COVID-19/Coronavirus Information and Support Thread (see OP for useful links)

  • Thread starter baldgye
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PeterJB
My last job was at a local pub. I gave notice there six days before all pubs were ordered to close and eight days before the lockdown began, however they appear to not have processed my notice in all the confusion as I got a letter yesterday saying I've been furloughed and they're continuing to pay me until the end of May.
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I'm sure you'll do the honourable thing and tell them not to pay you beyond your notice period ;)
 
Dairy farmers are being forced to dump milk.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-dairy-farmers-dump-milk-100445480.html

This really disturbs me as milk is in short supply in certain areas of the country. Thankfully here where I live my local store has always had nearly full dairy cases since this crap started.

But once this is over the wholesale demand is going to come back so for those farmers that cull their herds there won't be enough milk producing cows to meet that demand. It's a horrible catch 22 situation they are in. But the whole thing of throwing out something that is a basic food staple just really bothers me.
 
DesertPenguin
Shhhhhhhhhh
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Don't tell em Pike eh...

The way I see it, 80% is paid for by the government. If you were laid off, you'd have to claim benefits. So the government doesn't lose that much either way.

The other 20% is different, in my personal opinion.

I'm self employed so not earning till who knows when and have therefore taken the 3 month mortgage holiday from the bank. But I've decided if things are ok for me work wise in 3 months time, I'll donate those 3 months mortgage holiday to charity as it's the least I can do.
 
MedigoFlame
Not sure if this is the appropriate place to bring it up, but it definitely concerns COVID-19. Apologies if it doesn't belong here.

The state of Maine (where I live) has issued a stay-at-home mandate a few days ago. The local government had finally made a official list of businesses that were essential and not essential. Of which, where I work (auto dealership sales department) was listed as non essential. Almost all the other dealerships in the state have pretty much closed their sales department, apart from mine.... Earlier in the pandemic, the dealership had found a workaround and said that we'd lock the showroom doors and rope off the service area (which is considered essential), but still be able to sell cars, but only over the internet, phone, and meeting customers out on the parking lot (but keeping our social distancing). After the mandate was announced, the dealership CEO sent out a message to everyone that we'd still be open and that if we felt uncomfortable about the situation that we were allowed to use our own PTO or go over by 80 hours.

But somehow...despite being given the opportunity to take time off if we feel uncomfortable, it still doesn't seem right that we're the only dealership with a sales department open in the state. (As far as I know) The general managers bragged that they were better than the other dealers for not laying off sales staff and that we were lucky to still have our job. The company message from the CEO also said that they deferred to the Maine Auto Dealer Association (of which, our dealership's owner is the president of) instead of listening to what the governor had to say.... But to combat this, they say that we have to wipe down high touch surfaces, such as door handles, counter tops, and table tops every hour.

I'm feeling stuck as part of me doesn't really want to lose my job, but at the same time I don't feel comfortable showing up to work for what's considered a non-essential business that's defying the mandate. I don't want to use my built up PTO time...but I don't want to possibly bring the virus home to my brother who is at risk, or my family members who are mostly seniors. Getting rather tired of showing up to work to do nothing but wipe door handles for hours.

I'm sure some of you will simply say "just leave your job" or "tell an official about them being open," but I feel like there's more to the situation of whistleblowing or leaving than there is. Doesn't help that the dealership even plans to return to their normal sales hours. (Hours were reduced and Saturdays we were fully closed, but now they want to reopen sales on Saturdays next week) Then again, I could be overthinking things.

Sorry if this is more personal than needs to be in this thread, but it's something I can't help but think about with this virus. It does feel like we're living in a time where executives care more about making money than the lives of their employees and their families. Of course, my dealership talks like they care, but if they really did, they'd listen to the governor's order that sales is not essential.
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I want to give you some advice as someone who just went through all of this at my store & ended up laid off anyway.

I was told all this as well; extra PTO, 40 hours guaranteed, etc. if we didn't feel comfortable. There was a deadline given however, up til' today, April 4th. After that, if you took time off and ran out your PTO, the job was no longer protected.

Our company bragged about us staying open as an essential business and they appreciated all of us & promoted member safety. We were told we had a hiring freeze to protect us, that we would run business as usual, but with appointments needing to be made by clients beforehand, for our benefit. Leadership sent emails everyday at 5pm about constantly talking with local officials about the virus. And we did the whole sanitize everything, too. But that was to keep us all busy as they would threaten to send hourly people home if they didn't do anything. Many of us had continued wondering why they didn't heed any warning about closing down.

