Covid19

[jclay]

Here's another confirmed case tracking site. This one drills down to the nation or in our case the state level: Novel Coronavirus Infection Map

[Chik]

Interesting visualisation of various scenarios:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...ona-simulator/

[slwrnu]

my plan to take food and basic essentials to those in need in my Austrian viilage (and thus to keep these people from congregating too much) has a hitch. I am not formally a resident here, that is UK, but I have lived here for several months each year in a rented holiday flat for over 30 years. (I pay for this in advance all year round) I got a call this morning saying the Government is trying to get all non permanent residents to leave by tomorrow. I assume this is mainly aimed at getting people to curtail their holidays but it is quite likely I am caught out. Bit of a bummer. Sorry for slight rant.

[vertical_doug]

The House Bill is a good step, but this is extremely disppointing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday night celebrated the coronavirus legislation that passed early Saturday as providing paid sick leave to American workers affected by the pandemic.

She neglected to mention the fine print.

In fact, the bill guarantees sick leave only to about 20 percent of workers. Big employers like McDonald’s and Amazon are not required to provide any paid sick leave, while companies with fewer than 50 employees can seek hardship exemptions from the Trump administration.

“If you are sick, stay home,” Vice President Mike Pence said at a news conference on Saturday afternoon. “You’re not going to miss a pay check.”

But that’s simply not true. Sick workers should stay home, but there is no guarantee in the emergency legislation that most of them will get paid.

The White House and congressional Republicans, who insisted on the exemptions as the price of bipartisan support for the legislation, bear the primary responsibility for the indefensible decision to prioritize corporate profits in the midst of a public health emergency.

Instead of pressing executives to support a comprehensive sick leave law, President Trump held a Rose Garden pep rally for corporate America on Friday afternoon, showering praise on the chief executives of big employers including Walmart, Target and Walgreens.

But House Democrats also failed to act in the public interest. Paying sick workers to stay at home is both good policy and good politics. Why not pass a bill that required all employers to provide paid sick leave and then force Republicans to explain their objections to the public?

The bill does require some employers to provide full-time workers with up to 10 days of paid leave. But the requirement does not apply to the nation’s largest employers — companies with 500 or more workers, who together employ roughly 54 percent of all workers.

After a Waffle House employee tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month, the company refused to promise it would pay other sick workers to stay home. Now, under the new bill, it would qualify for the big-company exemption. Would Ms. Pelosi please explain why the House decided not to require Waffle House to protect its workers and customers by paying for sick leave?

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The legislation also provides some compensation for workers who need to take longer leaves under the Family and Medical Leave Act — but this too excludes workers at big companies.

And the bill allows the Labor Department to grant hardship exemptions to businesses with fewer than 50 employees. That category includes another 26 percent of the work force, meaning that fully 80 percent of workers may not be able to cash in on Ms. Pelosi’s rhetoric.

Democrats began this process in the right place. The first draft of the coronavirus legislation included a permanent change requiring employers to allow every worker to earn up to seven days of paid sick leave, and a temporary change allowing any worker to take up to 10 days of sick leave during a public health emergency. The final draft includes only a pale shadow of those sensible requirements. The paid sick leave requirement is narrowly focused on the coronavirus; it does not even require paid sick leave during future pandemics — a contemptible signal that political leaders are already committed to not learning the lessons of this one.

Some large employers have announced voluntary grants of paid sick leave for workers affected by the coronavirus. After a Walmart employee in Kentucky tested positive for the coronavirus, the company announced it would provide up to two weeks of paid leave for workers who fall ill or are quarantined because of a confirmed exposure to the virus. Other large employers, including Target, Gap and Wawa, have made similar announcements.

But such voluntary policies are an inadequate substitute for legislation. Many large employers have not announced any changes, many of the policies that have been announced are considerably less generous than the requirements of the House legislation, and employees at those firms can hardly enforce corporate compliance with a news release.

It’s also true that big employers are generally more likely to offer standard sick leave benefits. Roughly 86 percent of workers at big companies get some kind of paid sick leave, according to federal statistics. But few workers in the United States are eligible to take 10 days of paid sick leave. And the low-wage workers who can least afford to stay home without paid leave are precisely the workers who are least likely to qualify for those standard corporate benefits.

Companies should be required to provide paid sick leave to every worker as a standard cost of doing business, and they certainly should be required to do so in the midst of a pandemic.

The House’s failure to require universal paid sick leave is an embarrassment that endangers the health of workers, consumers and the broader American public.

************************************************** ***********************************

The payroll tax holiday is very stupid. Also, the claim about waving interest on student debt is good, but I think the issue there is making payments while you are out of a job and not working which are not waved. See above...

[Lionel]

In Spain, police and guardia civil prevent people from going for a run or bicycle ride. They already give fines.

I've borrowed my daughters skipping rope and we do sessions of dancing at home. I wish I had a ping pong table right now. I'm glad I have at least a rooftop terrasse to get some fresh air, my neighbors aren't so lucky.

Really. Wow. Was this the case in Italy as well. I missed that part.

[pajotfix]

Really. Wow. Was this the case in Italy as well. I missed that part.

Yes, well - I must add (to my previous post) that the situation is changing daily and we constantly need to readjust... Just this afternoon I was out with my daughter, we passed some playgrounds in a park and when we passed them again less than an hour later the playgrounds were roped off !
Clearly, things are evolving and what applies today may be different by tomorrow...

