WHO has just declared Coronavirus a pandemic

2

Replies

  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 8,005 Member
    I might have to cancel my vacation to northern Vietnam in April. Despite being in Asia, there is less chance of catching the virus in Vietnam (30 cases in Vietnam, no deaths) than at home (590 cases in the UK, 10 deaths, 136 cases in London). Vietnam has stopped issuing visa's to Europeans. We were told to apply again in 2 or 3 weeks in case the situation changes. I am not hopeful.

    I have hay fever and would worry about being quarantined in Vietnam or Turkey if I am caught sniffling. We were planning to fly London-Instanbul-Hanoi and then Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City-London.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    I might have to cancel my vacation to northern Vietnam in April. Despite being in Asia, there is less chance of catching the virus in Vietnam (30 cases in Vietnam, no deaths) than at home (590 cases in the UK, 10 deaths, 136 cases in London). Vietnam has stopped issuing visa's to Europeans. We were told to apply again in 2 or 3 weeks in case the situation changes. I am not hopeful.

    I have hay fever and would worry about being quarantined in Vietnam or Turkey if I am caught sniffling. We were planning to fly London-Instanbul-Hanoi and then Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City-London.

    I would just like to tell you that by April things could and probably will be a lot worse. Many countries are not reporting their cases. It is very risky to travel at this time--take a raincheck.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    DecadeDuchess wrote: »
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    Ha! I didn't know the other thread was shut down for awhile. I didn't see any problems in it. Some people are in a different place with this--they will come around, sadly.

    As of today we, in Italy, are confined to our homes except for buying necessities. All non-essential businesses are closed. We are to follow China's example, since it's working. The streets are deserted. There are lines outside of grocery stores. This is a government mandate for 2 weeks, but I expect it to last a month (or more?). My husband already had cabin fever this morning, it's like being locked up with a kid. I sent him to his office across the street. Sigh. It's going to be a long month.

    On the front page of one of our newspapers this morning is a photo of a young man ( a soccer player)in the hospital with a respiratory mask on. He said "I thought I was young, strong, and invincible. I was wrong". He also said " All of a sudden I couldn't breathe".

    It astonishes me that're even allowing lines to form, outside of grocery stores. Standing within a line's no different, than standing within a crowd or being within, any other type of gathering.

    With the quarantines that Italy's implementing countrywide, I'd have thought that a member via 1 household at a time'd have to choose a time slot of 15 minutes to shop. To keep even necessity shoppers, via coming into contact with each other.

    People are require to stay 4 feet (a meter) away from the next person in line. I'll be going grocery shopping in an hour. I'll let you know how it goes.

    Speaking of lines, there have been some changes to our polling places for the primary on Tuesday because some of them are in nursing homes (and they are getting rid of all of those). My last polling place was, although my current one is an elementary school. Given this, the likelihood of lines being long seems possible (although maybe everyone will stay home instead of voting). I may go early vote tomorrow instead.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    DecadeDuchess wrote: »
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    Ha! I didn't know the other thread was shut down for awhile. I didn't see any problems in it. Some people are in a different place with this--they will come around, sadly.

    As of today we, in Italy, are confined to our homes except for buying necessities. All non-essential businesses are closed. We are to follow China's example, since it's working. The streets are deserted. There are lines outside of grocery stores. This is a government mandate for 2 weeks, but I expect it to last a month (or more?). My husband already had cabin fever this morning, it's like being locked up with a kid. I sent him to his office across the street. Sigh. It's going to be a long month.

    On the front page of one of our newspapers this morning is a photo of a young man ( a soccer player)in the hospital with a respiratory mask on. He said "I thought I was young, strong, and invincible. I was wrong". He also said " All of a sudden I couldn't breathe".

    It astonishes me that're even allowing lines to form, outside of grocery stores. Standing within a line's no different, than standing within a crowd or being within, any other type of gathering.

    With the quarantines that Italy's implementing countrywide, I'd have thought that a member via 1 household at a time'd have to choose a time slot of 15 minutes to shop. To keep even necessity shoppers, via coming into contact with each other.

