Corona-virus - Impact of the Health Situation worldwide

[sharris]

Can't claim originality for this - saw it on a Facebook article...

 

When the toilet paper runs out, wipe your bum with your fingers instead...

 

then you won't want to touch your face any more.

 

[gordon s]

9 hours ago, adb968008 said:

As soon as this started in January, I bought masks.

My wife thought I was mad, but ive been here, seen it before.

 

We bought gel a few weeks ago, and some basic medicals to last for a few days if we do get sick. (Nurofen etc) for the fever, tissues, lemsip and other usuals for a throat infection plus some other things recommended by the Wife's parents (who are both Doctors with 30+ years experience).

 

Last week we did the toilet roll shopping.

 

ive Turned it into a game / a competition with our child to try not to touch things you don't own, with your hands.. its fun not scary.

Weve started using gel etc.. its hard to get yourself into a new routine.. my weakness is touching my hair... but prepping now gives time to adjust if / when we reach that critical point.

 

I really don't like being ahead of the trend, but I have reacted to this all the way so far as Ive seen it first hand before, it is not always “just flu”.
 

Whilst theres no cure, and most will be mild, its still a lottery and it doesn't harm yourself to not prepare, have basics and change your lifestyle to protect yourself...

 

in 2003 I was blind sided, no supplies, not even aspirin..

if this becomes a big event, no one will protect you, not the NHS, not Boris, people are going to have to self manage for the most part, even some quite serious cases where you wake up, find you are bed ridden not wanting to drink, unable to go to the bathroom, delirious seeing images coming out of the walls, unable to lift your hands or even move a pillow, looking at a ceiling not caring, not sure if your asleep or awake, feeling dehydrated but not caring, peeing little amounts that are black, shivering one minute sweating profusely the next... i mean soaking wet pillows, that you just lie in because you cant be bothered. You can feel your heart beating like its going to come out of your chest, even your neck is beating. Later your not sure if your breathing at all. Not caring if a tv is on or not, only realising someone is in the room until theyve gone..Tissues.. i didn't need then a my nose was fine, but my throat was cardboard, occasionally coughed blood.  

I believe Chicken broth saved me.. warm or cold water, Ice all hurt my throat, so did coke. Chicken broth was very soothing, I think the fat lined my throat and gave me that inital energy to start moving again... thats my theory anyway. I went to the Dr’s but they found nothing, I went down as suspected SARS.
 

I recall an insane back ache and after getting back on my feet I felt great, though my chest hurt, initially quite hard, if I walked too far, which steadily improved over days, I had developed an insane appetite and oddly started liking olives for the first time, a legacy I enjoy today.

 

I was still in my Big hard untouchable 20’s at the time.

 

I was later told I was panting like a steam train... they had no idea the irony of my hobby interests. I thought I couldn't breathe at all... that was scary, but I strangely didn't care either.

 

Even my criteria above did not qualify to be able to go to the overcrowded hospital and needed to look after myself as I was told i’d probably recover.. 3 days later I did, but its given me respect for ”a cold” and to maintain some cleanliness at times like this.

 

if its unavoidable, so be it, i’d rather be more comfortable than I was last time. But if theres chance to avoid it for a few seconds effort and few quid expended.. i’ll take it. Selfishly I am hoping my past exposure might help my immunity this time.. ive certainy never had any cold like that since.. 

 

My fear is my wife and I being sick at the same time.. we have only 1 elderly family member in the UK, 250 miles away, who is really in the “at risk” group for this virus, to look after our daughter.. in a repeat of the event I went through above happening to both of us, i’ve not yet figured out what to do (suggestions please). But if the UK does start going “viral”, we may leave the country to the wifes parents ahead of this as theres a much bigger family on their side. Their opinion is if it takes off in the UK, the UK will be isolated from the world and they aren't sure they would be able come to help, despite being Doctors as travel restrictions generally affect all.

 

btw, wife’s parents advice to managing this... good sleep.. catching this when already fatigued really doesnt help.. thats their theory on why they think that 30 year old Dr died in Wuhan.

 

But what do I know.. i’m alarmist, it wont happen to me, it only affects old people, its just a cold, UK is prepared, were British,  it wont happen to me, it wont spread..

 

 
 

Well there was me as a ‘high risk’ candidate, keeping calm, chilling out and not over reacting...
 

