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I wasn't going to start a new thread on the corona virus (seeing as there is already a thread on the subject), but I felt I had say something on the matter just to give you guys an idea of how bad the situation could get. Firstly I'm living and working in northern Italy, so I'm right in the thick of it all. When the virus first came to light in Italy, everyone was saying "it's got nothing to with us, it's a Chinese thing", in fact the first businesses to close were the Chinese ones, because no one would do any business with them. Chinese restaurants, hairdressers,supermarkets, general stores etc.... all closed, and this was about 2 months ago. Then when the virus took hold in Milan/Lombardy region, people were still saying "it's got nothing to do with me, it's a problem for people from Milan". Now this virus is everywhere. The lockdown was a gradual process, it started from social distancing, closing bars restaurants early. It then went up a notch to closing all businesses which were open to the public. People still didn't take it seriously. So the government tightened the screw, now you could only leave your town if you were going to work or had an emergency (and you had to travel with a special permit). And still people didn't get it. So the screw was tightened again, so here's the current situation: ALL non essential businesses are closed, supermarkets are closed weekends, cannot leave town other than for an emergency, can take the dogs for a walk but have to be within a 200 metre radius from my house, non essential items are not being sold (TVs, smartphones, kids toys, magazines, etc...). Now I'm not saying I'm having a tough time staying indoors, but the economic consequences are HUGE. I work for an very large multi million pound company and our sales have gone through the floor. 40 people have already been told that they will be sacked at the end of the month and we don't know when, or if, the company will recover. At the moment I'm on paid leave till April, after that who knows. If you are self employed or have a small business there is help from the government, they'll give you €600 a month, which is nothing if you got a family plus mortgage/rent. I suppose my point is to take this virus seriously because it could change your lives forever. When I call home everyone seems to be so relaxed about the situation. This was the mistake the Italians made and now look how f%%ked up the situation is. Anyway hoping you are all keeping safe and that you you will be all here for QPR's promotion push next season
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This is what a corona virus lockdown is REALLY like on 22:56 - Mar 24 with 3164 views
I’m not really au fait with the Italian attitude to authority - are they generally compliant??? A total lockdown must surely be the only way forward in any country with a stringent testing approach in place. I’d opt for huge short term pain every time rather than the dithering seen here and elsewhere.
I just despair at the general public over here. Too many fcukwits, anti-establishment tvvats, selfish idiots and people that think they’re “well ‘are”. The sad thing is this hideous virus doesn’t discriminate and only take them out, it’s the innocent and the compliant who are also at risk due to their actions
Why we cannot grasp the notion of looking at Italy as a barometer I do not know. Bizarre.
Good luck to you over there mate. Hope we all get through this
Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal
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This is what a corona virus lockdown is REALLY like on 10:30 - Mar 25 with 2855 views
I think they government grossly underestimated just how thick large swathes of it's population actually are. Most of us who live in the real world already knew this.
Stupidity is an industry in this country.
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This is what a corona virus lockdown is REALLY like on 13:24 - Mar 31 with 2665 views
I didn't want to start a new C-19 thread and there's currently a lot of talk about how self employed people are getting screwed by Boris so it didn't feel right to stick this in the middle of it so thought I'd tack it onto here if that's OK.
Event 201
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in partnership with the World Economic Forum and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hosted Event 201, a high-level pandemic exercise on October 18, 2019, in New York, NY. The exercise illustrated areas where public/private partnerships will be necessary during the response to a severe pandemic in order to diminish large-scale economic and societal consequences.
In recent years, the world has seen a growing number of epidemic events, amounting to approximately 200 events annually. These events are increasing, and they are disruptive to health, economies, and society. Managing these events already strains global capacity, even absent a pandemic threat. Experts agree that it is only a matter of time before one of these epidemics becomes global–a pandemic with potentially catastrophic consequences. A severe pandemic, which becomes “Event 201,” would require reliable cooperation among several industries, national governments, and key international institutions.