# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2020 Breaking News **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [February 11, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758 "2020-02-11T01:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 116
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2307 "2020-04-13T04:38:58Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > a local high end grocery chain is making customers wear a mask. Considering their high prices I hope they are handing out free masks. > > [Coronavirus: The Fresh Market to require shoppers to wear face coverings amid COVID-19 - ABC11 Raleigh-Durham](https://abc11.com/fresh-market-wear-masks-at-face-covid-19-spread/6096324/) A local not-so-high-end chain is doing the same starting tomorrow, plus not allowing more than two members of the same family into the store at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2308 "2020-04-13T05:13:23Z")
[Spain](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-wary-spain-starts-to-ease-restrictions-l6ckgs02k) is easing up the restrictions fifteen days after they were imposed. Spain has suffered 17,000 deaths in this crisis, On 12 April it suffered 603 deaths. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2309 "2020-04-13T05:20:59Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > True, but your average poor person/family in India are much poorer than the typical US poor. And many of those with severe COVID-19 often spend a long time in hospital. It isn’t just a couple weeks and you’re better. It still could pile up a huge bill (compared to their income), even in India. It could and does, but again, healthcare costs aren’t batshit insane like in the US. Most medications are heavily subsidized, lab work and radiology is relatively cheap. Not to say that its the NHS or anything, but I have noticed that American experience give you guys a warped view of the matter, ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2310 "2020-04-13T06:37:01Z")
It seems the President has retweeted a tweet calling for [Dr Fauci to be fired.](https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-trump-fauci-coronavirus-response-time-20200413-gi4irsnv3nav5lsbtdwygkorjy-story.html#nt=oft-Double%20Chain~Flex%20Feature~top-version1~trumpfauci-1149p~~1~yes-art~curated~curatedpage) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2311 "2020-04-13T07:52:09Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > It seems the President has retweeted a tweet calling for [Dr Fauci to be fired.](https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-trump-fauci-coronavirus-response-time-20200413-gi4irsnv3nav5lsbtdwygkorjy-story.html#nt=oft-Double%20Chain~Flex%20Feature~top-version1~trumpfauci-1149p~~1~yes-art~curated~curatedpage) [I called it a week ago](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22232043&postcount=42356). Good grief; was it just a week ago? It seems like forever. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2312 "2020-04-13T10:29:56Z")
Wonder when the actual firing is going to occur - it does seem inevitable. It will, of course, be immediately followed by Trump launching _ad hominem_ attacks against the good doctor and calls to immediately do something completely stupid and contrary to actual medical recommendations. If we lived in a just universe Trump would catch this thing and spend miserable weeks coughing and gasping in an underfunded, understaffed, under equipped hospital with gurneys carrying the dead resulting from his inaction and poor decisions going past his door day and night, preferably after some odd and ridiculous scenario in which he loses his security escort and ID so no one believes the blustering old man is actually the President, poor thing, obviously heading into senility and delusions, [southern accent]\* aw…bless his heart\*…[/southern accent] so he can directly experience how the other half lives (or doesn’t). But never gonna happen. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2313 "2020-04-13T11:52:53Z")
You do realize he is getting re-elected right? ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2314 "2020-04-13T11:56:15Z")
China has announced just over 200 new cases over the last couple of days. Does anybody know what accounts for these? Are these new cases in the general population or are they perhaps repatriated citizens? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2315 "2020-04-13T12:06:38Z")
From the BBC: > [@](#): > > On Wednesday, China reported 59 imported cases of Covid-19 across the whole country. > > According to state media, 25 of them entered the country via Suifenhe - making the remote north-east crossing something of a hotspot. > > The patients were all returning Chinese citizens who had flown from Moscow to Vladivostok, a Russian city around 100 miles south. > > All the new patients were taken to hospital, with two in a serious condition. > > In addition, another 86 people in Suifenhe - who came via the same route - were classed as “asymptomatic” but positive for the virus, which China counts separately. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2316 "2020-04-13T12:25:49Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > You do realize he is getting re-elected right? If it were any other President I’d agree with you, but Trump is fucking up so bad (& he’s lost the economy) Biden has a better than 50/50 chance of being elected. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2317 "2020-04-13T14:23:54Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Kaiser will cover 100% if you have Kaiser. Very nice gesture. Yes, but most Americans don’t have Kaiser. I haven’t gotten a good answer from my health insurance about the costs of _treating_ covid-19 as opposed to testing, which they cover 100% ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2318 "2020-04-13T14:47:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > A local not-so-high-end chain is doing the same starting tomorrow, plus not allowing more than two members of the same family into the store at a time. Wait. All of our nurses, doctors, EMTs, etc., they are all fully stocked with masks? No shortages, anywhere? If the local hospital in Boondock County is not fully stocked, who the bleeding fuck decided that grocery stores get them? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2319 "2020-04-13T14:53:19Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Wait. All of our nurses, doctors, EMTs, etc., they are all fully stocked with masks? No shortages, anywhere? If the local hospital in Boondock County is not fully stocked, who the bleeding fuck decided that grocery stores get them? Because grocery workers are in contact with and take money from a whole lot more people than doctors and nurses. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2320 "2020-04-13T15:01:51Z")
