Coronavirus

[Halloween Mike]

I think there are two opposite trends now. A lot of people cancelling their appointments, but even larger part is trying to take last chance before shit really hits the fan. The attitude might be different when there will be hundreds of cases around and people will start dying. The new study shows that some young healthy people can be completely asymptomatic. Thus, a girl may have no idea while signing the death sentence to some old diabetic dude

Hopefully we are doing the precautions now to avoid this, at least in Quebec. With the more severely touched countries already on lockdown, its normal for a while new cases rise as it take days to develope but once that peek has passed, it should be on the decline.

Honestly even with only 13 cases or whatever in Quebec im still a bit nervous to go the theatre tomorow. Im doing it because i want to see this movie and all the other movies are delayed after but ill make sure to seat alone far from peoples and touch the bare minimum stuff...

For me even if had meetings planned for this month i would had wait because there is NO WAY i would even go to Montreal. Call me chicken if you want, but the subway as someone said could be a risky place. And the "issue" (currently at least) is that sex workers see tourist a lot. Canada has not yet banned/suspended traveling (wich they should) and considering the level of intimacy vs number of clients an SP see in a day (at least 3-4) i would not want to take any chances. Im not interested in a "safe service" experience either.

I understand its a terrible situation for escorts who depends on this money for their livelyhood but safety first. Lots of peoples are impacted financially and some poor bastards are probably whipping there ass with newspaper right not, imagine that ! (last part is a joke ) But joke aside lots of peoples are touched around the world financially, it can happen in Quebec too soon. Im expecting everything to go on shutdown for a few weeks exept important services before march is over...

 

[donbusch]

US gun stores are reporting a sharp rise in the number of Asian people purchasing firearms to protect themselves from racist attacks amid the coronavirus outbreak. Yup, things r heating up :flame:

https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-gun-sales-asian-california-washington-1491891

 

[minutemenX]

simulation:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap...KF57hdpo5HviGbaLl0VLImjwnX_KinUvpFeC2h8VpinK4

 

[Batista Mason]

For me even if had meetings planned for this month i would had wait because there is NO WAY i would even go to Montreal. Call me chicken if you want, but the subway as someone said could be a risky place. And the "issue" (currently at least) is that sex workers see tourist a lot. Canada has not yet banned/suspended traveling (wich they should) and considering the level of intimacy vs number of clients an SP see in a day (at least 3-4) i would not want to take any chances. Im not interested in a "safe service" experience either.

I understand its a terrible situation for escorts who depends on this money for their livelyhood but safety first. Lots of peoples are impacted financially and some poor bastards are probably whipping there ass with newspaper right not, imagine that ! (last part is a joke ) But joke aside lots of peoples are touched around the world financially, it can happen in Quebec too soon. Im expecting everything to go on shutdown for a few weeks exept important services before march is over...

Personally, I encourage SPs to have a regular job while doing this as part-time/side job. For those who financially depend on this job, while situation like this rarely happens, when it does, it must be a hard time for them when there no clients to book them.

 

[No_Church_InThe_Wild]

^^
“ How to flatten the curve “ , OR more scientific research needed to find vaccines to fight current and future VIRUSES

Well I think that the scientific community shouldn’t concentrate only on research but should also adopt a more aggressive approach and go straight to the “root cause” of the problem which
is none other than the wildlife farming industry/Chinese wet markets .... our modern day “ Pandoras Box” that is a real ticking time bomb waiting to go off once more
The next BIG ONE can be 20 times more dangerous than the viruses we have been seeing/fighting these last decades
Something needs to be done to lessen the chance of this happening every decade or so . The world governments need to pile some serious pressure on the Chinese government and it’s “wildlife farming “multi billion dollar industry before they unleash another catastrophic pandemic

I know that when westerners are critical of an Asian nations way of life/cultural habits and in this case China’s “ exotic animal trade “ then they get labeled as racist but the truth is that criticism from within has always pre existed in China .
There needs to be a change in cultural attitudes around consuming wildlife in China and in other parts of SE Asia for everyone’s sake .... the consequences of their actions/choices impact the whole world because viruses know no borders

 

[No_Church_InThe_Wild]

Very true my friend. I think Italy's nation-wide lock down is scaring even the most logical tinkers among us.

