So coronavirus is definitely going to kill a few of us.

[BetCheckBet]

Canada is very interesting. Canada is very poor for testing and equipment. Numbers are considered gross underestimate. But the death rate is extremely low which is odd. It suggests that perhaps we are only identifying the most severe cases but doing that well. We do have a few nursing homes that were hit so I suspect our death rate numbers to change a lot.

Media is not panicking people at all and is supportive around both liberal and conservative.
Tthe population respects social distancing fairly well. Our compensation system is also up to 16 weeks for 8000$.

So there are some odd traits going on here...

[Salty_Aus]

How do you figure that?

Yes, in regard to the percentage of the population tested you're about on par with Spain. You've tested a slightly higher percentage of your population but not a big difference.
7% of the tests performed in Spain are returning a positive result compared to 19.5% positive in the US. You also have 3x the amount of cases per million population.

How do you figure you have 1/2 the infection rate of Spain when the figures suggest you have 3x their infection rate?

Fair enough. That isn't a good way to estimate. Probably a better way would be to project deaths for the next 2-3 weeks (as death lags infections), assume a reasonable death rate based on comps (say 5%, or whatever) and estimate the infection rate from that.

You're probably right the wiki figures are utter trash.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_testing

[BetCheckBet]

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks from his residence March 23: Canadians trust what their leaders are saying. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images
Comparing the character of nations is risky and imprecise. In the Age of Contagion, though, it offers a window into how the peoples of the world are coping.

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have handled the crisis relatively well. We expect that of people we see as highly disciplined, motivated and organized. Italy is reeling from the contagion. Gregarious, unruly, passionate, creative, independent – this is how we see Italians. It suggests why they were slow to respond.

Which brings us to the United States and Canada. As Miss Christie used to say in third-grade geography class, let us compare and contrast.

In the United States, a country of 330 million, there were some 43,500 cases and 537 deaths as of early Tuesday. In New York City, the virus is surging. Parts of the country are in seclusion, others are not. There is no clear national strategy and no federal emergency. States are responding radically differently.

In Washington, Congress struggles to forge an economic response. The president is erratic and unempathetic. He is widely disbelieved, skeptical of expertise and reluctant to accept responsibility.

The media send mixed messages. Fox News, with the highest audience, once denied the pandemic, calling it “a hoax.” One host – before she was fired – claimed the coronavirus was a plot by the Democrats to re-impeach Donald Trump.

The prime minister appears in public every day, alone, outside his residence. He speaks sensibly, with authority, without hyperbole. This has been his finest hour.
The danger is that the medical system will be overwhelmed. On the tenth anniversary of Obamacare, universal health care remains contentious in the United States – undermined by the Republicans, who have tried repeatedly to abolish it, and repeatedly challenged in the courts.

In Canada, a country of 37 million, there were some 2,100 cases and 24 deaths as of early Tuesday. The system is holding, for now. Hospitals have enough masks and respirators, for now. The prime minister appears in public every day, alone, outside his residence. He speaks sensibly, with authority, without hyperbole. This has been his finest hour.

Canadians trust him. They may not have voted for him – only about one-third did – but that doesn’t matter now. Nor do we question the competence of his ministers who are the other faces of the crisis – Chrystia Freeland, Marc Garneau, Patty Hajdu, Bill Blair. All are calm, competent and professional. This is what we want.

The provincial premiers, most of whom are not Liberals, have lost their congenital instinct to attack Ottawa. Doug Ford, no admirer of Justin Trudeau, now praises his leadership.

All provinces have declared states of emergency, and will not object if the national government does, too. If it must, it will – and we won’t complain.

Opposition parties are not posturing. Andrew Scheer, who called Trudeau “a fraud” last autumn, says this is no time for politics. He is right. His fellow Conservatives, vying to succeed him, have put away their popguns. Some want the leadership vote scheduled for August delayed.

Unlike in America, there is consensus in Canada. No one is saying that the aid package is inadequate, that the government is slow, that money unduly favours corporations. Jason Kenney is not talking about western alienation and the Bloc Québécois is not talking sovereignty. Canadians want only freedom from fear.

Mercifully, we have no Fox News. Whatever the CBC’s flaws as national broadcaster, its reporting has been thorough and honest, under trying circumstances. Same with CTV and Radio Canada, and the country’s newspapers and websites.

Why is our response different? It may be a case of identity. Americans celebrate independence, individualism, personal liberty. Many distrust government, resent politicians, court conspiracy and dismiss science. This wasn’t always so – the New Deal and the Great Society expanded the state – but it is now.

Canadians accept big government, which is how we built the social welfare state. Two-thirds of us voted for progressives last year. We defer to authority.

Yes, we’ve made real mistakes in the crisis. We didn’t secure airports fast enough or test early and widely enough. Too many are treating physical distancing as a snow day. If we ultimately do better in all this – it’s too early to know or crow – it’s not because we are morally superior. It is because we are smaller, organized, well-led, more united, more measured, more of a community.

