D&D and the rising pandemic

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

It's dangerous to say "It's not very deadly", because that's what maskless people have been saying for months. I can't count how many times in my senior year when Covid-19 was in the US, people at my school were yelling "IT'S JUST THE FLU!" or "THE FLU HAS KILLED MORE!" even though they ignore how recent Covid-19 was at the time.

@Hussar, I agree, Covid is less deadly than Ebola, but is much more dangerous. Covid spreads more easily, can spread asymptomatically/presymptomatically (IDK which is correct), and kills differing parts of the population that people are willing to give up as a sacrifice to the economy.

 

[ad_hoc]

It's dangerous to say "It's not very deadly", because that's what maskless people have been saying for months. I can't count how many times in my senior year when Covid-19 was in the US, people at my school were yelling "IT'S JUST THE FLU!" or "THE FLU HAS KILLED MORE!" even though they ignore how recent Covid-19 was at the time.

@Hussar, I agree, Covid is less deadly than Ebola, but is much more dangerous. Covid spreads more easily, can spread asymptomatically/presymptomatically (IDK which is correct), and kills differing parts of the population that people are willing to give up as a sacrifice to the economy.

From what I have read it can spread through both asymptomatic and presymptomatic people but the spread from presymptomatic people is much more likely.

It doesn't really matter though as what really counts is that anyone could be spreading it without knowing it of course.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The victim demographics are shifting younger.

As coronavirus spreads to people under 40, it's making them sicker — and for longer — than once thought

Once assumed to be safe from the dangers of COVID-19, younger adults share their prolonged struggles with the disease.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Zardnaar]

Governments looking at making people pay for quarantine. People have been leaving on Holiday and the government spends about $5500 USD per person.

EU has added us to the list of safe countries allowed to enter.

They're using the hotels as qurantine facilities. 3 meals a day including steak, lamb all the good stuff.

However one wag pointed out that you can fly return to Australia for a day trip and get a two week holiday for free all expenses paid. If you can work from home or just want time off it's cheaper than paying rent and living expenses.

Since all Covid is currently imported some people still want to go on holiday now. Then you get a free two weeks at nice hotels.

They're only using the big chains as well that tourists used to use. They're not exactly throwing you into Bob and Kates backyard rent by the hour hotel. You're not confined to your room either.

Kinda good news economy wise.

Domestic economy coming back quicker than expected, finance minister says

Grant Robertson has told an online forum that consumer spending and business activity have rebounded since restrictions were lifted.

www.rnz.co.nz

Expected 9% unemployment, economy running at 95% pre Covid.

Very low side of the doom and gloom forecasts. Early days though but better than expected.

 

[Janx]

So, you have to be very, very careful about what you think of when you say "lethal disease".

In West Africa, over from 2014 to 2016, there were more than 28,600 cases and 11,325 deaths. If you caught it, your survival was pretty much a coin flip.

However, in the US alone, from January through June, covid-19 has killed 127,000 . In a quarter of the time, Covid-19 has killed over ten times as many people, and it is nowhere near burned out yet. By the measure of how many killed per unit time, covid-19 has been FORTY TIMES worse than that ebola outbreak.

Ebola is more lethal per case, so much so that it is self-limiting. Covid-19 will kill more people in your population more quickly, precisely because it isn't as lethal in each case.

There was this video game, pandemic or something. About making a virus and mutating it to try to wipe out all the humans on the planet.

What Umbran says here is exactly spot on with the winning strategy. A virus that is too lethal, too early burns itself out before it can spread. You want something with a long incubation, so the carriers can spread it. Then (in the game) mutate to a more lethal version and wipe everybody out.

 

[Zardnaar]

Covids not really deadly enough so it's easy to be "eh whatever" about it.

Not saying it's right or wrong it just is.

Even in hard hit areas like Italy you've got something like a 99.7%+ chance of not dying. IDK what the latest toll is but 60 million people live in Italy. In some countries with low death rates crossing the road is more dangerous.

Something like WW2 killed around 3.5% of the world's population, in some countries almost 1 in 3. Bit more if an impact.

It's never scared me as such in terms of getting sick and I'm in high risk group due to asthma and inhalers lower your immune system. I am more worried about the state of the world. Indirectly Covid will kill more than getting sick.

It's not the black death. Downsides of a history degree you can always find worst examples.

You can't lock down for more than a few months. People either get complacent if it goes well or "screw this whatever" if it doesn't.

What people should do and what people will do are two different things.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I have been playing online almost exclusively now for several years. For me it is simply more convenient for scheduling, but also helpful because of health issues I have. I will say, the first month or so of online play, it didn't feel like real gaming with people there. But that feeling did go away with time. The only way it can become an issue again is if people allow themselves to become distracted with the internet or something while they play (but I have also seen people distracted with their iPhones during play at a live table so it is a problem in both cases, just easier for people to slip into in an online game because people don't see them checking their emails as easily). I would definitely encourage it. It does have its draw backs. I find if you require a table top map to play, and have to use online tools to replicate that, it will slow things down. I prefer theater of the mind, and for theater of the mind, you can run it just like a regular session. One big advantage is you are not limited by your geography. You can find a group for pretty much any game, in any style of play that suits you. You can also try out styles you might not have an opportunity to see locally.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

There was this video game, pandemic or something. About making a virus and mutating it to try to wipe out all the humans on the planet.

Plague Inc.
I've played it. It was fun. It will forever be broken for me.

What Umbran says here is exactly spot on with the winning strategy. A virus that is too lethal, too early burns itself out before it can spread. You want something with a long incubation, so the carriers can spread it. Then (in the game) mutate to a more lethal version and wipe everybody out.

And people predicted this virus, too. Bill Gates, and other scientists:

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

It's not the black death. Downsides of a history degree you can always find worst examples.

Black Death was a bacteria, and would be fairly easy for us to treat in modern days with our anti-biotics and hygiene.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Black Death was a bacteria, and would be fairly easy for us to treat in modern days with our anti-biotics and hygiene.

I did podcast on this, may be of interest: THE BLACK DEATH (AND OTHER PLAGUE OUTBREAKS)

I think comparing things like this is difficult. In terms of impact, the black death was definitely worse. Obviously though we are much better at managing bacteria today (perhaps in 1,000 years we will be just as good at managing viruses). But we know so little about this virus. We don't really know what the long term impact is, we don't know if it keeps re-activating like herpes or similar viruses. And we don't know what is down the pike in terms of a more lethal strain. Being a virus it is going to be different from the black death. I think best to err on the side of taking a new pandemic like covid seriously. I've known two people who died from it so far. I don't pretend to know the best policy in terms of what we should be doing as a society, however.