    People are require to stay 4 feet (a meter) away from the next person in line. I'll be going grocery shopping in an hour. I'll let you know how it goes.

    Speaking of lines, there have been some changes to our polling places for the primary on Tuesday because some of them are in nursing homes (and they are getting rid of all of those). My last polling place was, although my current one is an elementary school. Given this, the likelihood of lines being long seems possible (although maybe everyone will stay home instead of voting). I may go early vote tomorrow instead.

    I vote by mail and actually just mailed in my ballot today for Tuesday's primary. I know not everyone is offered that option, but I've been doing it ever since they started offering it here. It's great...no lines, no dealing with people, and you can take your time to research your choices and fill out the ballot.
  • GirlWithCookies
    GirlWithCookies Posts: 138 Member
    Has anyone on this thread had their job be directly affected by the pandemic? My boyfriend and I work for a newspaper company in Maine, U.S. The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state was reported today, and my boyfriend said that we need to make a plan in case we lose our jobs. I think he's being a little overcautious — in print or online, there is always a demand for news, and the majority of the company employees can work from home.

    Also, I see many posters here are choosing to cancel international trips. Are people (whose countries are not locked down) also avoiding leaving their immediate geographic areas? I'm supposed to go to a bridal shower in two and a half weeks in Massachusetts, and a wedding in New York on Memorial Day weekend. It's my boyfriend's cousin who is getting married, and he thinks the bride and groom should just cancel everything. Again, I think he's being a tad dramatic, but maybe I'm under-reacting? I'm not going around licking car door handles or anything, but I wasn't planning on becoming a hermit, either.
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    GirlWithCookies wrote: »
    Has anyone on this thread had their job be directly affected by the pandemic? My boyfriend and I work for a newspaper company in Maine, U.S. The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state was reported today, and my boyfriend said that we need to make a plan in case we lose our jobs. I think he's being a little overcautious — in print or online, there is always a demand for news, and the majority of the company employees can work from home.

    Also, I see many posters here are choosing to cancel international trips. Are people (whose countries are not locked down) also avoiding leaving their immediate geographic areas? I'm supposed to go to a bridal shower in two and a half weeks in Massachusetts, and a wedding in New York on Memorial Day weekend. It's my boyfriend's cousin who is getting married, and he thinks the bride and groom should just cancel everything. Again, I think he's being a tad dramatic, but maybe I'm under-reacting? I'm not going around licking car door handles or anything, but I wasn't planning on becoming a hermit, either.

    My aunt chose to cancel a trip from CA to Baton Rouge, because she didn't want to risk bringing the virus there. The family she was going to visit is elderly and in bad health. Also, her area in CA has a significant number of cases.

    My sister is supposed to be flying from Chicago to San Antonio tomorrow, also to visit family. They are worried about bringing the virus there as well, especially since one family member has been on chemo and has had lung surgery. They were also worried that they might have their return flight cancelled, since things are changing so quickly. They would consider driving back, but if many flights are cancelled, would car rentals be available? So yeah, I think they're going to cancel their trip.

    We have a mini family reunion planned on May 2-3, and we're not sure how that will turn out. We have some family flying in and some (like us) driving in. We will have to just see what happens.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    DecadeDuchess wrote: »
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    Ha! I didn't know the other thread was shut down for awhile. I didn't see any problems in it. Some people are in a different place with this--they will come around, sadly.

    As of today we, in Italy, are confined to our homes except for buying necessities. All non-essential businesses are closed. We are to follow China's example, since it's working. The streets are deserted. There are lines outside of grocery stores. This is a government mandate for 2 weeks, but I expect it to last a month (or more?). My husband already had cabin fever this morning, it's like being locked up with a kid. I sent him to his office across the street. Sigh. It's going to be a long month.

    On the front page of one of our newspapers this morning is a photo of a young man ( a soccer player)in the hospital with a respiratory mask on. He said "I thought I was young, strong, and invincible. I was wrong". He also said " All of a sudden I couldn't breathe".

    It astonishes me that're even allowing lines to form, outside of grocery stores. Standing within a line's no different, than standing within a crowd or being within, any other type of gathering.

