Posts made by Frank

@canefan said in Coronavirus - China:

@Hooroo said in Coronavirus - China:

@taniwharugby said in Coronavirus - China:

@Frank said in Coronavirus - China:

I hope they pay a severe price but will they?

especially if they get back on thier feet first as they appear to be doing, and the rest of the world is still on thier knees...

I cant see how they can be held to account really...plus when it comes to business, memories seem to be short.

China is reliant on the rest of the world for trade both ways so they won't be able to do a lot while the rest is essentially shut down

They seem to be selling a lot of medical supplies right now. One of our suppliers announced flights heading to China to pick up shipments of PPE and I seem to recall the government is doing the same?

Many benefits (to China) for doing this.

1. They depend on the rest of the world's economies getting on their feet again.
2. It's a PR campaign to deflect from their role in covering this disaster up in the early stages.

All countries act in their own interest, but China is on a whole new level than the West in this respect.

I hope they pay a severe price but will they?

I can't see how it happens, especially with the number of countries so highly dependent on them.

It requires the entire world to unite against them.

Summer might help a little, but not really.
In hot countries or hot areas, such as Texas in America, all office building will have the air-conditioners blasting indoors. So...a cool environment.

@Bones said in Coronavirus - Overall:

So my Xbox One arrives today. I was humming and harring the other day as was looking to buy 2nd hand on ebay and thought they were a bit expensive. Then found argos selling brand new for 260, then found currys doing the same. Sat down to lunch and came back to buy from currys, they'd upped the price to 350, so tried to buy from Argos - no stock south of the thames it seems. Unlucky...then found someone on ebay who'd just thrown one up that he'd opened to use the Live code only and was selling for 260 so grabbed it.

Just checked the argos site - they now have them selling for 450.

The dilemmas of a Westerner.
How do we cope?

@NTA said in Coronavirus - Australia:

Once cases start to drop and restrictions are eased, won't cases just start rising again?
I don't get how this ever ends.

Perhaps calculated risks should be taken and try to get the vaccine on to the market earlier.

@NTA said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:

Also we had another reduction of new NSW cases, with 114 recorded yesterday.

Fairly good couple of days nationally, being single digit percentage growth. Longer term chart heading negative on trend for case growth percentage, and the general curve is starting to nose over.

We might have half a rugby season after all!

Once cases start to drop and restrictions are eased, won't cases just start rising again?
I don't get how this ever ends.

@antipodean said in Coronavirus - Australia:

Generations of Australians will be burdened with this. What business that has already closed its doors is going to take back on an employee without customers? Despite the increase in newstart allowance, it's still not enough to cover anyone who earned the median wage in Australia. So now you can't evict a renter for six months for non-payment. So are the banks going to take the hit? Which means super funds, which means some of them are going to need to become more liquid to meet obligations to retirees. Which devalues assets...

And the government seems to think that there'll be a rebound, oblivious to the fact that in a services economy there's no V shape rebound. People don't consume services that they missed out on. There'll be no one getting their lawn mowed 10 times in the first week or drinking 1000 cups of coffee because they would otherwise have consumed those services. A lot of those companies operate on thin margins and Australians are generally heavily indebted.

So if the government wants to absorb those costs, it simply means succeeding generations will pay. An increasingly heavy price.

Not agreeing or disagreeing - but what's the alternative?
What would you do?

I think this qualifies as a meme.

Imagine no possessions....................

@canefan said in Coronavirus - Overall:

@Frank said in Coronavirus - Overall:

@canefan
We pay 6-10% tax over here.
Have all the masks we need.
Have all the testing we need.
Have virtually free health care and dental.

Are you in Taiwan? My cousin and here family live there. Their school was in lockdown way before our alarm was raised. Tracking incoming travellers with apps, widespread testing, they wrote the book on responding to covid19

Yep.
20 years.

@canefan
We pay 6-10% tax over here.
Have all the masks we need.
Have all the testing we need.
Have virtually free health care and dental.

@canefan Cheers.

