SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

I live in Italy/Switzerland. I am from the UK.


Whats the situation in Switzerland, then? I've heard from a friend there that lockdown is more of a strong suggestion than a demand, but maybe I'm wrong? Also, how are you managing to get between the two countries? Are the borders open for travel?
 
I'd like to think whilst we've been 'evaluating the evidence' in the UK that we've got manufacturers producing basic masks to distribute at the right time to the public.

Policy based on short supply of surgical masks would be some next level incompetence.
 
Whats the situation in Switzerland, then? I've heard from a friend there that lockdown is more of a strong suggestion than a demand, but maybe I'm wrong? Also, how are you managing to get between the two countries? Are the borders open for travel?

I'm not able to go into Switzerland at the moment so I'm stuck in Italy. The border is closed to all except essential cross border workers.

I speak to friends there every day though, it is a lot more relaxed. You are able to go up into the mountains if you want and nobody is stopping you going out even though there is nowhere to go. It sounds similar to what the UK has.
 
Time heals, people forget. We're social creatures. It's not like humanity stopped socialising after the plagues or the Spanish flu.

That's true but there were a whole lot of what would now be described as Health & Safety 'do's and don'ts', that came into play e.g. widen streets, put in proper drains, wash hands before touching food, or don't pour urine etc. into the street, don't build dwelling spaces too close together, use sanitized water storage, etc. etc. Lessons have to be learned, if not completely then partially, for example we need to have back up capability (in this country) to manufacture PPE for hospitals a switch over from some other product line, we cannot rely on the 'sweat shops' around the world producing this kind of equipment.

I can imagine dance floors being marked out like a grid and you have to as it were... "sooner or later you stay in your space' ( apologies to Billy Joel!) all sorts of other space splitting ideas in pubs, clubs, and restaurants, each table has its own mini-screen to allow fans to watch football/sport etc. in private parties... be like having your own box at OT!!

Now is the time for the entrepreneurs to get their thinking caps on and investors to look for the SMART angle... quite exciting really!
 
The craze to re-open business is spreading across middle America. First Michigan and Ohio, now Colorado. This first photo is almost iconic:
 
I'm not able to go into Switzerland at the moment so I'm stuck in Italy. The border is closed to all except essential cross border workers.

I speak to friends there every day though, it is a lot more relaxed. You are able to go up into the mountains if you want and nobody is stopping you going out even though there is nowhere to go. It sounds similar to what the UK has.


Yeah my friend is leading a relatively normal life at the moment. Works night shifts, goes hiking to quiet/remote places on the weekend.
 
Bloody ridiculous.

There's not only an alcohol-ban in South Africa, but also a ban on selling electronics. My earphones bit the dust and now I can't escape.

Only essentials (food and dairy) are allowed in India. I broke my TV a couple of days before the entire nation was shut off and here I am stuck in my house for months without a television and no booze. I wish I had just broken earphones to worry about.
 
Only essentials (food and dairy) are allowed in India. I broke my TV a couple of days before the entire nation was shut off and here I am stuck in my house for months without a television and no booze. I wish I had just broken earphones to worry about.

Television is rubbish. Losing internet would be much worse.
 
449 increase in hospital deaths in 24 hours, which I believe is the lowest increase in about two weeks (even when you account for weekend lag).
 
Only essentials (food and dairy) are allowed in India. I broke my TV a couple of days before the entire nation was shut off and here I am stuck in my house for months without a television and no booze. I wish I had just broken earphones to worry about.
I feel your pain brother! No booze. It must be only India and South Africa. I can't understand the reasoning behind this BS decision.
 
Whats the situation in Switzerland, then? I've heard from a friend there that lockdown is more of a strong suggestion than a demand, but maybe I'm wrong? Also, how are you managing to get between the two countries? Are the borders open for travel?

Was living in Switzerland for a year, got back to the UK in April (about 2 weeks ago). Situation is pretty calm, you can still go out (i.e. to the park) but you have to socially distance of course and be with less than 5 people. Supermarkets are full, they are limiting the number of people allowed in pharmacies. Borders are still open as far as I am aware since I was able to come back to the UK.
 
