I've fallen off the cliff!

[John Morrison]

Well, my fellow humans… we’ve had our turn, but the race is run. What’s coming next? My bet is a loose coalition of dolphins and cockroaches. It was good while it lasted. Goodbye…

[spacecadet]

29 minutes ago, riccarbi said:

Here in Cremona, Italy, we have all been put in quarantine together with 16 million other people in Northern Italy, we can't exit from our area, but we can still go to work and all shops are open. Yet, schools are closed, together with museums, gyms, theaters, and so on. What is suprising is how quick this infection spreads, despite the many precautions we are all taking; there are 294 cases today in the city (with a population of 70,000), they were 122 two days ago. My 93-year-old mother is currenly at home since Sunday with couch and fever; happily I and my sister, who is a physician, can assist her full-time; obviously wearing chirurgical mask, disposable gloves and white coats.  It emerged that one of the most dangerous behaviours is to congregate in small and crowdy places, such as bars, cinemas, trains, and the like.
Anyway people here try to live as usual, when possible and taking all prescribed precautions. This too shall pass...

We're very concerned here (the forum worries about its members- when I was out of touch in New Zealand in December, because I don't do smartphones, Betty thought the White Island volcano might have got me) so good wishes to you and yours.

[MDM]

43 minutes ago, John Morrison said:

My bet is a loose coalition of dolphins and cockroaches. 

 

I thought we had that already (more sharks than dolphins though).

 

Anyway it must be the end of the world. The Photography Show has been postponed. I am not surprised.

[Russell]

1 hour ago, riccarbi said:

Here in Cremona, Italy, we have all been put in quarantine together with 16 million other people in Northern Italy,

Riccarbi, here in the UK it seems to be something of a "phoney war". Most people are getting on with their lives as before. It's hard to think that we could be forced into quarantine as you have. Only time will tell.

 

Meanwhile my very best wishes to you, your sister, and especially your mother. I sincerely hope for the best for you all.

[Ed Rooney]

Sii forte, Riccardi. I still have a few close friends living in Italy, and I am worried for them and for us all. I had spicy curry for lunch. That will kill any virus or pathogen. 

[John Richmond]

1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

I had spicy curry for lunch. That will kill any virus or pathogen. 

I think that only works if you also apply it externally, Ed 😀

 

It's certainly been brought home to me today with the school over the road being closed for deep cleaning after a suspected contact and a local family also being suspected contacts.  Like others, my wife (suppressed immune system after lymphoma and lung cancer and mild COPD) and I (diabetes and hypoparathyroidism) are both in the high risk grouping.  I had a drs appointment today.  The surgery rang to arrange a telephone consultation.  The next few weeks could be interesting.

 

 

Edited March 9, 2020 by John Richmond

[Gabbro]

Woke up this morning, all news were the COVID19 running out of control, then Dow went down 2,000 points, almost 8%. Just when I thought this could be the end of the world,  news came a meteor of 4 km wide, capable of wiping out the entire earth, is heading our way.  Strangely, nothing seemed matter anymore.

[John Mitchell]

Unfortunately, BC has just had it's first Coronavirus death, an elderly man living in a nursing home in North Vancouver. It's also the first COVID-19 death in Canada. I suppose we're in something of an advantageous position given that Canada is a vast country with long distances between cities and towns, unlike say Italy or the UK. Still, it's all very concerning...

[MDM]

56 minutes ago, Gabbro said:

Woke up this morning, all news were the COVID19 running out of control, then Dow went down 2,000 points, almost 8%. Just when I thought this could be the end of the world,  news came a meteor of 4 km wide, capable of wiping out the entire earth, is heading our way.  Strangely, nothing seemed matter anymore.

It’s an asteroid and will pass safely by the Earth at a distance of 6 million km. It wouldn’t wipe out the Earth in any case, although it would have a significant effect on terrestrial life I expect if it did hit but no worries. 

Edited March 9, 2020 by MDM

[Gabbro]

1 hour ago, MDM said:

It’s an asteroid and will pass safely by the Earth at a distance of 6 million km. It wouldn’t wipe out the Earth in any case, although it would have a significant effect on terrestrial life I expect if it did hit but no worries. 

Thanks for the update. Now I can sleep tight tonight.

