Spikecollie

This as in the virus, not the thread!

MY OH has a cold. It is a cold and nothing more but because he is alone he has worked himself into a right state and was nearly in tears this evening on the phone, terrified that he would get so ill that he wouldn't be able to get help. Everything has calmed down now after a nice reassuring talk and a bit of relaxation. He's going to stay off work tomorrow and just have a nice relaxing day. I think we're going to get him over here next weekend rather than the beginning of April as I'm not sure how long my state of mind can hold out either. This thing that has come among us is responsible for a lot more than physical illness...

People are genuinely terrified of this. Genuine panic can make people look (and feel) really ill.

Macron has (quite rightly in my opinion) defended against a nationalist backlash on border closures, saying that the virus does not respect borders and that any closures, if they are pertinent, will be taken at a European level. (Source: BFMTV live)

Good move and it's until further notice rather than a definite date like Ireland. But why are the municipal elections being allowed to go ahead (at the moment) on Sunday? People have been asked to bring their own pens but how many will? A large proportion of the population touching tables, curtains around the booths and pens does not seem like the best idea right now. Another example of the slightly expedient and non-joined up thinking around this...

No update today, yet.

More than 100 new cases in the UK...

Right, bed for me. No nightmares...

I know, Snipper. Some would be off their faces on whatever and out looting and causing havoc - there would never be enough forces of law and order to go around - and from there it would degenerate. I don't think it would work in the contemporary UK...

They'll be despairing soon enough. I've alluded to individualism and the US before but it just keep manifesting - we are OK, we will be OK, we are invincible to this - the values are so deeply rooted in the establishment that even though their individual states are declaring states of emergency, the central message remains. I find it fascinating but also deeply disturbing.

Indoor exercise. Get some window sill potted herbs and veggies going. Start to learn a new language. Knit or sew. DIY. Lots of reading. The list could go on according to your fancy.

Interesting - like an international "chickenpox party"!

Probably - anything is plausible these days!

Lots of running with doglet, gardening and DIY! Assuming I/we stayed well, we have enough food to last for months and plenty of capacity now spring is here to grow more. I assume that being on a permanent contract I'd be paid at least something (or compensated) for quite a while so that doesn't worry me. It's the people I work with that I would be worried for, the elderly, ill and disabled - scared witless, surrounded by perceived or actual chaos and helpless.

Sensible thoughts at last! I think some of our younger folk in particular, imagine a B-movie scenario of everyone country/Europe-wide being held in their homes at gunpoint! By the way, I discovered something interesting today. In current French law there is no mechanism to compulsorily require an individual to comply with a public health order. You can ask but you cannot demand/enforce something like self isolation or quarantine.

Parts of some countries may have more restrictions but only parts. For some reason, that we will eventually come to know, the situation in Italy escalated very quickly. As we have seen from Italy and from the excellent comments from one of our Slovakian members earlier, lockdown is rather a loose term! I am assumng that the competition you are referring to is football. Sporting and entertainment events are completely non-essential (Cheltenham races should never have been allowed to go ahead) and should be the first to go - sorry!

A nice piece of news from Italy: "The Italian government’s decision to put the whole country in lockdown has prompted 200 student volunteers in the northern region of Veneto to “adopt” residents who need help going to the supermarket or pharmacy." (Source: BBC live)

The whole of Europe is not going into lockdown imminently. A lot of the cases in France, for example, are very clustered and localised and action may well be taken around them but for those outside these areas, life goes on as normal.

Yes.

I was thinking that way too. Hopefully people will be savvy about internal travel. With the case in Limoges, I'm now on bigger towns then villages bubble....

Sorry, it's in French but from BFMTV live and I've done a quick translation: "Les Etats-Unis envisagent d'interdire l'entrée aux voyageurs venant d'Europe (the US envisages prohibiting entry to travellercoming from Europe) Les Etats-Unis envisagent d'interdire l'entrée sur leur territoire aux voyageurs venant d'Europe en raison du coronavirus, comme ils l'ont déjà fait pour les personnes en provenance de Chine, a déclaré mercredi un haut responsable américain. ([...]like they did for China) "Nous nous posons la question de comment traiter l'Europe dans son ensemble", a dit le responsable du département de la Sécurité intérieure, Ken Cuccinelli, lors d'une audition parlementaire. (we ask the question how we treat Europe as whole) Il a souligné que les consignes déjà renforcées ne permettaient "pas encore" de "bloquer les voyageurs" en provenance du Vieux continent. "Mais nous l'envisageons", a-t-il ajouté." (we hope measures now strengthened will not make this happen yet but we envisage it will happen) EN DIRECT - Coronavirus: crèches et écoles vont fermer dans 16 communes de l'est de Montpellier WWW.BFMTV.COM Suivez en direct les derniers bilans et informations sur l'épidémie de coronavirus.

It depends on the criticality of the job. Hanging in there as a doctor in an emergency situation is different to hanging in there in a supermarket. Jobs have a psychological as well as a legal/paperwork contract and sometimes the mental balance just doesn't add up in a person's mind...

Donald's going to make a declaration this evening (US time).

Macron's address is tomorrow night at 20h00 and not tonight. The news feed I have been watching has been corrected.

If a job sufficiently compromises (and this is a subjective perception/decision) your own mental or physical health - then stuff the job, frankly.