oscar 104 Report post Posted April 18, 2020 (edited) USA / Canadian border to remain closed for another month to protect citizens from either side. We had four tickets for the Broadway show "West Side story" for the end of May $230.00 a ticket. I was surprised to see that my American Express card was credited with, what we had paid months ago. Nice of them to refund without our even asking. We thought that we would have forfeited the money paid. Appears all Broadway shows are cancelled for May 2020. Edited April 18, 2020 by oscar Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar 104 Report post Posted April 23, 2020 Covid-19 South Africa has a 43% increase in cases. https://www.yahoo.com/news/africas-43-jump-covid-19-115033614.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SJ272 146 Report post Posted April 23, 2020 (edited) Interesting article on infection rates in different urban areas, the charts show the picture well https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Charts-show-Bay-Area-crushing-the-curve-vs-15217396.php - Bay Area was first to implement a form of lockdown and has resulted in a really flat curve (I heard they are even restarting elective surgery and cutting back nurse hours as the cases have been so much less than expected) - NY started a bit later (just a few days makes a huge difference with exponential growth), plus high density - New Orleans looks really bad, attributed by many to the fact that they did not cancel Mardi Gras Edited April 23, 2020 by SJ272 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar 104 Report post Posted April 28, 2020 It appears that commercial flights between many countries will not start up again for at least another three to four months, and Australia is considering no International flights until 2021, as countries are concerned about the second wave of Covid -19 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar 104 Report post Posted April 30, 2020 Our Head Office in New York issued an email that they may consider opening the offices at the end of May but it will be a gradual thoughtful approach to return to work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SJ272 146 Report post Posted April 30, 2020 Oscar, may I ask what industry you work in? That’s very interesting... I am also particularly interested as my daughter is at college in NYC and I really hope she can go back properly in fall... 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar 104 Report post Posted April 30, 2020 I sent you a DM Take Care 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar 104 Report post Posted May 7, 2020 Another 3.2 million Americans applied for unemployment last week bringing the total unemployment in the USA to 33.5 million since mid March 2020 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar 104 Report post Posted May 12, 2020 (edited) New York City opening up again: Upper New York - Opening this Friday! New York Manhattan - Beginning of June Broadway Shows : From September 6, 2020 We have about 16 weeks to go before there could be another surge in Covid-19 in the fall. This gives everyone some time to start hoarding the toilet paper, hand towels and Clorox wipes. Edited May 12, 2020 by oscar Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SJ272 146 Report post Posted May 12, 2020 [at]oscar- when you say NY “opening” - what exactly - all shops and offices? Or more staggered? There was a really interesting (I thought) article in The Atlantic by a prof at Harvard. Basically saying we need to figure out some kind of harm minimization approach, because you can’t just keep everyone locked down until there’s a vaccine. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/quarantine-fatigue-real-and-shaming-people-wont-help/611482/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar 104 Report post Posted May 12, 2020 (edited) Appears its going to be a more gradual approach to opening in Upstate New York, allowing Landscaping services, Drive Ins , Tennis Courts and recreational activities. For NYC There is not much information other than depending on the death rate in two weeks time, will determine the opening and it will be very much slower. Even though Broadway will be opening in September we are not to sure, how the seating will be allocated. There has been no indication when offices will even think of opening. My company got over 9000 employees to connect remotely and everything is running very smoothly. We booked our Alaska cruise for July 2021 hopefully there will be a vaccine by early next year. There is Progress the Starbucks on the corner has opened up - Take Out Only ! Edited May 12, 2020 by oscar Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar 104 Report post Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) Regarding anyone who has purchased Broadway tickets up until Labor day( September 6). if you have already purchased tickets your credit card will be automatically refunded. For Hamilton Fans there will a film version of Hamilton with the original stage cast broadcast on July 3, 2020 on the new Disney+ Channel. Here is the link https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/lin-manuel-miranda-bob-iger-announce-hamilton-coming-70627572https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/lin-manuel-miranda-bob-iger-announce-hamilton-coming-70627572 Edited May 13, 2020 by oscar Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar 104 Report post Posted May 13, 2020 Workers on visa's who are unemployed through Covid-19 are in for a tough time if the don't find employment soon. https://www.yahoo.com/news/immigrants-visas-suddenly-jobless-must-122148862.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SJ272 146 Report post Posted May 13, 2020 2 hours ago, oscar said: Workers on visa's who are unemployed through Covid-19 are in for a tough time if the don't find employment soon. https://www.yahoo.com/news/immigrants-visas-suddenly-jobless-must-122148862.html The actual news article headline is of course misleading because Technically they aren’t “immigrants” if they came in on work, not immigrant, visas (you didn’t repeat that error). And the rules are the usual ones, but I guess very stark now because so many have lost jobs at the same time and can’t find new ones. I wouldn't be optimistic about an extension to the grace period being offered ... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar 104 Report post Posted May 14, 2020 (edited) The Unemployment rate has gone up another 3 million since last week. The new total unemployed rate is 36.5 million. https://apnews.com/d83ae33742142af43dc48854ab97fd47 Edited May 14, 2020 by oscar Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
