are buying things that will keep for a long time in case they have to be stuck at home for a long time. As pointed out, they’re not considering what happens if utilities like water and electricity cut out. However, that really should only become a problem if there’s a failure in the systems that generate the electricity and pump the water up to the storage tanks and then there’s enough workers sick to delay or prevent the repair. Water delivery is gravity-fed from storage tanks to most residential areas where I live.
I’m somewhat covered. I have a sleeping bag and emergency survival blankets for warmth if power goes out and a portable camp stove with a couple of bottles of propane for cooking.
This is a useful explanation of the current theory many are trying to implement:
Essentially, it’s better to have a slow manageable spread, as a huge surge will overload medical care and cause larger and more disruptive interruptions.
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