Covid-19

rob love · #1 15-03-20, 19:38

So we here in Canada are just starting to see the beginning of this pandemic. At this point, we are seeing the hoarding of toilet paper, the cancellation of many public events, cultural icons like hockey and curling events cancelled, and churches and museums closed. Even a lot of the military has been told to stay home for the next 3 weeks. The government is trying to do what it can do to make the pandemic peak over a longer period of time rather than overload the health care system quickly.

This seems to have worked it's way around the world from East to West. So what are the experiences of the MLU community in other countries? Has this virus had any direct health effects on our members and families?

Andrew Rowe · #2 15-03-20, 21:07

In New Zealand, as of Today, we are at 8 confirmed cases, and are shutting down the boarders for some people coming in and imposing 14 day self-isolation. Cheers Andrew.

James P · #3 15-03-20, 23:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Rowe

In New Zealand, as of Today, we are at 8 confirmed cases, and are shutting down the boarders for some people coming in and imposing 14 day self-isolation. Cheers Andrew.

Good call, here in Canada 80% of the confirmed cases are from people coming into Canada who then infect 10% more and the remaining 10% are community.

Hanno Spoelstra · #4 16-03-20, 00:30

Last week things moved quickly here in The Netherlands. The government imposed regulations to minimise social contact, just this weekend they were made stricter: bars, restaurants, movie theatres, schools, churches, sport clubs - you name it - are now to be closed down. People are supposed to work from home as much as possible. The plan is to slow down the spread of the virus so the medical system can treat the patients.

For reliable info on the situation in the Netherlands, see https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19

Let's keep it factual on here, please.

Harry Moon · #5 16-03-20, 04:47

Our big two day gunshow was just cancelled that was next week and a display i was going to set up at the local service battalion for operation Faust, was cancelled 6 weeks in advance. But still 6 flights a day from China arriving locally and even health proffesionals arriving on those flights are shocked that there was no screening at the arrivals or customs. oh and there is no toilet paper to be found even though the plant that produces about 20% of north american supply is right here. Went for a drive in the CMP and checked up on club members and their projects. Fun day.

jack neville · #6 16-03-20, 05:09

Pretty sure my shed is Coronavirus free.
So to do my bit I will tell the missus I am self isolating in the shed for the next two weeks.
Should get The Tilly finished.

Richard Farrant · #7 16-03-20, 12:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by jack neville

Pretty sure my shed is Coronavirus free.
So to do my bit I will tell the missus I am self isolating in the shed for the next two weeks.
Should get The Tilly finished.

Hi Jack,
After this past week, some people now have the Corowavirus, with an attraction to green (or sand) coloured vehicles.

A nice job on the Ford ute, well done.

regards Richard

Gordon Yeo · #8 16-03-20, 14:16

Hanno

Has there been any discussion if the V-E celebrations and parades in May will be happening or cancelled?

Gordon

Phil Waterman · #9 16-03-20, 14:38

Hi All

I'm so glad that the MLU community can maintain its sense of humor and logic on this topic. Just email my kids that I was doing my bit to self isolate by planning to spend my time in the shop.

Not effecting wife and I as much as our grown children and their children. Son and his wife and our daughter are all teachers. Son is a university philosophy professor who was already teaching parts of his classes online.

Barbara his wife teaches at a private school which has a large number of foreign students, none of which have traveled in more than 8 weeks. Have not heard yet how they are going isolate students who live on campus from the teachers who don't.

Our daughter who teaches high school physics in one school district while her children are in a different district. All had different closures until this weekend when all the schools closed. Her husband is basically the only one who worked from home anyway, he was a web design company.

But for now all is well.

Cheers Phil

Philliphastings · #10 16-03-20, 15:44

In an unprecedented move, ANZAC Day commemorative parades on April 25 have been cancelled across Australia by our Returned And Services League (RSL) organisation.

I think that reflects the level of seriousness and concern here.

Cheers

Phill

Lest We Forget

Mike Cecil · #11 16-03-20, 17:10

We (me & wife) are seeing art shows cancel opening events and change to extended display periods with a lot more on-line marketing (wife is an artist: www.krystiimelaine.com). It means we don't have to travel at the moment, which is a good thing by the sounds of it.

I expect we might see a certain shift in how people do business which may end up continuing long after Covid-19 is beaten: even more on-line, rather than popping down to the local shops.

Watching the MVPA to see if the annual convention goes ahead in Ohio in May, but I expect the way things are going, we might see that postponed, too. We'll 'watch and wait': it's a long road trip for me, so I'll be happy if they delay it.

