Coronavirus info, facts & updates

[Barnacle_lady]

I have to share the following video, I hope the link works since it was copy & paste.
It's in Dutch but the message is that there is enough toiletpaper.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9r7Er4pUaT/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Meanwhile the people that have died went up to 10 and its a bit quiet in the restaurants. Today I was on the saturday local market to get some cat food because ordering online would take a few days at least. There weren't a lot of people but there was enough food.
Our emergency number 112 (911 in USA) asked not to call them anymore for a regular cold and fever.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

We closed the grocery store I worked at overnight (typically 24 hours) so they could restock some of the shelves. I'm not quite sure how bad it will be today but I'll roll in around 3, so I'd imagine most of it will be gone.
Strange that the organic and gluten free sections were basically untouched. 

[rybett]

Stay calm and comb pony hair.  Or rehair ponies.  Or just ponies. 

[Taffeta]

Cases up here today. No idea how they're testing now, they keep changing the rules. Not sure we should even pay attention to the figures and whether the new deaths are because of new testing, or the figures are too low because of a change in how they're testing.

No cases in my area yet confirmed. Counties/areas surrounding still in the single digits but 2 people have now died in the closest city to where I live (across county borders, but in real terms 30 mins by train).

I'm wondering whether our low numbers so far is thanks to the flooding keeping people away for 2 weeks around the end of Feb - the places tourists come were badly affected and are still recovering but have reported low bookings still.  So we may be behind the national curve. It's not been confirmed that those who passed away were local to the community as cases have been transferred regions to facilities better able to manage them.

UK to be added to the US travel ban - predictable but not great for our airlines already on the brink. I get why the administration are doing it but it seems a bit late to do that given all the stats.

I don't think the UK will be going into lockdown any time soon.

Much talk today about what will happen  with the football since it's suspended. A lot of people are having very serious discussions about that and whether to cancel/void this season, whether to promote/relegate teams and other similar things. Nice they have their priorities straight

Very British behaviour in the stores today...people sidling up to the (empty) sanitiser shelves pretending like they're not really looking for it, so as not to look like they're panic buying. Much pretending to look at the shampoo and other products. So British.

Our one saving grace here is that as a nation, we generally can't stand each other, don't want people particularly close anyway (Personal Space!) and would work from home/not go to work at the least excuse.

[Gator]

I went to two grocery stores today- both meat cases were empty, no chicken breasts or ground beef.  No potatoes.  So the normal people are going to go hungry because of the hoarders?
Wait... Maybe I'm not normal.  I am a 42 year old who collects toys and has more animal friends than real friends.

[Loa]

New Zealand will be in lockdown from midnight tonight. Anyone coming in (except from the Pacific Islands) will be put in automatic 14 day isolation.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

My dad went to Sam's Club yesterday to pick up some fertilizer and he said that people had massive amounts of toilet paper that they were buying.  He said it was really entertaining watching them try to fit it into their cars.  Come on people.  If you're buying more toilet paper than will fit in your car and you don't see that as a problem, you ARE the problem.   

Also, my parents went to an annual case lot sale that had been advertised weeks ago (they do this every year to replenish our food storage that we always have on hand so it wasn't out of panic, we were just out of some things) and they said people were absolutely nuts.  They got what they needed and ran.  They were able to pick up some children's Motrin for my 4-yr-old nephew who has been running a fever because my brother couldn't find any in their area and also some toilet paper for them because their area is completely out.   

[bright rabbit 1]

New Zealand will be in lockdown from midnight tonight. Anyone coming in (except from the Pacific Islands) will be put in automatic 14 day isolation.

My dad and brother are in New Zealand, I’m worried that they won’t be able to come home on the 20th of May. I’m worried.

Please can you keep me updated.

[banditpony]

I went to two grocery stores today- both meat cases were empty, no chicken breasts or ground beef.  No potatoes.  So the normal people are going to go hungry because of the hoarders?

The stores are getting more food, so no one is going to go hungry. What's happening is more people are realizing that this is serious, and that they are ALL buying food at once. (And you have copy cat people too).

People who have stocked up-- or are stocking up now are NOT necessarily hoarders.

If anything got to a level where there was no food being stocked, then the military would hand out MREs. And the chances of that are completely slim.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

The air is less panicked today. We have flour back on the shelves and stuff and we're at normal Saturday levels of busy. Everyone will be fine food wise!

