What is life like where you live (COVID -19 around the World)

[Nanook65]

I thought it might be interesting to hear from guys in different parts of the world and hear what is going on regarding the current COVID-19 Pandemic.

I live in Minnesota which, for those of you who don't know, is in the the north and middle of the USA. I live in the Twin Cities of Mineapolis & St Paul and am in a Suburb. So far here in my little suburb my daughters high school closed as of today and in our state the Governor has announced that all public schools will close as of Wednesday this week. So far restaurants and stores remain open, but it seems that one, by one everything is getting cancelled/ closed to comply with this social distancing idea. I get the sense that so far things are generally orderly, but at the same time I sense a low level sense of panic/ irrational behavior. A week ago the local Grocery store and Costco had basically everything in stock 24/7. Fast forward to last Friday & Costco had everything at the open, but were running out of things like Toilet Paper & Paper Towels within 15 minutes of open. Now today right at the open they had a list of "out of stock" items posted right at the front of the store which included both items listed above + about a dozen other items. I don't recall what they were, but it included rice, hand sanitizer, wipes, some soaps etc.

So far most of the entertainment venues remain open. I would include things like movie theaters, Restaurants, & Bars, but It feels like that is about to change. One of the local card room and Casinos just announced they are closing for an indefinite time starting today at noon (about 45 minutes from now) It feels like we are in for at least a month of life that feels very different than what we are used to.

What is going on in your neck of the woods?

 

[Phoenixboy]

Here in the uk, the media are hyping things to the max.
Yes it’s a serious situation, but they are simply causing panic rather than sensible precaution.
Supermarket has no stock of toilet rolls and many other items that people are stockpiling.
My elderly parents have been panicking, caused by media going over the top on there thirst for attention.
I appreciate it’s easy to say, but I feel the situation could be dealt with better without causing alarm, especially to our elderly.
Unfortunately our politicians are very good at handing out advice to the working classes, as the affects will have no bearing on there privileged lifestyles.
Normal working people have concerns over how they will pay there bills, and we are told how they will pay statutory sick pay from day one of self isolation, which amounts to a pittance of less than a £100 per week.
So, a large majority of people will not stay home, but continue to go to work, as they are unable to manage if they don’t.
So the virus will continue to spread.


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[kuntrol7]

Same here in Chicago as of today all restaurants bars close only take out available . Local stores are short on supply such as toilet paper and hand sanitizer schools closed as of last Friday. People are amped up went to the range could not find a single box of 9mm or 45mm to use while at the location there this bytez.


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[mclarendude]

Not much is happening here in middle-eastern Florida. But, I just got a call from my sister who is best friends since young with a very prominent newscaster down here and they have been given "Press" passes by the government, meaning a lockdown is imminent.

 

[schlonz]

here in Germany closing of all schools has been announced last Friday,
yesterday it was announced that bars, clubs, theaters, museums, .. are closed as of today more or less shutting down public life,
public events beyond 1000 have been cancelled last week already until further notice
whereever possible people are sent into home office and are asked to only go out for supply of food
although not annouced yet there is speculation about a lockdown coming soon and if I'd need to bet on it I'd say it will happen in the next few days

y'all stay safe and be solidaric with those who need help, especially the elderly, and share your toilet paper with your neighbors if they need some
this thing will be over hopefully sometime soon and let's hope we all do our learning session from this

 

[Natas78]

Here in belgium schools are closed, 200 deaths of elderly people mostly (may they rest in peace)
2000 infections according to media.
Public life is toned down but everything is open except department stores, cafés, restaurants, but take away is possible.
Post offices are open, mail is being delivered.
Please continue to do business as much as possible as the economy will suffer and many people will suffer as a result.


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[offpink]

Here in Lombardy, we have all been quarantined. Over 27000 cases and over 23000 are still active. Kindergartens, schools and universities have been closed since the 25th of February. The post office stopped delivering in my area and most of the small supermarkets are closed, in the major one we can only be 15 inside (they also have to make sure that we stay 1 meter apart), after that they shut the door and wait for people to come out. Hospitals are overcrowded, if you are over 60 or have any medical condition, you don't get a ventilator since you have a lower survival chance from someone younger and with no medical condition (which explains why we have so many deaths). On a lighter note, running low on toilet paper but thankfully have a bidet.

 

[numero2]

Schengen space closed tomorow.


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[rolexrolexrolexxx]

Well guys I hate to admit but I am smack Dab in the middle of this shitshow. Seattle wa. Yea the epicenter of the virus in the u s just an hour ago the city closed all restaurants, bars,and businessbasically for 14 days I am 61 years old and a direct target for this disease and quite frankly I am scared to death? The media has got me feeling like if i dont go hide at home for 2 months I'll surely die of this virus?????. Please any help would be appreciated in the form of knowledge to help me calm down

 

[Nanook65]

Here in Lombardy, we have all been quarantined. Over 27000 cases and over 23000 are still active. Kindergartens, schools and universities have been closed since the 25th of February. The post office stopped delivering in my area and most of the small supermarkets are closed, in the major one we can only be 15 inside (they also have to make sure that we stay 1 meter apart), after that they shut the door and wait for people to come out. Hospitals are overcrowded, if you are over 60 or have any medical condition, you don't get a ventilator since you have a lower survival chance from someone younger and with no medical condition (which explains why we have so many deaths). On a lighter note, running low on toilet paper but thankfully have a bidet.

I was hoping there would be someone on here from Lombardy/Milan...
I am sorry to hear of your situation, but it sounds as though the rest of us are not far behind. It doesn't sound like something to look forward to.

