coronavirus edition?

[tielan]

No symptoms yet for me. My slightly moist nose and the occasional twinge in my throat are explicable from the weather abruptly turning chilly (21C, yes, I know, shush, two months ago it was 40C+). No temperature, no respirational issues.

Social things are slowly coming to a halt. They won't be holding the Sydney Easter Show which runs for the week before and after Easter because of the desire to avoid collecting crowds.

The PM advised that everyone should avoid public gatherings...starting after he's seen the opening of the footy, and after the weekend that his church has a massive in-person conference of thousands of people.

A school three suburbs away has had a student diagnosed and was closed down for a week or more. Other local schools aren't yet closed down, but everyone's on tenterhooks.

People are working from home. All kinds of telecommuting accomodations that weren't possible for disabled people are suddenly available! However, this is good for parents who might suddenly have to mind their children.

There's still shortages of certain products, to the point where supermarkets are limiting purchases per individual.

There've been more cases diagnosed in the northern suburbs of Sydney than anywhere else in Australia.

Peter Dutton, Mr. Potato Head, and Federal Immigration Minister, has been diagnosed with coronavirus. There are all kinds of jokes about sending him to the quarantine island which, incidentally, is also the island where asylum seekers are sent to rot before we deny them the right to seek safety.

Peter Dutton met with Ivanka Trump less than two weeks ago.

You're welcome.

So are we.

Comments

[wpadmirer]

There is no doubt in my mind that Trump has the coronavirus. He sounds and looks worse than normal. They're hiding it.

There's been two cases pop up in Alachua County. I can't telecommute to my job because it's an "essential" business, but they're doing everything to keep the place extra sanitized. It's a blood bank, so our normal routine is very clean, but it's even MORE clean now.

Pat and I are both healthy, so I'm hopeful this will pass us by.

[tielan]

We've just jumped in diagnosed cases. Schools aren't cancelled yet, but everyone's a bit jumpy. Large gatherings are being cancelled right left and centre - the Sydney Easter Show has been cancelled in the next month - and smaller gatherings are being eyeballed.

There's hand sanitiser everywhere, businesses whose work involves food or mouth contact are being extra-careful (I visited the dentist this morning and they were pretty assiduous about cleaning between patients), and most people are being encouraged to work from home where possible.

I'm okay with getting it; demographically I'm likely to be fine, personally, I'm pretty resilient in health. But the problem is the likely crowding of hospitals and emergency services, and the possible spread of it. That's the bigger issue with a 'pandemic' - not the number of dead but the logistics of illness, health systems, and patient support.

[wpadmirer]

I send good vibes that you remain healthy and untouched by the virus!

[glass_icarus]

Seen on fb (re: Trump): "people looking for those coronavirus test results like his tax returns..." xD

[tielan]

I think the instant at which they say 'we're not telling you the results' is the point at which he almost certainly has it.

[glass_icarus]

The announcement was that he doesn't, but my inner petty skeptic is pretty disbelieving of that too- he is, after all, exactly That Kind of denialist asshole. >.>

[velithya]

Yeah I heard today on the radio that they're not closing schools yet?? crazy.

[tielan]

So: kids are least likely to get it dangerously, but kids are also the most likely vector for transmission with their casual tactility and inability to constantly monitor themselves.

And, I think, business (and therefore the government) is worried about losing half a workforce that's already mostly working from home.

[velithya]

all of my siblings have kids and 100% of the time when they're sick it's because their tiny children are disease vectors and have passed it onto them.

My parents are nearly 70, my grandma is 92, and my brother works at the emergency department of a major perth tertiary hospital :(