The kids in my class in Taiwan are writing really good stories about a villain called Mr Coronovirus and they also have a game whereby Mr Coronavirus touches you and makes you sick with a hero doctor also running around freeing people.

So this epidemic is helping my class with their creativity and fitness. Not all bad.

Interesting.
Trump's approval rating is going up.
44% to 49%
(Gallup is not a pro-Republican poll)

However, as the article notes, the poll was conducted March 13–22, and opinions could change significantly given how quickly the COVID-19 crisis is developing.

https://www.axios.com/trump-coronavirus-approval-rating-poll-c35d87a2-e54b-45af-b8c2-26da8f7ee90e.html

Westerners are soft.
We're like the aristocratic class suddenly being asked to live like peasants for a few weeks.

@dogmeat said in Coronavirus - Overall:

@voodoo said in Coronavirus - Overall:

hairdressers and beauticians

That makes no sense at all to me

Indeed.

Fascinating ways in which Singapore is fighting Coronavirus.

The Western author portrays Singaporean govt as "dictatorial". I just think they are organized.

The other side: Some of the government's techniques would be difficult to implement in a free society. Over many decades, Singaporeans have become comfortable unquestioningly following directives from their dictatorial government.

For example, Singapore's government didn't just recommend that people stay in quarantine for 14 days after they return from overseas. Instead, the authorities enforce their "stay-at-home" notices by sending text messages to residents throughout the day. When they receive the texts, Singaporeans are required to share their GPS location with the government, per CNA.
If Singaporeans don't comply with stay-at-home notices, they could be prosecuted under Section 21A of the Infectious Diseases Act. "First-time offenders are liable for a fine of up to S$10,000, jail of up to six months, or both," per CNA. "Repeat offenders face double the penalties."*

https://www.axios.com/singapore-coronavirus-big-brother-bd7cec2b-eb47-4b49-a337-f4f4ecff57f2.html

@canefan said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

Nanogirl on TV now saying people aren't taking social distancing seriously, considering what she saw in Ponsonby last night. Restaurants and bars going off. Sounds more Italy than Asia. I think the government will have to play hardball and lockdown bars restaurants and other areas where people congregate such as gyms as the people can't be trusted to do the right thing

Some in NZ must think they can escape from because NZ is an island nation and far away. The rude awakening is coming...

@barbarian said in [Coronavirus - Overall/Rest of the World]

At the moment our plan is to lay out very carefully the risks of attending, and communicating that to our guests. We will ask anyone presenting any symptoms not to attend.

We obviously expect a fair few people not to attend, and that's fine. Just need to ensure everyone knows exactly what they are getting into at all times.

What about people who don't have any symptoms when they attend?

Perhaps you could have someone constantly spraying and wiping down all surfaces. (door handles, elevator buttons etc) + you all wear masks. Like a Coronavirus themed wedding.

Guy I know in Singapore. -
I am not so sure if the virus is heat sensitive. but what i can say about Singapore is that we had experience SARS back when i was around 8 to 10 years old, so i experienced it first hand and we had to take temperature twice or thrice a day. Currently, the university that i am studying in requires everyone to take our temperature twice a day too, and most classes are switched to online classrooms.

Also, because quite a few people died during the SARS period and our hospitals were overwhelmed back them, so our hospitals have been built to deal with pandemics like this. My sister works in clinical trials as a CRO and she can confirm this.

Singapore also does contact tracing to an almost extreme degree. I heard from my sister who has some friends working on contact tracing that they trace potential carriers of the virus not just down to the day; where you are on say jan 30 2020, its down to the minutes, like where were you on jan 30 2020, 11.32 am. This is done with the help of the police force in singapore.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/police-helping-moh-in-contact-tracing

On the other hand, over the past few days you see a surge in number of cases in Malaysia, Malaysia is likely even warmer than Singapore. so my view is that government intervention is the most important factor

@chimoaus said in Coronavirus - Overall/Rest of the World:

Reports 31 people caught the virus from 1 wedding in NSW. Apparently people at weddings getting drunk, dancing together eating from same tables etc.
Apparently wedding venues have put up marquees outside to get around the 100 indoor rule.
This is why westerners are fucked, all wedding venues should have shut down.
Venue claiming that the 31 who all got it were not contagious at the wedding. Ok so just a big coincidence?

