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France held local elections even after coronavirus related restrictions had to be put in place. The article mentions only this rather general and vague reason for holding them: Macron decided to go ahead with the elections last week, saying it was vital the democratic system to continue functioning. Clearly holding an elections means that lots of people are walking around and since the coronavirus spreads much easier that other viruses, it kind of defeats the purpose of existing restrictions. Isn't it possible to delay elections in France? Also, it is expected that voter turnout to be lower due to people being afraid of going out. Question: Why did the French government organized elections as planned in spite of coronavirus restrictions? | would |
Would it make sense from the public safety point of view to allow the persons already having the antibodies to move more freely than the persons not having the antibodies? Or it is more of an ethical question than a medical one? | would |
My BF flies on Monday Athens-Zurich-Miami, with Swiss. He recently received an email saying that his flight details have changed, and he finds out that Lufthansa, ATH-ZRH operator, will most likely cancel the flight due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. The other flight is scheduled. He went to the airport, but the booth told him that they assist only with today's flights, and gave him the central contact number. He calls, but fails getting through, most likely because of the heavy load of calls these days... He'll email them too, but with weekend ahead, it'll probably go without an on time response. Any ideas on what'd be his next realistic steps? He's really stressed! | would |
Both countries have declared a lockdown. So what went wrong in the USA? Why has COVID-19 affected less people in India that in the USA? | would |
Given the lack of critical assessment in the US media of China's massive quarantine, I think that there are many people in the US who would view it acceptable to shut down a major American city to prevent the spreading of an outbreak. However, I worry that no one is considering the consequences of such action. With major parts of the economy no longer functioning, people would have difficulty with things like finding child care. This has trickle down effects, such as pharmacy staff staying at home with their children. This may lead to lethal consequences. Examples of trickle down effects: Cancer survivors can't access health care (this is currently happening in China). Lack of access to medicine. This can be deadly to people with severe chronic conditions (e.g. heart disease). Lack of social support (e.g. no one is checking in on Grandma). Question: Do policy makers (in either China or the US) consider the unintended consequences of large quarantines? If so whose advising them and studying those effects? Is the decision to quarantine based off of a process or is it based off of an executive leader's 'intuition'. My 'intuition' is that these unintentional effects may be killing more people than covid 19. References: Negative Effects NPR-critically ill Positive Reaction to China's response: Donald Trump's Light touch towards China Trump says China is handling coronavirus 'professionally' Yes, I've heard mild criticism of China's handling of this, but it generally doesn't focus on negative effects on quarantine. They generally focus on China's lack of transparency and lack of action. | virus |
apologies for sloppy writing due to my current situation. I am currently in Jamaica with TUI all inclusive holiday. Just an hour ago I got email from Gov.Uk Travel advice stating following. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all but essential travel to Jamaica due to restrictions imposed by the Jamaican authorities in response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. British nationals who wish to leave Jamaica are encouraged to make travel arrangements urgently before airlines reduce direct and indirect flight options. (‘Summary’ and ‘Health’ page) Time updated 11:12pm, 14 March 2020 Reference https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/jamaica Does this mean or is there an indirect signals that UK government would be closing borders for all affected countries soon? I reached out to TUI asking specifically that whether TUI would be arranging immediate flight in case of sudden news from UK gov to close borders in short period of time? Their response was lengthy but in essence they said they will try their best to bring everyone home if such case occurs. In addition I also got to know that outgoing flights from UK to Jamaica are suspended from 16th of March. I myself and my partner are immigrant in UK and resident on Tier 2. Given the situation I am very confused on what should be my next move? Should I arrange other flights immediately to return home or wait until next update? Ps. I do have travel insurance, my scheduled flight is on 20th of March | would |
I made a non-refundable hotel room booking through the hotel website. The hotel is located in the Netherlands. Two days ago, a hotel manager informed me that they close the hotel for a certain period that included the period of my stay due to the Coronavirus, and that is why they were forced to move my reservation to another date. However, I do not want to move my reservation and would like to get the money back because I did not cancel my reservation, so I informed the hotel about it. The hotel, however, states that they are forced to move my reservation to another date as I made a non-refundable booking. I checked the official website of the government of the Netherlands as was advised here and the rules of the hotel on their website but have not found anything on this matter. The rules, however, are on Dutch, so I could misunderstand or skip something (I do not speak Dutch at all). As far as I understand the situation based on John's question and answers, I am entitled to a refund. Are there some documents that I can cite to the hotel to get a refund? P.S. My sister booked the same hotel for the same dates (non-refundable hotel room booking as well) but through Booking. She was able to get a refund after several e-mails. However, she made the booking from Russia (the Netherlands deny the entry for foreigners having a tourist visa), while I did it from Germany where I have permanent residency. | would |
Background: My girlfriend is on an F-1 visa for the United States, and is currently located in (and a citizen of) Hong Kong. She recently was in Hungary, and flew to Hong Kong via Helsinki. She has a direct flight from HKG to SFO scheduled to land in the United States over (but only an hour over) exactly 14 days since her plane departed Helsinki. Question: In light of the language of the ban [1, Section 1] on non-citizens or non-permanent residents entering the United States who have been "physically present within the Schengen Area during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States," I believe that she shouldn't have problems with the entry in terms of the current COVID-19 related policies, but would like to make sure that I'm not missing anything. Should I be worried about this? Is there an interpretation of "physically present" that could include an international flight? Etc.. [1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspension-entry-immigrants-nonimmigrants-certain-additional-persons-pose-risk-transmitting-2019-novel-coronavirus/ | would |
I'll fly to London again for work, and I look Asian. The Coronavirus is making racists target Asians in London - reported in Sky, Guardian. See my other question. It's better not to make eye contact, or reply to any racist taunts or remarks. Right? Note well the Bystander Apathy Effect. Even if I yell for help, people may not assist especially if they're racists too! Postulate that I keep walking, but these racists follow me. I'm 51 and can't out-run these chavs for long. I'm too far from a police or fire station. Then what do I do? Even if I find a fire extinguisher, spraying it at them won't cripple them. | would |
There is such piece of the dialog between journalist and the doctor (in the middle of an interview about Coronavirus): -If somebody's coughing on the bus should you get off? -No, getting off isn't gonna help. Why? | would |
According to statistics published by the FBI, March 2020 saw the highest ever number of NICS firearms background checks performed, at 3,740,688, an increase of 33% from February. The FBI itself notes that this does not equate to a one-to-one correlation to the number of gun sales that have taken place, but it is at least a rough indicator that the number of gun sales has also seen a large increase. This trend held true in practically every state of the US, with the exception of Kentucky. What are the political factors which have led to such a large increase? Clearly, as the main news story currently is the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems likely that this has had an effect, but it's unclear to me why this would lead to such a higher rate of gun background checks/purchases, especially as lockdowns start to reduce footfall at non-private sales locations. | would |
