Covid 19 - Updates from your zones

[ftmshepard]

Hmmm. Are you sure said minister doesn't have any stakes in a card-making company?

But yeah, you're of course right. I just wish people would take the sensible measures seriously. Infections have been rising here for two weeks now, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the recent relaxations get reversed again.

*shakes fist at entire US*
I know multiple people who refuse to wear masks. Thankfully, they don't go out much, but it's incredibly frustrating.

[Yastreb]

Shep, "Twelve Monkeys" is a rather old movie (nineties I think, but not sure) I stumbled across when researching for a school presentation on post-apocalyptic fiction a year ago (the same presentation that made me find SSSS in fact). I think it got a remake recently, but I´ve only seen the original, back when the entire lockdown-thing started.

It was remade as a TV series. I saw Season 1 and a bit of Season 2, and while it started off as interesting and involving, it lost me (and the friend I watched it with) because of the bewildering complexity of the timeline/s that ensued from the plot.

[lumilaulu]

*shakes fist at entire US*
I know multiple people who refuse to wear masks. Thankfully, they don't go out much, but it's incredibly frustrating.

Most people here didn't wear one either when wearing a mask was merely recommended, but it turned out many people were actually in favour of making mask-wearing obligatory (as well as the virologists and epidemiologists who advise the government, obviously), so they made it obligatory in basically all enclosed public spaces (public transport, shops, places of worship, libraries, ...). And, importantly, they installed fines of €250 for a first offence, and up to €4000 or a week to a few months in jail for a second offence. You still see people not wearing a mask, and a lot of people wearing theirs incorrectly, but the vast majority does, whether it's because they see the need or because they simply don't want to risk a fine.

[Vulpes]

Hmmm. Are you sure said minister doesn't have any stakes in a card-making company?

But yeah, you're of course right. I just wish people would take the sensible measures seriously. Infections have been rising here for two weeks now, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the recent relaxations get reversed again.

   More likely his cousin runs a shop that sells cards, but otherwise, spot on!

No new cases here in some time, and fairly restricted travel, so fingers crossed there will only be sporadic cases and we won't have to go back to more restrictions. I'm enjoying scooping my own stuff at the bulk food place again, even if their hand sanitizer dispenser splurts out about twice what you need.

[Yastreb]

As I type this, Stage 4 restrictions will be in effect in twenty minutes now that a state of disaster has been declared.

There will be a curfew from 2000 to 0500 with exemptions for work, care-giving, medical and compassionate reasons. This exceeds all wartime restrictions.

Exercise is restricted to a maximum of one hour daily within 5km of home, with one other person.

Shopping is to be done by only one person per household per day within 5km or the closest supermarket, with exemption for care-giving and assisting the elderly.

Childcare will be closed, with few exemptions for "vulnerable children and children of permitted workers."

Restaurants and cafes are allowed takeaway and home delivery subject to conditions. Bottle shops will remain open.

Weddings are banned from Thursday.

These restrictions will be in effect for the next six weeks.

[Róisín]

Yastreb, I have been following the news from Melbourne. I am afraid for you. Take all the care you can. I’m about to ring you, having just got in from a long and difficult day of my own and found your message. At present I am taking a bit of time to shake, have a cup of tea and luxuriate in the Forum. Glad of the sane company here, having been ploughing through medical bureaucrap for much of the day. Also, Liz, Maurice and Cheryl send greetings to you.

[Jitter]

Hang on, Yastreb! Let’s hope the precautions will be sufficient to keep you and others safe. We are thinking of you!

Róisín, same to you. I’m glad it’s not quite as bad in the Adelaide area, I am hoping it will stay that way too. “Bureaucrap” is a great word!

Stay safe, all!

[Mirasol]

Oh dear, that sounds very not good, Yastreb... Hang in there! Sending good thoughts your way, even though that probably won´t help much.

And of course to you too, Róisín! Even if the situation isn´t as bad where you live. May that entire thing soon be under control again.

[Róisín]

Thank you all! The kind thoughts do help. I have friends and kin in Melbourne in addition to Yastreb, And I worry about them all. We are still surviving here, though we have medical concerns in addition to Covid. Hard times, but the only way out is through.

[Mebediel]

Stay safe Yastreb! And I'm hoping that your other friends and family in Melbourne stay safe as well, Róisín. (And that you and your husband stay safe too, of course, even though you're not in Melbourne.)

