34
votes
What's the Coronavirus like where you are?
What the title says, basically. What's the virus like in your community? Are people stocking up on supplies?
What the title says, basically. What's the virus like in your community? Are people stocking up on supplies?
I'm in Australia. Apparently businesses in China town are struggling, and Chinese-Australians are reporting increased racism. The local uni is offering grants to Chinese students to help them get around the travel ban and make it back in time for Semester.
Apparently the government have started preparing for a pandemic and are stockpiling medical supplies and personnel, but I haven't noticed much change in day-to-day business.
Same here in New Zealand. We just got a first confirmed case yesterday.
They're panic-buying, to stock up on supplies. There might be a city-wide quarantine. There might be an outbreak of coronavirus, and they want to stay at home to avoid infection - which means not going to the store for toilet paper.
Take it with a a big grain of salt, but I read that there was a rumor circulating on Chinese social media saying something like toilet paper manufacturers were being forced to make masks, which might result in a toilet paper shortage.
Noone ever said panic-buying was logical or rational. People don't worry about running out of tissues; they do worry about running out of toilet paper.
Whenever a rare snow storm threatens the southeastern US near me, people always empty the stores of bread and milk. I used to live in Atlanta, and this has been a discussion topic during inclement weather for years.
I'm in Florida and everything seems normal except people are talking about it a lot and assuming shit might hit the fan soon. I was in Beijing until the third so if anything it will be interesting to see how differently things are handled here if there is an outbreak. The screening process at JFK was a fucking joke when I first arrived, so hopefully they've got their act together since then. Also, I have a hard time believing people here would respond the same way or respond well to any type of regulation that limits their daily routine.
I have plenty of friends back in BJ that are under different levels of quarantine based on where they live. I know that any major shopping area or public space has guards checking temperatures and communities are closed off to non-residents (both measures were put in place before I left). My employer asks every day for my health status, temperature, and location. If I travel anywhere, I'm also supposed to report all my flight/train/bus information. I wonder what it would take for the US to adopt those kind of measures.
Also, this isn't really related, but I think that if there is a major outbreak in the US then the Trump Administration's response will determine the election. If it looks like they did a good job, then it's game over.
Fellow Canadian here; yeah, life is relatively normal. I think I might be coming down with a mild cold, so I'm expecting a few jokes.
I did take the opportunity to refresh my emergency preparedness stuff, which is really something I should be doing regularly anyway. I'm making it a project this weekend to organize my storage areas. My rational brain knows it'll probably be fine, maybe some minor disruptions due to supply-chain issues in some industries, but it's soothing to my primal anxiety brain to take stock.
Canadian chiming in here. My favourite lunch haunt that's usually chock full of Chinese people has been dead for over a week. Definitely feeling bad for them. My family balked at the idea of stocking up on a few extra non-perishables, just in case.
Also part of the Canada brigade, Toronto specific.
Been a handful of cases nationwide, no deaths, for the most part doesn't seem to be a big thing. Panic buying hasn't seemed to set in, aside from masks (and maybe hand sanitizer?), which seem to have constrained supply now.
Some businesses are enacting policies like "if you travel, work from home for 2 weeks after" just in case.
The lack of cases is a bit strange come to think of it. We have a huge Chinese population, and flights flying to and from China and the adjacent regions daily (I think they've mostly been shut down now though), yet the virus seems have avoided us for the most part.
I'm in Hawaii, and surprisingly, despite the massive amount of Chinese and Japanese tourists we receive and how outdated our airport's screening tech is, we have yet to get a single confirmed Coronavirus case. But I think even with the advantage of our isolation, it's only a matter of time before we too get a case. I haven't seen much stocking of supplies, with the exception of masks which are all sold out right now.
Middle of Nowhere, Siberia. COVID-19 is something that we know exists and something we joke about getting when going to far cities and other countries. The TV panic has not set in yet. Might never, unless we start seeing cases closer.
I live in the Milano area, and things are confusing.
In short, we went from the media fomenting panic at the start of this week, to things being apparently "under control" in the span of a day or two, despite the fact that the number of infected people keeps on increasing (528 to 650 to 888 from the 26th, according to the Protezione Civile).
