Which is worse. Covid-19 or the Panic?

[Lord Jade Cross]

Taking 20 Lysol can is an a bit of an understatement. Stealing, emptying a shelve or entire aisle as I saw at a local pharmacy, trying to kill you over a parking spot just so they can get in because "it's about to run out" that's panic.

 

My biggest concern of this is that I may dangerously likely come back to work to find I have none anymore as this appears to be something that's going to be extended and surprise Banks and such will rarely give you a chance to get back on your feet. 

 

I had to ask to be considered for an extension on my car alone and I'm crossing my fingers that it gets approved or I will be car-less in the very near forceable future. Which in out itself wouldn't be a big issue if not for the wave of problems it causes as no car means no way to get to another job (and trust me I've been looking for ones in my immediate area for months now, even before this whole thing blew up as a way to ease on car usage/repairs), no job puts me in my current position of no income which means debts will pile up instantly, resulting in a loss of even more things.

 

[Guest]

That's the unintended consequence of the panic. Many businesses will go under due to it.

 

I walked through one of our largest malls today, and most stores closed halfway through the day due to non-traffic. No point in paying out payroll, and utilities if you can't even get a single walk in.

 

People need to realize, that this will last for months. Many of us, are front line employees and can't afford to work from home.

 

I've heard so many people in ultra cushy jobs, urging people to work from home like it can be done in a snap of a finger.

[Guest]

I've had an employee pressure me to shut down the operation. To me, I have to factor all employees. Most need a job and the money. Shutting down, would be irresponsible.

 

I'd rather offer paid leaves for up to a specific period of time, or offer flexible shifts, while adapting to the situation, I.E Requesting clients disinfect their hands upon entry (this is more to alleviate worry from staff).

 

Major chains in Canada like Sobey's, have installed plexiglass shields at the cash of all their stores. Closing a Sobey's might appease some, but then you just lost thousands of people their jobs. Great, now they can safely get evicted from their homes.

 

People need to use common sense, and read up on how this illness spreads, and relax while being aware.

[Lord Jade Cross]

Good luck with that.

 

Even if there was round the clock information being offered (and there is a pretty considerable amount of ads going around urging for prudency), people would still behave as stupid as they've done so far. Heck there are people already claiming that this is one of the apocalyptical plagues that preceed the end of the world. 

 

You know that if in just a week or so that is the mentality that's set in, there's no chance in hell for people to act rationally. I've worked in labs and for lesser situations, people lose their shit.

[Lord Jade Cross]

36 minutes ago, Perspektiv said:

 

I've heard so many people in ultra cushy jobs, urging people to work from home like it can be done in a snap of a finger.

That the usual arrogance and igmorance of those who are higher on the monetarial chain

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Jade Cross said:

Heck there are people already claiming that this is one of the apocalyptical plagues that preceed the end of the world. 

I unfortunately know someone who is stocking up on firearms, because he thinks this is the beginning of the end. Offered me a couple, and I politely passed on the offer.

 

Same person is adamant on conspiracy theories they claim lay blame on China for orchestrating this, to cleanse the planet of its ailing generation.

 

I've worked with a handful of people, who likely are already building bunkers for the same thing.

 

*This* is the person I worry about, in times like these. The more desperate we get socially, the more desperate they become.

 

1 hour ago, Jade Cross said:

That the usual arrogance and igmorance of those who are higher on the monetarial chain

Yeah, its like hearing that celebrity wishing out loud that more moms work from home while having their maids take care of their babies and chefs preparing their dishes to free their hands up so that they can grow their business empire (while maintaining a perfect waistline due to their nutritionist and on call chef). "If I can do it, so can you!"

 

2 hours ago, Arodash said:

some of us are considered essential and  need to keep working. 

Some don't realize how lucky they are, there aren't more surgeons, doctors or nurses that are pushing to work remotely or from home. That or those "useless" services people don't realize how badly they need, until they're gone. I.E Gas station clerks, or any cashier at a grocery store, to that mechanic or that sewage maintenance team.

 

I want to speed slap those who'll walk into a grocery store entitled, on a level where they'll cough in the direction of a cashier, and couldn't care less that they make them sick as long as they get their 14 kitchen rolls.

[Zagadka]

I'm convinced that the reaction will be an over-reaction, also justified, and also judged as an extreme over-reaction. The fact is that we need to over-react in order to control a pandemic in the first place, so it is all OK. I basically consider this a practice run.

[Zagadka]

9 minutes ago, Arodash said:

I would prefer over to under reaction

Exactly. Next time, it could be far worse. We live in an interconnected world, we should expect global pandemics.