[meanderingemu]

2 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

Unfortunately, BC has just had it's first Coronavirus death, an elderly man living in a nursing home in North Vancouver. It's also the first COVID-19 death in Canada. I suppose we're in something of an advantageous position given that Canada is a vast country with long distances between cities and towns, unlike say Italy or the UK. Still, it's all very concerning...

 

i fly back to Toronto tomorrow from Mexico, curious to see airport procedures.  So far Mexico has extremely low rate of infection, but this may be more indication of their system. lot's of stuff in bloom, plus pollution so with my allergies i spent today indoors because i don't really want to go to airport sneezing.....  

[MDM]

29 minutes ago, Gabbro said:

Thanks for the update. Now I can sleep tight tonight.

Don’t mention it. And in other news, the sun will become a red dwarf and die out completely in a few billion years give or take a few billion. In the meantime .......

[Betty LaRue]

6 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

You're right about nursing home workers. I've seen things firsthand as well. Some workers are true saints and others are really careless and have to be watched all the time. It's a crime (literally) what goes on in some care homes, even in super expensive private ones. If you're an old person in one of these places and you have no one advocating for you, you're in big trouble.

My sister lived in the same town as my mom, about a mile away. She’s a retired RN nurse and did her best to stay on top of it. She’s the one who caught the aide raising the bag. But my sister couldn’t be there 24/7. The aides got used to the time my sis visited every day. One night about 8 pm, my sister made a surprise visit. They had my mother sitting in a hard straight chair in a dark room restrained with straps. Nothing on but a light hospital gown in a freezing cold room.  My mom was crying and shivering so hard. She’d been there so long she had wet herself.  It is against the law to restrain patients without the family agreeing. My mom, crying and shaking with cold, said, “Ohhhhh, Jean, I’m so glad your here, I’m so cold...” My mom was 5’2” and weighed about 90 lbs by then. Just bones.
The person at the desk who was relaxing eating doughnuts and reading a book had no skin left when my sister finished with her. Sis threatened to turn them in to the state board and arranged a meeting with the supervisor and head nurse of the home. They were white-faced when my sis got done with them. Just think what happens with no advocate.

I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’m furious all over again. 😡 And yes, it actually was a crime!

Betty

[Betty LaRue]

6 hours ago, spacecadet said:

We're very concerned here (the forum worries about its members- when I was out of touch in New Zealand in December, because I don't do smartphones, Betty thought the White Island volcano might have got me) so good wishes to you and yours.

Yes I was mildly concerned. Time went on and I was very concerned. Then I had a full blown worry.
Y’all are family. Not like I don’t have a family, I do, a loving one. Close-knit. But you all are family from a different mother. 😁

 

[Autumn Sky]

1 hour ago, meanderingemu said:

 

i fly back to Toronto tomorrow from Mexico, curious to see airport procedures.  So far Mexico has extremely low rate of infection, but this may be more indication of their system. lot's of stuff in bloom, plus pollution so with my allergies i spent today indoors because i don't really want to go to airport sneezing.....  

I flew from Japan month ago;  at YVR guy just asked me "Are you feeling ok" and when I nodded he waved me off.  This was a bit unsettling.   Also read, same timeframe, some person with nose running like Niagara Falls at YYZ, they just gave him some information pamphlets and off you go.   I sincerely hope it is a bit more serious now

 

[MDM]

5 minutes ago, Autumn Sky said:

I flew from Japan month ago;  at YVR guy just asked me "Are you feeling ok" and when I nodded he waved me off.  This was a bit unsettling.   Also read, same timeframe, some person with nose running like Niagara Falls at YYZ, they just gave him some information pamphlets and off you go.  I sincerely hope it is a bit more serious now

 

 

But the fact is that there are significant numbers of asymtomatic people including some superspreaders (source The Guardian ) so just because you are not sneezing and/or coughing and/or have  aching muscles does not mean you do not have Covid-19. Conversely just because you are sneezing or coughing does not mean you do have it and most likely do not at this point in time. It is very problematic indeed for containment. 