It’s a question of character.

[Salty_Aus]

I'm becoming more convinced that certain races are being effected differently.
India should be getting smashed by this.
Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka are reporting very low figures still.
India is filthy and has terrible health care, they share a border with China, and like 5 of the most population dense cities in the world are in India.

[Sloppy Joe]

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/twt/status/1249349109976313866

O/U 1.5 days for Druff to fall in line with an anti-Fauci take.

[Wiganer]

I'm becoming more convinced that certain races are being effected differently.
India should be getting smashed by this.
Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka are reporting very low figures still.
India is filthy and has terrible health care, they share a border with China, and like 5 of the most population dense cities in the world are in India.

Ethnic minorities, including Indians and Pakistanis are getting hit twice as hard in uk as Caucasians.

[ErickAA]

I'm becoming more convinced that certain races are being effected differently.
India should be getting smashed by this.
Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka are reporting very low figures still.
India is filthy and has terrible health care, they share a border with China, and like 5 of the most population dense cities in the world are in India.

If you want to go down this rabbit hole, you should check out the tuberculosis vaccine hypothesis. Some data scientists in Japan calculated that the virus is generally acting very weakly in countries that still institute tuberculosis vaccines, especially the Japanese version of the vaccine, with a very small p value.

[Forum Wars]

I'm becoming more convinced that certain races are being effected differently.
India should be getting smashed by this.
Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka are reporting very low figures still.
India is filthy and has terrible health care, they share a border with China, and like 5 of the most population dense cities in the world are in India.

If you want to go down this rabbit hole, you should check out the tuberculosis vaccine hypothesis. Some data scientists in Japan calculated that the virus is generally acting very weakly in countries that still institute tuberculosis vaccines, especially the Japanese version of the vaccine, with a very small p value.

Oh my, let's.

The three hardest-hit counties – the US, Italy and Spain – do not use it. However, countries that have been lightly hit – including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea – do.

https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/tb-vac...-covid-19-war/

[tgull]

In the United States, a country of 330 million, there were some 43,500 cases and 537 deaths as of early Tuesday. In New York City, the virus is surging. Parts of the country are in seclusion, others are not. There is no clear national strategy and no federal emergency. States are responding radically differently.

In the US, we are a federalist society, the President cannot dictate policy to individual states, unless he can make the case it affects interstate commerce. Courts are clear on that. It's up to the Governors to make their policy but you obviously did not know that.

Please stop comparing Canada to the United States. Population wise it's a very tiny country and never really contributes much to the world. You are the center for hockey and contribute natural resources here and there, that is about it. The biggest story that came out of Canada in the last year was when those two teens went on a murder spree. And I like Canada, especially Quebec. You have four big cities, Quebec, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Basically Texas.

[tgull]

In the United States, a country of 330 million, there were some 43,500 cases and 537 deaths as of early Tuesday. In New York City, the virus is surging. Parts of the country are in seclusion, others are not. There is no clear national strategy and no federal emergency. States are responding radically differently.

In the US, we are a federalist society, the President cannot dictate policy to individual states, unless he can make the case it affects interstate commerce. Courts are clear on that. It's up to the Governors to make their policy but you obviously did not know that.

Please stop comparing Canada to the United States. Population wise it's a very tiny country and never really contributes much to the world. You are the center for hockey and contribute natural resources here and there, that is about it. The biggest story that came out of Canada in the last year was when those two teens went on a murder spree. And I like Canada, especially Quebec. You have four big cities, Quebec, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Basically Texas.

Just so everyone understands, the US has a GDP of $22 Trillion. Germany $4 Trillion. Canada $1.7 Trillion. Sweeden $556 Billion. It is absolutely mind boggling when people compare one country to the US. It's not scalable.

[ErickAA]

If you were a wealthy influential person that could get pretty much whatever you wanted, I would definitely be looking at getting a BCG vaccine while quarantining. Especially if it is safe and efficacious for adults (which I don't know), where it would be a low cost/potential high reward option.

[Sanlmar]

I'm becoming more convinced that certain races are being effected differently.
India should be getting smashed by this.
Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka are reporting very low figures still.
India is filthy and has terrible health care, they share a border with China, and like 5 of the most population dense cities in the world are in India.

If you want to go down this rabbit hole, you should check out the tuberculosis vaccine hypothesis. Some data scientists in Japan calculated that the virus is generally acting very weakly in countries that still institute tuberculosis vaccines, especially the Japanese version of the vaccine, with a very small p value.

What we want to know is “are you betting on this?”

[ErickAA]

If you want to go down this rabbit hole, you should check out the tuberculosis vaccine hypothesis. Some data scientists in Japan calculated that the virus is generally acting very weakly in countries that still institute tuberculosis vaccines, especially the Japanese version of the vaccine, with a very small p value.

What we want to know is “are you betting on this?”

