2019–20 Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) Thread

[rockstaryuzu]

6 hours ago, mercedes said:

I agree with the both of you seeing the situation here....it's really scary!

My sister's mother in law passed away last weekend(due to her age not due to the virus),but because of this f...ing virus since my brother in law's family is from the north of Italy(while we are all here in Toscany) he couldn't see her one last time neither he can go to whatever kind of service they'll have.

 

Last night on the news they showed Madrid's Icerink because they are using it as a morgue and my mind went to Javi ,silly i know because of course having  aplace to give a last goodbye to your loved one is way more important then skating but still it was a sad feeling.

Javi gave an interview about that: 

 

If anyone cares to translate. I think he says it's good that the rink can be of service? 

[Sombreuil]

If anyone is looking for something a bit different to watch the National Theatre in London is showing a play from its archive every Thursday on YouTube during the shut down - tomorrow’s is James Corden in the farce ‘One man, two guvnors’.

 

https://www.timeout.com/london/news/the-national-theatre-is-going-to-stream-a-free-play-every-thursday-night-032620

[rockstaryuzu]

I relate to this soo much! 

 

https://twitter.com/mhjd_85/status/1245131408621830144?s=20

[SitTwizzle]

3 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Javi gave an interview about that: 

 

If anyone cares to translate. I think he says it's good that the rink can be of service? 

[This is not a good translation.]

This area (rink) I have wandered it many hours, good hours, and also many difficult moments.

It also helps those who are dear to them and whom they have lost, to bring them where they want to bring them hereafter. [In all Spain, funeral chapel have been forbidden to the deceased who have been diagnosed positive to Covid-19, translator's note.] And so,

The journalist : one year ago, Javier Fernández had his farewell to competition in this Ice Palace/ Palacio de Hielo.

And so, in turn, this area, has this procedure, I know it is difficult... These acts are needed (word missing) to help those who need it.

[I don't translate the curling team part.]

If more rinks are needed, in the whole country, I know they will do it. That all this will pass but... but we must be there.

[rockstaryuzu]

(thought better of making this comment and deleted it)

 

My clinic now has patients with suspected COVID infection. I have many thoughts and they're all negative.

[yude]

I thought first this was April Fool's Day's joke.

 

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200402/p2g/00m/0na/015000c

 

How much does it cost to send 2 face masks to per household? (it is not even per person...) According to the expert, it is going to be about 5 billion yen. We have already started to make our own masks using handkerchief or same kind of cloth at home, why can't they send those masks to the medical staff and other organizations and spend those 5 billion yen for other purposes? What major cities need is not two masks, they need quarantine  (sorry for my ranting again )

 

I've heard Evgenia decided to come to Japan, she needs another two weeks of quarantine in Japan if I am correct. I really hope native Japanese will tell her and her team real situation of Japan, because it might looks almost the same to her seeing transportation is good, shops are open, people are working, but the country is not OK at all. All I wish for her is to have smart act and stay healthy.

[Salior]

On 4/1/2020 at 3:22 AM, Umebachi said:

 

I am in close contact with my family in Japan while currently living in BC, Canada.  Based on the performance of the two countries - up to this point - I would feel much better if Yuzu stayed in Canada.  The Japanese national government appears to be hopelessly behind the curve, while we see strong evidence of the spread of disease entering an exponential phase.  In particular, Tokyo municipality is showing every sign of entering a rapid increase phase, and the municipality needs to declare emergency lockdown right now (should have done so last week already)! 

 

Unfortunately, Tokyo Governor Koike can't do so without the backing of the national government, which needs to declare a state of national emergency.  Koike herself was late in focusing on this - until last week she was distracted by Tokyo Olympics postponement decision.  Since then, she has (finally) started issuing warnings to citizens to exercise social distancing, but she can only ask for voluntary action and can't enforce any of it.  Prefectural governments in Japan have limited authority and power is centralized in the national government (Japan is not a federated state).  But national government staff had been cut back to the bare bones by decades of austerity measure, and they are especially lacking in technical experts.   For example, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare have few experienced staff with quantitative analytical skills and have limited direct working experience in public health responses.  I know because I worked with a number of them in recent years as technical specialist and policy advisor and was frankly taken aback by the limited technical know-how of some of their staff. 

 

So now, I am afraid - very very afraid - about the situation in Tokyo and for the safety of my family in Tokyo.  I am praying that I am wrong and that the government will be able to get their act together soon.   With good leadership, I am sure the citizens will rise to the occasion.   Meanwhile, on this side of the Pacific, Canadian federal and BC governments have been quite aggressive and pro-active by comparison - nowhere near perfect and with many gaps, but at least they are coordinating and communicating regularly with the public, and learning and adjusting their approach based on feedback, balancing social distancing policies with economic support to the workers.   It is such a contrast with what is happening in Japan and shocking to behold in real time...

Sad to hear that. Though I was comparing the situation between Toronto which is right next to the New York epicentre, and Sendai which is hopefully far enough from Tokyo. Wherever he is, hope he stay well and healthy. 
 

edit: nvm didn’t realise the distance between Toronto and NY is twice the distance from Tokyo to Sendai. US is a big place

[SitTwizzle]

Anyway as a whole, the situation in Canada seems much more worrying (though not totally out of control) than that in Japan.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

[sweetwater]

It's not about the total number of dead or infected as of now. It's about how capable/incapable your decision-makers are, what they care most in this circumstance, and how much resources we have. Also, right now, traveling itself is risky.

[rockstaryuzu]

3 hours ago, SitTwizzle said:

Anyway as a whole, the situation in Canada seems much more worrying (though not totally out of control) than that in Japan.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

Japan is not testing or reporting the same way Canada is. They probably have thousands of undetected cases. 

