Topic: Corona Virus Panic/Discussion Thread

Found out last night that I'm going to be getting paid while this is going on. Thank goodness. Feels like a weight has been lifted off my chest. Soon to be replaced by the virus, no doubt.

@Gremio108 there you go!

They're looking to train specialist dogs to spot people that have the virus, amazing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-52057543

So let's talk about herd immunity...

Boris Johnson is really leaning into that herd immunity thing. Leading by example.

@Gremio108 boom. Get in mate.

Being furloughed into definite wages whilst off is the best thing since, well pretty much anything really.

I was never the biggest fan of the Conservatives, however the idea and implementation of the payments has been amazing all things considered.

@Gremio108 Nice one fella! I'll bet that was a relief.

Went to pharmacy for my daughter who has chosen the worse time to get an ear infection, and it was tragically british. Queue outside, everyone awkwardly dancing around each other but being awefully polite and making odd small talk. Felt quite patriotic.

Then had to queue for 30 minutes to get into a supermarket but well organised, spaced out and no one being difficult or grumpy. Food well stocked overall though a few shortages. The good news is I found more beer.

Thanks folks. I am now free to concentrate on my family, listening to music and of course, gaming. I still think it's surely just a matter of time until the virus hits our household though. The speed these kids go through stuff is unbelievable. I'm having to go to the shop every other day.

My city has recorded it's first 3 cases today. I'll probably be able to last at least another week or two before having to go to the store myself, but that's partly because my mother works in a grocery store & can't help but buy a little something each day before coming home.

Good in the sense that we probably won't run out of supplies, but bad in that we'll probably get it eventually. My brother & father also both have to go in for work as well (my brother at Burger King, and my father works in billing for the hospital).

Bloomin heck, Italy can't catch a break. In reality there must be a million infected people there for the stats to keep pacing as is. Spain likewise is in a bad place.

We know about the US becoming the 'next epicentre' due to all of the news. However my money is on Turkey, those guys flew under the radar for quite some time, remember the stories about them having no cases a couple of weeks back?

The infections are really stamping their authority now. The world biggest harbinger of refugees, on the rails with crowded cities and an average health care system. That's a terrible triumvirate.

Glad to hear everyone is doing alright.

The hospital I work in hasn’t been hit too bad so far. It’s pretty weird though as so much outpatient/elective work has been cancelled so it’s actually pretty quiet in my department for the time being.

Loving the empty roads to get to work too! I also feel quite lucky to be able to go to work and maintain some semblance of normality and get to see/speak to other people (from a distance).

I am a teeny bit jealous of those who get to sit and game all day though

Just stopping by to let you guys know I'm still alive and well!

@TowaHerschel7 Good to see you.

Yeah, we ought to have a roll call to make sure all the Push Squarians are okay. Wonder what our infection and mortality rate is. Surely gaming boosts the immune system.

@TowaHerschel7 @Th3solution Gamers usually stay at home playing video games anyways.

@WanderingBullet you would actually be surprised, I'm finding isolation a doddle. My daughter thinks it's the best thing ever. My youngest sons absolutely love it.

My wife on the other hand hates it. Shes itching to go out. Nightmare she is.

My eldest son thinks he's missing out, I get that I was 19 once myself. But no one Is doing anything! May as well have a laugh at home or on the computer. But no, sits there with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Stats time

160,713
Cases which had an outcome:

133,358 (83%)
Recovered / Discharged

27,355 (17%)
Deaths

This was meant to be coming down by now. These are black plague type figures.

@themcnoisy Being the same age as your eldest son, I feel the same way! I had a few gigs I was going to, looking forward to summer and stuff but now I feel trapped inside without being able to see my pals. At least exams were cancelled, eh?

I went to Asda this morning and had my first experience of queuing to get in the shop. So, so weird. They had toilet roll though, so it was worth it

@LN78 Yeah, exactly. Once inside, it was fine. Although my slight guilt about the people queuing outside meant I felt compelled to rush, and I went a bit Supermarket Sweep as a result. Dale Winton would have been proud of me.

EDIT For American Push Squarers, Supermarket Sweep was (is) a game show where the objective is to leg it around a pretend supermarket as quickly as possible, grabbing certain items at the request of uber-tanned host Dale Winton, who is (was) clearly too lazy to do his own shopping, despite having a personal supermarket at his disposal. Is there an American equivalent of this show?

God knows who America's answer to Dale Winton is.

@Gremio108 Yeah we do have Supermarket Sweep over here but as for the host, beats me. I never really watched the show, but have seen it on cable guides and such.

@themcnoisy I think the reason the percentage of deaths among closed cases is so high thus far is because it's going to take a lot longer for people to recover than for vulnerable people to die. Also, critically ill people are being prioritized for testing, which is going to drive up the numbers as well. Only 5% of active cases are considered serious, and that's being massively inflated by the lack of mass testing in a lot of countries alongside the numerous people who are so mild/asymptomatic that they don't bother going to the hospital (there's a "cold" going around our household; could be the virus, I guess, but I'm not going to go to a hospital and beg for a test over cold symptoms. This virus sucking all the air out of the room doesn't change the fact that the flu/common cold are still out there and way more prevalent.). So, when things pan out, we'll likely see a 1% or 2% mortality rate at most.

Which is still really bad. If you're one of 100 people in a room and told someone will be randomly selected to die, even if your individual likelihood of dying is fairly low, you'll still feel nervous when you realize literally everyone, including the person who is going to eat the bullet, has that same low likelihood of dying.

This sucks, but it's not the black plague. It just... wears on one's mental health when you constantly hear about people who weren't on death's door before suddenly croaking a day or two after being diagnosed. My sleep was not restful last night. In fairness, eating a large meal at 1 in the morning will also contribute to that.