Working From Home - Impacts of Coronavirus

[SerieZ]

Skiing - Our Trip got canceled and they are closing down resorts 

[Brumby]

We've just had the Sydney Royal Easter Show cancelled due to coronavirus.

This is one of the biggest events in Sydney.

[smorriso3]

I'm an electrical engineering student at the University of Washington. We have some excellent greybeards here, they're calling this uncharted territory or extraordinary times. As somebody preparing to enter the industry it's not pleasant. I'm finishing a difficult senior project and also trying to secure a summer internship. Doors seem to be closing, and I'm concerned about the health of my mother who is retired and in her seventies. My dad lives in Shanghai and is a deadbeat Dad.

Being isolated at home is OK. It gives me more time to learn electronics - my embedded systems professor is constantly in contact with me in finishing my function generator project. IDK even how to express how I feel these days as a triple citizen who landed in the 'states. If somebody offered me a job in AUS or EU I'd be on a plane tomorrow. I went to the local grocer today and not only are the shelves stripped of TP but also canned foods like beans and pasta.

[SerieZ]

I am also worried about the health of my parents and also a little bit about Job security... however I do not think we as mere Electronic guys can do too much about this situation...

At least I got myself covered in the TP department. If I am going to perish to this disease at least it is with a clean bottom. 

[PlainName]

Not so much made up or fake as sensationalized. People are [...]

That's a very considered reply, thanks, which I would go along with.

[Electro Detective]

Rumors circulating that many idiots are asking for refunds on returned hoarded toilet paper

That's a sure sign that the global malady is blowing over 


Retail Team Member/Manager: Sir/Madam, what's the reason for the return?  

Idiot Customer: Not fit for purpose.   



 

[bd139]

LMAO dumbasses

[Muttley Snickers]

Rumors circulating that many idiots are asking for refunds on returned hoarded toilet paper

It was mentioned recently on Ozbargain that Woolworths and now Coles are going to alter their return policy on particular products. These were items that people were purchasing excessively, most of these now have limits in regards to the quantity that people can buy as well.

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/523781

   

[Electro Detective]

Rumors circulating that many idiots are asking for refunds on returned hoarded toilet paper

It was mentioned recently on Ozbargain that Woolworths and now Coles are going to alter their return policy on particular products. These were items that people were purchasing excessively, most of these now have limits in regards to the quantity that people can buy as well.

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/523781

 

  That link is a good read and the comments rock! 

"Quote from an email from Coles,
"From today we will be temporarily suspending our change-of-mind refund policy to discourage over-purchasing.
If you have already purchased additional items you no longer want, please look at donating them to community organisations
or neighbours who have been struggling to purchase them during this time."

Love it 

The idiots can rig up their loo paper stash on the footpath now as furniture to sit on, and sell it off cheap   

I'm happy to pay 10 cents on the dollar for a car load of the stuff  and share the booty and cost savings with others that missed out 

and that's being overly generous to these selfish hoarding lowlifes 

[Zucca]

I shipped some supplies to my parents in Italy from Germany.
Italy is 99% closed, roads are empty. Police is patrolling the smartasses who are going out from home. If you sit down on a bench in the city the officer will yell at you to go home ASAP.

From the 23rd February to now the contamination in Italy went more than exponential. In just 3 weeks Italy become the most infected country after china.

I never saw something like this.

Stay home, be safe. I regreat to have underestimate the situation in the beginning.

PS: The whatsapp meme and video shared by the italians are pure gold. Strange people we italians, even if everything is falling down we still want to laugh and be happy.

[HobGoblyn]

[rsjsouza]

PS: The whatsapp meme and video shared by the italians are pure gold. Strange people we italians, even if everything is falling down we still want to laugh and be happy.

We Brazilians share the same sentiment. No matter what the size of the crisis is, we always have a laugh.

P.S. I sincerely hope that your parents and relatives go through this unscathed, now that Italy became the eye of the hurricane.

[SilverSolder]

[...]
PS: The whatsapp meme and video shared by the italians are pure gold. Strange people we italians, even if everything is falling down we still want to laugh and be happy.

Link?

[SiliconWizard]

Italy is 99% closed, roads are empty. Police is patrolling the smartasses who are going out from home. If you sit down on a bench in the city the officer will yell at you to go home ASAP.

From the 23rd February to now the contamination in Italy went more than exponential. In just 3 weeks Italy become the most infected country after china.

I never saw something like this.

This is crazy. Looks like measures that would be taken in times of war (or even worse!)

We have had many other viruses in the past, but I've never seen something like this before (at least in my lifetime).

[PlainName]

I don't think any of us have seen anything like this, either the virus or the response to it.

This is crazy. Looks like measures that would be taken in times of war (or even worse!)

I don't think so - it depends entirely on how your PTB determine to fight it. In Italy they don't really have much choice now and they are presumably trying to replicate what worked for the Chinese. However, here in Blighty, our lying two-faced Prime Minister has got it right, I think. We aren't closing anything much or banning anything much (and people are whining about that), but they are figuring we're all going to get it sooner or later so it's better to have some get it now and others later to flatten out the peak (which will hit in a month or two). That way our health services stand some chance of coping, whereas everyone getting it at once like they have elsewhere just overwhelms things. Further, a complete lock-down before it ravages a country is only going to put off the moment of truth (unless you can hold it back for 18 months whilst they find a vaccination).

