COVID impacts

[TarnishedPenny]

Years ago, Ogg, I saw a framed copy of a purported message train concerning the promotion of an 8th Army officer in North Africa from lieutenant to captain, the effective date of the promotion being something like 21 October, 1941. Through a typing error, the date showing in the message was however 21 October, 1041.

Obviously our boy had a sense of humour, for he minuted it asking for back pay for the past 1,000 years. He’d done his homework and attached a calculation showing an incredible sum, say £76,861 5s 6d.

Normally, of course, his cheeky minute would've been trashed, but it must’ve hit a series of staff officers with their own sense of humour and it made its way all the way back to London. In due course, he received approval of his request for back pay. However, the reply noted that, as the sole surviving member of the English army at the 1066 defeat at Hastings, he was being held accountable for the losses of the following Crown equipment: so many swords, each valued at £2 12s, so many shields at a guinea apiece, so many helmets...

The total he was billed, of course, amounted to precisely £76,861 5s 6d.

 

[yukonnights]

Just read this and thought it useful info to pass along.

New coronavirus can persist in air for hours and on surfaces for days: study

Full details here @ Reuters.com —> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-and-on-surfaces-for-days-study-idUSKBN2143QP

Key points;
1. The tests show that when the virus is carried by the droplets released when someone coughs or sneezes, it remains viable, or able to still infect people, in aerosols for at least three hours.

2. On plastic and stainless steel, viable virus could be detected after three days. On cardboard, the virus was not viable after 24 hours. On copper, it took 4 hours for the virus to become inactivated.

3. On cardboard, the half-life was about three and a half hours, but the researchers said there was a lot of variability in those results “so we advise caution” interpreting that number. (note; that's half-life, which means there's still viable virus.)

 

[ChloeTzang]

Well, to put it into perspective, the Plague of Justinian killed some huge percentage of the Byzantine empire, and the Black Death reduced Europe by 50% of its people. Those are the Disease X events. Spanish Flu was bad but percentage wise it was only a blip, bad as it was. This is just a bad flu. Quote me on that when I get it and remind me.

Meanwhile, life is quiet. So far. Time to shelf the boxes of pemmican and spam and count the ammo. This gun rush surprised me tho. I wasn’t expecting that. I did stock up on a few boxes of rounds tho, just on principle.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Yes, it was totally normal. We only have a few cases in state, half a dozen. I’m sure there’ll be more over the next couple of weeks. None at all where I am right now. But I wore an old norton anti-virus CD as a mask when I walked in this morning. I was followed by a wave of laughter.....

Someone has to supply the humor and old Oscar Wilde is long gone....

I presume it was nervous laughter.

Gallows humor is the best kind of humor in an emergency department. Also in psychiatric hospitals, though ours is weirder, if y'all can believe that...

Yes, we are. Along with almost eight million other people. So far, so good. I think we’ve good for at least a week before we start our descent into madness and cannibalism.

Well, good luck, and here's hoping you stockpiled some decent coffee for the duration.

Me? I just loaded in two more bags of assorted chocolates...
And we're not even under quarantine yet.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

This is true even without a pandemic

UK having second thoughts about the "herd immunity" strategy: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51915302

I read a couple of things that said PM Johnson didn't mean "herd immunity" when he said whatever it was he said that gave everyone that impression. Nevertheless...

This study from the Imperial College may have had something to do with that. And with the US President's sudden acknowledgement that this is serious, and not in fact a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese and the Democrats to ruin his reelection.

3 Charts that changed coronavirus polic in the UK and the US

 

[HeyAll]

I'm seeing a lot of favorites today for my older stories. Namely the incest stories, which is where the vast majority of my readers come from.

 

[yukonnights]

I'm seeing a lot of favorites today for my older stories. Namely the incest stories, which is where the vast majority of my readers come from.

Hmmm, I guess with so many families cooped up in the house together …

 

[KeithD]

This is just a bad flu. Quote me on that when I get it and remind me.

I'll remind you now. You're a nurse, and you're saying this is the flu?

 

[KeithD]

Gallows humor is the best kind of humor in an emergency department. Also in psychiatric hospitals, though ours is weirder, if y'all can believe that...

I understand that. My wife was the charge nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit of a major hospital that accepted all forms if infant issues. Over 90 percent of her patients were not going to leave the unit alive. She had to be put back together again at the end of every shift--often with gallows humor, although, as I noted, it brought out only nervous laughter--and as soon as she got pregnant with our first, she no longer was able to face working there.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Meanwhile, life is quiet. So far. Time to shelf the boxes of pemmican and spam and count the ammo. This gun rush surprised me tho. I wasn’t expecting that. I did stock up on a few boxes of rounds tho, just on principle.

Makes me wonder how people like CwM who work in retail are handling this. It's getting to the point where you need armed guards in the canned goods isles.

The 7 - 8am store entry for the elderly and disabled hasn't really worked. Some of those LoL's are really aggressive.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I understand that. My wife was the charge nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit of a major hospital that accepted all forms if infant issues. Over 90 percent of her patients were not going to leave the unit alive. She had to be put back together again at the end of every shift--often with gallows humor, although, as I noted, it brought out only nervous laughter--and as soon as she got pregnant with our first, she no longer was able to face working there.

Ohhhh that’d be tough. I don’t think I could do that, and yes, the humor only goes so far. I find the bad jokes help withe the stress. The norton one did for everyone. Mind you, you have to know when not to overdo it.

 

[oggbashan]

The chief NHS medical advisor told the UK government today that their current model for the spread of the virus indicates that 250,000 UK citizens might die but that if everyone followed the government's latest guidelines that might be reduced to 20,000.