Its something I read about a few days ago and got busy and forgot about until Sah's comment reminded me. I haven't gone down the rabbit hole at all, so have no gut how accurate it might be.

In the short term I doubt the markets have this possibility factored in at all. But if you think it is likely this hypothesis is true, it could affect how the market goes in the medium/long term.

[peter mcneil]

Canada is very interesting. Canada is very poor for testing and equipment. Numbers are considered gross underestimate. But the death rate is extremely low which is odd. It suggests that perhaps we are only identifying the most severe cases but doing that well. We do have a few nursing homes that were hit so I suspect our death rate numbers to change a lot.

Media is not panicking people at all and is supportive around both liberal and conservative.
Tthe population respects social distancing fairly well. Our compensation system is also up to 16 weeks for 8000$.

So there are some odd traits going on here...

Cases out west (I'm in Alberta) have just remained very low. Not a time of year that has a lot of tourism, population isn't particularly dense and people here took it seriously from the start.

Alberta has shipped off protection equipment to help the eastern provinces that are harder hit. My sister is an obgyn at the hospital and she said her and her colleagues at the moment are shocked at how few cases and deaths there have been. It's not hard to get a test here in Alberta but the recommendation is that most people simply don't need one so unless breathing is difficult stay home and get through it. As long as some reasonable measures stay in place this thing isn't going to his us hard at all. Talks of kids back in school by early May.

[Hockey Guy]

In the US, we are a federalist society, the President cannot dictate policy to individual states, unless he can make the case it affects interstate commerce. Courts are clear on that. It's up to the Governors to make their policy but you obviously did not know that.

Please stop comparing Canada to the United States. Population wise it's a very tiny country and never really contributes much to the world. You are the center for hockey and contribute natural resources here and there, that is about it. The biggest story that came out of Canada in the last year was when those two teens went on a murder spree. And I like Canada, especially Quebec. You have four big cities, Quebec, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Basically Texas.

Just so everyone understands, the US has a GDP of $22 Trillion. Germany $4 Trillion. Canada $1.7 Trillion. Sweeden $556 Billion. It is absolutely mind boggling when people compare one country to the US. It's not scalable.

Says the guy who tried to compare the death rates from Covid-19 to the regular flu in a favorable light without mentioning all the measures we, as the public, have taken to prevent Covid-19 while the public takes absolutely ZERO measures to prevent the spread of the common flu. It's not scalable.

[OSA]

Refund time


https://www.travelandleisure.com/air...y7JZPwbbP0hEpE

[tgull]

Just so everyone understands, the US has a GDP of $22 Trillion. Germany $4 Trillion. Canada $1.7 Trillion. Sweeden $556 Billion. It is absolutely mind boggling when people compare one country to the US. It's not scalable.

Says the guy who tried to compare the death rates from Covid-19 to the regular flu in a favorable light without mentioning all the measures we, as the public, have taken to prevent Covid-19 while the public takes absolutely ZERO measures to prevent the spread of the common flu. It's not scalable.

I have not met one person who has had Covid-19. Probably because I am not morbidly obese living in an apartment with 8 other people. The current death rate projection for the US is 60,000 people which is way below the 80,000 people who died from the flu in 2018. If anything good comes from Covid-19 is perhaps people will stop eating 3,500 calories a day and smoking cigarettes. There are a few hundred very healthy people who got clipped and that sucks but the vast majority were obese who simply have not taken care of themselves and were destined to die of a stroke anyways.

The second best thing is people will finally start embracing Trump's idea and seal the fucking border so we no longer allow people in this country that have a diet of bats and snakes. This is a virus that emanated yet again from China because they elect to eat things that should never be eaten. I'll gladly pay 20% more for everything if it's made here and not in some factory where 11 years old kids are in forced labor or a society where a fucking raw raccoon foot is considered a delicacy. I went to China once in my life and as soon as I stepped off the plane I know it was bad news. Turns out I was right yet again, along with Donald J Trump. Globalism sucks.

[Daly]

Refund time


https://www.travelandleisure.com/air...y7JZPwbbP0hEpE

Nothing changed here.

If the airline canceled on you they owe you a refund. If they still have the flight and you choose not to go then you get what they offer you, which 99% of the time will be a voucher.

[OSA]

Refund time


https://www.travelandleisure.com/air...y7JZPwbbP0hEpE

Nothing changed here.

If the airline canceled on you they owe you a refund. If they still have the flight and you choose not to go then you get what they offer you, which 99% of the time will be a voucher.

Oh I thought this included any flight during the Covid timeperiod. Meh

[MumblesBadly]

Remember news reports a month or so ago of how some Chinese/Asians here in North America were being harassed and discriminated against by folks because of the “Chinese virus”? Well, the CCP has apparently been blaming the Wuhan virus on foreigners, and that propaganda is fueling a lot of discrimination and harassment, including by the authorities, against *any* foreigners.