Since this seems to be on everyoneās mind, why donāt we start a thread to discuss the novel coronavirus and how it has been affecting our day-to-day lives?
Have you somehow been affected by the outbreak so far?
Have you decided to change or cancel any travel plans?
Are you taking any measures to stay safe, plan for potential shortages, shutdowns etc?
Are you concerned at all, or do you think that itās a lot of fuss about nothing?
Personally Iāve had some minor inconveniences:
We had some flights between Hong Kong and Vietnam cancelled, but got rerouted. Lost some time in Vietnam, but all good.
Returning to Europe, my girlfriend developed something akin to a cold or flu, and were told to self-isolate until she got better (even though we didnāt travel to any risk areas). She was later tested for the virus, but to this date (8 days later) have not received her test results. This means sheās not allowed to leave the apartment (even though sheās now feeling fine), forcing us to cancel/postpone our onwards flight last Friday.
Iāve also made some observations that make me think most of (East & South East) Asia will come out better than large parts of Europe and the Americas .
First of all, in Asia itās much much more common and socially acceptable (or rather expected) to wear a face when youāre sick , helping preventing the spread of these types of viruses to others. And while wearing a surgical mask isnāt going to do much to prevent yourself from getting the virus, if a large enough proportion of the population decide to wear one, thatās often enough to significantly limit the spread of the virus.
Case in point: In Hong Kong at least 80-90% of people were wearing masks in public, and compare the (much slower) growth of the virus there to what you currently see in Europe and the US and itās obvious that something there is working. In Vietnam there were fewer people on the streets wearing masks, but the second someone stepped onto public transport they would put one on.
Since returning to Europe Iāve seen a total of 3 other people wearing a mask (all of them at airports). We were wearing masks ourselves during a layover in Copenhagen , and people were staring at us like we were crazyāand this was around the time the virus was starting to take off in Italy .
It seems in Europe people are more concerned about stockpiling food and toilet paper than actually stopping/slowing the spread of the virus.
On the bright side, it does seem like many companies here are willing to move to remote work to help stop the spread. It might be wishful thinking, but maybe it will make remote working more common and acceptable at more companies in the future? What do you think?
Watching people panic buying and then the news of people fighting over toilet rolls or being racist to asian people makes you realise how quickly society can breakdown and how simple minded people can be. when it should be a time of looking out for each other.
How can all the western countries like Italy react effectively who have cut health care support due to osterity imposed by the IMF or EU, or the US where people have to choose between healthcare or eating same for many countries who remain under the burden of āAIDā (perpetual loans they can never pay off and just give up their natural resources forever) Or sanctions for the right or wrong reasons posed on Iran that do have an impact on importation of medicines and medical equipment even though the US say they dont restrict for such items when they do. Would it not be the time for the USA to put policies aside to offer an olive branch and provide help.
I hope that it will not become policitised but I am sure it will, if not already.
Personally I give China a big pat on the back for their actions and although could be deemed a little late. I am sure that the US could not have handled it any better. Also I saw the news the other day the UK have set up a meeting to prepare and review action plans, have they been sleeping for the last month.
Great topic, Iād like to hear how other nomads affected by nowadays outbreak.
Hereās our story:
Have you somehow been affected by the outbreak so far?
Yes, we are in the middle of our trip to the USA. Since the middle of this week, we got to stop going out. Now we are sitting and waiting
Have you decided to change or cancel any travel plans?
We have planned trips for the next six months (six airplane tickets on the hand). We decided to cancel all of our scheduled flights and urgently fly to Cyprus. Not happening, Cyprus just closed its borders for foreigners. Going to stick to old plan
Are you taking any measures to stay safe, plan for potential shortages, shutdowns etc?
Not for shutdowns or shortages, stocked with food for at least 2-3 weeks, staying at home, not going out is the measure to keep ourselves safe
Are you concerned at all, or do you think that itās a lot of fuss about nothing?
For now, we are just watching. Itās time to finish pending tasks and projects, read books, and listen to your own thoughts
Hi Thomas,
Hope you and Joanna are well, secure, and are not in limbo in-transit somewhere.
We are in western Japan. Here is our experience, our long view.
Recently, in northern California, returning via Seoul Incheon as measures were implemented.
Havenāt seen anyone sick in 8 weeks, anywhere. No coughing, no sneezing, nothing. No ambulances.
