So be surprised unless you are calling me a liar. 50% isopropyl alcohol was the only pure alcohol they had and I bought it and it's sitting in my bathroom.

It is pure 50% isopropyl alcohol (no additives) and since coronaviruses are more susceptible than other viruses because of its protein envelope, I think it probably will work though not ideally. I have read studies show even standard hand soap will destroy the protein envelope and kill this virus.

A few days later I scored some 70% isopropyl alcohol "wipes" and I bought them too. Shelves of all these products around here are pretty bare.

The economic response to this is WAAAAY worse than the actual virus(I know this doesn't matter or probably isn't right to someone who knows someone who died from it though).

These idiots are forcing me to eat more Chinese and buy more stocks. Eh.

Oh, icky poo! Stay away! Surely by now you've got the wasting disease!! :surrender:

My stomach hurts. But I love me some Chinese food and I like Chinatown, so I will continue to eat lol

With the news of how bad things are in Italy slowly worming it's way into the American consciousness, I wonder how long it will be before people start avoiding Italian restaurants. I guarantee you there's someone somewhere in this nation stupid enough to pitch a screaming fit in a grocery store about them still stocking Chef Boyardee*, and how dare they endanger the health of the public like that!

(*Note: This would be due to the product laying claim to some vague connection to Italian cuisine, and not because the product looks like, smells like, and has the consistency of the contents of a newborn's diaper.)

I'm Italian and can't fathom denying myself Italian food.

If you eat at a northern Italian restaurant in New York where the cooks might actually be from Milan or Turin, you might think about it. Otherwise not.

I do think about eating Mexican food where I am because the cook might actually live in Mexico (I am predicting eventually Mexico is going to have a HUGE problem even though it's getting no press yet). And in San Francisco, the cook at your Chinese place could have flown in from Wuhan just after New Years. It's a consideration and I think not one to be made light of.

It's not the same as the Panda Express in Peoria or the Domino Pizza in Kansas City.

Since I attended SXSW last year I'm on a couple of mailing lists, and apparently some of the houses are still planning to host events. I guess it won't be a total loss. I wouldn't risk going this year, though. It seems like an easy way to end up under a 14-day quarantine.

Only because you are callous and have no regard for your health or that of others. Ask any of the leading social media experts: Coronavirus is just as easily transmitted by garlic as it is by five-spice powder. That's why people are avoiding Chinatowns and Chinese restaurants owned by Cambodians who have no trace of an accent or, as you'll sometimes find around here, do have an accent, but one that sounds like Bubba T. Cornpone hungover.

Being southern Italian, I typically don't go out of my way for northern Italian which is comparatively rare here anyway. Although, the food is still probably sourced locally and unless the chef/ cooks were in Italy within the past month or so, probably not too worried.

As for Mexico, I'd be more worried about what's floating around San Francisco. There's 70 or so cases already in that area.

hahaha great


I will do my duty in that situation also.

From earlier today: A traveler from Australia on board the Grand Princess records the moment they passed underneath the GGB and into the Bay.
• Video Link

A big change in Detroit was that the mYor of Detroit pleaded with the water commissioner to restore water to tens of thousands of residents shutoff a few yrs ago because of the threat of the Coronavirus.
They concluded that its unfair to stress to residents to wash their hands and practice good sanitation without water going into the homes.

St. Louis appears to be business as usual, although there's one known case here in suburban Ladue. A 20 year old college student returning from Italy is the area's first case, although she flew into O'Hare and stayed in Chicago at a friend's for a bit before taking the Amtrak back down to St. Louis.

What's really making the area pissed is that the girl's family, who were ordered to self-quarantine, defied the fucking quarantine multiple times. The mother went about her business and ran errands in public, the high school age daughter was sent to school, and the father and daughter attended a reception/dance at the Ritz Carlton.

Sam Page, the St. Louis County Executive, had to give a press conference threatening to get a court order to quarantine the whole family if they keep leaving the house. Although he has reported that the girl with the actual virus has at least been following direction, so there's that.

Edit: Bayer just closed their campus in Creve Coeur "until further notice" because one of their employees has potentially tested positive. So maybe not quite as business as usual as I previously said.

People need to understand: This is going to be everywhere and it might be worst in some places that don't yet have it because they aren't as vigilant. That's why I'm fingering Mexico (and the fact that the Public Health system there is as inept as they are at so much else).

UT Austin is moving to have all their classes be online only starting after spring break.

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/he...5-2b7156be8c16

Because they want to be sure students have a chance to go on Spring Break and either take it with them and spread it all over of catch it wherever they go and bring it back to campus.

My sister and her family live in the Italian “red zone” (a city called Brescia in Lombardy) and they say the coverage they’ve seen from US outlets paints a way different picture than what they’re experiencing. People are being extra vigilant and schools are shut down, but it isn’t pandemonium in the streets or anything like that. My brother in law is still going to work every day, they are just making sure to wipe everything down as often as possible.

They're gonna go anyway, that's the reason for the class ban after spring break. Since when does youth listen to authority?

SXSW is laying off a third of it's employees. Man, and they just built a fancy new office tower last year.

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/sxsw...-of-2020-event

Flights have been cheap, so there’s that. Good time to take a weekend trip to a place not highly at risk.:cheers:

Just get right on that plane and breathe that recirculated air while gripping the arm rest another person gripped on the earlier leg of your plane’s travels (and be sure to use the bathroom where some other passenger, not feeling well, just was).

You can also breathe through the overhead oxygen mask to avoid all the floating particles.

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/official...of-coronavirus

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...pread/2317584/

People have been buying too much toilet paper. Literally, toilet paper shortages at stores. I suppose bountry will do, might not be "soft" though. Leaves not fully grown or showing yet, so worst case scenario, dry leaves.

