COVID-19 Pandemic

[kold weather]

4 minutes ago, pip22 said:

Sky News Breaking

@SkyNewsBreak·3m

Sir Patrick Vallance says at least 60% of the population needs to contract COVID-19 in order to develop "herd immunity" to prevent further transmission in the future

Yes that is the figure I've been working from as well, which is good to see.

As I've said, the idea is to have a huge percent of the working population who are at lower risk to catch it and to try and have as few elderly get it, and hope that its not too deadly through that process.

Mother in Law is going into isolation as she has a few of the symptoms, I've not seen her for a little while so I'm ok but still its getting closer.

I also feel like we have finally started going up that curve on the graph and are now entering that exponential growth currently being seen. We saw similar in many other countries.

[Sky Full]

I think it's a pity that all the countries of the world have not yet found a way to work together to combat this threat but instead are mostly making their own individual plans to protect themselves which in many cases are at odds with each other.   

Without wanting to trivialise this discussion it doesn't give me much confidence in the human race's ability to combat even more serious global threats including climate change. 

if the whole world got together in the U.N. and made collective decisions regarding travel, school closures, sporting events etc we could all be suffering the same economic impact equally.  There is enough wealth in the world to ensure that collectively those suffering the least impact could easily provide economic aid to those who suffer the most.  

I'm not looking forward to the headlines when the virus starts doing its worst in third world countries whose resources are extremely limited.  In the end we are all human and we should face this threat together.

If we just continue to act as individual countries we risk even those who are successful at combatting the virus being reinfected later by those who for whatever reason have been unsuccessful.

 

[northwestsnow]

Although in my mid 40s myself i have both parents to consider , they are both in their 70s.

I have decided to stay away from my precious mum and dads  until this has passed, which may well be a few months- i have also instructed my teenage son to steer clearand my brothers young children are also now prevened  from visiting their grandparents ..

Its not easy for my brother as his children are still young and do not understand are exhibiting anxiety now for their nanna and grandad.

I am also now taking responsibilty for my parents shopping, i have asked them to refrain from leaving the house for anything other than an emergency.Although i find myself in a higher risk category i would give up my life for them (probably sounds dramatic) so i am prepared to go to the supermarket so they are not in harms way.

Am i doing the right thing i keep asking myself...

[booferking]

Some amount of celebrities (ie athletes) with it in last 24hrs makes you wonder if there front of the cue for testing are getting it done private.

Normal man bottom of the pile.

Edited March 13, 2020 by booferking

[Weather-history]

A big Australian poltiical figure, Peter Dutton has tested positive

 

[kold weather]

1 minute ago, booferking said:

Some amount of celebrities (ie athletes) with it in last 24hrs makes you wonder if there front of the cue for testing are getting it done private.

They highly likely do have some priority, especially given they are likely to have very active social lives and have a huge chance of being super spreaders.

Offical cases may not matter as much now, however I will continie to report them.

Austria offically up 67 overnight. Panama up 13, may not sound like much, but they have a very weak medical service.

[Weather-history]

 

[northwestsnow]

I will tell you this much - for the misery, suffering and death this plague is unleashing on the world the world needs answers to where,why and when this catastrophe happened.

This is potentially more costly in terms of death than Chernobyl in 1986

[nick sussex]

2 minutes ago, northwestsnow said:

Although in my mid 40s myself i have both parents to consider , they are both in their 70s.

I have decided to stay away from my precious mum and dads  until this has passed, which may well be a few months- i have also instructed my teenage son to steer clearand my brothers young children are also now prevened  from visiting their grandparents ..

Its not easy for my brother as his children are still young and do not understand are exhibiting anxiety now for their nanna and grandad.

I am also now taking responsibilty for my parents shopping, i have asked them to refrain from leaving the house for anything other than an emergency.Although i find myself in a higher risk category i would give up my life for them (probably sounds dramatic) so i am prepared to go to the supermarket so they are not in harms way.

Am i doing the right thing i keep asking myself...

There’s no definite right or wrong thing . You’re trying to take a measure of control over the situation. You can’t completely remove the risk for them but are doing something to lower that . If your parents are happy to stay at home then I see no problem with what you’re doing . But you have to also let them decide what they feel comfortable with , they might feel that not seeing the children and grandkids is too high a price to pay . Sit down with them and talk this over  , explain clearly the risks and let them make the final decision.  If they decide to keep life as normal then that’s out of your control and you’d need to respect that . It maybe that they  might find a middle ground solution more acceptable , where they see the family but apart from that stay home and you do the shopping.  

[mountain shadow]

13 minutes ago, booferking said:

Some amount of celebrities (ie athletes) with it in last 24hrs makes you wonder if there front of the cue for testing are getting it done private.

Normal man bottom of the pile.

I'm three days into my cold like symptoms and have no idea how to get tested or whether anyone would want to test me.

Whilst I am in a low risk area I have an 87 year old man living with me and could infect him.

[Sky Full]

21 minutes ago, Dami said:

I am not going to lie. I am trying not to get worried. My husband suffers with a bad chest at times and has frequent colds, I have had to taken him to A&E on one occasion with it. My Daughters school will have more than enough 'It's just a cold' and dump their children to school regardless. That's not their fault, of course people need money and the school is very much 'take calpol' and we're ring you if we are worried. All they care about is attendance. I am cleaning everything.

The only saving grace is that Bedford hasn't had a recorded case, yet. 

BTW as a parent, and with no real knowledge of this virus, i wouldn't allow my child to be made sick. sorry.

 

I sympathise - I too always suffer from severe bronchitis every time I get a cold.  I believe that I am in a higher risk category and do not want to catch it.  I sincerely hope your family can avoid any infection until a vaccine is available.  

