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Working From Home - Impacts of Coronavirus
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SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: Zero999 on May 26, 2020, 12:40:47 pm ---Just a few points:

Regarding the church: perhaps it was too early to reopen, but at least the contact tracing and tescting capacity is now good enough to link the outbreak to the church. If the desease isn't too widespread, then clusters can be isolated by only locking down small towns or just closing places, where there's a high concentration of cases. If this is just an isolated outbreak, then just close the local churches, rather than all of them.

One of the myths about COVID-19 is it only affects old people and those with pre-existing health problems. Whilst it's true, the mortality rate is much higher for older people, a lot of relatively young and healthy people become very sick and will die without medical attention. At the moment one of my colleague's daughers is very ill in hospital with pnumonia due to COVID-19, at the young age of 21. The data we have gives an infection mortality rate of around 1%, but this in places with good universal heathcare such as China: without medical attention it could easilly be around five times that. Other deases don't stop because of the pandemic. If hospitals are overwhelmed, then plenty of others with easilly treatable illness will die. At the very least, it's important to keep the rate of infections below the healthcare capacity.

Yes there are people who will make more money from the pandemic, making gloves, masks, UVC lamps etc.  and there will be those who will have saved money, as they continiued to work, but not had the same opportunity to spend, since all the resturaunts and bars have been closed. Hopefully when everything finally does open back up again, those who have profited and saved will spend more, stimulating the recovery. Unfortunately since economies are linked internationally, the impact of local governments' decisions will depend on what happens to the rest of the world.

Interestinly it seems that the pandemic itself will damage the economy, possibly more than any lockdown, if nothing is done. A study into the 1918 pandemic showed that cities which reacted earlier and had longer restrictions, recovered more quickly economically, than those which did less. Yes I accept there are flaws in the study: low frequency data, the cities weren't comparable with one another and things are different now, as back then the economy was less focused on services, than it is to day, but we should always learn from history and the negative effects of the pandemic itself shouldn't be ignored.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/3/31/21199874/coronavirus-spanish-flu-social-distancing

--- End quote ---

It seems pretty clear that population density matters a lot -  out in the countryside, the virus has less opportunity to spread than in dense urban environments.
splin:
Anyone know how this electrostatically applied disinfectant works?


--- Quote ---Train firm using disinfectant which ‘will kill coronavirus for up to 30 days’
--- End quote ---

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2020/05/26/train-firm-using-disinfectant-which-will-kill-coronavirus-for-up-to-30-days/

How likely is it to be quickly worn off frequently handled surfaces such as grab rails etc?

If it is effective for such a long period why isn't it more widely used in hospitals,  catering kitchens etc?  Is it because there might be some health risk due to exposure to agents which are biologically active for prolonged periods?

It also talks about using anti-viral cleaning products that protect surfaces for 24 hours.  Is this the norm for typical household cleaners (until rinsed off perhaps) or are they referring to specialized long lasting products?
Nusa:
That quote was of the title, which itself was quoting a phrase. More complete quote, from the article:

--- Quote ---Britain’s largest rail franchise is using disinfectant which it claims will kill coronavirus on surfaces for up to 30 days.
--- End quote ---
Keywords: "claims", and especially "up to"
Which leaves a lot of wiggle room in real-world applications. If it fails after 2 days for whatever reason, they've still met their claim.

In any case, the implication is that this is something fairly new. A health-care or food setting is going to have to wait for safety certifications before using it.
Mr. Scram:

--- Quote from: nctnico on May 26, 2020, 09:43:40 am ---You have to put some numbers on it. For example: the economy of Germany is expected to shrink by 6.6% in 2020. That means that 93.4% of the businesses are still running. Other countries show similar numbers and the economic contraction is on par to that of credit-crunch of 2008. All in all the impact of the Covid19 pandemic is not the economic catastrophy people think it is. A few sectors like airlines, restaurants/bars are hit hard but others can continue. Since public transport is a no-go for many there is a boom in car sales around the corner.

--- End quote ---
The economy isn't a rational state machine, though. Small things can have a huge impact, even if it's ridiculous in every way.
PlainName:
This is why the UK coronavirus app, and similar that use a centralised database, are going to fail:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/26/chinese-city-plans-to-turn-coronavirus-app-into-permanent-health-tracker

Fact is, we don't trust out PTB. They turned RIPA from something that would only be used in direst circumstances to combat terrorists into something the local council uses to make sure parents aren't cheating in placing kids at school. And the proof this weekend that out elite government see us as expendable fallguys only reinforces that inkling that once they have a toe in the door they'll wedge it wide open.
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