[SitTwizzle]

23 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Japan is not testing or reporting the same way Canada is. They probably have thousands of undetected cases. 

Do you mean, Japanese authorities block deliberately any testing policy, like in France? (where not only contamination is underestimated, not even healthcare professionals managing to get tested, but also death toll, many elderly people dead in "very suspicious circumstances" not being tested, even after having been refused respiratory assistance, in North East in particular there seem to be an abnormally high death rate)

And do you think testing is satisfactory in Canada, like in Germany? Where it is not as proactive as in South Korea but anybody feeling sick or at risk here, can get tested easily and swiftly (and for free, of course) (and social distanciation and prophylaxis seem effective without real confinement). So I think German figures, though necessarily lower than the real number of contaminated, are as accurate as can be.

Anyway Toronto is the Canadian city with more contamination, isn't it? Or rather, all Southern Ontario?

[cereus]

18 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

(thought better of making this comment and deleted it)

 

My clinic now has patients with suspected COVID infection. I have many thoughts and they're all negative.

 

[rockstaryuzu]

58 minutes ago, SitTwizzle said:

Do you mean, Japanese authorities block deliberately any testing policy, like in France? (where not only contamination is underestimated, not even healthcare professionals managing to get tested, but also death toll, many elderly people dead in "very suspicious circumstances" not being tested, even after having been refused respiratory assistance, in North East in particular there seem to be an abnormally high death rate)

And do you think testing is satisfactory in Canada, like in Germany? Where it is not as proactive as in South Korea but anybody feeling sick or at risk here, can get tested easily and swiftly (and for free, of course) (and social distanciation and prophylaxis seem effective without real confinement). So I think German figures, though necessarily lower than the real number of contaminated, are as accurate as can be.

Anyway Toronto is the Canadian city with more contamination, isn't it? Or rather, all Southern Ontario?

I mean, they're not keeping track of the disease the same way Canada is, so their numbers will be different and will not give an accurate picture of the state of affairs for COVID in Japan. 

 

The testing in Canada Is NOT satisfactory, not by a long shot, but at least we're doing some. And our authorities are willing to acknowledge the shortcomings in our system and realize that whatever we measure is still probably an underestimation of what's actually happening, so they plan for worse than what we are getting so far, in the hopes that it won't get as bad as they think it will. 

 

Toronto is Canada''s most populated city, in a way it's natural to expect it to have a higher number of infections. But actually the province of Quebec is currently reporting the highest number of cases. Quebec is also testing many more people and their infections started earlier. 

 

My point being, just because a country is reporting low numbers, doesn't mean they have low numbers. 

 

So where is safer: a place where at least they are willing to see and acknowledge the problem, or a place where they've chosen not to look at the problem, as a way of pretending it's not there? 

 

 

 

 

[Figure_Frenzy]

On 3/31/2020 at 9:22 PM, Umebachi said:

Based on the performance of the two countries - up to this point - I would feel much better if Yuzu stayed in Canada.  The Japanese national government appears to be hopelessly behind the curve, while we see strong evidence of the spread of disease entering an exponential phase.

 

Same — I still feel the same about it (ie. Yuzu staying in Canada) since the travel restriction (and later self isolation) in Canada was enacted.

 

...though to be fair to the (Tokyo) government I think when the first case from the Diamond Princess was detected they acted swiftly and put out recommendations to stay at home, not hold large gatherings (...and also closing of Tokyo Disneysea, museums and other public places) and telework. Again, only recommendations, but at least many people heeded it. The problem is that it seems like the Japanese central government felt like managing the coronavirus cases on the cruise ship was enough to stop the spread. They really underestimated the rate of the virus' spread — while they tried to manage the cases on the cruise ship, people from countries with grave coronavirus epidemic kept coming into Japan and went around unchecked (...and you know, very possibly unknowingly spread the virus among the populace), and that happened as some institutions (some companies, schools and universities) are going to open up as usual in the coming days...

 

If the pandemic should teach you anything it is that these people — people coming from countries dealing with the coronavirus epidemic, who could very possibly be asymptomatic carriers — are the ones that you should be very mindful of. They should have been traced from the point of entry and tested for the disease — and this is where I doubt the government's action upon this (did they check those people?).

 

Then there's also the speculation that Japan omitted the statistics on the infected and dead from coronavirus, especially from the dates before the postponement of Olympics was announced. I sincerely hope that (the statistics omission) is not the case at all, because as the current situation stands, I grew more skeptical of the government's capability to handle the pandemic 

[mercedes]

1 hour ago, rockstaryuzu said:

I mean, they're not keeping track of the disease the same way Canada is, so their numbers will be different and will not give an accurate picture of the state of affairs for COVID in Japan. 

 

The testing in Canada Is NOT satisfactory, not by a long shot, but at least we're doing some. And our authorities are willing to acknowledge the shortcomings in our system and realize that whatever we measure is still probably an underestimation of what's actually happening, so they plan for worse than what we are getting so far, in the hopes that it won't get as bad as they think it will. 

 

Toronto is Canada''s most populated city, in a way it's natural to expect it to have a higher number of infections. But actually the province of Quebec is currently reporting the highest number of cases. Quebec is also testing many more people and their infections started earlier. 

 

My point being, just because a country is reporting low numbers, doesn't mean they have low numbers. 

 

So where is safer: a place where at least they are willing to see and acknowledge the problem, or a place where they've chosen not to look at the problem, as a way of pretending it's not there? 

 

 

 

 

when everybody here but Milan was happily going out and have a social life people in milan said ther rest of the country was just a couple of weeks later and they were right(same with Spain)....hope Japan does something soon.

 

My town is small(compared for example to Florence)but because a lot of people came down from the north as soon as it was declared a red-zone we have a pretty high rate.