[Treasur]

I think in the UK we are a couple of weeks behind the arc that other European countries are seeing. But a 30% jump in identified cases in one day today to just over 2600 and I think just over 100 deaths. Government rapidly changing its position and getting tougher with the recommended advice though. Churches services cancelled yesterday, but most schools still open and restaurants etc. Lots of big social/music events cancelled or postponed until the Autumn. The best informed guesses seem to suggest a peak here in April, that things will get worse before they get better and that we are not testing enough to establish reliable knowledge about transmission, mortality or incubation periods. Same obsession with toilet rolls though....what is that about? 

It's quite interesting to see the cultural and political differences in how different countries are responding. I suspect the two biggest problems for us will be the availability of NHS resources and the economic impact in our service economy bc of 'flexible' contract working.

From what I can see, people are being relatively English about it...quite a lot of 'keep calm, wash your hands and carry on'. Perhaps more frightened about the economy than the potential scale of deaths right now?

I agree with others that LBS skills come in handy right now. I also agree with others that it's a strange time to feel alone when we used not to be.

[Maleficent]

It really has become a strange world, a chilling place.  For those of us who are alone, it has become more isolating.  Maybe we get texts from spouses or x-spouses trying to assuage their own guilt by asking how we are and to let us know if we need anything (that's what I got).  Maybe we have silence. 

With trying to GAL and build new friendships and reinventing ourselves, and having succeeded in some ways, now all of that crumbles.  When you take everything away, it is just us now.  And maybe that was the feeling that led our spouses to BD day.  We are stronger now, but how long will the stillness last?

xyzcf, I would not say that individually the effect of this pandemic is worse than BD (globally it is truly horrible), but maybe it is making us see what we have lost.  Sending hugs to you.

In the states,my state has been shutting down for the last five days.  Churches are closed.  My aunt's funeral included just family.  Hospitals are now on restricted access.  Restaurants, bars, gyms, retail stores, schools, some doctor's offices are closed.  Some weddings have been cancelled. The shelves are bare in the stores--cannot understand why there is a run on toilet paper.  Bare bread and milk aisles I can understand.  Went to the store this morning with an open mind.  My neighbors are checking in.  But, I do feel truly alone. 

You all take care.  We are strong.   

[KeepItTogether]

From what I can see, people are being relatively English about it...quite a lot of 'keep calm, wash your hands and carry on'. Perhaps more frightened about the economy than the potential scale of deaths right now?

Of course the over-consuming US is in mass hysteria over the perceived toilet paper crisis.    But I am very concerned about the economy. I can see small businesses suffering first. But it is all inter-related and I pray we will be able overcome all.

My H thought it was all bs last weekend. The media had over-hyped something once again. I set him straight. But clearly, whomever he is talking to/living with, had no concerns either b/c it wasn't until I laid into him that he could see there was in fact a pandemic in the world around him. Makes me think OW is as ignorant as him, or just listens to whatever he says and agrees with it. That will NEVER be me.

I am worried about my in-laws. Both are older and smokers and FIL has COPD. Both think there is nothing wrong. Both continue to be out and about. I reach out on a daily basis to offer help, errands, groceries, etc., but turned down every time. Proud and stubborn. And ignorant.

Like Mal said, we are strong. Sending hugs to all my LBS friends  who feel so alone now. I hear you all.

[Standing Strong]

Corona is way overblown. It's surreal to watch, but this is a teaching moment.....

Someday, something really bad will come out and it'll look a lot like this (at the beginning).
Keep your eyes open, listen, observe. See what is in short supply and what is needed to keep going. Have a plan for either hunkering down, or running away.
This Corona will pass, and then it's time to make sure you're ready for next time.

Just like MLC, this is a blessing in disguise (IMO).

-SS

[Treasur]

It's funny, Kit, that I think both Mr Trump and Mr Johnson here seem to have changed their tune a bit in the last couple of days. Apparently Mr Johnson was given a report by a guy called Niall Ferguson from Imperial College that laid out some big stark scary numbers if the UK government did not change course......and so the tone has changed coming out of government briefings.....and then what the media says starts to change.

I think that for many folks the possible scale of how things might unfold is so inconceivable, so far from normal, that a lot of people are reacting just like we did post BD. We couldn't believe that x would happen or that our spouse would do y....until they did. Perhaps we LBS just find it easier now to think the unthinkable and lots of other folks will take a little while to catch up?

[Mitzpah]

Interesting to see your takes on this... I have people from my immediate family in different parts of the world.

Let's see - my d25 is in Ireland where they have closed everything except for grocery shops and chemists, she is young, healthy and mad that they won't let her work! She is working out at home and goes running in Phoenix park just to get out in the fresh air (she is her mother's daughter after all ) It was St Patrick's yesterday and they made a home cooked lunch and drank G&Ts!

My mom is in the south of Brazil in a relatively small town where they have not registered a case yet (over 350 in Brazil so far). She is over eighty and recovering from a hip operation. My sister and BIL are still working. They are being very careful of her.

My other sister and BIL live in Portugal (close to Anjae) and are working from home - things are getting pretty scary there. My BIL is a scientist and professor and my sister is an English Language teacher. Their children are spread out but young adults.

