Topic: Corona Virus Panic/Discussion Thread

@LN78 The facts coming out every day are pretty sensational on their own. Not saying the media isn't obviously trying to make a buck off of paranoia and fear, but... there's no downplaying how disruptive this virus is. And it has hardly even begun to spread in a lot of countries.

@Rudy_Manchego Good luck to you and your daughter! Let's hope you guys just have a little cold.

@KALofKRYPTON I hope your partner feels better. The scariest thing about this virus is the way "recovered" people start showing the same damn symptoms again not long after.

I keep hearing this, and I genuinely don't understand this mentality. First off, it's not true: those are the biggest risk groups, but younger and otherwise healthy people have died as well. But let's say, for the sake of argument, that you're right. Elderly people and immuno-compromised people are all around you. They make up big chunks of modern society. They're friends, family, neighbors, etc. What's up with this attitude that "only" certain people are dying?

All it seems to take is a little bit of inconvenience for half the people I talk to to start sounding like brutal social darwinists who are OK with the weak and vulnerable dying en masse.

So we're in full lockdown. Looks like I'll have two weeks off. Uni is closed, work suspended. But the unfortunate thing is that also recreational buildings are closed, like the movie theatres and the gym. Hoarding toilet paper has also reached our town. Great.

@LN78 Yeah, it’s definitely maddening and I just realized may not have expressed that clearly enough.
@Ralizah My understanding isn’t that it’s like .02 percent of any age group under 50 (or maybe 40). It’s not that no one has died, just it’s very low and unlikely. But yes, people are brushing off those who die way too easily. It’s crazy and people need to undertake the difference between not having hysteria and dealing with a serious problem.

@Ralizah Thanks! I am sure we are fine but it will take its time to get to us. Over the next few months I can see a few of these possible scares happening within households.

My mentality is that yes, I'll probably be ok but we really need to work to protect the people that won't be. That means doing what we can to think of them and not spread it onwards.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Ha, sorry. This is why I'm not education minister you see

@Rudy_Manchego Yeah, I’m terrified to go over to see my Nana because she’s got a lot of underlying health conditions, including a weakened immune system. It means I’ve barely seen my grandparents’ new puppy as well!

Things are still alright around here for the moment, but the managers at work have been busy scrambling to figure out how everyone could work from home if and when that is needed. I'm now able to use my personal home PC to access my work PC via remote desktop, so that'll be adequate enough if necessary.

Other than asking people over the phone whether they are self isolating we are business as usual unless we fall ill.

@KALofKRYPTON @Rudy_Manchego Hope you and both your fams are ok and that it is nothing too serious.

@crimsontadpoles We have been preparing and testing all week for potentially working from home as a precaution. Been told to take our laptops home every night just incase the office is closed overnight.

It is finally done. In Greece we closed almost everything. In work we will try to work from home mostly.
We are not Italy yet though, we can move within towns and go for walks, churches are open etc.
Public means of transport still work but most shops have closed. Supermarkets, pharmacies, bakeries, private doctors are all open as well as restaurants but only for delivery.

In the subway I saw way less people than those of last week

Donald Trump can't tweet himself out of the hole he's in over Covid 19. Pretty entertaining in this sad time.

@KALofKRYPTON good luck mate. I hope it was just a cold.

@Rudy_Manchego stay fit and well bro, when you are at home isolating. Try not to read too much about the desease as difficult as that may be. Use the time to chill out and have a set time to watch the news maybe once or twice a day as being isolated makes the news 10 times as worse.

@JohnnyShoulder @themcnoisy
Thanks.
Definitely not a cold though.

@KALofKRYPTON it's weird actually. A couple of weeks ago I came back from Disneyland and had the worst illness ever after returning (had a dodgy throat on the plane). All the symptons are checked - dry cough, sore throat, fever, aches and pains. It was the worst ever. I originally wanted to get back and have a game with @Jaz007 online as I had a few days off. I was far too ill to do anything. In bed for 48 hours. Once I could get up I got diagnosed in the doctors as having the back end of tonsilitus but had recovered more or less and just had a red throat. I'm pretty sure @JohnnyShoulder told me off for derailing a thread (rightly so) around the same time as it was all I could think about. I then went to work in the last week of Feb. Properly well and fit by the start of March.

Now I've had to send 2 of my staff home, one lady has been withdrawn for a few days. My wife's had a hacking cough for a week and other people in close proximity have been ill. I don't really know many older people bar family relatives, who I haven't seen since Christmas.

Part of me wants to believe I've had coronavirus. Fortunately the people around me during this time were people under 50 and I'm quite socially isolating in the way I work. I don't get in people's face and always keep a respectful distance when talking. Maybe loads of us have got it / had it? Maybe it was tonsillitis and just a coincidence but it brings up all these weird ideas.

@themcnoisy you never know.

She had swine flu a few years back too, but no one else she knew caught it, and same this time.

@themcnoisy You can get the virus more than once. So even if you had it theres no guarantee you won’t get it again sadly.

In other news I like the new testing measures in America. We‘re making easily available drive-thru testing at stores like Walmart and Target. There will be a google made website (not a government made disaster like has happened before) to see where you can get testing. Sound infrastructure to get out there quickly.

@KALofKRYPTON Good luck mate, all the best.

Still no real bad symptoms for me but daughter is coughing lots but is still really her same over energetic self!

@themcnoisy @JohnnyShoulder Thanks y’all. I do feel like I am being overly dramatic but that’s the advice and I would be a selfish twonk if I didn’t follow it.

@Rudy_Manchego I wouldn’t feel bad about following the advice! It’s for everyone’s protection as well.

It’s just getting scary times in the NHS waiting for the damn to burst. I’ve already heard of patients not getting treatment like chemotherapy which will nuke their immune system and make them too vulnerable to the virus. Some of the war room planning going on is quite scary.

@Rudy_Manchego It is best to err on the side of caution in these circumstances. It amazes me when people have a 'normal' cold/flu and who are clearly too ill to be at work just to show thier face. I always say to them that they could be infecting other people by being in work.

So here I am again.
I'm stuck in a room in the city where I work, 150 kms away from my hometown, where I can't return since my mother is immunosuppressed by chemotherapy and going to others' homes is illegal in Italy.
I'm one of the few still working in my office and for the first time in 16 years the company is in real danger since it's a tour operator.
Time to go back to PS4 and plat Death Stranding.

@andreoni79 Mate, really sorry to hear. Can’t imagine how hard it must be to not be able to get back to see your folks.