On Lockdown

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ray_parkhurst
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Location: Santa Clara, CA, USA
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On Lockdown

Post by ray_parkhurst »

Well, today is the first day of "Shelter In Place" in my City/County of Santa Clara. My wife and I will be here for next 3 weeks minimum, at least until April 7. I'll be venturing out today to do some shopping and see what's open, how many folks are out and about, etc. Maybe I'll get a few things done around the house that have been languishing, do my taxes, maybe even some macro photography!

Any other members in the locked-down Bay Area counties?

Olympusman
Posts: 5090
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm

Lockdown

Post by Olympusman »

Here in Pennsylvania everything but pharmacies, gas stations and grocery stores are open. Restaurants are doing curbside pickups. All the state liqour stores close tonight, so there is booze hoarding. Yesterday my wife and I went to the movies to see "Call of the Wild". We had a private showing - the only two people in the theater. For the most part, money has stopped moving around.

Mike
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

Pau
Site Admin
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Location: Valencia, Spain

Post by Pau »

Here in Spain we are compulsorily enclosed at home at least for 15 days. We only can go outside for working (most workplaces closed), to buy food or medicines and few other reasons like walking the dog, but I'm retired and don't have a dog :(

Things really sound to be going badly
Pau

dolmadis
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Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 1:51 pm
Location: UK

Post by dolmadis »

The situation in the UK has changed recently with inputs from Imperial College.

I now find myself like many other older people in a vulnerable group.

This is a fair summary of where we are in the UK.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-51632801

BR

John

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

We're on lockdown here too in Ecuador. The silver lining is that there is exceptionally light traffic, so very little environmental vibration. This is the best time in years to be doing microphotography!!!

abpho
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Location: Earth

Post by abpho »

Interesting times for sure.
I'm in Canada! Isn't that weird?

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

I keep thinking of the movie "Life of Brian", the last scene where he sings "Always look on the bright side of life" while nailed to a cross.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M

ray_parkhurst
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Location: Santa Clara, CA, USA
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Post by ray_parkhurst »

I'm perfectly fine if this is all I need to do, and as bad as it is going to get. But I'm a pragmatist, and I expect things will get a lot worse before they get better. Right now I can go out shopping for food, for exercise, get my car worked on, buy stuff for the house, etc. But the CA governor talked today about martial law, and that does not sit well with me. Plus if the markets keep going like they are, we're going to see a lot worse economic conditions than we are seeing right now. About the only power I have is that of hope (crossing my fingers) and maintaining as much optimism (bright side of life...thanks Lou!) as I can for the future. Maybe it won't get as bad as it could.

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

A major gap in provision, not just in the UK, seems to be for the many who live hand-to-mouth. Last time round we "just printed more money" - a repeat beckons I think.
Brits are evidently not as well behaved as Italians. Supermarkets are out of milk, of all things. Perhaps cows are self-isolating?
Schools here don't close until tomorrow, though they're open for key workers' kids so parents can keep working.
Chris R

Olympusman
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Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm

Lockdown

Post by Olympusman »

In perspective, this panic and paranoia is getting out of hand. We live out in the country, so our exposure is very low. We invited my brother-in-law who lives in New York City to visit with us but he is afaid he won't be able to get back in. Every year about 14,00 people die of influenza in the United States, yet schools, restaurants and entertainment is not shut down. Also, in the United States more people die every year of bullets than are ever likely to die of coronavirus and mass shootings here very often occur in schools, churches, bars and restaurants.
Mike
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

Pau
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Location: Valencia, Spain

Re: Lockdown

Post by Pau »

Olympusman wrote:In perspective, this panic and paranoia is getting out of hand....
If you take a look at the situation in Italy or even in Spain and extrapolate the numbers to the US you could be counting thousands of deceases a day in the near future, hope I'll be wrong
Pau

ray_parkhurst
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Post by ray_parkhurst »

Yes, the global response does seem oversized, but I think there are actually good reasons for it. No matter what you believe about the origins of the virus, the draconian response by China to shut down its entire economy by quarantining 700M citizens was enough to spook the rest of the world to follow suit. The "novel" nature of the virus, combined with rumors of it being a bio-weapon, creates a lot of unknowns about what it will do. Right now, it appears the first wave will be contained with relatively few deaths. Will a mutation be more virulent and lethal, and create a second wave with far more deaths? That's what the 1918 flu did, and this future unknown is creating a tremendous panic in the markets, and the reaction of the markets is creating a panic in the people.

Olympusman
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Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm

Lockdown

Post by Olympusman »

Another interesting statistic:
In the United States guns sales over the past week are up 50% and ammunition sales up 65%

Mike
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

Sure, if we didn't live beyond 50 it wouldn't be such a big deal:
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronav ... &r=US&IR=T

Interesting article:

Readiness for Responding to a Severe Pandemic 100 Years After 1918
Barbara Jester, Timothy Uyeki, Daniel Jernigan
American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 187, Issue 12, December 2018, Pages 2596–2602, https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwy165

https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/18 ... bff3b45f62
Chris R

ray_parkhurst
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Post by ray_parkhurst »

Apparently the general susceptibility to inflammation that happens as we get older, with some of us getting arthritis and other rheumatic diseases, may be the key to the age-related death statistics. Chloroquine is widely prescribed for rheumatic diseases such as arthritis and lupus to reduce inflammation, and it seems that may be important in treating CoViD-19, which thrives in an inflammatory environment.

Admin edit [RJL] for scientific content.
Last edited by ray_parkhurst on Thu Mar 19, 2020 5:13 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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