h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It amazes me that so many people obediently wear the masks everywhere they go. My state has a very low number of new infections on most recent days. Three out of 60,000 is the ratio. I have a better chance of being murdered (1 in 11,000) than I have of catching Covid-19 (1 in 20,000) on any given day. My doctor thinks I would survive it handily even if I did.

probably there are a lot of other diseases that people aren't catchignow because of the distancing and the masks.

Aren't you in Florida?

I thought Florida was, like, the latest apocalypse-crater.

I expect a spike here in the UK when the pubs re-open on Saturday.

Yes, we've deferred reopening our village until Sept. I wouldn't be surprised if there's such an increase in cases that we cancel opening.

Maybe it can be averted by having the pubs serve only drinks with at least 70% alcohol? (bring your own wheelbarrow)

But who's gonna push me home in that wheelbarrow?

The undertaker.

Nah... he's got the kids at home and the job in the mornin'. He ain't gonna wanna stay up that late.

"Aren't you in Florida?" [Mr X]

Florida Sailor is in Florida. I am in Boston, mass. Baron Grim is in Texas, I believe.

My Niece-in-law has a stepmother who has a mobile home in Florida, but she is in Seattle now, I believe.

I'm between Galveston and Houston. I point this out because "Bob" forbid someone thought I was from Dallas. (There's an infamous rivalry between Houston, the fourth largest city in the country, and Dallas which everyone thinks is bigger. People from Houston constantly dis Dallas. People from Dallas are mostly unconcerned with Houston.

The only other active Texas resident here I know of is Gosho. But he mostly just posts his weather reports (from Austin and elsewhere) anymore.

Well did step into a local cafe today..it's a large establishment so I felt comfortable with the social distancing. However other establishments being smaller I won't be visiting them as the distancing is very meagre.I'd require more spacing.

I have happy memories of sipping coffee and eating a fancy pastry at a small cafe in Dedham Square before the Coronavirus ensnared us all. I miss such simple pleasures. I would walk the two miles to the cafe, sit at a table to enjoy my treat, then walk back home. A good four-mile jaunt, with a reward in the middle.

Much of what makes the world enjoyable has been killed by this virus.

Lock down what lockdown? And Mask wearing? Now it's the thing..Why wasn't it at the beginning 4 months ago and what's changed to make it ok now?

Possibly because there were no masks to be found and what was available was only for the NHS because no one had prepared sufficiently for the next pandemic after SARS.

It's all been too confusing because too many people kept changing their minds about what was right. If they ever knew.

You can add me to the angry list.

The powers that be started out not knowing what they ere doing. I can only think of two exceptions: the governor of Massachusetts who was head of an HMO before going into politics, and the rime Minister of Ireland, who is a doctor.

The fact that the government has abandoned the daily updates and we now have to scramble around to find the daily updated infection numbers and daily death toll proves to me that they are absolutely trying to hide the fact that they have no real idea of what they are doing. Still I think they are doing a better job than the administration in the US from my viewpoint sitting here across the Atlantic divide..

Good luck to you.

What gets me is all this 'we're thinking about/planning to do'...
then 'effective from'.
Ok, they might want to consider expert views etc before making a decision, but if something needs to be implemented, start straight away. It can be made enforceable after a future date.

The U.S. federal government is headed by a terribly incompetent person. Some states have better governors than others.

The latest news I've seen suggests that, after some horrible experiences in places like Italy and Spain, they have turned a corner and seem to be doing better than the U.S. No a high bar to surmount, though.

The US federal government is headed by a terribly incompetent person who also happens to be the leader of a vast conspiracy cult that includes members who control one half of the legislative branch and many members of the judiciary branch.

If you believe that at best he's misguided, and at worst evil, I'm not going to complain about his competence at promoting evil.

Well it seems that just as we are opening up again we are closing down. A sudden last minute decision by the guvvermint to enforce quarantine on travellers returning from Spain. Nice one.