Do you think the quarantine is working? Has anyone been talking about how long it will take before they know if it will work or not. To me when I look at the #'s of new cases in Italy it looks like the rate of new infection might be down a bit over the last 5 days vs the previous 10. It might be slowing down, but it could just be a lack of data points and an anomaly as well.

Do you have any advice for those of us that are not yet quarantined?

 

[Nanook65]

Schengen space closed tomorow.

What exactly does this mean? I understand what Schengen is, but to me your sentence saying the space is closed tomorrow is not totally clear to me. Does it mean people are not allowed to move around freely or some other meaning?

 

[chocolito]

Here in the uk, the media are hyping things to the max.
Yes it’s a serious situation, but they are simply causing panic rather than sensible precaution.
Supermarket has no stock of toilet rolls and many other items that people are stockpiling.
My elderly parents have been panicking, caused by media going over the top on there thirst for attention.
I appreciate it’s easy to say, but I feel the situation could be dealt with better without causing alarm, especially to our elderly.
Unfortunately our politicians are very good at handing out advice to the working classes, as the affects will have no bearing on there privileged lifestyles.
Normal working people have concerns over how they will pay there bills, and we are told how they will pay statutory sick pay from day one of self isolation, which amounts to a pittance of less than a £100 per week.
So, a large majority of people will not stay home, but continue to go to work, as they are unable to manage if they don’t.
So the virus will continue to spread.


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Obviously you are correct the average working man has no option but to carry on regardless. However it seems the danger of the virus especially to elderly isn't media hype . This afternoon Boris has made a government announcement with the instructions that the elderly should now begin self isolating , as should those with existing health conditions . Also we should be avoiding travel on public transport plane , bus , train tube etc ( not possible again for Joe Soap ) , and we should avoid clubs , pubs and restaurants. Basically if we go to places where we are likely to come into contact with numbers of people you're at risk of catching it .

 

[tripdog]

What exactly does this mean? I understand what Schengen is, but to me your sentence saying the space is closed tomorrow is not totally clear to me. Does it mean people are not allowed to move around freely or some other meaning?

Europe has closed all borders to outside world, this includes the Schengen territory.

 

[Nanook65]

Europe has closed all borders to outside world, this includes the Schengen territory.

Kinda what I thought....

All of us, USA, Europe etc are a little guilty of the "close the barn door after the cows are out" syndrome. Don't you think?

 

[tripdog]

Well guys I hate to admit but I am smack Dab in the middle of this shitshow. Seattle wa. Yea the epicenter of the virus in the u s just an hour ago the city closed all restaurants, bars,and businessbasically for 14 days I am 61 years old and a direct target for this disease and quite frankly I am scared to death? The media has got me feeling like if i dont go hide at home for 2 months I'll surely die of this virus?????. Please any help would be appreciated in the form of knowledge to help me calm down

You're not necessarily a direct target because of your age, but if you smoke (tobacco), or have a weakened immune system due to health problems then yes, that would increase the risk for you.

It's basically a flu virus, it's transmitted in the same way. By being in close contact with someone who's infected - if they sneeze or cough near you then you breath in what they sneezed out. Also by direct contact - shake hands with someone who's infected, then 10 minutes later scratch your nose/mouth and you'll almost certainly be infected too.

Avoid crowded places, avoid putting your hands on or near your face if you're outside, away from home, carry hand sanitizer with you when outside, you can wear an FFP2 mask if you like. If you observe basic hygiene - wash your hands as often as possible with soapy water/sanitizer and avoid crowds/groups of people in confined spaces then you may not catch the virus, or you may indeed catch it no matter how careful you are, but your symptoms may be quite mild - it doesn't kill everybody, far from it.

 

[tripdog]

Kinda what I thought....

All of us, USA, Europe etc are a little guilty of the "close the barn door after the cows are out" syndrome. Don't you think?

Hell yes, country leaders all over Europe were all watching China on the TV thinking 'wow, looks bad'. Never occurred to these idiots that it would inevitably be the same thing in their country. When the outbreak happened in Italy, that was the time to react, not 6 weeks later.

 

[Nanook65]

Hell yes, country leaders all over Europe were all watching China on the TV thinking 'wow, looks bad'. Never occurred to these idiots that it would inevitably be the same thing in their country. When the outbreak happened in Italy, that was the time to react, not 6 weeks later.

Exactly & now they are going to have both the economic chaos AND the virus to deal with in the rest of the world.

 

[tripdog]

Exactly & now they are going to have both the economic chaos AND the virus to deal with in the rest of the world.

Ah yes, the economy . . .

 

[mydnytrydr]

Saint Louis MO .. Restaurants are closing left and right, they don't want gatherings of more than 50 people in one place, don't invade other people's space (6 ft) …. Everyone thinks the official lockdown is around the corner and we have had ONE reported case … People are very nervous and don't trust our government at all.

 

[offpink]

Do you think the quarantine is working? Has anyone been talking about how long it will take before they know if it will work or not. To me when I look at the #'s of new cases in Italy it looks like the rate of new infection might be down a bit over the last 5 days vs the previous 10. It might be slowing down, but it could just be a lack of data points and an anomaly as well.

Do you have any advice for those of us that are not yet quarantined?

It is slowing down as no one can go outside, the army are on the streets and you need a special permit to go somewhere and it's for emergencies only. Keep in mind the new cases that came right after the first few days of the quarantine were inevitable as people weren't taking the government's advice seriously and were making a joke out of the whole thing (you can find several videos of people online that are quite funny).

For some advice, get a lot of essentials (pasta, rice. canned goods, etc ...) in order to minimise the need to go to the shop and get stuff for you family. Keep a safe distance from people and wash your hands as frequently as possible and avoid touching your face before washing them.