Yes, I think that the panic and paranoia of the early days was ridiculous, but this attempt at doing damage control is clumsy, and it won't do much good: faffing around - re-opening bars, museums and whatnot - isn't going to help us contain the disease, and I doubt it'd help us weather the economic impact of last week. A lot of people called to cancel their hotel reservations, for example, and we are not going to get those back any time soon.
It looks like schools will stay closed for one more week in the northern regions, but we still don't know for sure. Universities are moving towards e-learning, at least.
People seem to have calmed down. There aren't as many out as there normally are, but they are there, and after panic and paranoia peaked at the start of this week - leading to most supermarkets being emptied on Sunday - we are inching back towards normal. There's still shortages of hand sanitizer and face masks, but I'm not quite sure just who is wearing them, as I hardly saw anyone covering their face when I went out yesterday.
Here in Australia, we've been pretty isolated. Our government imposed a travel ban a month ago on people travelling from China, and that has kept the virus away - except for the Australians we evacuated from Huban province, and the Australians we evacuated from the Diamond Princess ship in Japan, all of whom were put into quarantine. So far, we've had very few reports of Covid-19 infections in the wider Australian community: there was one small cluster of cases on the Gold Coast in Queensland, all centred around one Chinese tourist who flew on a domestic flight to that location; there are also two cases in Western Australia who were on the aforementioned Diamond Princess. But that's it. We've been fairly protected so far.
However, all the experts are saying it's only a matter of time. And they're right. This week, we have the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras - which attracts a lot of international visitors. In a couple of weeks, we have the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne - which also attracts a lot of international visitors. I suspect our isolation is about to end. We're about to get infected.
Our government seems to be doing things right for once. They've been on the front foot the whole way through. I'm guessing that two big reasons for that are: our Prime Minister wants to be seen to be doing something right, after his lacklustre response to our bushfires a couple of months ago; banning travellers from China plays right into their anti-foreigner ideology.
Our peak medical emergency group, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, triggered our country's emergency response plan over a month ago (they have a standing legal authority to do this independently without consulting the government). The federal government "re-launched" this emergency response on Thursday. They're stockpiling medical supplies, preparing hospitals for a surge, and so on.
There doesn't seem to be much panic. I've had a cold this week, so I worked from home all week. I've spoken to a couple of people on the phone, and mentioned that I have a cold, and noone has reacted by suggesting I might have the dreaded coronavirus.* But I'm white.
I wouldn't want to be Chinese or have any Asian heritage right now. I have seen reports of racism in hospitals: some people are refusing to be treated by Asian-appearing doctors (but the hospitals are refusing their refusals). Chinese restaurants are losing custom, and I've seen reports that a couple have actually gone out of business. Basically, if you look Asian in Australia at the moment, you're treated like a leper.
* Ironically, doing my own personal research, I found out that known coronaviruses are already responsible for about 15% of the infections we call "the common cold", so I might actually have a coronavirus!
It seems I spoke too soon. We've had one other recently diagnosed case on the Gold Coast. She's a beautician who "saw up to 40 people at a Southport salon on Thursday before she started to develop symptoms and went home".
Plus, like I said before, the Mardi Gras this weekend and the Grand Prix in a couple of weeks. There are probably people in Sydney being infected with the coronavirus at this very minute.
That's it. Covid-19 is about to enter (or has already entered) the wider Australian community.
An update (things move fast!):
We've had our first few cases of community transmission here in Australia. (We're no longer just importing infected people; we're now making them locally as well.)
For some bizarre reason, toilet paper is selling out everywhere. I'd been reading about it for the past couple of days, and then saw it for myself at my local supermarket last night: a whole aisle of empty shelves. One of our major supermarket chains has imposed a limit of 4 packs per transaction (a pack can contain up to 24 rolls, so it's not really a major problem for most people).
The Australian Attorney-General has informed everyone that he's activating some century-old laws first written to contain the Spanish Flu back in 1919, which allow authorities to compulsorily quarantine and/or isolate people found to be infected. Fines and other penalties will apply to people who go out when they're told to stay home. People can also be locked up in quarantine/isolation wards against their will.
