outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

xpost there are all those studies too about marriage and divorce in heterosexual couples and how men have more problematic health/don't live as long if they are not in a relationship.

I'm not fat (6'2", ~175 lbs), but I have Type 2 diabetes. Genetics, I guess; my dad had Type 1. I keep seeing these statements that diabetics are at higher risk for this than other folks, but I don't know how much that applies to me and can't be bothered worrying more.

I sneeze when I am feeling fine

men have more problematic health/don't live as long if they are not in a relationship

this suggests that ~real~ straight women are meant to go "no no dear, I will lovingly cook for you from scratch with fresh ingredients and lots of vegetables even though you complain about them and would rather eat ready meals and takeaways", whereas I've just been going, oh, fine, ready meal and no veg again, saves me effort and an argument so win-win, and have put on 10x more weight than he has of course

tl;dr I am an obese walrus and the 'vid's gonna get me

taking acetaminophen-related medication two or three times a day

if you feel fine why do this to your liver???

xp aps lol yes well that plus also women typically badger men to take better care of themselves, see the doctor, etc, taking on the labor like making appts and reminding them of things, filling rx, whatever "fussy" stuff masculine men can't be bothered with because it doesn't involve firearms and bbq.

yeah, F is generally good at taking care of himself but I always tell him to wash his hands when he comes home first thing or before touching me (ha!) and also he has to go to yearly check ups. So now I feel very vindicated about all the hand washing.

Protip 4 the manz: a red-hot bbq grill is grate for cauterizing a stump if you accidentally cut off a digit or limb and you don't have time to see a doctor about it (because you're polishing your guns or have some Madden to play).

Wouldn't it be great if this actually happened (the lawsuits, that is)?

http://theweek.com/speedreads/905601/fox-news-reportedly-fears-early-downplaying-covid19-leaves-open-lawsuits

Thx OL, will integrate that into my basement axe throwing routine.

xp

alex jones as precedent imo xp

Hungary passes law allowing Viktor Orban to rule by decree

smdh

Never let a good crisis go to waste.

For real, though, I'd love to kick Hungary out of the EU (not saying this because I'm Romanian, I swear).

I don't care if it's because you are Romanian tbf, my boot will be right next to yours kicking them out

I've been wondering if there's at least some small amount of protection for people in the socially regressive EU states by lieu of them being EU members? Obviously not everyone has the financial or social resources to flee, but...

xxp agree entirely

Impressed by the Czech response.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhNo_IOPOtU

yeah, the US and other countries completely messed up communicating about masks.

'They're totally useless, also don't hoard them because healthcare providers will die without them.'

I think the message that they were useless was meant as a deterrent to buying them when medical staff were facing shortages but it doesn’t exactly engender trust.

Yeah, the initial (ongoing?) recommendation I thought was to leave the masks for the front line professionals, who need them more. Obviously if everyone wore masks that would help slow things down, but even then, only if you care, clean and replace the masks, which I doubt many people are doing. Staying home, washing hands and not touching your face remain the most effective ways to prevent getting sick, afaict.

the main message I got was "don't hoard them if you aren't sick, they're more important for keeping other people from catching what you have"

Not everyone needs a N95 just now. I'd feel a lot more comfortable my next grocery trip if everyone at least had a bandana (perhaps with some paper towel plies tossed in).

homemade face masks are better than nothing if you must go out.

this has been a really frustrating aspect of this to me, independent of preserving supply for health care workers, "experts" (and ppl itt!) recommending *not* wearing masks because "they don't really help" or "they make you touch your face more"

it has seemed like common sense from the outset that everybody keeping their mouths covered is the most immediate preventive measure

as a deterrent to buying them when medical staff were facing shortages

here in the US, those shortages are still a big problem with no surge in supply in sight

I pull my scarf over my mouth when I go into the grocery store or post office. Agree, it seems like basic common sense.

which is why it would help if all people wore even home made masks in public to help healthcare workers who don't have proper PPE.

I just hold my breath.

I just don't make eye contact with anyone

how's your arm?

Doctors in China are reporting cured patients who test positive again for the novel coronavirus days or weeks later but said they probably aren’t contagious if they remain asymptomatic.
These cases probably were false negatives earlier due to China’s patchy quality of nucleic acid testing, Tong Zhaohui, a Beijing-based infectious-disease expert, said in an online Q&A on Monday.

“My opinion is these patients likely were positive all along,” he said. “It’s just that the test came out negative. For instance, problems with the test kit, sampling or transportation could all result in negative results in a patient’s last two nucleic acid tests before discharge.”

There still isn’t comprehensive data for these “recurrent” cases in China. But in isolated studies in Wuhan, which was the epicenter of the virus outbreak, 5 percent to 10 percent of recovered patients tested positive again, with none of them found to be infectious, the state-run Life Times said last week.

Re: Orbam just catastrophic failure from the EU.

At the risk of irritating litigators:

22 Jun 2006: Six Respirator Manufacturers Warn President of Shortage of Masks

Costs of defending litigation, aside from settlements or verdicts, amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, currently, 90 to 94 percent of profits are being consumed to maintain litigation efforts.

Already, one major manufacturer has announced that it will no longer produce N-95 respirators for the industrial market. Another is seriously considering withdrawing from the market.

If I’m going into confined public space, scarf over nose and mouth, plastic/latex gloves.

I’ve noticed a lot of gloves-as-litter too.

lol grebt

yeah, I've been seeing empty shopping carts strewn with used gloves and disinfecting wipes. people so focused on self-preservation that it probably doesn't even occur to them that they might be posing an extra risk to fellow shoppers/workers/the environment

so many discarded gloves and masks on the sidewalks in brooklyn

worldometers.info's data sources are mixed local govt sources/media reporting (as well as binned in to GMT zone) so I would take all their data with a massive grain of salt.

that choir practice in WA where they didn't touch, hands were sanitized, they were spaced out and still 45 out of 60 now have covid...I mean, protect your face.

xp: (re: weekend dips in tallies which I noticed last Monday)

On a slightly unrelated note, I still have no idea what Sweden's game plan is.

*lagom plan

no idea what Sweden's game plan is.

World economic domination. For maybe a couple of weeks.

Carpe covidiem.

Speaking of, uh, Sweden, where did Fred go?

He tends to duck out for a while when he's had an especially major stint of annoying people.

California seems to be heading in the right direction...

One of the approx 1000 articles I've read very recently, like maybe this morning? said that there was decreasing evidence that ppl are getting covid from touching things, and more evidence that it's passed by inhalation. That would completely support that choir practice awfulness because people would be breathing deeply, frequently, in concert even though they weren't touching. It's horrible. Masks.