Coronavirus

[Jackstraw]

No tournament .  Can I trade my beer stock for toilet hand paper sanitizer?  Honestly, and maybe I'm just an old ****, but I think there's a bit of over reaction going on.  My biggest concern is somebody is going to supposedly get someone else mortally sick and relatives or even government are going to go after them.  We don't need anymore division in this country.  Was already a fight locally over the last couple gallons of bleach at the local store.  I mean c'mon.

[on_wx]

Southern Ontario just made it through the first panic run on groceries when they closed the schools. Cant help but wonder how many runs there will be in coming days/weeks. At some point stores are going to run low on stock. 

Quite surreal to see this is happening.

[A-L-E-K]

Zzzz

[nrgjeff]

Link between COVID-19 and weather. Storm chasers enjoy cheap air fare to the Plains. No 14 hour drive! 

Oh wait, the actual storm chasing days. I forgot about that.

[SchaumburgStormer]

Like any panic, we have a major disconnect between the facts and the perception.

Facts are, this is a serious disease and we should start taking precautions. They may seem a bit extreme at this point, but we do not have a good handle on what we are dealing with. Err a bit on the side of caution. 99.99% of the public would be much better off by simply WASHING THEIR F'ING HANDS than hoarding toilet paper or any other commodity.

These steps are not being taken to protect healthy young people from the disease. They (myself included) will get it, probably think its a cold or allergies, and will move on. However, the precautions are in place so that I don't pass this to my grandmother, or my immuno-compromised brother, or the person who is mid-way through a chemo treatment, of the little child with an underlying congenital disease. 

I keep hearing "I will be pissed if we cancelled everything and no one even gets sick." This may be the stupidest view I have seen, as THAT IS THE ENTIRE POINT. 

Bottom line, people need to stop panicking. This isn't Ebola or some sort of air transferred AIDS. Instead of buying our local store out of toilet paper, maybe reschedule that birthday party. Maybe postpone that business trip. Stay home from work if you feel ill. Lets be prudent and take some precautions to protect the most vulnerable in our population. It could be your mother, grandmother, sister, or neighbor that may be helped. 

[CheeselandSkies]

4 hours ago, SchaumburgStormer said:

Like any panic, we have a major disconnect between the facts and the perception.

Facts are, this is a serious disease and we should start taking precautions. They may seem a bit extreme at this point, but we do not have a good handle on what we are dealing with. Err a bit on the side of caution. 99.99% of the public would be much better off by simply WASHING THEIR F'ING HANDS than hoarding toilet paper or any other commodity.

These steps are not being taken to protect healthy young people from the disease. They (myself included) will get it, probably think its a cold or allergies, and will move on. However, the precautions are in place so that I don't pass this to my grandmother, or my immuno-compromised brother, or the person who is mid-way through a chemo treatment, of the little child with an underlying congenital disease. 

I keep hearing "I will be pissed if we cancelled everything and no one even gets sick." This may be the stupidest view I have seen, as THAT IS THE ENTIRE POINT. 

Bottom line, people need to stop panicking. This isn't Ebola or some sort of air transferred AIDS. Instead of buying our local store out of toilet paper, maybe reschedule that birthday party. Maybe postpone that business trip. Stay home from work if you feel ill. Lets be prudent and take some precautions to protect the most vulnerable in our population. It could be your mother, grandmother, sister, or neighbor that may be helped. 

Quite likely the most reasonable post I've seen on this subject on any of the weather forums I'm on. Thank you.

[Hoosier]

Friend of mine works at a local clinic and passed on that 2 people came in with symptoms and are going to be tested.  

[Chicago Storm]

School closings quickly occurring across NE. IL.

[wisconsinwx]

15 hours ago, hlcater said:

SARS-CoV-2(the virus itself) is susceptible to UV light just like all coronaviruses are. So I’m optimistic that once we get to may, this thing will be winding down. 

