Coronavirus

[e.m.c^42]

However, the government is still controlling the flow of information pretty hard.

Continuing off of this. The original numbers back at the start were almost definitely under-reported, in part due to lack of diagnosis and in part due to government trying to cover it up before it spread.

However, since it's an international thing now, the numbers are a lot closer to the truth.

It's still likely that it's lower than the actual number, since there are people who avoid the hospital and self-quarantine - due to lack of resources at available hospital, and not wanting to be forcefully quarantined, better to stay home.

There is also how, like the flu or pretty much any other illness, it hits people who already have pre-existing ailments harder (hello elderly and others), so it's more difficult to puzzle out why they exactly died, especially when the hospital staff are already so overworked. Why bother with dead when there are still so many living ones to treat?

[e.m.c^42]

due to lack of resources at available hospital, and not wanting to be forcefully quarantined

Speaking of the lack of resources. A very large problem is, well, the sheer number of people. The (current) coronavirus AFAIK, in and of by itself, isn't that much deadlier than some strains of flu to healthy people.

The problem lies with asymptomatic spreading and an incubation period of up to 2 weeks, as well as how it somewhat suddenly descends into pneumonia. Combine this with CNY, local and national politics (partially speculation and rumour on part, but elaboration later), and obviously, supplies and personnel running out - you get the current kinda shitty situation.

The government provided info currently is various media mostly along the lines of "Yes, we're sending out supplies", "Yes, we're sending out doctors", "We're building new hospitals", "Follow quarantine laws + wear masks", "We'll pay for coronavirus treatment, so be sure actually get treated at hospital instead of infecting more people" and other rather generally optimistic messages.

[e.m.c^42]

"We'll pay for coronavirus treatment, so be sure actually get treated at hospital instead of infecting more people"

This is absolutely an empty promise, lol, considering how at the moment, there isn't enough personnel or supplies to even pay for. (and the problem isn't necessarily due to lack of help sent from elsewhere, but distribution - will get to this later)

Am not sure if this is true for all hospitals, but for at least several they're crowded to the point of quarantined patients - who tested positive - just stuck in the halls. The only way to get a bed space is if you have connections with someone, and they bump you to it after someone dies and opens up one.

To clarify, this is near-verbatim the situation that happened with a family friend around two days ago - her mother got sick, and the only reason they got bed space was because she used to work at the hospital.

Sanitation is iffy, masks are limited or out even for the doctors/nurses (causing a good number of them to be infected as well, further worsening the deficiency crisis), and testing kits depend on which hospital you're at. With the smaller ones further away from the Wuhan metropolis area, they either outright don't have any/ran out, or don't have everything needed since it's not something they stock for.

Thankfully I think most/all have received ones sent out by government recently, but there was a period of time where the roadblocks etc...from the large quarantine interfered kinda.

[MajorMitchell]

Well it's arrived in Australia and our Government is shutting the proverbial barn doors now that a horseman of the Apocalypse has bolted into our country.

[e.m.c^42]

Oh god, this is getting so long lol

[e.m.c^42]

masks are limited or out

For the general population, along with things like antibiotics from overseas (as the quality is typically better - that of locally produced drugs isn't always trusted), both medical grade and normal rubbing alcohol, other common medications, are limited or not at all available for purchase.

When the news broke, not illogically people panicked and bought out stores. The following transportation blocks then stopped supplies from arriving timely. Again, this is a bit worse for the more rural areas as some roadblocks quite literally are done by digging a giant ditch in the dirt road leading into the village, lol

(there was a really funny one where they piled a bunch of boulders right beneath the sign that said "Welcome to [City Name] :v)

But here's the thing. Many, many other provinces have sent supplies for aid, as well as other countries. In fact, immigrants overseas are raising money/purchasing supplies to send back to elderly parents and other relatives. Pretty sure there's been a face mask shortage caused in the US at least these few days due to that. So where is all the stuff going?

[e.m.c^42]

So where is all the stuff going?

The Wuhan Red Cross, and the local government (not confirmed about government, but reasonably sure about the red cross part) is kind of corrupt.

Like, we're talking about reselling donated food supplies to supermarkets kind of corrupt (potentially iffy, but can't really find out more), and keeping all the masks 'n shit sent in warehouses instead of distributing it to the people. (near confirmed, this rich guy + others donated a bunch of stuff and made video explaining why none of it is there yet. Probably taken down since he cussed out the government lol). Almost unnecessary to mention of course is interception of donations and redistributing them in a favoured way.

Boxes of supplies shipped over are stuck and just building up in customs currently, and AFAIK at the moment it hasn't changed. Naturally, a lot of people are complaining or protesting about it but to little effect. I think the provided explanation was that it was logistics and bureaucracy issues, as well as not enough people to inspect quality, but almost nobody believes that.

[e.m.c^42]

Of course, some of this is still secondhand/thirdhand info, but with how stuff is being wiped am tending to find this more reliable than official announcements.

[e.m.c^42]

Of course, some of this is still secondhand/thirdhand info, but with how stuff is being wiped am tending to find this more reliable than official announcements.

Going off of this there is also speculation on where the virus started - despite most people thinking it originated from a semi-legal animal market I think the newer conclusion is that it started before that, as there were sporadic cases in November. In addition how it spread geographically doesn't quite match up, based on the cities and how people travel iirc (sourced from relative). We'll see how this develops.

There is also speculation with some decent evidence (secondhand) on how quarantine may have been deliberately done shoddily, due to what happened with SARS but it is late and I don't have enough brain energy to type out political conspiracies so this will be elaborated tomorrow lmao

[e.m.c^42]

(kaner and anyone else who might of had interest, hope y'all find this of some use :D)

[e.m.c^42]

Oh god, this is getting so long lol

This hath become my monologue thread in lieu of mafia haha

[e.m.c^42]

not illogically people panicked and bought out stores.

Update, things are a lot better now, there are limits set on how many/much of mask/meds etc that people can buy a day. I think it's 5 or 10 masks a day, depending on where you live. In rural areas leaving the village is set at "one exit, one entrance" a day, so essentially you can go to work and that is it. In cities it's discouraged to go outside but you aren't stopped.

Also, all the people staying at home have spawned a plethora of hilarious 'douyin' (tiktoks)

[e.m.c^42]

Speaking of hilarious parodies, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYTzX9JCbDY

[e.m.c^42]

They're also starting to open up markets (for farmers bringing wares to city), albeit monitored. Work is also restarting in a few days, in some places.

[MajorMitchell]

What the devil does AFAIK mean ?

[orathaic]

What the devil does AFAIK mean ?

AFAIK it means As Far As I Know.

[e.m.c^42]

Probably should update about conditions actually within Wuhan instead of in areas around it, but while things are getting better elsewhere it's gotten worse internally, and it reads rather depressingly lol

but then again not many are reading, so eh

[kaner406]

Thankyou so much for sharing!

[kaner406]

FYI the state I live in has just confirmed a fifth case bringing the total confirmed in Australia up to 15

[Octavious]

So a couple of observations.

The virus seems rather good at slipping past our best efforts at detection. People given the all clear have subsequently been found to have it.

The virus seems quite happy establishing itself in Italy where the weather is currently rather warm, which implies that hopes that the virus will struggle as winter comes to an end may be overly optimistic.