Moderator notice: Please do not ask for medical advice in this forum!
- If you are interested in Crafting, maybe try ordering a craft kit online (something substantial that would take time would be best, like a Latch hook kit
(and crochet hook if you don’t have one), a potholder loom and cotton loops, or cross stitch kit), to work on.
- learn something physical, like an instrument, how to sew or knit, etc
- a lot of museums and zoos and the like are doing virtual tours or free online classes, so keep an eye out for that as well.
- do a giant puzzle
- Join an online bookclub
- Take an online class
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
Edited by nombretomado on Jun 3rd 2020 at 3:21:48 AM
Oh, bother.
As an atheist, that's not an option for me. Instead, I draw hope from knowing that people are fighting to save lives. The nurses, doctors, paramedics on the frontlines. The scientists and researchers behind the scenes working their asses off day and night to come up with treatments and vaccines. Our leaders providing us good governance...well, some of them.
I guess despite all of my griping about people, I still believe in them. In us.
Edited by M84 on Mar 26th 2020 at 7:43:18 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Faith can help cope with the situation, as long as it doesn't supplant following government containment rules and the advice of medical experts.
Anyone else remember the joke about the woman praying for God to save her during a flood, while shooing away all the actual help sent her way?
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Mar 26th 2020 at 12:44:23 PM
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.
I should clarify that I also do hope from the medical professionals on the frontlines. You need trained experts in a time like this, and they deliver. By God, they deliver, and hopefully the day this is all over we can honor them as deserved.
I got sick a lot as a child, and had stomach issues a lot in later years. I've learned time and time again to value those working in medicine and healthcare.
It's...well, not to get political, and I'm sure you folks didn't mean it, but it's the sort of attitude that pushed me into becoming a social democrat instead of a liberal, where folks over there were actually more accommodating. But that's not what we're focusing on right now.
Edited by TheWildWestPyro on Mar 26th 2020 at 4:45:03 AM
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I can fully understand that. I'm a firm believer in science as well. Sadly, it looks like the virus is thoroughly owning humanity at the moment and it drives a lot of people to despair and desperation. They try to find solace through religion that it fries the common sense in their heads. I can tell that my mother is somewhat despairing, while my father is a nihilist at heart and takes it calmly while trying his best to keep clean and distanced.
Me? I'm conflicted, but not utterly depressed or suicidal. I'll just keep on living till the end and follow the advice of rational people while staying away from ignorant people.
Edited by Lazlo74 on Mar 26th 2020 at 4:45:18 AM
Scaled seeker
Oh, bother.
As Eagle pointed out earlier, scientists have been making slow but steady progress in terms of treatment. And of course, vaccine development is ongoing. It won't even be that complex since we're only dealing with one virus (as opposed to the multiple viruses that cause flu or cold). It just takes time.
Which is why we all gotta try to reduce the rate of infection. We need to buy more time.
With the punchline being this:
- God: What are you doing up here? I sent a raft, a boat, and a helicopter your way.
I don't think less of people who turn to worship as solace. Plenty of my relatives do it. They also follow medical advice from health experts.
Edited by M84 on Mar 26th 2020 at 7:49:05 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Hell, for all the anti-science and anti-vaxx fundies out there ignoring the virus, they'd do best to remember that one of Jesus's primary abilities, talents and free services was healing.
Sure, it took him an instant, but that again, fundamentalism insists you take it all literally...which is, as you all know, a dark path to go down.
Edited by TheWildWestPyro on Mar 26th 2020 at 4:50:53 AM
Oh, bother.
Don't forget he also fed the poor.
Disgusted, but not surprised
That's why they have no problem throwing money at charlatans offering "faith healing".
If Jesus came back these days, he'd be flipping tables left and right. Literally.
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Mar 26th 2020 at 12:54:33 PM
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.
Dick Kovacevich, the former CEO and chairman of Wells Fargo, told Bloomberg News that healthy workers under the age of 55 should return to work in April if the outbreak is controlled, saying that "some may even die" with his plan.
"We'll gradually bring those people back and see what happens. Some of them will get sick, some may even die, I don't know," said Kovacevich, a current executive at Cisco and Cargill. "Do you want to suffer more economically or take some risk that you'll get flu-like symptoms and a flu-like experience? Do you want to take an economic risk or a health risk? You get to choose."
President Donald Trump said he wants to "reopen" the economy by April 12, even as deaths from COVID-19 continue to mount in the US, because he'd like to see "packed churches all over our country" for Easter.
"Wouldn't it be great to have all of the churches full? You know the churches aren't allowed, essentially, to have much of a congregation there," Trump said Tuesday. "You'll have packed churches all over our country. I think it would be a beautiful time."
Kovacevich isn't the only former bank executive pushing for economic activity despite the risk of increased infections and death. Lloyd Blankfein, the former head of Goldman Sachs "on a gap year" according to his Twitter bio, called on Sunday for "those with a lower risk to the disease to return to work."
