Covid-19. A heads up.

[Tree]

Guys, Gals.

Just a heads up from this side of the pond.

To be frank, shit is getting real now. We are entering a state of lock down where public gatherings are now banned as of tonight, schools are closed and restrictions apply in supermarkets.

Myself and my family are safe, I saw this happening last week and stocked the house, not in a panic buying way but I made sure we had provisions for the next month.

My children will be going to school as myself and my wife are key workers. From Monday I will be cancelling all work from my clients and start production on ventilators for those that need it.

We are seeing a once in 100 year pandemic which nobody ever expected. As a result here in the UK we are all pulling together to get through this. This may take months to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Those of you on this board with underlying difficulties, asthma, COPD etc please look after yourself. Those of you in your prime, you seventies guys - stay at home. This really is some nasty stuff and I’d hate to hear any bad news.

I’m saying this because you guys in the states are weeks maybe a month behind us in this epidemic. From what I’ve seen on the socials you are not ready for this. If I can reach out to my AOG family this is my call.

If you can practically stay away from others I.e. no bars or clubs this is the time.

We’ve seen some major changes tonight here in the UK so I’m putting this out to you all right now before it catches up.

If you can work from home - do so.

If you don’t need to to go the yacht club - don’t.

For guidance right now I would check out the UK gov.uk website before it lands on your shores in the way it has here.

Please, please, please don’t think I am scaremongering. I’m giving you a heads up that shit has just got real here.

I may lose my business. I may lose my house. Christ I may lose my boat dammit! So I give you you this heads up. This virus doubles in its rate twice every three days. That’s the graph and science showing us. By staying away from population the best you can you will flatten that curve and hopefully in that time someone will come up with a vaccine.

For the moment my family and I am fine. I’m trying to be business as usual but for how long, I don’t know.

For Christ’s sake - stay safe and follow the guidance.


Lee

[Norseman]

Ouch, bad news mate, but we have the same info in the US and we are preparing, or trying to, just as you are.
Those who watch Fox News think this virus is a Democrat hoax because Trump said it a few weeks ago.

[Nancy]

I'd say we're in about the same place in the U.S. Restrictions vary by state. Here in Vermont, we're urged to stay home. Schools, restaurants, and bars were ordered closed earlier this week although restaurants can do take-out and delivery. Lots of grocery items are thin or non-existent. I'm ahead of the curve as I've worked from home for over 30 years.

[RobS]

NY is totally F’d. This is all very scary. I am heading to my true safe haven in the morning ... my engine room. I want to just live in there and not come out until this is all over. That’s the only ER I want to be in.

[jleonard]

Similar BS here in Florida. All beaches are now closed as of 8 pm yesterday. Bars are all closed. Most restaurants are still open but only can be at 50% capacity and no alchohol can be served.
Grocery stores are open, us old folks (over 60) only for first hour f the day, but there is still no TP, no paper towels, etc., very little bread. Most other stuff is ok.
Liquor stores still open
Of course schools are closed maybe for the rest of the spring, any gathering over 10 persons is supposedly prohibited (we had 12 at our house 3 nights ago don't rat us out).
Canadian snowbirds told to "come home" by mid next week, campgrounds are being closed, not pretty.
Hopefully the boat ramps will stay open so we can social distance for the day.
Not sure if we will be able to go north to live aboard this summer. Planning on it but also thinking we might not want to as northern states seem to be more restrictive.
Stay safe.

[DesertAlbin736]

Similar here in Arizona, although things not yet as critical as you say UK is. Although we are next door to California & Los Angeles as of today we only have 152 confirmed cases and 2 fatalities with a state population of 7.28 million spread over a total land area of 110,000 square miles. Of that, 4.9 million people reside within the metro Phoenix market of Maricopa County, including the cites of Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria (where I live), Buckeye, Apache Junction, and the Sun City retirement communities. All of which are more or less contiguous. Shortage of test kits means the numbers could be and probably are higher. Our local Lake Pleasant sailing club (9,000 acre man made desert lake) has canceled all shore based monthly meetings (we don't have our own club house), on water, and RV camping events until further notice. With our hot summer climate early spring is the prime sailing/boating season. All schools K thru 12 & universities closed for the remainder of the school year. Colleges & universities have online classes, but K12 kids have to be home schooled. People are encouraged to telecommute & not visit elderly folks in rest homes. Restaurants only serving take outs & deliveries. Some scattered hoarding & grocery store shortages. Still woefully short of test kits & some larger cities like NYC & Seattle starting to feel the pinch of medical supply and bed capacity shortages. I just saw on news today that boat ramps and marinas in Florida are being closed down. I think we can still launch & take our boat out on the lake if we want to, but would stay away from marina restaurants & stores.

I want to steer clear of the politics of the situation for fear of starting a flame war. AOG is my refuge from the woes of the world & the sum total of my social media exposure. The most sobering thing I've seen is watching documentaries of the 1918 flu pandemic and the various measures taken then & how they compare to now, especially with what's happening in Italy. Of course COVID 19 is nowhere near as lethal as the 1918 H1N1 was, at least for now (God forbid it ever mutates). And of course we're not simultaneously dealing with horrors like the WW1 trenches. But it is sobering how the scientific consensus is that the 1918 flu first showed up at an Army training camp in Kansas and how fast it spread via troops sent to Europe on crowded troop ships (2.8 million "doughboys"). More than half of US Army deaths in WW1 were from disease. Within a year it had spread to the Western Front on both sides & world wide. And they didn't even have air travel then.

