In our PM’s first presser of this style last week, the second question was from the Murdoch controlled Sky News: they asked (with no intro) “Can you tell us how many people will die?”. It’s an impossible question to answer, and should not be the focus. The public needs to be made aware this is serious, but generally needs reassurance not scaremongering hysteria from the mass media.

That's what they put out there in the presser, yes.

Wait, why aren't they reporting them? Waiting to get positive confirmation by testing, or am I missing something in translation?

Have I missed the Q&A about "tests are free, but is the treatment also free? And if not, will the treatment be affordable?".

From what I've googled, there is no commitment the treatment is free and who knows how much 20% copay of $X is. This seems like a pretty good question to ask in the next news conference.

You mean, like an actual emergency?

We are on spring break this week. From what I am seeing, the plan is to distribute the work through the e-learning center website that they have been using all year to document grades, assignments, and the kids can message with their teacher through that. There are digital copies of textbooks for a couple of my son's classes so for those classes they will have access to the book. I know a couple of teachers who trying to decide if they want to make videos of themselves lecturing for the kids. I suspect they are going to lean on YouTube videos instead.

My daughter is a freshman in HS and they seem to be doing everything through Google Classroom.

I hope some accommodations are going to be made with the state testing after all this.

I like the idea (and get Yang to implement it!) but I don't think it needs to be every adult, just those whose jobs were severely negatively impacted.

My wife is a teacher, I'm in IT. I'm more vulnerable than my wife but not near as vulnerable as others in the airline, restaurant, hospitality business. So spend the funds where there is truly a need.

Don't waste time on making it complicated.

the worst are the asshole parents who act like you are the crazy one for not allowing it.

Less than 24 hours after the non-answer declaring the need for robust debate, Michigan closes bars and dine-restaurants at 3pm today. Was announced in the morning so clearly something happened after yesterday's presser to convince the governor this needed to be done, and now. We've got about four people on average working at my job now to deal with carryouts; my particular job though effectively no longer exists. The company is feeding all employees for free for the duration of this. Two weeks as of now, and some people think they won't want to extend it further. I expect it to last much longer than that, but again nobody knows right now.

I haven't seen any examples of anybody ignoring the order around here. There are some who don't like it, most are in the 'world is crazy right now' mode and don't know what to make of it. I'm typically a passive survivor, but I'm doing some hard thinking right now about how to best use my unwanted time off.

Just catching up so others may have addressed it. I texted a friend when that happened and said I wish these reporters would stop trying to trap him and just ask questions that may be relevant to the situation. Stop going for the low hanging fruit.

At the same time, there are usually "reporters" from OAN there willing to serve him softballs.

Also, do we really need four threads on this now?

So we are nearing full shutdown mode here which I think is a good thing. No work for me, no schools, most public places closed, sounds like restaurants and bars closing. Where exactly does this leave supermarkets? What happened in Wuhan and Italy? I ask because do I need to make a canned food, frozen meat run like everyone else or will they stay open as an essential place of business?

Supermarkets stayed open in Italy, and pharmacies. Pretty much everything else was shut down. the order in Michigan specifically excludes those and some other places. I think this is just a recognition of the fact that people are always going to need food and medicine. Cutting that off is even worse than spreading the virus.

Grocery stores were listed on the "Essential businesses" list through the Shelter-in-Place order today in the Bay Area, meaning they will be staying open.

Edit: per a San Francisco Chronicle article, "Hospitals, grocery stores, banks, and pharmacies will remain open." They also mention restaurants can only serve take out or delivery orders, and "Daycare centers and veterinarians will remain open with some restrictions, as will laundry services."

Agreed but seeing how there is no toilet paper to be found wasn't sure how long it was until my family was eating canned beets and radishes due to supermarket runs. Also at some point the places supplying the food, trucks driving the food, people working at the stores may have to start shutting down.

I really hope this is an oversight and is fixed tomorrow, as otherwise it stinks of looking after big business (insurance) over small businesses

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51906370

I think it'll go the other way in terms of shortages. The supermarkets and the supply chain for them will see increased demand and stay open. There's just some things that you can't shut down without total societal collapse.