"Crushing the economy, jobs and morale is also a health issue-and beyond," he wrote on Twitter. "Within a very few weeks let those with a lower risk to the disease return to work."
A server at an Olive Garden restaurant, 63-year-old Jim Conway, had no interest in heeding the multi-billionaire's advice. Conway, who was laid off from his Pennsylvania location two weeks ago, is "in no hurry to go back in the middle of an epidemic," he told Bloomberg News. "Being a server means you're in contact with lots of different people, and puts you at bigger risk of getting infected. I'm kind of glad they closed when they did."
"They've never really had our interests at heart," added Conway, who is waiting on unemployment benefits from the federal government. "And now would be a weird time to start."
Dallas Mavericks owner and venture capitalist Mark Cuban disagreed with Kovacevich and Blankfein, saying their advice should be disregarded.
"Ignore anything someone like me might say," he wrote in an email to Bloomberg News. "Lives are at stake."
Oh, bother.
Again, we're not supposed to be wishing harm or encouraging it here.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Looks like Brexit is going to start killing people after all - UK refuses to sign on to a bulk buy of ventilators despite being invited to purely because "we're not in the EU".
Goku Black
Some of you may die but that is a sacrifice I'm willing to make in essence.
Edited by miraculous on Mar 26th 2020 at 6:32:40 AM
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Some more sky-puppers, as a change of pace.
Edited by megaeliz on Mar 26th 2020 at 10:00:17 AM
Goku Black
Forgive me for asking. What does that have to do this with topic ?
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
It just serves as a nice change of pace if you feel overwhelmed by negativity reading this thread.
Also, in the early stages if I remember right bats were suspected to have been a part of COVID's development into the human-borne virus it is today.
. Exactly. This situation is very stressful, and hard on mental health, so it’s nice to give people a reminder that the world isn’t always such doom and gloom.
Edited by megaeliz on Mar 26th 2020 at 9:50:28 AM
Oh, bother.
NVM
Edited by M84 on Mar 26th 2020 at 9:46:22 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
In the name of being honest
Surprise! Pangolins were the most likely intermediate hosts between bats and humans, after all.
In... slightly... cheerier news (I seriously have no idea what the ethical guidelines are on these kind of things), rhesus macaques that were infected with the virus proved to be immune to subsequent infections. Which seems to track with our findings from antibody/serological tests on recovered human patients (those reports you saw of people getting "re-infected" were most likely from recovering patients whose bodies hadn't gotten rid of the last traces of the virus yet).
Edited by eagleoftheninth on Mar 26th 2020 at 6:58:40 AM
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
. Pro-tip: If you know you’ve been exploded and not shown symptoms at least two weeks while it is still contagious or had the virus and recovered, Then you should be fine to go out, without worrying about being infected or infecting others.
so i made a new avatar
In the name of being honest
I wouldn't quite say that. The "re-infection" cases proved that the virus can linger for a while in your airways even after you've mostly recovered from the symptoms, which means that there's still a risk that you might infect others. The quarantine centres in China kept patients billeted for two weeks post-"recovery" for that reason.
Okay, some actual nice stuff for a change: my biology teacher from high school (New Zealand native, went back to Christchurch a few years ago) sent me the full-page information spread that the government there had been printing on newspapers. I'll just quote the choice bits:
Today, the nation unites
Together, we are saving lives by staying home.
We are not powerless to help. Every single person staying home is helping our nurses, doctors, paramedics and others on the frontline to save lives.
Kindness is our best defence
We need to look after one another. All the time, no exceptions. Reaching out, both to offer help and to ask for it. This will have its own challenges. Being there for someone doesn't necessarily mean you need to be close physically. But we are a creative nation and we will find ways to do this. From chatting over a fence, to waving from a window, even the simple things can and will have a profoundly positive effect on those around us.
And it's also our best weapon
Every signal you make to someone else that says 'I've got your back' or 'We're all in this together' is an important weapon against COVID-19. That's how we'll unite. And that's how we'll get through this. Through kindness. Through unselfishness. Through understanding.
- He aha te mea nui o te ao?What is the most important thing in the world?He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.It is the people, it is the people, it is the people.
Fighting a global pandemic with The Power of Love, let's do this.
Edited by eagleoftheninth on Mar 26th 2020 at 7:23:17 AM
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
Oh, bother.
The Guardian: Sydney airport chaos after NSW brings in coronavirus temperature checks for all arrivals
The resulting chaos made social distancing nigh impossible, which seems counterproductive, to say the least.
Disgusted, but not surprised
I won't deny anyone something that gives them comfort, as long as it isn't harmful to others. Just make sure that you follow the advice of scientists and doctors when it comes to matters in the here-and-now.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"