The big Coronavirus thread

Doubtless this won't work, knowing the tendency for discussion to fragment across different threads, but it would make sense to have a dedicated thread.
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Comments

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,218
    edited March 2020
    I'm sure most of you have seen this now but this dashboard is quite clear:

    https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

    Most notable is the spread between confirmed infections and deaths between Italy and Korea



  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    No cases recorded anywhere near us yet (the rumour mill had the first Scottish case clocked as a shopkeeper in Dundee but that doesn't seem likely to be true).

    So far at school we've had:
    (Monday) the first kid being kept off school to keep him safe. Not a kid with underlying health issues as far as we know.
    (Tuesday) the first kid clocked wearing a face mask to school.
    (Every day) no practical plans or instructions at all. Well, apart from "wash your hands".

    Now Dr Bomp is medical and so she has more useful stuff to say than most. FTR, on the complacency-panic spectrum she would recommend being a bit closer to the panic end :| .

    There are reports that the government is considering deploying medical and nursing students as extra manpower. So there must be a plan for the most effective use of the existing medical workforce, right?

    Well, if there is, no-one's actually told the workforce. No advice on what to do at their regular work, no indication of if or when people might be redeployed.

    In short, we keep on hearing about how "well-prepared" the NHS is, but nobody seems to have any clear idea of exactly what these preparations are.

    We are currently on the same trajectory as Italy: if we keep on it, the NHS will be overwhelmed in about two weeks' time.

    Overwhelmed meaning not enough ventilators for seriously ill patients. In Italy (have you noticed how little "citizen journalism" is coming out of Italian hospitals?) triage is simply that older patients are routinely being given oxygen and left to die, or if they're very lucky, recover by themselves.


    So at home we have actually got a plan for what to do if Dr Bomp is exposed at work, bearing in mind that I am in a high risk group: over 50, Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy & consequent high blood pressure. Basically - we reckon we can live isolated lives at home for as long as necessary.

    Keep calm and wash your hands people! ;)
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    I still don't understand where they get the figures from on how many cases we have. From what I can tell, if you have symptoms but haven't travelled abroad or been in contact with a known case then the advice seems to be just stay home but no-one will ever know if it is Covid-19 or the flu / a cold. I had a cold a couple of weeks back that had it come on now I wouldn't know what it was as I had all the Covid symptoms (albeit plus a blocked nose).
  • focuszing723
    focuszing723 Posts: 7,193
    Pross said:

    I still don't understand where they get the figures from on how many cases we have. From what I can tell, if you have symptoms but haven't travelled abroad or been in contact with a known case then the advice seems to be just stay home but no-one will ever know if it is Covid-19 or the flu / a cold. I had a cold a couple of weeks back that had it come on now I wouldn't know what it was as I had all the Covid symptoms (albeit plus a blocked nose).

    Yes, very true, also the fact that adolescence don't seem to show symptoms.

    The "Diamond Princess" example gives a good snapshot to me and perspective. 696 infected and 7 people died, bear in mind too that the passengers would have been more elderly.
  • Tashman
    Tashman Posts: 3,398
    I imagine that virologists are watching on with curious excitement. How often do they get to truly study a viral contagion from ground zero.
  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    Also, the stats show that the number of recovered cases in the UK has remained at 18 for over a week now, which makes me wonder what lag there is in recording recovered cases.

  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    Pross said:

    I still don't understand where they get the figures from on how many cases we have. From what I can tell, if you have symptoms but haven't travelled abroad or been in contact with a known case then the advice seems to be just stay home but no-one will ever know if it is Covid-19 or the flu / a cold. I had a cold a couple of weeks back that had it come on now I wouldn't know what it was as I had all the Covid symptoms (albeit plus a blocked nose).


