Coronavirus hysteria is hurting every one.

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back to the topic ... i am fairly certain we will claim the 3rd place by tomorrow AM

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I wonder what the 1918 Pandemic aka Spanish Flu will be renamed?

Cheers
 
Is there a table giving ranking by percentage of population?

Cheers

Here is a table of the death rates, I couldn't find one for population/infected just yet. It's probably out there some where.
This table is a little behind, as the US death rate has decreased to 1.3% as of today..maybe others as well.

Link to article is below table, not a bad read.

5e713cb7c48540280e694787


https://www.businessinsider.com/cor...y-current-fatalities-compared-to-cases-2020-3
 
Here is a table of the death rates, I couldn't find one for population/infected just yet. It's probably out there some where.
This table is a little behind, as the US death rate has decreased to 1.3% as of today..maybe others as well.

Link to article is below table, not a bad read.

5e713cb7c48540280e694787


https://www.businessinsider.com/cor...y-current-fatalities-compared-to-cases-2020-3

I’ve heard several reports that recognize the number of cases is likely 10 times what has been tested because it got such a slow start. If this is the case, then the death rate is closer to 0.2%, putting it much closer to the flu.
 
I’ve heard several reports that recognize the number of cases is likely 10 times what has been tested because it got such a slow start. If this is the case, then the death rate is closer to 0.2%, putting it much closer to the flu.

Yabut, we're early enough that the deaths are just barely starting. Our death rate is likely going down right now because of the increase in testing, but it'll bounce back up once we've had a significant number of cases for long enough that people are actually dying.

A more accurate death rate would look at the number of cases we had 3 weeks ago and the number of deaths we have today.
 
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Problem solved.


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Here is a table of the death rates, I couldn't find one for population/infected just yet. It's probably out there some where.
This table is a little behind, as the US death rate has decreased to 1.3% as of today..maybe others as well.

Link to article is below table, not a bad read.

5e713cb7c48540280e694787


https://www.businessinsider.com/cor...y-current-fatalities-compared-to-cases-2020-3

Just a quick thought here- why is the “death rate” the number being reported— the same statistic could be called the “ survival rate.” I think we all know the answer and, by no means am I trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation but it’s fair to say that panic and hysteria have never once helped a single situation.

Remember when we were all going through initial PPL training and we were taught that in an emergency the thing you do above all is “ fly the plane.” Seems to me we need more of that mindset right now. Stay focused on the important things like keeping yourself safe and isolated and these survival statistics, or death rates equally true, will no longer be of concern.
 
Idiocracy at its finest form:


The Peace Corps isn’t just bringing home 7,300 volunteers because of the coronavirus. It’s firing them.

Because of the coronavirus, the Peace Corps is doing more than evacuating its 7,300 volunteers from 61 countries.

It’s also firing them.

In a March 15 open letter to the volunteers, the agency’s director, Jody Olsen, said, “We are acting now to safeguard your well-being and prevent a situation where Volunteers are unable to leave their host countries.”

But nowhere in the statement posted on the agency’s website does it tell the public that all the volunteers are being dismissed. That information is in the agency’s “frequently asked questions” about the evacuations.

“All evacuated Volunteers and trainees, regardless of length of service, will be classified as having undergone a Completion of Service (COS),” it says.

That leaves volunteers like Kimberly Ruck — who have sacrificed in service to two nations, at home and abroad — upset, dismayed and angry.


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Although the volunteers received dismissal notifications separate from the open letter, “Director Jody Olsen’s statement is very misleading to the public as well as the volunteers,” Ruck said by email Friday, her last day as a volunteer in her post in Windhoek, Namibia, in southwestern Africa. “What is really happening is she has ended the service of ALL volunteers and there will be no volunteer activity in any of the 61 countries until the Corona Virus is over, until countries open borders, until countries issue visas and until Peace Corps begins accepting applications to join.”

An agency statement to the Federal Insider said volunteers were dismissed, instead of being allowed paid leave, because “it is logistically impossible for the agency to place each of them on administrative hold for an indeterminate period of time.” Peace Corps volunteers typically serve for about two years. The Peace Corps is an independent agency of the U.S. government.