You approve? Not sure I do, convince me. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2321 "2020-04-13T15:06:20Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > You approve? Not sure I do, convince me. Grocery workers are the ones insuring we have necessities like food and hygiene supplies. For all of us. Medical personnel are vital but they help a small percentage of the population. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2322 "2020-04-13T15:08:53Z")
dupe ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2323 "2020-04-13T15:09:01Z")
L.A. and the grocery stores that require masks are not requiring medical-grade masks. A bandanna or tshirt tied around your mouth and nose is fine. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2324 "2020-04-13T15:13:02Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Wait. All of our nurses, doctors, EMTs, etc., they are all fully stocked with masks? No shortages, anywhere? If the local hospital in Boondock County is not fully stocked, who the bleeding fuck decided that grocery stores get them? You should not assume these are medical-grade masks. I was just informed that my employer (the commonwealth of VA) is going to be issuing masks to all us folks who dare to come into the office or have to work out in the field. I hope no one would deny us this safety measure because OMG THINK OF THE DOCTORS AND NURSES!!! Um, if y’all want us to keep protecting your environment, then you need to protect us too. We aren’t taking anything away from doctors and nurses, thankyouverymuch. [Perhaps if this young woman had been given PPE by her employer, she’d be alive right now](https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2020/04/11/grocery-store-workers-front-lines-coroonavirus-protection-covid-19) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2325 "2020-04-13T15:23:49Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > You approve? Yes > [@](#): > > Not sure I do, convince me. No ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2326 "2020-04-13T15:35:45Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Wait. All of our nurses, doctors, EMTs, etc., they are all fully stocked with masks? No shortages, anywhere? If the local hospital in Boondock County is not fully stocked, who the bleeding fuck decided that grocery stores get them? Speaking as a grocery peon who’s employer is now supplying masks… What we get is NOT the “medical-grade” type things that medical workers need and should be getting. We don’t get N95 masks. What we’re getting supplied is only slightly better than homemade, and for some very well made homemade masks maybe not quite as good. We get them because, as an example, on a typical day at the cash register I can interact with _hundreds_ of people of unknown viral status, and often I have to interact closer than 6 feet to do my job. My store alone currently has nearly a dozen people in quarantine right now with symptoms awaiting the results of their covid-19 tests. Three that I know of are on a long-term Leave of Absence for medical reasons. Two have been taken to the ER directly from work due to chest pains - not actual heart attacks but acute stress reactions requiring them to take a short leave of absence based on medical need. Regionally, we’ve had a least two grocery store workers die from covid-19 (tested and confirmed), and a competitor’s store a mere 5 miles from mine has been shut down for several days due to several workers developing symptoms then testing positive, so they have to test everyone at the store as well as “deep cleaning” the place before they can re-open. A lot of their customers are - surprise! - now coming to my store. Including, possibly, customer(s) who unwittingly infected the staff at that other store. We just don’t know. Grocery store workers are NOT magically immune to this virus. Although we do not face risks as great as doctors and nurses in hospitals with people critically ill from this virus. We _really are_ risking our health to do our jobs, and some of us have already died. Why _shouldn’t_ we also get some form of PPE along with sneezeguards, gloves, sanitation supplies, extra store cleanings, and all the rest? Or maybe just to hell with us, right? It’s not like we’re doing anything important, we should just go home and stay there, right? But if we do that, good luck getting your toilet paper. Because that’s the reality here: grocery store workers aren’t staying at home, they’re risking themselves coming to work so you can buy whatever stuff you need and/or want. Also - when - not if but _when_ - we get sick with this thing we, like most other people, will be shedding virus for up to a week before we show symptoms, which means YOU are also at risk from US. If we wear a mask we’re spewing less virus around, which is safer for you. THAT’s why we should get at least some basic masks. If you can’t accept that grocery store employees have just as much right to protect themselves from the virus as other “essential workers” then let us have masks to protect YOURSELF. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=115) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=117)