D&D and the rising pandemic

[MarkB]

The latest in the UK is that over-70s are expected to be asked to essentially self-isolate en masse for a long period in the very near future.

That sounds like something likely to cause a fair number of deaths simply due to vulnerable people being out of contact for extended periods, especially given that the care sector in the UK isn't exactly doing well even in normal circumstances.

 

[jgsugden]

As @Umbran pointed out upthread, you can support the local economy and still maintain social distancing by, for example, buying vouchers for a meal at a restaurant. It's not either/or.

Buying a gift certificate is spreading the pain to later. It is a good step. However, if you ask these stores whether they'd prefer your purchase of product or your purchase of a gift certificate, they want the real business. Personally, I'm doing both by continuing to live my life, following the CDCD guidelines, and buying a lot of gift certificates for my favorite local businesses.

Well given that this week is being called critical to getting a lid on the spread of this disease I would call those guidelines laughably inappropriate. Infected people do not show symptoms for a number of days.

But you’re right, I’m just some random person on the internet thinking this not the time to be doing a lot of public socializing and hoping we don’t end up in a national lockdown. Everyone else enjoy your brunch...

I don't know what you are, but I know what you are not. You're not the CDC - which stands for the Center for Disease Control. They're the people that you just laughed at. You just laughed at the CDC about their virus guidance.

We need to do what is safe to minimize the damage here. That damage is not just caused by the virus. It is also caused by people overreacting to the virus and doing harm with ill advised overreaction.

For example, a lot of people that need distilled water for their health related devices can't get it because some idiots bought up all the distilled water. Did they need it for their devices? No. They bought it because all the other bottled water is gone. And there is no indication that people need to stockpile excessive amounts of bottled water.

With very few exceptions - you folks are not experts. Listen to the people that are and do what they say. You may not understand how, you may never understand why - but their guidance is there for a reason - and they are the experts.

 

[seebs]

It's not always an all-or-nothing thing, but the epidemiologists I've seen advocating things have definitely strongly favored "don't go out in public if you can easily avoid it right now" over "oh don't worry about it". Young and healthy people may not be at much risk of dying, but they're at very high risk of being very effective carriers and spreading the virus to a lot of other people.

2019 coronavirus: The Korean clusters

How coronavirus cases exploded in South Korean churches and hospitals

graphics.reuters.com

 

[was]

My gaming group met on Saturday as usual. The only precautions we took were using hand sanitizer on the way in and preparing food instead of ordering out.

 

[Umbran]

As @Umbran pointed out upthread, you can support the local economy and still maintain social distancing by, for example, buying vouchers for a meal at a restaurant. It's not either/or.

In Boston, they'll be easing some licensing constraints for established restaurants who want to go into selling take-out or delivery food for the duration. Grubhub and Doordash are gonna make a mint.

 

[Umbran]

My gaming group met on Saturday as usual. The only precautions we took were using hand sanitizer on the way in and preparing food instead of ordering out.

Restaurant should generally be safe - the same measures that keep your food safe to eat every other day should also prevent coronavirus getting into your food.

 

[Maxperson]

Restaurant should generally be safe - the same measures that keep your food safe to eat every other day should also prevent coronavirus getting into your food.

When the Chipotle contaminations were flying through the medial left and right, I did a little bit of research. Sick restaurant workers causing illness clusters is a fairly common occurrence. Most of them just aren't widely reported on.

 

[Umbran]

But they didn't accidentally draft and send out the order demanding that the signs be taken down. Someone intended it to have some effect.

So... when one of the moderators carefully gives you a reason to not go anywhere near the no-politics rule... you should accept that reason. Please.

 

[Umbran]

When the Chipotle contaminations were flying through the medial left and right, I did a little bit of research. Sick restaurant workers causing illness clusters is a fairly common occurrence.

You may be missing an element of the statistics at this point.

At the moment, Boston has a ban on gatherings of people larger than 250. At that size, the chances that someone at the gathering has the illness becomes uncomfortably high. In gatherings of a dozen or less, the chances that someone has the illness in most areas of the USA is very small.

If you go to a busy, crowded bar or restaurant, you get exposed to everybody there. If you merely order food, you are effectively exposed to only the kitchen staff. My local pizza place has five people behind the counter? The chances that any of them are sick is currently minuscule.

 

[Umbran]

IOW, engineered plagues are, in some way, the most dangerous of all WMDs, not just to the enemy, but to the people who contemplate deploying them.

And, of course, it is worse for trying to use a natural epidemic, because you don't have a cure in hand.