Coronavirus Community Watch

[ZahZoo]

What's your local community doing to address this pandemic event?

I live in a small town about 7000 in population. We have schools/government offices closed, restaurants only doing drive-thru or carry-out, grocery stores have reduced hours and are offering 1 hour dedicated to people 60 or over. Churches has suspended services with many shifting to live streamed or recorded services via the internet.

Being a tourist town most of the camping areas have closed down. All sporting events suspended or cancelled.

We have 25 confirmed cases in the county out of about 25,000 population. All appear to be related to a specific church community that started from some service they held with out of state ministries folks and some that has recently returned from out of the country.

Toilet paper and meats seemed to be the most items in short supply but are making a come back.

[Seshmeister]

McDonalds are closing all their Drive Thru's in the UK from today.

[Nickdfresh]

Some thing Zah said here. We have 100% nonessential personnel laid off and it is take out food and liquor only at restaurants. Retail like grocery, big box stores, autoparts, etc. are open..

Gov. Cuomo did say that the state is now planning on how to restore the economy, I suspect when late spring comes things will open up gradually...

[Nickdfresh]

A guy I worked with was thrown out of work (he was leaving anyways) early because he was in the same Orange Theory gym as a confirmed case. There have been several positive tests and it's growing. NY has the most US cases but we're doing most of the testing...

[twonabomber]

Stay at home order starts tonight. Haven't heard if I'm not working yet, I expect there will be meetings at shift change.

[twonabomber]

We're running, considered essential. Getting an extra $3 an hour starting last night at midnight, day or night shift, through April 6.

Sure was a lot of traffic this morning though...but looking at the list, there doesn't seem to be much shut down.

[Seshmeister]

Getting an extra $3 an hour starting last night at midnight, day or night shift, through April 6.

Not exactly life changing. I hope the supermarkets are paying staff danger money, they should be able to afford it. I feel sorry for people in the cities forced to take the subways or buses to get to work.

[ZahZoo]

I had to drive into work yesterday for a few hours... morning commute traffic was non-existent. Still people out and about but probably only 30-40% of what's normally on road at that time.

Swung by a Walmart for a few groceries while in the big city... thankfully plenty of beer in stock which I can't get in my small town/dry county.

[FORD]

As of last weekend, things looked relatively normal at the grocery stores around here with the exception of the toilet paper aisle. Still don't get the freakout on that. Respiratory illnesses don't make you shit more often, for fucks sake.

Of course now that my old friend & neighbor Jay has declared a statewide lockdown, panic mode might well set in at the local Safeway. He claims its a two week thing, so I should be good through that, at least.

[Seshmeister]

It's going to be longer than 2 weeks...

[twonabomber]

Not exactly life changing. I hope the supermarkets are paying staff danger money, they should be able to afford it. I feel sorry for people in the cities forced to take the subways or buses to get to work.

No, not life changing, but highly unexpected. Around $230 if I only work my scheduled days. I joked that I would donate that to a "single mother" that is, if I can stomach someone being close to me after this lol.

We are a very conservative company. They were prepared to pay us the two weeks if we were ordered shut and not make us file for unemployment. My friend works for a well-known "race car" parts manufacturer, they're down and he's gotta file. He's 52 and never had to file for unemployment.

I have friends in retail that aren't getting anything extra yet.

[twonabomber]

thankfully plenty of beer in stock which I can't get in my small town/dry county.

I have opened the Strategic Vodka Reserve. I'm a couple bottles ahead and will get another tomorrow. Just need to find more orange juice, I'll have cranberry today for a change.

[Seshmeister]

If you think your leader is a idiot, here comes the king of the fuckwits...


Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro says coronavirus crisis is a media trick
Far-right president has resisted strong measures to stop spread of what he calls a ‘little flu’




Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has accused his political foes and the press of purposefully “tricking” citizens about the dangers of coronavirus, as Latin America braced for a spike in the number of deaths.

The pandemic has claimed nearly 15,000 lives across the globe and looks set to exact a deadly toll on Latin America in the coming weeks, with many regional governments closing borders and shutting down major cities in a desperate bid to limit the damage.

But Bolsonaro has resisted such drastic measures, dismissing media “hysteria” over coronavirus and calling the illness “a little flu”.

In a tetchy television interview on Sunday night Bolsonaro again downplayed the pandemic and attacked the governors of key states including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo who have ordered residents to stay at home and are imposing quarantines.

“The people will soon see that they were tricked by these governors and by the large part of the media when it comes to coronavirus,” Bolsonaro said, as his own health officials announced 25 deaths and 1,546 cases of coronavirus in Brazil.

Bolsonaro claimed a wave of pot-banging protests, which entered their sixth night on Sunday, were a part of a media-backed plot to topple him.

“It is a shameless campaign, a colossal and absurd campaign against the head of state … They want to force me out however possible,” he claimed.

On Monday two opinion polls suggested widespread discontent with Bolsonaro’s behaviour.

One, by the Brazilian pollster Ibope, found 48% of people in the city of São Paulo now considered his administration bad or awful.

Another, by the Datafolha group, said 51% of wealthy Brazilians and 46% of those with a university education were similarly unimpressed with his handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Eliane Cantanhêde, a political commentator for the conservative Estado de São Paulo newspaper, said support for Bolsonaro had not completely collapsed.


“We have to recognise that many Bolsonaristas are still Bolsonaristas. I have friends with university degrees – lawyers, diplomats – who believe everything he says … A very strongly Bolsonarista bastion still exists.”

“But others – who voted for him [in 2018] but are not diehard Bolsonaristas – are starting to see clearly that something is wrong and that the president lives in a parallel universe,” Cantanhêde added.

In a column published last December Cantanhêde declared Bolsonaro not just the overwhelming favourite for the 2022 election, but “unbeatable”.

Now, she believes his reaction to coronavirus has shredded those hopes.

“I think he’s fatally wounded for the election [in 2022] … If the election was held today there is a big chance Bolsonaro would be defeated,” Cantanhêde said. “This was a watershed moment.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/23/brazils-jair-bolsonaro-says-coronavirus-crisis-is-a-media-trick?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR34kR7-p86RWsLQyetohEBNXjGH3-FQqfYavA5cRHANCfP8d4BqiJRj2mE#Echobox=1584969318

[twonabomber]

I don't think it's a media trick, but I believe the media is going to milk this for all it's worth.

Our local FOX station morning show has been quick to defend their handling of storm coverage. They've got one anchor who sits there and claims that they are doing a service, "just trying to help," and practically "how DARE you" complain when your shows are interrupted for storm coverage. I don't get that station on the antenna at home so I haven't been watching but I wouldn't doubt they are doing the same thing with this.

[Seshmeister]

I think the three most important things to do are hand washing, social distancing and not watching FOX.