Richard: when do you fly back to the Ol'country, or are you stuck in Oz with Corowa-virus?

Stay safe, all y'all!
(oh dear, he's caught a regional language' disease!

)

Mike

Bob Carriere · #12 17-03-20, 00:03

..... I will be wearing rubber gloves while writing emails......just in case.

Stocked up with food and beer ....keeping our distances......

So far the Hammond barn is virus free and totally isolated....... it seems that grinding dust keeps the virus away......

Stay healthy everyone....

Robert Bergeron · #13 17-03-20, 01:16

Hello all . Take this seriously . Look at Italy . Poor souls . 300 deaths a day . Anyway , stay safe and take care of your loved ones . As a group we already socialy distance ourselves this time of year spending time in the shop . I am pulling both gas tanks on my Carrier for overhaul and changing out a few wheels . Good luck to all . Stay safe . Cheers .

Bruce Parker (RIP) · #14 17-03-20, 03:09

Wife and both offspring are 'working from home' which is nonsense because they were not sent home with any work or the ability to do it remotely. I, on the other hand, found out today I have to manage, make work and monitor MY STAFF who are 'working from home'. No overtime, no help and I'm responsible if production goes down (which of course it will since they have no tools to do their job).

Oh well, at least there will be less traffic on the drive in.

GRRRRRRRRR

gjamo · #15 17-03-20, 06:05

Message from the cleaner. He is now working from home and will send instructions what to do by email.

Hanno Spoelstra · #16 17-03-20, 10:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon Yeo

Hanno

Has there been any discussion if the V-E celebrations and parades in May will be happening or cancelled?

Gordon

Hello Gordon,

Any event planned during the lockdown in March-April is cancelled. Count on it that the events in May will be cancelled too (if not already).

The Netherlands are in a semi-lockdown situation till 6 April. But this is likely to be extended or intensified. Many countries have closed their borders, only allowing vital traffic like food and medical supplies.

Some events are to be postponed till later in the year, others will be rescheduled for the same dates in 2021.

"See you on the other side!"

HTH,
Hanno

Hanno Spoelstra · #17 17-03-20, 10:20

Good to see a mix of humour and sense in this group as Phil and others noted.

Turns out the "green virus" inflicts a habit which helps to slow down the spread of another virus. Best to retreat further in your workshop and chase away the virus with metal grinding and welding sparks and loud bangs

Richard Farrant · #18 17-03-20, 11:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Richard: when do you fly back to the Ol'country, or are you stuck in Oz with Corowa-virus?

Hi Mike,
Just got back to Sydney tonight from Corowa via Point Lonsdale, so a long drive. Fly out on Thursday, hopefully, don't know what sort of reception I will get at Heathrow.

We were lucky with the Corowa Swim-In as it ended on Sunday and the government but a block on any events of over 500 people from Sunday midnight.

regards, Richard

Gordon Yeo · #19 17-03-20, 13:46

Hanno

Thank you for the response about the situation in Holland.

Gordon

pauletto luigi · #20 17-03-20, 21:17

We hope that the infection is not transmitted even with rust, otherwise we are all doomed

Mike Gurr · #21 22-03-20, 20:29

My son is now home till September as the University has closed. So have all the gyms, which has worried him more. Found a use for two spare Carrier wheels and a length of gas pipe to help with his exercises!

Lang · #22 24-03-20, 00:24

Australia now has state borders closed (except for trucks and essential workers). This relies entirely upon people doing the right thing as there are no gates or fences or any sort of border force to stop movement. The police have better things to do with their time. It will be a test of national character.

I just sold a Jeep engine to fellow "south of the border". He could quite easily drive here to pick it up but has decided to wait until such travel restrictions are relaxed. My thoughts were to deliver it but I realize the the sense of not doing so.

Lang

rob love · #23 24-03-20, 01:31

They have not closed the provincial borders here yet, but they have talked about it. In the meantime, they have closed the US/Cdn border with the exceptions of commercial goods, Cdns or Americans trying to return home, and a few other exceptions. One of those was Roxham Road, where the illegal border /refugees would enter Canada (from the USA) to have the RCMP help them with their luggage and taken to a suitable hotel for the next bunch of years. However, with all the legal closures, the government had to finally shut that down.

On the home front, there are few to no restaurants open for sit down meal anymore, and a few are now offering curb service. I went to home depot today and they only have one entrance and you must take a shopping cart as that is how they determine how many customers are in the store. I think the max is 50 people in the store.