Jeez, you’ve put the fear of God into me . If it’s going to be as bad as you make out, then I’ll go with the rest of mankind.....

 

Could be pretty lonely out there with no one to talk to, but at least you’ll have plenty of toilet rolls......

Edited March 7, 2020 by gordon s
One very apt misspelling......:-)

[Guest Lyonesse]

7 hours ago, adb968008 said:

I believe Chicken broth saved me..

 

 

My transatlantic relatives tell me that chicken noodle soup is known (admiringly) as Jewish penicillin.  My wife swears by its curative properties.

[Guest Lyonesse]

This thread started off with people worrying about supplies from China.  The good news, if the reports are to be believed, is that the situation there is starting to get back to normal and that most factories should be up and running again by the end of April.

[sharris]

2 hours ago, gordon s said:

Could be pretty lonely out there with no one to talk to, but at least you’ll have plenty of toilet tolls......

 

There might not be any toilet paper in the supermarket, but there were still some things on the shelves that hadn't been touched when I went

[sharris]

2 hours ago, gordon s said:

you’ll have plenty of toilet tolls......

 

'Toilet tolls...'

 

Is that what you receive when you've stockpiled all the toilet paper and charge your neighbours to come and use it?

[Ron Ron Ron]

7 hours ago, gordon s said:

 
 

Well there was me as a ‘high risk’ candidate, keeping calm, chilling out and not over reacting...
 

Jeez, you’ve put the fear of God into me . If it’s going to be as bad as you make out, then I’ll go with the rest of mankind.....

 

Could be pretty lonely out there with no one to talk to, but at least you’ll have plenty of toilet rolls......

 

It's not a case of over reacting Gordon.

I think people are too willing to brush this whole thing off as over reaction and sensational press coverage.

 

We've been lucky so far in the UK and let's hope that continues, but a lot of us need to sit up and take notice of what's happening elsewhere and not too far away.

 

Tonight, the Italian government has implemented emergency orders to lock down over 12 million people in Lombardy and surrounding regions.

The draconian measures make it illegal to enter or leave each region and includes restrictions on movement, even at a local level.

All leave and time off is cancelled for medical, emergency service and essential staff.

Civil and religious ceremonies, including funeral ceremonies, are to be suspended.

According to my sister who lives in Italy, almost everything that isn't shut down already, is shutting down.

 

The health service is now said to be under enormous pressure and they have run out of room to deal with people who need medical or hospital treatment.

They are looking at dealing with patients in army barracks and other locations.

In recent days, the government has said they need to recruit 20,000 more medical staff and pretty damn quick.

My sister says that everybody is questioning how on earth they can manage that.

Retired doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are being requested to turn out and medical students and trainees are to be given emergency dispensations to carry out work they are currently not qualified to do. Even so, there's uncertainty as to where the rest of these extra staff are to come from.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51787238
 

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=https://www.lastampa.it/&prev=search

 

https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=https://www.ansa.it/&prev=search

 

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=https://www.repubblica.it/&prev=search

 

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-italy-to-tell-people-not-to-enter-or-leave-regions-worst-hit-by-outbreak-11952487

 

 

.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Ron Ron Ron

[sharris]

1 hour ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

We've been lucky so far in the UK and let's hope that continues, but a lot of us need to sit up and take notice of what's happening elsewhere and not too far away.

 

Tonight, the Italian government has implemented emergency orders to lock down over 12 million people in Lombardy and surrounding regions...

 

As of yesterday, this was the official breakdown by region of English cases:

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-number-of-cases-in-england/coronavirus-covid-19-number-of-cases-in-england

 

When most regions have zero or single digit counts of confirmed cases it would be hard to sell a lockdown of particularly affected areas - at least for the moment. As you say, so far we've been lucky.

[Huw Griffiths]

19 hours ago, sharris said:

There might not be any toilet paper in the supermarket, but there were still some things on the shelves that hadn't been touched when I went

 

Interesting you should mention that.

 

In my part of the World, the "powers that be" introduced "unit pricing" of alcoholic beverages ( which increased the price of a 2L bottle of basic cider from ~£2 to £5) on Monday 2nd March. (Better make that Sunday 1st March at my local Tesco - when challenged about putting their prices up before time, they just came out with a load of BS about operational convenience / "not wanting to overload a computer" - and invited p*$$€d off customers to contact head office at a later date, when it would be too late to do anything about it. I guess I won't be needing my Club Card again, then ... .)

