Wuhan Coronavirus: Megathread - Got too big

[PS1gamenwatch]

Not sure if this was brought up yet, but an update on quarantined Luzon:

Coronavirus: Philippines quarantines island of 57 million people

For daily wage earners, no work means no pay 'so no choice' and social distancing is impossible, critics say.

www.aljazeera.com

Coronavirus: Philippines quarantines island of 57 million people
For daily wage earners, no work means no pay 'so no choice' and social distancing is impossible, critics say.
by Ana P Santos
16 Mar 2020

For some, threat of arrest for those who violate the lockdown are reminiscent of martial law [Lisa Marie David/NurPhoto/Getty Images]
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Manila, Philippines - President Rodrigo Duterte has put the entire Philippine island of Luzon under an "enhanced community quarantine" until April 12 to stop the spread of coronavirus infections.
In a televised public address on Monday, Duterte said public movement would be restricted to only buying food, medicine and other essential items necessary for survival.
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"Only establishments that provide services like food and medicine shall be open," said Duterte.
The president instructed the labour and social welfare departments to implement measures that would alleviate the burden of the lockdown on small business and wage workers. He also urged businesses to release the mandatory 13th-month pay to their employees.
According to the health department's latest figures, there are 142 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines and 12 deaths.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo earlier explained that, under an enhanced community quarantine, "strict home quarantine shall be implemented in all households, transportation shall be suspended, provision of food and essential services shall be regulated, and heightened presence of uniformed personnel to enforce quarantine procedures will be implemented".
Effectively a lockdown of the country's largest and most populous island, the measures affect about 57 million people.
"We already have an enhanced community quarantine which we started two days ago [over Manila], we are just expanding it to the entire Luzon," said Panelo.
The move is the most aggressive among Asian countries struggling to cope with the COVID-19 disease, which has already infected more than 164,000 people, killed at least 6,500, and crippled public health systems worldwide.
Checkpoints became chokepoints
The announcement of the lockdown came after a failure to implement social distancing measures to stave off the spread of coronavirus.
Duterte had announced a "community quarantine" starting midnight of March 15, cutting off domestic air, land and sea access to the capital megacity of Manila in an effort to slow the spread. Classes and work for non-essential services were suspended, and an estimated 12 million residents were asked to stay at home.
The measure made Arnold Vega's morning commute look like a mass exodus.

Vega pushed and jostled his way through a throng of passengers to get on a public utility vehicle and cross the city border that separates his suburb of Bulacan from the mega-metropolis of Manila where he works as a nurse in a health clinic.
Police and military personnel stationed at checkpoints took each person's temperature, pointing thermal scanners at foreheads, ready to separate those who showed any signs of fever. Many were not wearing adequate protective gear themselves. Passengers also had to show proof that they worked in Manila by showing either a company ID or a certificate of employment.
Public utility vehicles operated at half capacity as strict social distancing required passengers to sit one seat apart. Some drivers asked passengers to pay twice their fare to make up for the unoccupied seat.
It took Vega four hours to get to work. "It was total chaos."
Earlier on Monday, several malls across the various districts of Manila announced their closure for one month. Mayors met with mall owners to discuss ways to alleviate the impact of closures on employees who are mostly contractual daily wage earners.
Other cities declared a state of calamity or went into their own version of lockdown.

Vehicles pile up at the boundary of Manila and the North Luzon Expressway Mindanao Avenue exit during rush hour [Maria Tan/AFP]
Who will take care of the health workers?
Robert Mendoza, president of the Alliance of Health Workers, lambasted the government's attempt at quarantine. "What we need is mass testing, more trained healthcare workers, and an increased health budget."
The Duterte administration slashed the 2020 health budget by $197m but committed an additional $44.5m to buy protective gear for healthcare workers.
"Where is that promised budget? Even as COVID-19 cases keep climbing, our healthcare workers continue to work without proper protective gear. Who will take care of everyone else if health workers get sick?"
According to Mendoza, there are about 46 healthcare workers who have coronavirus symptoms and are currently being monitored.
Safety nets
Renato Reyes, secretary-general of the lef-wing alliance Bagong Alyangsang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance), said the government must think of ways to protect low-income daily wage earners who will be hit hardest by the lockdown.
"Social distancing and work from home is impossible for daily wage earners. For them, it is no work, no pay so no choice. They will risk getting COVID-19 to keep their jobs," he added.


