What’s particularly startling to me, as an American, is my government’s complete and utter lack of leadership in an international health crisis. I truly don’t even trust the CDC anymore, because they’re being used as a pawn in Donald Trump’s schemes. The mixed information and misinformation has already been deranged and it will only grow moreso. So obviously, state and local governments, businesses and individual citizens have been left without leadership (and a sh-tton of bigly propaganda) and they have to make some hard choices on their own. The South X Southwest festival is being pushed back until the fall. Boston has canceled their St.Patrick’s Day parade. And now musical artists like Pearl Jam are canceling (or pushing back) their tours.
Pearl Jam is postponing the first leg of their upcoming concert tour, the band announced on Twitter Monday, amidst growing concerns about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). In a lengthy, multi-tweet statement on Twitter, the band — including frontman Eddie Vedder — said that they are frustrated and sorry about the decision, but believe it is in the best interest of their fans.
“As residents of the city of Seattle, we’ve been hit hard and have witnessed firsthand how quickly these disastrous situations can escalate. Our kids’ schools have closed along with universities and businesses. It’s been brutal and it’s gonna get worse before it gets better. So we are being told that being part of large gatherings is high on the list of things to avoid as this global health crisis is now beginning to affect all of our lives,” the band said in their statement.
“Unfortunately, communing in large groups is a huge part of what we do as a band and the tour we’ve been busy planning for months is now in jeopardy… We have and will always keep the safety and well-being of our supporters as top priority. So it is with deep frustration and regret that we are forced to make this most unfortunate of announcements,” the band stated. “This scheduled first leg of our PJ/Gigaton tour will need to be postponed and shows rescheduled for a later date.
“We’ve worked hard with all our management and business associates to find other solutions or options but the levels of risk to our audience and their communities is simply too high for our comfort level,” they said. “Add to that we also have a unique group of passionate fans who travel far and wide. We’ve always been humbled by this and respect their energies and devotion. However in this case, travel is something to avoid.”
“It certainly hasn’t helped that there’s been no clear messages from our government regarding people’s safety and our ability to go to work,” the rock band said. “Having no examples of our national health department’s ability to get ahead of this, we have no reason to believe that it will be under control in the coming weeks ahead.”
“What we do wish for the rest of the country is that they can avoid the harsh negative effects of this and retain their sense of community and take care of one another,” they said. “Just as we look forward to our next concerts and the ability to gather together and play loud songs as energized as ever. We are so sorry… And deeply upset.. If anyone out there feels the same based on this news, we share that emotion with you. – Ed & Pearl Jam.”
“It certainly hasn’t helped that there’s been no clear messages from our government regarding people’s safety and our ability to go to work…Having no examples of our national health department’s ability to get ahead of this, we have no reason to believe that it will be under control in the coming weeks ahead.” Yep. I feel like that’s how everyone needs to start operating from here. I remember that essay from a woman who lived under a fascist regime, and this is what she said would happen – do not count on the government to save us. Do not count on institutions to save us. They will not. So just start preparing to be self-quarantined, I guess.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
The thing that terrifies me the most lately is the disinformation. Young healthy 20-30 year olds are getting sick with consequences. Once you have a lung illness you’re always prone & people are ending up intubated & that does leave effects for any age. The people greatest affected are elderly, but what happens when they fill up our limited icu space & younger & younger people get sick. How South Korea is handling testing is ideal.
Also very concerning our government us stopping the announcement many health officials want to make about, elderly & frail of health shouldn’t fly.
This is not how the health organizations are supposed to work(I work at one). A doctor should have his/her judgment trusted in giving a patient a test for the virus, not some stupid protocol that is impeding progress.
Sorry to rant, this has been my Ted talk lol
Seriously though this is much worse than the flu please take caution and look in on your neighbors.
If you want good, reliable information, try our national broadcaster:
abc.net.au/news
There’s also an app that gives updates throughout the day – what experts are advising, emerging or modified health advice, new or planned strategies, new cases etc.
Events are being cancelled all over the place here, too, mainly because new diagnoses seem so random, and we are seeing clusters of infection. Some sports events are being played in empty venues, as due to timetabling and other fixtures, they’d never be able to catch up if they were simply postpones.
How are everyday supplies coping in America? We have security guards in some supermarkets, and customers are only permitted one pack of toilet rolls, and two hand wash and two hand sanitisers per transaction, due to greedy, inconsiderate bastards buying dozens of packs at one time, while many others have to miss out. Entire aisles are empty, regardless of the time of day. Shelves are now only restocked when they close at 10pm. They reopen at 7am, but by 6:30am, many dozens of people are lined up waiting for the store to open, at which time, they barrel each other to clean out the aisles again. By the time busy people getting kids or themselves off to school or work get time to pick up a few supplies, the aisles are empty again. Restrictions are also beginning to be applied on other items such as rice, tissues, flour and paper towels. We are constantly advised of a 14-day quarantine, yet these irrational, selfish people want to have walls of toilet paper as if it’s a 14-month quarantine. We all came together brilliantly during our bushfire and flood crises, but now… sometimes I want to smack some people.
