COVID impacts

[gordo12]

I wish I'd not clicked on Gordo's link, I really, really do. How can I rewind the last minute?

Oh, don't feel jealous EB. There were more of those dresses on the rack. I can get you one and ship it to you

 

[TarnishedPenny]

My city's car parks are nearly empty but most are automated except for visitors who aren't coming.

I remember hearing a story about an enterprising gentleman - was it near Swindon? - who regularly collected a pound parking fee from people going to one of the larger open-air markets, one of the temporary ones held on fields. People had been paying him for years. Nice chap, very pleasant.

Then one weekend he simply wasn’t there. Somebody checked and it turned out that it was public land which had been used for parking for years and nobody had ever been hired or authorized to demand payment. Somebody figured out that he’d made a fairly decent living for years on the Saturday market. Never been seen since.

 

[oggbashan]

I had a nasty parking place / credit card surprise myself, last weekend. My wife and I were driving through our capital city—I don't like driving through cities at all, and certainly not through our capital—and we couldn't get our Google Maps Route-Planner working, so I took the first exit to a parking place to find a quiet place to sort that out. I had to follow a long, narrow one-way street which ended up at a parking place, with a gate in front of it. The gate would only open with a credit card; no debit card or anything else. And we didn't bring our credit card with us. There was no other way to enter that parking place, but there also was no road getting away from that gate; no room to turn the car either. The only way to get out of it was by driving backwards on that narrow one-way street, and hoping no other cars would come. My wife is not the best company at such moments...

A couple of years ago our local city and major tourist attraction made a monumental mistake with their car parks. You could only exit after entering your number plate on a machine and paying. The barrier camera would recognise your plate and lift to allow you out.

But, despite having over a million foreign visitors a year, their system wouldn't recognise foreign number plates. A driver of a foreign vehicle couldn't pay and couldn't leave. All they could do, when stuck at the barrier, was use the emergency phone while blocking everybody else's exit.

The employee at the emergency phone could only understand English. He couldn't see the camera. If he heard a foreign language he would raise the barrier and allow the car to go without payment.

The locals soon caught on and would drive up to the barrier and use their schoolboy French, or even gibberish, and leave without paying...

Until the problem was fixed, the council had to position an employee at the exit of every car park. He would only lift the barrier if the driver was on the left side of the car...

 

[litfan10]

Nonessential businesses and schools are now closed until April 29th here in New York State. My vacation has been extended.

After I graduated college and started writing full time I wrote during the night and slept during the day. It was quieter with no interruptions. I stayed up later one day a week to take care of mailings (this was pre-computer.)

Throughout the years when I take extended times off I find myself reverting back to that schedule. Now in isolation I'm doing it again - I'm reading through the night and sleeping during the day.

 

[SolarRay]

Nonessential businesses and schools are now closed until April 29th here in New York State. My vacation has been extended.

It's for the best I guess if we're expected to be heading into the peak here. I learned about this from the local COVID-19 text notification service ("text COVID to 692-692"). I'm curious if other cities have implemented a system like this. They come about 3-4 per day.

 

[litfan10]

It's for the best I guess if we're expected to be heading into the peak here. I learned about this from the local COVID-19 text notification service ("text COVID to 692-692"). I'm curious if other cities have implemented a system like this. They come about 3-4 per day.

We are supposed to be going through a two week peak - I'm as far as you can get from the city - I'm near the Canadian border.

Our local newspaper and TV station has a notification system. I'm not too involved yet as we only have just over thirty cases so far and have been in deep isolation and curfew for a while now. My local gov't has been pretty proactive I'm happy to say.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Oh, don't feel jealous EB. There were more of those dresses on the rack. I can get you one and ship it to you

Not now, you won't. Australia's just sent half a dozen cruise ships away, and there's no way your frilly dresses will ever be deemed essential goods .

 

[ElectricBlue]

It's for the best I guess if we're expected to be heading into the peak here. I learned about this from the local COVID-19 text notification service ("text COVID to 692-692"). I'm curious if other cities have implemented a system like this. They come about 3-4 per day.

Australia has a range of Federal and State government notices on TV and I assume radio, advising the hygiene and social-distancing rules. I don't follow any social media other than the occasional look at the ABC news feed, but assume something similar is going on there.

The modelling data suggests Australia got close to 90% isolation, so that says the vast majority got the message. Much of our press analysis now is shifting to the consequences and difficulties of the lock-down, but you can tell it's still Australia, because someone just got taken by a shark.

 

[oggbashan]

Nonessential businesses and schools are now closed until April 29th here in New York State. My vacation has been extended.

After I graduated college and started writing full time I wrote during the night and slept during the day. It was quieter with no interruptions. I stayed up later one day a week to take care of mailings (this was pre-computer.)

Throughout the years when I take extended times off I find myself reverting back to that schedule. Now in isolation I'm doing it again - I'm reading through the night and sleeping during the day.

They have been closed in he UK for a fortnight.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

One part of my crazy day...

One of the nurses at my hospital has been confirmed as having COVID-19, twelve days after leaving work with symptoms. They sent half the social work department home today because those four had been in a meeting with the nurse on his last day. But since it's twelve days later, and isolation is fourteen days, they're only off this afternoon and tomorrow, and are expected back on Wednesday.

And since the rest of us were only in contact with them and none of them have been showing any symptoms, we all get to cover for them. But at least it's only for a day.