"Can't get in the way of a good time mate. Life is for living. You only live once. - "Some Westerner"

This article details the Chinese attempts to suppress their own doctors from talking about it.
https://www.axios.com/timeline-the-early-days-of-chinas-coronavirus-outbreak-and-cover-up-ee65211a-afb6-4641-97b8-353718a5faab.html

@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in Coronavirus - Overall/Rest of the World:

https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/18/will-the-costs-of-a-great-depression-outweigh-the-risks-of-coronavirus/#.XnLMud6V-3o.twitter

Been thinking the same myself.
At some point the economic pressure that will result from this might prompt a re-think in the response.

Perhaps take this with a rather large grain of salt.
Some positive news.

https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-wuhan-china-no-cases-8b50265a-f671-4564-9b50-e7e5359b6232.html

Its spread in Australia and Singapore, both have temperatures over 25c....

Singapore seems to have coped well.

Singapore skill level - Asian

As I said earlier, we are fucked if our strategy is to rely on common sense.

I wonder if in some cases it is lack of common sense or plain old selfishness?

Are these testing kits specifically for Coronavirus or certain other viruses in general?

If it is the latter, I don't see why NZ and other Western countries didn't have these ready long ago, for just such a scenario as we now see unfolding.

Why do Taiwan and Korea have them but Western countries don't?

@Hooroo
Groups of 500 okay. Why's that?

Questions about NZ .

1. How do you get masks? Are there enough?

2. What are the checking and enforcement measures when you are told to self-quarantine by doctors or the airport staff in terms of making sure people actually follow the directives

3. Are bars open?

4. From casual observation, can anyone say whether NZers are avoiding being in large groups (social gatherings etc.) at the moment?

@Bovidae said in Coronavirus: should I be panicking yet?:

My take is that self-isolation is just a tool to limit the number of overseas arrivals without using the term "complete travel ban". You would hope that people do use common sense and display a degree of personal responsibility but in reality there will not always be the case. Anyone that publicly says they will ignore the rules should be on the first plane home. The extreme measure is to send all recent arrivals to Whangaparaoa no questions asked if they aren't NZ residents with a known address. But that isn't practical.

People have to be forced to self-isolate.
Fuck their feelings and their poor little sense of restriction being "cooped up". Second. harsh fines for non-compliance are needed.

See my post on what is done here in Taiwan as an example.

@Mokey said in Coronavirus: should I be panicking yet?:

Every time I see another tweet or story about how lax authorities are being at our airports in regards to travellers coming in (especially from known hotspots), I get more concerned. Like seriously? A fucking pamphlet and off you go?

Here in Taiwan, if you are ordered to self-isolate, you get given a cheap cell phone with a GPS locator on it. You get called at random times.

If you don't answer it or the cellphone comes up not at your address - instant fine.

The leader of your community (apartment complex) checks on you once per day at random times.

NZ should look into this.

It looks as if the slow roll out of testing the U.S. means the number are severely unreported and the speed up in testing that is occurring now is going to lead to a massive surge in the number of reported cases there.

https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-outbreak-testing-delays-60a25ce6-f08d-438f-b294-358e0c300d95.html

(BTW - I find Axios a really good site. To the point and seemingly less partisan than other US news sources)

I live in Taiwan. We have been wearing masks at our schools for 2 weeks. Annoying but needed. Lots of cleaning protocols, too. The children wear masks all day, even when outside. It helps them stop touching their faces.

The population in general are very obedient to govt. directives and are very worried. They certainly don't have a "she'll be right" attitude towards it.

Taiwanese don't mind cutting down the fun time drastically and are much less invested in leisure needs than Westerners. Because they have much less free time anyway.

I wonder if these cultural differences might make it much more likely for the disease to explode in the West.

