Coronavirus?!

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SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,491
A little something I received from Delta Airlines

Dear Samuel,

As a valued member of the Delta family, I appreciate the trust you place in us and our people worldwide when you travel.

In the current environment, it’s important for all of us to travel smarter and more consciously. That’s why I want to personally update you on the situation with COVID-19 (the coronavirus) and the steps we are taking to ensure your health and safety in your travels.

For more than a decade, Delta has been preparing for such a scenario. As a global airline, we have strong relationships in place with health experts including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and local health authorities worldwide. We are in constant contact with them to make sure our policies and procedures meet or exceed their guidelines.

Operations are our lifeblood. We’ve learned from past experience with outbreaks like H1N1 and Ebola, and have continually refined and improved our ability to protect our customers. That includes the way we circulate clean and fresh air in our aircraft with highly advanced HEPA filters, the new fogging procedures in our cleaning process, how we sanitize aircraft between flights and how we respond if a customer is displaying symptoms.

A full report on the measures Delta is taking to help you have a healthy flying experience is available here. It outlines our expanded cleaning and disinfecting at our airports and on board our aircraft; distribution of hand sanitizer and amenity kits to help customers stay clean; and the technology on our aircraft to filter and replace cabin air.

A command center in Atlanta has been stood up to guide our response, leading our global team of thousands of Delta professionals dedicated to this effort. That includes our reservations specialists handling thousands of incoming calls, our flight crews and Airport Customer Service (ACS) agents taking extra care of our customers, and our TechOps and operations coordination teams keeping the airline moving. This world-class group of airline employees has your back, and I have never been prouder of the women and men of Delta.

To ensure you always have access to the latest information and guidance, we have a website on the COVID-19 situation that is continually being updated with cleaning policies and actions we’re implementing to keep you safe, ways you can stay healthy while flying, and changes to our flight schedules and waiver information. Transparency is one of our core values, and we are committed to keeping you fully informed as the situation evolves.

While we’re committed to providing you with information you need to make informed decisions around your travel, we also understand the need for flexibility based on your individual circumstances. To make sure you can travel with confidence, we’re offering flexible waivers, and we’ve also adjusted our network in response to guidance from the State Department.

We understand that in today’s world, travel is fundamental to our business and our lives, which is why it can’t – and shouldn’t – simply stop. I believe Delta’s mission of connecting the world and creating opportunities is never more important than at times like this.

Thank you for your continued trust in Delta, and I look forward to seeing you in my own travels throughout the year.

Sincerely,



Ed Bastian

CEO
 

Analog Ground

Joined Apr 24, 2019
460
A little something I received from Delta Airlines

I received a similar missive from United since I have a trip booked in July. All the measures taken are appreciated and appropriate. However, they have yet to address how I am protected from someone in my immediate surroundings who is alive, breathing, infected and contaminating me for hours. Since I am in the "death zone" of risk factors, flying was always marginal. Now, I'm driving.
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,491
Good example. My son is in Seattle and has a "cold". Young, healthy, "it's just a cold", untested, wife had classes with people who worked at the nursing home in Kirkland that is in the news for all their elderly deaths, she is also sick. Traveling, by air, to P'Burgh on business this weekend along with a planeload of others from Seattle. I don't think I would want him on my flight. Should he be tested? Probably! Who is going to pay for it? Where can he go to be tested? Is it even possible at this point? Pretty big political, moral and ethical dilemma. No, he is not running a fever.
 

402DF855

Joined Feb 9, 2013
271
Until sufficient testing kits are produced, testing will be rationed. My nephew tested positive for a regular influenza so the experts declared him negative for Corona. He was cleared to fly provided he wore a mask. As of two days ago he and his family are holed up in their farmhouse recovering, presumably from ordinary flu.
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,491
I might be up to date, let's see... Polio, Smallpox, Tetanus, Shingles, Shingles V2.0, Pneumonia, Hepatitis, Flu, skipped the Rabies since I don't cave or work for a Veterinarian anymore. I think that covers it unless I go overseas... Dengue, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, what else... Passed on the malaria meds even though lots of skeeters around here.
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,661
Right now we are having a much higher number of dengue cases than corona ones (all "imported" for the moment).
Yeah, that is also a problem. Keep your wrists and ankles covered and stay indoors in the evenings. Use the usual precautions. One of my friends recommends eating a lot of garlic.
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,237
And it’s not the media, but people like yourselves that attribute to themselves a skill or knowledge that you don’t have, that create a crisis.

When I was in the seventh grade, the first nuclear power plant in MA was built.My science fair project dramatically demonstrated the math behind fission, In a 5-6 fireball (we could get away with a lot then)

Spread of infections follow a similar model. There could be a few now. But an explosion of cases is likely exponential. I had 1 match; in a very short time, I had a fireball.

The media is not downplaying the crisis. It is people who say, “Look! There’s fewer cases than SARS.” Where is your model? How have you proved it’s veracity?

With the right exponent, COVID-19 could be the biggest pandemic in the worlds history. But I’m hearing arguments that the exponent is 1. If you’re wrong, you’re condemning millions of people to death.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,891
Uh Oh, it's happening. Three confirmed cases of the virus here in Ohio and with the entire state to be in where are they? Right where I am in Cuyahoga County. Nowhere to run. Two of three had returned from Egypt and one had just been to a conference in Washington DC.

I am sure many remember the cruise ship debacle several years ago? Between fires and other at sea mishaps the cruise lines were offering all sorts of good deals. Just this morning I was telling me wife that soon we would see some nice offers. They were quicker than I thought because by this afternoon all sorts of emails with specials and some good deals which I expect will get better. I would like to do the Panama Canal again. :)

Ron
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,237
A
And so on and so on. Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been cancelled. Is this the media’s fault or is it the fault of the people, emboldened by a current anti-science bias, who fight back against the health system?

For some people, common sense is enough. For others, until a pandemic kills their family, common sense is not enough. I’m glad that people in the US feel that their thoughts are being recognized.

What totally angers me, is that if someone disagrees with me, believes science is a way that they’re being controlled, believes that somehow I am the villain, then I should be shot.

If you don’t understand my model, get some lighter fluid and a box of matchbooks. Pull the matches out and soak them in lighter fluid.

Get a cookie sheet and aluminum foil. Cover the pan with foil. Then, lay the sheet so the short side faces you.

At the bottom, place one match in the center, the match head at the too. We’ll go for an exponent of 2. Then, place two matches from the first match head. Then at each match head continue placing two more match heads. Continue as for as you can.

Light the bottom match. This represents the first infection. Note what happens, as each person infects two others. If this isn’t impressive enough, on several matches, only put one match and continue the pattern as before.

I could say, there was only one match, so why worry. But you’ll still get a conflagration. Video your experiment. I think some of us might like to see the result.

Don’t do this without a fire extinguisher nearby.
 
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