    With the quarantines that Italy's implementing countrywide, I'd have thought that a member via 1 household at a time'd have to choose a time slot of 15 minutes to shop. To keep even necessity shoppers, via coming into contact with each other.

    People are require to stay 4 feet (a meter) away from the next person in line. I'll be going grocery shopping in an hour. I'll let you know how it goes.

    Speaking of lines, there have been some changes to our polling places for the primary on Tuesday because some of them are in nursing homes (and they are getting rid of all of those). My last polling place was, although my current one is an elementary school. Given this, the likelihood of lines being long seems possible (although maybe everyone will stay home instead of voting). I may go early vote tomorrow instead.

    I vote by mail and actually just mailed in my ballot today for Tuesday's primary. I know not everyone is offered that option, but I've been doing it ever since they started offering it here. It's great...no lines, no dealing with people, and you can take your time to research your choices and fill out the ballot.

    I thought about it, as we had until today at 5 to request a ballot by mail, but decided just to early vote tomorrow.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    GirlWithCookies wrote: »
    Has anyone on this thread had their job be directly affected by the pandemic? My boyfriend and I work for a newspaper company in Maine, U.S. The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state was reported today, and my boyfriend said that we need to make a plan in case we lose our jobs. I think he's being a little overcautious — in print or online, there is always a demand for news, and the majority of the company employees can work from home.

    Also, I see many posters here are choosing to cancel international trips. Are people (whose countries are not locked down) also avoiding leaving their immediate geographic areas? I'm supposed to go to a bridal shower in two and a half weeks in Massachusetts, and a wedding in New York on Memorial Day weekend. It's my boyfriend's cousin who is getting married, and he thinks the bride and groom should just cancel everything. Again, I think he's being a tad dramatic, but maybe I'm under-reacting? I'm not going around licking car door handles or anything, but I wasn't planning on becoming a hermit, either.

    No, although we are currently allowed to work from home.

    But those in industries affected by this certainly are at risk: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/11/layoffs-coronavirus/
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    GirlWithCookies wrote: »
    Has anyone on this thread had their job be directly affected by the pandemic? My boyfriend and I work for a newspaper company in Maine, U.S. The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state was reported today, and my boyfriend said that we need to make a plan in case we lose our jobs. I think he's being a little overcautious — in print or online, there is always a demand for news, and the majority of the company employees can work from home.

    Also, I see many posters here are choosing to cancel international trips. Are people (whose countries are not locked down) also avoiding leaving their immediate geographic areas? I'm supposed to go to a bridal shower in two and a half weeks in Massachusetts, and a wedding in New York on Memorial Day weekend. It's my boyfriend's cousin who is getting married, and he thinks the bride and groom should just cancel everything. Again, I think he's being a tad dramatic, but maybe I'm under-reacting? I'm not going around licking car door handles or anything, but I wasn't planning on becoming a hermit, either.

    Real dilemmas for people though, the cant just cancel weddings booked way in advance and have probably paid massive amount of money that won't be refunded.

    I am still travelling from my regional town to our state capital city next weekend, about 350 km.

    A football match I have pre paid tickets too I am still attending - unless it has been cancelled. At this stage it has not although I read today of cancellation of Grand Prix in Melbourne.

    And am meeting my daughter who has flown from UK and who I haven't seen for over a year.

    Go to events if they are not cancelled and practice hygiene etc as recomended.

  • lkpducky
    lkpducky Posts: 17,762 Member
    https://sunnybrook.ca/research/media/item.asp?c=2&i=2069&f=covid-19-isolated-2020&fbclid=IwAR0o0aBvD5BkNgNzDV9kQZGgB0rMyn6kV8BjVxBWyRiF3IWVVbLEKkDVrVk
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Was Roger Daltrey involved?

    (Look at the thread title.)
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    GirlWithCookies wrote: »
    Has anyone on this thread had their job be directly affected by the pandemic? My boyfriend and I work for a newspaper company in Maine, U.S. The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state was reported today, and my boyfriend said that we need to make a plan in case we lose our jobs. I think he's being a little overcautious — in print or online, there is always a demand for news, and the majority of the company employees can work from home.