I absolutely understand that parents will not allow their children to be put at risk and I wouldn't expect them to.   The proposal only works if it can be absolutely proven beyond any doubt that children don't die from it.  So I don't think we're ready for such a drastic policy yet.....

[kold weather]

9 minutes ago, northwestsnow said:

I will tell you this much - for the misery, suffering and death this plague is unleashing on the world the world needs answers to where,why and when this catastrophe happened.

This is potentially more costly in terms of death than Chernobyl in 1986

So Swine Flu had an estimated 280,000 deaths worldwide over a roughly 18 month period. Hong Kong Influenza had 1 million, and Spanish Flu is kinda hard to estimate anywhere from 17 upto 50 million deaths.

So that gives an idea of the range that is possible, and we likely blow through the Swine Flu figure.

Interesting Patrick Vallance on LBC - it is impossible to self isolate like Italy is trying. That confirm what we all thought about the fact they think its game over for trying to stop it.

Edited March 13, 2020 by kold weather

[booferking]

Just now, mountain shadow said:

I'm three days into my cold like symptoms and have no idea how to get tested or whether anyone would want to test me.

Whilst I am in a low risk area I have an 87 year old man living with me and could infect him.

Not good stay safe I'm afraid it's not what you know but who you know @mountain shadow unfortunately.

[kold weather]

3 minutes ago, mountain shadow said:

I'm three days into my cold like symptoms and have no idea how to get tested or whether anyone would want to test me.

Whilst I am in a low risk area I have an 87 year old man living with me and could infect him.

I know they want to limit 111 calls, however this maybe this is one of those cases where it'd be wise to get some outside professional advice.

[Yarmy]

Don't know if this has already been posted, but it's astonishing: $1331 for a test!

She essentially shames him into agreeing to provide the tests free.

[kold weather]

St Patrick days parade in London has been cancelled, so thats another event thats gone.

I think regardless of what the government said about big events, they are falling by the wayside.

[feb1991blizzard]

31 minutes ago, pip22 said:

Sky News Breaking

@SkyNewsBreak·3m

Sir Patrick Vallance says at least 60% of the population needs to contract COVID-19 in order to develop "herd immunity" to prevent further transmission in the future

So what are they saying now - if they are saying its good 60% catch it for future, might we all just forget this isolating stuff and carry on with sport as normal - don't agree with doing that by the way as i don't want to die and dont want my 84 year old dad with heart and breathing problems to die either, just throwing it out there - surely there will be a vaccine eventually so the less lives lost the better now.

[kold weather]

2 minutes ago, feb1991blizzard said:

So what are they saying now - if they are saying its good 60% catch it for future, might we all just forget this isolating stuff and carry on with sport as normal - don't agree with doing that by the way as i don't want to die and dont want my 84 year old dad with heart and breathing problems to die either, just throwing it out there - surely there will be a vaccine eventually so the less lives lost the better now.

The thing is if we carry on as normal there is a fair shot many of the older generation at risk will catch it as well, and that is the situation we are trying to avoid as that is what will destroy our NHS capacity and lead to an Italy situation within weeks, and maybe much worse.

[Relativistic]

5 hours ago, Donegal said:

And those children go home and infect their elderly relatives. 

Are they not less likely to though if they're in school only mixing with themselves?

[kold weather]

3 minutes ago, Relativistic said:

Are they not less likely to though if they're in school only mixing with themselves?

As I said to others last night.

What about the easter holiday? Surely the same situation will happen with the easter holiday. Do schools shut then after? As that seems to be the strongest logic to not shut schools.

Should we cancel the easter holidays to prevent grandchildren from coming into contact with the elderly? Not easy to call!

Edited March 13, 2020 by kold weather

[alexisj9]

23 minutes ago, northwestsnow said:

I will tell you this much - for the misery, suffering and death this plague is unleashing on the world the world needs answers to where,why and when this catastrophe happened.

This is potentially more costly in terms of death than Chernobyl in 1986

Nature restoring balance is the probable cause, I'm not looking for anyone to blame. 

[Relativistic]

9 minutes ago, kold weather said:

As I said to others last night.

What about the easter holiday? Surely the same situation will happen with the easter holiday. Do schools shut then after? As that seems to be the strongest logic to not shut schools.

Should we cancel the easter holidays to prevent grandchildren from coming into contact with the elderly? Not easy to call!

Or they isolate at home - neither option will go down well with the kids but one has to be done!

[kold weather]

Madrid confirmed to have about 2,000 cases officially. Looks like that has developed into quite a strong cluster and likely will have seeded other cities through travel from there.

[nick sussex]

14 minutes ago, kold weather said:

As I said to others last night.

What about the easter holiday? Surely the same situation will happen with the easter holiday. Do schools shut then after? As that seems to be the strongest logic to not shut schools.

Should we cancel the easter holidays to prevent grandchildren from coming into contact with the elderly? Not easy to call!

The government position doesn’t make much sense when looked at from that issue over Easter holidays . Why is it okay to dump the kids on the grandparents during that period but not now.

Edited March 13, 2020 by nick sussex

[kold weather]

2 minutes ago, Relativistic said:

Or they isolate at home - neither option will go down well with the kids but one has to be done!

Isolate with who though? Obviously older kids can do that, but younger kids? Would that suggest that a vast group of workers having to go off work anyway to ensure they are looked after, as many would use grandparents for at least some of that time to ensure they can still work. I do see the logic in what they said, i just think in reality its going to be next to impossible for people to execute on a wide enough level.

Really not an easy call is it!

Edited March 13, 2020 by kold weather