Coronavirus

An update:

Coronavirus Cases:
757,636

Deaths:
40,223, R.I.P.

Recovered:
69,171

US is nearly 1/4 of confirmed deaths. That I think is more due to the US being able to test more people than developing countries such as India, Indonesia, and Mexico which have very few confirmed cases.

Death rates averaged over the week in several countries appear to indicate that the pandemic has peaked or passed through the peak in many countries (edit: US and UK appear to be at the peak right now, Brazil still looks like its far from peaking):

You got here ahead of me. I was just about to post the numbers. Yeah, the U.S. is ahead of everybody regarding testing. The number of those recovering continues to grow so that's a plus.

I'm more tired of people who don't understand how important it is to practice social distancing, and wear a facemask and gloves while out in public.

Hubby and I went to the Stop and Shop supermarket in East Meadow, and we immediately noticed that they were the only store in the area that had no line outside. (Most stores have lines that go across the front of the store and around the side of the building.)

When we got inside, we realized it was because they had no security outside the store to stop people from going in the store. We had to leave because the store was so crowded that it was impossible to stay at least 6 feet away from people. And many people weren't even wearing any kind of facemask, which is required now in our area.

The store will probably get thousands of dollars in fines because they're just ignoring all the rules that have been set up here.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

Man Who Bought $10,000 Worth of Toilet Paper and Hand Sanitizer Denied Refund

https://www.newsweek.com/man-who-bou..._recirculation

A man in Australia who purchased around $10,000 worth of toilet paper and hand sanitizer was recently denied a refund by a supermarket owner.

John-Paul Drake, director of Drakes Supermarkets in Australia, recently posted a video to YouTube and appeared on a radio show to talk about the situation and why he denied the customer's refund request.

"I had my first customer yesterday who said he wanted to get a refund on 150 packets of 32-pack toilet paper and 150 units of one-liter [hand] sanitizer. I told him that," Drake said as he showed his middle finger to the camera.

While appearing on ABC Radio Adelaide in Australia, Drake explained that the man reached out requesting a refund after he was unable to sell the products on his eBay account.

"In the conversation [the shopper said] 'my eBay site has been shut down, so we couldn't profiteer off that'," Drake told the radio station saying that the sum of the products equated to around $10,000.

The situation comes amid a time when many people across the globe have participated in panic buying, with many believing that they need to stock up on products like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, mainly as a result of the novel coronavirus, which has kept people isolated and quarantined.

Following the influx of panic buying and stockpiling on different items, a number of supermarkets, including Drakes, have placed a ban on the number of items per customer, but according to Drake, this specific customer was able to find a way around the limits.

"The person had a team of people that bought the products, because you're only allowed to buy one of each at a time," Drake told 3AW Radio in Australia. "So, you do your sums at 150 separate purchases to buy these. Absolutely disgraceful."

"The rest of my team [is] over this sort of behavior and having to police people taking more than they need – that's a tough thing to deal with," Drake added while appearing on ABC Radio.

That's an interesting story. Who has 10 grand to spend on toilet paper? The guy must have a lot of money to spend that much on bathroom products so I don't feel bad for him. Unless he spent all he had and is just greedy and stupid (so, again, I don't feel bad for him).

Plus, what's he complaining about? He's sitting pretty. He'll never have to buy TP again!

It's a consumable that never really goes bad (as long as it's kept sealed, dry and out of direct sunlight) and it's something people always need. He can share it with his neighbors - the ones who can't find any TP in the supermarket because people like him hoarded it all! He can give it to friends and relatives as birthday and holiday gifts.

Or he could donate some of it to shelters, the homeless, families that are struggling.

Nice to see that we are flattening the curve again.
Couple of states are only showing one or two cases a day, which is great. This has only been possible due to a strict lockdown.


However, issue is still bad in some states. Especially mine.

Still can't get through to anyone, but I think I know what the issue is.

Since I applied for paternity leave back in June, my wife and I agreed to do the extended 18 months and split the time. I was off for four months, returning back to work in October. My wife is still currently on maternity leave.

When I lost my job, it was before the CERB thing was implemented, so I applied for EI again with the impression that everyone who applied after March 15th would automatically go over to CERB April 6th.