Gun sales are up, surprised I hadn't seen articles earlier. But tbh, the 68% increase reported below doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. Probably much higher now.

Gun sales surge as coronavirus grips US | TheHill

Sorry, just getting back to this. I have no idea why it isn't being reported. My assumption is this administration will continue to try and make things look as good as they can until we break. I know more than a few healthcare workers and virtually all of them have stated things are getting exponentially worse.

Some good news.

First coronavirus vaccine trial begins as Seattle volunteer receives shot

Each of my kids got a packet sent him that had 10 days worth of assignments, separated by each day. All the teachers also have their own website where you can ask questions and access resources.

I am just doing what we can and not stressing over any missed work.

Mark Cuban mentioned something similar to this yesterday or earlier today.

His proposal was with many stores closing earlier for restocking and the improved cleaning we all keep receiving emails about, stores can block off the first hour or two of the stores operating time just for the 60+ population. The store should be at its most sanitized and they can be less exposed to the younger folks. I am sure there are flaws but I like the sentiment of both ideas.

I hope things go well for her. Not too many of us would be willing to go out on that limb.

Ramping up grocery delivery seems like a good idea too. Can leave it outside the door with no human contact. Most of the grocers here offer it but not sure how they're handling the demand.

Saw Amazon adding 100k people to help with deliveries.

Governor Kemp closing all schools now till at least March 31. My wife has just been crying for two days convinced my son's graduation is going to be cancelled.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

My wife used this a lot prior to anything going wrong just to save time and for some crazy reason it costs nothing additional at walmart or our local grocery. This week walmart has cancelled the program all together and the grocery is taking orders like 4 days out.

I pulled my kids early, as school is actually still open in my province this week, which blows my mind (they have it scheduled to close starting next week). So no direction or support yet, and we don't have any direct method of contacting the teachers. Rumor has it that we'll start getting info/directions later this week. Until then, we're basically making it up as we go along. Various learning apps, word searches and other puzzles found online, reading time, chores, walks outside, and I bought Rocksmith on sale today to start incorporating a 'music lesson' each day where they can try to learn a bit of guitar.

Bailouts for the billionaires already coming.

Boeing confirms it is in talks with the White House to receive government assistance pic.twitter.com/GBucOHQzkk

— Natalie Kitroeff (@Nataliekitro) March 17, 2020

Latest poll I can find says a third of people are planning to rethink travel, a quarter stop eating out. That's not nearly high enough. I hope it rises more, but jives with the whole 'mildly concerned' vibe that I've sensed. We're now at least a month past the point when that was appropriate IMO.

I see “being presidential” lasted all but 30 minutes as he’s back on twitter calling it the Chinese virus.

I know a couple people that "eat out" for some form of every meal.....that said, they aren't sitting down at a restaurant for even a quarter of those, so much as getting fast food, take out, or eating from a grocery deli. I imagine this will require quite a shift in thinking for those kind of folks, and there's probably a lot of them in America. Now folks who still elect to travel...I have no clue what those folks are thinking.

I've only been paying close attention to North Carolina & Massachusetts, but it seems like we're getting quite diligent updates on confirmed & suspected cases. I guess I could see the hospital holding back reporting publicly if they've tested and haven't heard back (or have possible cases but not enough tests), but that seems like a stretch. I'm also guessing that anyone in a high risk category (or who is a hypochondriac) will be trying to check themselves in if they have even a slight cough, even though a hospital is the last place I would want to be with a compromised immune system even in regular times.