As to whether we need to react to it in these extreme ways, I think we do. The problem isn't the virus per se but the pneumonia which can result from it. If you get that you need an ICU bed, otherwise you die. Simples. We don't have enough beds so it's literally a matter of life and death that we either don't get it or get it over a long enough time that not too many need the care at once. Doesn't matter how many thousands or millions get it and carry on as normal, it's that small number that really do need critical care that this is all about.

[vodka]

"Lo del virus os pasa por sacarme ,como paso con Tutankamón."  The virus happens you for getting out me, like happened with Tutankamon.

Last hour, Spain declares the Alarm State ,officially we are in quarantine and  with restricting movement during 15 days.

[SiliconWizard]

I don't think any of us have seen anything like this, either the virus or the response to it.

This is crazy. Looks like measures that would be taken in times of war (or even worse!)

I don't think so - it depends entirely on how your PTB determine to fight it.

Note that my remark wasn't meant to express that it was unreasonable (which you probably assumed from the "crazy" word.) Just that it was starting to look as though we were at war - and no one knows for how long. So, crazy as in "things are getting much worse than expected".

[PlainName]

OK. It can be hard to tell without seeing the body language too, sometimes

[nctnico]

Being isolated at home is OK. It gives me more time to learn electronics - my embedded systems professor is constantly in contact with me in finishing my function generator project. IDK even how to express how I feel these days as a triple citizen who landed in the 'states. If somebody offered me a job in AUS or EU I'd be on a plane tomorrow. I went to the local grocer today and not only are the shelves stripped of TP but also canned foods like beans and pasta.

I wonder what people will use to cook that kind of food in case of real trouble. By the time things get so bad you need the food then the gas, water & electricity will be shutdown too.

[Red Squirrel]

Wonder what caused Italy to get hit so hard.  They're not really a dirty country, at least not compared to places like Iran or China etc.  I'm surprised India has not gotten hit harder, there is literally poop and pee and trash everywhere on the streets there as they have no sanitary system and so many people packed together. Perfect breeding ground for these sort of viruses.

[Sredni]

Doesn't matter how many thousands or millions get it and carry on as normal, it's that small number that really do need critical care that this is all about.

Emphasis mine.

This is the problem. It won't be a small number.

I posted a picture that summarised the strategy of many governments so far, but Dave took it down. I guess Australia is still in the denial phase.
Anyway, that 20% requiring hospitalization (more so the 10% with severe symptoms and the 5% requiring intensive care) will kill the health system of most countries if it is not aggressively distributed over a very long period of time.

[bd139]

Yep. 0.5% will kill the healthcare system which is the problem. I think we actually only have hospital capacity for 0.24% of the population here and it’s already over capacity when idling. Routine medical problems with preventable mortality outcomes suddenly get a lot more dangerous.

[nctnico]

Doesn't matter how many thousands or millions get it and carry on as normal, it's that small number that really do need critical care that this is all about.

Emphasis mine.

This is the problem. It won't be a small number.

I posted a picture that summarised the strategy of many governments so far, but Dave took it down. I guess Australia is still in the denial phase.
Anyway, that 20% requiring hospitalization (more so the 10% with severe symptoms and the 5% requiring intensive care) will kill the health system of most countries if it is not aggressively distributed over a very long period of time.

Care to explain those numbers? The problem I see with the statistics surrounding the Coronavirus is that it is only based on known / tested cases. However there is no data at all about how many people get infected but aren't registered as being infected. Based on the information currently available a Coronavirus infection is like the flu for a significant number of people. Before you can throw numbers around you need to know the total numbers and also look at the age distribution of the population you base the numbers on. To know for sure you'll need to test a representative part of the population for Coronavirus (anti-bodies). That will probably happen after the dust settles.

Either way dunkemhigh is right that the spread of the virus must be slowed down in order not to overload the health care system with more severe cases. OTOH a major part of a real solution to prevent a future outbreak is to allow the majority of the people to get infected in a controlled manner and vaccinate the weakest (the latter like it is done with the 'ordinary' flu). That way the virus won't spread as much as it does now because most people have built up resistance. IOW: you don't really want to contain it like they did in China because it will only drag out the problem over a longer period of time. China is likely to get hit by an outbreak again.

[0xdeadbeef]

I wonder what people will use to cook that kind of food in case of real trouble. By the time things get so bad you need the food then the gas, water & electricity will be shutdown too.

While I agree that people overreact a little regarding toilet paper, flour and noodles, I guess the main concern is being condemned to home quarantine for two weeks or so, not the Zombie apocalypse where gas and electricity breaks down. Being forced to stay in your home for two weeks is a very realistic scenario right now, so it's not totally crazy that people think about having something to eat/drink and wipe their asses.
Again, buying toilet paper for a half a year is indeed insane but having a supply for two weeks or so is somewhat advisable right now.

[coppice]

I wonder what people will use to cook that kind of food in case of real trouble. By the time things get so bad you need the food then the gas, water & electricity will be shutdown too.

Some people are forward thinking. They've been hoarding both toilet rools and rice. One can be burned to cook the other. This works especially well if after buying a pile of toilet rolls someone remembers they have a bidet.