So, with this in mind I will spend some time trying to get the latest information and directives from federal, regional and local authorities...
This is all so sudden and averse to our 'normal' way of living that it takes time to mentally adjust - even for those of us who do feel responsible and are aware of the seriousness of the situation (there are plenty of others, too but I prefere to focus on my own adjustments and behaviour for now, it's already complecated enough)...

[jclay]

Really. Wow. Was this the case in Italy as well. I missed that part.

According to one of my brothers, who lives in Modena, things are similar within communes, never mind trying to cross commune boundaries without a very good reason. There are obviously exemptions for necessary services.

[Saab2000]

Trivial in the grand scheme of things, but the gravel race Barry-Roubaix in Barry County, MI has been postponed until October 10. I’m signed up for it and hoping this allows me to be in better condition.....

This event attracts something like 4000 riders so it’s probably wise.

I’m glad now that I didn’t finalize those plans for a Mallorca cycling trip. Maybe later this fall.

[Lionel]

According to one of my brothers, who lives in Modena, things are similar within communes, never mind trying to cross commune boundaries without a very good reason. There are obviously exemptions for necessary services.

Hum, if we get to this here, and I guess we will, it will be MTB in the woods. I guess this will still be ok.

[Too Tall]

Go long on Zwift. It's the future.

[King Of Dirk]

Were it not for service jobs like bartending, waiting tables and sales, I would never have been able to survive life from ages 14-25. I love those who provide services; they are my people.

Now fortunate enough to have disposable income, I want to go buy a coffee, or sit in a bar, or something to try to mitigate the economic shitshow this whole thing will effect. On the other hand, I have deep compassion and fear for those who must deal with the public as part of their jobs - if their jobs still exist. Is getting evicted and declaring bankruptcy better than contracting COVID-19?

I'm not preaching, I'm uncertain and would like y'all to weigh in. Assume that for once I'm not a dick, and truly want to help bring about the least worst outcome.

[Lionel]

Go long on Zwift. It's the future.

Yeah, I can't really ride on Zwift more than a couple of times a week.

[NYCfixie]

Were it not for service jobs like bartending, waiting tables and sales, I would never have been able to survive life from ages 14-25. I love those who provide services; they are my people.

Now fortunate enough to have disposable income, I want to go buy a coffee, or sit in a bar, or something to try to mitigate the economic shitshow this whole thing will effect. On the other hand, I have deep compassion and fear for those who must deal with the public as part of their jobs - if their jobs still exist. Is getting evicted and declaring bankruptcy better than contracting COVID-19?

I'm not preaching, I'm uncertain and would like y'all to weigh in. Assume that for once I'm not a dick, and truly want to help bring about the least worst outcome.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned but OpenTable sent out an email asking people to order take-out if they do not feel comfortable dining in restaurants to help those restaurants ride out the pandemic due to the drop in customer reservations. The issue is those same low paid workers who have no choice but to go to work, even if they think they are sick, will be preparing your food whether you dine-in or take-out.

I think this is going to be a problem that will delay the end of the pandemic. This country is not going to lock down anything like Italy did. And, I feel for lower paid service workers who have no choice and must go to work because they literally cannot afford to stay home without income. As is often the case, who is looking out for the ones most vulnerable financially (in addition to the most vulnerable from a health perspective)?

[happycampyer]

Curious to hear what folks here who are in Australia are hearing. My daughter is in Sydney for the semester, and after a couple of weeks of back and forth we have finally convinced her to come home, and have made arrangements for her to fly on Monday.

Part of the struggle in convincing her to leave early(ish) is that a couple of her professors have told her that they are not prepared to offer exams online, so she would lose credit if she left campus. Her University (in Sydney) has not cancelled in-person classes, whereas her University in the US announced early last week that it was shutting down, and all students needed to leave by this weekend.

I’m hoping the University takes action, so these decisions are not up to the whims of individual professors. In the last couple of days travel in the US has become a horror, and she’ll need to self-quarantine once she gets here...

[Bruce Day]

Mr Vertical , will you be running for office next election? You seem to believe you have the answers .

[mnoble485]

I retired in January so the biggest thing for me is my all ready too small 401K. I was talking to my old PM on Friday and was told the hospital where we have been for 20 years has said all construction is on hold until further notice. Construction( at least hands on) is one of many jobs that can’t be done at home. Any other construction folks seeing the same thing? The companies other jobs are still underway but for how long? What a ripple effect when thinking about suppliers, subcontractors, etc.

Mike

[Chik]

I was told that the fine in Spain for cycling is €3k. That's a hefty sum that says they're serious. Can someone confirm?

[vertical_doug]

Mr Vertical , will you be running for office next election? You seem to believe you have the answers .

specifically post #544 or just in general you don't like my opinions/

[WFSTEKL]

Curious to hear what folks here who are in Australia are hearing. My daughter is in Sydney for the semester, and after a couple of weeks of back and forth we have finally convinced her to come home, and have made arrangements for her to fly on Monday.

Part of the struggle in convincing her to leave early(ish) is that a couple of her professors have told her that they are not prepared to offer exams online, so she would lose credit if she left campus. Her University (in Sydney) has not cancelled in-person classes, whereas her University in the US announced early last week that it was shutting down, and all students needed to leave by this weekend.

I’m hoping the University takes action, so these decisions are not up to the whims of individual professors. In the last couple of days travel in the US has become a horror, and she’ll need to self-quarantine once she gets here...

Her stateside university should be making these decisions.

[e-RICHIE]

Can anyone speak to the validity of Business Insider as a legit news source?

If this is true, fuck DJT.

Trump administration tried to pay Germans for coronavirus cure - Business Insider

Apologies to those for whom fuck is a buzzword.