Rob
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Post by Rob on Feb 28, 2020 1:15:59 GMT -5
My dad went to Los Angeles for business a couple weeks ago. He was there for a week. My aunt was just asking me if he was home now, because she heard about cases of Coronavirus in California and she hopes he didn't catch it.
I have friends in California who haven't said anything about the virus, so I don't think they're too worried about it.
I know Coronavirus is real, I know it's bad, I know it has killed people and I know it's spreading. But I'm not terribly worried about it. I think it's just another thing that's going around. I certainly hope I don't catch it, but if I do, I don't think it'll kill me.
I think most people who catch it will get through it.
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graham
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Post by graham on Feb 28, 2020 7:00:50 GMT -5
If you believe the way the media are portraying this, we're only one step away from the Zombie Apocalypse! But if you look at this page: www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/ you'll see that the highest probabilty of dying from COVID-19 is if you are over 80 years old, followed by the 70-79 year old age group. This is entirely unsurprising, since people in those groups are most likely to be susceptible because they have other, underlying medical conditions and/ or have weakened immune systems. Frankly I think the scaremongering by the media is grossly irresponsible, especially because it's feeding back into government policy with mass quarantines, schools being closed and, even more regrettably, resulting in racist and xenophobic attitudes towards people from China etc as if they're plague carriers. If you compare COVID-19 to the effects of Flu *every year*, you get a sense of how much this has been blown out of proportion: InfectionsCOVID-19: Approximately 81,322 cases worldwide; 59 cases in the U.S. as of Feb. 26, 2020. Flu: Estimated 1 billion cases worldwide; 9.3 million to 45 million cases in the U.S. per year. DeathsCOVID-19: Approximately 2,770 deaths reported worldwide; 0 deaths in the U.S., as of Feb. 26, 2020. Flu: 291,000 to 646,000 deaths worldwide; 12,000 to 61,000 deaths in the U.S. per year. www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu |
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MalcolmR
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Post by MalcolmR on Feb 28, 2020 7:32:27 GMT -5
I was just in my local pharmacy this morning and a lady was complaining bitterly because they wouldn't sell her an anti-coronavirus shot!
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mank
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Post by mank on Feb 28, 2020 12:10:24 GMT -5
I am not concerned at all. I know, as Graham pointed out, the flu is worse. I do think that the media has blown it out of proportion. We have friends that live in South Korea. Our friend is a school counselor but now the school has been shut down due to the Coronavirus.
With all of that being said, my wife and I are going on a 10 day cruise starting on March 16th that sails out of Ft. Lauderdale, then to St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, Curacoa and then back to Ft. Lauderdale. The virus isn't in any of the countries at this point in time. We hope our cruise is not cancelled. In fact, for the first time ever we bought vacation insurance.
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Gimpy
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Post by Gimpy on Feb 28, 2020 12:50:03 GMT -5
I'm not worried and wonder what the virus has to do to make the stock market drop. I might get sick so, I'll sell everything? China started the worries when the shut down a whole city and the media took that as a sign of disaster. Trump making light of it doesn't make sense and that brings even more coverage. Not worried, past 80 and overweight!  |
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graham
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Post by graham on Feb 28, 2020 13:38:57 GMT -5
I'm not worried and wonder what the virus has to do to make the stock market drop. I might get sick so, I'll sell everything? It's to do with modern "Just in Time" supply chains.
A lot of businesses rely on not holding lots of stock either to sell or to use for manufacturing to keep their overheads down.
Of course a lot of that now comes from China and with the country virtually shut down, that causes a knock-on effect with, for instance, stories of Jaguar Land Rover having staff bringing out components in suitcases!
The upshot is that company profits may fall, so financial institutions are dumping stocks and getting into eg Gold which is always seen as a safe option in volatile times.
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Jim
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Post by Jim on Feb 28, 2020 15:34:17 GMT -5
I'm so concerned about it, I started driving for Uber near the airport.
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frodi
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Post by frodi on Feb 28, 2020 18:12:22 GMT -5
My main concern is that i can't get hold of stock of facemasks and hand sanitiser to make a killing while the panic lasts.
Gráinne is still planning to go to Japan in2 weeks. She's just annoyed that 2 of the 4 gigs that she was planning to go to have been cancelled.
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Post by martycanuck on Feb 28, 2020 19:32:17 GMT -5
I’m certainly aware of it. I’d say I am concerned. Going to a trade show next week. Have a trip to Vegas in May booked and paid for.
