Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Harvard, Peru: racism, ticket, ratings)

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

Lay people ranting about it may not recognize what the implications of that are.

Thankfully us lay people have all of the newly self appointed social media epidemiology experts to prophesize about all of the worst case scenarios.

[timberline742]

Anti science anti intelligence right wingers rail against the educated. News at 11. For those ignorant enough to rely on for profit right wing media.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by Arya Stark

You have no proof for that. Tons of people who have the virus are not being tested and they aren't being tested because their symptoms are mild. Thus they are not being counted. Then there are the people who already had it and recovered... which even now experts say is likely.

Here we have it. The problem.
If those that do this professionally give advice, and the advice is followed and effective, the anti science types will say it was all overblown and use it as a bludgeon against science.
If we don't follow their advice and it goes really poorly, they'll use that to bludgeon science.
Will they wait the years of research that will be done that really examines the public health issue that is happening? No. Will they read the peer reviewed journal articles analyzing the pandemic? No, they haven't read a scientific journal in their life. They'll just rail against knowledge and science.

[yesmaybe]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coron...153036254.html

Yikes, the unemployment numbers are out, and new claims are at 3.28 million. Baker and friends really need to get the economy going again. There's no way things will last until a vaccine is ready. All the bailout bill is going to do is bribe some employers to not layoff, and that's at 2 trillion.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

Thankfully us lay people have all of the newly self appointed social media epidemiology experts to prophesize about all of the worst case scenarios.

Eh, blessing for you maybe, but not for me. I'm having a hard time deciding who to believe... the consensus of scientific experts and epidemiologists around the world, or Jeff on facebook who "doesn't think it's that big of a deal."

[Bridge781]

What are your thoughts on the construction shutdown? It seems like baker and Walsh are at odds over it. Baker seems to think it should continue Walsh thinks not. If it’s for 14 days or even a bit longer I don’t see the big deal in having it shut down. Workers can get unemployment. If we’re so concerned about social distancing it shouldn’t be happening. Boston construction has been full force the past 10 yrs. take a break

I also noticed in LA that everything is shut down but that billion dollar sofi stadium can still be worked on so it opens on schedule in July. Who the hell is going to want to go to a stadium with 70000 others anytime soon?

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Eh, blessing for you maybe, but not for me. I'm having a hard time deciding who to believe... the consensus of scientific experts and epidemiologists around the world, or Jeff on facebook who "doesn't think it's that big of a deal."

Well, with global warming, we seemed as a society to side with Jeff on Facebook.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Here we have it. The problem.
If those that do this professionally give advice, and the advice is followed and effective, the anti science types will say it was all overblown and use it as a bludgeon against science.
If we don't follow their advice and it goes really poorly, they'll use that to bludgeon science.
Will they wait the years of research that will be done that really examines the public health issue that is happening? No. Will they read the peer reviewed journal articles analyzing the pandemic? No, they haven't read a scientific journal in their life. They'll just rail against knowledge and science.

While I agree with some/most of what you're saying now, I'm pretty sure you're the guy that completely dismissed this unprecedented public health crisis and saw it as a wonderful opportunity to travel internationally on the cheap. And I'm pretty sure you're the guy who was making Chinese restaurant jokes and posting Chinese restaurant reviews in coronavirus threads.

I certainly recognize that people can change their views as they become more educated about a subject, but frankly I question your sincerity and I think you're just looking to be divisive and turn this into a political argument. It's despicable and you need to grow up. This is a time when people need to come together.

[BostonMike7]

Depends on what type of construction. Having done it in the past, it is possible to socially distance yourself while working in some trades, and not in others. Roadwork, or outdoor work, should be able to continue with some restrictions in place. One per truck, etc.

Might be difficult to drywall with a number of people in a small room however.

Problem is who is going to make the distinction between what is safe, and what is not? What's to stop an GM who wants to close a project out and get paid from saying "Get in there and finish that job or i'll find someone that will!"

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

What are your thoughts on the construction shutdown? It seems like baker and Walsh are at odds over it. Baker seems to think it should continue Walsh thinks not. If it’s for 14 days or even a bit longer I don’t see the big deal in having it shut down. Workers can get unemployment. If we’re so concerned about social distancing it shouldn’t be happening. Boston construction has been full force the past 10 yrs. take a break

Infrastructure projects like South Coast Rail and the Green Line Extension are in full swing at this very moment. I can see the GLX work from my apartment.

I think Walsh's temporary moratorium on construction is a drop in the bucket compared to what this financial crisis is going to do to the projects in Boston. Remember the Filene's Hole in downtown crossing? We're going to have a few more of them soon. Lenders are already talking about pulling financing from many projects. So we may be left with a number of partially completed projects. Some of those workers aren't going to have jobs to return to, even when Walsh lifts the ban.

Originally Posted by redplum33

While I agree with some/most of what you're saying now, I'm pretty sure you're the guy that completely dismissed this unprecedented public health crisis and saw it as a wonderful opportunity to travel internationally on the cheap. And I'm pretty sure you're the guy who was making Chinese restaurant jokes and posting Chinese restaurant reviews in coronavirus threads.

I certainly recognize that people can change their views as they become more educated about a subject, but frankly I question your sincerity and I think you're just looking to be divisive and turn this into a political argument. It's despicable and you need to grow up. This is a time when people need to come together.

In fairness, I bought a ticket to London for early May. My sister lives there and the fallout from the virus dropped fares to about $300 (on Delta/Virgin, not Norwegian or another LCC). So I took advantage too. The last time I was in London, in late January, the news of the virus was just starting to take off. When I was in France in mid-February, the first person in that country died of the virus. And when I bought my ticket to London in late Feb., we were just starting to grapple with the weight of the realization that we won't dodge this bullet in the U.S. The whole time I felt like we should be doing more to prepare for the inevitability of the hit, but I bought the ticket because of the price and on the hope that we'd be prepared and that the hit wouldn't be that big here. I was wrong by a long shot. My trip is almost certainly not going to happen, but that's the least of my worries now.