Coronavirus/COVID in the U. S. & Elsewhere

[amberjack1234]

Probably at the Research Triangle.

[Cale1953]

The liquor in our house has hit a critically low point, so my wife suggested I go to replenish our stockpile (wearing a KN95 mask, of course). I went to our local liquor store, about 3 blocks from our house. The store only lets in 10 people at a time, so there was a short wait outside. Fortunately, everyone was well over 6 feet apart in the waiting line and in good spirits.

 

I wanted to spend as little time as possible inside the store. I bought a total of 48 bottles of TsingTao beer (their entire stock), 16 tall boys of Guinness, 16 tall boys of a locally brewed coffee ale, and 10 bottles of wine. When I got back my wife was unhappy, since she thinks what I bought will last us a month. She was hoping for a 3+ month supply .

That would last Grey Loud a couple of days.

 

My local liquor store is pretty good. Not busy, tape lines on the floor to establish the proper distance, good stock , in and out in 5 minutes. I suppose I should get a months worth at a time, but that would require too much thinking.

[Cale1953]

The SCMP is published in Hong Kong, and will often deviate from that absolute loyalty. They do seem to tread on tippy-toes, though, to avoid arousing the ire of the CPC.

They're not too bad, but if you want independent Hong Kong journalism, try the Hong Kong Free Press https://hongkongfp.com/

[Randy W]

 

The SCMP is published in Hong Kong, and will often deviate from that absolute loyalty. They do seem to tread on tippy-toes, though, to avoid arousing the ire of the CPC.

They're not too bad, but if you want independent Hong Kong journalism, try the Hong Kong Free Press https://hongkongfp.com/

 

 

I quote from them from time-to-time, but SCMP seems to be the best source of uncensored information about China, and partners with several newspapers worldwide, including Wall Street Journal New York Times, and Washington Post.

[Randy W]

from Al Jazeera

 

Which countries have not reported any coronavirus cases?

 

Coronavirus has been labelled a pandemic but a handful of countries have not yet reported any cases.

 

Here are a few countries that have not reported any cases of the coronavirus so far:

Comoros

Kiribati

Lesotho

Marshall Islands

Micronesia

Nauru

North Korea

Palau

Samoa

Sao Tome and Principe

Solomon Islands

South Sudan

Tajikistan

Tonga

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

SOURCE: Al Jazeera News

 

 

 

[eseum]

Smithfield is closing it's pork processing plant in South Dakota for two weeks, after more than 230 people working in the plant tested positive for corona. They employ about 3700 people and produce 4-5% of U.S. pork. Several other companies have had to close plants for the same reason.

[amberjack1234]

The old CEO begrudgingly did it. He said something like. Are we going to make food or not?

[Cale1953]

 

 

The SCMP is published in Hong Kong, and will often deviate from that absolute loyalty. They do seem to tread on tippy-toes, though, to avoid arousing the ire of the CPC.

They're not too bad, but if you want independent Hong Kong journalism, try the Hong Kong Free Press https://hongkongfp.com/

 

 

I quote from them from time-to-time, but SCMP seems to be the best source of uncensored information about China, and partners with several newspapers worldwide, including Wall Street Journal New York Times, and Washington Post.

 

I should have realized you know whats going on and who to quote. Keep up the good work

[eseum]

I decided that I needed to pick up a few groceries, and also get gas yesterday. I wanted to go to two different markets since they each had something I wanted. Anyway, one market opened at 6 a.m. for seniors to shop, while the other market had been opening at 7 a.m. I figured on going to market number one at 6:20, picking up what I wanted;then getting gas and getting to market number two just a few minutes after 7. This was following the perfect route to not travel any extra distance.

 

Things worked out well with market one. After that things progressively went downhill. I drove to a gas station where I had seen the lowest gas price, pulled in and found the pumps roped off and out of service. So I proceeded to market two even though I would get there a little before 7 and have to wait a little more than five minutes. I got there and there was a line of six people waiting. I got out and walked to the end of the line, looked over at one of the doors and saw a small sign. It said: "Our hours have been changed to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m." I said the heck with it and got back in my car and drove to another gas station to get gas at a slightly higher price. I then went home and called it a morning.

 

On the bright side, I paid 35 cents per gallon less than when I last purchased gas. It has been a few weeks since I drive a PriusC. I did see two stations that had raised their prices again. One raised the price by 10 cents while the other went up 50 cents. Not sure what was going on with them.