There is increasing fear.
āThe virus is not a virusā. Please consider this. āIt is something elseā. Discuss, never stop discussing.
Staff in white Hazmat suits at Incheon at first implementation. Excited chaos. They were not trained.
Anyone, any āChinaā anything can be fingerpointed, quarantined, tagged, gone, starved, over.
Japan, schools closed. People calm. Tourists gone. Waiting. Staying out of cities. People assume situation will stabilize, improve, but there is no action. Nothing. It wonāt improve. Opposite. More restriction will come, step-by-step. Folks, this is the real thing, no practice, no drill. Authorities worldwide, in their mosaic of cooperation, are implementing an aggressive agenda. Watch and listen. Think ahead. Stay calm. Prepare as best you can. Share in a closed community like this one. Stay informed on best practices, solutions, long and short term. make local real contacts. Internet will close. Get phone numbers. Prepare to go camping, hiking, away from official parks.
Links that will help bend your mind around this new paradigm, its reality:
Someone on the road, today, western USA: http://blog.banditobooks.com/fear/
Someone evaluating, his research 2014, all documented: https://blog.banditobooks.com/a-predictive-program/
My take? Who cares? Each person must do his own ātakeā.
Get dense, compact nutritious natural material, dry, while you still can. Ways of cleaning water.
Natural soap. Go hiking today. Learn again how to make a campfire. Tent. Tent repair. Sleeping bag.
Rain cover. Shovel. All good stuff.
And smile. This is your life. Your adventure. Our version of āwartimeā. Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia break-up, Kosovo, etc. These people know. Have military-trained people in your groups. They had training.
Have you somehow been affected by the outbreak so far?
Not really, while I am location independent, I have experienced some volatility that had caused me to slow down and consider taking some time off for a day or two.
Have you decided to change or cancel any travel plans?
While I have not needed to cancel or change any travel plans, I have thought about how prepared the location I am is if we get hit like many other cities in the world. Being location independent or planning to be (which is the reason we are all here) we also get to consider and choose a location or locations that meet our health needs or concerns. Home may not be the best place for some of us especially if we have means.
Are you taking any measures to stay safe, plan for potential shortages, shutdowns etc?
Being an introvert with organic farming experience has made things easy for me. Outside of purchasing an N95 coal activated face mask and buying some basic toiletries to stock up, I have not had much extra to do.
While I donāt expect everyone to start growing all or most of their food, starting a garden (even if all you have is a single flower pot in the kitchen) can be therapeutic for most. What you grow depends on you and your weather/location. Everyone should consider having some basic herbs and one or two air purifying plants indoors . Some plants require very little care for those of us who are forgetful or need to travel a lot. A self watering container can be used too to make life easy for the rest of us.
Consider getting a bidet sprayer installed in your bathroom. Not only will you save on toiletries while keeping a healthy new lifestyle, you get to have an interesting fun conversation with friends and family who discover it when using your bathroom especially if you donāt live in Asia or parts of Africa.
Are you concerned at all, or do you think that itās a lot of fuss about nothing?
I am concerned but understand that outside of the little that I have done or am doing, there is little else that I can do for myself. Taking some time to reflect on what steps/actions I would need to take if where I currently am is hit has come to show the importance of having a āgo to hell fundā. We all need to evaluate how long we can maintain our current lifestyles at our current status if we stop working for 6 months or more. While its a mentality of where I am from, I believe we should also consider the needs to those related/close to us who would be unable to cope if they experienced a shutdown (and of course others in need). If it helps, what you choose to do can be made a tax write off depending on where you are.
In any case, I hope you all stay safe and find something productive to pass the time if you get to experience a lock down or anything like that.
Update on the situation on the ground in Japan. April 2. Tokyo is like a separate country. Itās in a āvoluntary lockdownā, a kind of well-cooperated but unenforced condition. Most are staying at home, self-isolated, venturing out once every few days for food. Meanwhile the Osaka area, Kansai, is at 60% normal life, as schools gingerly start, or delay only by 2-3 weeks. Every region of the country, each of 47 or so āprefecturesā, is a little unique. Public communal bathhouses and hot springs are all open and ones Iāve visited are at 60% capacity. So itās surreal - a blend of fear, disbelief and unusual practical activity.