Anyway, here is some info' on why (touch wood), Taiwan has been very good at containing the disease so far.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/what-taiwan-can-teach-world-fighting-coronavirus-n1153826

Interesting times if you like to day trade the market - long or short.
Too much volatility for me.

No, I don't have a link.
It was sent to me by email from a friend I consider reliable.
Are some parts BS?

An Italian doctor who worked at Shenzhen Hospital in China was appointed by the Chinese government to participate in the live study group of Wuhan or Corona-Virus pneumonia. He wrote a very interesting article, which is summarized below:

• If a person has a runny nose and has phlegm, he is not infected with the Coronavirus, because pneumonia gives a dry cough without a runny nose. This is the easiest way to locate it.

• On the other hand it is good to know that the Wuhan virus or corona virus is not heat resistant and dies at a temperature of 26 to 27 degrees. Therefore, drink plenty of hot water such as tea and herbs. It's not a cure, but it's good for the body. Drinking hot water is effective for killing all viruses. Try not to drink cold or frozen fluids. Expose yourself to the sun if it's winter.

• The virus is quite large (the cell has a diameter of about 400-500 nm), so any normal mask (not only the mask 3M & N95) can filter it. However, when an infected person sneezes in front of you, it will spread about 3 meters before falling to the ground. That is, it hovers in the air.

• When the virus falls on a metal surface, it will live for at least 12 hours. So remember that if you come into contact with any metal surface, wash your hands thoroughly with soap.

• The virus can remain active in tissues for 6-12 hours. Regular laundry detergent kills the virus. Winter clothes that do not need daily washing should be placed in the sun to kill the virus.

Information about symptoms of pneumonia caused by corona virus:

• First it will infect the throat; then you will feel a dry sore throat that will last 3 to 4 days.
• Then the virus will merge with the nasal fluid, enter the trachea and enter the lungs causing Wuhan's pneumonia. This process will take 5 to 6 days.
• A condition of pneumonia, high fever and breathing difficulties will follow. Nasal congestion is not like normal nasal congestion. You'll feel like you're drowning in the water. It is important to seek medical attention immediately if you have this feeling.

On prevention:

• The most common way to get infected is not to touch things in a public place such as railings, door handles, handles on the bus, etc., so you should often wash your hands. The virus can only live on your hands for 5-10 minutes, but many things can happen in these 5-10 minutes, such as rubbing your eyes, touching your mouth or face, etc.

• It is recommended to gargle with Betadine gargle to eliminate or minimize germs while still in the throat
  (before moving on to the lungs).
  Maybe the new corona virus shows no signs of infection for many days, so how do you know if someone becomes infected? The latest information is that the incubation period may be up to 28 days before the symptoms of the corona appear. By the time a person has a fever/cough and goes to the hospital, the lungs can be 50% in fibrosis and maybe it is too late.

Taiwan's experts give us a simple self-test that we can do every morning:
Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you do it without coughing, without suffocation or a bad sensation, etc., it is proof that there is no fibrosis in the lungs, a basic indication that there is no infection.

At critical moments, please look at a fresh air environment every morning.
We must all ensure that our mouth and throat are wet, NEVER dry. Drink minimal water every 15 minutes.

WHY??? Because even if the virus enters your mouth ... drinking water or other liquids will transport it through the esophagus to the stomach.
There, stomach acids will kill the virus. If you do not drink enough water regularly the virus can enter the trachea and enter the lungs. And that's going to be very dangerous.

Crowd widely spaced. Keeping their distance from one another.

@Steven-Harris said in Possible All Blacks 2020:

Manaaki Selby Rickett

Meh ....another athletic 112kg lock. Dime a dozen in NZ.
Fuckin STRINGBEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Frank From Leon

Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.

@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Frank From Leon

Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.

People see what they want to see. Just looking at the Blues instragram you can see he looks fit.

@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes v Blues:

It's great that Akira finally isn't being forced to play every minute of every game. I expect him to be very effective because of it.

Well. Three posts on the Fern is good enough for me.
Akira for MOTM then.