outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

i stocked up with rice pasta and pulses! this is so the opposite of my normal approach to shopping that i am worn out and my mind is blown

hackney shops are still well stocked and friendly! the main (larger) one i went to was busyish i suppose -- not sure i've even been in it on a saturday before -- and the shop ppl were looking a bit sardonic at everyone's sudden mass shift towards less fancy purchase (dude do you even mung bean) but it is very liminal here between hipsters and large asian families that even this may have been routine boredom

The small-town store where my bf lives has sanitizer and wipes dispensers right in the entrance where you don't have to touch anything to get in and can clean your cart handle. I also used it on the way out because yes ppl touch all kinds of things in stores.

Thinking through how many things in my home have been unavoidably touched by others made me realize--being home doesn't mean it's safe to touch my face either! Don't touch! Bad hand!

at last the benefits of never having people in my home come through

🙌

anybody know what the recommended quarantine period is if you test positive? like, I know on person who has been exposed (she was at an event where another person tested positive) and she is self-isolating for two weeks, but what about if you actually test positive? still two weeks? a month?

thx io <3

i'm continuing to go to the office plantation at least the beginning of next week

if anyone has tips for best availability of sanitizer/rubber gloves in/around Kensington/Ditmas Park/Slope lmk

Self isolating, bulk buying rice & pulses, somewhat compulsive hand washing - my culture is not a costume, people!

ok, translation needed. what are pulses?

Pulses = beans / legumes? If it's something else I didn't mean that.

anybody know what the recommended quarantine period is if you test positive? like, I know on person who has been exposed (she was at an event where another person tested positive) and she is self-isolating for two weeks, but what about if you actually test positive? still two weeks? a month?

― sleeve, Saturday, 14 March 2020 15:03 (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

UK gov recommends a minimum of a week following onset of symptoms.
UK gov also recommended Brexit so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sleeve, iirc my work OH's guidance said two weeks after you stop exhibiting symptoms, but that if the cough is the only remaining symptom and it's been two weeks you can stop, as it can persist for several weeks after you stop being infectious

thank you!

I am going on the subway for an hour to go clean a studio bathroom.
as - last week - i have promised the person in charge of the studio i will do this I think i will do this today and then write them an email saying it's gonna not happen again until this madness passes.

at least it'll be easy to wash your hands when you're done!

bringing my own gloves/mask

The brands are already sending out marketing emails targeted at workers in semi-quarantine: pic.twitter.com/ioy5f1jJi7

— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) March 13, 2020

pulses per my usage was red lentils, chick peas and kidney beans

"peas, beans, lentils," late 13c., from Old French pouls, pols and directly from Latin puls "thick gruel, porridge, mush," probably via Etruscan, from Greek poltos "porridge" made from flour, or both the Greek and Latin words are from the same source

sez etymonline.com, never happier than when i'm using the original etruscan

Covid 19 Tracker. Useful for Americans trying to find out whether their state is ahead of the curve (ie; low % positives) in testing for SARS-CoV-2. Some states aren't reporting negative results.

I think my state (LA) is only catching about 15% (those who are showing up, short of breath at ERs) at present.

international transport is turning fucked quickly in Europe today, with international trains and flights being canceled. a Japanese colleague is here with me and was supposed to go to Munich next week and then to Japan a few days later, but on Aeroflot from Munich to Tokyo; and Aeroflot just announced that from 16 March, scheduled flights will be suspended between Moscow and Barcelona, Burgas, Frankfurt, Heraklion, Munich, Thessaloniki and Zurich. now he has to scramble to get a flight to Tokyo asap, or risk getting stuck here (which is mainly bad because it will be expensive and possibly dangerous if he gets sick here)(not that Tokyo is significantly safer in that regard but he'll have insurance there at least)

Flights between the U.K. and US are likely to stop early next week too.

I live in a small town (6,000), with a moderate-sized town (35,000) 15 minutes east, and a small city (350,000) 30 minutes southwest. We've got two grocery stores: a large one, Independent, owned by Canada's largest grocery conglomerate (Loblaws), and Foodland, a smaller chain store. I've been dropping into one or both the past few days--buying a few things at a time, sometimes just a normal daily stop for one thing (like a salad today), and I also walk there for the exercise in lieu of the gym.