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Post by stevenjmcd on Feb 28, 2020 21:13:35 GMT -5
Some of you have been where I live... 12 miles from the nearest town that could lay claim to the title “town” with a population of about 3,000, in a county of roughly 6,000. Not very many international travelers, and I have little contact with many people, outside grocery shopping. Robin is a doctor (internist, with an international reputation), so I guess if I contracted the virus, I’d be in pretty good hands. In short, I’m not even slightly worried, personally.
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Post by fritobandito on Feb 29, 2020 6:58:08 GMT -5
My retirement accounts have taken a small hit, so far... But I expect things to get back to 'normal' before long. The 1918 flu pandemic killed about 675,000 people in the US. There are more of us now, but I suspect it won't be like that this time. I've heard reports of vaccines being close to developed and I think we're better about hygiene in general now. I'd hope the anti-vaxers are starting to appreciate the measles deaths and are coming to their senses.
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Stan
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Post by Stan on Feb 29, 2020 9:47:57 GMT -5
My wife is on medical oxygen with respiratory issues. While we live in the sticks, we shop in Boulder which is fairly affluent with a large international presence. I'm concerned. Presumably, the WHO knows what they are doing and they are taking it seriously. That said, we aren't doing anything different, we just got back from Yellowstone, airports, and more international travelers. I'm not worried and wonder what the virus has to do to make the stock market drop. I might get sick so, I'll sell everything? China started the worries when the shut down a whole city and the media took that as a sign of disaster. Trump making light of it doesn't make sense and that brings even more coverage. Not worried, past 80 and overweight! The stock drop has to do with international supply chains. Everybody is dependent on everyone else and any blip causes an issue. An earthquake or typhoon would have a similar effect. Media coverage seems consistent with the coverage on A1N1 and SARS. The administration in power always takes a hit when this happens. Without getting overly political, common sense says that cutting the CDC budget, not filling technical medical positions, and Pences's prior handling of AIDS issues is going to be questioned. |
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MalcolmR
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Post by MalcolmR on Feb 29, 2020 9:52:52 GMT -5
Antbody remember the BSE and nvCJD scares? It was predicted that by 2020 there would be euthanasia clinics in every major town in Britain. Look how that panned out.
Politicians love a good crisis. It enables them to take drastic measures that they hope will be remembered in a good light. They rarely are.
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mank
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Post by mank on Mar 2, 2020 12:14:20 GMT -5
Sort of related...
My son works in San Antonio on the Lackland Air Force Base. That base is where the flew in people from China and I think the Princess Cruise quarantined ship that was sitting in Japan. From his office he can see the quarantined area that is surrounded by barricades and armed patrols. He isn't happy about it and wonders what precautions are being taken by the people providing supplies to the infected people. Of course he works for the government so he has no say so at all. They did warn everybody though weeks before they brought anybody on base. It did surprise me that the media didn't find out. I knew, from my son, weeks before there were any reports on the news that people would be flown into San Antonio.
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graham
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Post by graham on Mar 2, 2020 18:50:29 GMT -5
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Post by martycanuck on Mar 3, 2020 8:38:30 GMT -5
I was supposed to fly to Philly today to attend a trade show. It was not a critical trip. Just one I wanted to attend as a visitor. I cancelled my flight 3-1/2 hours before departure. Paranoid? Absolutely. But the simple fact was that the risk did not outweigh the benefits I may have gained by going to it. My parents are in their 80’s. In a week and a half we’ll be gathering to celebrate family birthdays that fall in March. I don’t need to put them at risk for no good reason.
Had this trade show been one we were exhibiting at I would have gone.
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MalcolmR
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Post by MalcolmR on Mar 3, 2020 9:17:03 GMT -5
I was supposed to fly to Philly today to attend a trade show. It was not a critical trip. Just one I wanted to attend as a visitor. I cancelled my flight 3-1/2 hours before departure. Paranoid? Absolutely. But the simple fact was that the risk did not outweigh the benefits I may have gained by going to it. My parents are in their 80’s. In a week and a half we’ll be gathering to celebrate family birthdays that fall in March. I don’t need to put them at risk for no good reason. Had this trade show been one we were exhibiting at I would have gone. What was your concern, Marty? The flights, or the show itself? |
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Post by Juli on Mar 3, 2020 10:45:45 GMT -5
Two weekends ago, the client had one of my co-workers go to White Plains, NY, to work from there while the remote access was down. I didn't think about Covid-19. This week, one of the leads was flown to work out of the San Francisco office. I'm a bit concerned about whether she might come into contact with the virus, since there have been deaths in California. I wouldn't say "very concerned", but the thought is present.
