Coronavirus outbreak

[Cimmerian]

It's a weird mix of very normal and strange shutdowns here. I was taking pictures in the store of what items were out/being raided next today for my own amusement because this feels like we've been put in a parody of a pandemic film honestly.

 

Life is going along, no one's shutting themselves into their houses in a panic but pretty much all schools are closed for another week (the kids are all thrilled), colleges will go to online classes after that, more businesses are asking their people to work from home suddenly, and many of the fun things to do closing down. We have several cases in the vicinity but most were traced back to foreign travel or contact with someone who had, and everything really comes across as an overreaction. The worst is the grocery stores (like many other countries/states). Oh and I'm getting a hell of a lot of emails from anything that can email; stores, gyms, and food places telling us "the precautions they're taking" or if they're closing etc.

 

I'm not at all worried about the virus itself; it's more concerning trying to get some of your everyday items while grocery shopping if you didn't get them as this silly panic hit. We're not all being locked in our houses for months people; please stop mass raiding the grocery stores and buying 5X what you need. Those I know are only buying enough for about two weeks (and only in reaction to kids being home unexpectedly/as a reaction to possibly not being able to get your normal needed items that you'd buy next week because of the mass buying).

[Divide By Zero]

I'm feeling rather stressed and anxious right now, not because I'm afraid of getting sick with COVID-19 (I'm young and healthy), but for a whole variety of other reasons. In no particular order:

• I've booked a whole bunch of time off work to go on a dream vacation to Europe but now it looks like it's not going to happen and I don't when I'm going to be able to take my trip. Thankfully I hadn't booked anything. (I was on the verge of booking when I saw the case numbers rapidly increasing in Italy and I didn't have a good feeling about the situation so I held off on booking anything.)
• All the crazy panic buying is disturbing and upsetting. Society has lost its mind. (What are people going to do with all that TP? Build a fort to keep COVID-19 at bay?)
• My grandmother is 96 and frail so if she gets COVID-19 it's probably not going to be a good outcome. Ditto for my aunt who is late 60s and has diabetes.
• My parents are early 70s and in fairly good health but COVID-19 may not be kind to them.
• Normal life is on hold for the foreseeable future and there's so much uncertainty right now.

[Abigail Rose]

5 minutes ago, AceViking said:

I'm feeling rather stressed and anxious right now, not because I'm afraid of getting sick with COVID-19 (I'm young and healthy), but for a whole variety of other reasons. In no particular order:

• I've booked a whole bunch of time off work to go on a dream vacation to Europe but now it looks like it's not going to happen and I don't when I'm going to be able to take my trip. Thankfully I hadn't booked anything. (I was on the verge of booking when I saw the case numbers rapidly increasing in Italy and I didn't have a good feeling about the situation so I held off on booking anything.)
• All the crazy panic buying is disturbing and upsetting. Society has lost its mind. (What are people going to do with all that TP? Build a fort to keep COVID-19 at bay?)
• My grandmother is 96 and frail so if she gets COVID-19 it's probably not going to be a good outcome. Ditto for my aunt who is late 60s and has diabetes.
• My parents are early 70s and in fairly good health but COVID-19 may not be kind to them.
• Normal life is on hold for the foreseeable future and there's so much uncertainty right now.

We are all in the same situation with people we care for. I really hope things turn out for your vacations but this will pass. We all just have to keep telling each other that. I have great concerns as well for those of us that are really living alone. If we get sick who is going to help us get through. I have faith we will overcome but of course the panic is making the situation far worse. I don't know about anyone else but living in fear is not living to me. I am a very likely candidate to get it soon as I am dealing with so many individuals and handling cash. I am still hopeful things will get figured out.    

[Tabula Rasa]

Here in the USA people are going crazy. There's no toilet paper in the stores. The things that are essential (produce, tea, herbs, some soup, etc.) are in stock. What are they going to do? Eat toilet paper? Diarrhea is not one of the symptoms of the coronavirus either, so... ???

 

There are nine cases reported in my state, and the university here is having online classes.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Kimchi Peanut said:

Shrug. Hasn’t affected me at this point in time. My brother in law might get stuck in the US (he arrived there last night) for a while but his boss has already said it’s fine if he does. I already wash my hands and use hand sanitizer like a civilised person and am basically a hermit anyway. I’m only concerned that I may not be able to get toilet paper when I next need it. But thankfully I had just gotten a bulk pack right before everyone started panic buying it.

I went out to get food today because I didn't have any in house really since I expected to be out for over a week...

 

I managed to get some pasta, the last two packages of bottled water (I can't drink our tap water, it's grimy from the nearby quarry) and even the vegan pickings were scarce (only vegan beef alternatives, the rest of the options were sold out). So, I stocked up on supplies for vegan tacos and spaghetti. That's my meals til the panic ends. 