On a personal note, I've suspended a weekly LGBT meetup group I run: we're not meeting for the next two weeks. I don't want anyone who got infected at the Mardi Gras last weekend spreading their infection to the rest of the group.
I'm not familiar with this law, so forgive my ignorance, but it probably wont be successful unless it bans all people who had been to China. The US did a similar ban last month, and on the surface it seemed like a good idea, but all that did was force people to stop in places like Korea or Japan on the way. That definitely tightens up the screening process by forcing another country to screen flights full of people, but there could be passengers on those flights that are carrying the virus without showing symptoms. Now instead of taking one flight, they took two.
My understanding is that it bans anyone who has been to mainland China within two weeks. People are still getting around the ban by stopping in other countries, but they have to stay for 14 days before they are allowed to enter Australia.
The idea is that they can't enter Aus within the 'incubation period' of the disease. But as the virus spreads to other countries, it won't be very effective.
Gotcha. Yeah, when I came back to the US the policy at the time was non-citizens couldn't come from China but like 50% of my flight from Beijing to Seoul was on my next flight to NYC and most of those people were Chinese. It totally defeated the purpose.
My county declared a state of emergency to fast track federal aid to help with prevention and prepare for the likely event the epidemic actually props up here, and people on NextDoor are occasionally freaking out, but it's pretty chill here despite being one of the first places in the US to get a positive case.
Non-existant here so far in Raleigh NC. We had one event canceled out of abundance of caution, but it was widely regarded as a mistake to do so.
Nothing here in FL. I'm trying to get some sanding done and all the dust masks are sold out at Home Depot, so there's that.
I noticed in some supermarkets that the cheap pasta was sold out.(in Hesse) And hand sanitizer is also sold out in a lot of places.
Also nothern Germany,
Some things I noticed.
My doctor had a note outside her work place stating that people who think they have corona should not enter, but make an appointment via telephone.
Yesterday a pharmacy had a disclaimer that masks were sold out.
Besides these 2 encounters, I read in the newspaper that they established a quarantine zone in berlin.
Regarding your trip to italy , the german government only warned about a few quarantined zones in italy. According to them, other areas should be fine.
In Florida, doesn’t seem to be much panic here. Family and I got extremely lucky in that we left China right before quarantines started locking down cities. Some family needs to go back for work, but we are holding off for now until situation is more clear/stable.
Relatives keep trying to ask me to look for masks but everything is sold out it appears.
Uk Business as usual where I am
USA, Michigan - a few hundred people are being monitored for coronavirus infection based on potential travel exposures, but no confirmed cases yet. The availability of testing, reporting delays, and lack of consistent messaging are causes for some concern.
I visited the county health department on Wednesday for yet another round of vaccinations... There's the usual 'flu season stand in the waiting area, with a pile of surgical masks for feverish visitors - the pile was still as intact as in my prior visit. I haven't seen a single masked person anywhere. The gossipy ladies in my swim class (my barometer for levels of community concern) still haven't seized on coronavirus as the latest topic of conversation yet; it's mainly complaints about messy winter driving conditions.
Epidemiologically speaking, we're not isolated. The community has lots of travelers at this time of year, mostly people visiting warmer, brighter climes for winter escapes, but quite a few inbound winter sports visitors. There's an outpost of globe-trotting wealth here, and a significant group of adventurous retirees still planning their Tibet and Costa Rica trips. There's a great deal of regular traffic to and from larger cities in Canada and the bigger Midwestern and Northeastern cities, as well.
My spouse is taking a local flight this week, and there's been no communique from the airline with any precautions. I ran the hypothetical question past him about "what would you want to have available if you got stuck in quarantine for two weeks", and we came to the conclusion that given existing pantry goods, camping supplies, and running water, we're probably OK for a medium-bad scenario. My mad stockpiling trip will be to procure extra coffee, and replenish basic 'flu care supplies; in a way, this doesn't feel much different from seasonal hurricane prep.
I hate the idea, though, that there's no sign of national coordination or fallback plans to take care of stranded people, substantial outbreaks, or significant supply chain interruptions as yet. COVID-19 is not Ebola, but I can easily see remote communities being decimated (the average age and health status in many rural towns is high-risk), if their health systems get overwhelmed or supply lines are interrupted.