Let's hope that "wealthy" nations will devote more national resources to the study of life sciences and for the development of medicine and treatments for viruses and cancers. Companies like Alphabet (Google's parent company) and Apple, with their huge hoards of cash, should increase their research and development of life sciences and biotechnologies.

Perhaps it’s understandable that they are panicking my friend
Pretty much the whole country is under lockdown mode and I read that nearly 200 people died in the past 24 hours from the virus ,,, so folks need to naturally prepare although I don’t anticipate it getting as bad but you never know right ?!
Let’s hope that Canada’s health care system doesn’t buckle and won’t get overwhelmed like it did in Italy

Western governments and their rich companies can surely contribute in RD and also help find vaccines to fight these new viruses . But there is so much one can do when they are REACTING . They need to go on the OFFENSIVE and try to prevent these outbreaks . One way is to put pressure and target the “ wildlife farming industry “ which has been responsible for many such outbreaks

Anyways be safe man

 

[Thor Jr]

I dont know if this article will be of relief for some, but i feel its a step in the right direction. Like the old saying goes: its better then nothing.
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/canadian-researchers-covid19_ca_5e6b998dc5b6747ef11bceb5

 

[Bred Sob]

I dont know if this article will be of relief for some, but i feel its a step in the right direction. Like the old saying goes: its better then nothing.
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/canadian-researchers-covid19_ca_5e6b998dc5b6747ef11bceb5

Their idea of a "breakthrough" is rather comical:

Quebec City-based Medicago said it has taken the first step towards a vaccine by producing a virus-like particle of the novel coronavirus.

Especially when there are multiple reports of companies having already developed actual vaccine candidates ready to be tested.

https://www.foxnews.com/health/coronavirus-vaccine-developments-where-does-it-stand

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news...logical-research-institute-develope-1.8665074

 

[2fast2slow]

i dont really get your point about cnn

 

[Robert 21]

He has 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer and nowhere to sell them
https://www.boston.com/news/national-news-2/2020/03/14/17700-bottles-hand-sanitizer
On March 1, the day after the first coronavirus death in the United States was announced, brothers Matt and Noah Colvin set out in a silver SUV to pick up some hand sanitizer. Driving around Chattanooga, Tennessee, they hit a Dollar Tree, then a Walmart, a Staples and a Home Depot. At each store, they cleaned out the shelves.

Over the next three days, Noah Colvin took a 1,300-mile road trip across Tennessee and into Kentucky, filling a U-Haul truck with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes, mostly from “little hole-in-the-wall dollar stores in the backwoods,” his brother said. “The major metro areas were cleaned out.”

Matt Colvin stayed home near Chattanooga, preparing for pallets of even more wipes and sanitizer he had ordered, and starting to list them on Amazon. Colvin said he had posted 300 bottles of hand sanitizer and immediately sold them all for between $8 and $70 each, multiples higher than what he had bought them for. To him, “it was crazy money.” To many others, it was profiteering from a pandemic.

The next day, Amazon pulled his items and thousands of other listings for sanitizer, wipes and face masks. The company suspended some of the sellers behind the listings and warned many others that if they kept running up prices, they’d lose their accounts. EBay soon followed with even stricter measures, prohibiting any U.S. sales of masks or sanitizer.

Now, while millions of people search in vain for hand sanitizer to protect themselves from the spread of the coronavirus, Colvin is sitting on 17,700 bottles of the stuff with little idea where to sell them.

“It’s been a huge amount of whiplash,” he said. “From being in a situation where what I’ve got coming and going could potentially put my family in a really good place financially to ‘What the heck am I going to do with all of this?’”

Colvin is one of probably thousands of sellers who have amassed stockpiles of hand sanitizer and crucial respirator masks that many hospitals are now rationing, according to interviews with eight Amazon sellers and posts in private Facebook and Telegram groups from dozens more. Amazon said it had recently removed hundreds of thousands of listings and suspended thousands of sellers’ accounts for price gouging related to the coronavirus.

