Theory proven again!

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It has been proven that you can create a riot with as few as 12 people. And this recent bout with the Corona virus scare proved the point like nothing I've seen before.

Literally around the world, we all seem to be living the same story - grocery shelves cleaned out. People are hoarding things like TP. Who

knew that something as basic as toilet paper would become such a commodity! It took three visits to different stores and a kind-hearted staff member who went above and beyond to score a 4-roll package. It's nuts!

I spent over 45 minutes in line at the grocery store the other day just picking up my usual weekly list - nothing special on it at all. I was only able to find a portion of what I had planned to buy. There are aisles completely cleared. No rice, no beans, pasta and cereal, pretty much empty. There was no milk, eggs, or bottled water. The grocery store is limiting numbers of items you can purchase to help minimize the rush on items like TP, cereal, rice and beans. As of today, they have reduced their hours by half. I'm sure it's partly to allow time to restock with so much of the store completely empty.

Events have been cancelled - South by Southwest (SBSW)

draws millions of artists and people from around the world for an incredible arts festival in Austin during spring break each year - except this one. The Houston Stock Show and Rodeo - cancelled. The NBA - suspended. Baseball season is on delay. San Antonio's own festival - Fiesta is postponed until November - odd for an event celebrating Easter and spring. Many millions of dollars in fundraising efforts with these events will not happen. The company exposure and marketing along with the resulting sales from these events will not happen. The trickle-down impact will be horrendous.

My entertainer friends have just had their tours disappear before their eyes - poof! Gone! I'm thankful that many of them were at least able to get home before travel bans were put into affect. One just returned from Russia two days before travel was suspended.

Family events are being affected. Weddings are being postponed. Friends are unable to visit family members who are in assisted living facilities. Our elderly need those visits for their mental well-being. Church services are being cancelled. Virtual communion just doesn't seem to be the same.

University and college classes are being cancelled or students are being given an additional week of spring break to enable faculty to transition classes to on-line exclusively. Families who have made plans for upcoming graduations are concerned that ceremonies will be cancelled.

Our family is unable to travel to California to

bid farewell to my Father in Law and gather to mourn his passing together. To not be by my husband's side, as his wife, during this time is heartbreaking. My daughters are so upset and my grandson is confused as just last week, we told him that we were going to be going on a trip. At this point, I only hope Mike is able to get home. The DOD has suspended travel for military members and their spouses/ families. My son in on deployment. The bases outside the US seem to be on lock-down and they are only able to leave their ship while in port on a limited basis.

All entertainment venues are closed.

Six Flags, Disney World, Disney Land, Dolley Wood... It is spring break across the United States. Many areas who rely on tourism are ghost towns where there should be throngs of people enjoying the weather and having fun.

I'm not a politician and I'm obviously not a doctor. I'm sure that all of our governments and medical agencies are doing what they think is best for the safety of the populations.

I'm not sure how their actions and the incredible economic impact of this seeming health crisis balance. What are the odds of contracting this illness?

What is the mortality rate?

How to you measure or balance those against the incredible economic impact this is having around the world?

Businesses are literally being shut down. People's jobs are on hold. Millions are unable to work... and therefore earn. I hate feeling like a sheeple. There is simply no choice.

The impact on small businesses in the US is already having an impact. Any extended periods could result in business being put out of business.

How do you balance this health crisis against the corresponding financial devistation? I don't know. I'm sure we all have our thoughts about this. I'm much more of a pragmatic person. Thankfully, I don't have to answer those questions. I'm sure we are all asking them to some degree.

There are so very many things that aren't adding up with this. I tend to think 'Gibb's Rules" (NCIS) - I don't believe in coincidences. And there are so many things that simplly don't add up, both world-wide, and for the U.S. specifically. Much of this seems too conveniently timed. And even more flies in the face of what so many of our politicians do regarding other issues regarding the health and safety of our population. I won't go into it past saying, I'm not buying the whole thing other than to acknowledge that this is big - bigger than I'm sure most of us have experienced before. I'm sure it's a situation none of us will ever forget and there will be many lessons learned in the process.

But I also know that viruses burn themselves out and this one will too and we will return to a normal. It may be a new normal, though.

Meanwhile I hope you all stay well. And wash your hands, darn it!!!

Christine

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Recent Comments

94

I agree entirely the financial underlying aspect's of this has been building for too many years than I care to name...the current impact is going to exacerbate the situation even further ..one thing is for the change that this will bring to all our lives is going to be very massive and long lasting is this...coincidence I'm with both you and Gibbs on this...I don;t tink so!!

So sad you are unable to bid goodbye as a family and hope that Mike can make it home...it is a torrid situation to say the least...hang in there pragmatic lady!!!
R.

