PSA: Coronavirus news

[Betty]

Please send this video to all our governments & make them actually watch it, so we all don't get sick or die.

This is a little similar to what my math on the computer came up with.

Recovery from this virus can be a bitch too, with lung infections. It permanently damages & scars your lung tissue, so you have COPD the rest of your life -- your life is shortened with COPD, & it is not a happy life.

It happened to me from the worst flu of my life (and it almost killed me). Lung diseases & lung infections can be more damaging to your lungs than smoking.

https://youtu.be/gxAaO2rsdIs

[JamieBoyBoy]

Everything you say is real and true and I won't and can't try to distract you from your well-earned fear.

And I believe you are right, certainly; it is going to get worse, and you and your family's vulnerability will be risked more yet, and the present administration's multiple, criminal failings won't help.

And yet... and I can't stress this enough for those reading (and I know Betty's sites have huge traffic)… The world is not ending.

I actually, strongly believe that while the world is going to be hurt by this, it will recover, for the vast majority. And while there's a good chance government will get more dystopian, there's a chance of sanity, too.

A small bit of perspective:
 
I'm 52, raised in central Canada, and I've never... EVER experienced a world-wide crises that affected me directly. However, my grandparents got hit THREE TIMES; World War I, Spanish Flu, the 1929 stock market crash/Great Depression, and World War II. I won't talk about the wars; obviously, they were far more devastating than anything else... but the Spanish Flu was a bastard. I haven't looked at the numbers recently but it spread and killed crazy numbers.

And today, we have tech that helps immensely. Some that doesn't (social media is poison these days), but much that does. Lots about our systems are not performing well (ventilators/masks/etc. shortages) but we are mobilizing fast to come back.

Entire industries are switching gears; Labbat's in Canada has switched production to sanitizers (taste: unchanged); 2,300 small industries have been restructured to retain employees and produce needed medical material; the list goes on.

People are sick and dying, but in reality, it's overwhelmed hospitals that's the crux of the problem. And things like all of us staying home and 'flattening the curve' actually works. I feel I can trust Canadian health sources and what I'm seeing tells me it's working (except for some rampant spread parts of cities).

The USA seems to be the hot-spot right now (and it may ruin my career... 80% of our customers are in the USA), but if y'all get it under control within a few months, I truly believe the economy will begin to bounce back... for what it's worth.

Vaccine work is continuing with Canada and Sweden seeming to lead the way; clinical trials fast-tracked with several hospital tests done already. It's not 9 months away, I don't believe. I think it'll come sooner.

I've got one final proof that things will essentially be okay: I just negotiated my last 5-year term of my mortgage. God would never let me out of this 19-year albatross of debt. So, I know at the very least, the banking system will survive.

I've been rambling.  Sorry, Betty.  I mean well. I'm well stoned on 300 mg edible and fell into a word-hole. Let's get drunk and play scrabble.

[Betty]

We moved from the Usenet (newsgroups) to the internet in spring 1994. Opening our first forum to the pubic on the first day of spring (deliberately planned on the spring deadline/opening). A few weeks later, overwhelmed with long stories, on a small free server, I made our stories section on a separate site to spread the load & traffic out.

So Betty's on the internet in a BBS/forum form, just turned 26 years old this spring.

Because of that, most of our regular & long term users are over 40, & we also have a higher number of people over 50 than average websites. Along with physical problems that usually accompany aging, & the weaker immune system of older people, we are the most vulnerable of getting permanent, serious lung damage from the virus, or dying.

So although it is a small percentage of the average population that is getting severely ill or dying from the virus (so far), it is a significantly larger percentage of most of us here at Betty's.

On a happier note, not only did Betty's, on the internet turn 26 years old on the first day of spring. Our hit counter, counting since September 2004, just hit 55 million hits around the same time.

[Sissy Little Girl]

Betty, I'm scared of the COVID-19 epidemic, too.  I'm 66 and am considered vulnerable because I have diabetes and breathing issues.  I have a room mate that goes out with his friends and I have to worry about him bringing in something that I can't get rid of.  All of us that are senior citizens have to be extra vigilant in order to keep from getting this deadly virus.  Life sure changed in 2020 and I don't like it.

[Betty]

Gosh. Something like that, putting your life at risk, you may have legal grounds to kick him out (or have him hauled away) & find another roommate. If not, move out so he has to find another roommate.

[Sandra B]

And let's not forget the origins of the disease - the abuse and the commoditising of animals.

[JamieBoyBoy]

And let's not forget the origins of the disease - the abuse and the commoditising of animals.

Thankfully, this seems to finally be being addressed by some parts of some countries. Bush meat has been banned around Hunan province in China with more districts to come, and Vietnam (I think? Vietnam or a neighbor) has banned cat and dog trade, restricting them to being pets.

It's not enough, but at least it's a start.