Amazon, eBay, Walmart and other online-commerce platforms are trying to stop their sellers from making excessive profits from a public health crisis. While the companies aimed to discourage people from hoarding such products and jacking up their prices, many sellers had already cleared out their local stores and started selling the goods online.

Now both the physical and digital shelves are nearly empty.....



A Sales Opportunity or just GREED?



***KARMA BABY, KARMA***

 

[2fast2slow]

dont want to get political in this thread (too late) i have both cnn and fox news on tv. I dont watch tv but my wife watches both, especially lately she watches a lot. So i see it despite not wanting to. I prefer the coverage on cnn. Yeah, its a little <doomsday-ish> (in the case of the coronavirus it may finally be justified, but unfortunately, there may be an effect of the boy who cried wolf here), but it is way more informative and meaningful than the coverage on fox.

But all news media play on our fears, they are profit motivated institutions, so i dont understand why target CNN specifically.

 

[hungry101]

simulation:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap...KF57hdpo5HviGbaLl0VLImjwnX_KinUvpFeC2h8VpinK4

This was very helpful Minuteman. Social distancing appears to be more effective than a quarantine.

“ How to flatten the curve “ , OR more scientific research needed to find vaccines to fight current and future VIRUSES

Vaccines only work if people are willing to take them. Do you think that this virus can convince that growing number of the public that believe that vaccines are a government conspiracy and responsible for autism, cancer, and their own low IQ scores be more willing to get vaccinated as a result?

Something needs to be done to lessen the chance of this happening every decade or so . The world governments need to pile some serious pressure on the Chinese government and it’s “wildlife farming “multi billion dollar industry before they unleash another catastrophic pandemic

I know that when westerners are critical of an Asian nations way of life/cultural habits and in this case China’s “ exotic animal trade “ then they get labeled as racist but the truth is that criticism from within has always pre existed in China .
There needs to be a change in cultural attitudes around consuming wildlife in China and in other parts of SE Asia for everyone’s sake .... the consequences of their actions/choices impact the whole world because viruses know no borders

Not only in China but in North America. The trophy bucks that have been moved around the United States and Canada for example. Michael Osterholm - the director of the Center for Infectious Research and Policy - told Joe Rogan he is concerned that chronic wasting can jump to humans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3URhJx0NSw

BTW - The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) is a center within the University of Minnesota that focuses on addressing public health preparedness and emerging infectious disease response. It was founded in 2001 by Michael Osterholm, in order to "prevent illness and death from infectious diseases through epidemiological research and rapid translation of scientific information into real-world practical applications and solutions". Michael Osterholm is the Director - CIDRAP - Please watch his interview with Joe Rogan if it is the only thing you do today. I will keep posting this until the nonsense about drinking hot water and hot saunas stops being posted here. See below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3URhJx0NSw

 

[Robert 21]

COVID-19: The festival maintains its schedule of festivities
Mar 11, 2020
https://metrometro.ca/en/uncategorized/covid-19-the-festival-maintains-its-schedule-of-festivities/
In the last few days, the case of the Coronavirus has been of concern to many. Several events that were supposed to take place this month have had to cancel all their celebrations. Despite concerns raised by the coronavirus (COVID-19), Midway Group, the promoter of the Metro Metro Festival, is working hard to maintain its schedule of festivities. Midway Group wishes to reassure festival-goers that Festival programming remains full and complete based on the information made available to us today.
The promoter is currently working on the organization of the Festival, in conjunction with the Olympic park, while closely monitoring the situation. The Olympic park, as host of the Festival and as a public organization, is following the recommendations of Public Health and has already implemented preventive measures for the reception of its visitors.
Above all, Midway Group is deeply committed to the safety and health of all its festival-goers, employees, partners and artists, and makes every effort to maintain its Festival programming and its initial schedule.
See you on May 15, 16 and 17th at the Olympic stadium to kick off the festival season in style.

Ok, yes this Festival is not until May....May have more than 250 people.
So maybe a Wait and See, or be Proactive, and Cancel.
People may have to Book Travel & Lodging.
I went to Metro Metro last year with Snoop Dog and Cardi B.


***LETS KEEP PEOPLE OVER PROFITS***

 

[The Nature Boy]

But what kind of world will it be if everyone must isolate and live in fear for months or years?