If I travel from the UK to France at the moment (20/03/2020) I need to provide proof that I am on an 'authorized outing', as per the regulations here: https://www.gouvernement.fr/en/coronavirus-covid-19 I have booked a Eurostar train from London to Brussels; the route, of course, goes through France for a short period. Eurostar have texted and emailed me to say that these restrictions hold, but it's unclear whether these rules apply only to their trains to France. Do I still need a certificate to comply with the French government's rules even if I am going directly to Belgium? | would |
I played around with Google Trends and Corona because I was interested when people started to search for it. https://trends.google.de/trends/explore?date=2019-11-20%202020-01-09&geo=CN&q=Coronavirus,%2Fm%2F01cpyy,%2Fm%2F01f01y,%2Fm%2F02y_4q2,%2Fm%2F0g9pc I tried to control for the beer and general virus. It looks like peopled googles very early for the virus or am I missing something ? Sample-size, other variables ? | virus |
Most signs show that lockdown could easily stretch through the summer. A freeze in consumer spending would cause multiple industries to fail causing a ripple effect. To be specific, if lockdown lasts through the summer, and a second virus wave occurs in the fall as expected, then lockdowns will continue further into the year. The timeframe for a vaccine is 12-18 months earliest. Then, the vaccine must be manufactured and distributed. Since the virus is so widespread that it is now assumed that it will reach a global critical mass, this essentially guarantees the collapse of the restaurant, airline, tourism, and hotel industries as they cannot sustain prolonged losses in a capitalistic structure. If they fail, their suppliers fail, and so on. History has shown that large systems are prone to failure time and time again, esp. when accountability is obfuscated (e.g. the Titanic, the World Wars/Holocaust, and now this). In the past Egypt fell, and then Rome fell. What is to say our current systems won’t fail, even if as a slowly sinking ship? EDIT: This question was closed, before I received enough good, thoughtful answers. As of tonight (April 4th) Bernie Sanders held a virtual address on the situation. He's looking at the unemployment projections that were posted by the St. Louis Fed's models and has spoken with a number of economists. Finally a voice of reason in this media circus. He has confirmed that a potential collapse is possible as another 47 million Americans may become jobless - this is unprecedented and would be absolutely devastating to American civilization. | virus |
My AFORE already lost a chunk of money in my retirement savings, i'm not sure what to do, i'm afraid if leave the rest of my money i will lose even more and it's gonna take a while to recover those losses. I'm considering: Taking out the money to a regular savings account and wait for the crisis to pass Just wait and see what happens Any recommendations? I worked hard to save that money and have a decent retirement when i become older. | would |
Starting Friday the 13th, all non-USA passport holders are not allowed entry into the USA when coming from the Schengen area. Does this include layovers? I'll be traveling from Africa, laying over in Frankfurt and finally arriving in Dulles. As a US citizen, what will be the impact of my layover? | would |
Recently I traveled to India. While traveling back to the USA I got cwop on my F-1 visa in Doha. Then they sent me back to India. My question is: I have a one year valid OPT (optional practical training). Can I get a new visa for the OPT? | would |
A part of this answer got me wondering if another state can request compensations over the huge economical cost of SARS-CoV-2 epidemics: (..) the region (HK, Singapore, SK?, China) was hit much harder during the 2003 SARS epidemic so spent more time getting prepared. (..) it has long been the expectation that the next epidemic would come out of China, both due to population density and proximity to livestock/wild animals, so those countries could expect another "gift" from their Chinese neighbors. Theoretically it can be argued that China could have tackle "the proximity to livestock/wild animals" to avoid another pandemic. Is it possible for a country to ask for compensation over a pandemic started in another country. Or a pandemic is assimilated to a naturally occurring event regardless of context? Question: Is it possible for a country to ask for compensation over damage done by SARS-CoV-2 epidemic that most likely started in China? | virus |
I was wondering, do regular travel healthcare insurance policies contain a clause which excludes coverage in extreme situations/disasters usually? I'm thinking about a global pandemic of the SARS-CoV-2/coronavirus as an example. For context, I'm from Germany. I know it is a whole different question, if you can actually get any medical assistance in case of a major breakout. To be clear: Not asking because I'm in need of medical help - I just want to understand what the policies look like. | would |
Romania has declared a state of emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has a few effects. Two of which I consider relevant for this questions are: they limit some of people's rights (like the right to move freely, for ex); some decisions can badly affect certain categories of people (lose jobs, unable to get access to care, difficulty in access food, for ex). Old people are the most affected and in extreme situations. They might die not because of the virus, but because of decisions that are taken to slow down the progression of the virus, like being unable to access care, or medicine, or food because people are restricted in what they can do and health services are restricted in what cases they treat. My question is this: If Romanian politicians take bad decisions, or police and military enforce bad decisions and this causes deaths that could have been avoided if they had more... "common sense" let's say... after the state of emergency ends, are they accountable for their actions? Or does anything go during a state of emergency with no consequences for those in power? | would |
According to a NY Post article, parks in New York have become so overcrowded during this Covid-19 outbreak (supposedly because residents can't find anywhere else to go, e.g. restaurants are closed), so much so that some use cemeteries as parks in the hope of finding a less crowded spot. How accurate are these journalistic impressions? Is there data on the increase in overcrowding in NY parks during this outbreak, and if so, have there been any public health estimates on the danger that these park crowds may cause? (I see that Cuomo was incensed by the crowded parks, but that was more than a week ago. He did close playgrounds, in the meantime.) To those who think this can't be but BS (per comments below), governor Cuomo and mayor de Blasio have disagreed often enough, e.g. The Atlantic relates their disagreement on school closures: De Blasio angered New York parents and some of his own allies by resisting for days a decision to close schools, acting only following pressure from Cuomo and after a near-revolt by advisers and top public-health officials. “He’s both a bad decision maker and not good at communicating about it,” said an elected New York Democrat and former ally of the mayor’s, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve a working relationship with the de Blasio administration. So I wouldn't be surprised they disagreed about parks too. The question whether the parks are crowded obviously has a public-health and thus a political dimension too nowadays (so I disagree with those who think this is off topic.) And if you need anther source, the March 23 story was covered by Bloomberg too, with a March 20 image: Tired of being cooped up at home, hordes of New Yorkers headed to Central Park and other open spaces in the city over the weekend -- and that’s making Governor Andrew Cuomo very irritated. “It’s insensitive, it’s arrogant, it’s self-destructive, it’s disrespectful to other people, and it has to stop, and it has to stop now,” he said. “This is not a joke, and I am not kidding.” Calling the crowds “wholly inappropriate” amid a statewide stay-home order, he’s now asking the city to develop a plan that he can approve Monday to correct that. “We talk about social distancing,” he said. “I was in these parks, and you would not know that anything was going on.” I don't know how [un]reliable "The Gothamist" is, but they posted these images supposedly from March 27: Of course, a lot can change in a couple of weeks in people's attitudes, even if the parks are still open. And likewise some photos may be unrepresentative. The question is: did any behavioral change happen that made the closures unnecessary, or was Cuomo ranting like a madman and there was no problem to begin with? | would |
I would like to know if it has been proven or disproven that the Coronavirus/COVID-19 can be spread via public toilet seats? I am thinking that perhaps I should always carry around hand sanitizer with me and put some on each public toilet seat that I use. I would put it on some toilet paper and then rub down the toilet seat before sitting down. | virus |
I've always used Acyclovir to treat cold sores, why doesn't it work on other viruses? How do coronaviruses differ from herpesviruses? | virus |