But the model is being continually revised with information from Europe and internally in the NHS. More information might change the forecast but the final figure is more likely to be greater than 20,000 not fewer.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Meanwhile, life is quiet. So far. Time to shelf the boxes of pemmican and spam and count the ammo. This gun rush surprised me tho. I wasn’t expecting that. I did stock up on a few boxes of rounds tho, just on principle.

Son, we live in a world that has rolls, and those rolls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Kaffee? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for the empty shelves, and you curse the Squeezers. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know -- that the shelves' dearth, while tragic, probably saved butts; and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves butts.

You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall -- you need me on that wall.

We use words like "softness" "two ply" "lack of bleeding." We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it.

I would rather that you just said "thank you" and wiped on your way.

Adapted from "A Few Good Men" by my friend and co-commenter painedumonde

 

[litfan10]

I am a huge music nut, hence always on the "what are you listening to now" thread. One positive thing from this current situation: two great artists are giving away music as something to listen to during isolation. John McLaughlin just made his latest album free to download; Neal Morse just created a sampler of positive, uplifting songs from throughout his career and is offering it free to download through his record label.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Son, we live in a world that has rolls, and those rolls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Kaffee? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for the empty shelves, and you curse the Squeezers. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know -- that the shelves' dearth, while tragic, probably saved butts; and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves butts.

You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall -- you need me on that wall.

We use words like "softness" "two ply" "lack of bleeding." We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it.

I would rather that you just said "thank you" and wiped on your way.

Adapted from "A Few Good Men" by my friend and co-commenter painedumonde

 

[oggbashan]

Just returned from our local Sainsburys on the way back from a physiotherapy appointment. Our eldest and youngest daughter objected that we were taking too much of a risk, but at least half the few customers were of our age or even older. The nearest confirmed Covid-19 case is thirty miles away.


It looked as if the locusts had hit it.

No toilet rolls; no tissues; no rice; no pasta; no bread; no flour; no butter; no long-life milk; no canned vegetables; very sparse stock of fruit and veg and all customers restricted to two bottles of milk (of any size). We wanted our usual 2 x 2 pint milk times 4. No - you can't have that but two x 4 pint? No problem.

Some customers were buying two bottles, followed by the husband with two bottles and each of the children with two bottles each...

The staff told us that the majority of thise who had stripped the shelves were in their 30s. How are the over-70s who have been told to self-isolate at home for 12 weeks supposed to survive?

 

[litfan10]

The Canada/ US border was just closed indefinitely for all nonessential traffic.
Waiting to see if they start building a wall....

 

[KeithD]

The Canada/ US border was just closed indefinitely for all nonessential traffic.
Waiting to see if they start building a wall....

And if the Mexicans are paying for it.

 

[oggbashan]

Today's UK government announcements:

1. All schools will close at the end of Friday until further notice.

2. Grandparents should NOT look after grandchildren.

2. All school examinations are cancelled.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

Frankly, I suspect that COVID-19, or at least one strain was in CONUS by late November to early December. First the Chinese lied about patent zero. Looking like mid November. was first patient. Second ther were a LOT of cargo aircrews going to and from China and the US (not to mention the rest of the world) Those people literally live all over the country as they can fly just about free on passenger planes, so they are not tired to a particular location. Third is anecdotal, but several medical friends of mine have been comparing notes on FB, and everyone noticed that late November, early December that they were getting patents with the COVID-19 symptoms but a negative flu test.

The vast majority of the cases are reporting mild symptoms with few complications. The deaths are almost all in the high risk groups. Should we be taking precautions? Sure. Locking down nursing home sand strongly encouraging the at risk population to self isolate Absolutely. Restricting intercontinental travel is reasonable. Shutting down the country? Not so much.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

Well, to put it into perspective, the Plague of Justinian killed some huge percentage of the Byzantine empire, and the Black Death reduced Europe by 50% of its people. Those are the Disease X events. Spanish Flu was bad but percentage wise it was only a blip, bad as it was. This is just a bad flu. Quote me on that when I get it and remind me.

Meanwhile, life is quiet. So far. Time to shelf the boxes of pemmican and spam and count the ammo. This gun rush surprised me tho. I wasn’t expecting that. I did stock up on a few boxes of rounds tho, just on principle.

Trying not to be political, but I have been busting a gut at the stories I am seeing of anti gun types thinking getting a gun is suddenly a good idea. And posting, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN"T BUY A PISTOL ONLINE?"

Friend who runs a gun store actually had people who picketed him actually coming in to buy.

 

[KeithD]

You didn't succeed in not being political. It would be nice to have one area of the discussion board that stayed away from that.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

You didn't succeed in not being political. It would be nice to have one area of the discussion board that stayed away from that.

I took it as sociological irony. Whatever one’s views, whatever one’s political leaning, nothing is as effective in changing them as a global disaster, real or threatened. Standards, dogmas, imperatives and certainties are much more flexible than we like to pretend.

But, yeah, let’s keep this one space free of politics. Frankly, I’d be thrilled if Laurel would quarantine and sterilize the entire GB.

 

[yukonnights]

Well, after catching up on the latest news, I don't have anything positive to share today

I had a long post, just deleted it because it's just one more thing to worry about and who needs that?

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

I took it as sociological irony. Whatever one’s views, whatever one’s political leaning, nothing is as effective in changing them as a global disaster, real or threatened. Standards, dogmas, imperatives and certainties are much more flexible than we like to pretend.

But, yeah, let’s keep this one space free of politics. Frankly, I’d be thrilled if Laurel would quarantine and sterilize the entire GB.

Thank you.