Corona-virus - Impact of the Health Situation worldwide

[tractionman]

This sounds sensible advice being given in Belgium, to enable people there to get fresh air and exercise during the country's enforced 'lockdown'...

 

Quote

Outdoor exercise is "allowed and even recommended", the government says. Either go with a family member from the same household or with one friend, it advises. Family trips from the same home are allowed but social distancing must be maintained.

 

From https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-51939591

 

cheers,

 

Keith

 

 

[phil-b259]

31 minutes ago, Lantavian said:

 

That approach was pretty much demolished by Imperial College's COVID-19 response team report

 

https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2020/03/17/1584439125000/That-Imperial-coronavirus-report--in-detail-/

 

 

So all these lock downs are going to magically allow us to wipe out a virus that mutates rapidly are they?

 

What rot!

 

All the Imperial College team and others around the world are actually trying to do is to ensure health services don't buckle in the short term under pressure by applying various short term strategies to buy time.

 

That is NOT the same thing as trying to eradicate the virus completely - because thats NEVER going to happen in the same way that we have never been able to eradicate the Flu.

 

Coronavirus / Covid-19 in some form or other is here to stay and the sooner people wake up to that reality the better.

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by phil-b259

[phil-b259]

31 minutes ago, EddieB said:

 

Human society today consists of the descendants of those who avoided or survived previous flu epidemics.

 

The social cost of reaching our present state lies buried in the ground or incinerated.

 

 

And?

 

Thats life - survival of the fittest / evolution in action.

 

Science tells us that Humans are only the latest in a string of biological life forms to rise to dominance on this planet. At some point our position at the top of the chain will end. While Coronovirus is not going to be the thing that causes it, its quite possible that some other virus / bacteria could.

[phil-b259]

46 minutes ago, Lantavian said:

 

 

"Covid-19 is not the flu. It’s worse."

"It’s deadlier, more contagious, and more likely to severely disrupt our health care system."

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/13/21176735/covid-19-coronavirus-worse-than-flu-comparison

 

"No, Coronavirus Isn't 'Just Like The Flu'. Here Are The Very Important Differences"

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-new-coronavirus-isn-t-like-the-flu-but-they-have-one-big-thing-in-common

 

 

 

Sorry, the actual virus, when looked at under the microscope etc has the same structure and much of the same 'active ingredients' if you will of the Flu virus we already deal with every year! The traditional Flu virus itself is known for its ability to rapidly mutate - and the same is true of Coronavirus with at least 3 strains doing the rounds globally so far and no doubt more to come.

 

Do not confuse what might be good advice for the general public (i.e. designed to make it easy for them to know whether to self isolate) with what a through factual microbiology analysis of the virus has shown us thus far.

 

Remember that when this whole thing started, scientists wanted the public to NOT use the name 'Coronavirus' - because that actually refers to a whole group of viruses INCLUDING Influenza (and I think Polio). The experts wanted the public to use Covid-19, but as is the way of things sometimes the inappropriate name stuck.

 

Yes they symptoms and severity of the effects of Coronavirus are usually (but NOT ALWAYS) different to Flu. However the FUNDAMENTALS are the same when it comes to the way Coronavirus is able to infect human tissue etc, the proteins and chemical bends that make the virus, etc and why producing a vaccine is problematic compared to other viruses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Torper]

Schools in Scotland and Wales are to close on Friday, possibly until September.  England is expected to follow suit.  So we'll have loads of kids with nothing to do and nowhere to go, bored out of their minds for five or six months.

 

Madness.

 

DT

Edited March 18, 2020 by Torper

[phil-b259]

8 minutes ago, Torper said:

Schools in Scotland and Wales are to close on Friday, possibly until September.  England is expected to follow suit.  So we'll have loads of kids with nothing to do and nowhere to go, bored out of their minds for five or six months.

 

Madness.

 

DT

 

However if teachers are not coming in because they have been told to self isolate then what else do you expect?

 

Given class sizes are typically around 30 these days anyway, there simply isn't any slack for one teacher to manage two groups.

 

This is why the UK Government was reluctant to push ahead with lock-downs until the scientists said it absolutely had to happen - in contrast to some other counties reactions where lock downs were quickly put in place.

 

Be prepared for extra disruption in areas from Supermarkets (lots of the day staff tend to be mums) while the NHS is going to struggle even more with staff unable to come in for their shifts.

[rob D2]

Well that’s it for me - one month enforced grounding on 1/3 pay.

 

gatwick like a ghost town - various bits of terminals shut and staff laid off.

 

aircraft scattered all over doing nothing 

[Phil Bullock]

4 hours ago, Ashcombe said:

Hope these will amuse. 

 

Good to see this one isnt on the list....

 

 

[Gibbo675]

21 minutes ago, Torper said:

Schools in Scotland and Wales are to close on Friday, possibly until September.  England is expected to follow suit.  So we'll have loads of kids with nothing to do and nowhere to go, bored out of their minds for five or six months.

 

Madness.