I'm in Croatia, Central Europe. We have a few cases (most or all via Italy), thankfully no deaths so far.
There's a subdued panic - people mostly aren't freaking out yet, but everyone's talking about it. Virtually all masks (surgical, construction, you name it, with prices going 20x-40x up) are sold out, and media is milking the attention which doesn't help. For example, showing empty store shelves, which just isn't happening (I mean they did manage to find some shelf in some store that was empty but that's so far away from the truth it's basically a lie).
No event cancellations or lockdowns yet. Our schools have recently (nov/dec) been on a massive strike so there's zero slack time, I don't think we'll see any school suspensions unless we have a large number of infected.
My company's offices are in the same building as one hotel so I've been observing how they handle it - the staff wear masks at all times (albeit lowered down most of the time), as well as surgical gloves, and there are hand sanitizer dispensers in front of elevators and the restaurant. Similarly there are sanitizers in malls, but that seems to be the extent of preparation.
I did hear an unconfirmed rumor about some hotel refusing Asian tourists, and it's a question how we'll manage our summer tourist season (big chunk of our GDP is in tourism, concentrated in summer in coastal region). If we get more infected that'll hammer the economy for sure, even if there is no human toll.
In Romania some shitty "reporters" emptied a full shelf just for this. They even got in /r/trashy. But, as you say, there's a subdued panic for the moment.
I am myself in Berlin, and my parents (whom I hear from quite often) reside near Venice.
Germans talk about it quite often on the news, but I have yet to spot any real difference to the normal ongoings around here; it is just somewhat difficult right now to get your hands on alcohol wipes, masks and the such but it isn't yet an impossible task.
On the contrary this past week a considerable amount of people in Northeastern Italy have completely given into paranoia and collective hysteria: alcohol based sanitizers are being sold for exorbitant prices on ebay, supermarkets have been ransacked of non perishable goods and there's considerably less people on the street.
I'd say this is being caused partly by the disorganized response of the hospitals - which aren't incompetent per se in the countermeasures they're taking, but definitely lack decisive and unifying central directives from the ministry. For the most part though as cause of this situation I'm gonna point my finger to the predatory Italian media whose response so far has been only directed towards causing as much panic as possible. Seeing the difference between German and Italian media in a situation like this is truly revealing...
I'm in Seattle. A patient near here was just the first person to die in the US from coronavirus. And there are two more confirmed cases.
The person was reportedly at a long-term care facility. This is twitter reporting, but from a journalist associated with a reputable local news outlet, so I think it's fairly trustworthy:
I live in Seattle, so people are starting to freak out a little bit. Not badly, but the panic/stupidity is showing a little.
I went to the store last night (late, to avoid people), and I noticed all the bottled water was bought out. Bottled water. What do people think is going to happen? Is the running water going to stop?
I work in IT, so a lot of our clients are considering remote working solutions, most of them already have everything they need for remote work, but people are getting refreshers and what not. Appears that a lot of our small businesses are going to be working from home in the next couple weeks. I've also been noticing slightly fewer people on the roads in the last week.
I have had one cancelled hang out with a friend so far.
Last week everyone was joking about coronavirus but now no one is, everyone is taking it much more seriously.
I'm in Los Angeles. Can't say I've noticed much different, but I may just be oblivious.
I'm in Wisconsin. Last I checked, we got one confirmed case with one more being tested, but otherwise nothing's happened. Altogether I'm not really worried, and neither is anyone else I've asked.
Brazil: 182 suspicions, 1 confirmed. No deaths.
We’re not too worried. But Carnaval ended 3 days ago so the numbers will likely increase.
My roommate is coughing a lot, but I think tobacco is to blame :P
Currently 3 cases in Denmark, one of which had symptoms for a full week before talking to a doctor and getting diagnosed, so there's probably going to be plenty more to come.
Croatia here. We've had one confirmed case. There's been an uptick in corona virus related black humor, but otherwise life just grinds on.
Nothing here yet. But I did see someone with a mask on the other day.