# Unanticipated aspects of a pandemic **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 8, 2020, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094 "2020-03-08T10:26:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/81 "2020-03-16T01:41:11Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Really? Because i think the longer this goes on there will be **more** school closings and travel restrictions. And more panic buying resulting in food shortages and maybe even gas shortages. And even businesses going out of business and mass unemployment. I think it really depends on how many people end up actually getting sick and not able being able to work. > > And also, god forbid, if another natural disaster occurs during the midst of this Corona Crisis. That’s all true, but if they flatten the curve than the number of severe cases at any one time will decrease, which will avoid overwhelming the healthcare system, which will reduce fatalities. In Italy doctors are doing triage now. We don’t want that here. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/82 "2020-03-16T22:49:37Z")
I suspect some governments are going to collapse, and you will see a rise in extremist nationalist governments. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/83 "2020-03-17T23:52:08Z")
On Marketplace today (a public radio program about the economy, stock market and the like), they were talking about how many of the big ISPs in the US are suspending data caps. (For example, I get home internet, cable and phone service from Comcast. Normally, there is a one-gigabyte limit before they start charging extra, but for two months, they’re lifting the limit.) The reporter mentioned that the big ISPs claim the data caps are necessary to prevent network congestion but so far at least, that hasn’t been a problem. So perhaps there will be a push to eliminate these caps. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/84 "2020-03-18T00:06:37Z")
I’m divorced and share custody. For the foreseeable future, I’m COMPLETELY a single parent. Which is fine with me generally so I don’t have to worry about safety issues, but it does have drawbacks. One of which is that I’m already fucking exhausted and it’s only been two weeks. All. Day. Every. Day. No one to take some of the burden except Uncle Disney+ and Auntie Netflix. And I guess their relationship is going to be permanently changed depending on how long this goes. Six weeks no physical contact? Six months? A year? (A bad case scenario that is being floated out there on Vox today). There are thousands of children of divorce or other split households now stuck like this. I mean, some people are always like this because of distance, but my kid was gone weekly and now is here, puberty-ing everything up in my face and making our small space even smaller oh god please someone help. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/85 "2020-03-18T05:49:13Z")
I foresee a glut of office space on the market, as companies are forced to admit that working from home has worked just fine. The environmental toll of commuting will be a thing of the past for a vast swath of office workers. Those buildings will eventually be converted into larger apartments with office space and dedicated internet cabling. Handshakes will be old fashioned and frowned upon by everyone under the age of 50. It will be the final death knell for most retail stores. Malls will be a thing of the past in all but the most northern climates. The CDC will be re-funded and scholarships for epidemiology will crop up everywhere. Voters will begin to take science cred seriously in their representatives. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/86 "2020-03-18T06:23:57Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > There are thousands of children of divorce or other split households now stuck like this. I mean, some people are always like this because of distance, but my kid was gone weekly and now is here, puberty-ing everything up in my face and making our small space even smaller oh god please someone help. Hang tough. I feel your pain. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/87 "2020-03-18T06:28:48Z")
I have seen a couple funny short videos about social distancing. I will be curious to see what other flowers bloom. A lot of creative people, cooped up: I can only imagine there will be a lot of interesting art and writing that will come out of it. It will certainly be a cultural touchstone for everyone who lives through it: in ten or fifteen years there will be a lot of young people who “just don’t get it”. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/88 "2020-03-18T06:49:19Z")