A very infected world with hospital systems, 1st world and developing world medical infrastructures, not being able to keep up with how fast people are getting sick. That in itself destroys economies.

it’s gonna be tough for the next few weeks. Everyone’s gonna be asked to do their part in helping out and helping out means keeping yourself healthy so you don’t infect other people. There are some people who probably have already caught this shit and probably don’t even know it or young healthy and beautiful and know they will have mild disease and are like “why the fuss”. Well, it’s not always about you. It’s about everyone else. This is the 1st time I can think of in my life time where the whole world is dealing with the exact same shit show. This ain’t a tsunami in a developing country where you can watch cold play or Taylor Swift sing a few songs and call in and donate 100 quid on the tube. The young healthy youngling who washes their hands and socially distances themselves and keeps themselves from catching this shit helps the doc in the ICU whose trying to figure out which of his 3 patients they should vent with the one breathing machine they have left.

one time, a merb member PMed me and said “hey, if you don’t like my reviews because you think I’m a shill, why do you read them?” They were right. 100%. I stopped. I change the channel when the rhetoric gets too much on American news

 

[gaby]

CNN.....just heard from FAREED and his guest Dr. Frieden.......with the exponential growth of the virus US could have more than a million of deaths......nice way to start a Sunday......

 

[cloudsurf]

Can you even begin to imagine if CNN had existed in 1918-1919, during the worst pandemic ever?

The one that was most deadly to those with the longest remaining life expectancy? - “ And unlike a normal seasonal flu, which mostly claims victims among the very young and very old, the second wave of the Spanish flu exhibited what’s called a “W curve”—high numbers of deaths among the young and old, but also a huge spike in the middle composed of otherwise healthy 25- to 35-year-olds in the prime of their lif

Patron you are one of the brightest and most influential posters on Merb.
So I don't get why you are still downplaying the seriousness of this pandemic and blaming the media instead of the governments that were and are too slow and timid to react. Its not like a bad cold and never was, at least for 20% of those stricken..
Also the worst pandemic was not the 1918 so called Spanish flu but the Black death that took 4 times as many lives. Aids/HIV is up there too.
BTW these epidemics, and many others, were caused by pathogens jumping from wild animals to humans.

A friend who works for a provincial health care agency tells me that Quebec hospitals are holding over 50 serious suspected cases of COVID19

 

[Robert 21]

Southie bars shutter on St. Pat’s Sunday
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/...SS0xHTnJqZFM2aWdqVlYrR1I2TnVKT1UybzgzR2Q2In0=

More than a dozen bars and eateries in South Boston shuttered Sunday — a day that would typically have brought St. Patrick’s Day revelers out in force — in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The city’s licensing board announced that 14 establishments have agreed to voluntarily close on Sunday: (List of the Bars are Online)

Asked whether the bars would be allowed to reopen on Sunday, a city spokesperson said "we'll provide an update on this when we're able to."

The announcement followed reports and photos on social media showcasing large crowds waiting in line to gain entry to many popular bars.

“On what is usually one of the busiest and best days of the year, we are choosing to close our doors,” Stats Bar & Grille said on Twitter. “Thank you to everyone for your understanding and we hope to be back open soon safely serving the neighborhood.”

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced the cancellation of the St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston last Monday.

"Our top priority is preventing any new cases, to the best of our ability, and we are paying close attention to guidance from public health officials," Walsh said then.


***HEALTH BEFORE WEALTH***

 

[Batista Mason]

Quebec has 35 Corvid-19 cases now: https://montrealgazette.com/news/lo...ec-catholics-invited-to-celebrate-mass-online

 

[cloudsurf]

Not all the test results are back. Wait a day or two and they will report over 50 just in hospitals

 

[punky9999]

Also surprisingly enough buisness isnt really slowed down for now at the agencies idk about indies

This is interesting! Maybe it is like minutemenX hypothesized and people are trying to see SPs before things get worse . . . anyway, I hope the virus doesn't decimate SP and Agency earnings too much. This whole situation is wrecking havoc on small businesses around the world. Hopefully we can all weather the storm and things will get back to normal in a few months.