[paralibrarian]

Latest:

• there is a google sheets doc that lists which public libraries are closed. There are a LOT, and guaranteed to be more and probably most.
• the library was really busy today. A few people did not yet know about the impending closure. Everyone else was getting things to entertain themselves until this passes (including me).
• i usually grocery shop once per week on monday mornings. i'm pretty much out of food at home so i'm just hoping i can have a semi-normal shopping experience at that point. I buy a 12 pack of toilet rolls every other week and this is my week to buy, although i'd be good for another week if they're sold out.
• there are still fewer than 300 cases in the entire state of california, so i dunno. I really hope closing everything down works to stop the spread and we can get back to whatever normal will be asap. 
• i'm really sorry for all of you and everyone who is suffering. the stress is real. take care everybody.

[Abigail Rose]

well said @paralibrarian you take care as well.

[paralibrarian]

@Silence4now Thanks!

one thing I was gonna say and forgot: it's weird how it seems to just be popping up everywhere. we really should have had a better handle on this thing a long time ago. it's so much better if you can track its spread and the patterns make some kind of sense. this just makes it seem like we have no idea what is going on, which i suppose is true.

[Abigail Rose]

@paralibrarian  I think it has to do with cash flow somewhat. If our government had any sense they would have made rules on how much people could buy at one time. Rationing out resources to ensure public safety sounds better than this chaos. Maybe Silence4now2020. Maybe not LOL.

[Captain Jay]

I like to joke that I'm not very high-risk for this because I wash my hands a lot and tend to avoid crowds anyway, but that might just be me.

 

In my immediate area, things aren't too different, apart from supermarkets being vaguely busier than usual, but it's not like I live in a super-crowded part of town. A lot of event cancellations have been happening around the city, and the MTA has been promising to clean buses and trains more often. I've also seen almost empty pictures of landmarks like Grand Central... a rare sight, for sure.

 

(Oddly, public schools have remained open, but since very few people have been attending, that might well change soon.)

[Zagadka]

The government "relief" bill excludes companies with more than 500 employees. Way to screw small businesses and play to large corporations, government. God people are dumb.

[Guest]

This is pretty much how I feel about the things most people freak out over:

 

 

[Balance]

I was checking around for stuff on the word Corona, you know like crown in bible or astrology stuff because I thought it was weird that the corona image like an eclipse was being used to describe an illness.

 

I'd never read this site, and it is a little woo-woo/conspiracy theoryish and can be religiousy at first, but it does describe some stuff, and to be cautious of giving up your rights, control, etc. In my opinion, a lot of this is a script as scare tactics. Yes, there are viruses in the world and you should be cautious but don't freak out either. Speaking as someone who just got over the flu.

 

https://atam.org/crown-of-death-or-crown-of-life/

[Tabula Rasa]

[Guest]

It figures - vitamins and medicines are sold out online.

[Destan]

Belgium has closed all the schools, cafes and restaurants and stuff.

- All stores have to close during the weekend, only the supermarkets and pharmacies are allowed to be open 6/7.

- No one is allowed to visit the elderly at the retirement homes or patients at hospitals. Grandchildren aren't allowed to be cared by their grandparents.

- Nurseries are still open and kids who have no one that can babysit them, will be cared by the schools.

- It's the governments fault that everyone thinks it's just like the flu at first , but now that government has taken serious actions, people don't believe them anymore.

- Because people can't go to cafes anymore, stupid people sneak to the cafes in neighboring countries.

- hand sanitizers and hand-soap are sold out.

- All events are either cancelled or postponed.

- Minor surgeries and consultations are postponed. 

- However, actually treating people who are infected is quite questionable. The virus is still spreading a lot, by each day there's an increase of almost 100 people getting infected.

[Acing It]

On 3/11/2020 at 11:25 PM, Janus DarkFox said:

There's been 1 confirmed case locally which closed a big mobile call centre down at the moment.

That could be a good thing if it's one of those cold calling people. 😁

[banana monkey]

13 hours ago, New display name said:

 Diarrhea is not one of the symptoms of the coronavirus either, so... ???

 

 

According to the uk guidance I have seen, it can be. but it may not be one of the first symptoms to show. A doctor who was tested positive posted that he had it as one of his symptoms as well. 

[banana monkey]

16 hours ago, Silence4now said:

@banana monkey you could google WHO or the CDC in the US. The miscommunications are happening everywhere and I just returned from Walmart where they were literally out of almost everything. I managed to get a few things for rainy day but it was pathetic. I hope everyone can get the things they need soon. If nothing else we all ban together and make it happen without them. 

unfortunately, I am in the uk so I have to follow uk guidance. unless that changes or is more clear i'm pretty much in this situation until Thursday. Due to the job I have and the regulations around it, I may lose my job if I dont follow uk guidance (and company policy) to the letter (and if an elderly person got sick and it was found to be my fault I couldnt live with myself either). 

 

I am lucky that I seem to have bought enough food for a week before this happened to me, however, as I am now certain I just have a cough and not covid 19 it is extremely likely I will need to isolate again and so I when I get to the end of my isolation period I need to stock up again for another 7 days and just hope the shops have enough stock so I an do that!

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, banana monkey said:

According to the uk guidance I have seen, it can be. but it may not be one of the first symptoms to show. A doctor who was tested positive posted that he had it as one of his symptoms as well. 

From info from WHO, it is a symptom in about 40% of cases. 