My brother and SIL with 4 kids are living in the UK and are self isolating at home - must be crazy at their house, but my brother is keeping the reigns of the situation and making the best decision for his family,

My other brother lives here in Brazil, relatively near me but outside the city zone and Rio is gradually clamping down on everything - no schools, no universities (public or private), many people working from home, we have up to a hundred cases within the city limits - companies are changing workers' timetables so they can use public transport at emptier times, all monuments, shopping centers, parks are closed. Bars, restaurants can only accept up to a third of their capacities, the police are going around with loudspeakers telling people to get off the beaches and go home. No buses can go outside the city zone, neither can buses come in, so people who live outside the city zone can't get to work. We are not allowed to visit patients in hospitals, no prison visits, no public gatherings, churches going online, maids (common convenience here) are being told to stay home  and conscientous people are paying them. We have a large amount of the population living in slum type communities where it is practically impossible to self isolate.

Our president does not make things easier. Nuff said!!

I think MLC and the knocks life has dealt me recently have taught me a lot of resilience and common sense, so I just put my head down, wash my hands throughly and forge through this, being careful of my neighbor.  Is this worse than MLC? not to my mind, because as others have noted, I am very lonely and this just exacerbates it, however, I do know that we will eventually get through it.

My beloved? He had a cold last week, so I offered help and asked him to take good care of himself - he replied with a laconic - "I am trying" He is a risk group - whether he realizes it or not, IDK.

May God have mercy on us all and keep safe!

[strawberry]

The disease is highly contagious, that’s for sure.  Probably more than we realize.  Give they are saying 80% that get it will have little or even no symptoms and we aren’t doing widespread testing, it could be far more widespread than we realize.  The mortality rate is very high in the elderly but the latest numbers I’m seeing for the whole infected population are now estimated to be much closer to the flu.  Everyone keeps pointing to Italy for how bad it will get and I keep asking what the population there looks like compared to other nations?  Is it older?  More smokers?  Those facts matter.

So I keep coming back to “at what cost”. Are we actually saving lives by destroying the global economy?  And how many lives?  Does even one life saved justify the financial ruin of millions?  It’s the retired those just starting out that will suffer the most though lower retirement funds and future necessary tax increases to pay for all the bailouts being talked about.

Have we reached a point where the cure is worse than the disease?  I am not an expert it virology, but I do understand data sets and statistics and economics and the numbers don’t work out when I look at what they are presenting.

[Mitzpah]

Oh, and I am still putting in a full workday as I drive my own car and have my own office - we are surrounded by bottles of sanitizer and encouraged to keep away from each other. Some people are able to do home office but my boss has not allowed me to do that yet.

And the supermarkets here in Rio are fine, they only ran out of alcohol in gel.... even that is coming back now. People seem to be pretty calm about not stockpiling things, perhaps because Brazil has not really ever seen this kind of scenario before, maybe a little in the early eighties with hiper inflation, but that is all.

[Thunder]

I believe we have about 60 reported cases of the virus in Minnesotan most all of them were travel related, not person to person.

I was at the grocery store about a week ago and nothing was sold out, except hand sanitizers.  Stocked full. I should have bought extra TP then, but I saw no urgency.
I'll go tomorrow to see how things have changed in a week.   

All out schools are closed, along with businesses.  Hoping this will slow things down.

I think people just need to stay in as much as possible, wash hands often and stay way from people as much as we can...or groups of people.
This will end, it's just a matter if time and using the common sense God gave us.

I'm with Barbie, I'm using this time to do some Spring cleaning and tossing out a lot of unnecessary thing I've had in my garage since the day I moved in here,7 years ago. 
Anything I haven't missed, in 7 years, is going to the Salvation Army or the dumpster.
My drawers and closets are next.  lol  I do need to downsize.

My family is all safe for now.
God bless everyone and their families.  We'll get through this.   
Some countries are already starting to recover.

[MyBrainIsBroken]

Here in western NY state life is very different now. Churches and libraries have all been closed. Bars and restaurants are only allowed to do takeout or delivery. Most grocery stores and other businesses that remain open are operating on reduced hours. All K-12 schools and most colleges and universities have canceled in person classes and are attampting to move everything online. We have two people living in my county who have the disease and one employee from my college who is awaiting test results.

I'm actually less alone now than usual. My granddaughter and her cat have moved out of the college dorm and in with me fulltime. During the day GD18 alternates between here and her mother's house. I'm in the process of moving all of the classes I teach to an online format. All of GD18's classes will also be online. Classes resume for both of us this coming Monday.

I still go out for daily runs. Otherwise, occasional trips to my daughter's house and the grocery store are my only reasons for leaving the house. I spend way too much time reading posts on FB and online articles about coronavirus.

I don't believe the problem is that the coronavirus is all that bad for most people. The problem is that our hospitals are already close to capacity with normal issues such as influenza, diabetes, cardiac issues, other respiratory issues, etc. The system has no excess capacity to absorb a large influx of new patients who are sick with an infectious disease like coronavirus. Even before coronavirus we would often transport patients to the ER and have to leave the patients in a hall cart because all of the rooms were full but we can't leave suspected coronavirus cases in a hall cart so where are we going to put them?

This is becoming very difficult for my brother whose wife has dementia. Her daycare facility has closed so he has no choice now but to stay home from work to care for her fulltime. He's trying to work from home but it's challenging for him to do so while caring for his wife.

My oldest daughter posted a photo on FB yesterday showing my 3 granddaughters about 10 years ago when they were all little. My wife commented that she misses those days. The only conclusion I can draw from that is that she's forgotten that she was living with me back then. She's still working because she's head cook at the public high school. They're still making takeout meals for the school kids because without free school lunches some of the kids wouldn't be getting lunch.