Coronavirus COVID-19 *Global Health Emergency* #15

[Chelly]

I've been so focused on spring break that I completely forgot about Bike Week...that is HUGE down here.

Isn't early voting in FL taking place now as well?

 

[Henry2326]

First presumptive (provincial lab confirmation but national lab pending) case of #COVID19 in Calgary Canada.
"An unknown number of Albertans were on the Grand Princess ship and have since returned to the province".
@KindrachukJason
Calgary-area woman is Alberta’s first presumptive coronavirus case

 

[Herat]

I think the place I would be most worried about catching SARS-CoV-2 today would be the Costco Food Court

 

[Mimi in London]

I have two holidays booked this year, Malta in June and Croatia in September. I'm just about to look for travel insurance but I'm not too sure what I should be looking for re all this and getting myself covered
Has anybody else got travel insurance which would cover this?
I will report back as I'm sure lots of us have holidays booked.

My understanding is that, in the UK at least, most policies don’t cover backing out because of fear. They will normally cover cancellation due to a country being deemed by the Foreign Office as dangerous/travel forbidden.

 

[Chelly]

Remember that Saturday Night Live skit with Dan Akroyd and Jane Curtain on "count/counterpoint" wayyyy back where the banter went back and forth.

There was the quote "Jane, you ignorant sl*t". That's what I feel like yelling to my computer during some live streams and even listening to/conversing with my friends who think I'm nuts and overreacting and panicking! (NOT here at WS on this thread though as this place is my only salvation)

Was going to do a YouTube link of the skit, but thought better and don't want to go to camp and learn a musical instrument iykwim. You older folks will remember that skit I'm sure.

Remember that SNL skit. The line was priceless.

 

[Henry2326]

US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn: As of Friday at 6 p.m. ET, 5,861 tests for coronavirus have been completed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health labs.

Jake Tapper on Twitter

Update: CDC itself has run 3500 tests specimens samples — but on just *1583* people. We must separate the number of tests from the number of actual people tested! Total doesn’t include state testing - which CDC apparently doesn’t track??? #REPORTTESTSNOW #COVID19
Eric Feigl-Ding on Twitter

 

[Cubby]

View attachment 236991


The Xinjia hotel in the Chinese city of Quanzhou has been reduced to rubble.

The five-storey, 80-room hotel, which was being used as a quarantine facility monitoring people who had had close contact with coronavirus patients, collapsed on Saturday night, trapping at least 70 people.

Combing through the debris, rescuers are still trying to recover people who were in the building when it fell.

Dramatic pictures show rescuers pulling people from the remains of the hotel, carrying some on stretchers and helping others down ladders. At least 32 people have been pulled out so far, authorities say.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-5178157

This looks terrible I hope everyone is found alive.

I really wonder if the collapse is attributed to faulty construction or if
there is now a war on sick people?

 

[gregjrichards]

UK total hits 209 as three more cases confirmed in Northern Ireland

Three more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Northern Ireland.

Health officials said that the new cases bring the total number of people with Covid-19 to seven in the region.

The latest three cases are all adults who had recently travelled from Italy and are linked to a previously confirmed positive case.

Coronavirus latest news: 209 people test positive as UK case count surges

Source Link Daily Telegraph.

 

[WildWest]

I wish I could read articles from that newspaper, it blocks me out of them unless I buy a subscription. @zecats

 

[gitana1]

well, you take a gamble going out in public esp. in hot spots. I wouldn't if it meant I could contract a virus and die.


I thought we were raised to do so? My mother was very strict about hygiene and raised me NOT to make others ill, so stay when sick not go to school, work or social functions endangering others.
Sesame Street, all the kids shows covered it ad nauseam.

Unfortunately people seem to have forgotten that lesson and many people don’t have parents who teach them. I see it everywhere. Kids sneezing and coughing freely and parents not saying a word. Worse, ADULTS sneezing and coughing freely.

Apparently 25% of the population do not cover their mouths or noses when they sneeze or cough.

Here some photos of the impact of that:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/10/new-research-the-common-sneeze-is-a-dangerous-infectious-cloud-cover-your-mouth/?outputType=amp

And the rest of the public not in that 25%? Most of them sneeze or cough into their hands and then spread those germs everywhere. Only 5% of the population uses a tissue or the crook of their arm:

One in four people don't cover their mouths when they cough and sneeze | Daily Mail Online

P.S. most of the colds I’ve caught have been three days after someone coughed near me.