 

Heres a few links that I really like and are extraordinarily useful 

Fairly in depth and comprehensive synopsis of what this virus actually is: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554776/

ArcGIS dashboard: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Graphs and growth curves for certain countries:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

Needless to say im disappointed in the amount of media catalyzed hype and panic buying that I’ve seen on twitter and elsewhere. Namely a certain joe rogan podcast with 6M views that was an absolute crime and is the equivalent of a weenie freaking out over a 384hr GFS kuchera map. But I think moving universities online and closing large public gatherings makes sense and is a necessary step to flatten the curve and prevent our medical system from getting overwhelmed like it was in Italy and China.

May isn’t exactly a sunny month around here at least.  Cold rain events are still oh too common.

[Hoosier]

9 minutes ago, wisconsinwx said:

May isn’t exactly a sunny month around here at least.  Cold rain events are still oh too common.

Where is Morch when we need it.

[Hoosier]

2 hours ago, Chicago Storm said:

School closings quickly occurring across NE. IL.

Now statewide in IL.

[IWXwx]

8 hours ago, SchaumburgStormer said:

Like any panic, we have a major disconnect between the facts and the perception.

Facts are, this is a serious disease and we should start taking precautions. They may seem a bit extreme at this point, but we do not have a good handle on what we are dealing with. Err a bit on the side of caution. 99.99% of the public would be much better off by simply WASHING THEIR F'ING HANDS than hoarding toilet paper or any other commodity.

These steps are not being taken to protect healthy young people from the disease. They (myself included) will get it, probably think its a cold or allergies, and will move on. However, the precautions are in place so that I don't pass this to my grandmother, or my immuno-compromised brother, or the person who is mid-way through a chemo treatment, of the little child with an underlying congenital disease. 

I keep hearing "I will be pissed if we cancelled everything and no one even gets sick." This may be the stupidest view I have seen, as THAT IS THE ENTIRE POINT. 

Bottom line, people need to stop panicking. This isn't Ebola or some sort of air transferred AIDS. Instead of buying our local store out of toilet paper, maybe reschedule that birthday party. Maybe postpone that business trip. Stay home from work if you feel ill. Lets be prudent and take some precautions to protect the most vulnerable in our population. It could be your mother, grandmother, sister, or neighbor that may be helped. 

My job has been pure bedlam for the past few days, trying to quell the stupid rumors that people have been propagating.  I have already made up my mind that when this blows over and someone makes a comment like bolded above, my reply will simply be, "Your welcome."

[Chicago Storm]

53 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

Now statewide in IL.

Numerous other states as well, 15 now I believe.

[Hoosier]

17 minutes ago, Chicago Storm said:

Numerous other states as well, 15 now I believe.

Probably heading toward a nationwide shutdown.

[Jackstraw]

Heard the Gov. of NY say the best way to control this is testing and to isolate the "positive's".  That's all we need, a label for those infected geez.  Like ShaumburgStormer posted, these precautions are being implemented to protect those most vulnerable, mainly infants, folks with for whatever reason have a depressed immune system and those over 60, of which we have one of the largest elderly populations in US history right now.  That's also a big difference from say 1918, there's a lot more vulnerable today.  On one of the flying channels on youtube I watch the guy had a Physician/pilot on there that gave a very balanced discussion on what's going on, which is extremely difficult  to filter through with all the crap out there.  Some of the things he brought up made very good sense.  The fact that those who do pass from this die from pneumonia, and it is a viral pneumonia so antibiotics don't help.  He stated the mortality rate from this is around 3% where as the 1918 was around 2% without the advances in medical care we have now.   The one thing he said that struck me is that within the medical community the biggest fear is its going to settle down as we enter the summer but when we get back into the colder months next fall it very likely is going to come back with a vengeance.  The only way to truly control it is via vaccinations so the body can  defend itself of which may not be available until late fall early winter.