[Autumn Sky]

1 hour ago, MDM said:

 

But the fact is that there are significant numbers of asymtomatic people including some superspreaders (source The Guardian ) so just because you are not sneezing and/or coughing and/or have  aching muscles does not mean you do not have Covid-19. Conversely just because you are sneezing or coughing does not mean you do have it and most likely do not at this point in time. It is very problematic indeed for containment. 

I don't think you can contain it at all.   You can't hermetically seal the borders (think today Israel imposed 2 week quarantine for anyone entering the country?)  It is just going to run its course and die down.    But bigger question in my mind this race has to ask itself is:  How do we limit exponential population growth and environment damage as its direct consequence.  I just spent 8 weeks in Asia.   It is not just air quality (thick layers of smog everywhere, trapped heat etc) -- it is also basic hygiene.  Trash everywhere, plastic.  RIvers so polluted and stinky from decay and bacteria.  Everyone idling cars like its normal.  People burning trash in Nepal because there is no basic garbage disposal, which just further degrades the atmosphere.  I could go on for hours .   This is the real problem;  corona is just side manifestation of much larger problem.

 

 

[meanderingemu]

55 minutes ago, Autumn Sky said:

I flew from Japan month ago;  at YVR guy just asked me "Are you feeling ok" and when I nodded he waved me off.  This was a bit unsettling.   Also read, same timeframe, some person with nose running like Niagara Falls at YYZ, they just gave him some information pamphlets and off you go.   I sincerely hope it is a bit more serious now

 

 

wow, i'll report tomorrow.   

[meanderingemu]

43 minutes ago, MDM said:

 

But the fact is that there are significant numbers of asymtomatic people including some superspreaders (source The Guardian ) so just because you are not sneezing and/or coughing and/or have  aching muscles does not mean you do not have Covid-19. Conversely just because you are sneezing or coughing does not mean you do have it and most likely do not at this point in time. It is very problematic indeed for containment. 

 

also the business world is not adapting to people.  even if i felt slightly under the weather tomorrow (which i am not),  i would lose my flight and Airbnb would not allow me to cancel my Toronto reservation, because i need official quarantine order for that, also putting my host at risk for the sake of their 15% commission.    i'm wondering if this will collapse the whole AirBnb model, they are in trouble for the full apartment rental side, and now you just need a few private room hosts to get infected because of the lack of flexibility ... 

[Harry Harrison]

16 hours ago, sb photos said:

At some time in the likely near future I have to make a decision when to avoid packed trains and the tube, as the potential risk to my health increases.

I'm fortunate in that I don't have to go on a  tube, train or bus but then I'm nowhere near as proactive as I think you are in searching out things to photograph. I wasn't going to go to the Photography Show, I didn't have a pressing need to do so but it never seemed like a good idea for me, I imagine all those having to work on those stands are particularly relieved. Credit to the organisers for presumably taking a financial hit in postponing before there was any government imperative to do so. Reading between the lines I think the government are not banning all large events yet because of the potential effect on business, the economy, and it seems because the public won't put up with this for more than a certain length of carefully modelled time, so they wish to delay that decision for as long as possible. Not because it's a good idea to go to any of them.

 

I just heard this chap, John Campbell, on the radio saying that evidence from China suggests that infectious droplets can stay in the air for up to 30 minutes. I've not heard of him before but if the Forbes article is correct then he presents the current best medical evidence in his daily videos with no advertising. I absolutely don't know if this is true or how credible the evidence he gives is but I might have a look myself.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Harry Harrison

[Marianne]

On 27/02/2020 at 11:16, MDM said:

 

If making no sales on Alamy with a port of 2312 images is utterly utterly utterly tragic,  I hope nothing really bad ever happens to you like falling off an actual cliff. 

 

 I have had many months without sales over the time I have been a contributor and I would go as far as disappointing myself. I guess you are not feeding the family on your Alamy earnings but apologies for making light of your predicament if you are starving because of lack of sales here. If your situation is really utterly utterly utterly tragic because of this then I am sure there are a few of us here, myself included, who would send you a donation to get you through hard times.

 

You know there is no requirement to have your images as exclusive and 20% of very little is just a little less than very litte anyway so maybe you should make them non-exclusive and blow the dust off them. 

 

 

A friend's 11-year-old literally fell off a cliff last month while hiking. Losing a child that tragically certainly does put our concerns in perspective. 