 

[Herat]

I really wonder if the collapse is attributed to faulty construction or if
there is now a war on sick people?

My suspicion would be that the hotel was owned by a rich or important person and some pesky construction or safety regulations were "overlooked" for some renumeration.

 

[LadyL]

Vent:

Getting prepared has cost an arm and a leg.

curious ... how much do you think you've spent so far?
we haven't been keeping track just going weekly as per usual but buying more on those trips

 

[BingoBongo]

Good grief.

I may become an outcast in my own church. Small, very family oriented church. Most of the members are quite traditional in that the women of the church make meals for those who have had health issues, had new babies, etc. We also do visitation every few months to shut ins (usually elderly, and often infirm elderly).

I am not participating. Although not actively ill, I see no reason why I should potentially expose sick older people, and new babies to this virus. NONE of us know if we're carrying this and just haven't show symptoms yet.

Skipping these traditions for a few months seems a small price to pay to NOT endanger others!!!

Have shared my concerns, on deaf ears. :-(

 

[LadyL]

My suspicion would be that the hotel was owned by a rich or important person and some pesky construction or safety regulations were "overlooked" for some renumeration.

for sure
isn't it China that is always bragging about the fastest built buildings?

 

[zecats]

I wish I could read articles from that newspaper, it blocks me out of them unless I buy a subscription. @zecats

Which one? NY Times? Washington Post?

PS. Try clearing your browser history and cookies. That often allows the free articles to be read again.

 

[LadyL]

This is interesting, given a few comments on here the other day about beards. Apparently some staff are failing 'fit tests' for the N95 type masks as they can't get a tight fit against the skin when someone has a big beard, and they're considering asking ambulance staff to shave in order to make the masks better protection for them/and the patients they carry in the ambulances.

Ambulance chiefs consider virus facial hair ban

my husband's employer has a rule about shaving for that very reason

 

[WildWest]

Which one? NY Times? Washington Post?

PS. Try clearing your browser history and cookies. That often allows the free articles to be read again.

Thanks, will do!

 

[Chelly]

DH and I don't usually insure our flights (unless they're included in a vacation package), but we always purchase travel insurance for a cruise or land package at the time of booking. "Cancel for any reason" policies can be expensive, so you'll have to weigh your options if you don't have insurance. I can't speak to purchasing trip insurance on a previously-booked vacation because we've never done that. If you used a travel agent to book your trips, he/she can surely help you decide how best to proceed.

I had a trip to Poland booked for first week of October. I cancelled the trip and thus was out the $291 trip insurance (which goes without saying) plus my $250 deposit. Filed a claim for return of deposit which was denied. "Fear of COVID" was not covered. I suppose I could have talked my doctor into writing a letter stating I have severe anxiety disorder. But just couldn't deal with more hassle re the trip. Lesson learned.

 

[gitana1]

yes, they've been saying that for years but I know too many people that have picked up things on flights. I personally don't believe the
filtering is all that good.

That’s likely from tray tables, armrests and the toilet. That’s what’s dirtiest.

And of course if someone is coughing or sneezing anywhere near you, your sunk. Not because of the airplane filtration system which is great, put because of the airflow, power of a sneeze and how your stuck in one place. Sneezes travel to the rows behind and ahead of the person sneezing.

But the air filtration system is very efficient. It’s humans I can’t count on:

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[Cubby]

Check out native bees versus honey bees which are an imported domestic agricultural animal. Most of the native bees that are on endangered list are native to Hawaii but I believe there is one continental North American bee on the list whose name escapes me at the moment. Plant flowers native to your area to save your native bees.
While We Worry About Honeybees, Other Pollinators Are Disappearing

About to go to small town grocery for routine weekly shop. Will be interesting to see what they are short on if anything. I prefer this store because it’s never packed and everyone is good about staying to their sides of the aisle.

ETA: Rusty Patch Bumblebee. That was going to bother me.

On the topic of native plants and pollinators. Warning, this site is addicting.

Prairie Moon Nursery