I’ve just watched the latest BBC News programme and have heard and seen all the latest curfews and shutdowns around the world due to the Coronavirus, some really draconian. They tell us here in the UK that we can soon expect that all those 70 years old and above will be advised to stay in our own homes in isolation for 14 weeks! Yikes...!! Despite this horrific prospect and the increasing message of doom and gloom, the ludicrously ridiculous figure of the Pope standing at the window in the Vatican, blessing the empty St. Peter’s square and asking the faithful to pray to god had me laughing out loud! Do you think...is such irony lost on the faithful?
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11 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I watch some of the same news and Media worldwide is making this all worse. I'm 73 and soon to be 74 and not worried about any of this so much. I take precautions within reason but ignorance has us all acting crazy.
DenoPenno
Level 9
Mar 16, 2020
2
They are not making the pandemic worse, but the continuous 24/7 news and contradictory advice which some commentators are broadcasting is making people panic and stockpile unnecessarily. I don’t think it’s ignorance causing the panic, but fear.
@Marionville A technique used during wartime when broadcasting towards the enemy.
Right now it's not fear, but boredom, driving me nuts; and I've got a garden. I pity those folk in apartment blocks, not allowed to go out.
The irony is utterly lost, because they lost their sense of credulity when religion was hammered into them.
Petter
Level 9
Mar 16, 2020
2
Must be something like that!
It’s the praying that gets me! Don’t worry, the religious pretense must be kept going, even if it has to be in the dark! Why, people might start taking charge of their own lives, if left unattended for too long! Lol
I don’t have that feeling of doom but, I will be prudent in my actions. I do believe this is serious and they are cautioning people my age. I have no underlying conditions, but neither do I want to put myself to the test! Lol
Freedompath
Level 9
Mar 16, 2020
3
Much the way I feel too.
Most irony is lost on the faithful.
GeorgeRocheleau
Level 8
Mar 16, 2020
3
That is perhaps what makes them faithful in the first place.
That poop nonsense just looks so pathetically ridiculous.
Lilac-JadeCanada
Level 9
Mar 16, 2020
2
The heads of the religions know that their faith is useless, you can't climb that much and still be a believer.
Some of them can think that some religion is better than no religion for the social and community part of it (and I agree that in most areas of the world, civics and education are not developed to a level that would be able to substitute religion yet).
So I think they are simply being rational (and avoiding fighting against the government) when they stop causing mass gatherings.
What worries me is that in countries where this new trump-bolsonaro alt right is in power, they are openly saying that the disease is not bad and the churches feel no pressure to stop. Actually as the churches are the base of the power they are with incentives to continue.
Pedrohbds
Level 7
Mar 16, 2020
2
I'm sad to say the irony will be completely over their head.
I personally planned to be careful for the next 2 weeks and try to stay home. 14 weeks is shocking. It sounds like we're all going to get to know each other a lot better.
Lorajay
Level 9
Mar 16, 2020
3
Yes...this site and FaceTime will become my lifeline to the outside world if that becomes a reality!
Fourteen weeks! Maybe you should have picked up that toilet paper.
itsmedammit
Level 8
Mar 15, 2020
5
I’ve plenty of old newspaper for that job!
Keep up that sense of humor! You may need it in the months to come. 
Barnie2years
Level 8
Mar 15, 2020
5
...yes and the vino...must get stocked up!
In the united states many colleges have officially closed for two weeks (LOL) - - I am rather sure it will be for the academic school year or longer. If this pandemic follows the 1918 pandemic trend, it may wane a bit during the summer months then crash harder in the fall. In a lab, airborn virus particles are viable for many hours if not exposed to sunlight and for two to three days on plastic and stainless steel. If this spreads like the current flue, based on the death rate difference between the seasonal flu and this monster, the USA could expect 300,00 to roughly 500,000 deaths before this is over. News today reported some doctors on the west coast are now in critical condition because of this outbreak. . . We have a doctor shortage and with a for profit (just enough medical infrastructure to support those in need to make money) (not socialized medical infrastructure) The outlook is not good for the states.
NoMagicCookie
Level 8
Mar 15, 2020
2
When talking about the viability of the airborne virus, are you specifically talking about the coronavirus? I wasn't aware they had it fully characterized yet.
@itsmedammit The source (NPR? radio news interviewing a scientist) stated "virus" not specifically this strain of the corona-virus. Also, these experiments were in laboratory settings so they do not necessarily indicate -out in the wild circumstances (sunlight, wind, etc. . . ) It was loosely noted that sunlight may reduce the viability of a virus but we, at this time, just don't know about this specific strain.
@JohnnyQB On NBC tonight, there was a mention of two doctors in serious condition, but I can’t recall the area, might have been Washington state.
@itsmedammit The Uk government gave out the advice that, it has very short viablity in the open, less than 24 hours at most, but I do not know where that information originated from.
14 weeks, or 14 days?
If it's really 14 weeks, that's pretty daunting.
As far as the irony, I doubt many of them will see it.
If they haven't caught on to their own cognitive dissonance already, they aren't likely to.
KKGator
Level 9
Mar 15, 2020
3
As far as I heard from informed, well informed sources that is, the self isolation period is 14 days thus far, NOT 14 weeks.
@Triphid No...you are wrong, we’re not talking about the advice to the general public, but specific advice for the elderly. it is definitely 14 weeks for those over 70 years! That was why I said yikes!
It is 14 weeks that they are advising the elderly to self isolate for...but we haven’t been told to do it yet...just a warning that it may be coming.
@Triphid No, the 14 weeks is the time the outbreak is expected to last, not the self issolating period. It is just a coincidence that they both happen to be fourteen. However if the measures to combat the outbreak put in place by many governments work, then they will probably prolong the outbreak and it will last a lot longer than 14 weeks.
And a low level of infection lasting longer, could in the end result in more people being infected, so that the measures being put in place by most governments, could make it worse in the long term. The only advantage being that the medical services will have less difficulty copping with the effects of a long slow outbreak.
@Triphid, @Fernapple The truth of the matter is that nobody can predict exactly what length of time it will take...but different countries are at different stages of this pandemic..that is why we can’t have a universal strategy happening at the same in every country. I still think we are doing the right thing in the UK, our scientists and medical experts are looking at the specifics of our circumstances here in the UK and advising accordingly.
@Fernapple The other benefit of flattening the peak is that we have some potential treatments in the pipeline and something may be available for those affected later rather than sooner.
@Marionville Yes I agree.
@Marionville, @Triphid Oh even more than six months, it could hang arround for a couple of years in some corners of the world.
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