[Zagadka]

There will be a next time. I know that I will be expanding my earthquake preparedness kit, for sure. But there will be a next time. And it may be far worse.

[Zagadka]

1 minute ago, Arodash said:

My lifes goal is already to have a self sufficient home, nice homestead with a small farm, solar panels all that jazz. Being preppared for emergencies and disasters is always a good idea

Solar panels would be great, but I don't know if I could mentally survive without the contact and media from the internet. I only have so many books to read...

[Skycaptain]

The British government have said they will pay wages for employees whose business is shut. 80% of their regular salary up to £2500 per month. 

 

Guess what, the self-employed get nowt 

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Arodash said:

entitled customers are the absolute worst

This is exactly why many workplaces have had to take drastic measures to ensure staff safety.

 

Like you know you're sick most of the time. You know the person at the other end of the cash register needs their job as much as you need to be able to buy essentials.

 

Many employers are working with skeleton staff. You're only hurting yourself as a consumer, by further depleting the amount of bodies that they have.

 

Anyone at my work gets sick, the operation temporarily closes while all others get tested.

 

There is no way I'm convincing already anxious staff to come in, otherwise.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

The British government have said they will pay wages for employees whose business is shut. 80% of their regular salary up to £2500 per month. 

Wow, that's insane.

 

Has this been implemented?

 

If so, this is how you pressure an employer to close their doors for a few weeks to ensure numbers don't spike out of control. Or rotate employees for a month, until this is over with.

[Skycaptain]

@Perspektiv, it starts with every business that the government have ordered to close, then propagates. So first of all the entertainment and leisure industries the government ordered to shut down on Friday. Then there are all the businesses who are affected by social mobility.

 

The idea is that people won't go to work ill, protect say, clothes shop workers to name but one, and simply to provide reassurance that people (especially the low paid) will still be able to pay the rent, utility costs and feed themselves 

 

At some point in the future we'll have to pay it back, which won't be a barrel of laughs. 

 

Funnily enough, being self-employed I'm entitled to bugger all 

[Guest]

Many grocery stores in my city, have *finally* started enforcing strict limits. Some of the ones with the most aggressive clients even ramped things up with security personnel in store guarding those high movement items areas.

 

Hopefully you see a little more of the same starting to happen across Canada. When people see ample inventory when they shop, they *magically* start calming down.

 

I was finally able to buy a jug of foaming antibacterial soap, after giving up on it when my province started to see mass shut downs.

 

I think the lack of improvisational skills, also have made the situation feel far more dire than it was for some.

 

No antibacterial soap? Fine. Regular soap, and just lather for 20 seconds. Doesn't make a difference in the cleanliness.

 

No alcohol gel? Fine. Rubbing alcohol, and buy a dollar store style plastic spray bottle.

 

Can't clean your sinks? Boil water. Cleans just as well.

 

I consider myself lucky. My mother grew up in a third world country, so she power drilled into our heads on how to survive. Rationing water, to doomsday proof rations and so on.

 

She managed to keep us calm as kids, during the major ice storm we had in our province they declared a state of emergency.

 

She literally had us get excited over sleeping in sleeping bags, vs panicking over how dire the situation was.

 

If the news could do this, along with leaders that could reassure people with quick and accurate facts, wow. What a difference that would make.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Skycaptain said:

At some point in the future we'll have to pay it back, which won't be a barrel of laughs. 

This is exactly the first place my mind went to. How are you going to get shafted for the "generosity"?

 

[Skycaptain]

Just now, Perspektiv said:

This is exactly the first place my mind went to. How are you going to get shafted for the "generosity"?

 

At the moment that's to be decided, but my psychic powers predict an increase in taxation, say a basic income tax of 25%. But ultimately still better than 20% or more of the population being in unsustainable debt, mortgage or rent arrears. 

[weird elf]

14 minutes ago, Perspektiv said:

If the news could do this, along with leaders that could reassure people with quick and accurate facts, wow. What a difference that would make.

All the difference, as currently shown in the EU. Other heads of state going on like "we're at WAR" ... you can say what you will about "Mutti" Merkel, I'm not usually her biggest fan, but she's a scientist to boot and knows what she's doing. *doffs hat to Mutti*

 

Also, ... the news. I feel like I've said that before, feel free to ignore if I'm repeating myself, but guys, seriously, get your news from reliable sources. No "live tickers" updating every 20 minutes with data from all over the place, including but not limited to straight outta their a$$. There is literally NO WAY they can verify their data that quickly. Stick to the verified ones that update daily, quality beats quantity in terms of data. (Also limits confusion.)

Get educated about what is useful and what is not. Try for some basic understanding of how disease does and doesn't spread. Information is key, and get it from institutions that know what they're talking about, not the clickbait BS circulating on social media.