Stores and the malls around here are like ghost towns. Canada had 500,000 people apply for unemployment last week, although now both Walmart and Amazon are hiring 10,000 more to meet the demand of online sales.

We are still in the early stages in this, with just around 2100 confirmed cases, and 24 deaths. The majority of those are seniors, and some of those are in senior homes where an infected worker passed it on to residents.

On the plus side, the weather is finally warming up and the snow is melting. It will be nice to be able to walk the property and be out of the house. It has been a long winter.

Ed Storey · #24 24-03-20, 02:17

The Roxham Road crossing site has been closed, although for how long is anyone's guess.

rob love · #25 24-03-20, 03:18

Seems like our current minority government may be trying to overeach a bit and take advantage of the Covid-19 situation:

Quote:

The federal Liberals are proposing to grant themselves the power to spend money, borrow, and change taxes without parliamentary approval through to Dec. 31, 2021, according to a draft copy of legislation the government is expected to table Tuesday as it passes COVID-19 emergency economic measures.

Here is hoping public outcry over the next few days puts a stop to this. Something tells me the $200 a ton carbon tax is very near on the horizon.

Bruce Parker (RIP) · #26 24-03-20, 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob love

Seems like our current minority government may be trying to overeach a bit and take advantage of the Covid-19 situation:

Here is hoping public outcry over the next few days puts a stop to this. Something tells me the $200 a ton carbon tax is very near on the horizon.

No kidding. This covid things is allowing the Liberals to duck and hide from every one of their screw ups, while making our minority PM come across (through careful stage managing) as some kind of a responsible leader in crisis. Watch his now daily updates and see if you can find anything in them other than soothing, but meaningless words.

Robin Craig · #27 24-03-20, 23:31

I really think that we will see a ban on inter-provincial travel fairly soon. It is a logical step

Bruce Parker (RIP) · #28 24-03-20, 23:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robin Craig

I really think that we will see a ban on inter-provincial travel fairly soon. It is a logical step

PEI and Nova Scotia already have restrictions and I heard Ottawa and Gatineau are talking about it, so yes. It seems that if one country or jurisdiction does something it's only a matter of time before they all do.

What is more worrying is that some American police forces are saying publicly they will no longer respond to a long list of 'non-violent' crimes including theft, so don't call. What an open invitation to our criminal friends.

Bob Carriere · #29 26-03-20, 00:15

ALL travel should be restricted.......... provincial borders may not be practical
in Canada........ imagine if Ottawa people could no longer get their cheap beer in Gatineau, Prov Quebec just a few KM away but you could drive to Thunder Bay to see a friend some 1000 KM and drag Toronto dust as you go by.....

Very eerie outside right now....... went to the nearest drugstore for prescriptions..... nobody talks...almost a hush as in a church...... no trucks on the road...... no construction...... regular stores are all closed .....

....and that is how it should be in MHO.

Still wearing rubber gloves while sending emails.....

Phil Waterman · #30 26-03-20, 14:41

Hi All

Hay, Bob tried typing with rubber gloves but my touch screen didn't know I was there.

Wife and I went out at 5:30 a.m. this morning to the special Old Foggies shopping hours at the grocery store. Around here that means anybody who looks 60 or older, who is willing to come out and shop between 5:30 and 7:00 am.

This is only our second grocery shopping trip since the beginning of this. Last time it was spooky with lots of shelves empty. In particular, eggs, meat, stripped clean frozen food, bread were picked clean.

But what was of particular note was the paper products isle that had only 12 roles of paper towels, no TP or Kleenex. That was the bad news. The good news was they had filled empty paper product shelves with cases of BEER and it was on sale.

Well that was last time today it was a little better with at least a limited selection in all areas, paper products were stll a little thin. Accept for some strange reason the had lots of the jumbo paper napkins packages. Now only the bottom two shelves had case of BEER and it was still on sale. ( To be clear they didn't move the beer from it's normal isle, that isle was still full as well. )

Other observations almost everybody in the place shoppers and employees alike were wearing rubber gloves. Many wearing masks, or had their scarves covering nose and mouth. Everybody was also respecting the social distancing space.

Other than that living in a rural area not much, effect on us , we really feel for people living in high density area.

Cheers from the woods of New Hampshire Phil

Oh yes we have had to cut way down on watching the news, you can only take so much talking political heads, who really have nothing to say. No matter which side of political devide.