Coronavirus

[Pedrito]

And yet noone seems to be saying it in our media. We're so cowed that we can't say that their regime is utterly evil, silencing media, sterlising millions of women, religious persecution, the list is endless.

[The Butcher]

"Nobody saw this coming" - it's been coming since end of Jan / first week of Feb when it starts spilling out to other countries. That was the time to start taking action and preparing. Our CMO said back then we *might* get 1 or 2 cases "in the coming months". I remember 3 weeks ago listening to the radio/TV/online etc, people giving out about doom mongers and will cause people to panic. Nonsense that doesn't add anything to the discussion. We were going to get those people who panic regardless, either they panic early or panic later, doesn't matter, they were going to go out and panic buy the bog roll and panic shite all over the gaf for a few days.

So Leo told us he was going to give an announcement. But there was no announcement, not even an update, just a PR stunt as far as I could tell. Perhaps it was an update to people without internet. But he did say there might be 15,000 cases here by end of Month, which is 950 or so on average per day until then. That will cripple our health system. They had a chance to restrict flights and travel, we are an island and could have used that to our advantage but they didn't take it seriously until last week when they received more information on modeling and stats on our cases and how cases have grown hugely in other countries. I am glad they finally acted but wish they did more. As far as I'm concerned they will have blood on their hands for their inaction.

A study published in March indicated that if Chinese authorities had acted three weeks earlier than they did, the number of coronavirus cases could have been reduced by 95% and its geographic spread limited. But as I said previously, trade/tourism over health.

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2020/03/covid-19-china.page

By Monday I reckon we are looking at about 1,000 cases with probably nearly half of our ICU beds filled. By Thursday next week, probably hit max capacity in terms of ICU beds and things will start to look bleak.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

We're not all in bed with China out of the kindness of our hearts. We're in bed with China for reasons of financial advantage and gain. We got into bed with China and all her ways, some of which are much more morally questionable than wet markets. We got into that bed, and we've been snuggling deeper and deeper into it in recent years, and so we have to share responsibility in everything of China that rubs off on us. The bed was all sorts of dirty before we got in.

[Pedrito]

People keep saying that, but who got into bed with them? The usual greedy bastards. Not some 65 year old woman from Donegal who barely walked outside her village all her life and now has to sit inside her house in case she dies from a disease originating thousands of miles away. Our lives have changed dramatically over the last 20 years and to say that we all asked for them to change in the ways they have is simply not true. Those who lead us are to blame and even then half of them.are so stupid that they don't even realise. We've been led by the blind for so long, silenced by PC culture and distracted by all sorts of absolute nonsense, when the real damage is taking place right underneath our noses. I have always had an issue dealing with China, giving them leeway into everything when they are run by a truly evil regime. China has benefitted enormously, and in the same way they need to take a big share of the blame here. You might get into bed with someone but it would be good manners if they told you they had a bad case of the crabs or a rashy fanny before you start getting too intimate.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

What I'm saying is that we knew all about their STDs. And also that we're so close to them because of the type of society we live in. If we don't like that we're so close to regimes like China, then we have to resist the model that brings us next to them. Fingers in the ears 99% of the time, then when we can't ignore it blame China. We're all to blame. Our economy props up theirs and vice versa. We have a global economy, but more fundamentally we have a globe, and we're all in it and of it, and "put pressure on China" as if they're outside doesn't fly. I mean Brand doesn't mention the geopolitical details, but this is the mentality he's saying we need to get rid of.

[Pedrito]

Well it's a 2 way thing. Of course we're all involved in but this is not the first time we have a coronavirus coming out of the exact same circumstances and place. Yes the roots lie in the system, but we've got to start somewhere. We're talking about cutting emissions and changing the world for the better, people clogging up the centre of London demanding change and yet when we see animals on the edge of extinction in wet markets in China, a state that controls the movements of every one of it's citizens, the world's largest polluter, Hong Kong, Tibet, The Uighir, mass sterilisation, why isn't Greta outside the Chinese embassy everyday protesting? And yes, it's up to everyone now to start boycotting them. It's far more entrenched in our society..all our clothes, tech, everything, but then Trump says it and the snowflakes go into mass hysteria. We have to wrestle control back. China is low hanging fruit, we're all talking about being unhappy with the way things are, well this is a good start.