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Post by martycanuck on Mar 3, 2020 11:12:47 GMT -5
I was supposed to fly to Philly today to attend a trade show. It was not a critical trip. Just one I wanted to attend as a visitor. I cancelled my flight 3-1/2 hours before departure. Paranoid? Absolutely. But the simple fact was that the risk did not outweigh the benefits I may have gained by going to it. My parents are in their 80’s. In a week and a half we’ll be gathering to celebrate family birthdays that fall in March. I don’t need to put them at risk for no good reason. Had this trade show been one we were exhibiting at I would have gone. What was your concern, Marty? The flights, or the show itself? Airports, hotels, restaurants, the show itself. All of the above really. For a non-crucial trip it just didn’t seem to make sense to take any extra risk at all. ETA - I’m not worried that I might die from it. But it’s still a pretty nasty flu since no-one has any natural immunity. That’s not much fun either and then if I did inadvertently spread it that would trouble me a lot too. |
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graham
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Post by graham on Mar 3, 2020 18:30:00 GMT -5
In a couple of weeks, I'm going to a Trade Show in Coventry.
A week after that, I'm going skiing in France for a week.
A couple of weeks after that, there's a big Sci-Fi "Eastercon" convention.
At the end of May there's the UK Board Games Expo.
At all of these, there are going to be people from other countries. I'm not panicking, I'm not buying face masks or hand sanitiser (both of which are less efficacious than just washing your hands...!) and I'm not cancelling any of them.
I stand more risk of dying whilst riding my bicycle or motorcycle or being knocked down crossing the road...
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Post by martycanuck on Mar 3, 2020 18:54:32 GMT -5
That’s one of the reasons I don’t drive a motorcycle too.
I know I’m being a bit extreme but I prefer caution when I can have more control of a situation.
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MalcolmR
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Post by MalcolmR on Mar 4, 2020 4:47:18 GMT -5
but I prefer caution when I can have more control of a situation. Ah, but Marty, remember what Graham's business line is? |
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frodi
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Post by frodi on Mar 4, 2020 16:27:32 GMT -5
I stand more risk of dying whilst riding my bicycle or motorcycle or being knocked down crossing the road... +1. A proper risk analysis. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
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Post by martycanuck on Mar 4, 2020 18:28:14 GMT -5
but I prefer caution when I can have more control of a situation. Ah, but Marty, remember what Graham's business line is? LOL, I had not thought of that but I like it! |
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MalcolmR
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Post by MalcolmR on Mar 4, 2020 23:15:02 GMT -5
Do you indeed?
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Mar 5, 2020 1:51:39 GMT -5
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graham
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Post by graham on Mar 5, 2020 6:05:14 GMT -5
but I prefer caution when I can have more control of a situation. Ah, but Marty, remember what Graham's business line is?
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graham
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Post by graham on Mar 5, 2020 6:07:16 GMT -5
That’s one of the reasons I don’t drive a motorcycle too. I know I’m being a bit extreme but I prefer caution when I can have more control of a situation. I know it's a risk.
However I manage those risks, I'm cautious, I've taken advanced training, I exercise due care and attention when I'm on the roads.
I know I can't eliminate all risk, but I can do my best to mitigate it wherever possible.
The same goes for COVID-19.
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Jim
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Post by Jim on Mar 5, 2020 13:14:21 GMT -5
Had an interesting conversation with my boss the other day. My employer is based in India and not only have they instituted a travel ban and send all of their travelers home early. They've also told all regional managers, such as my boss, that ALL vacation requests are to be denied until September due to virus concerns. That flew like a lead balloon. My boss and the RM in France were tripping over each other when it came to protesting.
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Post by martycanuck on Mar 5, 2020 19:44:00 GMT -5
That’s one of the reasons I don’t drive a motorcycle too. I know I’m being a bit extreme but I prefer caution when I can have more control of a situation. I know it's a risk.
However I manage those risks, I'm cautious, I've taken advanced training, I exercise due care and attention when I'm on the roads.
I know I can't eliminate all risk, but I can do my best to mitigate it wherever possible.
The same goes for COVID-19.
My buddy that got totalled while riding his Harley in Sept. 2018 just today saw the surveillance video that shows the collision he was in. An oncoming car turned across his path with no warning whatsoever. Blink of an eye from clear to impact. You cannot control that. Over the bars, slammed into the windshield then landed 37 feet from the collision spot. Police had his bike going 37km/hr. That’s under 25 mph for you US folk. |
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