COVID-19 Pandemic

[Robbie Garrett]

Was explained why Paracetamol has run out in Boots today. Makes sense.   China produces the raw ingredients > India makes them > India exports them.    The first line has gone...

As Coronavirus Disrupts Factories, India Curbs Exports of Key Drugs - The New York Times

WWW.NYTIMES.COM

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The outbreak has hobbled Chinese factories that supply India’s vast drug industry with ingredients for antibiotics and vitamins, raising the prospect of global shortages.

 

[Summer Sun]

Trump has apparently tested negative for Corona

[Zak M]

3 minutes ago, Summer Sun said:

Trump has apparently tested negative for Corona

 

 

[Bristawl Si]

1 minute ago, Robbie Garrett said:

Was explained why Paracetamol has run out in Boots today. Makes sense.   China produces the raw ingredients > India makes them > India exports them.    The first line has gone...

As Coronavirus Disrupts Factories, India Curbs Exports of Key Drugs - The New York Times

WWW.NYTIMES.COM

---

The outbreak has hobbled Chinese factories that supply India’s vast drug industry with ingredients for antibiotics and vitamins, raising the prospect of global shortages.

 

My local Tesco express has been re-stocking paracetemol everyday since i first noticed early last week. There must've been 200 packets on shelf at 10 oclock this morn. Guess they're dripfeeding every day. With all this panic buying just wondering if some peeps are forgetting the smaller outlets and rushing to the large stores to have a panic?

[northwestsnow]

4 minutes ago, Summer Sun said:

Trump has apparently tested negative for Corona

Good, he is not my cup of tea but i wouldn't wish it on anyone.

[Summer Sun]

easyJet are cancelling all Spanish flights from Tuesday. Flights that operate Sunday and Monday will be to bring passengers home only.

Any outbound flights from UK airport's will be crew only to reposition. 

Virgin Atlantic are starting to put planes into storage as they axe routes and ground planes.

[Guest Delete Me]

Great to see, Italian air-force trying to keep spirits up

[nick sussex]

3 minutes ago, Summer Sun said:

Trump has apparently tested negative for Corona

I despise Trump but I’m glad he’s tested negative .

That way he can’t milk sympathy he doesn’t deserve. And he’s fit to be able to stand there and give more incoherent press conferences. We will also be spared non stop updates on the media .

[snefnug]

19 minutes ago, Saint coolio said:

That was the target. Couldn’t get pemmican or Tang . Apparently “booze and sweets” shop (or something) in Southampton has it, but I didn’t think it was *that* important

In our store cupboard (courtesy of our usual quarterly whole food collective), 3kg oats,  3kg white spelt flour, 2kg wholemeal spelt flour, dried chickpeas, red lentils, green lentils, brown lentils, basmati rice, arborio rice, wild rice, spelt pasta, tray of 12 canned tomato, tray of 6 coconut milk, butter beans,  4 litres olive oil, 3 litres cider vinegar, a veritable shitload of toilet roll.  Half pig coming to freezer Monday (ordered before c-19 outbreak).

my panic buying, 3 boxes red wine, 1 box white wine, cat food, tinned mackerel, tinned tuna.  
 

but, if my clients need any of this, and I can’t buy it from supermarket, then, my store is their store.  except the wine.....
 

Although, tbh, most of my clients have Super stocked  freezers of Wiltshire farmed foods, Tinned spam, corned beef, pilchards, fray bentos pies, canned soup, just from gradual accrual, cos they forgot they had them.  

 

Edited March 14, 2020 by snefnug

[Bristawl Si]

4 minutes ago, Summer Sun said:

easyJet are cancelling all Spanish flights from Tuesday. Flights that operate Sunday and Monday will be to bring passengers home only.

Any outbound flights from UK airport's will be crew only to reposition. 

Virgin Atlantic are starting to put planes into storage as they axe routes and ground planes.

Kind of relieved. Easyjet have made the decision for us. Oh well, 11 months planning down the drain.

[emax]

33 minutes ago, Bristle boy said:

I just want to add to my post. 

Anecdotal alert:

When my dad was admitted to hospital during his last days, nearly 2 years ago, he was immediately diagnosed with suspected pneumonia. When he was transferred to a ward, after about 12 hours in an A&E bed, the main doctor on the ward told us she would test him for influenza, because a number of his symptoms were clear signs of flu.

Later on the following day she confirmed he had influenza in his body. She was 99.9% sure his pneumonia was influenza-induced. She also told us it is routine testing to look for causes of pneumonia.

So, any patients admitted to hospital during the winter with pneumonia, for example, would have had further tests done to determine why the pneumonia; many would've been elderly. Those tests would've detected COVID-19, if present. 

There have been no reports of huge spike in deaths during the Winter months. If COVID-19 had been active it would've showed up and reported.

So, there is no way these coughs, talked about on SM, that happened in November, December or even January would've been COVID-19, otherwise it would've spread like wildfire much much earlier than now, and the elderly would've been dying in droves.

On this point though, are we sure they could of picked up COVID back in Dec/Jan/ early Feb? Why increase testing to hospitals patients now, if they routinely would of picked it up anyway?

My limited understanding (which may be wrong, so I'm happy to be corrected) is that dont they generally test for stuff they know about, but dont always pick up everything, particularly if its new? (ie blood tests for example are normally aimed at specific tests, rather than taking one sample and testing for every possible blood related problem etc)

 

Again, my stance on this is that its a minor minor chance, and just speculation, but I feel its something that cannot be completely ruled out.

[snefnug]

4 minutes ago, Bristle boy said:

Kind of relieved. Easyjet have made the decision for us. Oh well, 11 months planning down the drain.