 

Shutting up now. Elf out. 🙊

[Guest]

18 hours ago, weird elf said:

No "live tickers" updating every 20 minutes with data from all over the place, including but not limited to straight outta their a$$.

I always hated CNN news for that reason. 

 

I don't know why it rubbed me the wrong way, but they were reporting a spike in Canada and the number was something like 297. So they state "300 new cases".

 

You can't overlook a person by stating "eh, about..". You can't just round up death tolls o_O

 

Trevor Noah made a great point about this style of reporting:

 

"They report the news like they're trying to get you to find out answers for them"

 

"What do do if you..."

"You get this. What next?"

 

It's like the media's version of the self-checkout. 

 

And the constantly updating ticker at the bottom, is as good as that bouncy ball in music videos. They are essentially Rick Rolling the short attention spans that are tuning in. 

 

 

[Ashmedai]

I must say it's the panic. It started off with panic buying at the supermarkets, to people fighting in the shops over toilet paper, and now a lot of things are shut for isolation, sales have been dropping for weeks so now there's a lot of people that have lost their jobs. Within the last few days or so the goverment services website that deals with welfare etc even crashed with the amount of people trying to make claims since they've lsot their job.

[AlexTheGrey]

Probably the panic because a majority of the people I've seen panicking are people who are young and don't have major diseases. Maybe your view is different but I feel this is just mass hysteria 

[Twisted Tempest]

The way people are acting about it scares me way more than the disease. Like I don't wanna get ill, but I know that I will likely recover. But I've seen fights break out over toilet paper and rice. If that's not messed up, I don't know what is. 

[SithLord]

I think it is a very real, very serious problem that needs to be taken seriously. But I think the panic is worse than the virus itself because it's affecting many more people. Yes, the old, immuno-compromised, sick, and otherwise at-risk people seriously need to keep away from anyone who can possible infect them, and people need to stay the fuck away from each other to stop spreading it, but people panicking about toilet paper is worse. People can die because of the lack of access to food and hoarders and panic-buyers can lead to a different kind of death. 

 

I'm in Japan. We have Covid-19 and it was bad here earlier than it was in the US, but we're not under quarantine restrictions. At least not in my prefecture, nor was Osaka or Kyoto. And maybe Hokkaido is being stricter, but I've heard others aren't even as strict as mine (we've just been asked to not go to many places and restrict travel, not even threatening, just asking). But you know what? I can still buy TP at the store. Hell, I can buy it in several stores. Getting food at a restaurant is easy, and some people are even eating in (I don't because I'm a loner who prefers my computer to social interaction). 

Yes, theme parks and tourist attractions are closed because duh. People are wearing masks and there's alcohol hand washing stations freaking everywhere (at the entrance to museums, restaurants, zoo buildings). There are signs reminding people how to stay safe and be smart in the scary times. 

People. Aren't. Panicking. 

 

It's a very real thing of me not being able to understand what it's like for my family back home because my situation is so entirely different, despite this country being the one people were afraid of going to just a couple weeks before America went on lockdown. Because if people were being safe and not panicking, it wouldn't be that bad.

 

But there is a very real problem of people just outright ignoring the danger. Don't be an idiot. 

Spoiler

Or, if you insist on being an idiot, please do me a personal favor and infect other idiots such as our wise ruler President Orange. Because then maybe he'll take this seriously. 

 

 

EDIT: I wanted to add that I talked to my Swedish friend about this about a week ago. He said the panic there is just as horrible as in the States (though he complained about the gov a lot more, saying it abandoned its people), but his relatives in Shanghai are like me, not freaking out and taking it seriously. So he blames it on Western culture, and I theorized it might have to do with individualism. But those are are thoughts. 

[Acing It]

12 minutes ago, SithEmpress said:

I think it is a very real, very serious problem that needs to be taken seriously. But I think the panic is worse than the virus itself because it's affecting many more people. Yes, the old, immuno-compromised, sick, and otherwise at-risk people seriously need to keep away from anyone who can possible infect them, and people need to stay the fuck away from each other to stop spreading it, but people panicking about toilet paper is worse. People can die because of the lack of access to food and hoarders and panic-buyers can lead to a different kind of death. 

 

I'm in Japan. We have Covid-19 and it was bad here earlier than it was in the US, but we're not under quarantine restrictions. At least not in my prefecture, nor was Osaka or Kyoto. And maybe Hokkaido is being stricter, but I've heard others aren't even as strict as mine (just asking we not go to many places and restrict travel, not even threatening, just asking). But you know what? I can still buy TP at the store. Hell, I can buy it in several stores. Getting food at a restaurant is easy, and some people are even eating in (I don't because I'm a loner who prefers my computer to social interaction). 

