I agree. Maybe the Japanese bow will spread all over the world....

Just been listening to an NYC ICU doctor who says strict social distancing should happen for at least a year after the purported "end" of this initial CV wave, in order to keep the inevitable future spikes low, because there WILL be successive waves of CV until an effective vaccine is developed.

That's just not going to happen. Strict social distancing can't and won't continue for a year straight. What will happen is that the various social distancing measures will have on/off triggers based on hospital cases. There are so many variables up in the air, such as what we don't know about the virus (true infection/death rate, how it will respond to the summer), and how we might be able to respond to it (enhanced test-trace regime, antiviral drugs). Hard to know how it will all turn out, but hopefully these variables will come down in a way that minimizes the percent of next year that needs to be spent in strict social distance mode.

On the contrary, I think that many people, even "most", will follow aspects of social distancing even when the instructions to do so come to an end. It isn't going to be long before everyone knows someone who has died - and that will make the issue very real for most people. This isn't some grand governmental conspircy, people are dying, and the only tools we have at the moment to slow the spread, are fastidious cleanliness and social distancing.

So, following the above, and going back to the topic of this thread (more or less - this is a bit bigger than I had in mind ), I think that businesses and activities that force people together in a (relatively) small space are going to be in long-term trouble - cinemas, concert venues, sports venues, and cruise ships are all likely to see a significant permanent, or at least very long termdecline in their number of customers.

Because nowhere in the world has been been going through summer whilst COVID has been a thing... Good to know the southern hemisphere doesn't exist for some.

Yes that’s been puzzling me too!
Also, I understand they can get warm weather in Singapore once in a while.

The theory a few weeks ago was that the cases in Singapore were mostly cases imported directly from China. India is more of a conundrum, but I suspect that the numbers there are already substantially under-tested and under-reported.

I also like the "hands together in front" style of the namaste greeting.

That pesky always summer on the equator milarky?? Maybe the poster got caught up in Trump's 'it'll be over in April when the part of the US he inhabits, starts warming up' bullshit.

Or they decide that life is just too precious to spend it with someone that doesn't make you happy???

Do you think the French will stop kissing each other?? GOD! I hope so.

Since the end of year/course exams have all been cancelled and yet the universities will still accept students - managing to find other ways of assessing them - I am sincerely hoping that exams are a thing of the past. The stress my kids have been through due to them has been horrendous.

And NOT a little thing but maybe the people in the "frontlines" will be given as much money as defence?

And definitely NOT a little thing but having listed to Cuomo talking about how he plans to make the NY hospital system work together, maybe, just maybe we will see the health system change. Not to mention the health insurance companies going bust.

as per BE site rules - I'm not going to go into detail or name the person concerned. However, I received a particularly unpleasant "karma" regarding my previous post here which I think is completely unwarranted. I have reported it to site admin.
Might I suggest that rather than sending unpleasant messages via "karma" the person concerned just takes a step back. We're all stressed and being nasty to others doesn't help anyone at all.

Just to say, we haven't had this report - try again? Although somehow I think the mods can guess who it might be from………sigh.

just to be clear sending nasty/insulting karma messages is likely to get the sender banned. IMO It is a cowardly, underhanded practice.

anyone receiving such karma messages or PMs...please report them.

EDIT: just to add...this person has a habit of doing this and it must stop. You know who you are.

Sneeze in said person's general direction.

I definitely agree that people will be more hesitant to participate in those things for a while. What I meant is that, I don't think that the current "shelter in place" regime called by the government in most states and adopted voluntarily by many people in others - will continue for a year straight, and I'm not aware of anyone, even the doctors and scientists most concerned about the virus, considering that as a serious possibility. People may be more cautious about high density social events, and they may work from home more often. Social distancing measures may be ratcheted up and down repeatedly as appropriate. But not leaving the house except for groceries for a whole year straight will not happen. That's what I mean by "strict social distancing".

Of course there are hot countries that have COVID, every scientist knows this. They are studying these countries intensely to understand more about how weather affects the virus. Incidentally, the spread doesn't seem to be as bad in those countries, though we can't say that's due to weather at this point because of all the confounding variables. We simply don't know enough about how summer will affect the trajectory of countries where the virus has already had considerable spread.

Yes, Trump is an idiot, no this won't be all over in 2 weeks or when summer comes. But that doesn't mean it won't have any effects on the spread.