Coronavirus pandemic

[DaBigE]

So I wonder how this will impact major road construction projects... yesterday I noticed they were still doing work on the Piscataqua River Bridge (and even reducing the bridge to one lane and lowering the speed limit to 70 km/h (45 mph)) with the lighter traffic volumes. Are other current roadworks projects still occurring in other areas, especially with the lighter volumes?

I don't see why they wouldn't. They're under contract. The work is outdoors, so social distancing shouldn't be a problem. Lighter traffic should actually make things better and maybe faster.

What is a bigger concern are projects not under contract. Fighting the virus isn't cheap, and is going to have to be paid for somehow. There's also a buzz around the ITE community about how to deal with traffic counts that were supposed to occur this year. Do we hold off and wait for "normal" to return? Will normal return? Do we proceed as normal and apply seasonal factors?

[kwellada]

It surprises me Washington state is still allowing public libraries to stay open.  Four libraries in Kansas (including my own, as of today) are closed, and in Ohio, Cincinnati's is closed indefinitely (reviewable weekly).

So far, Tacoma and Seattle have closed their branches (maybe more, but I only have cards for these two library systems). 

We're supposed to have great weather this week so I'm glad to see outdoor activities are still fine.  I think a trip to Mt. St. Helens is in order since I can do the whole thing without interacting with another human.  Nature is one of those things that'll keep me sane during this Great Coop-Up

[1995hoo]

We saw ample road construction continuing on the I-66 HO/T lane project on Sunday. It doesn't make sense to stop work on something that's partially constructed, especially a "megaproject" of that sort (widening and rebuilding approximately 20 miles of Interstate). It may make a lot of sense to adjust the work schedule or impose new rules for how employees do their work, of course.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm the only at the Subaru dealership getting service.  Its kind of nice since I'm starting to catch up on highway article writing.

[RobbieL2415]

The only state agency that has suspended road work, to my knowledge, is PENNDOT.  And that may only be for in-house jobs, not capital projects with contractors doing the heavy lifting.

[TheGrassGuy]

So they're saying that we'll be stuck home for 18 months. 

www.businessinsider.com/us-coronavirus-warning-pandemic-will-last-18-months-multiple-waves-2020-3%3famp, et al

[kwellada]

So they're saying that we'll be stuck home for 18 months. 

www.businessinsider.com/us-coronavirus-warning-pandemic-will-last-18-months-multiple-waves-2020-3%3famp, et al

If indeed this is the case, we're going to see a serious restructuring of how our society works.  I mean, I do hope that remote work becomes more prevalent since lots of jobs can be done online (I've been exclusively remote since 2012).  Companies that already have a WFH setup with VPNs and other structure will likely weather this fairly well...comparatively speaking. 

The restaurant/travel industries, though.  Yikes.  I can't see much good in their futures, which sucks. 

[ozarkman417]

So they're saying that we'll be stuck home for 18 months. 

www.businessinsider.com/us-coronavirus-warning-pandemic-will-last-18-months-multiple-waves-2020-3%3famp, et al

Your link only works on mobile (for me, at least), though I would hope by then we would have a decent vaccine.

[J N Winkler]

As I see it, we are locked down until (1) there is a vaccine widely available, or (2) a therapy is devised that ends the capacity of this disease to drive ICU utilization.  The Washington Post currently has a breaking news item to the effect that data from France suggests that even people of the millennial generation (ranging in age from 25 to 40) are ending up in ICU at large percentages.  This is not bad cold or flu so much as it is SARS-lite.

[JoePCool14]

So they're saying that we'll be stuck home for 18 months. 

www.businessinsider.com/us-coronavirus-warning-pandemic-will-last-18-months-multiple-waves-2020-3%3famp, et al

Here's the link to the article for those on desktop:
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-coronavirus-warning-pandemic-will-last-18-months-multiple-waves-2020-3

Anyways, I honestly do not care how bad it gets, I will not stay inside for 18 months for a virus with a global death rate of around 4%. As soon as this virus "ends", a new one will come up and we'll be right back to square one. That's completely unacceptable.

[vdeane]

So they're saying that we'll be stuck home for 18 months. 

www.businessinsider.com/us-coronavirus-warning-pandemic-will-last-18-months-multiple-waves-2020-3%3famp, et al

Your link only works on mobile (for me, at least), though I would hope by then we would have a decent vaccine.