Due to the spread of the coronavirus my organization is recommending (essentially mandating) that all employees work from home (WFH) until further notice. I was planning on traveling to Canada from NYC until the WFH policy is lifted. I have no reason to expect that I was exposed, and would like to stay in Canada with my family for as long as possible. Since I am working in the USA on a TN visa, is there a maximum amount of time I can spend outside of the USA? This site seems to suggest that if my I-94 is not expired on return I will be fine. | would |
During these weeks many flights had been cancelled because of the COVID-19. Why do some airlines and air travel agencies send confirmation emails even if the flight has been cancelled? Examples: LATAM: Flights from Peru were cancelled because of the state of emergency. However, one day before the flight, my flight was still appearing as SCHEDULED. I called LATAM to ask if the flight is indeed scheduled and not cancelled. They told me that so far they do not have that specific flight marked as cancelled in their systems and they recommended to check the next day (the day of the flight). They mentioned a refund can't be done because the flight is not cancelled. Obviously, during the night, SCHEDULED turned into CANCELLED. Delta Airlines: Flight cancelled, but they send emails how to prepare for the flight and how to reach the airport and buy seats. Kiwi.com and Opodo.com.uk: Flight cancelled, but they send notifications via email and push notifications to prepare for the flight and prepare my bags etc. Apart from technical issues, is there any strategy in this scenario (e.g. marketing, whatever)? I am a programmer and I can imagine that in the source code they can simply have an if condition checking if the flight was cancelled to not send any notifications anymore related to how to prepare for the flight. | would |
I was watching President Trump's white house daily briefing for Coronavirus and I see officials standing too close to each other which is a different issue. But one thing I am wondering is everyone staring at the president nonstop without looking at the audience? Is there a specific etiquette they are following? | would |
What preventative measures should people take to avoid infecting others that they are in contact with, such as family members, who are more vulnerable (elderly and/or individuals with underlying health conditions) to the virus? In particular, what should be done when someone needs to leave home regularly for work, despite having contact with vulnerable people at home? | virus |
We booked a holiday cottage in the UK for the end of July 2020. We neglected to purchase travel insurance when we booked it at the start of 2020 (we've learnt from this mistake). We have already started paying the balance on this trip. So now we are looking at purchasing travel insurance but we are concerned that the Covid-19 lockdown currently in the UK, will invalidate any insurance we take out now. The optimistic estimates put the end of the lockdown around the 15th June. Is it worth us taking out the insurance now to protect our existing deposit/holiday or is likely that all insurance policies purchased now will be invalidated if there is an extension to the lockdown? Any guidance on this is much appreciated. | would |
In light of the current pandemic, how can travelers ensure that they're not infected while taking the plane? Would it be sufficient to wear a N95 mask with protective goggles or does one require a full-blown hazmat protection suit to ensure absolute safety? I am aware that the best course of action is to avoid travel altogether, but let's presume that this is not an option. | virus |
The background is obvious. I'm really curious about the wording. In particular, UK told that staying home this weekend is 'not a request'. To me, it sounds like loosening restriction, in an unofficial way. I don't follow British politics that much so forgive me if I'm missing the obvious. What's the deal here? | would |
I'm currently in my undergraduate junior year studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada. I'm hoping to apply for Top 10 US grad schools in mechanical engineering in about 18 months. In response to the worldwide COVID-19 health crisis, our institution has (as have most academic institutions) switched to online teaching and made many changes to the structure of our courses to accommodate the situation. As part of these changes, the university has offered students the option to selectively change the grade reporting on their transcripts to CR/NCR (Credit/No Credit) at the end of this semester. Normally, my grades would be pretty good (hovering around ~3.9 GPA) and I wouldn't bother to report my grades as a CR instead of as a percentage, but this crisis has completely disoriented me and made it difficult to focus on my studies. Furthermore, the university has allowed instructors to retroactively adjust the course breakdown/weighting away from the original syllabus--this means that tests/projects that were originally worth 15% of the grade might have been increased to upwards of 40% weighting. This has had a negative impact on my course grades as well, as I was hoping to make up for poor showings on some of these lower-weight deliverables with strong final exam performances. Instead, these final exams are going to be worth much less now. In the aftermath of these changes, I'm contemplating using the CR/NCR option on some of my course grades, particular with any grade that ends up lower than my current GPA. However, I'm worried about how this will be interpreted in my grad school admissions in a couple years. In normal circumstances, I think changing a percentage grade into a CR/Pass grade would be a red flag that a student's performance in the class was less-than-stellar. Given the COVID-19 crisis and its effects on academia as a whole, are admissions committees two years down the road likely to be understanding if I decide to take advantage of the CR option now? Should I make use of it and explain that this was "the coronavirus semester" in my application package, or am I dooming myself by converting my grades from percentage into CRs? | would |
This page Bleach claims Bleach is more effective at killing germs when diluted than when used straight out of the bottle. this other page (Spanish) Alcohol and Bleach are more effective against Coronavirus diluted claims the same Disinfectants like bleach and alcohol alter the virus structure and prevent it from infecting us. Their effects will depend in the right concentration But this other page, Does liquid bleach has to be diluted to be effective as a virus killer? claims So, all things being equal, undiluted bleach is more effective at killing stubborn bacteria. I know, he says bacteria and not virus but, The data of viruses is a little more straight forward � viruses are simply not cut out to defend against the bleach onslaught! A group of scientists in New York studied the effects of very dilute concentrations of bleach on the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). A tenfold dilution of bleach, which subsequently mixed with an equal volume of RSV-containing medium (so in fact a twentyfold dilution) eradicated all of the virus. A 100-fold dilution of bleach killed 100% of the virus half of the time, and decreased the number of live viral particles by greater than three logs in the other half of the tests. This was all after five minutes of treatment. So at least for viruses, you can probably dilute the bleach tenfold without worrying too much about decreased antimicrobial activity. Personally, I don't find any logic why bleach would be more effective diluted, the opposite makes more sense to me. Is there any explanation for this to be so? Or it's just a wrong idea? | virus |
My international conference in Europe this May has been canceled due to the COVID-19. I have a ticket, purchased from TAP air Portugal, from Toronto, Canada to Lisbon. Because it is a non-refundable fare, they don't want to give a refund. They won't allow me to reschedule later than May 31 of this year. This won't be useful for me. What options do I have? I'd prefer to get a full refund. (I am a US citizen if it matters) Note: They offered to refund just the taxes, which is about 10% of the value. That's not horrible, but I'd rather have the whole thing returned. | would |
Would Nature, Science or other leading academic journals prioritize publishing work on COVID-19, the novel coronavirus that has caused more than 3k deaths so far? If so, has this happened before in the past, during another crisis? | virus |
I am interested in creating a web tool to predict the absolute risk of in-hospital death from a published risk model of COVID-19 patients. Is it possible to estimate the intercept from the significant, multivariable model coefficients published(Table 3 at https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30566-3)? | virus |
I own two tourers which I normally relubricate their aluminium alloy seatposts every spring with high quality grease. Due to moving to Cambridge and the coronavirus outbreak, both cycles are being kept safe 10 miles away but if I miss this lubrication will their seatposts become seized? | would |