The impact can not be denied and it is making its self felt around the world. A disaster would be an understatement. It is going to hurt everyone.

There are two options;

Business as usual and throw caution to the wind dam the torpedoes. Deal with the collateral damage as best we can.

A measured and managed approach, aimed at containment as much as possible, and managing that community transmission phase to minimize the ramifications of open and rampant transmission.

Going back a generation from me, relatives lived through the first world war, the Spanish flu, the depression, the second world war. I always remember thinking how old they seemed to be. It is hard to perceive things as a child.

This virus originated in China and they exported it, to the world. the world is struggling with it. It is going to take a lot of time to reign it in or contain it, there will be pain along the way.

I have to agree with you Christine, it will be about taking precautions and working together, and looking out for each other.















We're all in this together this time! That doesn't happen often! Lots of lessons to learn and situations to navigate. Going to be a wild ride!! Thanks for checking in and dropping a note. Always great to hear from you.!! Christine

Hi Christine. It is a strange place sometimes. It is amazing how some people can't be team players. If everybody just did their normal shop the supermarkets would have been good. i am grateful that governments are now stepping in to minimize/reduce ongoing risk.
Thanks heaps for your input.
Have a great day.
Stephen.

Great post, Christine! It's like I've been saying form minute one--we only currently have 65 deaths or roughly .00000001 percent of the population! H1N1 in 2009-10 killed over 500,000 world wide and 12,500 in the US--yet, business wen ton as usual. What about this one is so different that the world is reacting such that it is?

I don't know. It makes less than no sense, and I just got word that my husband may be stuck in California for quite a while.

Herding the sheep

Very good question!

Aghh...unbelievable...

I’m struggling to understand the World approach at the moment. Viruses will always attack, but if humans aren’t allowed to build immunity, they have no protection going forward. Also, protecting health completely and ignoring the financial impacts of closing businesses and postponing events and services, we risk global financial collapse. There may be nothing left of our infrastructure by the time we come out of the other end. That’s what is really concerning.

My own approach would be to carry on as normal. We should focus on the vulnerable totally and let everyone else go about their business normally. That way, the whole system doesn’t go into complete meltdown and herd immunity can be built up. At the moment, businesses will be bankrupt and people will suffer more than I think they should.

We seem to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Just my take on it.

Dave

My feelings as well.

Viruses are nothing new but unlike the past before we had the ability to research, test and document a viral pathogen we do have those capabilities today but the resources aren't being utilized effectively.

We should be receiving credible information, not half-assed theories. We should be doing what is sensible to protect ourselves, not panic. Panic is NOT a plan.

I agree, the baby is being thrown out with the bathwater...

Carry On and Write On!

Susan

From my understanding it's that it's spread so quickly that we're overwhelming the healthcare facilities. We don't have the staffing or resources to deal with the number of cases coming in, in certain countries and we need to slow it down.

Based on the numbers seen in Italy, a doctor in my region said a conservative estimate if we get an outbreak here is 300 serious cases. We have 5 ventilators in the region.

The shut downs are to slow the cases down. So that fewer people need help at the same time.

The US death rate for H1N1 was 0.2%. The current global death rate for COVID-19 is about 3.4%. That's a decent jump.

South Korea and Italy handled the early stages of the outbreak very differently. South Korea tested hundreds of thousands of people while Italy did not. The Western world has failed in mass testing, which means the only way to know we're not spreading it is to stop being in contact with others.

It's not ideal. But we're in the early stages. We keep comparing our numbers to H1N1's final counts. COVID-19 has been in the US for less than 2 months at this point but we're comparing to H1N1's results for a year.

I'm no expert, but the experts say we need to take this seriously if we don't want to see large-scale deaths. I'm not panicked. I'm not hoarding supplies. But I do think limiting movement is a good thing.

No, it's not ideal. This will have economic repercussions and I don't pretend to know whether deaths or a recession will be worse for humanity in the long run. But I do think we need to be careful not to call conspiracy theory on everything. Especially when we're not experts.

It's ironic to me that the people who were calling conspiracy earlier by saying it was way worse number-wise than was being reported in China are now saying we're overreacting and it's not that bad now that it affects their ability to go about their daily lives.

Anyway. Those are just my thoughts.

No worries, and I respect your thoughts--we all have our thoughts and opinions here, and at this point no one really knows what is the right answer!

Ah--a very SANE answer!

Yes, Christine. It was a crazy week and seems like the world has gone bonkers to some extend. I believe the fear of this disease is the under estimated impact of infection growing geometrically that could collapse the health care system costing government billions. Of course, you have pointed out to the bottom of this iceberg, what is not seen and reasons we may not be aware of. However, conspiracy theories exist.

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