And I'm saying all that while agreeing with your ideas and probably Brand's on the system we live in. However, without divine intervention, a system has to be changed slowly and reactively. There has to be somewhere to start with it all.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Also, I have no problem believing the Chinese numbers. The Chinese government tells the people to do something, they fucking do it. Normally, I agree, that's not a great way to be, but in times of quarantine it's exactly what's necessary. Also, they're far more adaptable to changes in situation precisely because of the less liberal structure of their internal economy. It's far from perfect, especially where it approaches ours, but it allows them to react to something like this in exactly the way all of our states have backed away from for fear of internal economic collapse.

[Eoin McLove]

Apparently the air in China is cleaner than it has been in a long time with the halt of industry over there. I saw on the news that the canals in Venice have also become clean and full of fish. It shows that the natural environment could easily and quickly fix itself if we give it a chance to breathe.  I wonder will that lesson be taken on board once this crisis passes or if it will be forgotten.

[astfgyl]

Yes I saw that about the fish in Venice as well and found it very interesting indeed how quickly they got back into it. There are certainly a lot of lessons that could be learned from this whole situation regarding our relationship with nature. I have zero faith in anything being learned though beyond a rake of weird restrictions put on the regular person, as I believe the constant pursuit of more money and possessions will ensure that governments and corporations will continue to do the wrong things for the environment we live in.

Not going to get into the China thing because I don't understand very much about their general buzz, only what I read and my brother in law lives there and tells me a bit about it and how the people are silenced there but I know fuck all really beyond the fact that they seem particularly callous and untrustworthy at government level.

From what I have seen here where I live, almost everybody is trying to do the right thing regarding social distancing and hygiene in a combined effort to alleviate the situation. So given that, and if it were to continue for another 2 or 3 weeks, would we then have a finite number of infections and see the rate of new infections suddenly drop off? Or is that how it is expected to pan out? Like if everyone does the right thing (which they of course won't do) what is the expected time frame for this?

Another thing I have noticed creeping in over the last couple of days is a sort of "distance shaming" where people are pointing out others who do not appear to be the requisite distance from one another and I hear the conversations between people in a "look at those pricks" sort of way. I feel that after this situation begins to abate there will be a lot of resentment built up among people over who was seen to make the best effort and who wasn't. A potential nasty side effect indeed. On a related note I haven't seen anybody with a cold or a cough out in public which is unusual and maybe something to do with the stigma attached to it in this moment, but given that, shouldn't we see a massive drop in infection rates of other regular viruses such as common cold and influenza and indeed all sorts of other infections? That will be interesting to see.

Lastly, I was talking to a chap a little while ago and we were mulling over the probability that this situation will be used to further the cause for bringing in the full privatisation of the health service, which in my opinion would be a very sad day to see. What do any of the rest of ye think is the likelihood of such an outcome?

[Pedrito]

Apparently the air in China is cleaner than it has been in a long time with the halt of industry over there. I saw on the news that the canals in Venice have also become clean and full of fish. It shows that the natural environment could easily and quickly fix itself if we give it a chance to breathe.  I wonder will that lesson be taken on board once this crisis passes or if it will be forgotten.

I think we tend to learn things quite slowly but where there's a will there's a way. There are many cases in the past where products we were using were found to be extremely unhealthy and we literally stopped using them overnight. What must it be like to be a local in Venice? It must be pure torture with every.cunt with a camera invading your space. The ballot box would look very appealing if you could vote for someone who promised to clean the place up properly. Of course then there'd be the moaners giving out then about loss of tourism money etc.

It's the same in Ireland. We havr the exact same trai  n tracks and bridges that were built when the British were ruling us. We literally have built fuck all infrastructure apart from the roads of course which were badly needed. A proper nationwide train service would revolutionise our country, cut down on emissions, cut down on the need to live in Dublin, but everytime someone has an idea there's opposition from all areas to it. If we want clean, sustainable living, we need to start seeing things on a far more macro level.

[Eoin McLove]

It's... THE FLICKER EFFECT!

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[Pedrito]

I can't stop eating. Got the shakes for alcohol earlier aswell. We'll all end up in AA.

[Carnage]

I've watched 9 films since Friday night, so that's something (I have a backlog of 60-70 to get through). The odd few cans or bottles of wine are going down well, too. Amazingly I'm not eating much at all, which is the opposite of how I thought it'd go.

[leoos]

I'm also eating way less. No snacks. The odd 4 pack of Beamish or Guínness is going down a treat though.