12-18 months is the estimated timeframe for getting a vaccine, so that's probably where the number came from.  And even then, you need time to roll it out and for everyone to get vaccinated.

This is, of course, if a vaccine is possible at all.  Whether humans can build lasting immunity to the virus and/or whether it mutates enough to make vaccine development difficult (like the flu) are still open questions.  There are also a few potential treatments, though, which if successful could help by making sure cases don't get severe too often, easing the burden on the healthcare system.

Anyways, I honestly do not care how bad it gets, I will not stay inside for 18 months for a virus with a global death rate of around 4%. As soon as this virus "ends", a new one will come up and we'll be right back to square one. That's completely unacceptable.

Why do you say that?  SARS, MERS, swine flu, bird flu, Ebola, and AIDS are all much more containable than coronavirus, which is why those didn't disrupt society anywhere close to as much.  For something that's even remotely comparable, you have to go back to Spanish flu (which actually had a death rate of 2%).

[bandit957]

So they're saying that we'll be stuck home for 18 months.

I won't.

[Brian556]

Guys, it only takes 2-3 weeks of distancing to stop the spread of the virus. China did that and they were successful. They are not going to lock us down for 18 months. Sheesh

[kalvado]

So they're saying that we'll be stuck home for 18 months. 

www.businessinsider.com/us-coronavirus-warning-pandemic-will-last-18-months-multiple-waves-2020-3%3famp, et al

Most likely, things will ease sooner. My prediction is fever checkpoints will be set up all over the place as an early detection method. And no large concerts for 2 years

[kalvado]

Guys, it only takes 2-3 weeks of distancing to stop the spread of the virus. China did that and they were successful. They are not going to lock us down for 18 months. Sheesh

Thing is, until spread is kept under control - second wave of lockup is to follow.
Lockup can help subside the flare, but it will not be eliminated.

[bandit957]

I've been practicing social distancing since 1987 when I saw some of the filthy things that slobs at my high school did. I even practiced it at home, because of family members who thought spreading germs was funny. If someone stomped through the den with what they said was "only" a cold, I'd get out of the way. Anything they'd touched, I'd wait some time before touching it.

If someone had a cold, you'd get away from them lickety-split.

In other words, I do my part. I have since I was 14. My reward for it should not be having to live under martial law.

[TheGrassGuy]

Guys, it only takes 2-3 weeks of distancing to stop the spread of the virus. China did that and they were successful. They are not going to lock us down for 18 months. Sheesh

Their logic is that after China releases its restrictions, cases will start happening again.

[NWI_Irish96]

A complete lockdown needs to happen for about 4 weeks.  Nobody leaves home except to work; acquire food, household supplies or medicine; or to exercise (though with minimal contact with others).

If we can do that successfully, we can start easing restrictions gradually, but international travel should probably be prohibited for 6 months.

[Max Rockatansky]

I've been practicing social distancing since 1987 when I saw some of the filthy things that slobs at my high school did. I even practiced it at home, because of family members who thought spreading germs was funny. If someone stomped through the den with what they said was "only" a cold, I'd get out of the way. Anything they'd touched, I'd wait some time before touching it.

If someone had a cold, you'd get away from them lickety-split.

In other words, I do my part. I have since I was 14. My reward for it should not be having to live under martial law.

I've never been much of a social butterfly and I pretty much almost everything I can in my own life to avoid large groups of people or unnecessary interaction anyways.  Usually that surprises most people who kind of causally know me since I tend be pretty outgoing in pretty much every other facet of life.  To that end, it has been somewhat ironic to see "social distancing" thrown out there as the latest thing to do at the moment.  The real irony that I'm seeing in an area that isn't under mandatory lock down is that being out and about doing errands tends to be far more isolating than staying at home...at least right now. 

[kwellada]

I think the best attitude to take is that humans are extremely adaptable and in trying circumstances we come up with unique and often clever solutions.  I can't offer predictions other than 18 months from now we could potentially be living a rearranged society.  And I truly hope we take this time to reflect on what's important as human beings.  Maybe science and knowledge will firmly take hold over conspiracy theories.  There's going to certainly be a lot of hilarious memes. 

