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

I can only go by what I see on our news progs/teletext pages.

but I'll betthere's some on OUR side of the pond doing the same

There are several. At least corruption is bipartisan.

Senators Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Sen. James Inhofe (R.-Okla.) and Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.).
Representatives Susan Davis (D-Calif.), Rob Wittman (R-Va.), & Scott Peters (D-Calif.)

Also several senatorial and congressional aides are implicated.

http://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/21/coronavirus-trading-house-senate-140260

&

Is it true that Boris Johnson has the virus now?

That's what I just read.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52060791
Yes
A certain amount of Karma given his not taking it seriously.

Tom Hanks has just recovered from it, without incident apparently.

Another advantage: The air is a lot cleaner in our big cities. And in China. Infamous for having one of the worst air pollutions on the planet.

There's very little traffic here, even at rush hour.

The parking garage at Legacy Place is closed -- no one needs the space. Any cars will fit on the parking lots on the ground. Pretty much all the stores are closed anyway. A few restaurants and cafes are open, for takeout only.

Home depot has a strictly enforced line to get into the store. Everyone has to be six feet apart. That looks awkward, as all the big potted trees and shrubs are outside. So, to buy one of them, I would have to put it in a shopping cart, wait in line, then go into the store, buy it, and then go out the designated exit. Too much of a hassle,.

If I need daffodilss or pansies, I will get them at Whole Foods or Stop and Shop. I can get groceries as well there, so fewer trips.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52060791

Yep! Boris has got it, so do some others in top gov' jobs

money/position in society/film/pop star etc etc - THIS Influenza virus, like others in the past - don't have barriers on whose is safe!

BUT! basic common sense will help a lot
Unfortunately! There are many in the world lacking it

This is still early in the quarantine. Wait until the third month of it .

- A large proportion of the population must be infected with covid-19 during the first wave of the epidemic in order to prevent the next wave from hitting too hard. It makes no sense to find and isolate all the sick, says Kåre Mølbak, director of Infection Preparedness at Denmark's Serum Institute.
- The goal is not that we should avoid the infection, but that it spreads so slowly that the health system can keep up.

I've said it before but will repeat: It will be interesting to see which country has chosen the best way to cope with inevitability. I fear for health system break downs in Sweden, the UK and the USA

New York State is astonishingly besieged by this. They are at the point of collapse of their medical resources.

Eastern Massachusetts has problems in that hospital workers are starting to get sick. At least 100 of them. This will make the hospitals short-staffed until the sick workers recover.

"Italy has showed us how not to do", as one reporter put it

I will have to look that up.

Trump has ordered General Motors to manufacture ventilators.

Someone should make a lot of face masks and hazmat suits. Also sanitizers and thermometers.

I notice that the markets are well-stocked with fresh produce. So, some things are going as well as one would hope.

What "bugs" me the most are the vile lowlifes on our planet, that try and in many cases MAKE money out of this pandemic! Either illegally or by profiteering.
(alas! That's happened throughout history and will also do so in the future)

The absolute incompetence of this administration is staggering. This president has made it policy to gut departments including the CDC and their own team focused on pandemic response. They literally threw out the pandemic playbook because it was created during the previous administration. The refusal to take ANY mitigating actions throughout January and February, referring to a spreading epidemic as a hoax and as democrats politicizing and overblowing the obvious threat, has done so much damage, fatal damage, to our current situation. Their continued refusal to coordinate a response at a national level has resulted in States, cities, counties, and the federal government engaging in goddamn BIDDING WARS over personal protective equipment. N95 masks that cost just fifty cents are currently being sold for $5 and up as each jurisdiction resorts to outbidding others. A warehouse/auction company in Houston had hundreds of thousands of masks confiscated by the city only to then have the feds confiscate them from the city itself.

And as Donald Trump so uncharacteristically, but truthfully stated a few weeks ago in one of his daily briefings, "I take no responsibility!"

Meanwhile people over here are discussing Trump's chances of being re-elected:
- Surely as thousands die, the Americans will finally realize that he is completely inept
- Are you sure? 58,000 Americans had to die in Vietnam before they finally pulled out. And since then even more veterans have killed temselves
- Yeah, the majority doesn't care about school shootings either. He will probably be re-elected

Back to the advantages:
- Parish priests hold their services on the Internet.
- An online supermarket has hired 200 new employees.
- A sex toy store is experiencing a 30 percent growth.