News:

Welcome to the new (and now only) Fora!

Main Menu

Coronavirus

Started by bacardiandlime, January 30, 2020, 03:20:28 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Hegemony

The bars and restaurants may be full for a couple of weeks, but then cases of the virus soar and even the people who were fine with going out to crowded places begin to get wary and hesitant, and they stop going out in such numbers. And people who are home with a high fever, or in the hospital, are not going out on the town. So in a way it's self-correcting — at a high cost. I know that a number of people, especially politicians and business owners, think that if we just open up fully and stay open, the economy will go back to normal and at least we'll have that. But a sizeable part of the population remains careful, and a certain percentage are not going out no matter what. And for the bolder ones, a good proportion of them will be reluctant to go out as numbers soar, and some of them will be too sick to go out. You're not going to get back to a normal economy until this thing is no longer a threat.

nebo113

In places such as AZ, which 'opened up" and now hospital capacity is being pushed to the max, how do increasing numbers of sick people needing medical care affect the economy? 

mamselle

I don't know enough to answer the question above--someone should, it's a good question--but as a musician who's played in hotels,restaurants, etc., I know the break-even point between the costs of opening, paying the utilities, and staff salaries, etc., offset against the amount of income from a reduced clientele, has got to be tight.

The margins are so tiny in the best of circumstances that I'm having a hard time seeing how it's functional to open at all until the "all-clear" has truly sounded--maybe next March, sometime.

Refrigeration units, gas pilot lights, security-level lighting, and water pressure all have to be maintained, true.

But the income from a few meals a night is not going to cover payout to the cook's, sous-chef's, prepper's, bussers', and waitstaff's salaries, and tipping is wild--some high, some low--so it could be just as precarious to open as not.

M.
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

Reprove not a scorner, lest they hate thee: rebuke the wise, and they will love thee.

Give instruction to the wise, and they will be yet wiser: teach the just, and they will increase in learning.

clean

The loans that were in the news a month or so ago required that a good chunk of the loan be used to pay wages.  (You may remember them because they were meant for small business and some bigger companies got the loans before the funding ran out). 
For restaurants  that got those loans, then as long as the revenue covered the cost of the food, then it makes sense to open.  They pay labor anyway as required by the loan. 

In the economic sense, as long as a company covers the variable costs, then they are better to open.  (they pay the fixed cost whether open or not.)

From  the customer's perspective, while I wont be dining in, there are too many that want things to be normal. They will go out because they are tired of being in.  The more people they see out, then they will just think that the safer it is to be out and about anyway.  I dont know of a good way to explain it other than the idea that "But Johnny's mom lets HIM go to Olive Garden" (to which the reply would include jumping off a bridge .... though there are plenty of bungie jumpers!!)


"The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am"  Darth Vader

evil_physics_witchcraft

I just found out that one of my family members may have Covid.

AmLitHist

Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on July 01, 2020, 12:05:57 PM
I just found out that one of my family members may have Covid.
So sorry to hear this, EPW.  Sending good thoughts, and take care of yourself as well.

Cheerful

Quote from: AmLitHist on July 01, 2020, 12:28:47 PM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on July 01, 2020, 12:05:57 PM
I just found out that one of my family members may have Covid.
So sorry to hear this, EPW.  Sending good thoughts, and take care of yourself as well.

+1  Best wishes to your family and you, evil_physics_witchcraft.

Economizer

#697
Back in early March I was privileged to work with [me, a sub riding herd] a youngish PHD in a high school algebra class made up of kinda average students. The threat potential of the Carona virus seemed to be rapidly coming to the fore. The topic for the class was EXPONENTS. She did a great job of relating that to the looming potential spread of Coved 19 infection.

A student was given markers and was instructed to place a mark on 3 student, oh heck, I cannot  rememember exactly how it went, but the the students went to logging the exponential increase potential of real people getting infected. In a months time numbers (×, x2, x3......) amounted to the thousands upon thousands of people. So, to make a long conclusion short, utilizing tracking, wearing masks, social distancing, or knockin' some sense in the heads of blockheads who, for now anyway, like their odds to be able to survive, even if they reduce the chances of others, seems to be imperative. Good luck on figuring how to get this critter back in the can. Mass cooperation [we haven't had that in a while locally much less globally] and more will be needed. So me saying this, the stage is set for some guy or girl to come up with a peanut butter paste that makes the virus go away like [or as] a scalded dog!
So, I tried to straighten everything out and guess what I got for it.  No, really, just guess!