Can coronavirus be contained in conflict zones?
Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros estimated at least 650,000 Filipino households would become the "new poor" in Metro Manila alone because of the economic implications of the lockdown and moved for a $250 payment for those affected by the financial whiplash.
"The president's directive for an 'enhanced community quarantine' in Luzon ... should be implemented as a public health measure that takes into account the welfare of the most vulnerable," said Hontiveros in a statement.
Some of the provisions of the quarantine measures made citizens nervous as the threat of arrest for those in violation of the lockdown were reminiscent of martial law. The Philippines has a history of martial law in the 1970s under the Marcos dictatorship and alleged extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration.
But security analyst Jose Antonio Custodio did not agree. "It's far from martial law. It's more like a massive humanitarian crisis response that leaves much to be desired due to poor planning and knee-jerk reactions."

And a related story:

Luzon quarantine has Reds doubting Duterte ceasefire over COVID-19

"The militarist lockdown on the whole of Luzon is meant not to fight the Covid-19 pandemic but to intimidate the people, suppress democratic rights, commit human rights violations and prevent the working people from going to their workplaces, and immobilize even the health workers and people who...

www.gmanetwork.com

Luzon quarantine has Reds doubting Duterte ceasefire over COVID-19

Published March 19, 2020 1:07am




The National Democratic Front has balked at reciprocating the ceasefire declared by President Rodrigo Duterte as the Philippines addresses the need to contain COVID-19, which has killed 17 in the country.
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According to NDF chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison, one of the reasons for the hesitation was the enhanced community quarantine over the whole of Luzon.
"The militarist lockdown on the whole of Luzon is meant not to fight the Covid-19 pandemic but to intimidate the people, suppress democratic rights, commit human rights violations and prevent the working people from going to their workplaces, and immobilize even the health workers and people who wish to tested and treated for COVID-19 and serious ailments," Sison said in a statement.
Sison added that the AFP and PNP continued "to redtag, abduct and murder social activists, including human rights defenders, in urban areas and to unleash attacks against the people in the guerrilla fronts of the New People’s Army."
"There is communication going on between the GRP and NDFP negotiating panels. But there is yet no agreement for reciprocal unilateral ceasefires in connection with certain considerations, requirements and modalities," Sison said.
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"There has to be catch-up on these matters, if still possible. The ceasefire declaration by the GRP or the Duterte regime is premature, if not insincere and false," he added.
Duterte has declared a ceasefire with the communist rebels on Wednesday.

The unilateral ceasefire will take effect on March 19 and will expire on April 15, according to presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo.

“The President has directed the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), to cease and desist from carrying out offensive military and police operations during the ceasefire period,” Panelo said.

“Through this ceasefire, the Philippine government aspires that the swift provision of public health assistance goes unimpeded with the movement of health workers and medical supplies to communities, as well as of people in need of immediate medical attention remains unhampered.” -NB, GMA News

 

[feral cat #6385]

how can that happen? the supply at this point in the year is endless.
I got my biweekly delivery from a local farm yesterday, had a quick talk, they have to many potatoes and are anticipating an early harvest.

Because the farmer doesn't drive his tractor to the grocery store to drop them off like Santa Clause. The supply chain is more complicated than that.

The more finished a good is the longer it's going to take to restock.

I work in the grocery business, so I can give a bit of insight. Basically, consumer demand is currently way above normal. Since most stores don't hold a large inventory of back stock in-store, they're reliant on shipments coming in on a regular basis. Those shipments are (with a few exceptions) still coming in to the stores, but the demand still isn't waning.

The supply chain that's used for grocery stores isn't really designed for unexpected, long-term spikes in sales. They need larger deliveries to the warehouses that serve the stores. They need enough warehouse workers to pick significantly more merchandise, additional trucks to load to send to stores, and enough drivers to take it to stores. Right now, they have none of these things. Most stores are still receiving as much freight as ever, if not more, but it isn't enough to keep up.

Can vouch. I work for a manufacturer who supplies grocery stores. This is normally our slowest time of year. I am currently running 206% over forecast and have been cutting orders 45 to 65% all week with no end in sight. The supply chain can't respond this quickly. What is produced and what is needed to produce it is acquired based on a forecast. I have enough materials to produce to the forecast. I don't have enough to produce to 206% to forecast and can't acquire those materials for 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[Non-Expert!]

