TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Pandemics and Epidemiology (COVID-19, monkeypox, etc.)

Go To

Moderator notice: Please do not ask for medical advice in this forum!

    open/close all folders 
    Suggestions for self-isolation/quarantine activities 
A list of things you can do if you are feeling cabin fever. Feel free to add to this.

    Information 
First of all, wiki has an article under "2019–20 coronavirus pandemic".

While the outbreak started around New Year's Day (12/31), it's picking up steam around the Asia-Pacific region especially since Mainland Chinese people tend to travel a lot.

For reference, the BNO Newsroom twitter has a special feed for any info on the coronavirus:

https://twitter.com/bnodesk?lang=en


The WHO has page about COVID-19 and any other concerns people may have. I suggest peeps go to the Q&A page to check for official details.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

Edited by nombretomado on Jun 3rd 2020 at 3:21:48 AM

Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#276: Feb 4th 2020 at 5:57:15 AM

The WHO rep in Manila testified in a Senate conference while a lockdown is not advised, he mentioned that it's just a recommendation and the state needs to figure it out if they want to do it or not.

Well as mentioned, the man who died in HK due to the virus had been previously sick. This is similar to the Manila case.

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#277: Feb 4th 2020 at 6:18:10 AM

Okay, so what alternatives exist to lockdowns? It's a main sticking point when I brought this up to my mother; she refuses to accept that no lockdown is overall better than having a lockdown.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#278: Feb 4th 2020 at 7:17:35 AM

Funding more research efforts, sending aid and supplies to afflicted regions to keep it from getting worse in them, that sort of thing.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#279: Feb 4th 2020 at 7:19:28 AM

CBC News announced that someone from Toronto pranked a flight en route to Jamaica when the plane went back to Canada with claims that he was potentially infected. He's being arrested.

TechPriest90 Servant of the Omnissiah from Collegia Titanica, Mars, Sol System Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Servant of the Omnissiah
#280: Feb 4th 2020 at 7:28:24 AM

[up][up][awesome]

Addendum to what M84 said - keep calm.

Don't panic, don't overreact, don't fly into a frenzy of closing borders and acting out security theatre.

Keep calm, focus on sending aid and supplies, prioritise research and insights into developing cures and inoculations. The Ebola Outbreak was contained precisely because people kept a cool head and got things done - not because of border closures and quarantines along with flipping out and losing their shit.

That's literally all there is to it. Not easy, but simple.

Edited by TechPriest90 on Feb 4th 2020 at 10:32:03 AM

I hold the secrets of the machine.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#281: Feb 4th 2020 at 7:29:23 AM

[up][up]Yeah, this sort of bullshit? Not helping. I hope he gets convicted.

Disgusted, but not surprised
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#282: Feb 4th 2020 at 7:47:37 AM

Brushing up on basic hygiene is always a good idea, especially considering that regular flu is still a risk and both the swine and avian flus are making a limited comeback.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#283: Feb 4th 2020 at 7:50:57 AM

Closing access and bolting every hatch only works... when the plague very definitely hasn't got anywhere near you, yet. And, only if measures are taken to bolster medical provision across the board, not just in the sectors directly dealing with contagious diseases.

In short: be an island with basically monthly deliveries you can kinda live without if you have to.

Unfortunately, by the time we ID and risk-assess an illness these days, the horse has not only bolted weeks ago, but hit at least three continents thanks to both symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers getting on planes.

Which is why old school tactics based on horse-and-cart speeds are, well, just not up to the task.

Heck, they weren't that great back in the day: the Black Death found ways in, regardless of measures villages and towns took.

Here's basically why:-

In short, embrace the inherent fluid dynamics in how people and outbreaks actually behave. The best offense in epidemiology... is to invest in a healthy health system brimming with slack and redundancy enough to cope with the inevitable outbreaks of varying lethality that always occur, not border security.

Edited by Euodiachloris on Feb 4th 2020 at 4:04:00 PM

raziel365 Anka Aquila from South of the Far West (Veteran) Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
Anka Aquila
#284: Feb 4th 2020 at 8:47:26 AM

Which is, as I said before, "not" a possibility for countries with less economical power than the First World. Besides, what contained Ebola was the very lethality of the virus preventing the infected from moving around, as well as it not being transmitted airborne.

Instead of focusing on relatives that divide us, we should find the absolutes that tie us.
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#285: Feb 4th 2020 at 8:58:47 AM

[up]It's possible. It's just not usually done.