Or newspapers.

Quilted Northern! Nothing less touches my butt, no matter how bad it gets.

I do expect 10023 can use 5 pound notes:

https://www.economist.com/img/b/1280...917_BRP502.jpg
https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/f...rt=mostpopular

Obviously one shouldn’t go visit Granny right now. And perhaps Granny should stay home. Otherwise, life goes on.

People throw out statistics like the above, but 10x almost zero is still almost zero.

I booked a flight last night. Tickets are CHEAP. I don't give a damn, I Lysol my plane seat as it was anyways lol

Why do people suddenly need so much toilet paper?! I don't get it!

^^^^^

Folks think the apocalypse is coming. Literally spending hundreds of dollars on stuff that they are not going to use. Sanitizer for months, toilet paper, canned foods, and tons of water. Costco is limiting the amount of water folks can buy.

And cough syrup, thats another item that's being hoarded. And not just for recreational purposes, but folks are literally buying it in preparation for the Apocalypse. I was at Shoprite on Saturday and there was this lady with 5... I repeat 5 Robitussin.

But yeah with the toilet paper, I don't get it either. Maybe if this was a virus that had the side effect of uncontrollable explosions, I get it, but than we'd be talking about a diaper shortage. Well, let me not jinx it.

Yes that's a weird thing to hoard to a respiratory illness...

Went to the grocery store last night. Everything was pretty normal, except that the toilet paper shelf had been picked bare.

What's with the global phenomenon of stockpiling toilet paper? Are people worried they're going to shit themselves to death? :???:




I almost took advantage of some of those, but have now been thinking twice about that as the effects of this really seem to be ramping up. I'm not so much worried about being in a place where I may or may not be as susceptible to getting it as I am here; but I am concerned about potentially being caught in an area that gets locked down and getting stranded, or about flights being cancelled, or being on a plane with someone with the virus and then having to go into quarantine, etc. It's all very unpredictable.

So now I'm planning a road trip to Detroit instead.

This is my concern too. I was thinking about a getaway but I don't want to end up quarantined or stuck outside of the country.

I never thought I'd be content with having zero future travel plans, but to be honest I'm relieved even though there's nothing to look forward to. One, I needed to save money and just stay put anyways, but two, don't want to be at risk, and certainly don't want to have to cancel a non-refundable trip. I feel terrible for people who had all sorts of elaborate travel plans only to be able to see it disappear completely.

Yes it's a pain in the ass. My sister and her kids were supposed to visit us from Italy in two weeks, now she's scrambling for a refund of some kind. I'm also planning to go to Israel in June, watching their new "quarantine EVERYONE" policy closely. If that's still in place in a few months I guess that trip is off.

I've got Barcelona planned in May and as long as most of the restaurants and day trips I want to partake in are still open, I see no reason to cancel. Would be a shame if something like the La Sagrada Familia was closed though.

New York National Guard activated to combat coronavirus, establish ‘containment area’

=======================
https://www.militarytimes.com/breaki...tainment-area/

I too am heading to Spain in May.

Spain, France, Netherlands... in that order. Not canceling, and hope not too.

Why are they buying water? It's not nuclear war or a hurricane. The taps aren't going to run dry or the local water supply contaminated.

The toilet paper I understand. They think the time is coming when they won't want to go to Walmart or CostCo to buy it and I agree. I used my hand santizer immediately after leaving the store the other day myself.

Maybe they won't let you in. The US could be like Hubei by then (though it's more likely they will be with their open borders to Italy).

Or everywhere is and it doesn’t really matter anymore.

This is so crazy. National guard soldiers don't know anything about avoiding contamination. If there is any virus in these places they are cleaning, they are likely to catch it and spread it further.

Anyway, the idea of a ghetto with a synagogue in the center is maybe not so new.

This is not a containment area.

Netherlands, Belgium and Germany for us in May as well.

People are stocking up on "essentials" so they won't have to go to stores and mingle with the crowds there if the virus becomes widespread in their communities. Makes perfect sense to me however I stocked up on TP and paper towels about a week ago just because I needed them.

Have these people not heard of Amazon?

It was only about a week ago that I was thinking a trip to Italy was a fantastic idea - fewer crowds and discounted prices just for the risk of a then seemingly overhyped virus. Glad I didn't do that now, given how quickly and dramatically things have changed there.

In the meantime, if anyone wants to do any travelling, I think local road trips are the way the go. Less of a commitment, easier to adapt as needed, less exposure to potential carriers.

It's a bit of a bummer (especially as I had skipped any "big" international trips last year so as to be able to do several this year), but perhaps this is an opportunity to spend a bit more time exploring our own regions and getting to know some of our overlooked neighbouring cities a bit better.

Or just save that money and invest in stocks as the market bottoms out instead. That'll be bound to pay off in a couple years.

I'd be surprised if the National Guard doesn't train for events like this.

So do you know whose been handling that stuff you'll be handling when you open the Amazon package? Bet they coughed into your box before sealing it.

Besides, I'm finding Amazon is "out of stock" on the same stuff my local Walmart is so they may not be such a reliable source to depend on.

Finally, bulky but cheap stuff like TP isn't always available on Amazon Prime.

In Sitges this week. The flight over from Boston was not full, but I swear, Logan and Heathrow were the healthiest I've ever seen them (7 hours combined in each of them). Normally there is hacking and coughing all over the place....not this visit. Some masks.

Sitges is small town just outside of Barcelona and life is going along normally here. Tomorrow we will be in Barcelona and should be fine. Tons of hand sanitizer and no masks. We'll see.