449 increase in hospital deaths in 24 hours, which I believe is the lowest increase in about two weeks (even when you account for weekend lag).
Looks like we're well past the peak now, which has been successfully flattened. We'll be back at work soon.
 
That's the thing about life, no matter how bad things may seem, they can always get worse. (I realize that complaining about a broken TV sounds insensitive in this thread).

I'm sorry, it wasn't meant to devalue your own personal experience. I should have said something along the lines of "losing television is bad but I think losing the internet is a lot worse". I said that more because at least with the internet you can access catch up services as well as streaming services such as netflix, as well as game, read news etc. I think less people watch live television nowadays.
 
‘Jesus is my vaccine’: Hundreds of protesters gather without protective gear in Pennsylvania

Demonstrators gathered in Pennsylvania on Monday to demand that that the stay-at-home order be lifted as the coronavirus pandemic peaks in the United States.

According to reports, hundreds of protesters showed up in Harrisburg. Many of the demonstrators failed to wear protective gear or follow the CDC’s social distancing guidelines.

“Jesus is my vaccine,” a message on one truck said. One man came to the rally bearing a wooden cross on his back.

Other signs claimed that COVID-19 is a government “false flag” operation.

“Signs are saying that Gov. Wolf is the virus, that the media are the virus. Everything is the virus, except the virus,” one observer noted.


 
Fully opening up the economy just because the curve has been flattened would be a disaster. The virus won't just go away.
Obviously not fully opened straightaway. But things like kids back to school, people back to work in offices. The increase in capacity now means that a higher curve can be coped with whilst a vaccine and treatments are developed.
 
Obviously not fully opened straightaway. But things like kids back to school, people back to work in offices. The increase in capacity now means that a higher curve can be coped with whilst a vaccine and treatments are developed.
Yeah let's just kill more people....

Why send people back to offices when they could work from home, that's a ridiculous idea, plus the spread in schools would in my opinion put us back on the path of another high peak. I really don't understand your reasoning here.
 
Obviously not fully opened straightaway. But things like kids back to school, people back to work in offices. The increase in capacity now means that a higher curve can be coped with whilst a vaccine and treatments are developed.
both of those will probably only be done partially though. Kids in school once or twice a week, and people only in offices if there's no way for them to work from home.

I also don't really get your logic. You can cope with a higher curve so let's let the virus spread and kill more?
 
Yeah let's just kill more people....

Why send people back to offices when they could work from home, that's a ridiculous idea, plus the spread in schools would in my opinion put us back on the path of another high peak. I really don't understand your reasoning here.
Why do you think they have been opening up these massive field hospitals?
 
I'm sorry, it wasn't meant to devalue your own personal experience. I should have said something along the lines of "losing television is bad but I think losing the internet is a lot worse". I said that more because at least with the internet you can access catch up services as well as streaming services such as netflix, as well as game, read news etc. I think less people watch live television nowadays.

No worries mate, I didn't feel that way from your post at all!

I used my TV almost entirely for Netflix (and sports) and now having to watch it on my phone and laptop. Not an ideal situation when that is all I have to do almost every day.
 
both of those will probably only be done partially though. Kids in school once or twice a week, and people only in offices if there's no way for them to work from home.

I also don't really get your logic. You can cope with a higher curve so let's let the virus spread and kill more?
This is already the case?
 
Why do you think they have been opening up these massive field hospitals?
I'll take a wild guess and say to deal with the current pandemic.

Apologies if this is mistaken identity but I seem to remember you having some very strange views a few weeks ago regarding the pandemic.
 
I'll take a wild guess and say to deal with the current pandemic.
They are hardly being used yet though. I'd assumed that they were part of increasing capacity so that the lockdown can be loosened without overwhelming the NHS. Maybe I've assumed wrongly then.
 
I’m in love with Andrew Cuomo.

Gets asked a tough question: “Good question, I don’t know”... throws to the doctor with zero ego invested.