  I'm not in a high risk category so honestly I wouldn't be too concerned if I contracted it now, while I'm healthy than take a chance on next winter when something could happen to me health wise to compromise my immune system before a vaccine is available, my body would be ready. 

Here's a link to that interview plus if your into GA and flying this guys got a great channel....

 

[Hoosier]

Some of the info coming out is showing a reduction in lung capacity in some people who no longer have the illness.  I would say it is still too early to know how prevalent that is or if it would be long lasting/permanent.  You'd hope that full functioning would return over time.

[Stebo]

Grocery store by my grandparents in St Clair county.

[Hoosier]

I am wondering if people are going to have the stamina to deal with this for a prolonged period of time.  Not talking physically, but mentally.  Almost everybody's life is going to be altered in some way or another.  

[wisconsinwx]

8 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

I am wondering if people are going to have the stamina to deal with this for a prolonged period of time.  Not talking physically, but mentally.  Almost everybody's life is going to be altered in some way or another.  

Yeah, I'm a little concerned.  When you're mostly homebound, Americans normally at least have sports and entertainment to consume.  There will be very little of that for awhile.  Shame it is coming when we turn to Spring and the weather is getting nicer too.

[Indystorm]

Just read that Indpls public library will close for an indefinite period and join other public libraries that are closing across the state  after Sat, March 14 regular hours.  I expect museums and movie theaters to eventually follow suit.  I have read that Illinos is closing all casinos for the rest of the month of March.  I intend to take this time to get out on nice days to my  city, county, and state parks and nature preserves and hike during my free time.  Good for the body, soul, and one's mental state in this crisis.

[Hoosier]

In some ways I'm not sure if it's a good thing that many areas are/will be having spring break soon.  Lots of people aren't going to just hunker down in their communities... there will be lots of traveling and people taking the virus with them.

[King James]

In some ways I'm not sure if it's a good thing that many areas are/will be having spring break soon.  Lots of people aren't going to just hunker down in their communities... there will be lots of traveling and people taking the virus with them.

No doubt further restrictions are coming

[Chambana]

 I work for a warehouse that supplies groceries to surrounding stores, we are heading into mandatory 16 hour shifts right now. 
 

J.B. pritzker ordered all schools closed through the end of the month. My grandmother is 85 and confirmed she’s never seen the world in this panic. 

[Hoosier]

7 minutes ago, King James said:

No doubt further restrictions are coming

My sister is going on a week long trip to the Caribbean next week.  At least there have been relatively few confirmed cases in those areas so far.  She is flying out of MDW and I am definitely a bit concerned about the period of time from airport to airplane.  I can only imagine what the state of affairs may be like in this country when she comes back.

[michsnowfreak]

I'll be working from home until at least March 30th. Let's sneak in one last snowstorm lol

[SchaumburgStormer]

1 hour ago, Chambana said:

 I work for a warehouse that supplies groceries to surrounding stores, we are heading into mandatory 16 hour shifts right now. 
 

J.B. pritzker ordered all schools closed through the end of the month. My grandmother is 85 and confirmed she’s never seen the world in this panic. 

Closet thing I can compare it to in my lifetime was the hours/days after 9/11. Everyone was panicking and not really knowing what was next

[Jackstraw]

9 hours ago, Indystorm said:

Just read that Indpls public library will close for an indefinite period and join other public libraries that are closing across the state  after Sat, March 14 regular hours.  I expect museums and movie theaters to eventually follow suit.  I have read that Illinos is closing all casinos for the rest of the month of March.  I intend to take this time to get out on nice days to my  city, county, and state parks and nature preserves and hike during my free time.  Good for the body, soul, and one's mental state in this crisis.