A search following a recent news item led me to a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for 23 March 2020 which says in part: SARS-CoV-2 RNA was identified on a variety of surfaces in cabins of both symptomatic and asymptomatic infected passengers up to 17 days after cabins were vacated on the Diamond Princess but before disinfection procedures had been conducted (Takuya Yamagishi, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, personal communication, 2020). Although these data cannot be used to determine whether transmission occurred from contaminated surfaces, further study of fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 aboard cruise ships is warranted. Identifying bits of RNA does not imply a surface is infectious and that's not what I am asking about here. This reminded me of answer(s) to Was 14,000+ year old DNA “laying around in cave dirt” protected from degradation, or is it just naturally this robust? which explain that small fragments of DNA can be quite stable in some environments; in some places on Earth the DNA in the soil can be ten thousand years old. Question: Roughly speaking how stable are short sections of single-stranded RNA in exposed environments compared to double-stranded DNA? The answer is likely to contain "It depends on..." as did the answer to the DNA stability question, I'm primarily interested in the differential stability between the two. | virus |
People are concerned about the economic impacts of the virus. How severe will the economic downturn be? Will the coronavirus cause a global recession worse than the 2008 crisis? I'm not looking here for speculative answers, but references with a solid economic background. For example, I found these: Flattening the Pandemic and Recession Curves, March 13 2020, by Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Berkeley. Economics in the Time of Covid-19, by Vox CEPR. Any other (academic) references? Economics podcasts are also welcome. I found those: Russ Roberts and Tyler Cowen on COVID-19 The Side Effects of Social Distancing by Freakeconomics And a bunch of recent episodes by Planet Money. Update. Some nice references on Following the economic impact of COVID-19 by Stanford (SIEPR) experts. | virus |
Our college is switching to teaching online mid-semester in hopes of slowing the spread of Covid-19. All the molecular model kits are still on campus. How could you build a model of tetrahedral coordination (say methane) from materials found at home? I'm aware of computer visualizations (and will make those available), but I think having a physical model when first encountering three-dimensional structures adds value. I made a model from lawn toys (see below), but these are not common household items. | would |
In UK employment law what are the differences between being furloughed, laid off, and made redundant? | would |
Decision on how long to keep the economy "shut down" depends on the evaluation of how deadly/infectious coronavirus is. So I would assume that countries would try to test random members of "healthy"(no sign of illness) population to determine the spread in the population. I assume this was not done because tests are in high demand for people that exhibit symptoms, but could not find any confirmation for my thesis. There is this question from 3 weeks ago, but from what I understand no answer claims there is a generalized sampling. | virus |
The chair of my department has very generously offered to try and secure funding for some of the part-time and adjunct professors working in the department as compensation for adapting our originally in-person courses to an online format (this is in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic). I currently am an adjunct only teaching one upper-division class at this institution. The catch here is that my chair has asked me and the other part-timers to throw out numbers that we feel are appropriate. I really have no intuition about what to ask for, or to simply respond (graciously) saying that I trust my chair's judgement and allow them to come up with a number for me/us. I don't want to come off as greedy and pick a number they might claim to be inappropriate, but at the same time I feel that it's rather passive to blindly let my chair pick. For reference, I'm a fairly new hire in this department and not really clear about my future there. The chair and the other faculty are very friendly and inviting, so I'm not particularly worried about setting off any personality conflicts. Just not sure what the appropriate response is here. | would |
Apparently, a new coronavirus related paid family leave law takes effect on 04/01/2020. I understand that, among commercial companies, it applies only to those under 500 employees (because, of course, companies that can afford lobbying cannot be burdened, but that's unrelated to the question.) The questions I have regarding that law: 1) Does the new extended leave law apply to federal employees? More specifically, my wife works for Veterans' Affairs, and we'd like to figure out whether she qualifies. On one hand, VA has more than 500 employees, but on the other hand, VA is not a commercial company, and I don't see in the reports specifics regarding the government employees. 2) Would a mother of small children qualify for paid family leave to watch them while the schools are closed? This has become quite an issue as soon as the schools closed for the year. | would |
As of episode 8 of Koufuku Graffiti, there's been at least one shot per episode in which Ryou's downstairs neighbor is briefly shown (usually standing on her balcony folding clothes or something). Is she ever going to be introduced as a character, or is she more just a running joke? | would |
While the IRS has a page on the Coronavirus impact is there any resource on handling the various State Income taxes. Are they extended like the Federal Income tax or do I have some relief due the declining economic conditions? Edit: This is more of a placeholder question for my answer below, which provides a link to a US professional accounting association resource. | virus |
There are various statistics estimating mortality of COVID-19 infections, based on how many diagnosed people have died. These numbers are used by various media to extrapolate how many people will die if the disease spreads uncontrollably. However, what is missing here are the undiagnosed infected (due to their immune system fighting the virus fast enough and thus only presenting with mild, or no, symptoms). Do we have any data or estimates for the percentage of infected people that are asymptomatic? | virus |
I'm trying to observe the behavior of simple viruses in different environments. I'm just looking for simple viruses like the common cold and the flu virus nothing major. Is there a way to obtain them? | virus |
I was reading this article on the Culture Secretary calling for Ofcom to take action against the London Live TV station. Yesterday, April 8th, the station broadcast an interview with David Icke, the same conspiracy theorist who claimed that a link between 5G and the COVID-19 pandemic exists in a live broadcast on Youtube which caused Youtube to alter its policies on removing COVID-19 misinformation. In this latest broadcast, Icke reportedly accused Israel of "using coronavirus to test its technology". The Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said: You are absolutely right these are lunatic conspiracy theories and no sensible person would give them a moment's thought. Clearly that station is regulated by Ofcom and I would be expecting Ofcom to take appropriate action. Clearly they're independent (Ofcom), but I will be in touch with them to understand what action they are taking in respect to that. The article also gives the example of a 'sanction' by Ofcom: And a community radio station was sanctioned by Ofcom last month after it broadcast conspiracy theories about coronavirus. Uckfield FM was forced to apologise after a programme featured a guest presented to listeners as a health professional, but who made claims Covid-19 was linked to the rollout of 5G. Being forced to apologise doesn't seem like that harsh a punishment personally, and with a quick search, I couldn't see whether Ofcom has any sanction powers beyond this. What powers does Ofcom have to impose sanctions, and what form can these sanctions take? | would |
I'm in the UK. I'd like to flee to China to avoid the Coronavirus outbreak. What would be the best way to achieve this? I was applying for a TEFL program there earlier this year- it is currently not cancelled but who knows at this point. The program does not begin until August however, and that's assuming I am accepted. If this is the best option, how can I best ensure that the outbreak here won't limit my chances? (Besides the obvious "don't die of Coronavirus"). | virus |
How do you think next year's PhD applications would be affected by the COVID-19? Will we be seeing less numbers or more? Will they be more competitive? Edit: mainly asking for applicants to the US and UK. | virus |
Currently farmers in Western countries are warning governments that without foreign workers their fields will be impossible to harvest: “We are in need of a lot of foreign workers,” Eystein Ruud, a greenhouse farm owner and chairman of the Norwegian Horticultural Association, told The Globe and Mail. “If we cannot get these workers in the coming weeks, our farmers won’t risk putting a lot of plants in the soil. That may affect the food supply.” At the same time Western nations are about to face unprecedented levels of unemployment due to the COVID-related shutdowns. On the face of it, this seems like a perfect match - people who lost their jobs could now work their local fields, earning a salary and supplying much needed food for the nation. So why is this considered a problem, rather than a blessing in disguise? Shouldn't governments be happy they have job openings for the unemployed? I do understand that working the fields is difficult and only young people could do it, but currently a lot of young people lack a job too, so that looks like a manageable problem. | would |