I can't help but wonder though, how much smoother this would have been if they could have all gotten rapid tests.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Australia has a range of Federal and State government notices on TV and I assume radio, advising the hygiene and social-distancing rules. I don't follow any social media other than the occasional look at the ABC news feed, but assume something similar is going on there.

The modelling data suggests Australia got close to 90% isolation, so that says the vast majority got the message. Much of our press analysis now is shifting to the consequences and difficulties of the lock-down, but you can tell it's still Australia, because someone just got taken by a shark.

It would appear that, at least based on the most recent figures, that the rate of infection has dropped in the past couple of days in Australia. Good news and I hope the trend continues!

 

[BelleCanzuto]

To all you Poms (can a Yank call a Brit a Pom and get away with it?):
Anyway, sorry to hear about Boris. I hope he pulls through.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I'm as far as you can get from the city - I'm near the Canadian border.

That far? You’re safe now, lad, nothing north of you but igloos!

 

[litfan10]

They have been closed in he UK for a fortnight.

We've been closed since March 20th.

 

[NotWise]

I can't help but wonder though, how much smoother this would have been if they could have all gotten rapid tests.

I understand that turn-around here is about three days.

 

[litfan10]

That far? You’re safe now, lad, nothing north of you but igloos!

Canada Geese. Once they have their babies they are vicious. They have no qualms attacking cars that get too close.

My problem covid- wise is we get a lot of city traffic of those getting away plus I'm an hour away from downtown Montreal which has been hit fairly hard.

I'll stay in my comfy house surrounded by all my books.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

I understand that turn-around here is about three days.

Three days would have been MUCH more helpful!
Supposedly there are tests from private labs available, that may be quicker. But I think that because of where he/I work, it had to go to the state dept of health.

 

[NotWise]

Three days would have been MUCH more helpful!
Supposedly there are tests from private labs available, that may be quicker. But I think that because of where he/I work, it had to go to the state dept of health.

Testing here is organized by the State, but performed at many different facilities, including drive-ups operated by private hospitals and even by the city. The tests are being processed at every available facility. The State's labs alone were swamped early on, so they're using every available lab, including private labs, university labs, and labs at the National Laboratories. I saw a list yesterday. It was pretty impressive. The hospitals and private labs are also increasing their production capacity.

Our Guv was the Secretary of Health under a previous administration. She had plans in place as soon as COVID19 started spreading. It's been a bright spot.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Testing here is organized by the State, but performed at many different facilities, including drive-ups operated by private hospitals and even by the city. The tests are being processed at every available facility. The State's labs alone were swamped early on, so they're using every available lab, including private labs, university labs, and labs at the National Laboratories. I saw a list yesterday. It was pretty impressive. The hospitals and private labs are also increasing their production capacity.

Our Guv was the Secretary of Health under a previous administration. She had plans in place as soon as COVID19 started spreading. It's been a bright spot.

We had one drive up testing spot (a couple of counties over), at the local hospital there, but I think they ran out of tests in the first week. My state is still doing the "You have to have symptoms, AND a known contact with a COVID pt, OR recent travel to a hotspot" in order to even get a test. They've done fewer than 20K tests here.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Litfan - I had forgotten the geese. Nasty critters, indeed.

 

[NotWise]

We had one drive up testing spot (a couple of counties over), at the local hospital there, but I think they ran out of tests in the first week. My state is still doing the "You have to have symptoms, AND a known contact with a COVID pt, OR recent travel to a hotspot" in order to even get a test. They've done fewer than 20K tests here.

You have four times our population, and we've tested 20,000 people, including people in very outlying areas.

The problem with limiting tests to symptomatic people is that we can be contagious before we're symptomatic. Some people are never symptomatic, but they can still be contagious. Here, we started with those test limitations, but just testing symptomatic people isn't very protective.

I just read a couple letters on JAMA and another medical journal about transmission by asymptomatic carriers. The work was done in China, and the asymptomatic carriers were in their early thirties or less -- down to three years old.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

You have four times our population, and we've tested 20,000 people, including people in very outlying areas.

The problem with limiting tests to symptomatic people is that we can be contagious before we're symptomatic. Some people are never symptomatic, but they can still be contagious. Here, we started with those test limitations, but just testing symptomatic people isn't very protective.

I just read a couple letters on JAMA and another medical journal about transmission by asymptomatic carriers. The work was done in China, and the asymptomatic carriers were in their early thirties or less -- down to three years old.

You're preachin' to the choir, my man.
Though I must stand corrected, apparently as of today, my state has tested a little over 23k people. And my governor is a doctor, so it's not like he doesn't understand the importance of it. He's done some things right, but he seems a little passive at times.
And we've got a couple of frankly, world class university health systems with lots of researchers, at least one of which announced that they were working on a more rapid test weeks ago. (it only seems like centuries ago) But I haven't heard anything about where that stands or how soon it could be deployed.

 

[NotWise]

I'll stay in my comfy house surrounded by all my books.

This reminded me of the Macanudo comic from the Sunday paper:

In the English version, the girl says in the last image, "If a book is extraordinary, it is started by one reader and finished by a different one."

The cat replies "Nice to meet you."

 

[litfan10]

This reminded me of the Macanudo comic from the Sunday paper:

In the English version, the girl says in the last image, "If a book is extraordinary, it is started by one reader and finished by a different one."

The cat replies "Nice to meet you."

Love it!

 

[BelleCanzuto]

This reminded me of the Macanudo comic from the Sunday paper:

In the English version, the girl says in the last image, "If a book is extraordinary, it is started by one reader and finished by a different one."

The cat replies "Nice to meet you."

That's awesome and so true!