Ruck’s annual stipend was less than $14,000 for her economic-development duties in a Windhoek community center that serves orphans and vulnerable children. She said her evacuation and dismissal mean that “I abandon them when they need me the most.” Ruck, 51, now describes herself as “currently homeless, former residence Carefree, Arizona.”


Peace Corps volunteers, suddenly jobless, are returning to a country with an economy in free fall. Finding a job will be difficult. They are not eligible for unemployment benefits, because their positions “do not rise to the legal relationship of employer and employee and, therefore, are not considered in employment,” according to the agency’s legalese. The agency does provide two months of health insurance.

Ruck also is enraged by the evacuation order.

“We all know the Peace Corps volunteers would be far safer if they stayed at their posts,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to send 7,367 Americans to airports and hotels around the world where they will stand in lines with hundreds of people for hours where the Corona Virus is spreading. . . . Imagine if a cruise ship of seven thousand passengers from the most poverty-stricken countries around the world arrived on the shores of the United States today.”


Olsen ordered the volunteers to self-quarantine when they arrive in the States, according to Ruck. But the agency “refused to spend money on assisting the (former) volunteers with hotel rooms, disinfectants, transportation, and all the necessary supplies for quarantine,” she complained.

The agency said volunteers in need “can apply for reimbursement for alternative lodging.”

Olsen’s letter gave the impression that the volunteers would return to their posts. “I also want to assure you and our host country partners that these evacuations represent the temporary suspension of Volunteer activities,” she wrote. “We are not closing posts, and we will be ready to return to normal operations when conditions permit. Importantly, our host country staff will remain in their current positions.”

The volunteers, however, are done, not temporarily suspended. Conditions permitting a return to normal operations include recruiting and training a whole crew of volunteers and rebuilding operations. Those terminated may reapply.


Even while acknowledging the “very unfortunate . . . very stressful situation” for the volunteers and the “severe disadvantage” they face with no unemployment insurance, Glenn Blumhorst, president and chief executive of the National Peace Corps Association, said that dismissing the evacuated volunteers “is the probably the most prudent option. . . . We trust the leadership of the agency to make the decisions which are in the best interests of the volunteers and of the agency, the Peace Corps itself.”

Bruce Anderson, a previous board member of the association, which represents former volunteers and staffers, called the terminations “very severe.” Allowing the volunteers to maintain their status and pay, at least for some period, “would demonstrate a show of appreciation for their service,” he said by email. But “from an employment policy perspective, this was the best decision.”

Anderson’s hope is “that rather than seeing this action as a step towards reducing the Peace Corps throughout the world, it will evolve to a reassessment as to where the greatest needs are for the 60+ existing countries with ‘Posts’ and perhaps another dozen new countries currently on a waiting list, but now desperate for the professionalism the Peace Corps can provide.”


That desperation just grew on top of new uncertainty with the firing of 7,300 volunteers.
 
Idiocracy at its finest form:


The Peace Corps isn’t just bringing home 7,300 volunteers because of the coronavirus. It’s firing them.
I don't quite understand the problem here. They are volunteers. What should the Peace Corps do after they bring them home? Keep them on the payroll with no pay? It seems to be a mute arugment.

I may very well be missing something, so I am expecting a rebuttal, which I am willing to listen to.
 
In other fun headlines from this morning's news:


Are liquor stores open during coronavirus? New York says liquor stores are 'essential,' can stay open
 
I don't quite understand the problem here. They are volunteers. What should the Peace Corps do after they bring them home? Keep them on the payroll with no pay? It seems to be a mute arugment.

I may very well be missing something, so I am expecting a rebuttal, which I am willing to listen to.

Peace Corps volunteers are paid. Not much but they are. Their living expenses are covered and they are given a modest monthly stipend. This is why I am considering a stint with them in lieu of other charities...you can do good, and give back without going backwards. I don't need to go forwards but would rather not go backwards if I can help it.

And maybe you missed this paragraph (and others?):

We all know the Peace Corps volunteers would be far safer if they stayed at their posts,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to send 7,367 Americans to airports and hotels around the world where they will stand in lines with hundreds of people for hours where the Corona Virus is spreading. . . . Imagine if a cruise ship of seven thousand passengers from the most poverty-stricken countries around the world arrived on the shores of the United States today.”