One thing this pandemic has shown is the importance of having multiple residencies and citizenships, with the travel shutdowns and border sealings meaning that many countries now only let citizens or residents return.
Oh, so true. Am thinking to plan ahead to have as many approved residencies as possible. And when bad news comes, it comes often very quickly, with only a day or two of real notice, perhaps a week if one is very aware. This means being prepared to immediately depart, to fly/float to an approved resident-status country, is vital - not only with a survival pack ready, but access to flight tickets instantly.
April 8 now, only 6 days later. Now 7 major areas designated āemergency statusā, including Osaka.
Nara has little sickness, but streets are spookily quiet, restaurants open but sparsely patronized. Folks are 98% at home. Normal life? Repeated delays: startup April 20, then May 9, now May 25. Calm, no panic, everyone is falling in line. Cabbage is sold out, as are noodles. Now, we know what people really eat!!
Interested to hear of conditions from anyone who is living in Austria.
Ich bin interessiert, von Bedingungen von jedem zu hƶren, der in Ćsterreich lebt.
Iām in Germany (Berlin) and as a tech worker who can operate from home, apart from having to stay inside my apartment Iāve found the pandemic to be pretty manageable. Even index funds and crypto have recovered strongly in the last few days. I hope weāll be hitting our peak in Germany and can start to taper off.
Danke schoen. Hope things continue well in Berlin. Lovely city, esp. the parks.
On a further positive note, this also may help in staying healthy: Wim Hof's take on Coronavirus (COVID-19) - YouTube Itās from a fellow in Amsterdam, with good results from deeper breathing, cold showers. Happy to hear of any other helpful suggestions.
And now this video has come across our radar, from a correspondent in India.
Independent hand videos of New York areas, showing anecdotes of empty hospitals
and no testing. Spooky, makes a person question validity of mainstream media reports.
Hello tak,
Hope to be elsewhere in Asia soon.
I can transcribe this. It will require many hours, but itās critical at this time.
I am in need of sub-titles into your own mother language and other languages, even in condensed
or abbreviated form.
Here is the video. private comments welcome.
Agreed. Most people want their normal lives, normal health back. Not being directly in the field of medical care, I canāt speak from experience. The comments I hear from colleagues and the general public seem to come from common layperson ignorance and assumption of truth/credibility in mass media. And the events and suspicious reporting are unfolding with such speed that investigating any piece of new information is difficult. Online, in more far-reaching social media, I have discovered media āgatekeepersā who patrol and censor, attack non-mainstream-oriented comments. These are usually nominally āfreelanceā thought leaders, advertising company personnel, journalists. This phenomenon is seen when the historical āeventā is major and part of an agenda. Example: 2001, NY, obviously. So, expect more āinterestingā behaviours, particularly around miracle medications and inoculation products. The needles of inoculations, well, um, take a deep breath, take a deep, deep dive into the darkness of their hidden history. A Twilight Zone you and I donāt want to know about - but if one wishes to live, one must, must, must do that research.
I believe this is the CDC document to which the Montana doctor is responding. I donāt wish to attempt
a summary of her video, since she illustrates her thoughts very clearly, from the positions of science, experience and standard protocols. In one line, though, her view is āthe data CANNOT be true; physicians are tasked to help create very false data; political decisions are being made based upon these lies.ā https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvss/vsrg/vsrg03-508.pdf
Positive note - and free, though āchillingā - here is a man from Amsterdam who has found ways to have a strong immune system. Meet āThe Icemanā Wim Hof. Wim Hof's take on Coronavirus (COVID-19) - YouTube and open up the comments, youāll laugh till you cry.
will come out better than large parts of Europe 
and the Americas 
.
, helping preventing the spread of these types of viruses to others. And while wearing a surgical mask isnāt going to do much to prevent yourself from getting the virus, if a large enough proportion of the population decide to wear one, thatās often enough to significantly limit the spread of the virus.
at least 80-90% of people were wearing masks in public, and compare the (much slower) growth of the virus there to what you currently see in Europe and the US and itās obvious that something there is working. In Vietnam 
there were fewer people on the streets wearing masks, but the second someone stepped onto public transport 
they would put one on.
, and people were staring at us like we were crazyāand this was around the time the virus was starting to take off in Italy 
.
to help stop the spread. It might be wishful thinking, but maybe it will make remote working more common and acceptable at more companies in the future? What do you think?
