Coronavirus-Aggregation Thread-Non political

[Lizbit]

SiriusXM now has a 24/7 Coronavirus channel.

If Mr. Peter Asher was on, and he played Beatles music between the Coronavirus news stories, me and Wiki would listen.

[silverscreenselect]

The NASCAR race in Atlanta this weekend will go on but without any fans (usually draws 100,000 or so people).

NASCAR has had a change of heart. They have postponed the Atlanta race, and the Homestead race for next weekend.

Silly question - I wonder how many of the cancellations (March Madness, etc.) came after the accountants and lawyers looked over the contracts and realized it was cheaper just to not have an event rather than play to empty arenas?

From what I've read, many events have cancellation insurance, but they usually just cover things like weather conditions. There is a rider for communicable disease coverage, but most events don't purchase that (the communicable disease rider hasn't been available for a while since the coronavirus epidemic hit).

[silverscreenselect]

The Boston Marathon, usually run on Patriot's Day in April, has been postponed until September.

Six Flags is closing all its parks nationwide.

[Vandal]

SiriusXM now has a 24/7 Coronavirus channel.

Hey, so does this Bored!

[SpacemanSpiff]

Looks like the NCAA is going to grant an extra year of eligibility for those playing spring sports; they are still undecided for those who play the winter sports, however.

https://247sports.com/college/alabama/A ... SYUP0_sBWA

[christie1111]

Looks like the NCAA is going to grant an extra year of eligibility for those playing spring sports; they are still undecided for those who play the winter sports, however.

https://247sports.com/college/alabama/A ... SYUP0_sBWA

That needs a like button!

[silverscreenselect]

The Louisiana presidential primary, scheduled for April 4, has been postponed until June. The Wyoming Democratic caucuses, also scheduled for April 4, will not have in-person caucusing.

[flockofseagulls104]

The Wyoming Democratic caucuses, also scheduled for April 4, will not have in-person caucusing.

Easier for the dead to caucus.

[Bob Juch]

Dr. Fauci tells Americans to avoid large gatherings of people for at least the next 8-weeks, if not longer. Fauci said he isn’t sure if the United States will experience a ‘total shutdown’.

Experts predict that 70,000,000 - 150,000,000 Americans will become infected by the Coronavirus, and more than a million could die.

[silverscreenselect]

I went to the movies tonight to see The Hunt (that's a topic for another thread). This was a 24-screen theater and I arrived about 7:20. There were a total of 37 cars in the parking lot. When I talked to the manager, he said that 4 or 5 of those cars were employee cars. So, there were less than 1.5 cars of customers per screen for a prime Friday night showtime. In the auditorium where I was, there was only one other couple sitting in the very top row (I'm guessing to maintain distance from anyone else, which wasn't difficult in a 300-seat auditorium). They also had a sign at the concession stand that they had suspended their policy of free refills for large drinks or popcorn.

[silverscreenselect]

Since CBS will have a lot of free time to fill over the next three weeks instead of airing basketball tournaments, they'll be showing a Professional Bull Riders Event from Duluth, GA (an Atlanta suburb). There won't be fans in the stands, but the riders won't be keeping a social distance from the bulls (you can't catch coronavirus from a bull, although you can catch a stray horn in a bad location). No word yet on other events, but look for ESPN to show a lot of famous game replays.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2 ... 048183002/

[SportsFan68]

Our duplicate bridge club plays at the senior center, which is closed for the next two weeks. I'm going into withdrawal . . .

The next performance of the local symphony has been canceled, very disappointing. They were going to perform Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, which I have never heard live. I crossed Beethoven's Third off the bucket list in February. Now I want to hear it again, but it's not likely to come around again for a while.

Worst of all, the library is also closed for the next two weeks. I checked out Olive, Again for book club, but it won't last long.

[MarleysGh0st]

Worst of all, the library is also closed for the next two weeks.

Ours just closed through April 12*, following a similar announcement for all schools in the county, following Cornell's decision to cancel classes immediately, rather than waiting for Spring Break to start on March 28 (at which point, according to Tuesday's previous decision, all students are supposed to go home for the rest of the semester, which will be completed online).

