Don't know how you're experiencing the coronavirus issue where you live; I suppose it will depend on the number of infected people detected there, and the news about how fast it spreads around the world.

We have no cases confirmed in Spain yet; so while there are no home alerts, it looks like people won’t be really concerned about it.

But our neighbours in France and England are already getting a glimpse of things to come

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51294305?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc....

Let us hope they succeed holding the virus back. Otherwise, we will have another social experiment of how modern mass media, paranoia and rising racism can affect our lives.

Have you already detected any shadows nearby?

Figment



Figment wrote on Jan 29^th, 2020 at 5:30pm:


Greetings from the Pacific Northwest here in the USA, State of Washington.

Well, things have gone from bad--to worse--in a very short time!

Several days ago, our head of State government, Governor Inslee, declared for the state of Washington a *state of emergency*!  He ordered in three counties with the greatest population centers that any gathering of 250 people or more must be canceled, or not scheduled for at least the next 4 weeks--subject to review and an extension of the ban.  And, any gathering less than 250 people must show that they have employed mitigating factors to prevent social contact--i.e. they must have *social distancing* in place.  These restrictions were not applied to schools, retail establishments, or restaurants and bars.

The next day, schools in the three counties were ordered to close as soon as possible--within the next two or three school days at the most.

The next day, the above bans were extended to include the entire State.

And, the next day, all restaurants and bars were ordered to close their doors to any on premises gatherings or service.  Restaurants are allowed to offer carry-out or delivery only.  Grocery stores and pharmacies are allowed to continue to serve their communities.  Other retail establishments must reduce their capacity of their stores to 50% of their maximum allowed.  Essentially, all other providers of public services or recreation are restricted, which include sporting events--large and small, churches, etc., and they are banned from opening their facilities to the public.  And, no large gatherings of greater than 50 are now allowed.

Yikes!  The world as we knew it only a week or two ago no longer exists!  Many small businesses have been given a *death sentence*--yes, for the public good, but many will not recover, and be able to survive these bans--they will not be able to re-open their doors.

I shed heart-felt tears for our communities, and the world ....

The State of Washington is reporting as of yesterday, Sunday, 772 confirmed cases, and 42 deaths--the numbers increase daily.  Only an estimated 10,220 tests have be administer out of a population of approx. 7.4 million people.  Do we really know what's going on?!

I think the virus has been in our State since Dec., 2019--we just did not recognize it as being here.  It's only as the ability of our State to test for the virus is gradually increasing, that we are seeing more and more positive results.

The *genie* is out of the bottle--we will not be able to put it back in.  We can only hope to *mitigate* at this point.

To All

An interesting website:  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

Christer wrote on Mar 19^th, 2020 at 12:59pm:


Christer,
it seems the numbers are updated, but with a day delay...at least for Italy.

mariella NightOwl

Thanks both, that's what I suspected, updates once a day!

Figment wrote on Mar 20^th, 2020 at 7:51am:


Figment,

JFYK, I just live in Milan area, within the most impacted region in Italy, i.e. Lombardia.
Here we started with the first health provisions on last Feb, 21th, too much late for being able to impede or to reduce the great impact...

Figment wrote on Mar 20^th, 2020 at 3:54pm:


not only, but mainly learning from others' mistakes and experience, above all.

I think that this could be the first opportunity for mankind to work and to cooperate all toghether, worldwide, having in mind a unique target, too.
But, unfortunately, this is only a utopia and, in fact, the behaviour of most impacted countries confirms that each of them is only acting independently...and selfishly.
What a pity!

To All

An interesting perspective:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/opinion/coronavirus-pandemic-social-distancin...

I have to admit, I see some merit in the concepts being put forth.

On our current path, I am concerned that we have set in motion a modern version of the *Great Depression*!  Small businesses and self employed are going to be bankrupted by the extreme measures being taken now in an attempt to minimize exposure, and therefore prevent the over-whelming of our health care systems.

I could be wrong--but if we *flatten the curve*--yes, the health care systems will have a more manageable load, but I think this will further extend the length of the virus outbreak!  As soon as the restrictions are lowered, there will be an ongoing new influx of infected persons who were protected during the *stay at home* mandated period.

I doubt the virus will just disappear just because we slowed it down.

Until a vaccine is available (est. 12-18 months from now), or a significant percentage of the world's population has been exposed, and developed natural immunity (herd immunity), the vulnerable portion of our populations will continue, and remain *at risk*!

I don't see a quick, or easy recovery for the economies of the world!

Try to be safe out there!