If I get sent home from work (still working on the assembly line at an auto-parts factory, but how long will that last?), I expect to spend even more time writing. But my planned book will… mutate. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/89 "2020-03-19T00:13:07Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Hang tough. I feel your pain. Thanks. Yesterday was hormonal and involved several crying jags. I can relate to a lot of what the kid goes through, as a child of divorce myself. My ex is morphing into my father, which is fucking astonishing because I did my best to make sure that didn’t happen and I guess I really dropped that ball. So I can really empathize with a lot of the tween/teen things. I feel a lot of people really do forget what it FEELS like to be a kid. But being housebound for weeks on end, no social contact except house-family and digitally… I can’t relate to that. I can’t share some funny story of my youth or recommend a great story I read that explained it to me. How do you keep kids from being with other kids? One the one hand I’m glad I only have the one because fighting kids would cause me to lose it, but on the other the loneliness is really hard to watch. All those older kids with their proms canceled and school trips. First dates. Concerts and games and plays and art shows etc etc. It’s heart breaking. ps if any of you have daughters who are tween/teens and haven’t gotten their periods yet, how about you get some supplies? Pharmacies might stay open in the trying times ahead, but it doesn’t mean your nearest one would have them if you needed them. One should have that around anyway with girls but this is abnormal times. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/90 "2020-03-19T00:54:47Z")
I just got an email from the operators of my storage area, saying that given the shelter in place order they can’t supervise it any more and so have locked it down. No one can get to their stuff. No problem for me, but I suspect some people might have stuff they’d want to use during the shutdown. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/91 "2020-03-19T03:06:59Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I’m divorced and share custody. For the foreseeable future, I’m COMPLETELY a single parent. Which is fine with me generally so I don’t have to worry about safety issues, but it does have drawbacks. One of which is that I’m already fucking exhausted and it’s only been two weeks. All. Day. Every. Day. No one to take some of the burden except Uncle Disney+ and Auntie Netflix. And I guess their relationship is going to be permanently changed depending on how long this goes. Six weeks no physical contact? Six months? A year? (A bad case scenario that is being floated out there on Vox today). > > There are thousands of children of divorce or other split households now stuck like this. I mean, some people are always like this because of distance, but my kid was gone weekly and now is here, puberty-ing everything up in my face and making our small space even smaller oh god please someone help. Why is your child confined to your house? Is your area under total house arrest? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/92 "2020-03-19T15:35:26Z")
In terms of unanticipated consequences, I wonder if I’ll have a job six months or a year from now. I am fairly secure in my job (or I thought I was), but this thing has upended a lot of plans of people, companies and institutions. And the effect on the economy is going to be severe. So even aside from those like restaurant workers whose employers are closed for the duration, some number are going to lose their jobs even after the crisis is over. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/93 "2020-03-19T18:39:29Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Ok, so that’s changed- NYC schools will be closed at least until April 20 and possibly until the end of the year, but some campuses will reopen as enrichment centers and they’re working on a plan for childcare for essential workers who attend public schools. But in truth, I don’t quite comprehend how having some kids in enrichment centers and providing childcare for others is different from those same kids attending school - it almost has to be school buildings and school personnel being used. If 90% of kids come from families where it’s possible for a parent to arrange some kind of childcare, I can see how that could work but I’d really be surprised if even half of the families could arrange something on short notice. The model for childcare and school will probably have to change to be much more compartmentalized and less varied. Small groups of children, 10 or less say, who have a few caregivers and don’t interact with other groups is much lower epidemiological risk than a bigger group. Elementary schools, where you have a group of kids that mostly stays in the same place with one teacher, might not have to change much. Maybe a dedicated bathroom per class and rolling recess times so they are only outside playing with their class. Even then, 30ish kids might be too many. The Jr. High and High school model where kids go all over the place and switch classes and have interactions with 100s of people a day is almost certainly too risky, and will have to be massively overhauled. All of this with heightened vigilance for hygiene and signs of illness. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/94 "2020-03-19T19:10:10Z")
Hoarding may become the norm after this pandemic, like how many survivors of the Great Depression would amass huge stores of canned food, etc. in their cellars for the rest of their lives afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/95 "2020-03-19T20:51:17Z")