Despite all this, sales & service still dropped drastically. Sales staff schedules were altered to one-day on, next-day off. Service teams were staggered to combat lack of cars coming in. Service lot dried up & the client parking was down to 1-2 cars throughout the day. Leadership emails stopped coming 4 days ago. So, despite everything we were reassured about, as today's deadline approached, they had already made the decision in advance that they would do a company-wide lay off. I was 1 of 100 or so to get a phone call, that I already had a package coming in the mail. My store is now running on just enough to keep it still going & it has severed the relationships people once had as far. Even clients have shared they won't do business with them anymore with the way it was handled.

Watch how your store's business is doing & don't buy into anything your management tells you. The chain of command is watching their numbers drop, and will either take a hit to keep everyone or they'll start furloughing/laying off people to save their bottom line.
 
McLaren
I want to give you some advice as someone who just went through all of this at my store & ended up laid off anyway.

I was told all this as well; extra PTO, 40 hours guaranteed, etc. if we didn't feel comfortable. There was a deadline given however, up til' today, April 4th. After that, if you took time off and ran out your PTO, the job was no longer protected.

Our company bragged about us staying open as an essential business and they appreciated all of us & promoted member safety. We were told we had a hiring freeze to protect us, that we would run business as usual, but with appointments needing to be made by clients beforehand, for our benefit. Leadership sent emails everyday at 5pm about constantly talking with local officials about the virus. And we did the whole sanitize everything, too. But that was to keep us all busy as they would threaten to send hourly people home if they didn't do anything. Many of us had continued wondering why they didn't heed any warning about closing down.

Despite all this, sales & service still dropped drastically. Sales staff schedules were altered to one-day on, next-day off. Service teams were staggered to combat lack of cars coming in. Service lot dried up & the client parking was down to 1-2 cars throughout the day. Leadership emails stopped coming 4 days ago. So, despite everything we were reassured about, as today's deadline approached, they had already made the decision in advance that they would do a company-wide lay off. I was 1 of 100 or so to get a phone call, that I already had a package coming in the mail. My store is now running on just enough to keep it still going & it has severed the relationships people once had as far. Even clients have shared they won't do business with them anymore with the way it was handled.

Watch how your store's business is doing & don't buy into anything your management tells you. The chain of command is watching their numbers drop, and will either take a hit to keep everyone or they'll start furloughing/laying off people to save their bottom line.
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It's happening all over. Sorry you got hit. Are you lining anything else up? At this point getting laid off kinda means taking whatever you can get until after things blow over a little and return to normal. If you're feeling bad at all for getting that call, keep in mind that the people who are still there may be worried they'll get that same message shortly.

Good luck to you, and let us know how it's going.
 
Danoff
It's happening all over. Sorry you got hit. Are you lining anything else up? At this point getting laid off kinda means taking whatever you can get until after things blow over a little and return to normal. If you're feeling bad at all for getting that call, keep in mind that the people who are still there may be worried they'll get that same message shortly.

Good luck to you, and let us know how it's going.
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As of right now, I'm likely just taking the month off. Filed for unemployment, but still okay financially for a while, so I'm not really in a situation where I need to rush back yet. I've had some buddies offer up positions, but with this stay-at-home ordered in Dallas extending through May, most places are understandably not hiring right now. Taking the time to consider if I want to stay in the auto industry, or move on.
 
baldgye
I mean, you know full well that I wasn't talking about coronavirus... but alright... this took literally one google search;

Coronavirus: Russian media hint at US conspiracy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51413870
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"Hint", not "claim it's real", this isn't the kind of fake news I'm talking about. It's just a theory, and it's not like it's completely out of nowhere. By pure coincidence, from January to August 2019, the US government conducted a simulation to test the country's capability to respond to an influenza pandemic originating in... China.

However, I think now is not the best time to contunue the infowar on our American partners. And, unfortunately, the Russian media aren't the only ones like this - the Western MSM keep their anti-Russian propaganda on even over the COVID crisis, like a beheaded chicken who continues to run around using the brain stem.
YpFE__ueZVM.jpg
When it's time for the humankind to unite against the global threat, the politicians and journalists are still fighting the infowar on other countries. Disgusting.
 
This seems like kind of a big deal.



I hope they are quality ventilators, and if so, I hope they are put into action for those who need them as soon as possible.

Politically, it seems like a bit of a hand grenade. It severely undermines Trump and his administration, and earns China a lot of favour in the eyes of many people, at a time when many are viewing China quite unfavourably.
 
TheGeologist
Ah yes, fox news trying to water down the numbers rather than report facts. What else is new?
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In all fairness, i don't think they are watering down anything here, the Y axis is not scaled in a linear or exponential way, it is just WTF. I don't know how a sane mind can produce this - without even considering the intent.

Edit: this is the scale. Just the scale, no data.
 
Yeh, it's Colorado...

