Random Posts (An alternate to side discussions)

[mcduff]

One guess. Italy has the world’s oldest population on average; the virus is affecting older people worse than younger.

mcduff

[RobertoBozzolo]

Somebody noted that we started from the very beginning to take swabs to relatives and friends of infected people even if they were asymptomatic: I suppose it was aimed to find the origin of the infection but had the effect of raising the figures too.

Or we simply were hit earlier: according to the reports the situation is getting worse in European countries.

[Intaris]

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@mcduff wrote:

One guess. Italy has the world’s oldest population on average; the virus is affecting older people worse than younger.

mcduff

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Second-oldest after Japan apparently.

So one person aged 55 died in Italy (he was chronically ill already), one aged 61 and the rest have all been over 63, overwhelmingly with previous illnesses.

Seems like that might explain it. 23% of Italy's population is over 63. That's a LOT.

I don't think it's just the number of detected cases, because 470 deaths from 9200 infections is like a 5% mortality rate. Age must play a big factor in that number because numbers from everywhere else are significantly lower.

[Hooovahh]

I work in the US but at a Korean based company.  Travel to and from South Korea was very common up until a month or two ago.  Many Koreans would come over to work on things, attend meetings, consult with various construction projects, etc.  All of that has basically stopped.  Anyone already over here is being encouraged to stay here (Visa permitted of course) since sending over other employees from Korea is likely difficult or impossible.  Travel to Korea wan't all that frequent, but has stopped entirely for those native to the US.  With various projects on hold, or slowing down I can totally see why the market is reacting the way it is.  Here was a recent post on reddit, where someone from Korea explained how their life has changed, and what the situation is like there.

[mcduff]

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@Intaris wrote:

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@mcduff wrote:

One guess. Italy has the world’s oldest population on average; the virus is affecting older people worse than younger.

mcduff

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Second-oldest after Japan apparently.

So one person aged 55 died in Italy (he was chronically ill already), one aged 61 and the rest have all been over 63, overwhelmingly with previous illnesses.

Seems like that might explain it. 23% of Italy's population is over 63. That's a LOT.

I don't think it's just the number of detected cases, because 470 deaths from 9200 infections is like a 5% mortality rate. Age must play a big factor in that number because numbers from everywhere else are significantly lower.

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That wasn't my idea, I read it somewhere.

This plot is pretty telling, taken from this site

There is also statistical evidence, not confirmed to be real, that men are affected more than women.

mcudff

[wiebe@CARYA]

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@mcduff wrote:

There is also statistical evidence, not confirmed to be real, that men are affected more than women.

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Makes sense. Man-flu is also worse than normal flu.

[RobertoBozzolo]

Older average age ha surely an effect on disease figures: in addition to "stay at home" the other refrain here is "keep your older relatives at home in any case!"

I am keeping to go to work and get several contacts with customers and suppliers that are at work too, but several others call me from their home.

The government has launched a program for "digital solidarity": connectivity suppliers and several other businesses are granting more support to people; increased amount of GB added to contracts for free but also infrastructures for home working and teaching and free subscriptions to online newspapers and magazines. All in the line of "stay at home".

The situation reminds me of Clancy's Executive Orders novel, I would have never imagined to live it directly!

[Ben]

Thanks to all who have contributed to the virus discussion. I feel much better hearing updates from engineers and scientist than from talking heads.

Shortages go beyond just toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

My Patriot Supply main page has reported a 100X increase in demand and the normal 2-day delivery claim now has a disclaimer indicating a possible 8 week delay.

My wife (a prepper like myself) purchases food in bulk and rotates her stock. She finished off a five-gallon bucket of rice last week...

and discovered none available at Sam's club.

The Augason Farms web-site shows they only have "Roasted Red Pepper Soup 12-packs" in-stock and warn of a 2-month delay in filling orders.

Re: Toilet paper

If you do run out there are few tips I can offer.

1) "In the old days" a wash cloth could be used.

2) One of the methods of spreading the virus is via fecal matter so a unique cloth for each person in a household is called for.

3) Before disposable diapers were invented, cloth diapers were rinsed and than placed in a "diaper Pail" that had a Clorox solution.

Here is hoping you do not need to know that trivia but it would beat having to resort to Christian's idea of single-ply etc.

Stay safe!

Ben

[LV_Pro]

Saw a meme for while toilet paper sales have skyrocketed "One person sneezes, a hundred poop them selves". As too the demographics, I am in trouble!!! I am  leaving the sexagenarian and entering the septuagenarian category this year (I hope!)

[RobertoBozzolo]

We've had a moment of insanity a few weeks ago:

I took this picture on Feb 24 in the supermarket near my office!

In a few days the situation normalized and now there is no problem with restocking... with the exception for masks, of course! They run out of stock immediately and are still extremely rare.