outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

I've said before that I don't agree with people who go about their normal life unless specifically told not to do something, but I get the impulse.

But a bunch of people singing in the same room, come on

I think we really need official *rules* and then official *guidelines* but we're getting very mixed messaging and no one is doing anything unless it's a legal proclamation

even ultra-libertarians think the minimum function of government is to ward against dickishness

Actually I've just seen the rehearsal took place on March 6th where most people were still going about their business as normal. Just terrible luck above all else.

I guess this is the way I'm looking at it to an extent: I have not left my building in > 2 weeks except for a short walk nearly two weeks ago and have been exceedingly cautious about not coming into direct contact with any surfaces outside of my apartment, constantly hand washing, etc., and I'm still asymptomatic. I'm like 99% sure that if I go to the grocery store or something, I'm not going to be spreading this virus to anyone. But I also feel to an extent that I'm basically restarting the clock at the point where I enter a public place. And so if I were to go out again after that, I would feel remiss in not wearing a mask.

But also because I'm me, I'll definitely be wearing a mask the next time I leave the building and every time thereafter for some time to come.

But I also feel to an extent that I'm basically restarting the clock at the point where I enter a public place.

We are on the same page here, but I would feel this way even if I was wearing a mask when I went out.

I think the rehearsal was March 10 (email was March 6), I was counting days.

masked or not I highly recommend people go for regular walks in sparsely populated areas if any are available. being cooped up all day for weeks on end is probably deleterious*

*not a doctor

The article I saw said the rehearsal was March 10. There were already people dying in Seattle, and the choir director not only acknowledged the “stress and strain of concerns about the virus" but everyone washed hands with sanitizer at rehearsal. So it was just a terrible lapse of judgement all around.

I think gloves or hand protection seem more important/impactful than masks, tbh, if you're not sneezing etc. or around anyone doing that. I have worn gloves to the store.

xxxpost Oh yeah, to be clear, I don't think wearing a mask means I wouldn't be restarting the clock. Short of wearing a full HAZMAT suit on every public excursion, I'm under the assumption that we're re-upping our risk every time we leave our homes and enter an enclosed public space.

I got everything sorted at the end of January for the possibility of quarantines, empty shelves and loss of internet in both places that we could've ended up hunkering down in. My spouse was humoring me and now we are all cozy and I get to say "yeah mofo, see I was right."

xxxpost Also vitamin D! I've always heard that's one of the few vitamins/supplements with real proven benefits, and that most of us don't get enough vitamin D in the best of circumstances. One of the apparent benefits, along with bolstering your immune system, is positively affecting your mood.

I’ve been dosing up on vit d for the last few weeks cause I was deficient, not sure it has improved my mood all that much but maybe it has idk

One number I keep coming back to is 2: the current estimate for the average number of people that a coronavirus patient infects (for seasonal flu it's 1.3).

That says to me that those two people are likely to be the people you're in regular proximity with, which makes me a lot more relaxed about picking it up from a bit of packaging or from someone passing me in the street (as long as they didn't cough or sneeze on me as they passed). Am I being naive?

I don't think so. I think the vast majority of people have likely gotten it from sustained close proximity.

Oh, some other news you can use: we know someone who works at our Trader Joe's, and she told us that yeah, at first the trucks and deliveries were pretty erratic, but they seem to be back to their old rhythms, which means if we're not quite there we are close to supply and demand being back in balance. The only things I've heard stores struggling with stocking remain cleaning supplies and (still inexplicably) TP.

my coworkers are saying this thing is pretty much "over" in small towns

I don't think you are naive, alba. I was just talking the other day though about how peoples' usual MO is to like, drive wrecklessly for 2 minutes to save 5 minutes of time even though a possible outcome could be the loss of hours, $$$ or life. And it usually works out fine so we keep doing it.

Some of these precautions are annoying but such low effort, like I am constantly wtf about how people can't make risk(effort)/reward calculations for themselves.

uhhh xp

my coworkers are saying this thing is pretty much "over" in small towns

Caveat: author lives in Taiwan iirc but this is a detailed look at where we stand with mask efficacy and recommendations. https://stratechery.com/2020/unmasking-twitter/

(Caveat because China/who stuff in that article I guess?)