Hegemony

Massive numbers of Covid patients are not actually good for hospitals. Hospitals make a lot of their money from elective or non-urgent procedures, like knee operations, hip replacements, etc. All of those get cancelled when the pandemic comes to town. Not to mention the problem of healthcare workers dying from Covid-19.

apl68

The number of known active cases in our county has been hovering around 20 in the days since the rodeo came and went.  A notable increase over what it was before, and a lot for an area this sparsely populated, but not yet as bad as I'd feared.  We've still had only a single fatality so far.
All we like sheep have gone astray
We have each turned to his own way
And the Lord has laid upon him the guilt of us all

wuggish

Quote from: Hegemony on July 02, 2020, 04:58:13 AM
Massive numbers of Covid patients are not actually good for hospitals. Hospitals make a lot of their money from elective or non-urgent procedures, like knee operations, hip replacements, etc. All of those get cancelled when the pandemic comes to town. Not to mention the problem of healthcare workers dying from Covid-19.

And everything getting slower and more complex with increased PPE requirements and disinfection. And no or fewer visitors to use the cafeteria and gift shop. Et cetera.

clean

COVID Parties WIth a prize for the first infected!

https://www.aol.com/people-throwing-covid-19-parties-152316994.html

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/alabama-students-throw-covid-parties-152244838.html

IN NY, Party goers not cooperating with contact tracers (Parents either!)

https://www.pix11.com/news/coronavirus/partygoes-refuse-to-cooperate-with-contact-tracers-in-rockland-county-officials-warn


Boy... I just can not WAIT to get back to being in the room with these people/idiots/students/carriers!

Anything like this going on nearer to you?
"The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am"  Darth Vader

Caracal

Quote from: clean on July 02, 2020, 10:56:24 AM
COVID Parties WIth a prize for the first infected!

https://www.aol.com/people-throwing-covid-19-parties-152316994.html

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/alabama-students-throw-covid-parties-152244838.html

IN NY, Party goers not cooperating with contact tracers (Parents either!)

https://www.pix11.com/news/coronavirus/partygoes-refuse-to-cooperate-with-contact-tracers-in-rockland-county-officials-warn


Boy... I just can not WAIT to get back to being in the room with these people/idiots/students/carriers!

Anything like this going on nearer to you?

This has all the hallmarks of a fake story. First of all, the details are suspiciously sparse. They also seem to keep changing. The first stories I saw about this said people who knew they had COVID had gone to parties. Now, they seem to have actually been "COVID parties." It is also suspiciously similar to other urban legends and rumors.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/party-scarred/

This often ends up happening. Local agencies end up hearing rumors, believe they are true, and then amplify them. I really, really doubt this is happening.

mamselle

There is an historical precedent, perhaps with different motivations.

"Smallpox parties" and "measles parties" have been held at various points, with the aim of becoming infected in an environment with friends and/or family, and (sometimes) with (informed?) health caregivers either on-site or nearby.

Not an approved method of achieving immunity any more, but it's not new.

M.
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

Reprove not a scorner, lest they hate thee: rebuke the wise, and they will love thee.

Give instruction to the wise, and they will be yet wiser: teach the just, and they will increase in learning.

Cheerful

#704
Quote from: Caracal on July 02, 2020, 11:14:00 AM
This often ends up happening. Local agencies end up hearing rumors, believe they are true, and then amplify them. I really, really doubt this is happening.

Here's one that's true.  Guy attends BBQ.  A different person knows he has the virus yet attends the BBQ. Informs people after.  First guy dies after attending BBQ and getting virus.  So very sad.  The person who knew he was infected yet attended the BBQ should face a severe criminal penalty.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/us/california-thomas-macias-coronavirus/index.html