Yes I agree the hoarding is ridiculous I can’t find tp right now, it’s ridiculous.
Also we as we all know don’t have universal medicine so some people can’t afford the whole thing, even if the tests are free being in icu without medical insurance is bankruptcy essentially. This all could have been mitigated with planning & open communication with people now we have a pandemic approaching and no one knows what the heck they’re doing.
I’m in Switzerland and currently self quarantined because a few people at my BF’s office tested positive for the virus. We’re fine, but we also know we could be asymptomatic and so going out and potentially spreading the virus could be much more dangerous for others than it is for ourselves. We are also lucky enough to be able to work from home. While here we have good government support and regular (logical and properly studied) updates, we still have to, as individuals, be responsible both for ourselves and for the more vulnerable members of society. Be safe everyone.
@Snazzy: Thank you so much for doing this!
My 21 year old son has asthma and is immune-comprimised. I also have my 89-year-old mother and an older brother with COPD living in my in-law apartment. I have to work, so I can only hope that the people I work with are washing their hands, or staying home if they are sick. I am a healthy person, myself, but I’m seriously concerned about what I can bring home to my family.
So again, my thanks to you and others like you! 🙂
I’m in germany and also voluntarily self quarantined because I work in a huge international company and it’s going to collapse very badly once the first person carries the virus there, and we have a handful of those in the city already. I’m not really worried about myself, but I don’t want to bring this stuff home to my parents.
German government just cancelled any events with more than 1k people. Good choice.
The realtor at a house showing last night stated that the liberal media hates Trump so they are exaggerating the threat of the virus. I was shocked into silence. I forget that people do watch fox news and parrot any crazy shit they say.
Also, personally, i am super concerned that they will cancel the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, my favorite 8 days of the year.
I’ve been looking forward to Beale street music fest this year too.
Has that realtor not heard of what happened in China, Iran, and Italy ??? This can end up being very serious. People need to be smart. Wash your damn hands, don’t go out if you are sick, and for the love of God don’t cough/sneeze without covering your your damn mouth (into your elbow) !!! So many viruses wouldn’t spread if we all just used some common decency. Unfortunately there are way too many selfish motherf*ckers on this planet.
They will demo the Hard Rock hotel and extract those two bodies before canceling Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest, etc. It’s not going to happen.
But, hey! We got our first confirmed case of COVID-19 14 days after Mardi Gras! No need to worry about large crowds of people!
I expect artists to pull out of Jazz Fest instead of the event itself canceling. We’ll see what happens, though.
There’s been several of my classmates from back home that have been posting “what’s everyone freaking out about, it’s like the flu!’ and it enrages me. I need to respond factually and not emotionally, so I’m simmering down a bit first.
This is NOT like the flu. Italy’s healthcare system is being strained to the breaking point and people don’t understand that could happen here. People are too concerned with MONEY and not enough about saving lives. I hate the way that the elderly and those with chronic illness are treated as disposable.
Yes, many would get better with medical treatment if they get this illness, but if 40% of the population gets sick at one time? We don’t have the medical facilities to treat that many people at one time.
My boss is currently pouting “everyone’s gonna want to work from home”, yes no sh*t. During a pandemic that is what people SHOULD do. Instead of thinking of it like a burden, think of it as a blessing that some people have the ability to get their work done without exposing themselves or others to risk.
Coachella has been postponed until October. Madonna canceled her remaining tour dates in France because France just put a ban on public events with 1k people or more.
I work in the film industry, and the economic damage it’s doing to people’s livelihoods who don’t have the option to work remotely and who rely on the “gig economy” has been economically devastating to so many people I know who are already barely scraping by.
Trump and his orange-struck minions have absolutely made the spreading worse by downplaying the coronavirus and not providing adequate resources to the states that desperately need them.
And a correction note for SXSW — it’s cancelled this year period, as far as I know, and might not actually be able to return next year bc their insurance does not cover disease-related cancellations.
As a indie film maker, who didn’t get into SXSW this year, all I could think was of all the people like me who use that as a huge platform, and how to get in and not get shown could derail a whole project. The small bands the indie films losing tons of money, plus the economy of Austin, the news didn’t make a big deal about it, but if SXSW goes it’s going to be a huge huge lose to the indie makers of all sorts.
I’m supposed to see The Eagles in Denver at the end of March. No idea if they will cancel. The uncertainty…do I get on that plane or not?