Our worst outbreak so far in the US is now NYC, and both the city & NY state are now in lockdown too.

Personally we had been planning an ambitious canal loop trip starting from Lake Oneida, NY up into Ontario & the Rideau Canal starting in August and "circumnavigating" the Adirondacks from Montreal down to Albany and across the Erie Canal. But now that looks very much in doubt. There are construction projects going on with one of the locks we'd have to transit from the Oswego River out onto to Lake Ontario & I wouldn't be surprised to hear that project is on hold & not get completed in time for summer.

[DesertAlbin736]

I would add our family, kids & adult grandkids are doing OK, albeit with some inconveniences. We are thankfully in good health, not rich but financially secure with no debts & no need to work even though some our savings have taken a hit with the market crash. But we'll get through this.
Our motto is "When the going gets tough the tough bake cookies".

[Tree]

Just been announced here - entire country in lockdown. I can still go to work as we are currently making parts for ventilators but it does mean that I can’t go to the boat or anywhere without a real need to be there.

[DesertAlbin736]

Update: Went food shopping at grocery stores yesterday. Wore disposable latex gloves (happen to have a supply on hand left over from recent painting projects) and a N95 dust mask (ditto, last one left over from projects). Paranoid? Maybe. Prudent, yes. Toilet paper & other paper goods still out of stock, shelves bare, even at mighty membership warehouse store Costco. Usually Costco has merch stocked 10 stories high on pallets. Besides paper products the regular grocer was out of ground beef, in fact most cuts of beef except expensive steaks. Also out of eggs and chicken (never was able to figure which came first) except for a few packages of wings. Frozen food case was out of french fries (chips in UK speak, pomme frites in real French, which brings to mind Michael Palin & Kevin Kline in 'Fish Called Wanda") & other items. In general shelves that weren't bare were half so. Except the pet food aisle. At this rate there'll soon be a run on canned cat food. Our Arizona case numbers are still fairly low at 254, but from Sunday to yesterday the number jumped by 54%. India just went on lockdown today.
On the TP supply we normally buy bulk from Costco anyway, & by coincidence in the normal course of restocking had bought a large 24 roll package shortly before the pandemic panic & subsequent runs (pun not intended) hit.

[DesertAlbin736]

'Can't go to the boat without a real need to be there?' When is there not a real need?

[Pitou]

'Can't go to the boat without a real need to be there?' When is there not a real need?

It's medicinal.

[hetek]

My company has requested all employees that can work from home, to do so. They have also set up virtual offices online.

Unfortunately, I am not one of those employees. I must report to work.

So... Here I am at 2:45 am, all alone, at work, but I feel OK. Social Distancing at the max! I work in a three story telecommunications hub and today I saw only two other employees and two cleaning personnel, disinfecting the building. Usually we have about 25 people, on site.

Oh, almost forgot... I received my Department of Homeland Security passes the other day. One for unrestricted travel in case of a lockdown and/or curfew and one for fuel for my vehicle in case of rationing. Hope it never comes to that!

Crazy crazy! Stay healthy everyone!

[elad9000]

Norseman, Fact check your hoax statement. FAKE NEWS!

What's True
During a Feb. 28, 2020, campaign rally in South Carolina, President Donald Trump likened the Democrats' criticism of his administration's response to the new coronavirus outbreak to their efforts to impeach him, saying "this is their new hoax." During the speech he also seemed to downplay the severity of the outbreak, comparing it to the common flu.

What's False
Despite creating some confusion with his remarks, Trump did not call the coronavirus itself a hoax.

[Bob Noodat]

Maybe time to stop panicking and use our brains. Actually, a month ago would have been a better time still.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/12-expert ... ic/5707532

[DesertAlbin736]

Our top national infectious disease expert Dr. Fauci is saying deaths could hit 100,000 to 200,000, cases in the millions. WHO is the source to believe. We get briefings from Dr. Birx every day and case totals updated every day by Johns Hopkins University. Arizona is now up to 919 confirmed cases & 17 deaths. A week ago it was 152 cases & 2 deaths. That's a six fold increase in one week. Dr. Birx said this morning that every major metro area will likely get hit like NYC at one point or another. Seattle first, then NYC, soon New Orleans, Detroit, & Chicago. New Orleans & Florida are most scary with Mardi Gras & spring breakers on open beaches respectively. The more than half of AZ cases, 545, that is 59% of the cases, are in Maricopa County which covers greater Phoenix area. 24% of cases are in the over 65 age group. US now leads the world in total number cases, surpassing China and Italy.

RE: Norseman vs elad9000: At this level of discussion in this location we'd do better to keep politics out of it. Let us instead heed & learn form the lessons of history, specifically 1918.

https://www.history.com/topics/world-wa ... u-pandemic

https://www.history.com/news/spanish-fl ... resurgence

Time for political reckoning will come later, in November. That is if we're in a position to even hold elections by then.