[LadyMoondancer]

I live in Seattle.

My workplace offered us the option to telework all through March (if our jobs allowed it), which I jumped at.   Big lines at Costco and shortages of things like toilet paper.  Emerald City Comic Con is cancelled, public schools are closed, and no gatherings of 250 or more people allowed.  Also, the mayor just passed a temporary ban on evictions.

We've had 32 confirmed deaths and around 500 confirmed cases.  At least one in every county in Washington, though King County by far has the most cases.  But yeah, it's spreading.

The trouble is the COVID-19 was here before there was even any awareness it was "a thing", and it has a long incubation period so of course it spread without anyone being the wiser.

If you do catch coronavirus, don't panic.  Stay calm, try to get tested (this may depend how bad things are in your area--sometimes there are limited resources for testing), stay hydrated, stay away from other people, and rest.

I hate to sound stupid, but can someone tell me WHY this virus is causing such a panic? I know it’s pretty fatal to those with pre existing conditions and the elderly. I don’t want to downplay that.

It's super "catchable" because it's new and thus there's no herd immunity from having had it before.  They are trying to slow its spread.  The sickest patients need ventilators to survive it--but hospitals have a limited amount of ventilators, respiratory therapists, critical care beds, etc.

Covid-19 is a brand new disease, and a lot of the needs assessments are based on long-ago flu pandemics. But estimates range from a manageable 64,000 ventilators, if this outbreak is like the 1957 flu, to around 740,000 if it’s more like the 1918 Spanish flu.  Based on early data from China, a little more than 2 percent of coronavirus patients require ventilators.

2% may not sound like a lot, but if it's super contagious . . . yeah.

[Harmonie]

Yesterday I went to Target and things were in stock. Today I went and things were out of stock. What a difference a day makes, I guess.

I also went to Walmart first and there was no toilet paper at all. I expected it to be sparse, but to be completely empty like in the pictures being shared online? I didn't think it would be that bad.

[BlackCurtains]

My dad ventured out to Wal Mart despite all of us telling him to stay home (he didn't tell us he was going). He was able to get water and eggs. Our Wal-Mart is in the process of redesigning and they've moved a bunch of stuff. My dad couldn't find where they moved the TP (we actually need it, it's not a panic thing) so we don't know if they have any or not.

I was able to pick up my meds yesterday. They ripped up the pharmacy and moved some of the aisles but from what I could see, all the cold and flu medicine was gone and the pain relief section was picked over. One lady had her cart full of Lysol and other sprays.

[Mewtwofan1]

UPDATE: Alberta now has its first community acquired case of Coronavirus. Stores are running low, and things aren’t looking good. There is a very real chance schools will close until September. Anybody wanting to graduate will have to put it on hold.

[Broken Irishwoman]

Netherlands here too, Limburg. There are a few cases in my city, but I honestly cannot say that I'm scared. I obviously take all the necessary precautions, mostly to protect other people. But we went from zero to complete madness in one day...

Barnacle Lady already covered most of the things that are going on here, so I'll just include my own personal experiences. This morning they blocked the front doors of all the buses, we have to get in through the back door now. It creates a very eerie and unpleasant atmosphere.

Supermarkets? AWFUL. People are hoarding "ALL TEH THINGS!!!1!". It's awfully selfish, it makes me sick. I was doing some grocery shopping for my mother today, like I often do. This means I buy her things for an entire week, plus our own groceries, like I often do. This also means I had a full cart, including paper wares. There was no toilet paper left, so I got her two packs of paper kitchen towels instead, plus one(!) for us. Then this lady walks by and muttered sarcastically under her breath: "sooo, that's a nice load of toilet paper". I'm a peaceful person, but HNGJJFGHJFHGFJGHFJJDKF!!!11! How is making remarks like that making the world a better place? You don't even know why I'm buying what I'm buying! Yeah, these hoarders piss me off too, but there's no need to be ugly about it to anyone.

So, fast forward to the evening, luckily our snackbar isn't losing any customers over this at the moment. The owners were wearing face masks and they took several other precautions, but if anything it was even busier than normal.

Oh yeah, and I don't have to come in for work for the next two weeks, which is nice (sorry if that sounds rude, but the work I do is pretty much useless, and I was already very much in need of a vacation).

I'm sorry if I sound worked up, I am genuinely sorry for all those who are affected by this in any way. But it's just... PEOPLE.