Covid-19 pandemic

[Bruno]

I can't wait for the right-wing rage over liberals celebrating Trump's diagnosis.

[Bruno]

And of course we've never had a healthier fitter president than Trump, so.

[S. aureus]

I have to confess that I am very stressed about what happens with the kids if I catch it and wind up having to be hospitalized. My immediate family is on the other side of the Atlantic, my mother-in-law is a sociopath/narcissist/something-along-those-lines and, in the circumstances, I don't feel I could be asking a friend to watch over them. Maybe if my friends start catching it first.

[ursus arctos]

FWIW, there are very few people of your age who have been hospitalised in Italy (and they virtually all have other underlying conditions)

[Incandenza]

TonTon

Behold the Toto Washlet

https://washlet.totousa.com/history-of-washlets

This is the gold standard, but there are pretty affordable ones on Amazon. Of course, these rely on you having an electrical outlet near your toilet, which not everyone does.

[ursus arctos]

Particularly in the UK

[Hot Pepsi]

That is rough. First priority is to stay well - you're not in a "high risk group" are you? Second is to find some friends, neighbors, etc. who could do it in a pinch.


That is one of the values (sometimes, the only value) of being part of a church. It's a network of people that at least sorta knows each other and feels obligated to take care of each other, so these kinds of things usually get taken care of. I'm a bit worried about who will care for my dog if I got really sick, but I think some friends who would normally say no would say yes in those circumstances. And he's much simpler to deal with than human children.

We're lucky in that we have so many young people in our community and a large percentage of them can be relied upon to be helpful. My parents community is mostly older people. I think it's starting to take a toll on my dad, who is almost 75, to be expected to fix problems for all of their older neighbors.

[sw2borshch]

If we hadn't just had our bathroom done, I'd be making a case for installation.

[hobbes]

My school district is "transitioning to distance learning". Schools closed, effective Monday. Between now and next Thursday they're going to figure out how to implement the distant learning part, and they do recognize in their email that people have different levels of internet access. Distance learning will go until April 3rd, then they have 2 weeks off for spring break. They're also providing a 'grab and go' meal at lunch at several schools.

That lunch provision is a great idea. I’ll bet if the schools round here close, no such provision is made for kids who qualify for free lunches. So more expense for the poorest families. At a time when food bank donations are down too.
It’s the unexpected knock on effects that are scaring me. Not for my family, but for lots of others.

[sw2borshch]

A washlet rather than HP's dog, although I would be pro that too.

[Hot Pepsi]

We could come visit.

That washlet thing is appealing, but the only plug in my bathroom is on the other side of the sink, so I'd have to have a cord draping over the sink. That wouldn't work.

[anton pulisov]

The college radio station from Chapel Hill, North Carolina that I usually listen to every day is broadcasting silence.

[S. aureus]

No, I'm not in a high risk group, and I (intellectually) understand that I'm very unlikely to be hospitalized, but yet it is still stressing me out.

[Femme Folle]

We had our first ever team meeting yesterday. Twelve of us were crammed into a tiny room discussing an infectious disease, heh.

All these bastards care about is business continuity. They don't give a flying one about us as people. I'm hopeful if and when we evacuate the building that the remote access system is brought to its knees.

Our Boston office hasn't had that meeting yet and as of yesterday afternoon, there has been no talk of WFH for everyone.

[Nefertiti2]

And the entire Britsh Press corps are uncritically aligned behind Johnson

https://twitter.com/leninology/status/1238443379924578305?s=20

https://twitter.com/JenWilliamsMEN/status/1238460251508297733?s=20

https://twitter.com/MattChorley/status/1238437952830812160?s=20

[Femme Folle]

Don't the congregation have to be there to receive communion? My childhood has a bone to pick with someone if not. They will either have to waive the obligation or introduce some sort of host-by-post scheme. Special ministers already deliver to the housebound so might be able to drop off to a wider audience by cutting back on the meet and greet side of things, desirable in this situation anyway.

I'm sure there's an app for that by now.

[Balderdasha]

First cases in Sudan and Guinea.

[Balderdasha]

Sweden joins the 'more than 800 cases' team. UK is at 798.

[Balderdasha]

Europe as a whole currently has over 33,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19. China was at that point around the 6th-7th February, by which point Hubei was under total lockdown with only one member of each household allowed to leave their dwellings once every two days to shop for food.

I did a bit of shopping this morning, stocking up on medicines mainly. All the shops I went into were busier than usual and had shortages of at least some items.

[Diable Rouge]

Seems odd that Denmark has virtually the same number of cases as the UK, even though its population is roughly the same as Ireland's?

[Nefertiti2]

Probably more testing. The important figure is probably the number of deaths.

[ursus arctos]

"a Fyre-Festival-like cascade of problems"

https://twitter.com/alexismadrigal/status/1238491572561301504

[San Bernardhinault]

If the US and UK get out of this with any level of moderation, it will have nothing to do with national governments who have washed themselves of all responsibility. It will be because local government is effective, and - ironically - because businesses are more responsible than the neo-liberal morons who claim that businesses can be trusted. Of course, businesses can only be trusted because they're absolutely terrified of the waves of litigation if they're found to be responsible for virus spread on their watch.

[Incandenza]

Found out that our local libraries will be closing. I can understand why, but bad news for parents looking for something to do with their kids. And, sadly, the libraries have a lot of resources for homeless people that they can't always find someplace else--computers and internet access, reading material, a safe place to sit in out of the elements, and bathrooms.

[ursus arctos]

So, about local government

https://twitter.com/EmilyMGoldsmith/status/1238461313585680384