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[McTraveller]

Wow. 10 million people "officially" unemployed in the US now.  That's a huge portion of the working population in the US.  Apparently the US working population is just shy of 160 million.  So this is like 6% in two weeks.   

We had 6 million new filing in one week - this is 10 times the peak rate in the 2008-2009 recession.

Yeah I know "don't just focus on the economy" but holy crap.

[Iduno]

Like, I get respect for a constitution and rule of law and whatnot, but sometimes you should probably just go, "Yeah, maybe we don't actually need to spread the crow plague to agree to procedure to avoid spreading the crow plague." Just throwing that one out there. Anyone with sense will understand. Anyone without can be conscripted to give aid to quarantined citizens or somethin'. Pretty sure folks could figure something reasonable out.

In a world without pesky lawyers that would work. I suppose our government is just trying to make sure that there will not be millions of lawsuits against laws that were passed unconstitutionally because the parliament's and senate's vote were invalid.

I would prefer following law, while reducing risk. For example, can they meet on say a soccer field what would allow them to maintain a decent distance? I prefer that to "we ignored laws because reasons".

Good idea, but the laws usually specify where and when they're allowed to meet.

[wierd]

telepresence robots yo.

[martinuzz]

telepresence robots yo.

Too risky, they might get infected with a Chinese or Russian virus

[Dostoevsky]

Same dynamic currently existing in the US House, actually. To do remote voting they need to change the rules, which... requires a vote.

There are a few ways to navigate that in a way that minimizes congregating, but those in turn require the members of congress to be amenable.

(Back during the 1918 flu the House faced the same problem; they literally didn't have enough non-sick people to get a quorum. So after much haranguing and arguing they finally got a unanimous consent agreement through.)

Edit: On the unemployment figures, this is looking like it'll become an interesting dilemma (or perhaps Rorschach test). In theory the millions of people can get unemployment benefits from the government to blunt the effects, but there's no way in expletive that the current bureaucracy can handle this size of surge.

In that case is the problem in a too-'lean' government that should have been better ready to handle problems? Or is the problem that the government can't handle this, and that there should be less restrictions / other ways? Nonprofits and charities that traditionally help (e.g. food banks) are also getting overwhelmed, though, and in some cases are already relying on National Guard troops and supplies.

(And yes, I have my own opinions on the matter - that governments and companies alike have been running too lean for a while now - but recognize that these things are neither binary nor easy questions.)

[Iduno]

So at least one of my coworkers who has been sick (probably Corvid) isn't going to go get tested because it's too expensive to go to a doctor. He's worried because the guy he probably caught it from was younger and healthier than him, prior to dying.

[McTraveller]

Out of curiosity - why does it matter if he is tested or not? Shouldn't he just be staying home anyway?

I really don't understand this obsession with "I might be sick but I can't get tested" thing from a practical standpoint.  Of course, I'm in a state with a "shelter in place" order so maybe my locale is different.

[TD1]

A friend from work (a friend of me and two of my brothers, actually) has it. He's maybe 40-something, but is in a critical condition in hospital. Retail, you see. A very, very nice man.

[ChairmanPoo]

Its a frigging lottery, thats what all the curfew breakers dont get. Even if older people have a higher risk... in the end you do see people in their 80s walk it out and people in their 20s keel over and die.

And yes, overall personal risk is low.... odds are that you'll be OK. But you dont know that you'll be. Do you really want to risk being the one who ends up with a plastic tube down the throat?

[TamerVirus]

Seems like most people who end up on the ventilator end up dead...
The NY gov said it’s roughly a 20% chance you live.
EU folk I think have said it’s a coin flip 50/50

[thompson]

Seems like most people who end up on the ventilator end up dead...
The NY gov said it’s roughly a 20% chance you live.
EU folk I think have said it’s a coin flip 50/50

Not too surprising, I suppose. Presumably these numbers are sensitive to the timeliness of intervention, with less overwhelmed health systems being more responsive and having higher recovery rates?

[Iduno]

Out of curiosity - why does it matter if he is tested or not? Shouldn't he just be staying home anyway?

I really don't understand this obsession with "I might be sick but I can't get tested" thing from a practical standpoint.  Of course, I'm in a state with a "shelter in place" order so maybe my locale is different.

I guess it's more that he can't even get tested. Treatment would be way beyond what he could afford.

[Doomblade187]

This little gem: Brian Kemp is a clown.

[Folly]

To be fair, Trump has been preaching that exact message pretty much every day since this thing started. It should come as no surprise that a few governors actually believed him.

[thompson]

To be fair, Trump has been preaching that exact message pretty much every day since this thing started. It should come as no surprise that a few governors actually believed him.

Nah, if he’s taking his medical advice from Trump he’s still an idiot. If anything, Trump might be able to get by on the defence that he legitimately doesn’t give a shit and only ran for presidency to appease his ego. If you regard moral bankruptcy as a lesser charge than stupidity, that is.