I am a 23 year old living in Romania, currently renting an apartament. I am earning enough that I am now looking to buy an apartment of my own in the near future with a mortgage loan, but, right now, I think there is a housing bubble about to burst, at least in the area I live in. This site shows the price graphs for apartments in my living area. It seems that the prices are reaching the values they were at before the 2008 recession. Is it reasonable to expect them to drop similarly to how they did 12 years ago? If the prices do drop within the next 3 years, is it reasonable to expect that I would be able to get the same kind of loan I am eligible for getting now from a bank? From a purely financial perspective, does it make more sense to buy an apartment now, despite the inflated prices, or wait for the bubble to burst and buy at that point? | would |
This virus exits the cell using exocytosis after assembling golgi vesicles which contain the virus by fusing with the cell membrane. In the case of infected pneumocytes, I imagine that the virus could then exit into the alveolus and infect other pneumocytes using again the interaction of the S protein with ACE2 or it could exit into the blood and spread to other pneumocytes in a 'miliary' fashion like TB. Is either or both the main mechanism of spread in the lung? Does lymphatic spread play any role? | virus |
In our choir, we are discussing measures to slow the spread of the novel Coronavirus in our community. However, I lack understanding about how the virus spreads in a closed room. The German Public Health authority recommends "Social distancing" of 1-2m. However, in a choir, many people are singing all the time on the same location. Singing also produce respiratory droplets [src1] and I don't know how long those droplets stay infective. [src1] states that droplets dry out within 2m. Are Coronaviruses only infective while suspended in these droplets? Given the long exposition of the people to each other and the long duration of singing, are the recommendations of Social Distancing applicable to choirs? | virus |
Multiple sources have reported that Canada and the United States have announced that the Canada–United States border is about to close to non-essential travel in an effort to reduce the spread of Covid-19. For example, see https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/essential-travel-coronavirus/index.html "Well I think essential is medical, we have military working together, we have industry working together, and again, it's not affecting trade, so things like that," said President Trump. "But just leisurely 'let's go to a restaurant and have dinner,' which a lot of people do ... we have ended on a temporary basis." When was the last time either Canada or the US banned citizens or residents of the other from visiting for tourism or other non-essential purposes? My guess is the War of 1812, but I can't seem to find the answer online. | would |
So I am reading and listening to the news, watching the numbers re Covid-19, listening to and reading apocalyptic accounts of the coming recession, hearing of record breaking unemployment reports and then doubling those numbers the next week... And the stock market goes down 1-2% and then stages a bit of a rally at the end of the day... (April 3) I get that there has been a 20+% drop already, but it just seems to me that this doesn't account for the seriousness of the situation moving forward. I am new to the trading/investing world (I've always been a buy-and-holder until a month ago when I saw the writing on the wall and got out when the markets were down just a few percent). But I'm just trying to figure out why there isn't more market movement downwards. Can somebody help me understand? | would |
It's been recently reported that Trump's administration (Trump himself, but also Pompeo) has been referring to COVID-19 as "China virus" or "Wuhan coronavirus" etc., emphasizing the Chinese origin of the virus, despite the WHO's recommendations against using such geographical labelling. The Trump administration says they are doing this (now) to combat (apparently recent) Chinese propaganda that the COVID-19 was introduced by the US Army to Wuhan during a (friendly) visit. (An accusation for which, I have to say, the Chinese political officials presented no real evidence, and which seems to contradict even what the Chinese scientists have been saying about the same issue.) How did the US administration (top officials) usually refer to COVID-19 before the Chinese foreign ministry started to make such (unsupported) accusations (i.e. roughly before March 12)? | virus |
In light of the recent pandemic of COVID-19 spreading in the world, there have been many Chinese papers with only English abstracts published in Chinese journals. Some western papers have cited the Chinese papers, but only based on the abstract as the author would say they do not understand the Chinese full text. I am a graduate student in the medical field with a good grasp of Chinese and English. Can I translate without permission, or offer to translate, these papers and publish in an indexed English journal/source? If I make the offer, what is the appropriate etiquette and considerations? | would |
If Covid-19 can float in the air over particles and be there for up to 3 hours (1:50 minute), and if the virus could get into your system through eyes, nose or mouth (See Spread from contact with contaminated surfaces or objects section), then would not be better to use one of those suits to have full protection? If no, why? Suits and face mask like these ones The mask, only covers your nose and mouth, if used properly. What about the eyes protection then? | virus |
I was looking at H.R.748 - CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act on the Congress website. I was surprised to find that the bill originally passed the House on July 17, 2019. I found this strange because the Coronavirus was not known until the last few months of 2019. I looked at the original bill from the house. It is fairly short and has nothing to do with Coronavirus, but instead talks about removing a specific tax related to healthcare. I took a looked at the Senate amendment to the bill. It says, "Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:" This is followed the very lengthy text of the CARES Act. It does not contain any text related to the original purpose of the bill. Why did the Senate use this bill instead of creating a new one? What happened to the original? Since the Senate replaced it's text, can it no longer fulfill it's original purpose? | would |
As a response for the Covid-19 pandemic, my university built an electronic platform, and is now ordering professors to share their courses on it. The school platform is open to the public, so I'd rather not share my documents on it. I've been using Google Classroom to share content with my students. Can I rightfully refuse to use the school's platform? | would |
As a non-biologist, my understanding is SARS-CoV-2 uses it spike protein to latch on to the ACE2 receptor on cells in order to inject its genetic material into the cell. Questions: What would happen if you flooded a person with exogenous ACE2 proteins? Would the virus attach to these decoy proteins and thereby save cells from being infected? Would the injected proteins cause unwanted side effects? Has this approach to treating viral infections been tried before? Reference: https://f1000research.com/articles/9-72 | virus |
When calculating how lethal a virus outbreak is, I've noticed that most sources use CONFIRMED_DEATHS/CONFIRMED_INFECTIONS However, given that there are only 2 possible outcomes; death or recovery, wouldn't it be more logical to use: CONFIRMED_DEATHS/(CONFIRMED_DEATHS + CONFIRMED_RECOVERIES) Which formula is applicable to which situations? | virus |
So I live in a city that has these organizers who are newspaper owners that are about to go forward with a huge event that brings people from all over despite the fact that I just saw the coronavirus numbers increase by 18 in the past 24 hours here in the United States. If this event results in an outbreak in my city, is there a legal precedent for a lawsuit against these organizers? Has anything like this been done before? | virus |
