This is not expected to be an annual thing, only if the virus will prove to be as changable as the flu virus, which is not known from corona viruses in the past. It is expected that a proper vaccin will help for more than one year, unlike the flu. But only time will tell, this virus has had many surprises in its sleeve sofar.
What will be likely is that new pandemics will appear in the future, not every year but surely every 10 years. The previous HIV, corona, flu, ebola, etc. epidemics had limited impact on the economies of the rich countries, a lot of effort was invested in containing them, but relatively little time and money was spent on preventing the next outbreak. This time is different, this pandemic is so expensive that huge money and effort will be spent on preventing future outbreaks. Hopefully China will think about how to decimate the risk of animal-human transmission in the future (and not only China, MERS originated in the Middle-East, HIV in Africa), so that these pandemics will be more scarce. And maybe measures will be implemented in aviation so that they have a proper system ready for preventing the spreading out of diseases all over the world. And I guess that countries will beef up their health systems before anything happens instead of afterwards.
My parents wanted to spend their vacation in Croatia this autumn. Out of a sudden, Ryanair already cancelled their flight for reasons unknown (to my mind it smells like Corona). Now, Ryanair is unfortunately famous for playing tricks with their customers. They do offer a full refund but guess what happens when you try to click on the "refund" button. Yes, nothing. "Sorry, there's a technical error in our system - please try again later." This is a typical pattern and their customer service is non-existent. The travel agency my parents used to book another journey is now remaining silent with very little chances to get a refund for they already know they will go bankrupt like many other travel agencies, too. Sorry for ranting a bit here. I would also suggest to get in touch with the bank and see if VISA, AMEX or whatever credit card you were using is able to run a chargeback.
First of all, please don't take my following words in a political/controversial way. It's just interesting that the U.S. federal system is - at least in some ways - similar to the German federal system. We have 16 federal states in Germany and every state can - to a certain degree - decide on their own how to handle the crisis. In a hurry, the German goverment has now concluded some emergency laws that will centralize this system in some crucial aspects, e.g. healthcare coordination. Now, looking at the USA and the increasing numbers of infections again, I'm curious what impact the following days and weeks might have on the U.S. federal system. On the one hand, the president wants people to get back to normal life a.s.a.p.. On the other hand, more and more federal states like New York or California call out a state of emergency and countermeasures like statewide lockdowns.
And some really depressing news from Alsace, France (close to the German border):
Disaster physicians have gained an impression of the situation in Strasbourg - and report on dramatic conditions on the border with Germany. According to the report, infected doctors at the University Hospital in Strasbourg continue to work with corona patients and people over 80 are no longer ventilated. Instead, they are "assisted in dying with opiates and sleeping pills", write the staff of the German Institute for Disaster Medicine in Tübingen in the report.
"I'm curious what impact the following days and weeks might have on the U.S. federal system. On the one hand, the president wants people to get back to normal life a.s.a.p.. On the other hand, more and more federal states like New York or California call out a state of emergency and countermeasures like statewide lockdowns."
What The President actually said is that some areas that have had very few cases like in Montana,Idaho,North Dakota etc can and should begin going back to work especially young people and people that have already recovered from the virus.They should go back to work while still practicing personal safety procedures and safe distancing from other workers.
No one has said New York City,LA,Seattle,parts of New Jersey should do it.
If you heard that or read it somewhere then you heard and read fake news
The State's governors have the authority to open up certain areas and issue guidelines not the Federal Government.
The Federal Government can and has the power to lock down the travel into and out of the country but most other powers are granted to the states by The Constitution.
A great deal of the problem stems from the states and local city governments not have allocated enough funding in the past to be at least partially prepared for what's going on today.A new park or a new hospital?
Whom you elect is more important than it ever was.
Back on March 1st, my sister’s fiancee called up a cruise line where they’d planned a southern European honeymoon cruise in June. He had quite a struggle. Basically he felt that the pandemic was going to cause cancellations across the board on vacation travel for more than half the year, so he wanted to cancel & get a refund. They were hesitant to do it, claiming they’d have to fine him like $1,500 because he was a few days over the cancellation time limit. They suggested he not cancel and wait to see how it plays out. Well, he refused to do that. Because he has dealt with cruise lines many times before (it’s basically the only kind of vacation he takes if it’s more than 5 days off), he suspected that if he waits and there is a mass cancellation, he may not get his money back for a very long time. And… he wanted to plan a different honeymoon vacation with that money. Well, he got it knocked down to $500. Next, the airline… I don’t know how he resolved it, but that was another battle he had to undertake.
I have to wonder if cruise rates will go up after this pandemic is over, or if they’ll be heavily discounted due to people fearing cruises for their close-contact nature…
@Th558: Please go back and delete your last post here:
General reminder: Please keep in mind that political discussions and divisive comments are strictly prohibited in all areas of BLF, including off-topic discussions. BLF is fortunate to have a large international audience, and one way to make everyone feel welcome is by completely avoiding politics and nationalism.
I haven’t read all 1,600 posts in this thread, but if the one you are referring to makes a political statement then yes, it’s out of line. Report it, and move on. Don’t quote it, and don’t further discuss it.
And just to be clear, I don’t have a policy for or against China, or the United States, or any other country for that matter. Users from all countries are welcome here as long as they follow the rules, whereas those who willfully refuse to follow the BLF Rules and insist on fomenting political/nationalistic discussions are not.
It is neither. Several hospitals in the US, being hit with shortages of personal protection equipment have been pondering how to make best use of their ppe. They may have to make decisions on this as gear runs lower.
well,here in Slovakia we have some news-corona positive patients in home isolation carantena will be followed by their cell phones…To get the control over them…Very controversial step,but probably it can help…Many stupid people moved to Italy for skiing….I cant understand it.
But i have a question for everybody in this thread-what do you think?When this pandemic will be finally over,how will be our world change?
Or,will change anything?Or just measuring temperature on the airports?
Or is there anything deeper we have to change in our lives??Philosophical thoughts for my another single evening….
The UK no longer considers this virus to be a high consequence infectious disease. They’ve downgraded it based on the most current information available. gov.uk
A meta-analysis of the data, posted on CEBM, has been used to estimate an infection fatality rate of 0.2% or less.