    From the anecdotal snippets I've heard, the NHS helplines etc are going through a triage process which filters the vast majority out, and then only those that tick all the boxes are being sent for screening. And of those being tested, it is less than 2% that come back with a positive result, which shows just how many people there are with your typical winter coughs and colds etc
  • mugensi
    mugensi Posts: 559
    edited March 2020
    I'm in Ireland and there is quite a bit of panic here about it however there is an equal amount of disbelief in BoJo's plan of action which seems to amount to 'Look, we're going to get this, a lot of people will die, so just get on with it and ride the storm'

    There is a huge amount of travel between Ireland and the UK and if the UK goes in the same direction as Italy then we are going to suffer because of that and despite the steps that are being taken here to combat it.
  • coopster_the_1st
    coopster_the_1st Posts: 5,158
    edited March 2020
    Only 9 posts before we get the fake news that the UK is not doing anything and just letting it spread
  • surrey_commuter
    surrey_commuter Posts: 18,864
    The UK Govt is balancing public health priorities with economic priorities. If the people of Ireland disagree with this trade off then they need to pressure their own Govt to prioritise public health.
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,873
    mugensi said:

    I'm in Ireland and there is quite a bit of panic here about it however there is an equal amount of disbelief in BoJo's plan of action which seems to amount to 'Look, we're going to get this, a lot of people will die, so just get on with it and ride the storm'

    There is a huge amount of travel between Ireland and the UK and if the UK goes in the same direction as Italy then we are going to suffer because of that and despite the steps that are being taken here to combat it.

    There will be 20-30,000 Irish at Cheltenham this week I guess, so what will the Irish Government do on their return?
  • Longshot
    Longshot Posts: 940
    mugensi said:

    BoJo's plan of action which seems to amount to 'Look, we're going to get this, a lot of people will die, so just get on with it and ride the storm'

    Actually I find that quite refreshingly honest for Boris.
    You can fool some of the people all of the time. Concentrate on those people.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,718
    mugensi said:

    I'm in Ireland and there is quite a bit of panic here about it however there is an equal amount of disbelief in BoJo's plan of action which seems to amount to 'Look, we're going to get this, a lot of people will die, so just get on with it and ride the storm'

    There is a huge amount of travel between Ireland and the UK and if the UK goes in the same direction as Italy then we are going to suffer because of that and despite the steps that are being taken here to combat it.

    Something else for them to blame the Brits for though, so a silver lining for them.

    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,878
    This is good.

    image
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    Switzerland arent testing anyone young or with no underlying health conditions apparently. If you have any slightly 'ill' feelings self isolate for 2 days after the symptoms have disappeared...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,878
    edited March 2020
    mugensi said:

    I'm in Ireland and there is quite a bit of panic here about it however there is an equal amount of disbelief in BoJo's plan of action which seems to amount to 'Look, we're going to get this, a lot of people will die, so just get on with it and ride the storm'

    There is a huge amount of travel between Ireland and the UK and if the UK goes in the same direction as Italy then we are going to suffer because of that and despite the steps that are being taken here to combat it.


    This originates from a viral Tweet editing an interview with the PM, which deliberately changes the meaning of what he said


    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207

    The UK Govt is balancing public health priorities with economic priorities. If the people of Ireland disagree with this trade off then they need to pressure their own Govt to prioritise public health.

    It feels like a pragmatic and sensible approach to me.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,507
    The most upvoted thread on Reddit Ireland is one about the lack of an independence day (can't have it with partial independence etc.) There are also plenty of less popular threads on corona, but not even there has someone managed to blame it on British [yet].
  • surrey_commuter
    surrey_commuter Posts: 18,864
    Pross said:

    The UK Govt is balancing public health priorities with economic priorities. If the people of Ireland disagree with this trade off then they need to pressure their own Govt to prioritise public health.

    It feels like a pragmatic and sensible approach to me.
    I would tend to agree with you but do feel that not shutting schools is a big mistake. I saw some other research from the Spanish Flu outbreak that echoed the graph above.
  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078

    Pross said:

    The UK Govt is balancing public health priorities with economic priorities. If the people of Ireland disagree with this trade off then they need to pressure their own Govt to prioritise public health.

    It feels like a pragmatic and sensible approach to me.
    I would tend to agree with you but do feel that not shutting schools is a big mistake. I saw some other research from the Spanish Flu outbreak that echoed the graph above.
    The problem with shutting schools means that inevitably that parents will need to take time off work to look after their children - lowering productivity and the debate about who pays for the leave or whether its unpaid.
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,507

    Pross said:

    The UK Govt is balancing public health priorities with economic priorities. If the people of Ireland disagree with this trade off then they need to pressure their own Govt to prioritise public health.

