outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

going by what my relatives are relaying to me from Barcelona the government and media have not been taking this very seriously at all until like yesterday.

they were told that the virus just dies when it gets warmer! SMH

people in this thread made the same argument last week

well that's pretty stupid

My wife is supposed to be going there in a month, but it's hard to see it actually happening

it's been locally transmitted in chile and it's hot and dry as shit here.

i was wrecked by the flu one summer, it was the worst!

i'm supposed to be going to cdmx in a month -- according to the cdc that's Not A Problem Yet but can't really see that holding

just declared a global pandemic by the WHO

Keeping the kid home from school today due to the sniffles, which is more of an excuse; normally he’d go but I’m worried LAUSD is going to shut the barn door after the horse has bolted as it were. Assuming the schools will be closed down sooner rather than later regardless.

just seen some children playing tag calling out “you’re gonna get corona” each time they tag each other.

which means that’s it. we’re done for. #ringaroses

omg

this is the last day I'm going to be teaching in person for a spell I think, the kids are not to be trusted

The White House has ordered federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, an unusual step that has restricted information and hampered U.S. government’s response to the contagion, according to four Trump admin officials https://t.co/LoQmWZyGez

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 11, 2020

Co-worker’s husband is negative so that’s something.

i will be working from home from next week for the foreseeable.

good to hear, enbb.

When a reporter in the Capitol asked Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, 85, what precautions he was taking to protect himself from the disease known as Covid-19, he said none — and extended his arm with confidence: “Wanna shake hands?” https://t.co/JOrdZ5n7p8

— Josh Barone (@joshbarone) March 11, 2020

The reason the flu drops down in warm weather has less to do with the temperature and more to do with people spending less time in close quarters indoors, iirc.

"my governor's a republican and i don't mind dyin'!!!!"

Good! Die you old fuck xp

xpost Man, I wish I had covid just so that I could shake his hand.

That's good news, ENBB. Was reading upthread and vicariously outraged. I loathe the cavalier, stiff-upper-lip, 'you're all going barmy' attitude of some British people I have spoken to.

Despite the fact that I (as an average tutor) am on 8+ packed buses/tubes every day, none of these umbrella companies have issued a single message about precautions. Today was my last day teaching anything in person.

Good news E!

My work is still open, with no more than hypotheticals about closing the office (everybody check your VPN, make sure to bring your laptops home etc). I just wrote to my manager asking for WFH effective immediately.

We have had team meetings where people are reassuring each other it will just be some coughing for a couple of days and that it "only" seriously affects old people and people with underlying health conditions.
Each of those categories is ~20% of the population and also almost 20% of the team being briefed (including me).

i work in a MH clinic and one of the concerns we've had is that our patients are often elderly (the median age in my community is 55yo!) and a decent chunk of our patients are, for various reasons, not as likely to abide by our requests to not come to appointments if sick

my workplace has been very responsive about the situation and we just got ok’d to work from home indefinitely if that’s what we’d prefer to do. expecting this to become mandatory by next week

i feel very lucky and can’t help but feel horrible for the many many ppl whose workplaces are way less flexible and way more ignorant

Glad for you ENBB, and happy for everyone who can wfh. Assuming my workplace is going to insist we keep going in, have decided to pick up a few small items every time I go out just to keep us topped up. Not stockpiling, but dry goods that will keep and are useful to have. Have been wearing gloves on public transport as well. My father in law has a number of conditions and we’re used to staying away with colds, if it was my choice I’d have no issue staying in at all.

Change.org just sent this out to campaign for a reduction in time-consuming reviews for NHS staff amongst other things: http://chng.it/qJHdBrLdJw

(It's almost at target already!)

Well that’s my weekend plans ruined. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2020/mar/11/hands-off-can-orgies-survive-in-the-age-of-coronavirus

https://voca.ro/8WLuFQPmwdg

ty :)

Between this and the Amersham dogging community cancelling their gatherings, it’s a tough time all round.

xp I enjoyed the “on the money”

Big Ears is cancelled.
https://bigearsfestival.org/big-ears-festival-covid-19-cancellation/

new york's suny and cuny schools are closing . . . but not until next thursday (they might be on spring break now? not sure)

https://media.giphy.com/media/bqOXGPltRyedrOrB6h/giphy.gif The Yelawolf concert on Friday will happen as planned https://media.giphy.com/media/bqOXGPltRyedrOrB6h/giphy.gif

BBC staff all continuing to go to work smh

india has suspended all tourist visas through april 15

enbb so glad like gyac I've been seething privately about that post you made

couple I know just proudly announced they are still going on their cruise today smh

At this point choosing to go on a cruise feels like locking yourself in a castle to avoid the Red Death.

L. Ron Hubbard knew what was up.

A friend reports that some late-night shows (i.e. Fallon) will go ahead without audiences

We are all set up to work from home (and usually do a couple of days a week) but weirdly we’ve been told it’s business as usual. Have told my team to stay home this week, would imagine now it’s an official pandemic the advice might change.

Friend of mine (from Manchester, Chinese parents, lives in Madrid) has had people yelling CORONAVIRUS at her in the street and someone in her office asked if she was Chinese and then, when told ‘no’, said ‘oh you’re not dangerous then hahaha’. One of the worst things about any sad/bad situation is how it shines a light on how awful people are.

um this is odd

The White House has ordered federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, an unusual step that has restricted information and hampered U.S. government’s response to the contagion, according to four Trump admin officials https://t.co/LoQmWZyGez

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 11, 2020

they were told that the virus just dies when it gets warmer!

arrggh! viruses aren't alive. they don't eat, can't metabolize, and can't reproduce outside of a host cell. they're just rogue bundles of genetic material that enter your cells and fuck them up. they can't 'die', but they can become damaged to the point where they become functionally inert.

The zombie apocalypse was in us all along.

So much for pathology, the study of disease, with an emphasis on bodily pain, which at the same time was an emphasis of the body, an emphasis on its pleasures - disease was life’s lascivious form.

I have friends (who are over 65!) who were going to be going on a cruise starting this weekend. But that's off, thank goodness.