[PaperArtillery]

Still alive and kicking here in Richmond, VA, US (I used to be in a different part of Virginia, but moved a year or so ago). Have a high suspicion I had "it" back in April (3-4 days of feeling like reheated garbage, couldn't take a full breath without some pain, headaches, joint aches, absolutely zero energy), but if the roommates caught it, they didn't show it. Worried about the reopening of schools and such, and I work in the alcohol industry, so of course we're still open...

The county I live in has had ~4000 confirmed cases and 75 deaths, a few of which are at a juvenile jail pretty much right across the street from me. The county of my hometown has only seen 19 deaths, last I checked, and also far fewer infections (but is basically all farmland and mountains).

America. 

EDIT: The number of people who are vehemently against masks continues to be depressing. Such people even get verbally violent and sometimes physically threaten us at work if we politely suggest they pick a disposable one off the table when coming in. Ugh.

[Grade E cat]

Unfortunately, in case anyone thinks it's a US-only thing, the number of anti-mask people has grown enough in France that media are talking about it, though most will comply if they need to wear one to go into a store or something. As for the stubborn minority... a few weeks ago, a bus driver literally got beaten-up for refusing to let people who weren't wearing masks his bus (masks were already mandatory on public transport), and died from the injuries. Also, as an introvert on the autistic spectrum, I can't even start to comprehend how people can want to go to those crowded parties (whose organizers tend to be lenient on mask-wearing) that are probably going to be the cause of France's second wave that badly...

[JoB]

Unfortunately, in case anyone thinks it's a US-only thing, the number of anti-mask people has grown enough in France that media are talking about it

According to our local media, the anti-mask demonstrations in Berlin have been noted internationally, so I'll spare you the details.

(As someone who does privacy protection, among other things, for a living, and has eyed the German normal-times prohibition of wearing masks on demonstrations as a murky case of denying citizens a right to anonymity, words fail me to express my position on people protesting an obligation to wear them. "Maulkorb", my posterior. As if those masks were gags to physically silence you. Or prevent you having your name printed on your shirt in five-inch-high letters if you insist on nonanonymity.)

In other news, I made the trip back from my vacation in a long distance bus lately ... total travel time ~23h. Official requirement by The Green Bus Guys: Keep a mask on at all times, and the belt as well.

Har har. I don't think that anyone besides myself ever put the belt on (and even I needed a couple dozen kilometers to figure out how to do that in the first place). When they switched drivers in Italy, the second new driver ambled all along the aisle, pointing a finger at everyone not wearing a mask and machine-gunning out "mascherino!, mascherino!, mascherino!, ...". Once. You have three guesses how persistently masks happened to actually be worn.

Spoiler: some nation bashing • show

What I found a bit surprising is that the (recognizable) Swiss aboard, with all their droplet-promising fricatives, were even faster to lose the masks than the (seemingly?) Italians. I swear, if CoViD-19 doesn't manage to get Schwyzerdütsch categorized as a WMD, it's not gonna happen, ever.

[Grade E cat]

(As someone who does privacy protection, among other things, for a living, and has eyed the German normal-times prohibition of wearing masks on demonstrations as a murky case of denying citizens a right to anonymity, words fail me to express my position on people protesting an obligation to wear them. "Maulkorb", my posterior. As if those masks were gags to physically silence you. Or prevent you having your name printed on your shirt in five-inch-high letters if you insist on nonanonymity.)

Between a previous President who passed a law that, according to common knowledge, was essentially meant to keep Muslim women from wearing burkas and niqabs in public and a law meant to give the police an excuse to arrest potential violent protesters/looters (and a some peaceful ones who just don't want to be gassed) passed during the "gilet jaunes" demonstrations, we have a quite interesting situation when it comes to face concealment here, as well.

[Jitter]

Finland is facing the second wave, which probably doesn’t surprise anyone. Number of cases is still low (29 new cases today) but it’s climbing fast again. Officially we are “keeping a very careful eye on the developments” as “time will tell if this keeps up or is just a random clustering” but let’s face it, it’s coming. Schools restart in a week, initially in-class. Many of the restrictions have been lifted, even public gatherings since 1 August.  Travel to some countries is allowed and some do go - this is a terrible dilemma concerning how I feel about it! On one hand, many areas are utterly dependent on tourism and I don’t want any countries to go bankrupt. On the other, I don’t want anyone to go abroad and bring the corona back (it’s back, it hasn’t been away, but you know what I mean).

Now there is talk of giving “strict recommendation” to wear masks in public transport and public indoor places. It’s not legally possible to give a binding order, but at least the previous “strict recommendations” were followed pretty well.

This isn’t a huge problem for me as both me and hubby can continue to work from home, but clearly people are getting tired of ir ll even here in Finland, where we have gotten off pretty easy so far.