[JohnStrangeII]

The problem are the people themselves. I have yesterday tried to persuade a colleague to cancel / postpone a conference in Lisbon with participants from all over Europe, including Milan in Italy. He didn't even take me seriously and other colleagues from Spain were making jokes about how all of their relatives are currently ill or they have Italian friends for a visit. Besides, half of my colleagues are from Italy, one of them just told me relatives from Piemont are planning to visit her next week.

With that attitude it is impossible to contain the virus. For all I know, I might already have it. I'm at a loss of how to react to such people, who seem to be the majority in Portugal. Working result-oriented in Academia I could in theory isolate myself for three months, but in practice this would be professional suicide.

[libertine]

3 months and professional suicide is a bit dramatic.

[JohnStrangeII]

No, the assessment is realistic. The conference is in about one month. If the coronavirus is transmitted there, which is not unlikely, then it can take several weeks until someone gets symptoms, then another month until that person is no longer a transmitter. Not showing up to events during such a long time is unfortunately not a good idea for someone who doesn't have tenure. Maybe this changes once the official evaluation of the situation has changed. Right now it is "There are no cases in Portugal". Our university hasn't even provided hand sanitizers yet, and there is no official or inofficial statement from the administration about Covid-19.

[libertine]

I meant what you said about the 3 months could be a suicide for your carrear.

About the rest, I'm from Portugal and I agree - I believe there are cases in Portugal for some time and probably will be confirmed the first ones next week.

[blub]

Within a month the currently hidden outbreaks will have become visible and we'll probably have measures similar to what Italy and South Korea are doing now in the whole of Europe.