outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

I'm definitely frustrated at the apparent lack of planning and/or organization, because as sanpaku noted, you can only blame so many political appointees, and the CDC and cohort are usually more than competent. The only silver lining is that no matter who is to blame, the administration will bear the brunt of the criticism, with the caveat that they seem to be quite aware of that, which has further incentivized them to lie and obscure for the sake of self-preservation.

That said, I'm as anxious as anyone, but trying hard to tune out at least some of the noise and follow the news and facts as they are reported. My understanding is that air travel is no worse than any other form of public transportation, in terms of exposure, and that as long as you wash hands and avoid people with symptoms (the usual precautions) you should be as OK as you are anywhere. To that end, we're still planning to go to Maui in a couple of weeks. There's no (reported) outbreak on the island, there's no (reported) outbreak here, not only would cancelling our trip cost us a lot of money, but doing so and *not* locking ourselves in at home and avoiding all other people would mean we're still just as at risk for random exposure or transmission here as being or going anywhere else. So we might as well go. If anything, we're going to spend just as much time alone together as a family there as we would here, and for all I know the warm weather and tropical forest/beach might actually limit exposure. Obviously we would change our plans if there was a sudden (reported) outbreak here or there, or of course if travel were restricted.

i have a trip to LA for some dj gigs planned for march 20-28 but everything i read be like, ARE YOU INSANE, DON'T TRAVEL AHHH. but i didn't buy travel insurance when i booked this so i guess i'm going. am anxious now.

and yes it fucking sucks that the federal response in the US has been a lot of disinformation and downplaying what is a serious danger. this country is so backwards.

― davey, Saturday, March 7, 2020 1:52 AM

davey, dunno when you purchased ticket but American, for example, is waving fees on certan dates, but I'm sure if you got on the phone you might talk'em out of it too.

http://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2020/American-Airlines-Update-on-China-Flights-OPS-DIS/default.aspx

Huh. We're flying United, so I was curious, and what they posted is really confusing. "We're waiving change fees for any bookings — domestic and international — made between March 3 and March 31, 2020." Does that mean any *travel* booked for between those dates (which makes sense) or tickets *purchased* between those dates (which doesn't)?

Appears to be the latter, which is stupid. On the former front it only applies to travel to epicenters or restricted destinations. They should really be waving rebooking fees on *all* flights.

purchased

They want to incentivise people to book travel now without worrying too much whether, if this drags on, their plans might be disrupted. BA has the same policy.

Around 70 people were left trapped after a hotel used to quarantine people who have had recent contact with coronavirus patients collapsed in Quanzhou, eastern China, officials said.

The Xinjia Hotel collapsed around 7.30pm local time (11.30am GMT) and around 23 people had been rescued by 9pm, according to a city government statement reported by AFP, with rescue efforts ongoing.

WTF? What an unbelievably horrifying scenario.

xpost So people who purchase *now*, fully aware of all this stuff going on, get reassurance that they can change their flights without penalty. But people who purchased months ago, with no idea any of this would be going on, get screwed? If United is acknowledging that people purchasing now might want to change flights out of precaution, then why wouldn't that same safety concern apply to everyone else? That's like saying people booking a room in a burning hotel can get a refund, but those already staying there get penalized for leaving.

They’re doing it to drum up business not out of safety concerns

Yes. It is not a huge mystery why they might treat people whose money they have differently from people whose money they want tbh.

Well, out of safety concerns, but yeah, $$$.

What if the money's infected

Then the joke's on them, because they have our money. The fools.

This #panickbuying just went to a whole new level. I just don’t get it. #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/lNiE3RdZL0

— Auntie Pegg (@AuntiePegg) March 7, 2020

France is a few days from declaring itself to be in stage 3 epidemic levels. It's not really clear what difference that will make locally, but I imagine it will add us to lists of places to which travel is not allowed.

xp jfc how much are these arseholes planning on shitting

Stores should be placing limits on high demand items.

The government here has put price limits on hand sanitizer (3 euros per 100mls) and is allowing pharmacies (which are everywhere) to make their own for selling in addition.

Yet more proof that Macron is a dictator.

with the strikes in public hospitals right now, the epidemic is going to make things delicate.

don't most average people go through, at max, one roll of toilet paper per person a week?

I’m used to doing most of my pooping at the office so we def will need more around here

josh, are you staying in an apt or hotel? I think there is only one person infected in o'ahu and they were on that cruise ship.

men use 4 a day iirc

depends how often they are planning to masturbate

nothing comes out of my butt when i masturbate.

omg

xpost new board des......wait, nah

i bet everyone in the usa wishes they had japanese toilet seats now.

been wishing for that for a while tbh

also I have been led to believe americans throw it over each others front gardens for some reason

um, it's called "Greeting the Moon"

I think there are 6 cases now in chile, all from people who traveled to e asia, mostly italy. It's hot as shit here right now and very dry so I wonder how that will affect transmission. everyone is still out protesting.

We're staying in an airbnb, so not packed with tourists.

This is full of all sorts of handy stuff:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

My bathtub is 1 ft from my toilet. And I hate half measures. I maybe go through a roll every two months.

wait, what does your bathtub being in proximity to your toilet have to do with how much toilet paper you use

yeah i think we go through one normal (non-plushy) roll for 2 people here a week usually. I think some people have toilet paper insecurity though? is that a thing?

xp I don't think we want to know that.

About a roll a month for me. Portable bidet, people.

Don't use more than 1 square of toilet paper to dry off when you get out of the tub

My tub is right by the toilet as well and was thinking, not so seriously but actually it would mean there were options if there was no paper. That would be TMI but it's only hypothetical.

bideting is totally fine.

i left a full kirkland package (30 rolls) at my apt when I moved and my friends moved in (2M). I came back to visit like 4 months later and went looking for toilet paper in the closet and noticed new charmin instead. I asked oh, did you not like that toilet paper brand or something." THEY HAD USED IT ALL ALREADY. I think some people just very much like to make an oven mitt whenever they wipe their butt.

Many of the squat toilets in much of Asia have spray hoses nearby. It all depends on one's standard of cleanliness.

bidet is better

i feel like squat toilets were really beneficial in having older asians maintain a lot more mobility than western counterparts. I am trying to look this up but it looks like no one has really been able to research it with a control group--- why certain ethnicities can hold deep squats longer/more easily.

it was only a matter of time before someone involved waffle stomping doctrine itt

xp crut:

I find that offensive. Rick Santelli here is perpetuating the lie that "it's just another flu". I've been pushing the opposite line here and elsewhere since epidemiology stats came out in early Feb. Given containment is no longer possible, if mitigation measures are successful, we can get US CFR under 0.6% (for 30% attack rate, ~ 600k dead), much lower if some effective antivirals prove effective). If everyone in the US got it now, all who require critical care, and most who require serious care, would die. 3% of the population (10 M dead). Santelli's call is one of the most irresponsible things I've seen from any broadcast journalist, ever. Santelli should lose his job over this.

There's been a run on toilet paper at a lot of Costco locations, apparently. But Costco also carries bidet attachments you can buy for a conventional toilet. Then again, if you are so paranoid you're also stocking up on bottled water, clearly you have no faith in our plumbing system, anyway, so bidet attachments are out. But what good is all that toilet paper if you don't think we're going to have running water?

I assume the people stocking up on bottled water don't drink tap water in the first place.

My figures above aren't that outlandish.

James Lawler, MD, MPH, U Nebraska
https://i.insider.com/5e62a449fee23d58c83a9e62?width=800&format=jpeg

It's not the flu.