Says the Village Idiot

[Buzz]

de Blasio: NYC schools could remain closed rest of year

https://www.pix11.com/news/coronavirus/mayor-de-blasio-nyc-schools-could-remain-closed-rest-of-year-no-plans-to-close-city-streets?fbclid=IwAR2HAGbk_Yb6F4pXn-jXsMFPH0uIburW0xBKxSOWt5AZQw23q1tcHgCKc_o

First he was slow to close them, now he's talking about staying closed for the rest of the year? I think there's a good chance that, if not by the 20th, they will open before the end of the school year.

Anything that kills people is serious, but I can't help but feel that this thing is being blown way out of proportion. Just my opinion.

[yabba]

i cant watch him.... to be honest i hated him before this and now he became a bigger a##hole.... i do hope we get  back to work maybe middle of May....but i think he is going to shut it down on or before 4-20 for the rest of school year

[hideout]

     Disagree with you that this is blown way out of proportion. If people weren't staying home the rate of infection could be maybe double. We still do not know enough about this virus but learning new information each day. Now it is said that even if one recovers from the virus there is scaring left on the lungs which could be problematic now and down the road. In our profession we are at a high risk of contracting this illness. A large percentage of drivers are elderly which this illness strikes more harshly. So there are still to many unknowns. So no I do not think we are blowing this out of proportion.

[Buzz]

Well, hideout, I can understand you disagreeing, and that's fine.

As I said, anything with the potential to kill is serious.  But 60 million Americans got the Swine flue and over 12,000 died. Did you see anything near what is being done now having been done then? People left with no income, businesses going bankrupt, the economy collapsing. Nope, none of those.

As for this virus, China has almost 1.4 billion people and had about 81,000 cases. That's about 56 for every million people.

In Italy, it's less than 1,000 per million people. If it were to spread here as it did in Italy, that would be 327,000 people infected. If it spread 10 times worse than in Italy, it would be just over 3 million people. Still a far cry from the Swine flu.

Also, if you look at timelines of the progression of the spread in China, once it hit a peak in the middle of February, it dropped off sharply in the following couple of weeks.

I'm figuring we're about a 4-6 weeks behind China with this. If it follows the same pattern we should be hitting the peak in the next week or 2. I would expect to see the same rapid decline.

Additionally, they're finding that drugs that have been around for years are very effective at fighting this.

I'm just not buying what the media is spoon-feeding us.

Check this out ... click on a country for more info.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

[hideout]

     I am glad that you put so much faith in the numbers you state from China. It seems more apparent, now more than ever, that they knew about the virus as early as late November. If they would have been more transparent with the world, we would, for the most part, not have been in the position we are right now. So I am glad you trust the communist Chinese government and the numbers they put out, a lot of people don't. Isn't China the country, just last week, publicly stated, that the United States military was responsible for the start of the virus. So which statement do you believe, their numbers, as you have stated, or that the US military caused it. I choose to believe neither one.
     I, like you, are very optimistic about the drugs that have been around for years. But we also do not yet know all of it's side effects. Most doctor's agree that there are side effects such as people with underlying conditions. The point is it might or might not be the silver bullet and until we know more about it we should proceed with optimistic caution. You make it sound like this is the silver bullet but at this point we need to know more.
     Also I hope all of your optimism, in your post, does come true. This would be the best case scenario and I sincerely hope it is the case for us all. But I,like you, do not want to see any employee of Pioneer get sick, or possibly worse, or God forbid, bring it home to a family member. And with the nature of our job, being in close proximity to so many possible potential carriers, I would feel more comfortable knowing there is a definite vaccine or drug that will take care of this along with a solid disinfectant protocol to give each pioneer employee more peace of mind. But I don't think we are there yet.

[Buzz]

Respect your opinion, but whether or not the Chinese are lying (probably) and whether or not the drugs we have will work, 37,000 - 54,000 die from the seasonal flu every year (CDC). I really don't see this new flu approaching anything near those numbers, but that's just my opinion.

[hideout]

     I respect your opinion but just have another view. This is a complex problem the success of which is not based on the amount of fatalities this virus claims. One life lost is one to many. And because of the unknown, health ramifications, may linger for years. So the answer is not so black and white. I hope, as everyone does, that this is over sooner rather than later, and pray that our Pioneer family and families everywhere remain safe. It is a great time to reflect on almighty God. To reflect on why we are here and where we are going? How we conduct are lives? It might be a wake up call for the world. I hope we all answer the call.

[Buzz]

Agreed and amen.

[LMR]

Excellent perspective Hideout, and yes it's an excellent time to use wisdom and discretion.  Let's all stay safe and I pray God Bless and keep us all.

[hideout]

    The good book tells us," that God is slow to anger ". Well he is angry now. Even if he didn't send this plague, and he might have, he allowed it to happen and for good reason. If we believe in a creator, and are a christian. you MUST believe in what scripture tells us. I think all would agree. It is a blueprint on where we came from, how we are to live, and where we our going. It tells us how we should live! We ain't doing it. We threw God out of our school's over 60 years ago and it has gotten worse and worse. I could go on and on but if you sit down and think, you know what I would say. it's not rocket science. Want a good documentary showing how our country has turned from God, google , " A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" it is an eye opener. May God's blessing be sent to the entire Pioneer family and upon the whole world!