And you get your refund.  Friend of mine cancelling flight to Rome  for rugby match told ‘well the plane is still flying’, so no ticket refund.  

[Snowy L]

 

[Summer Sun]

11 minutes ago, Bristle boy said:

Kind of relieved. Easyjet have made the decision for us. Oh well, 11 months planning down the drain.

easyJet currently plan to resume flights from the 29th though will be be subject to change

A correction to my post outbound flights from the UK today and tomorrow will have passengers onboard if they want to return home to Spain.

Edited March 15, 2020 by Summer Sun

[Bristawl Si]

2 minutes ago, snefnug said:

And you get your refund.  Friend of mine cancelling flight to Rome  for rugby match told ‘well the plane is still flying’, so no ticket refund.  

Yes. My main issue today, when the Jet2 news broke, was about the money we'd already paid for the apartment rental. So i called the owners and they were " dont worry, you can have your money back". We've privately rented off them for a few years now; they're so lovely. So, that's a relief. Fuerteventura is a place we love, and we've made friends there. It was kind of a holiday, but more of a "let's live there for 2 months" - gutted!!

[Guest Delete Me]

Benidorm lockdown, eerily quiet.

 

 

[Bristawl Si]

2 minutes ago, Summer Sun said:

easyJet currently plan to resume flights from the 29th though will be be subject to change

A correction to my post outbound flights from the UK today and tomorrow will have passengers onboard if they want to return home to Spain.

Hmm.....suspect that'll be moved back to be honest, SS. This blimin' virus aint gonna suddenly sulk off in 2 weeks time.

[Summer Sun]

Just now, Bristle boy said:

Hmm.....suspect that'll be moved back to be honest, SS. This blimin' virus aint gonna suddenly sulk off in 2 weeks time.

Same unfortunately.

A lot seem to be using dates around the 29th (not just airlines) give or take these are obviously very conservative I suspect and designed not to scare too much.

 

[Bristawl Si]

Just now, Summer Sun said:

Same unfortunately.

A lot seem to be using dates around the 29th (not just airlines) give or take these are obviously very conservative I suspect and designed not to scare too much.

 

I think it's more to entice people (like me) to accept different flight, only a few days on from orig flight date, rather than accept an immediate refund.

[emax]

1 minute ago, Snowy L said:

 

This is the sort of thing that will hopefully save at least some lives, and hopefully wont take too long to be used widely. 

Obviously you cant predict the future, and part of it is just hoping for the best, but, the medical and scientific world is completely different than it was in the early 1900's. The massive advances in these fields hopefully lends itself to a much greater chance of some obscure cure or care package. Just think of the thousands of labs and facilities around the world currently working to solve this, whether it be in the form of a longer term vaccine, or short term critical care treatment, our chances are much higher now than they ever have been. (thats my optimistic view at least)

Just an aside, but I still dont think there is anything the world could of done to prepare for anything like this, other than the obvious elephant in the room of China. The modern world of interconnected travel around the globe has obviously caused the rapid spread, but the same technological advancements will hopefully fix it eventually. 

[emax]

48 minutes ago, nick sussex said:

It really is everywhere ! One wonders just how many cases are really out there .

Bizarre how its always the wives lol, makes you wonder what they've been doing

[Norrance]

28 minutes ago, CatchMyDrift said:

There's also been an ongoing shortage of ibuprofen for many months, empty shelves have been common since October:

Tesco & Sainsburys have struggled for their own brand but the Co-op have always had their own brand in stock.

Heard that the French Government have warned that Ibuprofen type drugs can actually help the virus develop in the human body. Anyone heard this? Also various drugs for high blood pressure?  I take both unfortunately if true.

On another note our friends were at the  boarding gates at Edinburgh airport this morning when they heard that their flight to Lanzarote was cancelled. At least they weren't half way there.
 

[Guest Delete Me]

Ibuprofen and steroids have been found to aid corona virus so i would stay clear

[Bristawl Si]

4 minutes ago, Paul Faulkner said:

Ibuprofen and steroids have been found to aid corona virus so i would stay clear

Yes, apparently so. I only take paracetemol 'normally', but the only other regular drug i use is to control my migraines (only 3 or 4 per year), and that is migraleve, so i'll check the drug content later today.

[BornFromTheVoid]

58 minutes ago, Bristle boy said:

I just want to add to my post. 

Anecdotal alert:

When my dad was admitted to hospital during his last days, nearly 2 years ago, he was immediately diagnosed with suspected pneumonia. When he was transferred to a ward, after about 12 hours in an A&E bed, the main doctor on the ward told us she would test him for influenza, because a number of his symptoms were clear signs of flu.

Later on the following day she confirmed he had influenza in his body. She was 99.9% sure his pneumonia was influenza-induced. She also told us it is routine testing to look for causes of pneumonia.

So, any patients admitted to hospital during the winter with pneumonia, for example, would have had further tests done to determine why the pneumonia; many would've been elderly. Those tests would've detected COVID-19, if present. 

There have been no reports of huge spike in deaths during the Winter months. If COVID-19 had been active it would've showed up and reported.

So, there is no way these coughs, talked about on SM, that happened in November, December or even January would've been COVID-19, otherwise it would've spread like wildfire much much earlier than now, and the elderly would've been dying in droves.

My partner is a doctor, and worked in the local respiratory ward for much of the winter. And no, they would not have detected COVID-19 if it was present, nor would they have tested for it. Even now, COVID-19 tests are severely limited and only employed after certain criteria are met.  Regardless, the corona virus group is different to influenza. You can't detect COVID-19 by testing for the flu.

Still, I agree that COVID-19 was not prevalent before the new year. With how infectious it is, it would have quickly developed and spread, causing anomalous respiratory failures and other related issues.