-

The UK, meanwhile, has seen a drop in the number of daily new cases... but there are rumblings of growing discontent about the lockdown, even though we are only 2 weeks in.

The next two weeks are going to be very tough times for the UK and the US, esp. for healthcare workers. I only hope that the general public continue to respect and abide by the lockdown for at least another two weeks, but it will likely some way off until the current restrictions are lifted, and it is still possible they may even be tightened further beyond what they presently are.

-

My poker match didn't go ahead last night but I had a nice chat with my friends and we are aiming for a poker night through the week.

It turns out my Zoom account is licensed and so I can host unlimited meetings... I didn't realise it was a paid-for thing (because my access is free) and hence my mates have only used it for brief (up to 40 mins) meetings, but I believe that so long as I am a participant (or possibly host) then the meeting is free for anyone and can last as long as 24 hours...
 
People in UK still seen out sunbathing in parks and some had to be dispersed by Police. Health Secretary had to come out this morning and say that sunbathing is against the rules of the lockdown.
 
MUSC4EVER
People in UK still seen out sunbathing in parks and some had to be dispersed by Police. Health Secretary had to come out this morning and say that sunbathing is against the rules of the lockdown.
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There are rules? What do you get for sunbathing? 20 to life? How do you get to sunbath anyway? Throw double sixes?

I've gone for a walk each day this week and not seen anyone. I stayed in this weekend as I knew good weather would get people out.
 
MUSC4EVER
People in UK still seen out sunbathing in parks and some had to be dispersed by Police. Health Secretary had to come out this morning and say that sunbathing is against the rules of the lockdown.
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Isn’t getting some sunshine a proven way to fight infections? And isn’t it also part of maintaining good mental health?

Not everyone has a backyard, many people live in apartments where they don’t have a private, isolated area to “catch some sun”.

UK seems to be going a little “extra” with some of their measures.
 
twitcher
Isn’t getting some sunshine a proven way to fight infections? And isn’t it also part of maintaining good mental health?

Not everyone has a backyard, many people live in apartments where they don’t have a private, isolated area to “catch some sun”.

UK seems to be going a little “extra” with some of their measures.
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That's true, but the problem is there were an estimated 3000 people congregating in Brockwell Park. Needless to say, that doesn't represent social distancing. Sunbathing isn't a bad thing, but I do understand the point against going to a public place and doing it, at the same time I feel for those people who don't have any outdoor space.

But that isn't an excuse for ignoring social distancing rules, the greater good has been determined to be achieved through social distancing. Any benefit of getting a bit more sunshine to boost viatmin c or feel a bit better isn't going to be big enough to counterbalance the increaed infection rates that a lack of social distancing will bring about.

That would in turn will stretch the NHS even further, which will lead to a lower percentage of infected people receiving sufficient medical attention and that will ultimately lead to an increase in the mortality rate.

You can still go for a walk from your front door or within a short drive of your house, you can enjoy some sunshine without having a garden or yard, but people shouldn't go to public places and sunbath en masse which is what has been happening.
 
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Trump’s Net Worth Drops $1 Billion As Coronavirus Infects The President’s Business

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danale...infects-the-presidents-business/#2770bb28727d

We valued the president at $3.1 billion a month ago. Now he’s worth $2.1 billion. Here’s why.

To approximate how much the coronavirus affected the president’s fortune, we looked at changes in the price of stocks similar to each segment of his business. Commercial real estate was clearly down, with shares of several companies, including Boston Properties and Vornado Realty Trust, plunging an average of 37% from March 1, 2020, to March 18, 2020, the date we calculated fortunes for the billionaires list. Similar decreases dragged down the value of hospitality companies, apartment owners and golf businesses. Using those declines as a guide, we applied discounts to Trump’s precoronavirus numbers, then reviewed the changes with industry experts.
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Trump_I_Cant.png
 
Wal-Mart changing their policies this weekend to limit the amount of people in the store at once, instead forcing them to stand packed together outside in a line, isn't quite the most clueless COVID-19 corporate feel good change I've seen.





But it is close.
 

twitcher
Captain Crozier, commander of the USS Theadore Roosevelt has been relieved of his duty.

I don’t know the full details of the story, but from what I’ve found so far, it appears that there was an outbreak of Covid-19 on his ship. After notifying his chain of command, he felt that the Navy was not responding in the appropriate manner, so he leaked emails to the public about the situation on his ship.

This both violated the chain of command, as well as disclosed classified information about the battle readiness of the USS Roosevelt (which, in these times, is a pretty big deal).

There seems to be a mixed response to the situation, with some people cheering him as a hero for “taking one for the team”, while others are condemning his actions for violating protocols and disclosing classified information.

The sailors, airmen, and crew from the Roosevelt seem to be in favour of his actions.

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The captain of that navy ship tested positive.
 
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