And for god's sake I hope instagram influencers somehow go away during this time 

[Max Rockatansky]

I think the best attitude to take is that humans are extremely adaptable and in trying circumstances we come up with unique and often clever solutions.  I can't offer predictions other than 18 months from now we could potentially be living a rearranged society.  And I truly hope we take this time to reflect on what's important as human beings.  Maybe science and knowledge will firmly take hold over conspiracy theories.  There's going to certainly be a lot of hilarious memes. 

And for god's sake I hope instagram influencers somehow go away during this time 

One of the biggest things that I think will be a take away at the end of this is that way too many people were spreading information that probably shouldn't have been.  I don't know exactly how you control the message on what's going on in this modern age but there has been a ton of misinformation and conjecture that hasn't helped anybody. 

To that end, the lasting effects (if I were to offer a hot take) would probably be as life altering as 9/11.  Life will go on and in time be normalized but it wouldn't quite be how it was.  I suppose it could be infinitely worse, I wonder how society would handle things like; full scale wars, large scale famine, true global level economic depression, and several other historical events that hit hard even the last 150 years.

[hbelkins]

Business Insider is hardly a reliable source. It has a distinct leftward slant.

KYTC has closed all facilities to all outside traffic. They are identifying employees who can telecommute. I suspect I'm on the list, given that I was asked to fill out a form that listed job duties I could and could not do from home, but I've stressed that I do not want to telecommute. It would save me on gas and wear on the vehicle, but I prefer to come in to the office.

As of now, we are continuing maintenance and construction projects, and I see no need for that to change.

As I see it, we are locked down until (1) there is a vaccine widely available, or (2) a therapy is devised that ends the capacity of this disease to drive ICU utilization.  The Washington Post currently has a breaking news item to the effect that data from France suggests that even people of the millennial generation (ranging in age from 25 to 40) are ending up in ICU at large percentages.  This is not bad cold or flu so much as it is SARS-lite.

It seems to me that there's too much current emphasis on a vaccine and too little emphasis on coming up with Tamiflu for this Chinese virus. Call it TamaCovid or something. A cure, at this stage, would be better than a preventive. And given how poorly the flu vaccine performs each year, I'm not sure I'd trust a vaccine to work. Someone I know had the flu shot, yet he caught the flu two weeks ago.

[kwellada]

One of the biggest things that I think will be a take away at the end of this is that way too many people were spreading information that probably shouldn't have been.  I don't know exactly how you control the message on what's going on in this modern age but there has been a ton of misinformation and conjecture that hasn't helped anybody. 

To that end, the lasting effects (if I were to offer a hot take) would probably be as life altering as 9/11.  Life will go on and in time be normalized but it wouldn't quite be how it was.  I suppose it could be infinitely worse, I wonder how society would handle things like; full scale wars, large scale famine, true global level economic depression, and several other historical events that hit hard even the last 150 years.

I hope that we can socially shun those who spread fake information.  This "alternate facts" timeline needs to be slammed shut.  It's fine and dandy to speculate about aliens building pyramids, but when it comes to literal life & death things, misinformation is incredibly irresponsible. 

I also agree this could be life changing like 9/11, especially if it stretches out beyond July or August. 

[kwellada]

Business Insider is hardly a reliable source. It has a distinct leftward slant.

Ya know, I'd far prefer people discuss the contents of an article based on a logical, critical thinking approach rather than being dismissive because perhaps a source isn't aligned with your personal politics.  We can clearly point out that Fox News has been putting out disastrous information the past six weeks (such as Rep. Nunes suggesting everyone run out to eat at restaurants and pubs). 

But if there's something in the article that is inaccurate or perhaps relying on speculation over solid facts, that is fair game to be called out and discussed.

[webny99]

Who knows how long before things will be back to "normal". But I think by the end of April, we'll know the answer, or at least have a better idea of the answer, to that question. A lot of practical challenges are going to start arising after six weeks. Schools, for one. Sports leagues, for two. And people just plain and simply aren't going to stay cooped up at home forever.

The first two-three weeks (starting last Wed. 03/11 when all sports were suspended) are probably the most important, and we just have to wait and see how it plays out after that.