10 votes

Daily coronavirus-related chat, questions, and minor updates - April 8

This thread is posted daily, and is intended as a place for more-casual discussion of the coronavirus and questions/updates that may not warrant their own dedicated topics. Tell us about what the situation is like where you live!

12 comments

  1. [2]
    patience_limited
    Link
    So the old friend who died now has an obituary in Locus. At nearly 19,000 cases and 845 deaths, Michigan is bending the curve, but not fast enough. It's also appalling that so many of those deaths...

    So the old friend who died now has an obituary in Locus.

    At nearly 19,000 cases and 845 deaths, Michigan is bending the curve, but not fast enough. It's also appalling that so many of those deaths are among African-Americans, and how many healthcare workers are getting infected.

    But, even though memes are generally frowned upon, I have to share this seasonally and situationally appropriate item.

    5 votes
    1. aphoenix
      Link Parent
      I'll admit I laughed at the seasonally and situationally appropriate passover joke. Edit: but, like, one of those, ha ha ha ha omg too real sort of laughs.

      I'll admit I laughed at the seasonally and situationally appropriate passover joke.

      Edit: but, like, one of those, ha ha ha ha omg too real sort of laughs.

      4 votes
  2. rogue_cricket
    Link
    NB, Canada. My province seems to be doing quite well, relatively speaking. A lot of people are doom-posting on local news articles about how it's only because we have low testing numbers (which I...

    NB, Canada. My province seems to be doing quite well, relatively speaking. A lot of people are doom-posting on local news articles about how it's only because we have low testing numbers (which I concede we do), but I am cautiously heartened by the following things:

    • Despite having to prioritize our limited testing kits for people who are engaged in travel or are close to people who have traveled, we have a low positive test ratio. (Note I said prioritize - it's not a strong limitation. We know there is community transmission and people can get tested now with no travel history, but people who have higher chances are bumped to the front of the line.) The growth of active cases does not seem to be exponential.
    • Hospitals and ICUs locally seem to be holding up, aside from the shortage of PPE. But I think the PPE issue is less one of local demand and more one of harder-hit areas needing the materials more. I think ICU usage is probably the best predictor we have for the number of "true" cases and things seem to be doing OK on that front.
    • The news talks a lot about TP shortages, eggs, bread, etc., but things here are calm and well-stocked. I have yet to not be able to find something I have wanted. I suspect I might not be able to find sewing elastic, but I haven't tried yet.
    5 votes
  3. [2]
    mrbig
    (edited )
    Link
    YouTube now shows me a session of covid related videos right on top of the interface both on PS4 and on my smart TV. IDK wether everyone got that or if my mother watched a bunch of covid videos on...

    YouTube now shows me a session of covid related videos right on top of the interface both on PS4 and on my smart TV. IDK wether everyone got that or if my mother watched a bunch of covid videos on my profile, but I’m bombarded with depressing news every time I want to relax watching silly videos.

    I’m now watching a bunch of random stuff just to “trick” YouTube's algorithm into removing the covid section.

    2 votes
    1. vektor
      Link Parent
      I'm not sure whether the console interface will do that, but the web interface of yt has a little [...] Button or something on recommendations, bothfor groups and videos. Just tell you don't wanna...

      I'm not sure whether the console interface will do that, but the web interface of yt has a little [...] Button or something on recommendations, bothfor groups and videos. Just tell you don't wanna see that.

      1 vote
  4. unknown user
    Link
    New Zealand. More good news today, only 29 new cases were found yesterday, on 3990 tests conducted (we've now passed 50,000 total tests). Additionally, 35 people recovered, so the total active...

    New Zealand.

    More good news today, only 29 new cases were found yesterday, on 3990 tests conducted (we've now passed 50,000 total tests). Additionally, 35 people recovered, so the total active case count has reduced by 6 people. Total confirmed cases is now 1239 here, with 922 active cases.

    It's still a numbers game, but there's early signs—as long as we don't cock the lockdown up—that we're winning. Government announced today that as of tonight, all returning New Zealanders will now be forcibly isolated for a mandatory period of 14 days upon entering the country. This is the crucial step of "turning off the dripping tap". Decision on whether we'll exit lockdown or stay for a longer duration is to be made on 20 April, 2 days before the lockdown was due to end.

    1 vote
  5. [3]
    kfwyre
    (edited )
    Link
    We got our two-week grocery delivery order in yesterday, and half the items we ordered were out of stock (and didn't get replaced). We put in another order from a different store today to fill in...

    We got our two-week grocery delivery order in yesterday, and half the items we ordered were out of stock (and didn't get replaced). We put in another order from a different store today to fill in those gaps, and it will be delivered sometime between now and Monday. There's no telling how much of that order we'll actually get either.

    We're not in danger of running out of anything (we're operating on a sort of "buy what you'll need in a few weeks" model right now), but I was surprised to see that shortages were still so prevalent. I would have thought that, now that the panic buying has subsided, stock would have mostly evened back out again.

    1. [2]
      DougM
      Link Parent
      I feel as if the fact that restaurants are closed and more people are eating at home may have an impact on that. Also, people are bored at home so I assume they are eating more than normal,...

      I feel as if the fact that restaurants are closed and more people are eating at home may have an impact on that. Also, people are bored at home so I assume they are eating more than normal, although I have zero facts to back that up.

      2 votes
      1. vektor
        Link Parent
        Also baking more than normal. Clueless parents home with bored kids, don't really know how to keep the kids busy because that's what daycares are for? Let's bake stuff. I'm slowly running out of...

        Also baking more than normal. Clueless parents home with bored kids, don't really know how to keep the kids busy because that's what daycares are for? Let's bake stuff. I'm slowly running out of flour.

        1 vote