 
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Has anyone looked up the population of Italy, Spain and the U.S.? That might be important if you want to see a meaningful comparison.
 
Italy is 60M and Spain is about 46M. Kind of important when comparing number of cases with a country of something like 327M.
 
Here is where I think we need a "dislike" button. I am offended. But not enough to report the post.

There is a ‘dislike button’. It is called ‘ignore’. I was going to push it for you and a few others but that would be no fun at all, would it?

Reporting a post, in my mind’ is the grade school equivalent of running to the teacher crying ‘Johnny called me a poopy head ’. Then you grow up to be middle management...
But just my opinion.
 
I think the question is the motivation of the choosing of a name.

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The Chinese government bears most of the blame for this. Even after several similar viruses have emerged from the wild animal wet markets, they have refused to do anything about it. When the outbreak started, they tried to hide it, jailing those doctors who tried to warn the world what they were seeing, and lying about the severity, while allowing travel in and out of the epicenter.

I don't think reminding everyone about where this came from is out of line. The media called it the Wuhan virus until it became clear how bad it is, and then suddenly it was racist. I remember articles about how condemning these markets was racist. If you're not familiar, look it up. Basically an open air butcher shop selling wild animals, snakes, bats, dogs, birds, etc. both alive and dead. The world needs to think long and hard about our relationship with China.

Im all for open markets. I'm a farmer, our trading relationship with China affects me more directly than most. The communist government is the problem. If they told the truth and worked with the rest of the world we wouldn't be in this mess. Reminding everyone of that is the motivation, or at least it should be.

Don't like 'Chinese virus'? I'm good with 'Communist virus', 'wild animal market virus', 'Mao's virus', etc. Personally I think 'Wuhan flu' is pretty catchy.
 
More lockdowns are unsustainable editorials/opinions in today's WSJ.

"absent a more thorough explanation of the costs and benefits, we doubt these extreme measures will be sustainable for long as the public begins to chafe at the limits and sees the economic consequences"

Maybe toward the end of next week we'll begin to see politicians declare that the curve has been flattened, time to move on to another phase.
 
It might be tougher to quantify, but in the long run a strangled economy will likely harm or kill more people than the virus.

This is like treating a head injury by applying a tourniquet to the neck.
 
OMG! I did “mutt”, too. That’s funny.


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I would have put down European, but that wasn't an option and I don't know what "white" means outside the context of the left in which it is not a designator of biological heritage but is a substitute for something like "oppressor pig". I have searched the map and I don't find a geographic region called "Whiteland" or something similar. Are all Europeans white? Spain is in Europe. Are they white? Italians didn't used to be considered "white", but maybe they are now. How about Greeks? Maybe the census should include skin tone chips and we can all pick the one that most closely matches.

Now I will return you to the other off-topic rants. I have had mine. :D
 
More lockdowns are unsustainable editorials/opinions in today's WSJ.

"absent a more thorough explanation of the costs and benefits, we doubt these extreme measures will be sustainable for long as the public begins to chafe at the limits and sees the economic consequences"

Maybe toward the end of next week we'll begin to see politicians declare that the curve has been flattened, time to move on to another phase.

In time, I’m guessing that editorial will be seen as naive.
 
It might be tougher to quantify, but in the long run a strangled economy will likely harm or kill more people than the virus.

This is like treating a head injury by applying a tourniquet to the neck.
This times 10. Well said.
 
It might be tougher to quantify, but in the long run a strangled economy will likely harm or kill more people than the virus.

How do we know that? We don't know how many people will die if we don't quarantine and we don't know how many will die if we shut down the economy. Italy has not been really effectively quarantining and has been slow off the mark like us. They have so far lost about 4,000 to the virus. Our population is about 5.5 times that of Italy. That would put us at about 22-23,000 casualties, and that assumes things don't get worse which they certainly will if we just go about our lives as normal. Likely in that scenario, 23K deaths would be a mere down payment.

On the positive side economically, the virus will likely ravage the ranks of social security and Medicare recipients, so it might have the positive effect of reforming entitlements without Congress doing anything. Add back in an estate tax and maybe we balance the budget.
 
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