I have observed a strange phenomenon. I my mouth is very sensitive to very hot liquids (like, freshly made tea, or just freshly boiled water), so when I make my tea, I usually wait around 20 minutes before drinking it. I am also a fan of a particular 3 in 1 instant coffee (3 in 1 meaning instant coffe + instant milk + sugar). I am taking one pack of mentioned coffee (21 grams in one package), pouring it with with freshly boiled water, mixing the coffee with water using a teaspoon in room-temperatured cup, then I am going to the toilet for ~5-7 minutes. When I come back from the toilet, my coffee is ready to drink. It is hottish, but I can drink it right away. Later on (2-3 hours later), I am making a cup of tea, using the same cup, which is in the room temperature again. I am pouring two teabags (4 grams of tea) with the same amount of freshly boiled water, and I make my breakfast. It usually takes me around 10 minutes to make my breakfast, and when I am trying to drink my tea right after finishing making by breakfast, it is still hot as hell. I am usually waiting another 10 minutes, then the tea is still hotter than the coffee after 7 minutes, but it starts being acceptable for my sensitive mouth. I have even bought a food thermometer to check the cooling speed of both liquids, but because of the coronavirus outbreak it hasn't arrived yet, but my "internal" thermometer - my lips, and isides of my mouth cannot be wrong. I can drink the coffee after ~7 minutes, and the tea after ~20. I would understand a little change in cooling time, cause we are talking about 21 grams of instant coffee-sugar-powdered mix, the liquid is a bit densier, maybe there is more energy used to dissolve the coffee ingredients, the instant milk contains fat, but still - i am talking here about 13 minutes of difference between the time when my mouth can accept the temperature of both liquids, and we have to remember that the tea is still a hotter 20 minutes after I pour it with boiling water than the coffee 7 minutes, but it is drinkable. Is there an explaination for this? | would |
I will be submitting my Ph.D. thesis in the comming two months. From last one month I was sending email to professors for post-doc position but from last week I have stopped sending emails requesting for post-doc position due COVID -19. Although the impact of this virus in my country is less. I am in a confusion whether or not to send an email regarding post-doc position at this time? | would |
I am going to Japan from Western Europe in March (by plane). I have a stop in Shanghai (~2h. long so I'll stay in airport). Due to the Coronavirus related protective measures, will I be quarantined when arriving to Japan? UPDATE - 02-03-2020 I was able to reschedule my flights for later with no charge, so I chose another company and have direct flights now. | virus |
In the abstract of this paper Authors said in abstract of that paper entitled Simulation of the AC corona phenomenon with experimental validation : ".....,This phenomenon is also associated with components used in the power industry where it is, in many cases, the source of electro-magnetic disturbance, noise and production of undesired chemically active species" , Now my question here is : Is there any connection between this topic AC Corona and Corona virus since AC corona produce undesired chemically active species ? In my Guess according to the contenent of the titled paper this Coronaviruse is a human production not come randomly from nature ? Edit: What they meant by production of undesired chemically active species ? Does this meant from AC corona we may produce undesired chemically species which means a such virus derived from AC coron ? | virus |
I saw a recent news article about President Trump, forcing car makers to make ventilators. In the US there also a significant shortage of toilet paper, which seem to be a supply and demand problem. People want more than the available supply. Can the president increase toilet paper supplies? | would |
I've always lived with family and been a student, so apart from odd jobs here and there I've never really worked full time or reached a minimum taxable threshold of income. On top of this, I am currently overseas. What I'm wondering is, am I still eligible to receive a Covid19 stimulus check? | would |
I'm currently studying in the International Baccalaureate model. This high school model asks their students to do an individual work called the Internal Assessment. One of the subjects I study is chemistry, and my Chemistry Internal Assessment is based on the production of hydrogen (a source of energy) in the water electrolysis as a way to save electrical energy. I was going to do an experiment to measure the production of hydrogen in the electrolysis of water with various concentrations of four different solutes (NaCl, NaOH, sulphuric acid and sodium bicarbonate, but any electrolyte will do). However, with the Covid-19 outbreak, I cannot go to the laboratory, so in order to get the data I need, I searched on google databases with the information I wanted, but I found barely nothing. These links (https://www.scirp.org/pdf/NR_2013032814044640.pdf) (https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2017/se/c7se00334j) are the only useful pdfs I found, and I wonder if anyone could help me giving me some databases with the data I need. | would |
our uni is closed because of the COVID-19 and I'm trying to homelearn dynamic programming. In our algorithms book, there is the following problem: (an example problem for dynamic programming) A driver has 3 cars. He wants to use all of the 3 cars, but want to use the least gas. Each car has a different engine, so it will consume different amounts of gas to get to each destination. What is the least amount of gas we can consume while still using each car? After he switches cars, he can't go back to the previous car. Input description: First is a number $n$, which is the number of destinations that he wants to reach. Then there are 3 lines, each is the gas consumed while trying to reach each destination (line 1 is car 1, line 2 is car 2, etc..) Example input: 7 2 4 1 5 1 1 2 3 3 2 5 3 2 2 1 1 5 4 3 3 3 Example output: 12 (third car (2 destinations), first car (4 destinations), second car (1 destination).) However, I can't figure out how to start, as I'm still learning DP. Could you please help me or give me any hints? I think it's a great good example problem, because other problems are very similar so if I master this one, I should be able to solve other problems. Thanks! | would |
I am in Montreal now and unable to leave because if I go home they will sent me in quarantine in various places where I do not want to go. Question: Do bedbugs transmit COVID-19 from person to person? | virus |
I am an international student, supposed to start graduate studies this Fall in Hong Kong, mid August onwards. With the ongoing 2019 novel-CoV (Corona Virus) crisis in Hong Kong, I am getting concerned about what will happen. I have stopped applying to graduate schools since I already got my first priority offer from Hong Kong in early January. I realize it might be petty in light of the current events in China and the SARs to talk about my graduate studies options when people are getting infected daily in the thousands, but are there any predictions as to whether the Virus will be contained soon? Should I start looking for backups? | virus |
I came by some cash a year ago, so I put $20,000 in a Certificate of Deposit which will end this weekend (at about $20.5K). Now I'm wondering what to do with it. I don't really know much about investing, so I'm wondering what the most logical long-term move would be for me right now. My bank currently has CDs from 6 months to 5 years, all at 0.75% interest. But I've heard that investing in stock indexes is low risk over long periods of time. If I were to put this money in an index now (while the market is plummeting) would this be a smart way to start saving for retirement? Or should I hold on to the cash and try to buy a rental property? Or is there a fourth, smarter option? Specific Goals [Edit] I'm specifically looking for a low-risk, low-maintenance option that makes the most sense over a long period time (30 years-ish?). Stashing it away until retirement would be my first thought for the money, but I'm not sure if it might be smarter to keep it available just in case. About me: I'm in my 30s, living in the US. I don't own any property. I'm currently making below the poverty line, but I'm getting by. I have no debt. I have $2K in a savings account. I may be moving across the country for graduate school in a little over a year. | would |
In response to the rapidly spreading coronavirus, Germany has enacted a general "ban on contact", effective starting today (Monday, 2020-03-23). It prohibits any gathering of more than two people in public and private spaces, except if they live in the same household. What I am very unclear about is the extent to which certain behaviours are restricted by this regulation, as coverage in news is IMHO extremely unclear. For instance, Berliner Morgenpost says: Gruppen feiernder Menschen auf öffentlichen Plätzen, in Wohnungen sowie privaten Einrichtungen sind angesichts der ernsten Lage in unserem Land inakzeptabel. In English: Groups of partying people in public spaces, in apartments, as well as private facilities are inacceptable due to the serious situation in our country. Tagesschau says: Gruppen feiernder Menschen - auch im Privaten - sind inakzeptabel In English: Groups of celebrating people - also in private - are inacceptable And Merkur.de says: „Gruppen feiernder Menschen sind inakzeptabel“, erklärten die Politiker unisono. Jegliche Feierlichkeiten sind untersagt, das gilt auch für Geburtstage. In English: "Groups of celebrating people are inacceptable.", the politicians explained in unison. Any kind of celebrations are prohibited, this includes birthdays. Now, what does this mean? At least some of the above statements can be interpreted in such a way that it's about the physically close group aspect. That is, celebrations whose participants meet in person in the same place are prohibited. But then, all of those statements, and definitely the last one, also sound a lot like it's the very activity of celebrating that is prohibited, presumably because the "serious situation in our country" makes such a behaviour unbecoming. Thus, it sounds like restrictions similar to the Tanzverbot (that declare various overtly joyful activities to be unbecoming and thus unlawful on certain holidays) are in place. Which interpretation is correct? Am I violating the newly imposed restrictions if I meet with some of my friends (each of which is sitting at home alone, or at most with their families) via videochat and "celebrate" (whatever is meant by that, let's count any joyful or relaxing leisure activity) with them online to brace against the effects of social isolation and cabin fever? And does it mean we cannot let our children have a joyful videochat with their friends whom they already cannot meet in person due to the closure of schools and child nurseries? | would |