[Abigail Rose]

@banana monkey I hope you feel better and get the supplies you need. Hopefully there is family that can help you or friends at least. I worry for the elders I serve as well and if they get sick I will blame myself for that either way. Still I say we just all have to stay together and use one voice with compassion and hope.

[Dreamer23]

8 minutes ago, Serran said:

From info from WHO, it is a symptom in about 40% of cases. 

Interesting - do you have a reference for that?

I was literally about to make a post with a graphic based on WHO data, which specifically listed it as being one of the symptoms. in the "rare" category, which would put it far below 40%.

I also just checked the WHO Covid 19 symptom website and they do not list it as one of the common symptoms there either.

That being said, I can't rule out that those sources have been outdated by newer WHO information and they just didn't update that page yet -> thus I'd be interested in seeing that source

 

Edit: I just found one on another WHO page!  Did list the 40%, but at least mentioned it. Would still be curious about where the number came from though.

[banana monkey]

2 minutes ago, Silence4now said:

@banana monkey I hope you feel better and get the supplies you need. Hopefully there is family that can help you or friends at least. I worry for the elders I serve as well and if they get sick I will blame myself for that either way. Still I say we just all have to stay together and use one voice with compassion and hope.

Yeah, I think I was being overcautious when I reported that I had a cough on Thursday and so thought it best to stay at home om Friday to see how it panned out. It was quite a bit better by Friday morning (no longer persistent) so now I wish that I had waited until then before reporting it but the problem is that I start work at 7.30 in the morning and if I'm not there and cover cant be found the previous person gets stuck there so its much better to give as much notice as possible so you can find cover for your shift. In a way I still would have been coughing at work though which is not probably the best thing for elderly people at the moment anyway. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Dreamer23 said:

Interesting - do you have a reference for that?

I was literally about to make a post with a graphic based on WHO data, which specifically listed it as being one of the symptoms. in the "rare" category, which would put it far below 40%.

I also just checked the WHO Covid 19 symptom website and they do not list it as one of the common symptoms there either.

That being said, I can't rule out that those sources have been outdated by newer WHO information and they just didn't update that page yet -> thus I'd be interested in seeing that source

 

Edit: I just found one on another WHO page!  Did list the 40%, but at least mentioned it. Would still be curious about where the number came from though.

It's coming from doctors reporting in. So, the numbers are likely off a bit. Some of it is also based on other viruses in the same family and typical way they act out since they obviously haven't tested this one as much yet. 

 

But yeah. It can be a symptom, just a rarer one. 

 

Most the symptoms are same as a normal flu or seasonal virus to start which is what is making this so difficult to track. Half the people I work with were sick on Friday. Any one of them could have had corona but they all say just a cold. There is no way to tell who is being exposed. Which is why they are doing the social distancing thing. 

[Divide By Zero]

Jonathan Pie on coronavirus

Looks like he's solved the mystery of why everyone is buying toilet paper

 

 

[Janus the Fox]

One thing I know is that if one starts to panic buy, others get scared because of that panicked individual and it becomes a race to stockpile, in case there’s nothing left.

 

This isn’t a famine we’re experiencing...

[AmberUK]

JP so so great. Hes so angry so much which he should be

[timewarp]

2 hours ago, Janus DarkFox said:

This isn’t a famine we’re experiencing...

Quite obviously not. Otherwise people wouldn't need all that toilet paper.

[Guest]

So...

 

Something I've found is in my area the places the richer ones shop are still stocked. Target, Publix, etc were not wiped clean. Winn Dixie, Harvey's, Walmart and Sam's Club were. So if you have a lot of stores, try for ones the more middle class types shop at than the lower class stores and you may have more luck finding things. 

[Skipper Valvoline]

Had to do my monthly big grocery shop today (couldn't last week because I was waiting for my paycheck). Things I noticed in the local Wally-world:

 

- Soup: gone. Just gaping blackness of shelves with maybe an unpopular brand here or there that people left behind.

- Vegetable oil: something I actually needed as I'm quite low. All gone. This is really stupid because I've had my tiny case of vegetable oil since June and am only now running out, so this mad rush is eye-rolling material.

- Eggs: HAHAHA no. All the eggs were gone. There were even signs leftover limiting the amount of eggs people could take. Not a carton, not even a broken shell left.

- Deli meat: pretty sparse, but was able to find some in the deli section by produce, which a lot of people had overlooked.

- Ramen: there was no ramen; I couldn't even find the correct aisle where it was usually stored.

- BREAD: Even worse than the eggs. The ENTIRE AISLE was empty. Not a stray muffin or crumb. I rounded the corner and just stopped "whoa." Lady nearby was like "yeah" and then told me if I needed any paper towels there were still some left on the corner.

 

Weirdest thing: all the small peanut butter jars were gone, but not the big ones. I'm not peanut-butter crazy, but it was odd what with everyone stockpiling everything that they would've skipped the bulk preservatives and gone for the tiny ones.

 

Unexpected thing: I went looking for brussels sprouts in the frozen veggies section because I figured surely people would leave those alone. They didn't! They even took all the brussels sprouts!

 

Thank goodness I didn't need any toilet paper or hand soap!