Yes, they just closed schools here for the next month.  I've worked from home for the last 6 years.  Trust me it's not all it's cracked up to be.  I agree with you about getting outside and enjoying life away from 4 walls be it a workplace and/or home.  I do it just to maintain sanity.  Heck I'll sleep out in the yard half the time in the summer lol.  I agree with you about getting out and about.  This may be a blessing for some if they do that and get them back in touch with parts of life that the rat race of modern life has taken away.  Not likely to get sick in the woods!  Actually I'm getting ready to go fishing at a local spot this morning for the first time in 2020.  See if I can't coax me out some slow moving snow bass lol

[michsnowfreak]

1 hour ago, Jackstraw said:

Yes, they just closed schools here for the next month.  I've worked from home for the last 6 years.  Trust me it's not all it's cracked up to be.  I agree with you about getting outside and enjoying life away from 4 walls be it a workplace and/or home.  I do it just to maintain sanity.  Heck I'll sleep out in the yard half the time in the summer lol.  I agree with you about getting out and about.  This may be a blessing for some if they do that and get them back in touch with parts of life that the rat race of modern life has taken away.  Not likely to get sick in the woods!  Actually I'm getting ready to go fishing at a local spot this morning for the first time in 2020.  See if I can't coax me out some slow moving snow bass lol

I love working from home, I would be curious to see if I did it full time if it wasn't "all it's cracked up to be" lol. We had already increased our work from home from a few days a month last year to one week a month this year. Again, I love it. But now that I have to work from home until at least March 30th, it will be interesting to see if I feel any sort of stir crazy or still absolutely love having no commute. Im a nature lover so I to go out to the parks regardless of where I'm working, I love getting fresh air. 

[RCNYILWX]

@SchaumburgStormer's post earlier on this thread was very well stated. The stats show that those of us younger and healthier and kids are essentially disease vectors ourselves. Yes the overall mortality rate is higher for age ~20-40/50 than the flu, but the risk of death is still very low. We owe it to our loved ones and everyone else's loved ones in the higher risk groups to do everything in our power to flatten the curve, which means taking hygiene seriously and avoiding crowds. And the feared health system capacity exceedence would then go on to produce worse outcomes for people with other ailments.

 

It's disheartening to here that the bars were still packed out last night for St. Patrick's Day weekend. The unfortunate thing is that many people weigh individual risk over collective risk, which is selfish in this scenario. If the virus does get out of hand and the health care system exceeding capacity, it's going to take state and local governments forcing bars and restaurants to close or shut down early in the day Otherwise, the sad fact is for some people, it won't hit home for them until a loved one is in the ICU.

 

Hopefully the social distancing measures implemented this week in the US and Canada were done just in the nick of time to avoid a worst case scenario and the bar/club going crowd starts to take this more seriously.

 

And I agree with those who've said this feels like we're living in a movie. I lived through 9/11 in NYC and this is the only thing approaching that since then.

 

 

 

 

[Jackstraw]

18 minutes ago, michsnowfreak said:

I love working from home, I would be curious to see if I did it full time if it wasn't "all it's cracked up to be" lol. We had already increased our work from home from a few days a month last year to one week a month this year. Again, I love it. But now that I have to work from home until at least March 30th, it will be interesting to see if I feel any sort of stir crazy or still absolutely love having no commute. Im a nature lover so I to go out to the parks regardless of where I'm working, I love getting fresh air. 

I was a field service engineer for 10 years before my current job and was NEVER home, sometimes gone 2 or 3 weeks at a time.  I got to travel all over the US and Canada which was great but I got so sick of living out of hotels and eating at restaurants besides being away from my wife and family for such long periods.  Took my current job because it allowed me to be home and now the wife hates me lol.  I work 90% from my home office, occasionally getting to go in for corporate crap or a rare customer onsite.  My friends who go to a workplace say I have it made but it really is hard.  When I said its not what it's cracked up to be is because working from home almost all the time requires a lot more discipline than most people realize.  It's really easy to get distracted and complacent.  Didn't take me long to figure that out.  I built a shed away from the house that's my home office so I have some kind of "feel" like I'm going to work .  I will admit, the 50 foot commute is pretty sweet lol.