https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/28/voices-from-the-pandemic-indiana-man-recounts-partners-death-from-coronavirus/?arc404=true

This is pretty eye opening. 

1 hour ago, mrflynn03 said:

@Lostin76

I'm in no way saying it isn't serious, where you are. But is it necessary to lock down my county with 0 confirmed cases at the moment, the same way as New York?

Edit: keep safe, really worry about what's going on there. 

Once it's like it is in New York it's well beyond too late.  They are on the brink of having their medical facilities and personnel overwhelmed. I have a feeling this is going to start spiking in Indiana (and many other places) in the next two weeks. If it doesn't spike like new york, that's a concrete sign that the measures being taken are having a positive effect.

How many people have been tested in your county?

3 minutes ago, rico said:

Well what did you expect when you threw "conservative" out there?  Really?

All I can say is that I meant it in a denotative way, but it was apparently inferred as connotative. Honestly, and again, I'm sorry. I should have just let the question go.

I'd like to apologize. I wanted to answer hoopsters question, but understood that my answer might seem political, which is why I tried to keep it short. In hindsight, I should have elaborated on what I was saying, as the attempted brevity proved to be the Crux of the problem. 

Also, for the record, I have no agenda here. I merely referred to people and entities as best I could while trying to use terms with the least political charge to them, though I'm not sure there are any terms that fit that criteria these days. I was also trying to just relay information factually, at least that was my intent. I can see now I should have elaborated on what I posted to make that more clear.

I firmly reject the implication, though, that I was trying to stoke a political argument or be partisan in any way. I can see now how some took my post that way, but it was truly not my intention.

1 hour ago, Hoosierhoopster said:

Who called it a hoax? I haven't heard anyone call it a hoax. What put us in this situation is a complete lack of preparedness and utter bungling by the Administration and government, including the FDA / CDC, generally. The lack of testing was a complete fiasco.

Deleted,  better safe than sorry. 

blue

2 minutes ago, Hoosierhoopster said:

I absolutely agree this has been handled terribly, the lack of test kits has and will contribute to the spread (and the panic / overreaction). I also agree we are still learning about the severity of the virus and how many people it will eventually affect. I am not dismissing the virus as a serious medical situation.

But I'm not into the reactionary predictions, your question, what will it take, is like some kind of dooms day scenario prediction. Of course I might have a different opinion if this virus exponentially goes crazy world wide, particularly in death toll, not how many people have it -- again, it is well know, right now, that most people who contract it are NOT in any danger, at all. It is, for most people, NOT serious. That really is fact, right now. The danger is, again, to the elderly and those with reduced immune systems, and the actions being taken (like no visitors to nursing homes -- which IS a good response), is to try to limit the spread to those at risk.

And you're ignoring the swine flu. Again, half a million people. We did not go into worldwide panic over it. Listen, I fully get, as does I think everyone, that this is serious. But, frankly, so is the flu, so was the swine flu, etc. The overreaction is causing massive financial destruction nationwide and worldwide. That is not, in any way, a good way to deal with this virus.

If we can test, find clusters, and successfully contain those clusters, we can quickly go back to the status quo.

The people calling this a hoax coupled with the fact we did absolutely nothing as a country to prepare is what has put us in this situation.  Now, we are in mitigation mode, whereas if we were proactive in initially testing, identifying, and quarantining, we wouldn't have to take these drastic measures.

The "this is overreaction" posts are maddening.

It's not overreaction.  We aren't trying to stop people from eventually getting it or doing this because of the mortality rate.  It's well known it affects primarily older people at 1-2% generally.

The MASSIVE issue is that we need to contain the spread.  I suggest you read this post: https://imgur.com/gallery/Folab56 . It's just a social media post, but it mathematically breaks down why this is a big deal.  I also suggest people look up what "flattening the curve" means.

To put it succinctly, if the numbers continue to climb as they have been, going up by a factor of ten every week or so, we are about a month away from our hospitals being completely overwhelmed.  At that point, doctors and nurses are going to have to start deciding who gets treatment and who gets to go home to possibly die.  

It's not just about this virus, either.  Having hospitals at capacity is going to affect ANYONE who needs medical attention, but if we can slow down the transmission, we won't so heavily overwhelm the hospitals.  If we don't, you'll see mortality rates for literally every illness/condition go up, because we will be operating our hospitals like a front-line warzone triage unit.

This is what is happening in Italy, and we'd have to be complete fools not to take that as a lesson.  For reference, their mortality rate is currently at 7.3%, which doesn't factor in other medical problems that are going to be exacerbated by hospitals being at 200% capacity.

I urge everyone to take this seriously and take simple steps to limit the spread.

2 hours ago, rico said:

No new confirmed cases in Indiana...

Can't have any new cases if you don't test anyone.

5 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

What kind of pie?  

 

Cow

1 hour ago, Steubenhoosier said:

On a similar vein, and has become a running joke in my family.

When someone does something for you, and you say "thank you." I was always taught to respond "you're welcome."

Nowadays, it seems that the response du jour is "no worries." What????

It's a colloquial/generational thing. 

"You're welcome" doesn't really make much logical sense in this usage.  "No problem" is actually better usage in a logical sense, which implies that the favor was not an imposition and was happily done; it just wasn't the norm until recently.  Consider the Spanish response "de nada," which translates to "it's nothing," and the phrase "you're welcome" seems an odd reply and is a good example of the oddity of the English language.  What, are you inviting me to your house now?

As for my pet peeve; it seems to be a central Indiana quirk to drop the infinitive that comes before a past tense verb.  An example would be "that pie needs baked" or "my car needs repaired."

It honestly drives me NUTS because SO MANY people speak this way here.

“What is hardest to accept about the passage of time is that the people who once mattered the most to us wind up in parentheses.” 

“Being afraid you'll look like a coward is the worst reason for doing anything.” 

                           - John Irving from The Cider House Rules

The sun's shining down on these green fields of France; 
The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance. 
The trenches have vanished long under the plow; 
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now. 
But here in this graveyard that's still No Man's Land 
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand 
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man. 
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned. 

                          - Eric Bogle

Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

You run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
And the sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

                   - Roger Waters

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, 
In proving foresight may be vain: 
The best-laid schemes o' Mice an' Men 
         Gang aft agley, 
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, 
         For promis'd joy!

Still thou are blest, compared wi' me! 
The present only toucheth thee: 
But Och! I backward cast my e'e, 
         On prospects drear! 
An' forward, tho' I cannot see, 
         I guess an' fear!

                                    - Robert Burns

Also, if you ever wondered where Steinbeck got the name for his novel "Of Mice and Men," I think you've received your answer.

P.S. Don't you just love the Scottish dialect?

This too I know—and wise it were
  If each could know the same—
That every prison that men build
  Is built with bricks of shame,
And bound with bars lest Christ should see
  How men their brothers maim.

                     -Oscar Wilde

Within the infant rind of this small flower
Poison hath residence and medicine power.
For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part;
Being tasted, stays all senses with the heart.
Two such opposèd kings encamp them still,
In man as well as herbs—grace and rude will. 
And where the worser is predominant,
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.

                 - William Shakespeare

      For I have learned
      To look on nature, not as in the hour
      Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes                    90
      The still, sad music of humanity,
      Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
      To chasten and subdue.

                         -William Wordsworth