I just got back from the Netherlands and read a notice on the CDC web site that says I "must" self quarantine for 14 days. I guess I don't understand. I think the Netherlands has 2 cases and my home state of New Hampshire has 6. So, the logic is what? I am potentially infected and the rest of New Hampshire is not. I mean if New Hampshire has more cases than the Netherlands, doesn't that mean every one of the 1.4 million people in New Hampshire should "self quarantine"? What is the logic here? | virus |
I first learned the logistic function in machine learning course, where it is just a function that map a real number to 0 to 1. We can use calculus to get its derivative and use the derivative for some optimization tasks. Later, I learned it in statistic literature where there are log odds and bunch of probabilistic interpretations. Today I am reviewing some differential equation literature, and found the logistic function is a solution for the following system: $y'=y(1-y)$, and $y(0)=0.5$. So, my question is more like a "chicken and egg" problem: where does the logistic function come from? Do we first have the function or the ODE? | would |
Background: I hold citizenship of a country included in the Exchange Visitor Skill list for J1 visa holders (my research area, biological sciences, is on the list as well). My postdoc project is funded by NIH/NSF grants to the lab (not in a university). I completed a Ph.D. in a major US university last year, and my work authorization is under the F1 OPT. In light of diminishing faculty openings, I do not have a strong preference for staying in academia long term. Details: I started my current (and first) postdoc position a few months back, and this position is funded for the next few years. My advisor has been great, and she is supportive. I am also satisfied with the progress being made in the project. Due to the increased visa denials, I was advised to wait for the next visa and not leave the US during the OPT period. The HR informed me that J1 is the only option as per the organization policy, and my advisor is powerless even if she wants to help. I did not know that non-University entities could sponsor J1 and thought H1B was the only choice (a significant reason for choosing this position; my bad.) If I take J1, I will be subject to the two year home residency rule (which is the worst; the economy in my home country (a banana republic) is in shambles). Being on OPT would make it extremely risky to leave the US, and the status of the OPT STEM extension is uncertain. These factors make me want to look for new opportunities with H1B sponsorship. However, the fact that my advisor has been supportive and having to leave after a few months without any publication makes me feel incredibly guilty. I would appreciate perspectives on this issue. | would |
We're traveling to Roma this Monday and we're kinda scared with what is happening in the North of Italy with the coronavirus. A lot of news on the internet say that it's not advised but I feel like they're making a big deal of it and there's nothing to worry Should we stay or can we travel there safely? | virus |
From this website , we can pull out $100,000 from our 401k without penalty. Distributions taken from qualified retirement plans received during 2020 of up to $100,000 for COVID-19 related purposes are allowed without a 10% penalty, taxable evenly over 3 years beginning with year of distribution What are the reasons not to cash out our 401k? In my opinion, my would greatly benefit to have this money in real estate or other investments. We have already saved up about a $150k for a house down payment, and having $100k more would allow us to buy a house in our area outright or with a very small mortgage. Alternatively, we could put it into the S&P500 or Tbills, etc. Edit: By "other investments" I mean something like a Roth IRA, which can be invested in similar stuff but with better long term tax implications. Also, please note that prices of many investments will drop; so selling when its low is acceptable, assuming it is reinvested in something else that can also be purchased for cheap. | would |
From my basic understanding: The viruses causing Ebola, Sars and Covid-19 are all the result of a zoonosis, meanings that the viruses have passed from animals to humans. So my question is: Are all recently (let's say 100 years) emerged viral diseases, with potential for a global epidemic, the result of a zoonosis? | virus |
I am spanish and I have got a job offer in the UK as a tutor in a college starting in August 2020. It Is not permanent job. Do I need visa to work there as a spanish tutor? I don't live in England. | would |
As of time of writing it's quite common to see headlines about so-and-so who have tested positive for Covid-19, e.g. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie, tests positive for coronavirus, officials say However, these articles don't usually say how reliable the testing is. I couldn't find any recent information on it via Google, either (there are some results, e.g. this, but they are old). How accurate are the tests? What are the odds that Sophie Trudeau's results are a false positive, or that Justin Trudeau's negative result is a false negative? | virus |
During these unprecedented times, it is quite hard to predict whether any recently advertised academic jobs will be still available next fall, as some countries might enforce social distancing or lockdown for a whole year. Still, many conferences are cancelled or delayed this year, thus getting papers published harder, alongside with academic path progression. I guess that we should be trying to get journal papers accepted instead... Given that I am at the end of a fixed term assistant professor position (looking possibly forward for an open term/tenure track one), I'm asking if it will be possible that universities will still be hiring new APs when they might be asked to close until further notice (e.g, UK). Is it still possible that some degrees will convert all of their modules into on-line classes (e.g., for Computer Science), thus allowing universities to get the same number of students they expected in the following academic year? This is still a relevant question - I think -, as the hiring of new junior accademic staff goes hand in hand with an expected increased amount of students on campus. Do you have any insight on this, or do you think that it is too early to make any possible educated guess? Thanks a lot for your suggestions. | would |
Every country so far has been working on enforcing social distancing measures to tackle the COVID-19 epidemic, with El Salvador going as far as to isolate the entire country before they've received their first patient. This caused nearly ever major event to be cancelled and caused tremendous losses for the economy. But is there already a long term plan on bringing the economy back to life? Surely countries cannot just live in quarantine forever? Only notable exception that I'm aware of is Boris Johnson announcing that the UK will be following a different approach: Defending Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision not to follow other European countries by closing schools and banning mass gatherings, Patrick Vallance said it was the government’s aim to “reduce the peak of the epidemic, pull it down and broaden it” while protecting the elderly and vulnerable So the UK's long term plan seems to be "business as usual", but what about others? | virus |
Was reading a Washington Post article "Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to flatten the curve” and it looked like they were using Brownian Motion. (Can't directly link the graphic, but it's the third graphic in the article, showing particles bouncing around, but I've included a screenshot:) If this is the case, how do particles in a fluid medium resemble interactions in a human population? | virus |
My first question is that most sources say to contact doctor regarding tests if you have “shortness of breath”, but as a Asthma patient this is not uncommon for me. Also runny nose is common. So how would an Asthma patient discern Covid19 from regular symptoms, only fever? | virus |
