Mega-Thread: Coronavirus Pandemic

[Pannonian]

our company finally put out a faq on the coronavirus and it is so terrible. the info is two months out of date.(limited cases in the u.s. and low risk. my ass. also says only a few countries outside china have it and that only 2 people have died.LOLS.) it heavily implies we face the possibility of being fired if we request a leave of absence to be quarantined if we don't have any pto/sick leave/unpaid time off left. we have to send every such request through hr first. it advises NOT quarantining yourself if you have been to one of the affected countries if you do not show signs. (it then advises one question TO quarantine yourself that asks the same damn thing just reworded.) states you are not under any obligation to quarantine yourself. same for if you contact people who have confirmed to have the virus. technically correct but fucking seriously it doesn't even say to get yourself tested. facemasks will not be provided to employees who ask. hand sanitizers requests outside the approved budget will not be approved. dodges answering the heaviest questions by refering people to ask the cdc about what to do if you catch the virus. no pto for any employee who does get it on top of it. it just reads like a gigantic trainwreck waiting to happen.

My company doesn't like Home Office very much. It is okay on occasion, but we prefer people to be in our office (1. because of a clear distinction between work and life 2. we communicate a lot and it is easier that way). Anyway, here is how my company handled it:

Wednesday: If your teamlead agrees and you wont miss too much, you can work from home.
Thursday: Everyone who wants to, can work from home, no question asked.
Friday: Please everyone stay home! If you really need to come to the office, inform the CEO so he can organize a separate room for you, and please don't use public transport, we will pay you the taxis. At the same time we sent a mail to our customers that some of our projects will be impacted by it, because our priority is, in that order: 1. our employees 2. our responsibility to society 3. Our customers.

I like my company...

[Collegeguy]

Yep, we knew this was going on, but here is the story of a profiteer: https://news.yahoo.com/17-700-bottle...155735689.html

Why was this guy stupid enough to go on the news with this?

[Mayhem]

"The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK has reached 1,140, while 37,746 people have been tested."

Not great. Not terrible.

Seems like a lot of people have been tested though, considering.

As far as I read, it highly depends on the tests used (talking about the not great, not terrible part of your post). The quick tests used in s.korea are not testing for covid-19 but for antibodies which only built up after about a week.

[Gaidax]

OK, so here in Israel latest developments are that we have 200 cases, 0 deaths so far. Current curve is about 15-20 new cases every day, it seems stable, but testing is still limited - so likely we have more carriers, I heard estimates of around 2k in Ministry of Health.

As of last night, all non-essential leisure businesses closed for public - restaurants (take aways are open, only closed to public), malls and so on. All businesses advised to implement work from home policy as long as it is possible, so in my case I'm working from home now. Public gatherings of more than 10 people are not advised.

There was some bum rush on supermarkets yesterday and Friday, but from what I have seen today - they are all stocked to full, so it's not really warranted. We keep getting assurances that there is enough stock of everything to last many months as is and there is no shortage expected, but people still prefer to be on a safe side.

[shadowmouse]

Why was this guy stupid enough to go on the news with this?

If I had to bet, he is willing to take the hit to set up suing the companies that banned him.

A slightly nicer spin would be to think he will take advantage of the story as a way to get the word out that he has a large supply, and then he'll wait for offers. There are those who run with the idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity. If he unloads the sanitizer, I'd be unsurprised to see him try to spin this to paint himself as a good choice for becoming a business leader. This is how we get guys like Pharma Bro (who seems to still be at it -- https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/24/phar...-breaking.html).

[Muajin76]

Don't you see? He is the victim here! Those damn restrictions prevent him from helping people get their hand sanitizer!

o.O
I'm sure he's trying to help people get their bottles...for an inflated price. :P

- - - Updated - - -

Yep, we knew this was going on, but here is the story of a profiteer: https://news.yahoo.com/17-700-bottle...155735689.html

Hey shadow! I went to wumart today. Took some pics of FULL pallets of TP. Saw a huge room full of pallets of assorted TP *took a pic too*. Posted them pics on FB. The hate is unreal... LOL

[Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang]

From French Health Minister:

Taking anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, cortisone, ...) could be a factor in worsening the infection. If you have a fever, take paracetamol.
If you are already on anti-inflammatory drugs or in doubt, ask your doctor for advice.

We got the same warning from our regional head doctor.

[shadowmouse]

But there is.

Nevertheless, there are those who think it will work.
@Muajin76 So, you have an abuse fetish? We coulda guessed how that would play out.

[Ihavewaffles]

Nobody has ever stopped the world in its tracks before...China must be severly, punished

[Ihavewaffles]

Yep, we knew this was going on, but here is the story of a profiteer: https://news.yahoo.com/17-700-bottle...155735689.html

That story has over 22 000 comments! Yikes!!

[Corvus]

Australia is sitting on about 300 cases so far, and 4 deaths. All but a handful of those cases were picked up overseas. Internal transmission has only been a handful of cases so far, thankfully. Maybe there is something about the heat slowing it down as we are just ending summer, though it is still rather hot in parts.

The government has followed New Zealand's example and it is now mandatory that all new arrivals from overseas, regardless of where from or who they are, must self-quarantine for 14 days. Failure to do so varies from state to state, but involves hefty fins ($50,000 where I live), and in some places jail time as well.

Panic shopping is still going on and the major stores are instituting limits on items across a large array of goods - not just TP and paper towels, but rice, pasta, canned goods, mince etc.

One thing that is going to come out of this is probably a major reworking of globalisation. The modern world is so used to buying goods made overseas, buying food from overseas that is out of season in our home country, etc and so on, that this virus is going to cause to break. Most countries don't manufacture things like cars or computers of phones anymore, having outsourced them, but we are liable to see those chains break soon if those goes on any length of time. Maybe local manufacturing will have to make a comeback, especially given that this may not be the last such event to occur.

[Themius]

Nobody has ever stopped the world in its tracks before...China must be severly, punished

For what? They don't "own" the virus.

[Ihavewaffles]

For what? They don't "own" the virus.

They created the conditions, first sars, now corona...what's next? They must be punished..

[Bodakane]

Please watch guys:

[Kiri]

They created the conditions, first sars, now corona...what's next? They must be punished..

That argument doesn't make much sense. "We must punish those who are responsible. So let's punish a country full of people that had nothing to do with it."

[Up The Gary]

They created the conditions, first sars, now corona...what's next? They must be punished..

Well the Russians are blaming the US lol.

[Muajin76]

Nevertheless, there are those who think it will work.
@Muajin76 So, you have an abuse fetish? We coulda guessed how that would play out.

hahah maybe just a little.

[szechuan]

That argument doesn't make much sense. "We must punish those who are responsible. So let's punish a country full of people that had nothing to do with it."

China recently permanently banned all wet markets selling illegal animals.

[JohnBrown1917]

Nobody has ever stopped the world in its tracks before...China must be severly, punished

Or we could just not be racist.

[Bodakane]

They created the conditions, first sars, now corona...what's next? They must be punished..

Why the fuck would china do this on purpose? You people need to think through your stupid shit before you spout off at the mouth.

China needs the world's population to keep their money flowing. If China did a bio attack win the world, all they would have done is hurt their own bottom line. It would be like shooting themselves in the foot.

This is the same reason we were never in real danger form North Korea. China would never let them injure the money train.