I lived in South Africa while there were solid attempts to put significant dents in things like TB, bilharzia and polio (this was just before HIV became, well... what it became and overwhelmed the allotted funding well before changes to adapt were made). Part of that was simply spreading the grassroots info around on how to actually treat the conditions at home — to at least try to fight the myths and literal witchhunts. And what lifestyle changes could be made to prevent them or just make living with the effects more bearable.

The thing that kills most people in any plague isn't usually the primary disease, but the lack of adequate care and the influx of secondaries.

That was true even with the Spanish 'Flu. The 'flu was nasty and an especially good killer, but head-in-the-sand troop deployment, inadequate nursing, terrible hospital conditions and bugger all long-term care? Those were the real killers: given fluids, nutritional supplements, symptom-busting meds, therapy and time, people could survive much more readily.

Like my greatuncle Lewis... almost... did. (The only ones of his unit to survive were the ones who contracted and survive the grips.) Pity the likely PTSD and CFS he got hit with did a number on his mental health. He suicided years afterwards, unable to cope with being a survivor (and having not been given any help in how to live with the damage he got).

He wasn't officially killed by the 'flu. But, he still actually was: both saved by it (not dying at the front because you're too busy fighting to stay alive in a bed sort of counts as a save) and killed by the knock-on effects of it, poor lamb. He could have lived longer. With adequate care (including from the family). Which he didn't get.

Edited by Euodiachloris on Feb 4th 2020 at 6:04:07 PM

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#286: Feb 4th 2020 at 9:15:50 AM

Yeah, Ebola is an exemplar in how a disease's own lethality can nerf its effective contagiousness.

And on the "alternatives to lockdowns" front... well, I did mention "they should be spending that money and effort on helping those afflicted with the outbreak" when I previously discussed this with my mom, but she basically thinks that's bullshit as an "alternative". Apparently the whole notion of shutting down travel routes being ineffective or even counterproductive in fighting epidemics clashes too much with what she knows/learned as a physician throughout her life... which reminds me of a few times before when I had brought up certain medicine-related things that I had discovered that provoked similar reactions from her. I guess being told that she spent decades believing in a falsehood in her own profession is so anathema to her that she categorically refuses to accept it and just assumes that whoever is saying this is either a liar or an idiot.

Edited by MarqFJA on Feb 4th 2020 at 8:17:20 PM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#287: Feb 4th 2020 at 10:03:58 AM

The UK government's under heavy criticism at the moment. They're already under heavy criticism for how they handled the evacuations. Earlier today, it issued advice to British citizens living in China to consider leaving and returning to the UK, given that it's becoming harder for commercial flights to and from China to operate. Note, it's not an instruction, it's advice.

It seems to have caused a bit of a backlash. The advice appears to be to encourage British citizens to leave China and make their own way back to Britain via commercial transport. The reason for the backlash is the apparent lack of desire to coordinate and the issuing of generic advice that appears to be more suited to tourists than people who have actually built lives in China — which is most of the British citizens affected by this advice.

As a result, British citizens living in China have been contacting the Guardian throughout the day with their feelings about the advice. In short, they have lives, jobs, college courses and families. There's no advice on how long they should leave China for, or whether they can bring their Chinese partners and their dual-nationality children with them (the feeling is that that the UK government will not allow them to bring their partners and dependents with them). It's common for them to not have the work/college flexibility to just leave without losing their jobs or college placements, and they may not be able to afford it — either in terms of the financial cost of getting a plane ticket or the associated consequences of not being able to pay bills or rent because they don't know how long they're expected to leave for. It's also left them feeling like this is the advice of a government that's preparing to abandon and wash its hands of them ('these people didn't want to leave when they could, there's nothing we can do for them now').

They therefore feel the advice is vague and more likely to cause alarm and stress than actually help or inform (alarm and stress in terms of worrying about jobs, splitting families, losing their homes and being unable to meet financial commitments, and not receiving UK government help once firm information finally becomes available).

Edited by Wyldchyld on Feb 4th 2020 at 6:09:36 PM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
raziel365 Anka Aquila from South of the Far West (Veteran) Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
Anka Aquila
#288: Feb 4th 2020 at 10:06:04 AM

[up][up]

On that front, I guess it's part of a generational disconnection of some of the things of the current society with those of the previous century.