 

It was very noticeable that " bog standard" alcoholic beverages didn't seem to be selling after this  - but I could imagine queues in supermarkets in places like Cribbs Causeway, Lydney, Hereford etc., slightly East of Offa's Dyke.

 

Seriously though, it's noticeable that there has been a lot of panic buying of certain items. Although there might have been suggestions that some people might perhaps need to "self quarantine" for 2 weeks,  I can't help wondering if some people might actually be stockpiling a few months' worth of supplies - supplies which the vast majority of these people are never likely to actually consume.

 

I'm sure that some people would see this as a chance to score cheap "points" against the UK government (an administration that I didn't vote for - which I don't happen to like - and which doesn't seem likely to govern for me).

 

I don't see things this way - whatever anyone might actually think of the government's response to all of this stuff, I doubt if any other parties in this country would have done much different. Ultimately, they would all have probably have ended up asking the same people for advice - people who can only really be guided by what happened with previous endemics, which might or might not follow a similar pattern to the current one.

 

I'm sure that nobody would need me to repeat all the customary comments about hoping that as few people as possible are actually affected by this virus - that as many as possible make full and fast recoveries - and that everything returns to normal as soon as possible. I'd have thought that certain things would go without saying ... .

 

 

Huw.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Huw Griffiths
Clarifying an observation about shops using government policy as an excuse for profiteering. If the virus really starts to "bite" in the UK, I'd expect more of this nonsense.

[gordon s]

The problem I have is that ‘being prepared’ can easily be seen as survival of the fittest and ‘I’m alright Jack’.  I find scenes of people staggering out with months of supplies bordering on offensive and invariably they are the not part of the groups at risk.

 

Whatever happened to the spirit of human kindness and sharing so that no one suffers?

 

I’m sure there are plenty of provisions and supplies to support everyone if people stopped panic buying.  No wonder that is happening when you have social media and the Press feeding us a daily diet of fake news and conspiracy theories.

 

Of course I’m not suggesting doing nothing, but with hygiene care and an awareness of personal risk, we can all help the reduce the spread of disease.  This is not about individual survival, but us as a community as a whole.

 

The wartime generation had it right ‘Keep calm and carry on’......

 

[spikey]

24 minutes ago, gordon s said:

Whatever happened to the spirit of human kindness and sharing so that no one suffers?

 

I have no idea, but I definitely remember instances of it.  It was certainly still around within living memory.

[TheQ]

Opps

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by TheQ

[TheQ]

13 hours ago, Lyonesse said:

 

My transatlantic relatives tell me that chicken noodle soup is known (admiringly) as Jewish penicillin.  My wife swears by its curative properties.

Like this? 

[Joseph_Pestell]

Went shopping yesterday morning. No obvious signs of panic buying except for one shelf - loo rolls. I do think that could be the result of people reacting to news reports.

 

Or it could be that the price of face tissues is such that a lot of people are buying loo roll to wipe their noses with.

[Oldddudders]

This dreary thread has wandered back and forth, for the best of reasons. I would like to take it in yet another direction, perhaps, which will hopefully offend no-one. 

 

With major outbreaks in other countries, and but a sprinkling in the UK to date, we are on the brink of - we know not exactly what. In what I see as a sort of parallel situation, W H Auden wrote these words in a poem.

 

September 1, 1939. 

 

I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright 
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.

 

A long poem - which Auden himself rubbished later in life - there are 8 more stanzas. You can find the rest on the Internet quite easily.

[jjb1970]

1 hour ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

Went shopping yesterday morning. No obvious signs of panic buying except for one shelf - loo rolls. I do think that could be the result of people reacting to news reports.

 

Or it could be that the price of face tissues is such that a lot of people are buying loo roll to wipe their noses with.

 

I think most people are taking a pretty pragmatic approach to it all. Implement reasonable precautions as advised by health agencies and let life go on. 

[EddieB]

9 hours ago, sharris said:

When most regions have zero or single digit counts of confirmed cases it would be hard to sell a lockdown of particularly affected areas - at least for the moment. As you say, so far we've been lucky.