 

Before I left the house, my wife decided that she needed to impart some knowledge to me. She insisted on showing me how to put on a face mask. I just suffered in silence and did not remind her that I had once worked in a hospital.

 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

[amberjack1234]

Yep, when crude takes a dive it takes several weeks for it to get to the pumps but you let crude prices rise and the prices at the pumps will increase immediately. Wonder why that is?

[Randy W]

from the Texas Monthly

 

 

Inside the Story of How H-E-B Planned for the Pandemic

• The grocer started communicating with Chinese counterparts in January and was running tabletop simulations a few weeks later. (But nothing prepared it for the rush on toilet paper.)

 

 

 

San Antonio-based H-E-B has been a steady presence amid the crisis. The company began limiting the amounts of certain products customers were able to purchase in early March; extended its sick leave policy and implemented social distancing measures quickly; limited its hours to keep up with the needs of its stockers; added a coronavirus hotline for employees in need of assistance or information; and gave employees a $2 an hour raise on March 16, as those workers, many of whom are interacting with the public daily during this pandemic, began agitating for hazard pay.

 

 

[eseum]

The following is from an email that my half brother, who lives in Germany, sent me. It is a little rough due to translator software"

"We all follow the news for Europe and the United States. In Germany, schools in the individual federal states are only open from May 4 and for the time being only for the higher classes. The teachers of the smaller students are still afraid that they will not keep the minimum distance of 1,5 m. From May 1, shops with a sales area of up to 800 m2 can be opened. Restaurant not yet. The ban on contact continues to apply. We should put on a face mask for shopping. Only there are hardly any face masks to buy from us and we have to make them ourselves.

There are fewer infections today. Our health system works quite well. There are enough beds with fans. People in the hospital with breathing aid only die in severe corona cases. You can only go to France if you urgently need to do business there. Otherwise only truck suppliers. If there are no coronary relapses, we expect all catering and hotel operations to reopen in June."

I was originally supposed to go to Germany in mid May to visit him. That is obviously not going to happen now. The airlines have given me a credit on the tickets to be used for rescheduling. I would have rather received a refund, especially since they were the ones that cancelled the flights. Then again, maybe I could just ask congress to withhold the portion of the 50 billion dollars going to the airlines, that my taxes represent. Yeah, right.

[eseum]

From The Huffington Post: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/missouri-china-lawsuit-coronavirus-covid_n_5e9fe589c5b6b2e5b83a2911

 

Missouri Becomes First U.S. State To Sue China For Lying, Not Doing Enough About COVID-19

But legal experts say efforts to hold China accountable for the coronavirus in U.S. courts are likely to be unsuccessful.

"Missouri on Tuesday became the first U.S. state to sue the Chinese government over its handling of the coronavirus, saying that China’s response to the outbreak that originated in Wuhan city led to devastating economic losses in the state.

The civil lawsuit, filed in federal court by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, alleges negligence, among other claims. The complaint alleges Missouri and its residents have suffered possibly tens of billions of dollars in economic damages, and seeks cash compensation.

“The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease,” Schmitt, a Republican, said in a statement. “They must be held accountable for their actions.”

The lawsuit also accuses the Chinese government of making the pandemic worse by “hoarding” masks and other personal protective equipment."

 

Seems like a pointless waste of resources that might be better spent on fighting the virus directly. I found the accusation on "hoarding" to be interesting though I don't know that it has any foundation in truth.

 

I am also hoping that the push to get people back to work doesn't cause more problems than it is worth. I also saw a report that there have been two cases of the virus identified as occurring in CA earlier than those first reported in WA.

[Randy W]

The "hoarding" came about because China feared up to produce the PPE they thought they might need. Other countries, including the US, had initially shipped THEM supplies. After the epidemic settled down, China found themselves with an excess, which has been sold and in some cases donated, to other countries.

[Randy W]

The "hoarding" came about because China feared up to produce the PPE they thought they might need. Other countries, including the US, had initially shipped THEM supplies. After the epidemic settled down, China found themselves with an excess, which has been sold and in some cases donated, to other countries.

 

My understanding is that the "hoarded" masks were then sold at a high price in the US, but that this was primarily because of the "bidding war" the states were engaging in, and that the distribution of the PPE was left to private US companies.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Randy W (see edit history)