For what I read [1], Covid19 can persist active in a common freezer for months or years (it seems pretty obvious: cold, humid...). My question does not regard only the currently active coronavirus at this posting date, but any. So, I imagine that if the surface of a bottle or bag is contaminated, taking it, a month later will start the spreading mechanism, don't know, hands, surfaces, face, etc. And the virus will spread internally in the refrigerator, given that common refrigerators have channels that spill drops which flow through the cold and warm refrigerating sections. Or internal ventilators. Under such perspective, a common refrigerator would act moreover as a Petri dish. Completely different from the rest of house surfaces, which would allow viruses vanishing way more faster. If that is so, is it possible to clean a fridge from coronavirus? Do common refrigerators increase the risk of propagation? [1] https://www.globalsecurity.org/security/ops/hsc-scen-3-coronavirus-3.htm (..."COVID-19 coronavirus could last up to two years at below freezing temperatures") [2] https://covid19.nj.gov/faqs/coronavirus-information/about-novel-coronavirus-2019/will-the-coronavirus-survive-in-the-refrigerator-or-freezer ("it is also expected that the virus would survive being frozen") | virus |
What do we know about the environmental limits for nCoV to survive outside the body? For example, in: In open air On surfaces In water What are the limits for temperature, humidity and air pressure, where the virus, can or cannot survive? | virus |
Quoting wikipedia: On March 16, 2020, amid an economic crisis caused by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, for the first time since the inception of the Federal Reserve, the fractional reserve requirement was reduced to 0%.[11] Now question is why would banks not approve a loan? Worst case they get 0 $ back, but that does not mean that they lost money since credit was created out of thin air so even if every credit defaults they still will not loose any money and anything they get back is pure profit. note:for simplification this assumes that cost of processing a loan is 0% for bank, we know that realistically they need to pay their employees. | would |
Inspired by Avi's Vowelburger™ Riddle Vowelburgers™ is proud to announce the first ever Penta-decker Vowelburger™. This means six consonant buns sandwiching five vowel patties as shown: Here is the menu's description of their first burger: $ \begin{gather} % custom template - reuse if you may \def\S#1#2{\Space{#1}{20px}{#2px}}\def\P#1{\V{#1em}}\def\V#1{\S{#1}{9}} \def\T{\color{white}{\textbf{Layer}}}\def\NT{\color{white}{\textbf{Vowelburger}^{\;\!™}\ }}\displaystyle \smash{\lower{29px}\bbox[#871c41]{\phantom{\rlap{rubio.2020.01.21-custom}\S{5px}{0} \begin{array}{cc}\T&\NT\\\end{array}}}}\atop\def\V#1{\S{#1}{5}} \begin{array}{|c|c|}\hline\T&\NT\\\hline % ~\text{1}&\text{passage 8}\\\hline ~\text{2}&\text{poetry 7}\\\hline ~\text{3}&\text{guide 9}\\\hline ~\text{4}&\text{indirect 7}\\\hline ~\text{5}&\text{rural 6}\\\hline \end{array}\end{gather}$ Can you identify what type this burger is from the description on the menu? Note: The full name of the penta-decker burger contains layers 1-5 from left to right. Hint: Eating the Penta-decker Vowelburger™ is like eating 5 regular* Vowelburgers™ merged with each other; in other words, the top of the first layer is the bottom of the next. *The word "regular" here means a bottom bun, single patty, and a top bun. Hint 2: Each layer comes with lots of add-ons; those add-ons will be discarded, though, since we don't want the burger to get too high. From each layer, we extract only the simple Vowelburger™ from the bottom. (Note: the bottom is the left side of the word.) | would |
To preface this, I'm not a supporter of Trump, but I disagree with the way some major media outlets have criticized him over his nickname for COVID-19, the "Chinese virus". In addition, it is not only those outlets, but other governmental organizations like the WHO that have advised against dubbing COVID-19 in such a manner. In the past we have had cases where a widespread global epidemic has also been referred to other countries or nationalities, such as: The "Spanish Flu", although it should be known that the Spanish flu had origins little to do with Spain itself. The "Russian Flu" or "Asiatic Flu" The Japanese Smallpox Epidemic The Asian Flu and the Hong Kong Flu The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which has been referred to as Saudi Arabia's SARS-like virus. In any case, is the media backlash over Trump's nickname for COVID-19 justifiably warranted? Is there a problem in the way COVID-19 has been nicknamed? | virus |
If person A is infected (COVID-19) and person B is not, could the following work as a vaccination? Person A exhales (coughs?) into a a transparent bag. The bag is radiated for a long time with a strong ultraviolet (UV) light as is found in some residential well-water systems. Person B inhales the contents of the bag. I am curious mostly about how virus particles are damaged at the molecular level by UV light and how this relates to how vaccines are manufactured today. | virus |
A previous thread on Bioinformatics StackExchange citing an article by the Economist which references a cartoon of predictive outcomes by the CDC (Economist article on coronavirus) suggests a model in epidemiology using the "basic reproductive rate", commonly known as R0. Although I'm no bioinformatician, I imagine that one could tweak a model based on similar infections like SARS and HDN1. Yet, I found no models predicting or giving confidence intervals for the spread of coronavirus. I wonder if the the data is still too sparse, e.g. we don't know if it's seasonal (mentioned in the above thread) and we cannot infer the virulence. Would such a model be reliable? If not, how many months of data would we need to reliably use a model predicting the spread? | virus |
I have been searching for an answer to this but have not been able to get a definite answer. I am a Canadian citizen and will be flying from a foreign destination to Toronto and then have a domestic flight from Toronto to Vancouver. How would mandatory self-isolation of 14 days work in this case (self-isolate at Toronto or at Vancouver)? What other guidelines should I be aware of and what type of questions should I ask my airline? Any suggestion would be helpful because at this point I can't find any answer specific to this situation (foreign-YYZ-YVR). Thank you | would |
I read somewhere online that the US goverment may close the stock market because of Covid2019. Is the upshot the same as a company going bankrupt? I'm still confused on put options when a company goes bankrupt : stocks Example: You own one $10 put option on SNAP If SNAP goes to $1, than you have the RIGHT to exercise your contract and buy 100 shares for $1 and sell it immediately for $10. If the stock price goes to $0 (in case of bankruptcy) you still have the RIGHT (and the person that sold you the option the OBLIGATION) to buy the shares for $0 so it can be sold for $10 a share. So, if when SNAP goes bankrupt whom ever wrote you that contract is obligated to give you $1000 dollars, no ifs/ands/ or buts. | would |
I read in a recent article BANGKOK (The Nation/ANN): The government has decided to suspend visa on arrival for visitors from 18 countries at a meeting on Wednesday (March 11), chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, also head of the Covid-19 management centre. However, I read in a more recent article BANGKOK (THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The government has put on hold its plan to suspend visa on arrival (VoA) for 18 countries and visa-free entry from high-risk areas (South Korea, Hong Kong and Italy) after an urgent meeting on Thursday (March 12). I am an Indian traveler and want to know whether visa on arrival is still valid or canceled. Does anyone here have recent experience? | would |
I am about to buy an apartment (in a major city in central Europe) to live in, mostly with borrowed capital (around 80%). The price was set before the financial crisis due to the corona virus started. Should I change my plans? Is there any possibility of saying whether the crisis also had an impact on the real estate prices so far? My personal situation is stable in the sense that my job is rather safe despite the crisis. Should I continue to buy the apartment as planned? Note: I am aware that the future cannot be predicted, what I want to find out is the following: Since the price for "my" apartment was set before the corona crisis started, is there already any evidence that the real estate prices in major cities in central Europe have taken a hit? I.e. I am not asking about the future development but rather about a comparison of the situation before the corona crisis to the present situation. It would also be interesting whether in the past the stock market was correlated with the real estate prices, particularly during / after crises. | would |
I deposited a large cashiers check payable to myself into my account this morning. I tried to buy eyeglasses but I only had $100.00 available in my account. I called the bank and the Mgr clms there’s a 24 hour hold, yet the rep failed to disclose that at the time of deposit. I told her I need a minimum of $1000.00 available for this whole Corona virus emergency, she flat out refused so I said ok I’ll be by later to close out all my accounts if that’s the case. 3 hrs later she calls to ask me where I am as she’s been waiting for me and that she took the liberty of canceling my deposit and withdrawing my funds out of my account. Is this even legal, who gave her authority to access my account? What legal recourse do I have? I have disabilities can I go to the ADA | would |