COVID-19 Mega thread

[T'Chenka]

Shut down the border until we know what the hell is going on.

It would have to be the border AND the airports, assuming your solution would be effective.

[T'Chenka]

Come a little closer, huh, will ya, huh?
Close enough to infect my eyes, Carona
Keeping it a mystery, it gets to me
Rash all down the length of my thighs, Carona

Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty cough
My temperature is up, from the touch of an Asian one
My, my, my, eye-eyes, whew!

M-m-m-my Carona
M-m-m-my Carona

[T'Chenka]

I have a sore throat and fever right now, but I'm pretty sure it isn't coronavirus. I took some cough syrup and went to bed slightly tipsy off of it. I woke up 20 minutes ago sensing a disturbance in the Force that Klobuchar dropped out, only to log on and find out (A) that didn't happen and (B) sensing a disturbance in the Force isn't an actual thing,  probably just being high on cough syrup.

There's still very very little coronavirus in Canada thus far, inshallah.

[T'Chenka]

there's always a tweet etc etc

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/523237015329193984

Lol, I came here to post this.

Also:

https://mobile.twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1232814135022321664

[T'Chenka]

https://mobile.twitter.com/AOC/status/1232841137930559490

[T'Chenka]

Ffs, stop acting like it’s anthrax. That’s half the problem solved right there.

Based on what evidence should we put our guards down? We aren't interested in your FEELINGS on the subject. EVIDENCE.

[T'Chenka]

https://twitter.com/damianpaletta/status/1233486006474674176

How are tax cuts going to help combat a pandemic though? SMH

[T'Chenka]

https://twitter.com/damianpaletta/status/1233486006474674176

How are tax cuts going to help combat a pandemic though? SMH

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics

So the tax cuts will help to combat the economic effects of the virus. Okay.

For a minute I was thinking "does Trump understand that money, taxes and the economy are a human social construct that isn't tangible and physically real? Does he know that viruses don't physically interract with the economy?"

[T'Chenka]

Increased entry security on the Mexican border.

No mention of similar measures on the Canadian border though...

I guess the idea is that Canadians must be immune, but Mexicans are much more susceptible to infectious disease...

This administration is so stupid:

One country is one of the world most advanced and rich democracies.
The other one is a poor semi-corrupt, semi-unstable sh**thole country that has zero control over its border.

Which one is more dangerous if they get an outbreak of the virus. Tough question obiously

The semi-stable s__thole (USA).

[T'Chenka]

The media will hype anything. Really sad....

Imagine trusting your gut and/or the President over hundreds of countries, news channels and experts, when it comes to a DEADLY PANDEMIC. Lol. Darwinian evolution in non-human circumstances would weed a predisposition to that kind of thinking out of the gene pool fast.

[T'Chenka]

I don't post here often anymore, so please forgive this slightly personal rant.  I have some things I need to say, and I don't want to do this on Facebook or Twitter.

I am really, really scared.  I'm a 55 year old insulin dependent diabetic (less importantly, I also have parkinsons disease.)  As such, I will not be one of the lucky 80% who get through this with only mild symptoms and able to stay at home.  I think the odds are that I will get severely ill, but I am more likely to survive than to die.  My roommate and best friend (people sometimes assume we are a couple, we're not) has multiple risk factors: HIV+, COPD, hypertension, and has recovered from cancer twice.  I do not expect him to survive this, if he gets it.  My father is nearing age 81 and in good health, I consider him at higher risk then myself due to his age.

I just wish I could stop dwelling on this!   I keep going through the stages of grief (denial, bargaining, etc.)  Whatever will be will be, right? Anyway, I'm not going to drag this on.  I'm washing my hands many times a day, and going about my life.  Tjanks for reading, and thanks for any advice.

I will ask the old gods and the new to watch out for you. Gods bless.

[T'Chenka]

Why is everyone continuing to make fun of Beet? Have conditions grown desperate enough that you can only reassure yourselves by ritualistically mocking his comments long after ridicule is warranted?

I interpret it differently. People are very anxious about caronavirus, even if they don't want to openly admit it. A gopd way to relieve tension about serious things is to crack jokes.

[T'Chenka]

This might be the most entertaining thread on Bad Atlas in years. Keep it going!

Where can I sign up for Good Atlas?