    Also, I see many posters here are choosing to cancel international trips. Are people (whose countries are not locked down) also avoiding leaving their immediate geographic areas? I'm supposed to go to a bridal shower in two and a half weeks in Massachusetts, and a wedding in New York on Memorial Day weekend. It's my boyfriend's cousin who is getting married, and he thinks the bride and groom should just cancel everything. Again, I think he's being a tad dramatic, but maybe I'm under-reacting? I'm not going around licking car door handles or anything, but I wasn't planning on becoming a hermit, either.

    I am retired so no, I personally have not but my niece was supposed to spend next week in Austin at South by Southwest presenting Wisconsin Cheese, and other competitions and conventions are up in the air for her. My brother and SIL are scheduled to visit Greece in a couple of weeks and are not sure what is going to happen. My other brother is a nurse supervisor with the VA in Boston so they are all on high alert with PTO cancelled (except for illness). His daughter is on spring break from SCAD and was planning to come here next weekend. Not sure if that is still on.
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    GirlWithCookies wrote: »
    Has anyone on this thread had their job be directly affected by the pandemic? My boyfriend and I work for a newspaper company in Maine, U.S. The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state was reported today, and my boyfriend said that we need to make a plan in case we lose our jobs. I think he's being a little overcautious — in print or online, there is always a demand for news, and the majority of the company employees can work from home.

    Also, I see many posters here are choosing to cancel international trips. Are people (whose countries are not locked down) also avoiding leaving their immediate geographic areas? I'm supposed to go to a bridal shower in two and a half weeks in Massachusetts, and a wedding in New York on Memorial Day weekend. It's my boyfriend's cousin who is getting married, and he thinks the bride and groom should just cancel everything. Again, I think he's being a tad dramatic, but maybe I'm under-reacting? I'm not going around licking car door handles or anything, but I wasn't planning on becoming a hermit, either.

    My job has been mostly affected by the ancillary effects, so far, since a big part of the job deals with imports from China. Delays in production and shipments have been the main concern up until now.

    Now that there are domestic cases being reported, my office is operating from a prevention and preparedness stance. International business trips have been cancelled as well as travel for domestic customer visits and face-to-face meetings with customers or vendors at our office are only approved on a case to case basis. Hand sanitizer and wipes have been put out in the office. We're preparing to work from home, if necessary, so IT changes are being put into effect to facilitate that.

    Domestic and cross-border travel with Canada are my biggest concern right now. It's very possible to be caught mid-trip, with the airlines and Amtrak making sharp cuts in routes. Even worse would be going into Canada and being caught by a sudden decision by the US government to close border crossings. It seems a remote possibility right now, but Federal decision making has been very unpredictable.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    hesn92 wrote: »
    Yesterday was a *kitten* show here. Sitting at work yesterday I realized we were about out of toilet paper at home. My husband went to sams club and said they were sold out of everything... toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, baby wipes, etc. I guess I'm not that concerned about actually getting sick but of what this is doing to society?! Events are being cancelled, businesses are being closed. Am I going to be able to buy food at the grocery store? Spring Break is next week and they are talking about just not coming back and doing school via their chromebooks. Work is very strange. The corporation that owns my company announced last week they are going to sell us, but it's just an odd time since everybody's investments are going down the toilet. Now I'm like, am I going to be able to find another job if I lose mine?! Life is just really weird right now.

    While my Walmart was wiped out of TP, my neighbor says Walgreen's still had plenty - so try a smaller store and good luck.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    GirlWithCookies wrote: »
    Has anyone on this thread had their job be directly affected by the pandemic? My boyfriend and I work for a newspaper company in Maine, U.S. The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state was reported today, and my boyfriend said that we need to make a plan in case we lose our jobs. I think he's being a little overcautious — in print or online, there is always a demand for news, and the majority of the company employees can work from home.