This might be the first instance where someone in a small town calls something that is all the rage in big cities "over."

lmao links to SlateSt4rC0dex what is with these people

Is that the new Autechre mix?

I get all my covid safety tips from the dark enlightenment

This might be the first instance where someone in a small town calls something that is all the rage in big cities "over."

Since typhoid, maybe.

ssc famously wrote the anti-reactionary FAQ he's not dark enlightenment you're thinking of land + moldbug

I know you like ssc but idk forgive me for not being able to keep track of these people

I haven’t even had my damn coffee

Or gotten out of bed

I need better priorities

I should also add that it seems like an overabundance of caution just seems wise in places that are or are likely to become hotspots. I know Chicago metro isn't NYC but we sure do seem to be blowing up, so whatever the general recommendations are for the country/world-at-large, doubling or tripling down probably isn't a bad idea if you aren't in backwoods Bumfuck, AR.

i promise you i wrote a sneering addendum "and plz don't hur durr i can't tell the difference between different bloggers who may or may not have right-wing inclinations" and deleted it and now regret having done so

;_;

I would’nt have if you asked Mordy!

silb on the money, i got ill for Nick Land

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/31/virologists-to-turn-germany-worst-hit-district-into-coronavirus-laboratory

This is interesting and very relevant to the last hour's worth of conversation.

Cuddly social democratic Scandinavia latest https://t.co/2ehkOO5SFi

— Mr Demos of Pnyx (@gem_ste) March 31, 2020

I volunteered at the hospital again today and had to yell at the clinical staff for standing too close together in line. They pretty much laughed when I said that they needed to practice social distancing and not a single one was wearing any kind of face covering. One of them said to me, “Do you have any idea how closely we work together on the wards?”.

well.. not as bad as medical staff still calling it a hoax last month. sigh.

new study, even if you think it improves your (or others') defenses .001% wear a homemade mask ffs

the gas cloud and its payload of pathogen-bearing droplets of all sizes can travel 23 to 27 feet

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763852?resultClick=1

Christian hospitals still bad not good

Wow. Healthcare workers trying to volunteer their services to the Central Park tent hospital (which has dozens of beds as well as ventilators) have to sign on to this anti-gay no-sex-outside marraige pledge.https://t.co/PchFiPgdL9 pic.twitter.com/9Ea9MFHzDc

— Naomi Clark [暗悪直美] (@metasynthie) March 31, 2020

fucking hell.

remember "faith-based initiatives" from like 2003 or whatever

so i guess no one is getting an abortion in central park. bucket list!

imagine there's no babby

it's eZ if you try.

Gah with NYC. The numbers.

this is like Paul Rudd in Wet Hot American Summer where he makes that big production out of picking up something off the floor.

looooooooool :D

i am going to limit myself to one post on this right now. keep in mind i just finished day 3 of an epic fight with my mom, who literally think this is a one world government conspiracy, that mark levin was sent special government ID cards and travel documents because they're going to establish concentration camps and different regions and they're trying to separate the "good" republicans from the rest of the country, and also says she doesn't trust "anyone" now, so she and my dad are "listen to our guts" from now on, and also the bible, of course, because this was all foretold and they're going to use coronavirus as a way to remake society in preparation for armageddon. so keep in mind i'm cranky and a little sick of people getting all confused about basic things and consistently pushing the limits of the most inadvisable, indefensible behavior because they just "don't know who to trust"

JUST STAY THE FUCK INSIDE YOUR HOME

i meant one post, after that post. here's my one:

JUST STAY THE FUCK INSIDE YOUR HOME

PS:

FUCK MARK LEVIN
FUCK RUSH LIMBAUGH
FUCK ALEX JONES
FUCK JAMES O'KEEFE
FUCK SEAN HANNITY
FUCK JERRY FALWELL
FUCK JERRY FALWELL JR
FUCK TURNING POINTS USA
FUCK FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
FUCK ANYONE WHO EVER THOUGHT ANYONE ON THE LIST ABOVE WAS TRUSTWORTHY, YOU CATASTROPHICALLY DUMB FUCKS