Our daughter, who lives in Seattle, just sent us this. Powerful.
I suspect we have a few medical experts on this thread… thoughts?
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They’re singing out the windows in Italy. They’re dancing in the quarantine camps in S. Korea. Activity is good for you.
There’s one thing we can all do that will help us individually and collectively, IMO. And that’s to try to keep a sense of humor, maintain a positive attitude, be optimistic, and smile at one another. I was at Sprouts a short time ago, and quite unlike the usual atmosphere, everyone was wearing a doomsday face.
I’m a person of the Old persuasion, the kind they would in effect toss out of a window into the street below in Italy right now if I had a severe case of the virus there. Like the Jewish grandfather in a wheelchair who was unable to stand up under orders by the SS, while dining with his family at home, in WWII.
Well, I’m being more cautious and I’m going through lots of soap, but I refuse to let this episode knock down my spirit, especially as an Old Fart.
Remember the motions “to the left” and “to the right” on arrival at the WWII concentration camps? Left: You die right away. Right: You can live for awhile.
And I’m going to continue to patronize our restaurants, especially Asian restaurants, howbeit at a slower pace than usual to help reduce the “social activity level” or “social movement” or whatever they’re calling it. But I’m not going to stop completely.
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I don’t believe this is only a Asian problem. Its every where
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Absolutely Em. Here in Reno, we’ve seen some shortage of diners in non-Asian restaurants. But today made me crazed. I wanted to slap a few people. This is a restaurant/brewery and we’re regular lunchers there. Sit at the bar, have lunch, play video poker (oh, and lose). Today the bartender, the brewer (he was off today) and a number of diners were complaining about the cancellation of various sporting events. And how stupid and unnecessary. So that’s the other side. I’m still pissed.
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I apologize if it sounded that way, but in no way did I mean to suggest that this is only an Asian problem. Yes, it seems a certainty that it’s affecting restaurants of all kinds. But at the onset of virus cases in the US, I think that Asian restaurants were hit the hardest; they were receiving (what I believe was misdirected) negative press and social bias.
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No slowing down here . The secret town next to the mountain. Plenty available. Business as usual.
Here’s an example showing why normalizing data on a population basis can be helpful. The blue circles on the left just keep increasing in diameter (tests per 1M population), while the red ones on the right are scattered in size (population).
It’s pretty clear who is doing the best and who the worst for their population in terms of testing. All you have to do is compare the relative sizes of the blue circles on the left (normalized) side. No numbers or math required.
(This is in relation to the discussion of the plot posted by Robert, but the data themselves are of interest.)
OK, here’s an example of positive thinking. I think. Or at least an example of “half full”.
Let’s say I’ve been to the oncologist and he says my cancer has metastasized. That’s really bad news. I’m both shocked and depressed, and I slump into a gloomy pose.
But then he quickly adds that my chance of a healtful long-term survival is at least 98%. Maybe 99%! Maybe even more! I’m enormously relieved and smile back.
The analogy is to the Covid-19 “metastasis” that’s been consuming both life and lives in the past few weeks. Like a cancer.
Speaking strictly for myself, I like that 98% prognosis, even if it is a much bigger number than that for the flu.
[OK, server, I understand. But surely the new guy at least knows how to make orange chicken.]
[Reply from the server: “Ahh Soul”. Hmmmm…]
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To know who’s doing the best job testing, look only at the blue circles.
The unnormalized red circles don’t really tell you anything meaningful. 23 tests per million would be terrible even if the US had a much smaller population. Japan’s not doing a significantly more adequate job just because they have fewer people.
It’s just astounding and frightening how much can change in six weeks.
“Way back then”, I was worried about the impact on Asian restaurants, which is why I started this thread. Now, just a short time later, here we are with no restaurants at all, with food served fresh from the kitchen, from places like Pho Hoa to Georges Modern.
Very sad for all of us who love to dine out…
OK, well I guess that pretty much is a knockout. Sorry to have offended.
Stay healthy.
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At one point in the early stages I was of the belief that this was a media based scare with a side of racism. I still believe there’s a tinge of bigotry - like some Americans refusing to eat in Asian restaurants. 
News Flash: they buy their supplies and food from the same places as every other kind of restaurant. It also doesn’t help when our leader continues to call it the “Chinese Flu”. But at some point you have to face facts that C19 is serious. It’s ridiculous that there are still deniers who think we should go back to business as usual, especially when mass C19 testing hasn’t been implemented. Just my opinion.
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I couldn’t agree more, TC. You said it much better than I could.
When our Asian restaurants (and all the others) finally do re-open, though, I’ll be one of the first customers. I’m looking forward to that day.
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RD, all I’m going to say here is that I think that social distancing is the right thing to do. And I’ll add this: I think that the people who are working in the kitchens of take-out/delivery restaurants are very brave, because it’s hard to keep well away from others and avoid touching the same utensils in a kitchen unless you’re the only one there.
I wasn’t sure where to reply but a very good 6 minute video on LA Taco about the impact of Covid on several Chinese restaurants in SGV.
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13 posts were merged into an existing topic: Random discussion of Covid-19 not specifically related to restaurants or food
Robert, you repeatedly keep chopping up these discussions into fragments that are then out of context. That’s not helpful. Just let us do our thing. Try being a little less heavy-handed.
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