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Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

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Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#291

Post by thinkingemote »

oefrha wrote: post #215
didericis wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think when this all comes to an end, China will be one of the countries that dealt with the virus the best. Countries without authoritarian governments likely don't have the means to effectively quarantine major cities and shut down massive portions of their economy immediately without major problems arising. China's authoritarian government is largely responsible for the severity of the initial outbreak. Their e…

> Last time I checked they were still barring members of the CDC from going into China to help asses the situation. I checked and the WHO team led by a Canadian epidemiologist has been working in China for more than two weeks, since Feb 10. I fail to see why they are obligated to allow in a team from a nation that’s been openly hostile for a long time just because they asked and used the word “help”. Sounds like arro…

Just to make it clear in case readers were unaware:

CDC: Center for Disease Control - a US Federal agency.

WHO: World Health Organisation - a United Nations organisation.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#292

Post by netsharc »

baq wrote: post #249
oefrha wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Last time I checked they were still barring members of the CDC from going into China to help asses the situation. I checked and the WHO team led by a Canadian epidemiologist has been working in China for more than two weeks, since Feb 10. I fail to see why they are obligated to allow in a team from a nation that’s been openly hostile for a long time just because they asked and used the word “help”. Sounds like arro…

the WHO has taken some not entirely transparent actions during handling of this epidemic and there are allegations that it's boss has a conflict of interest (his country apparently takes a lot of investments from China) and also that there are some pandemic-related financial instruments from which certain parties stand to benefit June 2020 if pandemic isn't declared. these are all hearsay but would explain trying to…

WHO politicking can be explained with other than an (IMO semi-bigoted) "China has a lot of investments in Ethiopia", it's got to do with trying to deal with an authoritarian country that doesn't like losing face. If WHO said something that can be taken as an insult, China can tell them to GTFO, and the WHO would lose first hand experience of what's going on there, which might make things more catastrophic..

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#293

Post by londons_explore »

PopePompus wrote: post #109
tinza123 wrote: post #12

Containing it? It's hopeless. Just cancel earlier so the economic loss can be contained.

It would be a crushing blow to the athletes, who get just a few chances to do this in their lives. If it looks like holding normal games would be a health disaster, perhaps they should hold the games, but without spectators. Everyone can watch it via TV or streaming.

I believe TV licensing fees generate far more revenue than the direct ticket sales anyway. I bet in some sports, ticket sales barely cover the costs of building the seating and stadium. If you didn't have a local public, most events could just be held in a field.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#294

Post by woopdidoop »

asiachick wrote: post #268
_nkl1 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think when this all comes to an end, China will be one of the countries that dealt with the virus the best. Countries without authoritarian governments likely don't have the means to effectively quarantine major cities and shut down massive portions of their economy immediately without major problems arising. Given a couple weeks, sure, but by then it will be too late. It may well seem that way in retrospect. Whe…

Do you really think it will be any different in the USA or Europe? Will the governments ban conventions? Close restaurants and bars? Shut down shopping malls? Or will instead, in the interest of "the economy" (ie, money) keep too light a hand on things. Basically I don't expect the west to be able to react to this any better if it gets big. Their populations are uncontrollable (for mostly good reason) but in this par…

> Do you really think it will be any different in the USA or Europe? Will the governments ban conventions? Close restaurants and bars? Shut down shopping malls?

You are poorly informed. The Italian government did precisely that this weekend.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#295

Post by knzhou »

thrwawaycorona wrote: post #281
rococode wrote: post #46

I've been checking for updates on the virus several times a day since it first started being reported in Western media around Jan 20 (in part because it's been a fun distraction, in part because I have friends in Wuhan). I like to think I'm generally an optimist, but I think it's been clear for several weeks now that this is going to have a significant worldwide impact. There are just too many factors in favor of unc…

[flagged]

Your first item is just a dumb misunderstanding of basic terminology. Recombinant doesn't necessarily mean man-made. It literally just means anything involving a combination of different DNA, whether that occurs naturally or artificially.

The second item is true but completely unrelated.

The third item was thoroughly debunked by a hundred real scientists the day it was posted. The paper had never passed peer review, and was retracted by the authors from the preprint server it was posted on the next day.

You should stop talking to your friend, who is an idiot. Frankly, this post is embarrassing, and you were right to use an alt.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#296

Post by guiriduro »

Scarblac wrote: post #144
mlang23 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't count on the EU doing anything other then slow talk. They are definitely not going to close any borders. At least I would be very surprised if they did.

It's not a power the EU has. Health care as well is just not a subject the EU has any role in.

Not so - there are many areas where the EU is involved: every EU citizen gets the same access to healthcare in each country as their own citizens, that's one of the rules of membership. Coordinated health research just to name another area...

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#297

Post by pbourke »

scruple wrote: post #183
dis-sys wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Multiple doctors in their late 20s or early 30s have died from the coronavirus. If you are under 18 and have good health, then you are pretty safe.

I've been trying to find mortality rates for the very young. Infants and toddlers. I haven't been finding much information. Is this being reported? Having twins under a year at home has somehow managed to become an even more stressful event...

There was a study[1] released by China CDC that tracked 44,000 patients to 11 Feb. They found zero deaths under age 9, with 416 cases. The study doesn't load for me, so here's the wayback link[2].

[1] http://weekly.chinacdc.cn/en/article/id/e53946e2-c6c4-41e9-9...

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20200221051245/http://weekly.chi...

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#298

Post by tanilama »

allovernow wrote: post #234
oefrha wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Last time I checked they were still barring members of the CDC from going into China to help asses the situation. I checked and the WHO team led by a Canadian epidemiologist has been working in China for more than two weeks, since Feb 10. I fail to see why they are obligated to allow in a team from a nation that’s been openly hostile for a long time just because they asked and used the word “help”. Sounds like arro…

This is not an event for petty emotions. Also in high likelihood those who are there on behalf of the CDC are keeping quiet in order not to be kicked out. But you bet there's espionage going on. The Chinese government doesn't mess around. And in this case it'd be justified. You're talking about the rest of the world at stake. This is no place for cover-ups and minimization. Transparency is critical.

Looking at CDC's response so far:

1. Testing only 400 cases across the whole country.

2. Defective test kits which will only be fixed until Mid March

3. Hawaii now asking ask Japan(which by itself is doing a horrible job at handling the situation) for test kits because they have none, and test 0 people so far.

Doesn't seem first world to me honestly. Might have South Korea gives them some lessons as how to deal with the pandemic situation. Maybe they are transparent and honest, but I really don't want to understand much more about how little they can do.

I am watching the development almost hourly everyday and so far CDC is only giving me more reasons to panic.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#299

Post by [deleted] »

irq11 wrote: post #235
puranjay wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest impact will be on global supply chains. Also paints into sharp contrast our over reliance on China. A side project I'm working on uses a key component from a Chinese manufacturer. Their factory has been shut indefinitely and we are 40 days behind schedule. My rep told me that while they've been working on the marketing/tech side of things from home, the factory can't open since workers are simply refusing…

People are eventually going to realize that the economic costs of this reaction far exceeds the cost of letting it spread, and things will slowly return to normal. The only real uncertainty at this point is if the HN/reddit fever-dream scenario of overwhelmed hospitals plays out, outside of Wuhan. So far, it has not.

[deleted]

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#300

Post by kzrdude »

akmarinov wrote: post #6

The European football cup is looking like it will be canceled as well.

Why? Spreading out the venues over the whole of Europe seems to be a good strategy (not intentional, of course) for an event like an epidemic. Less concentration of fans and teams that way.
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