COVID-19 Pandemic

[The PIT]

5 minutes ago, kold weather said:

There is a certainly a difference in methodology going on here.

Unis closing seems like they've had enough and are going to close regardless...however to be fair 18 year olds really should have some idea how to look after themselves if parents need to self isolate, so that shouldn't cause problems for the plan.

Agreed.

The Italian situation shows what happens when you dilly and dally.

Yesterdays announcement would have made more sense if they told people who are off high risk or are carers in work to stay off work and avoid contact as much as possible. These people will mor elikely die than get immunity and would end up clogging the hospitals. A sick carer would also mean the person would most likely have to go into hospital.

[Cheshire Freeze]

Just now, SnowBear said:

I am intrigued. Other countries are going into forced lock down and closures ... Here, we are beginning to see voluntary lock downs and closures. Unis closing, museums closing, sports fixtures being postponed, London Marathon postponed etc. 

I have a feeling behavioural wise a voluntary action is better than a forced and thus means we begin to watch out for each other, not  being led or told, but we all become safer as we voluntarily begin to protect the vulnerable etc. 

I guess there's a sense of 'if the government won't protect us, we'll take matters into our own hands'

His 'many loved ones will die' speech yesterday appears to have turned the screw for a lot of people.

[Relativistic]

20 minutes ago, nick sussex said:

Time will tell . 

They’ve made the decision and have to own the consequences. If it works out they deserve plaudits if not they deserve to be severely criticized.

At the same time, some governments have to try different tactics. How will we ever learn which strategy is best when such a situation as this inevitably recurs if every country tries exactly the same thing?

Edited March 13, 2020 by Relativistic

[Zak M]

 

[Astral Goat Juice]

1 minute ago, CreweCold said:

I guess there's a sense of 'if the government won't protect us, we'll take matters into our own hands'

His 'many loved ones will die' speech yesterday appears to have turned the screw for a lot of people.

I thought his speech was perfectly fine, as was the ones from the medical experts. He was pretty upfront, no sugar coating, and basically said, the Government is doing what it believes is right, and now its on us, the people to do the same and not have people stand there like zombies waiting for instruction. 

[Methuselah]

5 minutes ago, CreweCold said:

I guess there's a sense of 'if the government won't protect us, we'll take matters into our own hands'

His 'many loved ones will die' speech yesterday appears to have turned the screw for a lot of people.

Well some folks' screws seem to be in dire need of some turning right now. And turning a lot!

Edited March 13, 2020 by General Cluster

[Stabilo19]

3 minutes ago, CreweCold said:

I guess there's a sense of 'if the government won't protect us, we'll take matters into our own hands'

His 'many loved ones will die' speech yesterday appears to have turned the screw for a lot of people.

There seems to be a growing defiance of the official UK policy. I'm pretty shocked that this has happened so quickly. 

[Frost HoIIow]

7 minutes ago, Snowycat said:

Whilst I really do admire your view of the human race, I can’t help but wonder, given the possible source of this virus outbreak, whether the human race can sometimes be rather stupid at times.  I guess the scientific post mortem on the source of the viral outbreak will reveal all.....  

I don't think we'll ever know for sure. Some say it started with an animal at the market, some say it accidentally leaked from a lab in Wuhan, some say it was planted in Wuhan by the US because they knew about the lab there - basically a convenient placement to unleash it & drop the world population starting with China. I'm not sure what to believe only that I hope the bloody thing goes away soon so we can get back to some kind of normality as it's getting it's hooks in most things we do & enjoy.

[Snipper]

4 minutes ago, Zak M said:

 

I have always liked being the centre of attention

 

 

Edited March 13, 2020 by Snipper

[alexisj9]

1 hour ago, Donegal said:

So if the UK is following the HERD Immunity strategy what's going to happen when your hospitals are inundated and your ICU units are usually at 80% capacity and if 2% of your population were infected at the same time and 1% of those needed icu you would already be grossly grossly unable to deal with it. Personally I think it's a shocking strategy and Italy on steroids awaits. 

Don't we know it, my husband is ill, and he has copd, hoping it is not covid 19

[AderynCoch]

5 hours ago, AderynCoch said:

Cases in Slovakia more than doubled yesterday (an increase of 11 to 21). Apparently all border crossings have been closed today. I live very close to the Austrian border where there's a cycle bridge. I'll have to check it out later (I was there yesterday and it was business as usual).

They weren't lying:

That's part of the old Iron Curtain by the way.

Just found out that I'll have to work from home (I teach on-site) for the next two weeks at least. Supermarkets here aren't at panic levels just yet but I expect that to change very quickly. The pandemic is still at an early stage for Slovakia (first confirmed case was a week ago) so the situation will surely worsen for some time yet. 

[Summer Sun]

All markets bar the FTSE 250 have recovered today in the UK, Europe and live trading in the USA after losing billions during the week over coronavirus

[kold weather]

5 minutes ago, Astral Goat Juice said:

I thought his speech was perfectly fine, as was the ones from the medical experts. He was pretty upfront, no sugar coating, and basically said, the Government is doing what it believes is right, and now its on us, the people to do the same and not have people stand there like zombies waiting for instruction. 

He did a grand job yesterday, they all did. I don't agree with all of the contents, but I won't complain about how they presented it all. Also he was brutally honest about the loved ones part, that did hit home...and he is totally right, probably in a best case scenario we are about to lose multiple thousands loved ones in the next few months.

