Why can't this be upvoted?
Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country
221–230 of 915 posts
Re: Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country
#222Earlier quoted context omitted.
This has been seen in Hong Kong already. It's been noted that residents there were very receptive to social distancing measures due to their experience with SARS in 2003. Data provided by the government’s Centre for Health Protection show the incidence of infection with influenza had fallen to less than 1 per cent by the end of February, marking an end to the winter flu season, which normally extends to the end of Ma…
"It's been noted that residents there were very receptive to social distancing measures due to their experience with SARS in 2003" It's going to be interesting how society changes as a result of this, for those of us who live through it.
> for those of us who live through it
Please don't needlessly add drama to the already fairly panicked response. Virtually everyone under the age of seventy will live through it. The death rate for young to middle-aged adults is two or three per thousand.
Re: Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
People in the UK have already been panic buying, mostly pasta and toilet roll AFAICT
It’s probably a good thing honestly. Better that people panic buy now, when the disease is still rare, than later when it isn’t. There’s only so many toilet rolls that a person needs.
Yes, surely it’s better to have a slow rise in demand for food while supply chains are still intact, rather than having a sudden panic when it gets worse.
Re: Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country
#224Italy is a country of 60M+ people and the 8th largest economy in the world, with a very high national debt and that significantly relies on tourism for its economy. Above and beyond the Coronavirus, this can terribly affect the long-term solvency of the country.
> relies on tourism for its economy
Yup, but I got destroyed for that. We will be fine. Just keep your hands clean ffs.
Re: Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country
#225Re: Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country
#226I was not very surprised that Italy turned out to be the (first?) major hit in Europe. Considering the strong business connections, it had to be either us or Germany. We are, as much of the world, importers from China, but many enterprises here are also, somewhat, strong exporters to China (I can see it from my dayjob as industrial automation SI), and if you factor in the small average size of Italian companies requi…
> Another interesting thing I have just noticed is that some journalists are now openly praising the Chinese handling of the crisis.
I think this is a very interesting effect. China has a fantastic ability to mobilize as one when needed. The vast majority of the time, the insane amount of control this requires, is something we're simply not comfortable with giving to governments. But sometimes, just sometimes, the results are worth it.
The closest equivalence I could think of that'd be familiar to American ears, would be the WW2 war effort. It's not how most of us would want a country run day-to-day, but the ability to do so when needed is incredibly powerful.
Pumping a hospital out in a week or a battleship out in a month aren't dissimilar in national focus. And they're both achievements. What makes China feel alien to us is that this is their default stance.
(And that said, there's plenty to be critical of in the earlier days of China's response. But in the interest of sharing data and research, we're catching more flies with honey.)
Re: Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country
#227Re: Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country
#228Just spoken to an Italian friend, apparently they got a few hours notice before this was enforced (much more kept under-wraps than the previous quarantine of Northern Italy). Expect other Western European Countries to follow this pattern as the number of cases increase [1]. I would specifically be looking at France, Spain and Germany as potential next candidates. If people here haven't already, I would recommend not…
People in the UK have already been panic buying, mostly pasta and toilet roll AFAICT
> mostly pasta
Sensible choice all things considered. I think instant noodles are also a pretty good bet, I personally make a noodle soup with vegetables to bring up the nutrition a bit. I would also add frozen vegetables to the list as it keeps for ages and balances out most meals, whilst still being quite good for you.
Re: Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country
#229It seems like these actions taken by governments will ultimately be futile, so the question is: can a vaccine or effective antiviral be developed fast enough to be worth the ~2-4 months of "slow spread" that can be bought in exchange for the economic and social slowdowns a country will sustain by creating massive quarantines like this? While an authoritarian government may be better suited to positively addressing so…
Assuming that survival grants some level of immunity, if you can flatten the curve of the epidemic, you can make a limited supply of hospital beds, supplies, and personnel go a lot further.
Re: Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country
#230Italy is a country of 60M+ people and the 8th largest economy in the world, with a very high national debt and that significantly relies on tourism for its economy. Above and beyond the Coronavirus, this can terribly affect the long-term solvency of the country.
I hope (and suspect) that the ECB (and Europe as a whole) will financially stand behind Italy, no questions asked (I'm a fellow European).
A full-scale failiure of the Italian economy and/or failing of any major Italian bank is "game over" for the Euro. The Greece bailout already had the Eurozone down on its knees, but this is a different dimension.