The Swine Flu

[dflemstr]

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "That guy must be really paranoid to consider that possibility" but looking back at all of the rather small obstacles OpenPandora has had in the past that have caused relatively massive delays, please bear with me.

The SIV virus is probably going to cause a pandemic in two months™ according to official statistics, and who knows what will happen then? Factory workers, truck drivers and FCC testing officials will get infected (an estimated 30% of the world population at any given time, of which 10% will be unable to work, and approximately 0.1% of the population will die, but only children between ages 3-20 and people above age 60, or people with diabetes or other age-related illnesses are at risk), and there won't be any avoiding the spreading of the virus.

This leaves us with three questions:

1. Will the Pandora arrive before the influenza starts spreading across the whole world?
2. By how much will the first (or, if the answer to the above question is "Yes", second) batch be delayed because of the flu?
3. How can we/the OP team reduce the effects of the pandemic?

PS. The above statistics are taken from my rather flawed memory, so I'll probably add proper sources + numbers soon. There's no real way of getting the actual numbers yet, however, since the pandemic isn't upon us atm, so my above numbers are as good as any.

 

[El Jefe]

[*]How can we/the OP team reduce the effects of the pandemic?

My mom's workin on the vaccine for that. I believe they are mass producing it now(their production cycle is, believe it or not, significantly faster than that of OP). So, the team might be covered soon, who knows.

 

[dflemstr]

[*]How can we/the OP team reduce the effects of the pandemic?

My mom's workin on the vaccine for that. I believe they are mass producing it now(their production cycle is, believe it or not, significantly faster than that of OP). So, the team might be covered soon, who knows.

Yeah, I'm aware of the vaccine; it'll come to us in Sweden in October, I believe (our laboratories are being prepared for it + the state is giving away vaccinations for practically no cost at all; we'll all be covered by November, and all of Europe probably by December). My thoughts were rather directed towards the poor bastards who will be responsible for the material shipments in China and other places where the vaccine won't arrive for quite some time and/or be too expensive.

 

[matzesu]

I think thats no problem: the chinese workers has no vacations (no mony, the finanze crisys) the american workers by ti has nt any vacations to (no mony, finanze crysis) no vacations, no fly to a land who the pic flu a pandemi ist

the pic flu is not more dangourus than the normal flu, but the normal flu is dangourus when you are old or crank..

pigs are cute animals they make so lovelely "oink" :wub:

ähm: pandora = pandemi , thats awesome !!! :lol:

edit: the pic flu virus cant survive the long fly from china to us, it can only survive in a living body, in a human, a pic, or a bird..

 

[El Jefe]

Yeah, I'm aware of the vaccine; it'll come to us in Sweden in October, I believe (our laboratories are being prepared for it + the state is giving away vaccinations for practically no cost at all;

O___O SOCIALIST!
naw, speaking from america's healthcare, there's not too much I can say....

 

[puppydee]

LOL, It's just flu, you feel crap for a few days and then it's gone. I can't say I'm worried in the slightest that swine flu will affect the production of the Pandora. Even the idea is a bit laughable, lol

 

[matzesu]

its pig flu or have i to many alkohol drunk? thats the question.. :lol:

 

[danielliu88888]

considering our luck, this is possible.

 

[dflemstr]

Yeah, I'm aware of the vaccine; it'll come to us in Sweden in October, I believe (our laboratories are being prepared for it + the state is giving away vaccinations for practically no cost at all;

O___O SOCIALIST!

Says someone from a country whose president has expressed his wish to copy the Swedish health care system, *specifically*
Yeah, Sweden is pretty socialist (as are most European countries) and we give away 50% of our income in taxes (Sweden has the highest tax rates in the world) but because of that, we can practically just fall into apathy on the street without any money, friends and relatives, and we'll still survive and live a healthy life because of the system. Of course nobody does that, or the taxes would be even higher, but yeah. Also, you just can't say that free school/college/university education, free health care due to a country-wide insurance system, etc. are bad things

Anyways, back to the topic.

