Positive news from Europe

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Looks like the worst is over in hard hit Spain and Italy.  Still bad, but fewer and fewer infections and deaths each day.  Germany and France showing improvement too and Austria and Denmark are looking at easing restrictions by the middle of this month.

They say this will be the worst week for the USA, but still a bit of hope that we are almost over the hump and things will be start getting better over here in the not too distant future.

Looking forward to a tsunami of shows by late summer.

i do not understand how the virus has spread china>italy...like the sequence of where it pops up...

Chinese are big travelers. Plus fashion industry travels to/from China for manufacturing etc.

the gucci connection, i see ned. interesting hypothesis.

Hey Turt!

The theory is that Milan has high end textile manufacturers for the fashion industry and many Chinese from the Wuhan Province work/travel back and forth. Chinese New Year was the 25th of January and I believe the China quarantine went into affect on Jan 23rd. Many people had traveled back from Italy to China to visit family for the New Year celebrations and then quickly evacuated back to Italy when the Chinese government started shutting down the provinces. 

NPR has been extensively covering Covid for months and has many boots on the ground worldwide. I have been traveling a lot this winter with many hours in the car so I have been closely following this epidemic. Plus having a Disaster Management background from UNC and 6 months working in NYC after 9/11 puts these kinds of scenarios on my radar. Epidemiology is really fascinating and the US response to this has been really heartbreaking. We have the knowledge, so do the industrialized countries worldwide. This could have been prevented or at least contained here but our leaders are more worried about politics, elections and the economy. The US fucked itself. 

Nice to hear good news. Looks like their predicting a hellish week for the US, but hopefully our numbers start coming down as well in a couple of weeks. So far, "only" 8 deaths in Utah.

>>>>Epidemiology is really fascinating and the US response to this has been really heartbreaking. We have the knowledge, so do the industrialized countries worldwide. This could have been prevented or at least contained here but our leaders are more worried about politics, elections and the economy. The US fucked itself. 

MG, you're so heartbreakingly right. This didn't need to be this bad. A colossal failure by the narcissist. 

I have my doubts about the US staying on track:

Defying orders from public health officials Abundant Life Fellowship Church went ahead as promised, allowing parishioners to file in from more than 40 vehicles that were in the parking lot near downtown Roseville.

Pastor Doug Bird posted a vow to continue on the church Facebook page.

“If you are a visitor (not a part of ALF) and plan on traveling here to ‘shame’ us, SHAME ON YOU!” he wrote. “In these dangerous times you will be putting our church community at GREAT risk! YOU ARE NOT WELCOMED AT THIS CHURCH.

“This is not a show! This is not a game! WE ARE AT WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Until this crisis is behind us this is NOT Church as usual.”

 

Positive signs here are that the leaves on the trees are rapidly sprouting, and after a March in Seattle that was colder on average than January, temps are nudging their way back into the 60s.  We humans aren't the only living things on this spaceship, and it's encouraging to see signs of life emerging all around.   I wish the best for Javs and all in the Southern Hemisphere as their Autumn takes hold and Winter approaches.

Of course, I hope the situation eases here soon too.  Faced with the reality of my store being closed until the governor allows "non-essential" (humbling words) to reopen, my revenue stream has been cut off.  I have taken advantage of the lull to finally set up an online selling presence on Discogs, and made a strong start right out of the gate, selling a rare 1958 stereo lp of Bach sonatas to a collector in Hong Kong for $150.  I'm grateful for this both for now, and further down the line as an addition to what we do in the brick and mortar store.  
 

If Wuhan serves as the model, we probably have a minimum of six weeks to go before things start to open back up.  This appears to be slowly happening there, with social distancing protocols still in place.  Without universal testing and a vaccine, which may be a year and a half out, it's hard to see the distancing requirements lifting anytime soon.   Large gatherings are likely further out than six weeks, which will put the kabosh on large shows, sporting events and other gatherings.   I noticed a couple of MLB ace pitchers elected to have Tommy John surgery, and wondered if they were thinking the 2020 season will be cancelled, so they might as well.  I am still holding on to my Stones tickets for Vancouver, and hope that 2020 shows can happen, and if not, everyone is healthy and able to play in 2021.

Here is another thing to think of. Something Trump doesn't have the brain capacity to realize. He wants to open the economy up but..

China closed it borders again to foreign travel on the 26th of March because people were bringing it back into the country. The Chinese government took drastic measures to contain this virus. Something the USA would never do.

Since we do not have a countrywide quarantine to stop the spread and almost the rest of the world that has been on lockdown for a month or more no foreign country will be letting any Americans into their country for a long while.

EVERY MOMENT MATTERS. By not just ripping off the band aid and shutting down the country we are just kicking the can down the road and are knowingly letting people die. Technically I think what the Trump administration has done (or really what he has not done) is criminal. YMMV 

Yes, testing is the key.

Unfortunately, there's going to be some Orwellian times with the "Resistant" versus "Nonresistant" labels we will be getting. Buckle up.

Here are the people we should be listening to.

Live World Health Organization stream, you can play it from the beginning on C-Span in a few minutes

 

https://www.c-span.org/video/?470988-1/world-health-organization-coronav...

hello meri!

>Chinese New Year was the 25th of January and I believe the China quarantine went into affect on Jan 23rd. Many people had traveled back from Italy to China to visit family for the New Year celebrations and then quickly evacuated back to Italy when the Chinese government started shutting down the provinces.<

aha, good work.

Thanks meri. Solid info nice to hear from you

No Greg. The Chinese do not control the WHO. It works with the 194 member states of the United Nations.

Yes, the Chinese government suppressed the virus information and yes, they lied about possible sources but they do not control the WHO.

https://www.who.int/about

Im guessing Greggie doesn't support the use of public face masks too.

 

 

 

Ben.jpeg

If it was me, here's what I'd do about housing/no ability to pay rent, et al:

- Any renter who has lost their job may receive an interest-free loan from US government - Equal to 3-months of rent

- Money is paid directly to landlord - Renter repays loan over 60 months, starting when they get a job

- Example: Someone with a $1,000 per month lease would pay $50/mo for 60 months

- Landlord may not evict

The renter stays and gets deferred rock-bottom payments, at zero interest.

The landlord gets full rent and can make their own mortgage.

No money leaves economy.

My Mom's best friend's son is a local firefighter and is fighting for his life on a ventilator in ICU.

Living through history.  I haven't felt this way since 911.  and this is just different in every way.

Time will tell

That is awful, Jay. I hope he recovers swift and full. 

May be the smartest thing you have ever posted JR.

China Tourist Sites Packed as Country Comes Out of Lockdown

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/06/asia/china-coronavirus-tourist-warnin...

Unfortunately, no matter what the good news is it doesn't matter much unless severe travel restrictions are placed all over the world. In China they slightly lifted the lock-down orders and now tourists sites are jam packed. All it takes is one infected person in that crowd (symptom free) and you'll have 1,000 infected the next day. If just one or two of those travel overseas (also symptom free) they'll be spreading the bug around again in no time. 

And there are MANY places in China that are packed full of people today...

g-reg...respectfully, who really cares what China is saying or doing? We have enough to deal with on our own shores.