[Guest Delete Me]

Inside Lombaria hospitals, 2:16 shows patients in a warehouse type room on makeshift beds

 

 

[Stabilo19]

 

[bobbarley]

9 minutes ago, Relativistic said:

At the same time, some governments have to try different tactics. How will we ever learn which strategy is best when such a situation as this inevitably recurs if every country tries exactly the same thing?

That’s the problem, it’s a global pandemic so requires a global solution or at the very least a regional one. If all other countries are trying to contain the spread then it won’t work when uk is only managing it as they will spread infection to all other countries.

 

unless the Uk is put in quarantine!

[nick sussex]

The UK travel industry is in big trouble .

Travel insurers are stopping the sale of new policies . Which means if you’re traveling outside of the EU  and EEA you’ll be doing that without any form of health cover .

Ironically the current epicenter for the virus is the only place where you will be covered thanks to the EHIC .

 

[feb1991blizzard]

1 minute ago, bobbarley said:

That’s the problem, it’s a global pandemic so requires a global solution or at the very least a regional one. If all other countries are trying to contain the spread then it won’t work when uk is only managing it as they will spread infection to all other countries.

 

unless the Uk is put in quarantine!

Up to other countries to ban us from travelling there then isn't it.

[Wiltshire_snow_lover]

 

[emax]

1 minute ago, bobbarley said:

That’s the problem, it’s a global pandemic so requires a global solution or at the very least a regional one. If all other countries are trying to contain the spread then it won’t work when uk is only managing it as they will spread infection to all other countries.

 

unless the Uk is put in quarantine!

This cannot be contained indefinitely. Its either get herd immunity as quick as possible at the least damaging time, or quarantine every person on the planet! 

[Guest Delete Me]

Some bits that may have been missed

• Greece announce the closing of malls cafes museums food outlets etc. to prevent the wider spread of corona virus
• IndyCar cancels opener; all races through April also canceled
• Vienna prepares exhibition hall for 880 sickbeds
• LEC (League of Legends European Championship) has been cancelled until further notice to protect staff, press, fans, and players alike.
• Portugal reports 34 new cases bringing total to 112
• 3,600+ cases in Germany (852 new cases so far today)

[northwestsnow]

A doctor has described the last moments of coronavirus patients, saying they remain lucid until the end and ask to talk to their loved ones by phone as they realise they are dying.

Doctor Francesca Cortellaro, from the San Carlo Borromeo hospital in Milan, is one of many medical staff in Italy to speak candidly about their struggle with coronavirus.

Many have shared harrowing tales and photos of exhausting shifts - and of the toll the battle is taking. One has likened the virus to an earthquake.

Dr Cortellaro told Italian newspaper Il Giornale: "You know what's most dramatic? Seeing patients dying alone, listening to them as they beg you to say goodbye to their children and grandchildren."

Dr Cortellaro went on to say how coronavirus patients arrive on their own, and "when they are about to die, they sense it".

"They are lucid, they do not go into narcolepsy. It is as if they were drowning, but with time to understand it," he said.

The vast majority of cases are in the northern Lombardy region, where Bergamo is located.

A doctor in the town's Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital, Roberto Cosentini, has likened Lombardy to the "epicentre of a never-ending earthquake".

He told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that the majority of patients arrive at the hospital in the afternoon, and are often in such bad condition they need to be intubated or attached to a ventilator right away.

God help Italy..

This is from sky news

[Bristawl Si]

Unis acting unilaterally is fraught with danger.

Suddenly they're letting out 000s of students from a relatively contained environ, and local to that locale, into an early-back-home environ which is scattered all over the UK.

"Ooh, Tristan is coming home early, do you all (grandparents, brother, sister, young nieces and nephews) want to come around for Sunday lunch. Yes, we'll be crammed into the dining room, but we can all enjoy each other's company early"...."so excited!"

[kold weather]

By the way, I did some back of hand maths earlier of BEST case scenario (broadly based on something like South Korea but on a far larger scale) IF we were to get to 20% of the country infected within the peak 4 week period as the advisers have said is possible.

Those figures were that total numbers of beds required for week 3/4 would be somewhere in the 300,000 range. (not all would need to be ICU though, I talking general beds and this DOES INCLUDE other cases such as strokes, heart attacks, etc.) this is 3X current capacity. 

The logic of the government is try to create herd immunity and to do it whilst the NHS can best cope, which is the late Spring and summer. The other tactic is we can lockdown, lift it up and then have another large outbreak next winter at the same time as a normal flu outbreak which would obviously be even worse.

We are doing this because to quote the advisor, it is "impossible" to lock this virus down now as it is so widespread in so many countries. Even if you can get rid of it in one country, your highly likely in the autumn to reimport it again or just naturally flare up, and that would be at a far worse point of the year. 

So we get 1 big hit, the rest of the world has several large hits at various points, and lockdown over and over again...whereas we won't have anywhere near as much pressure on the system having dealt with a large chunk of it. 

Makes for an interesting theory, I do worry though that Italy's example at a fraction of the estimated UK cases proves we may not cope anyway.

 

[Mr Frost]

Good read this - guy in his 50’s who travelled back to Scotland from Italy tested positive for Coronavirus. 

Nothing more than a bad cold for him - said he wanted to tell his story to reassure the public that the vast majority make a full recovery. 

What does it feel like to have coronavirus?

What does it feel like to have coronavirus?

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

---

One of Scotland's first Covid-19 cases describes what it is like to contract and recover from the infection.

I honestly think if you don’t have any underlying health issues you have absolutely nothing to worry about with regards to contracting the virus. 

The people currently with the underlying health issues should be the ones in quarantine - how do you go about that though? (Some will go about their daily routines as normal and you can’t really blame them)

Edited March 13, 2020 by Mr Frost