Because the farmer doesn't drive his tractor to the grocery store to drop them off like Santa Clause. The supply chain is more complicated than that.

The more finished a good is the longer it's going to take to restock.

Can vouch. I work for a manufacturer who supplies grocery stores. This is normally our slowest time of year. Thus it is used for project work. Half of our manufacturing equipment is down for a month to be upgraded and will not come online until the second week of April. I am currently running 206% over forecast and have been cutting orders 45 to 65% all week with no end in sight. The supply chain can't respond this quickly.

People should be ashamed of themselves.

Why can't stores place a limit on how much one customer can hoard? It is not that complicated. Put up a sign "only 2 per customer."

Your No-Panic Guide: The Supply Chain Is Fine. So When Will Everything Be Back In Stock?

We asked experts to help us understand the supply chain and let you know what to expect to see on the shelves of your local stores.

laist.com

Shameful disgusting behavior. And these are shelves in affluent areas.

 

[simulated goat]

It's been awhile since I really followed Scientology, but I found this and really had to admire their consistency:

Spoiler: full size

Promise me you'll never change.

https://tonyortega.org/2020/03/17/can-clearwater-take-a-stand-against-scientology-today-well-find-out/

 

[RodgerDodger]

Any evidence for this blood type argument? That sounds like wishful thinking but I am happy to be wrong.

I don't think that people are likely to "blow off" social distancing measures, for the simple reason that government officials are making it almost impossible to do so.

However I do think that once there is an efficient testing method and they find that most people become asymptomatic carriers, and they figure put who will die from it, things might return to normal slowly but surely.

I mean, some people are going to die. They know it and we know it. The issue (I THINK) comes down to keeping enough ICU beds available to those who can be saved, with support.

The blood type thing is bundled part and parcel into most Asian Astrology. It weaves through Chinese, Japanese and Korean culture. Yeah look up some KPop stars and you'll see how importantly their Blood Type is listed. They really view it as deterministic as some view the Zodiac Signs of ones birth. As a result weird mythos of "Blood Type" has become embedded in TCM. So yeah, just dismiss it out of hand. It goes along with curing Coronavirus using Powered Rhino Testicles.

 

[beautiful person]

Went for a drive today (didn't get out of the car, just cruising). Saw plenty of literal white-haired old boomers out and about, walking up and down the streets, mingling with each other.

Why can't stores place a limit on how much one customer can hoard? It is not that complicated. Put up a sign "only 2 per customer."

I'm kind of surprised that no states (at least that I've heard of) have enacted any kind of mandated rationing for retailers.

 

[Arctic Fox]

Not sure if this was brought up yet, but an update on quarantined Luzon:

Coronavirus: Philippines quarantines island of 57 million people

For daily wage earners, no work means no pay 'so no choice' and social distancing is impossible, critics say.

www.aljazeera.com

And a related story:

Luzon quarantine has Reds doubting Duterte ceasefire over COVID-19

"The militarist lockdown on the whole of Luzon is meant not to fight the Covid-19 pandemic but to intimidate the people, suppress democratic rights, commit human rights violations and prevent the working people from going to their workplaces, and immobilize even the health workers and people who...

www.gmanetwork.com

You're not supposed to post entire articles.

 

[Gustav Schuchardt]

Are we living in the End Times? Yeah, probably.

 

[TheRedChair]

Up Date: Memology
No sign of intelligent life anywhere.

No Sign of Intelligent Life Anywhere

🔴Background Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCIP9dKa-Iw 🔴Background Visuals: https://www.youtube.com/user/hdbacks -----SUPPORT THE CHANNEL------ 🔴YouT...

www.youtube.com

My take?
This is a perfect example of Darwin in action.

 

[Coleslaw]

If calling a virus by its place of origin is racist then the world owes Spain an apology.

 

[Mo Rutherford]

So China is reporting no new local cases the same day as they're kicking out 13 major American journalists...

I do believe they are lifting quarantines and all that, but I think it's all to keep up with appearances and make China numbah won while the rest of the world is clearly struggling. I've heard they are letting sick people go who are clearly still symptomatic and I think they're gonna have a really bad second wave. My husband, on the other hand, thinks it's 100% bullshit and they are all still welded into their houses and probably starving to death.

I dunno. What do you guys think?