 

DT

Hi Torper,

 

Seven months off, jammy blighters !

 

Nothing that good ever happened when I was forced to got to open prison school as a child, I left school in 1986 and haven't been at all bored since.

 

Gibbo.

[Gibbo675]

Just now, Phil Bullock said:

 

Good to see this one isnt on the list....

 

 

Hi Phil,

 

How about this one ?

 

 

For each a road
For every man a religion
Find everybody and rule
Everything and rumble
Forget everything and remember
For everything a reason
Forgive everybody and remember

 

For each a road
For every man a religion
Face everybody and rule
Everything and rumble
Forget everything and remember
For everything a reason

 

F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R.

 

Final eternity arouses reactions
Freeing excellence affects reality
Fallen empires are ruling
Find earth and reap

 

Fantastic expectations
Amazing revelations
Final execution and resurrection
Free expression as revolution
Finding everything and realizing

 

You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear

F.E.A.R. (you got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (you got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (you got the fear)
F.E.A.R.…

 

 

Gibbo.

[Phil Bullock]

1 hour ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Sorry, the actual virus, when looked at under the microscope etc has the same structure and much of the same 'active ingredients' if you will of the Flu virus we already deal with every year! The traditional Flu virus itself is known for its ability to rapidly mutate - and the same is true of Coronavirus with at least 3 strains doing the rounds globally so far and no doubt more to come.

 

Do not confuse what might be good advice for the general public (i.e. designed to make it easy for them to know whether to self isolate) with what a through factual microbiology analysis of the virus has shown us thus far.

 

Remember that when this whole thing started, scientists wanted the public to NOT use the name 'Coronavirus' - because that actually refers to a whole group of viruses INCLUDING Influenza (and I think Polio). The experts wanted the public to use Covid-19, but as is the way of things sometimes the inappropriate name stuck.

 

Yes they symptoms and severity of the effects of Coronavirus are usually (but NOT ALWAYS) different to Flu. However the FUNDAMENTALS are the same when it comes to the way Coronavirus is able to infect human tissue etc, the proteins and chemical bends that make the virus, etc and why producing a vaccine is problematic compared to other viruses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COVID - 19 is the disease - the causative infectious agent is 2019-nCoV (2019 novel Coronavirus). The interchangeable usage of the terms that the media have lapsed in to is unfortunate.

 

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext

[jonny777]

5 hours ago, Ashcombe said:

Hope these will amuse. 

 

 

I'm relieved not to see this on the list

 

 

[Reorte]

22 minutes ago, Gibbo675 said:

Hi Torper,

 

Seven months off, jammy blighters !

 

Nothing that good ever happened when I was forced to got to open prison school as a child, I left school in 1986 and haven't been at all bored since.

Months off when they'll be expected to sit at home doing nothing...

[Gibbo675]

Just now, Reorte said:

Months off when they'll be expected to sit at home doing nothing...

If they had toy train sets like we do.............

[Anglian]

I'll add some Beatles tracks

Please, please not me
Run for your life

Misery
From me to you

 

On a more positive note
I feel fine
 

[Metr0Land]

Dr Robert won't be getting any airtime for a while as he's rather busy

[Torper]

42 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

 

However if teachers are not coming in because they have been told to self isolate then what else do you expect?.........

Be prepared for extra disruption in areas from Supermarkets (lots of the day staff tend to be mums) while the NHS is going to struggle even more with staff unable to come in for their shifts.

 

What I expect is for something to be set up to entertain/keep occupied the tens of thousands of kids who are otherwise going to be left with nothing to do and nowhere to go (everything has been closed down) for the next five or six months.  It's also grossly unfair to those who have been studying for exams.  And while the day staff at supermarkets may well be mums, many of them can't afford to be off work and so their kids are likely to be left to their own devices or sent off to grandparents who are meant to be self isolating.  And the last thing we need is for the NHS to struggle more.  I was going to say this has been badly thought out but in fact it hasn't been thought out at all.

 

DT

Edited March 18, 2020 by Torper

[boxbrownie]

31 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

Well that’s it for me - one month enforced grounding on 1/3 pay.

 

gatwick like a ghost town - various bits of terminals shut and staff laid off.

 

aircraft scattered all over doing nothing 

Yep hitting everyone, our Son is presently an A&E Doctor at Redditch Hospital and been transferred to Covid-19 reactive wards, his kids and wife drove down to us before he went back to work after a weeks holiday at centre parks (now also shut down due to Covid-19)......they are safer with us self isolating than back at home when he comes home each day/night......they have erected a gazebo in the back garden so he can change and wash before going indoors, but even that might be not enough......so our grandchildren will not be with their Dad for the next three months at least, maybe a lot more.

 

Hard times for a lot of people now.