[T'Chenka]

Cases in South Korea have almost doubled from the numbers reported yesterday by the WHO, and there is still 5.5 hours left in the WHO daily reporting period (10AM CET; 5AM EST; 6PM Korean ST).  
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3074596/coronavirus-south-korea-reports-first-rise-cases-5-days-dashing

Japan reports 59 New Cases in Biggest One-Day Rise.  
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/11/coronavirus-update-live-news-uk-health-minister-italy-lockdown-australia-us-china-stock-markets-outbreak-latest-updates

ROK may have uncovered a cluster around Seoul - hence the rise in cases after a stabilization period.  

My step-sister is on lockdown in Seoul, last I heard. We aren't close so I don't get regular updates.

[T'Chenka]

I had two totally unrelated people tell me yesterday that coronavirus is (mostly) an overblown hoax designed for rich a55holes pulling the media puppet strongs to buy low when the markets drop so they can get richer at our expense.

[T'Chenka]

Fast 9 being pushed back from May of this year to April 2021.

NOW I'm mad.  What happened to "ride or die"?

Lol. The shallow machismo bulls__t has been exposed.

[T'Chenka]

https://twitter.com/mkady/status/1238098795466051584?s=20

This is a vague xenophobic Rorsharch test dog whistle. Sad.

[T'Chenka]

Went to the grocery store just now and it was packed. Toilet paper was completely sold out.

Same thing in my Greater Toronto Area community. There was reportedly a fist fight at the local Costco wholesale warehouse today.

[T'Chenka]

Serious and non-rhetorical question for you all:

Without thinking about left/right politics, and putting every other Trump situation aside, should Trump step down if his bungling of the coronavirus response causes over 5,000+ Americans to die?  His ego won't allow it, but based on the coronavirus response alone, SHOULD he step down if it ends up that bad?

[T'Chenka]

Gov. Whitmer of MI has closed all k-12 schools public and private until April 6

"Ontario to close all publicly funded schools for 2 weeks after March break due to COVID-19"

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/mobile/ontario-to-close-all-publicly-funded-schools-for-2-weeks-after-march-break-due-to-covid-19-1.4850653

[T'Chenka]

Serious and non-rhetorical question for you all:

Without thinking about left/right politics, and putting every other Trump situation aside, should Trump step down if his bungling of the coronavirus response causes over 5,000+ Americans to die?  His ego won't allow it, but based on the coronavirus response alone, SHOULD he step down if it ends up that bad?

No. That is a ridiculous standard. By that standard basically every single world leader would likely have to resign.

He got rid of the pandemic experts and slashed CDC funding 2 years ago, which IMO should be part of the calculation. Most world leaders DID NOT do that.

[T'Chenka]

He got rid of the pandemic experts and slashed CDC funding 2 years ago, which IMO should be part of the calculation. Most world leaders DID NOT do that.

I am aware of that (in fact, I posted the first article that said that somewhere within the first few pages of this thread, back in January/early February when most people were ignoring the virus and thought that it was not a big deal).

But the hypothetical didn't ask whether leaders who have a poor response to the epidemic should step down, it asked whether leaders who lose more than 5k people should step down. And the typical country with a decent sized population is likely to end up with a lot more than 5k dead by the time this is all over.

Actually the hypothetical asked if TRUMP should step down if over 5000 people die due to his response, and part of Trump's response was to go out of his way in advance to cripple the response team and resources.

[T'Chenka]

Just when you think Trump can't get any lower, he steals the drill vehicle that The Underminer uses in The Incredibles and The Incredibles 2 and starts digging and drilling furiously towards the planet's core.

https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1238288908431036423

Don't forget folks, "We are all in this together. We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship, and unify together as one nation and one family."

[T'Chenka]

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I am 99% sure I am voting Democratic this year.

Nothing in politics since Trump was elected has affected my life personally until this.

Good.

Don't focus on the "Democrat" part too much. The bottom line is this: you can vote for a competent president or a dangerous idiot behind the whe to steer America. It's better to have a competent president of any kind than it is to have an idiot lunatic president with the policies you prefer.

[T'Chenka]

we don't truly know how many people may actually have the disease because OUR GOVERMMENT CAN'T PROPERLY TEST PEOPLE and we don't have the capabilities to handle a large scale pandemic

Fake news.

The government CAN properly test people, they're just refusing to.

You HAD the capabilities to handle a large scale pandemic, until Trump fired everybody and slashed funding.