A bit conflicted here as I work at an AR distribution center. Last week they announced Unpaid Time Off would not be enforced through March, attendance immediately plummeted to about 40%, and a fair amount of orders were delayed. I can see the argument that Amazon as a supply chain helps keep others inside, but while certain jobs (like mine where I'm in a managerial role) involve a little more space & less touching of the merchandise, I can't see any argument where closing schools and bars and sports and limiting any gatherings of 10 or more people makes sense, but still having 2000 of us go to work in close quarters with each other does as well. Even at this one which is a more advanced robotics facility, you have groups of 12-18 people essentially in a hallway next to each other for 3 3 hour shifts taking items out of chutes & boxing them up to be shipped. I'm off until Wednesday anyways, not sure if I'll go in then or sit it out (hey, that $2/hour pay raise for existing workers will also probably juice attendance!), and I'm hoping the government just takes the issue out of their hands & tells them to shut it down for 2 weeks, but otherwise it seems very emblematic of the haphazard ways things are being implemented right now.

At some point we need to be able to provide basic necessities as the stores run out and leveraging delivery to reduce contacts seems like a trade off. I realize with Amazon and other Ecommerce it also will be things that aren’t relay needed. If we reduce overall contacts by like 90%, especially things that reduce the risk of mass spreading that will have a huge impact. We can’t eliminate all human contact.

The entire northern Island of Luzon is now in shutdown here. Enhanced community quarantine. Roughly 49 million people.

Movement of people in Luzon restricted as island placed under 'enhanced' community quarantine

It would make a lot more sense if there was a corresponding limiting of what can be ordered, but you know, "essential" means a lot of different things to different people. :lol:

Unfortunately, possibly coming to a theater near you soon.

A hospital in Milan italy CoronaVirus (COVID-19) - YouTube

Is this legit? People in SF can only leave for a doctor visit or trip to the grocery store?
San Francisco Going on 24-Hour Lockdown for 3 Weeks

Yup, shelter-in-place starting Tue midnight I believe.

All of the Bay Area, 6 counties and 6.7 million people. It's not a lockdown; it's a "mandatory shelter-in-place." There's nothing mentioned anywhere about enforcement, and I've heard already today that three different car dealerships are staying open as "essential" businesses (I have family members that work at each). So I'm not sure how drastic it's actually going to be.

I work in the corporate office at a large utility company in Las Vegas, and we have some significant changes beginning tomorrow. Almost everyone at the corporate office will be working from home, beginning tomorrow. Non-essential work travel is prohibited. When work travel is absolutely necessary, it must be approved by a vice president.

Our field crews will be wearing new disposable gloves and company issued safety glasses at all times while performing service on customers' property. They will practice social distancing, including no handshakes and maintaining at least 6 feet distance. Customer signatures are no longer required. They have been given talking points to use when interacting with customers, explaining that these precautions are for the customer's safety and the safety of our crews.

Are those makeshift ventilators? Never seen those hoods before. Wondering if it's just pumping oxygen through.

Someone I work with just e-mailed and told us his wife probably has it. She's been sick with flu like symptoms but all those tests came back negative. They didn't have access to the coronavirus test at her hospital.

So they're both in some weird isolation. She's basically going to live in the basement for the next few weeks and he's going to take care of the kid upstairs and hope he doesn't have it himself. He was pissed that he couldn't get tested too. Now he doesn't know if their kid is being exposed or not.

Liquor up everybody, the hard stuff, the virus stands no chance against alcohol.
Get those moonshine machines going.

If it was exposed there is still an excellent chance of at most mild symptoms, that seems equally sure by now as does the higher risk of severe symptoms for elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.

It sounds pretty drastic to me. Grocery stores, pharmas, hospitals, nursing homes etc. for sure are essential but not car dealerships.

The rate of infection will be reduced which is the point but can't help but feel Bay Area is overreacting at this time. Before sheltering-in-place for pretty much everyone, I would try the mandatory quarantine or shelter-in-place for the vulnerable (e.g. elderly & pre-existing) and their helpers.

It'll be a fascinating social experiment to see how Bay Area folks do this. Will crime be reduced (probably), will crime increase in other areas (e.g. spousal abuse), will internet crash (probably spotty service), will entrepreneurial minds find a way to make money out of this (probably), will there be riots (low probability) etc.?

Needs to be like 70% proof. Forget the beers and go for the hard stuff.