 

[Spicey McHaggis]

So China is reporting no new local cases the same day as they're kicking out 13 major American journalists...

I do believe they are lifting quarantines and all that, but I think it's all to keep up with appearances and make China numbah won while the rest of the world is clearly struggling. I've heard they are letting sick people go who are clearly still symptomatic and I think they're gonna have a really bad second wave. My husband, on the other hand, thinks it's 100% bullshit and they are all still welded into their houses and probably starving to death.

I dunno. What do you guys think?

Starving them before they get the flu seems like a very effective way to keep numbers on flu deaths down, and seems so very much like China. All I know is they're definitely lying through their teeth.

 

[Kornheiser]

When I stated when does Deus Ex start it’s starting to feel like it with attitudes towards China. The people I work with think that the the virus was spread intentionally. I just wish we had nano machines like in the game and not this bullshit we have now.

 

[Gustav Schuchardt]

I dunno. What do you guys think?

It's suspicious they're kicking out American journos but I bet those American journos were fucking useless anyway. It's not like they were poking around in Wuhan in NBC suits interviewing normal people, evading the dreaded Ministry of State Security, exposing a coverup and getting the truth out via satellite phone. They were all non-Mandarin speakers who just went to Xinhua's English press briefings and made sure they didn't say anything that would get them booted out China.

It could be that people in China are still dying like flies and the government is covering it up or it could be that draconian quarantine has reduced R below 1 and the disease is burning itself out. The former seems rather more likely than the latter put like that but it could also be that we'll luck out.

 

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View attachment 1194096
Use a drum instead of a pail.

Or stop watering their golf courses.

Almond Farms. California has a shitload of Almond farms, and they use up like 5 states worth of water.

Good luck getting them to stop, though.

Folks, we got lucky. Five more years of relying on China for everything and we'd all have been fucked. Not going to be easy to get out of there now but doable. HAS to be done. The "just-in-time" inventory concept needs to be revisited. Can only work with short supply chains. We have learned that the longer the supply chain, the more fragile.

Nobody with half a brain really believes the USA manufactured that virus. Whether they admit it publicly or not, the leaders of the major powers know who manufactured that virus - China.

I, too, hope and believe some good will come from all of this. Don't look for everything to happen quickly. Some things will take time to bring to fruition. That's okay.

Can you go into more about the 5 year thing? Why would we have been fucked in 5 years as compared to today?

 

[Shield Breaker]

A friend got a text from a relative who works at the Cleveland Cancer Center in Ohio claiming that things are much worse there than is being reported, and that diagnosed/positively tested cases in that clinic are not being tallied in the state's total infected.

Cancer centers and nursing homes are going to get to get hit very hard by this. I have no idea why they would exclude them, however. Sounds like nonsense.

 

[Cypher]

I do believe they are lifting quarantines and all that, but I think it's all to keep up with appearances and make China numbah won while the rest of the world is clearly struggling.

China is also trying to send a fuckton of Medical supplies to Italy and Iran, either to look like the good guy compared to us (did we even send shit to these countries?), or just outright compensation once word gets out this is literally China's fault and they have to pay the fucking piper to these afflicted nations or else all PR Hell breaks loose and their Belt & Road plan collapses overnight.

 

[beautiful person]

If calling a virus by its place of origin is racist then the world owes Spain an apology.

Funny thing about that is that the Spanish Flu didn't even originate in Spain. They were just the first to publicly acknowledge it.

 

[HTTP Error 404]

China is also trying to send a fuckton of Medical supplies to Italy and Iran, either to look like the good guy compared to us (did we even send shit to these countries?), or just outright compensation once word gets out this is literally China's fault and they have to pay the fucking piper to these afflicted nations or else all PR Hell breaks loose and their Belt & Road plan collapses overnight.

No, they aren't. A single Chinese billionare is virtue signaling and showing off his glorious chinese dick to everyone, metaphorically speaking. I don't even think any of that shit will ever be shipped out of China, if he tries the CCP will just steal it from him before it ships.

Lets all try and forget the reason why a lot of these countries are out of supplies is Goblin Resellers and Buying Agents (daigou) swooped up and bought entire fucking cities worth of supplies and mailed them to the other pollution goblins, who wasted and ruined them.

 

[Fluoxetine Man]

FEMA Fun Camps.

TFW Deus Ex becomes real.