I applied on the 27th and waited....finally got something in April and it was not the CERB. It was $495. I was perplexed as to why it wasn't the $2,000. I'm almost 100% positive, that the system put me BACK on PATERNITY leave because the benefit is technically still open with my wife.

So I'm eating away at her time off now and possibly might not be eligible for CERB because of this.

Been trying and trying to call, but coming up empty.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

My girlfriend works at Walgreen’s & she told me about a month ago that all customers trying to get a refund on stockpiling items they bought have been categorically denied.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

I hope that's not the case.

A new CERB qualification period started last week, and some of the restrictions were lowered. Maybe you should try applying again? Or try calling first thing in the morning, and if the hold times are still long, just put your phone on speaker and go about your day until they answer.

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Currently in the U.S.

Coronavirus cases: 813,589

Deaths: 45,013, R.I.P.

Recovered: 82,620

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

Oktoberfest.de - The Official Website for the Oktoberfest in Munich

Oktoberfest 2020 has been cancelled

The Wiesn 2020 cannot take place because of Covid-19

"It is the biggest and most beautiful beer festival in the world", said Bavaria's Minister-President Markus Söder. But the Oktoberfest will have to be cancelled in 2020 due to the Corona Pandemic. Söder announced this today, April 21, 2020, in a joint press conference with Munich's Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter. The background, statements of Wiesn boss Clemens Baumgärtner and all further information.

“The risks are simply too high“: Oktoberfest 2020 had to be cancelled

"It hurts, it's such a pity," said Minister President Söder in the Bavarian State Chancellery – together with Munich's Lord Mayor Reiter. However: "We have agreed that the risk is simply too high."

The Oktoberfest 2020 should actually take place from September 19 to October 4. About six million visitors from all over the world were expected. In times of Covid-19, however, the danger of infection in the mostly crowded beer tents and the many people in the streets and alleys on the Theresienwiese would be too high.

"We have experienced that the après-ski in Ischgl, various beer festivals for example, or even carnival events were unfortunately virus hubs," said Söder. This is why the greatest sensitivity applies to public festivals. "As long as there is no vaccine, as long as there is no medicine, special care must be taken."

https://www.oktoberfest.de/en/magazi...l-be-cancelled

"L.A. County Antibody Tests Suggest the Fatality Rate for COVID-19 Is Much Lower Than People Feared"

Interesting stuff. A test was done in L.A. County California of people who are not suspected of ever having Covid-19. The volunteers were tested for antibodies which would suggest that they had indeed previously been infected and not known it.

Based on a representative sample of 863 adults tested...the public health department, found that "approximately 4.1% of the county's adult population has antibody to the virus." Taking into account the statistical margin of error, the results indicate that "2.8% to 5.6% of the county's adult population has antibody to the virus—which translates to approximately 221,000 to 442,000 adults in the county who have had the infection." That is 28 to 55 times higher than the tally of confirmed cases at the time of the study.

HOWEVER these are very preliminary results and those antibodies could be false positives. Remember 80,000 died of flu in the U.S. in 2018 but so far in under 3 months over 45,000 have died from Covid-19. And that's with preventive measures. So while the antibody test results are interesting, they are inclusive until more antibody testing can be done.

Newstory link

Some people in the west cannot accept that India has managed to control it's coronavirus epidemic until now at least

Nice to wake up and see Saint Barthélemy has gone green - 6 cases, all recovered
That makes two greens now with Greenland (11 cases).

https://m.timesofindia.com/india/pak..._content=om-bm

Pakistan pushing covid 19 infected terrorists into Kashmir

Covid-19 in two pet cats

Washington, D.C. April 22, 2020 – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) today announced the first confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) infection in two pet cats. These are the first pets in the United States to test positive for SARS-CoV-2.

The cats live in two separate areas of New York state. Both had mild respiratory illness and are expected to make a full recovery. SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported in very few animals worldwide, mostly in those that had close contact with a person with COVID-19.

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2...-cats-NYC.html

The news here said that one of the cats was in a house with someone who tested positive, but the other cat wasn't. They haven't figured out yet how the second cat got infected.

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