Dr. Gonzo

I don't know how it works, but I'd assume that they'd be screened at the airport? Although, I know there's some issues with the accuracy of coronavirus testing. Either way, I'd not go around them for about 3 weeks so as to not get it. It's a bit worrying for Iran though. Because the number of infected people when compared to the number of casualties there goes well beyond 3% - which indicates either the mortality rate is well wrong... or there's a shitload of more infected people in Iran that just have no idea because they've not been diagnosed. Today the government's said on PressTV (granted, it's state media of an authoritarian theocracy, so take a pinch of salt. Or a handful) that Iran's had issues importing the coronavirus testing kits because of the sanctions. And even more concerning, an Iranian MP suggested that the government is lying about the numbers and that there are at least 50 casualties in Qom alone (which would indicate... the number of infected would be much higher than what's currently being reported). This MP was one of the ones barred from running in the parliamentary elections due to the political fallout of the Iran nuclear deal, though, so the Iranian govt has suggested he's bitter he's losing his job and rubbished his claims. But I wouldn't be surprised if Iran had been trying to keep the extent of the virus under wrap - much like China; authoritarian governments like to project strength... and having a virus outbreak that seems out of control doesn't project that image of strength at all. It's spreading throughout the Middle East now. I think it's only a matter of time before it hits Africa.

Oh if it runs like crap on the Switch, I change my opinion Yeah, I really enjoyed the game, I can recommend it pretty highly if you like games like Last of Us.

I'd probably get it for Switch tbh. Looks a fun game to be able to take with you anywhere. I finished A Plague Tale last night. Really good game, really nice final boss fight too - enjoyed it. Another game I probably might not have tried out if not for Gamepass that I was really happy that I tried. Next on my list is Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - a game that looks really interesting and has received loads of good reviews. And it looks nice a cool take on the strategy genre. Apparently the story is very compelling us well. I've got pretty high hopes for it, so I'm looking forward to it.

I think there's a global shortage of N95 masks (the sort of masks that actually provide any sort of protection from the virus) - so you'll just see people with the more useless ones but I think people like them because of the placebo effect. Although I saw some for sale that claim to be "anti-viral." Were they at the airport? I think it makes sense to be precautious right now around airports and planes. International airports are going to have people from all over who've been on a plane for however long with people who have been all over and who knows who's come in contact with the virus and who hasn't. Even airports that aren't international may have had people connecting from international flights - places like that where people come and go quickly to all over the world... that's where I think the most dangerous spots to be if you're worried about catching the virus are.

A few weeks ago a group of Iranian doctors were complaining about a shortage of medical resources due to the sanctions. It’s only going to get worse with the coronavirus outbreak. Hospitals already under strain are overwhelmed. I know fuck all about Iran’s healthcare system, so I’ll have to take your word and @Azeem’s as well.

I’m playing A Plague Tale - it’s really good

wow such parody

Well it's in Canada right now, so theoretically you could bring it over But yeah, there's definitely a chance this can spread to South America. How likely is it? I don't think there's anyone in the world who can tell you that - far too many variables.

Likely record low turnout in Iran's parliamentary elections today: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/21/nothing-will-change-apathy-and-a-lack-of-queues-on-election-day-in-iran Could it be apathy... or is it because of the coronavirus fears now that there's these cases in Iran and relating to people who've traveled to Iran.

Idk if you've seen this but: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-bc-hit-with-sixth-case-of-coronavirus-after-woman-returns-from-iran/ This woman came back from Iran and came back with the virus. This might indicate there are more infected people in Iran than we know about (which I would assume, considering how long you can go without showing symptoms so if we're now seeing more cases develop out of Iran... that's an issue). And Lebanon's got cases now: https://news.yahoo.com/lebanon-confirms-first-case-coronavirus-144847635.html - after flights from Qom came in.

Yeah really bad news for us. There’s a good argument he’s player of the season and I think whenever we’re at our best he’s in the side.

I would have started that letter off a bit differently... ”Read carefully, you little shit...”

Isn’t the purpose of these blanket sanctions hoping to make people suffer enough they stand up to the government? They use targeted sanctions on government officials, but these blanket ones are just designed to cut Iran off from the rest of the world to force them to try to change regimes. Never mind that every time there’s been a big uprising it’s also ended up with the side that’s armed shooting protestors... Considering other fucked up things that have happened in the Middle East I wouldn’t put it passed anyone

Reminds me of when I used to do cocaine, tbh.

It's not showing up.

I think Gamepass is a pretty steller deal tbh. I've heard many good things about the Yakuza games, but never played them - I'm looking forward to giving them a spin.

A big worry for it spreading to Iran is that the sanctions have made it really difficult to get medicine into Iran. I know there's no vaccine for the disease right now, but I think the sanctions mean that even if there is a vaccine made anytime soon... it's probably not going to make it's way to Iran.

@nudge since this is probably a better place to talk about coronavirus in Iran than the Asian football thread Qom (where the first instances of the virus) isn't too far from Arak - about the same distance as Qom is from Tehran... but considering how quickly the virus seems to spread, it's pretty concerning. Because Arak's an industrial hub - so you've got tons of people and things coming and going from the city. Hopefully the virus stays the fuck away from my gran in Shiraz & hopefully she doesn't travel to Tehran anytime soon (but I know she goes back and forth between the two cities pretty regularly).

