COVID-19 Cancellations

[nate]

California suckers... here in Wisconsin we were already sheltering in place, cause it's f$*(@#$ cold.

[Blarg]

I'm going to shelter in my jacuzzi when I get home.

[Crampknees]

Cancelled Vegas 4/10-15 for golf.  We were booked at Wolf Creek but likely best as that course would have cost a pretty penny, 80 lost balls, 4 snapped clubs and a second hangover before noon.  

[Jason]

 

 

[Blarg]

Got the word that The Bachelorette is not starting back up into production as scheduled and that is pushed backed to an undetermined time but ABC does want it to go forward. Depending on the delay it may not start shooting until August or September which butts up close to the Bachelor schedule. I doubt Bachelor in Paradise will happen this season. 

[angelinkc]

Devastating news 

[Blarg]

There is aproximately 30,000 television/film union members out of work right now. These are people that will be out of work, not adding to the economy for at least 3 months. They work on pay or play contracts, daily hire for the most of them and so when a show isn't in production they are unemployed. For the most part everyone picks up work here or there even with a show cancellation since something always takes it's place. Nothing is taking place, at all. 

Expect a lot of used cars and lease returns on the market soon. 

[Redondo]

13 minutes ago, Blarg said:

There is aproximately 30,000 television/film union members out of work right now. These are people that will be out of work, not adding to the economy for at least 3 months. They work on pay or play contracts, daily hire for the most of them and so when a show isn't in production they are unemployed. For the most part everyone picks up work here or there even with a show cancellation since something always takes it's place. Nothing is taking place, at all. 

Expect a lot of used cars and lease returns on the market soon. 

Sad to read stuff like this. Real hardship for some people.

[Redondo]

At-home test kits given green light, website already at capacity

As coronavirus testing in the U.S. continues to lag behind that in other highly affected countries such as South Korea, several domestic startups are reportedly launching the first at-home tests.

The products have been greenlit by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under new expedited guidelines to help combat the virus, according to Stat, a health care industry news outlet.

One such test provider is Nurx, a San Francisco-based company best known for home testing products for sexually transmitted infections and birth control, now offers testing kits for COVID-19 through the mail for $181 after prospective customers fill out an online form with their symptoms.

“We don’t look for the severity of symptoms, only the presence of them. They can range from mild to severe,” Nurx spokeswoman Allison Hoffman told SFGate.com. “But, people with truly severe symptoms should also seek immediate care. … In terms of temperature in particular, we determine a fever is 100.4 [degrees] plus.”

After filling out the online survey, Nurx will determine if testing is necessary based on the person’s symptoms and will mail the test via expedited shipping.

Nurx can give customers lab results within 48 hours of receiving the test, SFGate reported.

“We are pivoting from our prior service lines to make this available,” Chris Hall, senior clinical adviser for Nurx, told Stat. “It’s a heavy lift, but we think it’s important.”

As the tests have rolled out quickly amid the crisis, concerns about their accuracy have also emerged, Stat reported.

Tests not only have to be done at the right time but samples also have to be taken from the right place in the nose and throat.

The FDA also typically “takes a good hard look at the information sent to the consumer,” said Hank Greely, director of the Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences and the Stanford Program in Neuroscience and Society. “I suspect it hasn’t done that here for lack of time.”

Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, said the chance for false negatives is high.

“It’s not a very comfortable thing, if you do it right. It can feel like you’re trying to gag yourself,” he said.

Nurx told Stat that the company's test uses an oral swab that’s more user-friendly.

Topol added, in his view, 48 hours is too long for people to wait for test results.

“In that time, the person doesn’t know whether they should be hunkering down or doing something else,” he said, according to Stat.

The startups, however, say their tests have gone through the necessary steps for consumer readiness, Stat reported.

“You might not be sick enough to go to the ER, you might not have severe shortness of breath, but you have cold and flu symptoms and you live with your mom who’s 75 and has heart problems. And you know that if you have it, there’s a chance you could kill her,” Caesar Djavaherian, co-founder and medical director of primary care startup Carbon Health, told Stat. “You might be in your 20s. You won’t die from this. It’s the impact on your family — that’s what we’re trying to lessen.”

Everlywell, an Austin, Texas-based medical diagnostics company, is also rolling out a home test that should have a supply of 30,000 units available by Monday.

“We plan to eventually have testing and diagnosis capacity for a quarter of a million people weekly. However, this process will take several weeks and could take a few months,” the company told USA Today.

The startups could also be limited by the supplies available to make the tests.

“The concerns about the supply chain are real concerns,” said Robert Mordkin, U.S. medical director for LetsGetChecked, which is also rolling out a test, according to Stat. “It’s really about what the supply chain will be able to manage, and we don’t know what that number is, quite frankly.”