    It feels like a pragmatic and sensible approach to me.
    I would tend to agree with you but do feel that not shutting schools is a big mistake. I saw some other research from the Spanish Flu outbreak that echoed the graph above.
    The problem is that it is not known whether children don't get the virus or whether they simply have very minor cases, but are spreaders nonetheless. If it is latter then the real danger is that the parents keep on working and all high risk grandparents look after the spreaders.

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    What happens in places where there have been strict quarantines when people are actually allowed to restart normal life? Surely there's a risk that the virus is still around and will simply spread at that point? That's why, to my untrained brain, it feels like just getting on with it and accepting the inevitable with plans in place for dealing with it seems logical.

    I also feel like we've had a fair few 'cry wolf' situations over the last 15-20 years with new strains of flu, SARS etc. that never seemed to actually affect the UK in the end and maybe as a result it took us a while to start taking this virus seriously.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,123
    Pross said:

    What happens in places where there have been strict quarantines when people are actually allowed to restart normal life? Surely there's a risk that the virus is still around and will simply spread at that point? That's why, to my untrained brain, it feels like just getting on with it and accepting the inevitable with plans in place for dealing with it seems logical.

    This is what "flattening the curve" is all about. If there are 15% of cases requiring hospitalisation, then spreading that number out over the longest possible time allows them (and anyone else who also needs hospital treatment) to get the treatment they require. If all 15% of the people who are going to need hospital treatment need it at the same time, there aren't enough beds, and the system is overwhelmed.

    "Getting on with it and accepting the inevitable" is people dying who don't need to.
  • surrey_commuter
    surrey_commuter Posts: 18,864
    Pross said:

    What happens in places where there have been strict quarantines when people are actually allowed to restart normal life? Surely there's a risk that the virus is still around and will simply spread at that point? That's why, to my untrained brain, it feels like just getting on with it and accepting the inevitable with plans in place for dealing with it seems logical.

    I also feel like we've had a fair few 'cry wolf' situations over the last 15-20 years with new strains of flu, SARS etc. that never seemed to actually affect the UK in the end and maybe as a result it took us a while to start taking this virus seriously.

    Another thought is that they are trying to manage the speed of spread so the NHS is not overwhelmed

  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078

    Pross said:

    What happens in places where there have been strict quarantines when people are actually allowed to restart normal life? Surely there's a risk that the virus is still around and will simply spread at that point? That's why, to my untrained brain, it feels like just getting on with it and accepting the inevitable with plans in place for dealing with it seems logical.

    I also feel like we've had a fair few 'cry wolf' situations over the last 15-20 years with new strains of flu, SARS etc. that never seemed to actually affect the UK in the end and maybe as a result it took us a while to start taking this virus seriously.

    Another thought is that they are trying to manage the speed of spread so the NHS is not overwhelmed

    Not to mention hoping that we can delay the spread until the Spring / warmer weather when there should be less pressure on the NHS from regular seasonal colds and flu.
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    In other news, nearly 40,000 will die in the UK from road accidents and vehicle emissions.
    Although this will reduce if we are all at home so perhaps the virus will save more lives than it takes.
  • Longshot
    Longshot Posts: 940
    edited March 2020

    In other news, nearly 40,000 will die in the UK from road accidents and vehicle emissions.
    Although this will reduce if we are all at home so perhaps the virus will save more lives than it takes.


    Sadly, the reduction in RTA deaths will be outweighed by the number of domestic argument related deaths.
    You can fool some of the people all of the time. Concentrate on those people.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,507

    In other news, nearly 40,000 will die in the UK from road accidents and vehicle emissions.
    Although this will reduce if we are all at home so perhaps the virus will save more lives than it takes.

    Google doesn't support that figure even if it was relevant.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,149
    edited March 2020
    Interesting and a bit concerning in terms of how many more there may well be over and above the official figures.

    I started avoiding public transport as of today and will now consider staying away from the office after this week. Better safe than sorry.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]