@matzetzu, the pandemic will spread to all coutnries of the world, and there's no stopping it. It already IS in Europe (I know a couple of people who got infected) and it WILL spread to 30% of the world's population every time there's a wave. There's just no avoiding it; get used to the thought.

Translation (because I'm bored and want to be nice):
Die Pandemie WIRD wirklich in allen Ländern der Welt sich verbreiten, und man kann es wirklich nicht verhindern. Die Krankeit GIBT es schon in Europa (Ich kenne ein paar Personen die sie schon hatten) und man WIRD eine Infektionsratio von mindestens 30% der Weltbevölkerung pro Infektionswelle messen können. Man kann die Pandemie einfach nicht vermeiden; gewöhnen Sie sich bitte daran.

@ the responses that have popped up meanwhile:
Yeah, it probably won't be an issue, but you still have to remember that this isn't an ordinary flu. People die (about 0.1% of those that get infected) and coutnries will issue quarantines if they can't afford vaccines whether we want to or not (Think about what happened in China when the SARS broke out) so I thinkt hat this WILL be come an issue, even if it's a rather small one.

 

[WizardStan]

Given that it is now widely known that so called swine flu is no more dangerous than any other form of flu, a company that hesitated on fears of infection risks lawsuit from other companies for whom those hesitations cause revenue loss. I think. I am not a lawyer, but I have memories of something similar in the news.

 

[midna25]

You gullible idiot. No offense. If you get the H1N1 virus in any country with a decent health system, you'll go to bed for a few weeks. The normal flu is just as deadly. The media is always looking for a new global disaster, a new way that humanity could be wiped off the face of the earth. It sell papers. This is TOTALLY over-hyped.

 

[dflemstr]

You gullible idiot. No offense. If you get the H1N1 virus in any country with a decent health system, you'll go to bed for a few weeks. The normal flu is just as deadly. The media is always looking for a new global disaster, a new way that humanity could be wiped off the face of the earth. It sell papers. This is TOTALLY over-hyped.

Agreed, but as long as the governments of the world believe that there's still a risk, there will be countermeasures. I don't believe that the swine flu will be any worse than an ordinary flu either, but as long as the people with the big hats believe their country's population is at stake, things will happen and rules will change.

 

[midna25]

I assure you, this will NOT affect the release date in any way. In fact, I'd be willing to bet on it. 1000 internet dollars that this will not affect the date. (Worthless)

 

[dflemstr]

I'd be willing to bet on it. 1000 internet dollars that this will not affect the date. (Worthless)

OK, agreed.

 

[Despellanion]

I don't think there's anything to worry about. Many have been infected here in Sweden, but I believe it's only one person who has died which was 60+ in age.

 

[kloplop321]

I don't think that technology would be hindered at customs because of the swine flu. Unless they put a little monkey in the package :blink:

 

[dflemstr]

I don't think there's anything to worry about. Many have been infected here in Sweden, but I believe it's only one person who has died which was 60+ in age.

Read DN more often

There have been 3 deaths so far.

 

[kloplop321]

yeah, but most of the people who die are not very healthy as it is or had a pre-existing condition; not everyone is the same.

 

[Despellanion]

I don't think there's anything to worry about. Many have been infected here in Sweden, but I believe it's only one person who has died which was 60+ in age.

Read DN more often

There have been 3 deaths so far.

Wow, 3 people instead of 1. It's the 14th century European Black Death all over again More people have died from regular flu during that time so I don't think you need to worry.

 

[foxblock]

Well, one guy at the company I work for got infected and the production has not stopped for a second because of this. The only thing they did was to put information posters about the virus everywhere, send an e-mail to every employee and advise to not shake hands for a while (*sigh*), so I doubt it will be any different in other countries (with a decent health-care system).

Edit: Oh yeah, some people die, but the same amount of people die from the "normal" flu - this simply is not covered by the media...