Nothing even approaching hoarding yet. That one highly-coveted item is out--a phenomenon that continues to baffle me--but the shelves are otherwise mostly full. The smaller chain had two lines three-deep at noon today, with another 10 people milling about in the store. Maybe double that when I was in the larger store yesterday. I thought you might start to get people driving in from Stratford and London, but not yet, evidently. If the world shuts down tomorrow, I've got enough for 3-4 weeks easy. This is heartening, but I'm under no illusions that St. Marys wouldn't follow the path of what I'm reading about in Toronto if things took a turn for the worse.

I walked past this ice cream shop on the way home--passed it a thousand times in the car since moving here in November--that has just reopened after seasonal closing. Had to smile wryly--can you imagine reopening this week after a few months off? "Uh, welcome back!" On a good note, there were seven people at the window buying ice cream. I think that's a good note, I don't know.

Small towns and even more rural people will be the last to join the party. They rightly believe that living at the end of the line means they are somewhat insulated. Then, when it arrives, they will keenly feel the lack of sophisticated medical care outside oft the big cities.

More personally, my 75-year old brother in law, who was slowly recovering from what I strongly suspect was a bout with COVID-19, was admitted to the hospital yesterday and is now placed in isolation in an ICU, where he is in an induced coma and on a respirator. The preliminary diagnosis is Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Also, he was finally (!) tested for COVID-19, but the results will not be available until possibly tomorrow.

Fuck

Aimless, that's rough. Sorry to hear it.

Sorry, Aimless.

aimless <3

I'm very sorry to hear that Aimless

I’m sorry Aimless

So sorry Aimless, my thoughts are with you.

crossposting from other thread cuz it should go here:

25 new cases in FL.

The sharp increases begin

― sorry for butt rockin (Neanderthal), Saturday, March 14, 2020 11:46 AM (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Ohio just doubled (from 13 to 26). They're ramping up testing.

― whistling (brownie), Saturday, March 14, 2020 11:53 AM (seven minutes ago)

Is Russia finally reporting cases?

Cases are reporting them

Good luck to your B-in-L, aimless.

For those curious about how this is treated in critical care settings, I thought this was a good intro. (Maybe not for squeamish):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okg7uq_HrhQ

so sorry Aimless

I was thinking similar thoughts about my hometown, it might take a long time or not get there but if it does their "health care" system is going to be so overwhelmed

Sorry, Aimless.

I can only hope the hospital here is engaged in as much advance planning as possible. Demographically, this is an older town, too.

This is probably worth knowing if correct

paracetamol (acetaminophen) not ibuprofen if you get symptoms 👍 https://t.co/MyCcvbymPH

— Abi Wilkinson (@AbiWilks) March 14, 2020

Perhaps a mod should retitle this thread to clarify it's the right one for stats, medical/technical info and politics (reserving the other main one for more personal accounts).

Thinking of you and your family, Aimless. Hope you get some positive news soon.

xps: Interesting on ibuprofen; in case reports and some treatment guidelines, ibuprofen is also used as an add-on fever-reducing drug in hospitalized cases now.

Much love, Aimless. Stay strong.

Widely reported elsewhere, but from a Telegraph article from 2007 (I searched in vain for contemporaneous coverage from the Guardian or Mirror):

Boris Johnson has revealed the inspiration behind his ambition to run London - Larry Vaughn, the mayor in the film Jaws who demanded the beaches stay open despite the ominous presence of a great white shark.

"The real hero of Jaws is the mayor," Mr Johnson said last year in a speech at Lloyd's of London. "A gigantic fish is eating all your constituents and he decides to keep the beaches open. OK, in that instance he was actually wrong. But in principle, we need more politicians like the mayor - we are often the only obstacle against all the nonsense which is really a massive conspiracy against the taxpayer."

Bars and restos closed throughout France from midnight tonight. DEF not the time for tourists here.

and yet the elections are still on for tomorrow, this is crazy

Agreed

Graphs are useful but to really get what that rising curve is, have a look at the obituaries page of this Bergamo daily newspaper, comparing one from February with one from now pic.twitter.com/78mgZseyVt

— Ben Phillips (@benphillips76) March 14, 2020

So my dad is insisting on taking a trip to Colorado to visit friends next week for his birthday. He’s about to be 76 and his girlfriend is 70 and I’m in the UK. I’m terrified he’s going to get sick and I won’t be able to get there but nothing I say will convince him to postpone this trip. :(

aimless, I’m thinking about you and your family

Best of luck to your brother in law, Aimless

Thanks to all who expressed good wishes. I should have put that post into the board 77 thread about 'what happened'. Except for my strong suspicion this is a follow-on complication from never-tested, undiagnosed COVID-19, it is just my personal stuff.