 

Sorry, that's an expression I'll never be able to use or hear again without reacting. It puts my fear of the coronavirus (living in the epicenter of the NY outbreak - Westchester County. with over 80 cases so far compared to about 20 in NYC - and only those with direct links are being tested since we don't have enough tests, so it is probably much higher  -and being over 60 with several autoimmune diseases, so at higher risk of becoming a statistic) in perspective also, though it certainly doesn't mean I don't think I'm too young to die. I worry about relatives in Italy and really just the entire world right now. Way more tragedies to come, I fear. But watching our income tank is still a disappointment, especially in uncertain times  Easier to grouse about that than worry about the really tragic stuff, which can become overwhelming.

 

Maybe this world-wide tragedy will focus attention on how we all need to work together, a dress rehearsal for our fight to save the planet from global warming. 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Marianne

[Autumn Sky]

5 hours ago, Marianne said:

 

Maybe this world-wide tragedy will focus attention on how we all need to work together, a dress rehearsal for our fight to save the planet from global warming. 

 

Yes.  And it can be done.   I spent day in Tokyo beginning of Feb, and could not believe my eyes.  Streets clean as pharmacy, not even a small paper or cigarette butt to be found.  Ultra developed rail system, bike lanes etc.  You can now see again Mt. Fuji from downtown Tokyo.  Japanese cleaned up with system and discipline.   But this is still isolated case unfortunately.  People living in the west are in the bubble.  You need to see overpopulation, garbage, slums of SE Asia, Central America or Africa.  Buses idling for an hour while tourists are on lunch just so that they can get back in air conditioned vehicle.  Throwing garbage and plastic all over because it is 'normal' and everyone does it.  etc etc

 

Corona will pass. It might have peaked already;  besides it is very low mortality rate and generally seriously  affecting only people with compromised immune systems.  But one of these days something much more serious than SARS or Corona will come.   People need to smarten up.  Priority is not developing smart AI "assistants",  self-driving cars,  "Alexa turn the lights off" and similar nonsense.  Priority is managing the underpinning that feeds us all, before it becomes too late.

[BobD]

12 hours ago, Autumn Sky said:

 

Corona will pass. It might have peaked already;  besides it is very low mortality rate and generally seriously  affecting only people with compromised immune systems.  But one of these days something much more serious than SARS or Corona will come.   People need to smarten up.  Priority is not developing smart AI "assistants",  self-driving cars,  "Alexa turn the lights off" and similar nonsense.  Priority is managing the underpinning that feeds us all, before it becomes too late.

 

I don't think it is always a low mortality rate. 

The current death toll in Italy is over 6%, why it should be higher there is not being made clear.

[NYCat]

This is USA information but lots that might be useful to everyone..  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

 

Paulette

[John Morrison]

12 hours ago, Autumn Sky said:

 

Yes.  And it can be done.   I spent day in Tokyo beginning of Feb, and could not believe my eyes.  Streets clean as pharmacy, not even a small paper or cigarette butt to be found.  Ultra developed rail system, bike lanes etc.  You can now see again Mt. Fuji from downtown Tokyo.  Japanese cleaned up with system and discipline.   But this is still isolated case unfortunately.  People living in the west are in the bubble.  You need to see overpopulation, garbage, slums of SE Asia, Central America or Africa.  Buses idling for an hour while tourists are on lunch just so that they can get back in air conditioned vehicle.  Throwing garbage and plastic all over because it is 'normal' and everyone does it.  etc etc

 

Corona will pass. It might have peaked already;  besides it is very low mortality rate and generally seriously  affecting only people with compromised immune systems.  But one of these days something much more serious than SARS or Corona will come.   People need to smarten up.  Priority is not developing smart AI "assistants",  self-driving cars,  "Alexa turn the lights off" and similar nonsense.  Priority is managing the underpinning that feeds us all, before it becomes too late.

 

The western lifestyle is complacent at best, catastrophically destructive at worst. It’s just possible that this pandemic will bring us to our senses, and force us to change our priorities (of course, it’s also possible that we’ll go back to our selfish, wasteful and life-denying ways as soon as the last rites are read and the last body buried). It’s certainly a ‘moment’: an opportunity, perhaps, to be our better selves…