[Reorte]

3 minutes ago, Torper said:

 

What I expect is for something to be set up to entertain/keep occupied the tens of thousands of kids who are otherwise going to be left with nothing to do and nowhere to go (everything has been closed down) for the next five or six months.  It's also grossly unfair to those who have been studying for exams.  And while the day staff at supermarkets may well be mums, many of them can't afford to be off work and so their kids are likely to be left to their own devices or sent off to grandparents who are meant to be self isolating.  And the last thing we need is for the NHS to struggle more.  I was going to say this has been badly thought out but in fact it hasn't been thought out at all.

School was what was there keeping them occupied. If the schools have to close then I can't see any alternative faring any better, particularly if we want to keep children out of contact with each other like everyone else.

 

To be honest this social isolation business may be sustainable for a week or two, but months of it isn't. Even without the practical questions a hell of a lot of people are going to simply crack. Human beings are social creatures. Some but much less and people will be able to cope. None at all, no chance for a lot.

[phil-b259]

31 minutes ago, Torper said:

 

What I expect is for something to be set up to entertain/keep occupied the tens of thousands of kids who are otherwise going to be left with nothing to do and nowhere to go (everything has been closed down) for the next five or six months.  It's also grossly unfair to those who have been studying for exams.  And while the day staff at supermarkets may well be mums, many of them can't afford to be off work and so their kids are likely to be left to their own devices or sent off to grandparents who are meant to be self isolating.  And the last thing we need is for the NHS to struggle more.  I was going to say this has been badly thought out but in fact it hasn't been thought out at all.

 

DT

 

Hence why the Government has been holding off till now from that option in spite of the media pressure!

 

If you go back to the beginning you will find even some RMwebbers only too happy to moan about the fact schools are being kept open for as long as possible.

 

If however EXPERT SCIENTIFIC OPINION has changed then I 'expect' our Government to follow it - however inconvenient it may be.

 

As things stand the Education secretary, Prime Minster, heath secretary, etc are well aware of the difficulties that school closures will cause and strategies are being prepared to try and mitigate its effects. But given how moronic some of the UK population are at the moment it is entirely logical for the Government to decide the specifics behind closed door and not through the media.

 

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by phil-b259

[Ron Ron Ron]

It's hard for many to take it all in and it appears that the penny hasn't dropped for some people.

 

Spain and Germany are currently where Italy was about 5 or 6 days ago.

 

UK deaths now standing at over 100 and rising faster than in recent days.

Thankfully the confirmed infection rate isn't yet as high as France or Germany (taking into account the low level of testing in the UK).

 

With schools and nurseries in Scotland and Wales closing on Friday afternoon and N. Ireland from today, I think England will follow quickly (we'll find out very shortly).

On the current trajectory, the UK could be in compulsory lockdown by this time next week.

 

The first warning about funerals, just mentioned on the BBC TV News channel.

As currently happening in Italy, restrictions on holding normal funerals will be included in the UK emergency plans, to be applied if and when the number of deaths reach a certain level.

 

 

.

Edited March 18, 2020 by Ron Ron Ron

[melmerby]

Polio & Flu are not Corona viruses, they aren't even in the same virus family

It's like claiming a fish is another form of a sheep.

 

Polio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poliovirus

 

Coronavirus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus

 

Flu virus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthomyxoviridae

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by melmerby

[Joseph_Pestell]

27 minutes ago, Reorte said:

To be honest this social isolation business may be sustainable for a week or two, but months of it isn't. Even without the practical questions a hell of a lot of people are going to simply crack. Human beings are social creatures. Some but much less and people will be able to cope. None at all, no chance for a lot.

 

So right! I am on day 1 of 84 and feeling under intense stress already. Can't see any way of lasting through this. I would really rather take my chances with the virus but conscious of the potential added load that creates for NHS.

[Dunsignalling]

3 hours ago, jonny777 said:

This is the impact of the coronavirus in Israel. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51930681

That would be a lot more effective if they'd kept quiet about it. Anyone who wants to sneak out can just leave their mobile at home and nobody will be any the wiser.

 

John

[jcredfer]

15 minutes ago, Reorte said:

School was what was there keeping them occupied. If the schools have to close then I can't see any alternative faring any better, particularly if we want to keep children out of contact with each other like everyone else.

 

To be honest this social isolation business may be sustainable for a week or two, but months of it isn't. Even without the practical questions a hell of a lot of people are going to simply crack. Human beings are social creatures. Some but much less and people will be able to cope. None at all, no chance for a lot.

 

The schools were quite happy to keep teaching the children, particularly with the GCSE and A Levels approaching fast.   It isn't the intention to keep the children away from each other.  The reason they are having to send them home [A year group at a time initially, then the recent realisation that the whole school would eventually have to close.] isn't about the children, it's because some of the Staff have had indications and been told to isolate, plus a further number of Staff, who have someone at home with indications, so the family has to lock down.  School Staffing is already at a minimum, due to lack of sufficient funding which has worsened over many previous Government "efficiency" cuts moves.  Consequently, there aren't enough Staff to cover each batch of 30 children, when their teacher has to isolate.  It doesn't take many Staff to have to go, to have a dangerous number of children to have to supervise.

 

Julian