Here's a fun story about the history of Iranian politics: https://portside.org/2020-01-25/how-britain-helped-irans-islamic-regime-destroy-its-left-wing-opposition This is the fun story of how the country I was born in that utterly fucked my mum's country, decided "yeah, let's keep fucking it" because apparently people on the left are more evil than authoritarian theocracy. And in a similar vein... earlier in this thread I said that the US's recent escalations with Iran all stemming from the US pulling out of the JCPOA would ultimately lead to an erosion of support in Iranian politics of the reformists. Well guess what's happening: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/iran-reformists-lose-parliamentary-vote-200219102846864.htmlhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/iran-reformists-lose-parliamentary-vote-200219102846864.html The failure of the nuclear deal and return of sanctions has been devastating to an economy that's already been under strain from decades of mismanagement. Popular support for the reformists is at an all time low - people feel betrayed and feel stupid for believing in politicians that felt the west could be trusted. And even without that popular support, reformists are finding political life in Iran pretty tough. 80% of reformist candidates have been blocked from running in the upcoming elections & many reformist newspapers have been shut down. I feel like US foreign policy advisors must have known what escalating tensions and guaranteeing that the JCPOA would fail would lead to a rebound in support for Iran's hardliners. The confusing thing there is... the hardliners are the ones who think Iran's best way of dealing with the West is with rampant hostility. They are the ones who think more of Iran's resources, not less of them, should be spent supporting Iranian proxy wars - even if this does literally nothing for the millions of Iranians begging for their government to step in to fix their failing economy. It begs the question: do they want a hostile Iran? If so, why? Because it guarantees instability in the region which guarantees more military intervention on the part of the US? Do they want to push Iran to become so belligerent they force the US to invade? And if this political reality was not by design... it begs the question why no other parties to JCPOA did more than "urge restraint" as tensions first escalated. Because outside of super religious Shia Muslims, I can't imagine anyone in the world would be happy with hardliners likely coming back to power in Iran.

Yeah in Qom right?

Oh lol, I just got that off the top blurb on google. My bad - I trust your numbers on it better than I trust google's. Especially with you doing a good job keeping us all up to date on coronavirus. I swear, sometimes google's top result for me when I'm on my work network is always insane compared to my top result when I'm using my laptop/phone at home There's been a flu going around in the US that's already killed 10k this year (in only the US) that's not really getting anywhere near the same sort of coverage as coronavirus.

It's killed more people than SARS, but it's also infected a hell of a lot more people than SARS did. The outbreak also happened at the exact worst time for a viral outbreak in China - right before their New Year where everyone's going to be traveling a lot. But yeah, I wouldn't risk going to where there's a sickness that's killing people and is all over the news right now. Especially as China passed that law limiting how much foreign footballers get paid.

It's still only got around a 2% mortality rate. The flu's got a mortality rate of 5-15% in normal times and 25-50% when we've got a "flu pandemic" like swine flu. It's a lot less deadly than SARS was - but it's much more infectious than SARS was. I think he's banking on: 1.) The Chinese season's been postponed until this calms down a bit; 2.) Most people who have died have either been very old, very young, or with weakened immune systems prior to getting the disease; 3.)

How's the Sony equivalent of Xbox Live that they rolled out once the PS4 ended Sony's free online services. Because I had a PS3 at uni and the online services were always shite compared to my roommate's Xbox 360 - but I always thought "ah, it's fine if it's not the greatest because it's free." I almost got a PS4 until I learned basically everyone out here in the same timezone I'd be playing video games with had an Xbox One (although I'm well happy with that because Halo 5 gave me 2 years of some excellent online gaming & some of the Microsoft exclusives have been surprisingly fun - the Gears series, Sea of Thieves, Killer Instinct) and that they both charged money to use the online services. I think because Microsoft has been a software company for so long... they've really got a great thing going with their online services. Sony's got that whole PS Vue though, which gets them in on the TV streaming game with their consoles - where they compete with other US TV streaming companies like Google's YouTubeTV, Sling, etc... so they've got a pretty smart idea trying to undercut Microsoft and getting people hooked on their additional services. But Xbox does have the Xbox Game Pass, which I've now got bundled with my Xbox Live subscription... and it's pretty ridiculous value. I imagine all console manufacturers want as many of their users subscribed to as many of these extra services as possible. It's where they make their real money. It does bother me, paying a company to use the internet I've already paid for... but Game Pass does make it less irritating (especially as I was able to convert 3 years of Xbox Live into Game Pass Ultimate for $3). But it's really smart from Sony/Microsoft. I just wonder if Sony's done more with their services to get more people to sign up other than the fact they just need to if they're playing online. Because Nintendo's online services (thank god they're cheap though) are straight outta the fucking late 90s/early 2000s. Utter shite.

Seems like MS likes to set a $500 limit with their console releases though? Granted, it seems insane when you think about how cheap the consoles become just a year after launch.