Day of Chaos 2: a.Covid-19 thread.

[TordelBack]

Is that how it appears to you too?

There's no other possible reading. It's an act - a policy - as calculatedly vile as many we condemn throughout history: more, it's exactly how great empires cement their decline. I suspect the last fading, tattered wisps of the American dream just died.

[Tjm86]

So in addition to Bolsanaro's aide, the man himself seems to have tested positive ...

... after spending an evening sat next to President Trump.

How to respond .... 

[TordelBack]

One of my crew is Catalan, with a partner living near Madrid, and as our current job is wrapping up in a few weeks (and now there's no prospect of any more starting here), he's been nervously eyeing the flight- and virus situation trying to time his exit. He seemed upset this morning (more than the rest of us, fuck this atmosphere is bizarre), so I took him aside for a chat - his partner is desperate for him to come home, but from her testimony on the ground half of all Spanish cases are in Madrid, and he's terrified that flights or onward travel will be cancelled when he's on route and he'll be stranded. He believes Spain is about a week away from being Italy today.

Almost incredibly he's decided to abandon his plans to go home, and instead get the ferry to Britain, where he believes Boris' laissez faire approach will mean less restrictions on work and travel, and he'll ride it all out working on a HS2 site deep in the countryside somewhere.

If I was half-joking about the world sounding like an unoriginal SF novel, I'm not any longer - this is almost exactly the story setup for a PoV character in an apocalypse.  The poor bastard.

[IndigoPrime]

Spain is not looking good. Areas with low infection have traced basically everything to Madrid and Italy. My folks are in the south-east, and they’ve even roped off all of the children’s playgrounds. All municipal buildings are being closed.

Meanwhile, Iceland is containing things in some interesting ways, such as keeping shops open but mandating a maximum of 100 people even in large supermarkets and stores (which are relatively few in number in that country, but some do exist).

[sheridan]

It's certainly lucky there aren't loads of British people over the age of 60 in Spain then, isn't it...

[JayzusB.Christ]

So in addition to Bolsanaro's aide, the man himself seems to have tested positive ...

... after spending an evening sat next to President Trump.

How to respond .... 

Wow.  I'm not sure how to feel about that.  A wee bit of schadenfreude I have to admit, as Mr 'Just Another Democrat Hoax' wakes up to reality.  Not saying this is a moral standpoint; it's the petty little snide in me doing the thinking.

Another of my co-workers is getting tested today. The whole thing is overwhelming.

[IndigoPrime]

It's certainly lucky there aren't loads of British people over the age of 60 in Spain then, isn't it...

Two of which are my parents. As of tomorrow, they might not be – depending on how far the state of emergency being declared goes. (They have flights booked. The question is whether the flights will still happen.)

[I, Cosh]

All schools in Switzerland closed until April now. Further restrictions on events: maximum 100 people at anything and 50 in a bar or restaurant.

Number of cases per capita has been very high here, mostly from proximity to northern Italy.

[Tjm86]

A wee bit of schadenfreude I have to admit, as Mr 'Just Another Democrat Hoax' wakes up to reality.

... and off the back of that revelation the White House goes into full panic mode ...

[JayzusB.Christ]

Seems like the Bolsonaro infection thing was probably wrong.  Bit of a 9/11-style day today; conflicting news reports from all angles.

[Professor Bear]

So in addition to Bolsanaro's aide, the man himself seems to have tested positive ...

... after spending an evening sat next to President Trump.

How to respond .... 

At some point in the next couple of months, many of us will be openly praying that he, Johnson and the lot of them catch it and die, so compassion is the best way to respond for now, while we're still capable.

[Dudley]

This being the one place I sometimes post where my family isn't likely to see, please allow me to vent. My wife and I are in lockdown because the schools where we live are closed down, and we're lucky enough to have the option of teleworking. Meanwhile, my fucking mother, who has metastatic kidney cancer in both lungs, is refusing to take any precautions at all - this weekend she's been to a bunch of parties and all over the country, basically walking around in every damn crowd she can find. Worse, she's dragging my dad along with her (triple cancer survivor and not in the best of health himself). All the while making blithe little jokes about "if it comes, it comes," seemingly not giving a shit about her life or anyone's feelings but her own. We've tried gently and then less gently getting her to take the whole social distancing thing more seriously, but it just doesn't get through. And there's a limit to how much I can physically interfere given that I am stuck a good 2000 miles away, just going out of my mind.

Thanks for listening /reading /scrolling past, etc. Just really wanted to get that off my chest somewhere.

[Funt Solo]

Similar issues with the olds in my neck of the woods. They seem fairly blase about ... end of life stuff.

[paddykafka]

So in addition to Bolsanaro's aide, the man himself seems to have tested positive ...

... after spending an evening sat next to President Trump.

How to respond .... 

At some point in the next couple of months, many of us will be openly praying that he, Johnson and the lot of them catch it and die, so compassion is the best way to respond for now, while we're still capable.

A kind sentiment, Professor, even if only a temporary one. I think it is worth bearing in mind, though, that the likes of Johnson and his ilk, generally tend to view compassion as a weakness to be exploited, abused and manipulated. So with that in mind, I would have to say "Sod them!" Give your enemy an inch and they'll dig up the whole bloody garden and laugh at you while they're doing so. Offer no quarter, mercy or forgiveness, 'cause you can be damn sure that you won't get any from them.

I'll save my compassion for those that are truly deserving of it.

And speaking of which, my thoughts are with you, Dudley. I can't offer any possible solutions to your dilemma. For what little it is worth, I can only give you my best wishes and hope that things work out for yourself and your family, at this difficult and traumatic time.

[Tjm86]

...  All the while making blithe little jokes about "if it comes, it comes," seemingly not giving a shit about her life or anyone's feelings but her own. We've tried gently and then less gently getting her to take the whole social distancing thing more seriously, but it just doesn't get through.

Maybe it isn't jokes so much as resignation?  I don't know.  News today has got me considering options and this is about to transition to Black Dog Thread (sorry not talking about Covid-19, rather personal news).  I get the nihilism, the resignation.  It's a massive challenge trying to think about how it affects other people when you are sat there thinking 'fuck it, there is only so much you can take.'

We've got a PM sat there saying 'do you know what, we're going to lose loved ones'.  That's another way of saying 'fuck it, a couple of thousand deaths don't count'.  So I get the idea of thinking about having a good innings but not wanting to be a further burden.  I even get the idea that it might be painful for loved ones in the short term but you know what, that pain fades.  Maybe there is a silver lining here in that it gives some of us a helpful get out.  Half a million deaths?  What is one more?