I remember when the epidemic started in China there was a lot of wishful thinking in western media "Oh, this will shake the Chinese system to its core, might be China's Chernobyl and end the rule of the CCP"...lol, looks more likely now that it will be OUR Chernobyl and that the Chinese government will look remarkably efficient and competent by comparison.
Agree with you about Merkel's government and the general situation in Germany. They had two months time to prepare, but basically did nothing, except warning against a non-existent "panic" and spreading this "It's not worse than the flu" nonsense. Sad and disgusting, but one probably shouldn't have expected anything different in this country anymore.

Don't know if and how much consolation this could be for you guys in Germany, but it's practically all of us in Europe who have seen and got that kind of 'attitude' from both "medias" and 'governments", here in quotes for a reason. There is a Chinese curse often mistaken for a blessing: May you live in interesting times. I guess this is it, we're in the middle of it.

This is the situation at the moment: Prime Minister spoke to the Nation just few minutes ago.
It's not much different than what happened in the Hubei region of China but there is one, important difference: Hubei is 2% of whole China in terms of territory and roughly 4% in terms of population, while 100% of Italy is locked down.
Aside from COVID-19 itself, Italy is facing an economical disaster and probably a social one too.

That sucks(and I mean that 100%)......I hope they can keep fed and everyone can stay safe.....I just feel that what is essentially a total lockdown of the ENTIRE country is overkill, plus it likely won't help with morale much(people meeting even with masks in small groups would likely lift spirits somewhat, imo).

Regardless, I hope this nips the problem in the bud and actually does something to offset all the negatives of such measures.
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That is what I meant.....to me it seems like overkill. I mean why can't small groups meet for short amount of time with masks on(and while keeping a bit of distance from one another)? To me it'd be a more fair compromise/plan of action as it would limit spread AND keep morale/spirits up as well.

It's likely you are right....that is why I worry a bit for everyone involved/impacted by this, especially those that are less well off or in more affected areas.

Agreed on every single point. We talked a bit about my experience in China in the past and all I can say is that this whole ordeal just put a big, fat axclamation point to every single observation I've made.

It's depressing having to witness the sheeple being herded to their doom - either by gross incompetence or malice - probably both.

US won't allow any Germans to enter the country. India cancelled all German visas. This is just strong man posturing, since they're just as fucked. But I can't argue with their reasoning: Germany has taken zero preventive measures. True that. Thanks, Merkel!

Austria and Denmark have closed all their schools. i wonder how much longer this farce will have to go on until the German government effects basic measures like closing down schools.

Have you watched the interview with Bruce Aylward, one of the WHO people who was on a fact-finding mission to China? He was really impressed with all the measures the Chinese were taking, and also said the health care system was well-equipped (better in some ways than European countries, e.g. with number of ventilators) and that the Chinese used some pretty advanced methods to keep people infected with Covid-19 alive. Sounded like he thought the mortality rate could be quite a bit higher in Western countries. I don't have much sympathy for the CCP, but imo it's naive to still think that we in the West are so much more advanced than China. The coming epidemic could be a shocking demonstration of the shift in power relations that has been underway for some time. I really don't have much confidence in the competence of our political leadership, and tbh also not in the capacity of Western societies for sticking together in adversity, given how polarized politics has become in the last few years.

Exact.
I have seen the images of the empty cities in China a month ago but, believe me, watching the images is completely different than living the same reality in person. Aside from the worriment caused by the virus, and by the economical problems of the present and mainly for the future, Italians are living in a surreal reality, a fucking nightmare.

Best of luck to you and your famiglia. I mean it.

Our government just declared a state of emergency. Border checks along the border with Germany and Austria, access to the country only at specific crossings, restricted access to "high-risk areas" and the same for people coming to our country from them.

High-risk areas are currently listed as: China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain.

Violating this is punishable by law.

Also from 6 AM tomorrow, the original ban of events with more than 100 participants is going to be extended to events with above 30 people. Pubs and restaurants must be closed from 8 PM till 6 AM.

This is going to last for 30 days minimum.

We currently have 96 confirmed cases.

Well, in my part of the world people have started hoarding despite being told that we have plenty of food and daily products IF everyone just behave like normal but ofc. the Corona Clowns are out in force now. Last night some people got in a fight in a store in my city and in another mega store the police had to shut down the store so it would not be emptied...

At least the police now got "Unlimited powah!!!!" sort of. New laws were passed today so the police and health care can act with force like they do in China. Don't think that will happen except for maybe they have to pounce on some of these hoarding clowns that ruins it for everyone.

And here I thought that Denmark are the calm-and-collected people. But it goes to show that many modern governments are seriously inept in being upfront regarding any inconvinient truths. People can shit on China as much as they like but at least they seem to get covid under control now in a very efficient way. Once this is over, people should demand at least some sort of reparation from China. For instance, free or cheaper vaccinations to "fix" the problem.

Right now econonmy is tanking pretty hardly worldwide and I'm fairly certain that this will cause a different sort of problem if this keeps on, if you guys get what I mean.

On a lighter note, be glad that we are nerds and don't go outside as much :P.

Yes I hope that us "Man Cavers" will prevail! :D

I am guessing the cops and leaders of many nations that want such are rubbing their hands with glee atm.....people will do almost anything and give them almost anything when afraid. :\

well in my country they passed that new law with an expiration date that cannot be changed by parliament. So no problem really.

https://twitter.com/jenniferatntd/status/1229421174142140416 Senator Tom Cotton was demanding everything China had directly back in January, but they responded with "careful, because maybe the US army brought it here", and had apparently nothing concrete to show...

And in other more positive news: https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/fheqv9/as_expected_pornhub_offers_free_premium_access_to/

Stack up on both toilet paper AND lotion and you have everything you need :D