By Friday afternoon, SFGate reported, at least 138,500 people had been tested for the virus in the U.S. and more than 19,000 had been found to have it.

 

 

[Redondo]

Emissions over China and Italy plunge during coronavirus outbreak, satellite images reveal

 

Emissions have dropped significantly over Italy and portions of China as a result of the near-total shutdown from the novel coronavirus, satellite images reveal.

As the pandemic has spread, satellites orbiting Earth have observed lowered air pollution over Italy and lowered nitrogen-dioxide emissions over China.

TROPOMI, the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument onboard the Copernicus satellite, has been observing these atmospheric changes from space. The effort is a collaboration among the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission, the Netherlands Space Office, industry, data users and scientists.

Claus Zehner, ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission manager, said in a statement: “The decline in nitrogen dioxide concentrations over the Po Valley in northern Italy is particularly evident."

Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director of earth observation programs, said in a statement: “Satellites offer a unique vantage point to monitor the health of our planet. Sentinel-5P is one of seven Copernicus satellites in orbit today. It currently provides the most accurate measurements of nitrogen dioxide and other trace gases from space."

“As nitrogen dioxide is primarily produced by traffic and factories, it is a first-level indicator of industrial activity worldwide. What is clearly visible is a significant reduction of nitrogen dioxide levels over China, caused by reduced activity due to COVID-19 restrictions, but also the Chinese New Year in January," Aschbacher said.

“The Copernicus program is a perfect example of how space serves all European citizens by combining the political strength of the EU with the technical excellence of ESA," he added.

 

[Blarg]

This is the wrong thread for that but please make sure to move it so more people can read it.

[Redondo]

3 minutes ago, Blarg said:

This is the wrong thread for that but please make sure to move it so more people can read it.

Where did they move the first one that was up?

The main page one has a poll.

[Blarg]

You could drop it here, this was the original thread

 

 

[Blarg]

The April 5th Queen's English car show was not cancelled but moved to mid September. Hopefully by then there is enough British car owners still alive to have a show since the median age is about 70. 

[Taylor]

2 hours ago, Blarg said:

Got the word that The Bachelorette is not starting back up into production as scheduled and that is pushed backed to an undetermined time but ABC does want it to go forward. Depending on the delay it may not start shooting until August or September which butts up close to the Bachelor schedule. I doubt Bachelor in Paradise will happen this season. 

That poor woman will have to wait several months before going through a process that is guaranteed to result in a non-marriage or a divorce.

[mtangelsfan]

6 hours ago, Taylor said:

That poor woman will have to wait several months before going through a process that is guaranteed to result in a non-marriage or a divorce.

It does mean a lot of jobs being lost.

[St1ck]

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/28940282/canada-send-athletes-olympics-held-2020

[Lhalo]

Ya the Olympics aren't happening. End of story.

[St1ck]

6 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

Ya the Olympics aren't happening. End of story.

Hopefully they can at least just push it back a year. 

[gotbeer]

3 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

Ya the Olympics aren't happening. End of story.

I think it's going to happen.  It'll just be strict quarantine measures to enter, and possibly without fans.  

There is just too much at stake.  Not only money, because there is a shit ton.  But the athletes themselves.  This event is every 4 years, and for some, it's a one time shot.  If you cancel it, it could very well mean a lifetime of work and preparation out the window.  Even delaying it a year could put athletes out of the eligibility window.  

[Lhalo]

Just now, st1ckboy said:

Hopefully they can at least just push it back a year. 

Nobody is going to be able to afford a luxury trip to Japan. I don't think this has sunk into the heads of the average American yet. This economy is going to be in tatters for years.

[Lhalo]

Just now, gotbeer said:

I think it's going to happen.  It'll just be strict quarantine measures to enter, and possibly without fans.  

There is just too much at stake.  Not only money, because there is a shit ton.  But the athletes themselves.  This event is every 4 years, and for some, it's a one time shot.  If you cancel it, it could very well mean a lifetime of work and preparation out the window.  Even delaying it a year could put athletes out of the eligibility window.  

Example: B

[gotbeer]

31 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

Ya the Olympics aren't happening. End of story.

Another interesting statistic.

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

Cases per 1 million population.  Japan has 9 cases per 1 million.  Canada who won't send their athletes there has 41 cases per 1 million.  US is at 106 per million, with the UK at 84 per million.  Where you want to avoid is EU.  They seem to be the ideal breeding ground for this thing.  Of the big countries, Switzerland 988 per million.  Italy 978.  Spain 708.  Norway 470.  Austria 446.  Germany 326.  Belgium 323.  Iran 274.  France 256.

[Lhalo]

Let's see what those numbers are in 2 weeks.

[gotbeer]

Just now, Lhalo said:

Let's see what those numbers are in 2 weeks.

Are you talking Japan, or the other countries?  Because Japan had this thing even before South Korea via the cruise ship.