    Also, I see many posters here are choosing to cancel international trips. Are people (whose countries are not locked down) also avoiding leaving their immediate geographic areas? I'm supposed to go to a bridal shower in two and a half weeks in Massachusetts, and a wedding in New York on Memorial Day weekend. It's my boyfriend's cousin who is getting married, and he thinks the bride and groom should just cancel everything. Again, I think he's being a tad dramatic, but maybe I'm under-reacting? I'm not going around licking car door handles or anything, but I wasn't planning on becoming a hermit, either.

    Yes. I work in sports/entertainment, which is all cancelled. Sitting at home indefinitely.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    GirlWithCookies wrote: »
    Has anyone on this thread had their job be directly affected by the pandemic? My boyfriend and I work for a newspaper company in Maine, U.S. The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state was reported today, and my boyfriend said that we need to make a plan in case we lose our jobs. I think he's being a little overcautious — in print or online, there is always a demand for news, and the majority of the company employees can work from home.

    Also, I see many posters here are choosing to cancel international trips. Are people (whose countries are not locked down) also avoiding leaving their immediate geographic areas? I'm supposed to go to a bridal shower in two and a half weeks in Massachusetts, and a wedding in New York on Memorial Day weekend. It's my boyfriend's cousin who is getting married, and he thinks the bride and groom should just cancel everything. Again, I think he's being a tad dramatic, but maybe I'm under-reacting? I'm not going around licking car door handles or anything, but I wasn't planning on becoming a hermit, either.

    I've been working from home since 2011, but I do worry about the health of the company, as it requires some people to be present.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    I work in the power utility industry but the company is privately owned. We are already having to cut our budget bare bones even though the holding company that owns us is doing very well (something to do with regulations in other states sucking up all the money from the budget).

    So on the one hand my company isn't going anywhere but on the other hand, if this kills the holding company,'s stock they may tighten the belt even tighter even though we in my company don't have the room to tighten which may lead to layoffs.

    The main company has announced that while we have no confirmed cases amongst our personnel in any of the 10 operating companies they are putting plans in place to prepaid such as having IT begin robust testing of the VPN in case a large number of employees need to work from home.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    To say the least, I am not anticipating a shortage of work.

    I work in a medical centre which is already crazy busy, and in a few weeks we start flu vaccines in Southern Hemisphere, along with annual influenza cases.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    edited March 2020
    paperpudding wrote: »
    GirlWithCookies wrote: »
    Has anyone on this thread had their job be directly affected by the pandemic? My boyfriend and I work for a newspaper company in Maine, U.S. The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state was reported today, and my boyfriend said that we need to make a plan in case we lose our jobs. I think he's being a little overcautious — in print or online, there is always a demand for news, and the majority of the company employees can work from home.

    Also, I see many posters here are choosing to cancel international trips. Are people (whose countries are not locked down) also avoiding leaving their immediate geographic areas? I'm supposed to go to a bridal shower in two and a half weeks in Massachusetts, and a wedding in New York on Memorial Day weekend. It's my boyfriend's cousin who is getting married, and he thinks the bride and groom should just cancel everything. Again, I think he's being a tad dramatic, but maybe I'm under-reacting? I'm not going around licking car door handles or anything, but I wasn't planning on becoming a hermit, either.

    Real dilemmas for people though, the cant just cancel weddings booked way in advance and have probably paid massive amount of money that won't be refunded.

    I am still travelling from my regional town to our state capital city next weekend, about 350 km.

    A football match I have pre paid tickets too I am still attending - unless it has been cancelled. At this stage it has not although I read today of cancellation of Grand Prix in Melbourne.

    And am meeting my daughter who has flown from UK and who I haven't seen for over a year.

    Go to events if they are not cancelled and practice hygiene etc as recomended.

    I’m in the US-Minnesota.

    All sporting events (pro to high school), concerts and orchestras, theater (live plays), zoo, all cancelled. Colleges and universities are suspending classes or opting for online. All public schools, K-12 are still open, but probably only a matter of time. So far, movie theaters are still open. My daughter comes to visit every Saturday. She’s not visiting today, she’s concerned about maybe bringing the virus home to her at risk parents, over 65. 😢We’re rural, she’s in major metropolitan city. All of this transpired in one week. Things are changing by the minute.
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