Yes, theme parks and tourist attractions are closed because duh. People are wearing masks and there's alcohol hand washing stations freaking everywhere (at the entrance to museums, restaurants, zoo buildings). There are signs reminding people how to stay safe and be smart in the scary times. 

People. Aren't. Panicking. 

 

It's a very real thing of me not being able to understand what it's like for my family back home because my situation is so entirely different, despite this country being the one people were afraid of going to just a couple weeks before America went on lockdown. Because if people were being safe and not panicking, it wouldn't be that bad.

 

But there is a very real problem of people just outright ignoring the danger. Don't be an idiot. 

  Hide contents

Or, if you insist on being an idiot, please do me a personal favor and infect other idiots such as our wise ruler President Orange. Because then maybe he'll take this seriously. 

 

Had to laugh at your hidden comment.

It's interesting to see how different countries handle things differently. I thought Japan would be the first to be stricter and they are used to using face masks already of course, so it's not as noticable?

I think the panic is almost worse than the virus (apart from those people who really suffer with it or worse) and I think the media isn't helping things here. For people who are anxious already it's easy to binge on media coverage and get the really skewed image of a 'disaster movie' disaster going on where the police and military take over. The media is really having a meal with this unpicking every single minute aspect of Corona and its effects. There literally doesn't seem to be anything else on some channels. 

 

[Skycaptain]

Definitely panic, but the government abandoning a sizeable chunk of the workforce is worse. A week sick with corona won't make me homeless. Panic buying won't make me homeless. Not getting any income, and not getting any support from the government could make me homeless 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, SithEmpress said:

So he blames it on Western culture, and I theorized it might have to do with individualism.

Hate to say it, but he is dead on accurate.

 

Too many freedoms, are a double edged sword.

 

In my city alone, many weren't taking heed to the government requests for social distancing and no assemblies of 50 or more. Many here, operate by the: "I'm free. I'll do what I want!" So cue in, the heavy crowds hanging out at beaches, outdoor parks and the like, making the most of their forced quarantines.

 

People don't realize this is how this spreads. I've had people dead sick going to grocery stores. No mask, not even bother to cover their mouths. As long as "they're" okay, its all good. Just the level of entitlement many have.

 

Same type will hear about many cruises being infected with high rates of this, will still book due to it still be allowed, then will have the nerve to demand their government intervenes as they can't dock due to no country wanting to touch that can of worms.

 

I was in Hong Kong weeks ago, and the city was night and day. People were obeying the government orders. All wearing masks. All sanitizing. All avoiding mass assembly.

 

To no surprise as a result, the highly condensed city of 7 million +, was able to quickly regain control of their situation and flattened the curve and then some. Keep in mind, this is being next to China, to boot.

 

Our country has to employ draconian levels of control, to even get a remote level of obedience. That's due to the entitlement.

 

Many were teasing me for going to HK, yet Canada has far less population, and is unable to remotely control the spread of this. The US, is even worse, but we all know how inept their leader is. No way their numbers are this bad under Clinton or Obama (who actually would've listened to their advisors).

[Guest]

The panic. We going on lockdown and all the assholes are panic buying leaving nothing for those who cannot afford panic buying and the worst is these shops will remain open during the lockdown so wtf?! 

 

I am at a stage where my financial problems are scarier then corona. 

[weird elf]

Re: Japan - different mindset is a factor (the lack of "entitlement"), and so is information and education. I'm willing to bet every highschool-aged kid in Japan knows how a disease does and doesn't spread, and people know what to make of the numbers they hear on the news. I mean, Germany isn't too bad education-wise, but I've still had to explain to grown-ups why we need to take these precautions and flatten the curve. That would probably not happen in Japan.

[Lord Jade Cross]

1 hour ago, GatsbyGirl said:

 

I am at a stage where my financial problems are scarier then corona. 

This. The quarantine is fine by me since I have never liked to be around people to begin with but the finances are what worry me because money doesn't grow on trees and even with provisions and prudent use and such, money eventually dwindles down to nothing and with nothing coming in, that's a real problem.

[Unleash the Echidnas]

5 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

Not getting any income, and not getting any support from the government could make me homeless 

Do you have a chance of leniency?

 

It's only indirectly relevant but last week the property management group which administers the flat I rent (they've hundreds, maybe a few thousand units in the region) announced they won't be evicting for corona related loss of income. Provided there's a proactive discussion of the difficulty, anyway. Two days later the government here put a temporary moratorium on enforcing evictions and I'll be surprised if it doesn't get extended for some months. From the tone of the property manager's letter I rather suspect they saw that coming and decided to make the best of it.