My family was also talking about banning entry to Chinese nationals in face of the outbreak, I had to be the one to tell them that it was probably illegal in International Law and doing so would piss off the CCP, with economical consequences.

[up]

Feels like the UK government has to be careful about their response, otherwise it will come across as punishing its citizens for being in China and making their lives there instead of somewhere else.

Edited by raziel365 on Feb 5th 2020 at 4:41:29 AM

Instead of focusing on relatives that divide us, we should find the absolutes that tie us.
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#289: Feb 4th 2020 at 10:14:34 AM

[up][up]Yup. The Foreign Office still hasn't caught on to how expats actually live in the wilds of globalism. Or what their needs really are.

They're still stuck in the Company (HEIC) mind-set which doesn't see dependants as really there until they go to Eton to get the CV with which to join the Company. tongue

You're better off hunkering down where you already are and living through a crisis as best you can than trusting the British government on anything, these days.

[up]You say that, but have you seen the balderdash EU (abd Swiss-Norwegian-Lichtenstinian) expats are regularly served about services, rights and contingencies?

Edited by Euodiachloris on Feb 4th 2020 at 6:21:25 PM

dRoy Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar from Most likely from my study Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
#290: Feb 4th 2020 at 4:58:13 PM

Yeah, Ebola is an exemplar in how a disease's own lethality can nerf its effective contagiousness.

Just like in Plague Inc.!

Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#291: Feb 4th 2020 at 5:06:22 PM

If anyone has the right to feel happy about these outbreaks, it is the developer of Plague Inc, I'm willing to bet the sales of that spike every time something like this happens.

eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#292: Feb 4th 2020 at 5:09:16 PM

They did issue a statement on it.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#293: Feb 4th 2020 at 5:27:32 PM

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-03/hong-kong-s-striking-hospital-workers-pose-new-threat-to-beijing

Beijing is worried that striking medical staff in HK could undermine the fight against Coronavirus in the SAR.

raziel365 Anka Aquila from South of the Far West (Veteran) Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
Anka Aquila
#294: Feb 4th 2020 at 5:38:31 PM

Apparently, they also want to close off Hong Kong to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.

Instead of focusing on relatives that divide us, we should find the absolutes that tie us.
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#295: Feb 4th 2020 at 5:45:11 PM

That's their big demand so far. Lam has closed almost all the borders except for two and the airport's still open.

Aunt is due to fly by soon from America. She got lucky.

dRoy Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar from Most likely from my study Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
#296: Feb 4th 2020 at 6:12:34 PM

Kinda ironic how in Hong Kong Chinese Police beats anyyone who's wearing masks while in mainland they beat up anyone who doesn't.

Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#297: Feb 4th 2020 at 6:18:10 PM

And to think, this is an improvement over how mainland China handled SARS. As was mentioned before, they at least didn't wait an entire year before admitting the problem.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#298: Feb 4th 2020 at 6:25:32 PM

Picked up reports in HK that some warehouses were secretly looted for the facemasks.

I suspect that they're going to be sold at high prices.

OTOH, my folks joked that the HKPF had to deal with a few troublemakers trying to "riot".


HKPF is squashing some rumors out there:

Ill-intentioned people have once again spread false information online, claiming that district police stations are giving out free face masks to the public. These rumour-mongers have also claimed that the Government will supply a large amount of face masks to the family members of Police officers. Police must squash such misinformation and remind the public not to be misled.

The Hong Kong Police Force pledges to stand firm and join hands with people from all walks of life to fight this battle against the epidemic.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#299: Feb 4th 2020 at 6:27:32 PM

The sad thing is that the face masks probably don't even help much. Any benefit they do have mainly comes from being a barrier to keep people who don't wash their hands regularly from touching their mouth or nose.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#300: Feb 4th 2020 at 6:41:32 PM

CBC has an interview with a couple (Husband is Chinese PR and Wife is Canadian and they live in Montreal) who were caught in the middle with their kids when they visited the in-laws in Wuhan.

TL DW: The couple were receiving mixed messages from Beijing/Ottawa that while it's possible for them to be airlifted, they were told that the PR husband can't leave due to not being on a manifest list submitted to Public Security Police.

As such, the wife is worried about coping without the husband at least.


Same thing as reported with BBC. British nationals with Chinese spouses/children with no confirmed British nationality/no passport for young children/only have Chinese passports.

Edited by Ominae on Feb 4th 2020 at 9:46:23 AM


Total posts: 25,890
Top