I doubt hoarding will become the new normal, but having an emergency stock on hand just might be, and that’s not a bad thing. Anyone with means (tens of millions of dollars) will be seriously considering a lot somewhere in South Dakota to escape to - at which time they’ll find out that their (financial) dicks aren’t nearly as big as they thought. I expect the office will become a more hybridized environment, with businesses thinking of ways not to be disrupted by pandemics ever again. The “office” could be redefined. I do expect pandemic threats to be taken more seriously in the future. As Bill Gates pointed out, it’s far, far more expensive to react to a pandemic too late than it is to over-prepare for one that may never come. If the money is “wasted” on preparation, so what? Look at how much money’s being blown now? A few billion versus trillions. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 will have potentially seismic geopolitical consequences. When this crisis first began, I thought China was going to be taken down a notch. But not even 2 months later, I’m seeing the possibility of China winning a propaganda war with the United States - they’re fighting dirty and they’re lying their asses off, but nobody ever said you couldn’t win an information war that way - they absolutely can. But right now I’m most worried about Europe. Nothing can shake a society to its core like a silent murderer of millions, and with a foreign origin no less. This could be the end of the European Union, and the beginning of another dark period not just in Europe’s history but a dark chapter for the globe. Never before has global cooperation been more important, but this crisis could end up having the exact opposite impact, and if it fractures global partnerships and cooperation, that would have dire consequences on everything from pandemics to global climate change. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/96 "2020-03-19T22:59:18Z")
Expect mandatory wearing of a monitor displaying one’s vitals - temp, pulse, BP - but immunizations will be hard to show. And expect those devices to be hacked. Expect invasive screening at portals to schools, offices, events, transit, shopping, where we give a skin flake (for DNA checks for positive ID) and be swabbed for instant disease detection. Expect to be shunned if you sneeze or cough in public. Expect hazardous biohacks to suppress sneezes and coughs. Expect jokers spraying cough-and-sneeze-inciting powder. Expect suppression of sexworkers. Expect workarounds. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/97 "2020-03-20T00:20:14Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Why is your child confined to your house? Is your area under total house arrest? We have this thing called winter. It’s not quite over. It’s cold and wet. We may leave the house for important errands and daily exercise, but it’s not exactly like the before times. And again: single parent. I don’t have someone to entertain and enrich when I’m busy doing something else. I can’t give my kid $20 to go to the mall or movies, drop at a friend’s house, stay after school for an activity, spend an extra afternoon at dad’s. I’m not quite sure what you seem to think we should be doing that doesn’t give us more exposure than is necessary. There are only so many hikes one can do in a day. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/98 "2020-03-20T00:30:05Z")
But wait, there’s more! Some boffins grabbed by POLITICO predict [Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently. Here’s How.](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/19/coronavirus-effect-economy-life-society-analysis-covid-135579) Overview: - **The personal becomes dangerous.** No more complacency. - **A new kind of patriotism.** Civilian service, not just military. - **A decline in polarization.** Cooperate, work together, or die. - **A return to faith in serious experts.** Science WORKS, bitches! - **Less individualism.** It takes a village to gain herd immunity. - **Religious worship will look different.** Go pray by yourself. - **New forms of reform.** We’ll have to fix society differently. Little is really unanticipated. Bolds are section titles. The rest are my takes. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/99 "2020-03-20T00:33:59Z")
**Fair Rarity** , I could be wrong but the way I understood the question was as to why your child couldn’t do visitation with their father on the same schedule as had been observed in the past. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094/100 "2020-03-20T00:35:08Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Expect mandatory wearing of a monitor displaying one’s vitals - temp, pulse, BP - but immunizations will be hard to show. And expect those devices to be hacked. > > Expect invasive screening at portals to schools, offices, events, transit, shopping, where we give a skin flake (for DNA checks for positive ID) and be swabbed for instant disease detection. Is this how you imagine things will be in 30 years? If instant disease detection swabs existed, we wouldn’t be in this mess. I expect that a temperature check will be part of the standard security process for getting on an airplane, and possibly also for entering public buildings, schools, and some businesses for a while. I don’t think any of the rest of that stuff will happen any time soon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanticipated-aspects-of-a-pandemic/849094.md?page=6)