*I knew there was a reason to stockpile more books on my bookshelf than I can possibly read!

[silverscreenselect]

*I knew there was a reason to stockpile more books on my bookshelf than I can possibly read!

It's a good thing my Kindle doesn't run out of books and Netflix doesn't run out of shows.

[Beebs52]

Our duplicate bridge club plays at the senior center, which is closed for the next two weeks. I'm going into withdrawal . . .

The next performance of the local symphony has been canceled, very disappointing. They were going to perform Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, which I have never heard live. I crossed Beethoven's Third off the bucket list in February. Now I want to hear it again, but it's not likely to come around again for a while.

Worst of all, the library is also closed for the next two weeks. I checked out Olive, Again for book club, but it won't last long.

We use the Libby app for library books for our Kindles...

[a1mamacat]

Our duplicate bridge club plays at the senior center, which is closed for the next two weeks. I'm going into withdrawal . . .

The next performance of the local symphony has been canceled, very disappointing. They were going to perform Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, which I have never heard live. I crossed Beethoven's Third off the bucket list in February. Now I want to hear it again, but it's not likely to come around again for a while.

Worst of all, the library is also closed for the next two weeks. I checked out Olive, Again for book club, but it won't last long.

Check the Seattle Symphony web page. They are doing some live stream concerts.

[mellytu74]

Steve Kornacki (of MSNBC - for ID purposes only) had what I thought was a terrific idea.

CBA and TNT/TBS and ESPN could get together and show something like 100 of the best NCAA tournament games ever. Maybe start with 1974, when Brent Musberger started using the term March Madness.

You could have the upsets (UMBC, Hampton, Drexel, Princeton, 1985 Villanova), last games of legendary coaches, the Cinderella teams like Loyola Chicago and Miami of Ohio. In addition, of course, to things like the Christian Laettner shot vs Kentucky.

And, have the complete vintage chyron graphics, ads, interviews, etc.

The Owlets will, of course, induce agita.

[silverscreenselect]

Regal and AMC (and Cineplex, a Canadian theater chain) have cut ticket sales to 50% of capacity in all auditoriums to allow people to spread out in theaters. Judging by last night's crowd, they won't have anywhere near 50% in most locations.

[Vandal]

[Bob Juch]

They probably bought a case of Corona.

[Bob Juch]

European travel ban extended to include U.K. and Ireland

The White House announced Saturday that they would expand the European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland beginning midnight on Monday.

"Again, Americans in the U.K. or Ireland can come home," Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday. "Legal residents can come home."

Trump had initially said during his Oval Office address on Monday night that Ireland and the U.K. were exempt from the ban, although it was unclear why the exception was made because the virus is also present in Britain.

[silverscreenselect]

The Georgia Presidential primary, originally scheduled for March 24 has been postponed until May 19. That's the same day as the primary for Congressional and state offices. Mrs. SSS and I had planned to vote early tomorrow, so that's one trip that we'll save.

[SpacemanSpiff]

This is another one of those times when my job is going to get interesting -- specifically, the HR side.

I'll wait until the final bill becomes law (and our payroll service is good about filling us in on changing legislation), but I'll be the one who gets to implement any changes in sick leave, FMLA, etc. that comes out of pending legislation. The additional 14 days of sick pay is a given. My boss's concern is that with a staff of 50 employees and 10 apartment complexes, we can't just shut everything down, leave maintenance undone, etc.

On one hand, I'm glad that I managed to get a new benefit added to our portfolio (as part of the life insurance coverage) at last August's renewal -- short-term disability insurance, which looks like it will cover the extended circumstances (three months after the initial 14 days) that might come into play. I'll verify with the insurance carrier that it's valid under these circumstances (in case they have some weasel words that lets them out of it in cases of national emergency or such).

[Bob Juch]

Map showing where coronavirus cases have been detected:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/202 ... cases.html

[SpacemanSpiff]

Different kind of panic buying in my native Alabama:

https://www.al.com/coronavirus/2020/03/ ... shops.html