As I’ve said before, the rate of the spread of infection is non-linear; a low base can suddenly erupt into a large number of cases.  The fact that there are potentially a number of “clusters” scattered throughout the UK should be a cause for concern, not the present total number of confirmed cases.  

 

Italy has been forced into drastic action - hopefully still not too late to prevent its major cities becoming “red zones”.  Are we in the UK still in denial?

[Guest Lyonesse]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

Like this? 

 

Rather more effort involved.  Try Jamie's recipe:

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/jewish-penicillin/

[Bernard Lamb]

53 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

This dreary thread has wandered back and forth, for the best of reasons. I would like to take it in yet another direction, perhaps, which will hopefully offend no-one. 

 

 

Seeing how you have lifted the quality of this thread, I had my contribution.

Bernard

 

[spikey]

6 minutes ago, EddieB said:

... Are we in the UK still in denial?

Well, we are about climate change, food waste, electricity production and so forth, so it's probably a "yes" to that

[Ron Ron Ron]

I dislike the Independent newspaper, but this is worth a read.......

 

A warning to the UK medical profession?

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-italy-doctors-intensive-care-deaths-a9384356.html

 

 

 

 

.

[Mallard60022]

On 07/03/2020 at 10:57, adb968008 said:

As soon as this started in January, I bought masks.

My wife thought I was mad, but ive been here, seen it before.

 

We bought gel a few weeks ago, and some basic medicals to last for a few days if we do get sick. (Nurofen etc) for the fever, tissues, lemsip and other usuals for a throat infection plus some other things recommended by the Wife's parents (who are both Doctors with 30+ years experience).

 

Last week we did the toilet roll shopping.

 

ive Turned it into a game / a competition with our child to try not to touch things you don't own, with your hands.. its fun not scary.

Weve started using gel etc.. its hard to get yourself into a new routine.. my weakness is touching my hair... but prepping now gives time to adjust if / when we reach that critical point.

 

I really don't like being ahead of the trend, but I have reacted to this all the way so far as Ive seen it first hand before, it is not always “just flu”.
 

Whilst theres no cure, and most will be mild, its still a lottery and it doesn't harm yourself to not prepare, have basics and change your lifestyle to protect yourself...

 

in 2003 I was blind sided, no supplies, not even aspirin..

if this becomes a big event, no one will protect you, not the NHS, not Boris, people are going to have to self manage for the most part, even some quite serious cases where you wake up, find you are bed ridden not wanting to drink, unable to go to the bathroom, delirious seeing images coming out of the walls, unable to lift your hands or even move a pillow, looking at a ceiling not caring, not sure if your asleep or awake, feeling dehydrated but not caring, peeing little amounts that are black, shivering one minute sweating profusely the next... i mean soaking wet pillows, that you just lie in because you cant be bothered. You can feel your heart beating like its going to come out of your chest, even your neck is beating. Later your not sure if your breathing at all. Not caring if a tv is on or not, only realising someone is in the room until theyve gone..Tissues.. i didn't need then a my nose was fine, but my throat was cardboard, occasionally coughed blood.  

I believe Chicken broth saved me.. warm or cold water, Ice all hurt my throat, so did coke. Chicken broth was very soothing, I think the fat lined my throat and gave me that inital energy to start moving again... thats my theory anyway. I went to the Dr’s but they found nothing, I went down as suspected SARS.
 

I recall an insane back ache and after getting back on my feet I felt great, though my chest hurt, initially quite hard, if I walked too far, which steadily improved over days, I had developed an insane appetite and oddly started liking olives for the first time, a legacy I enjoy today.

 

I was still in my Big hard untouchable 20’s at the time.

 

I was later told I was panting like a steam train... they had no idea the irony of my hobby interests. I thought I couldn't breathe at all... that was scary, but I strangely didn't care either.

 

Even my criteria above did not qualify to be able to go to the overcrowded hospital and needed to look after myself as I was told i’d probably recover.. 3 days later I did, but its given me respect for ”a cold” and to maintain some cleanliness at times like this.

 

if its unavoidable, so be it, i’d rather be more comfortable than I was last time. But if theres chance to avoid it for a few seconds effort and few quid expended.. i’ll take it. Selfishly I am hoping my past exposure might help my immunity this time.. ive certainy never had any cold like that since.. 

 

My fear is my wife and I being sick at the same time.. we have only 1 elderly family member in the UK, 250 miles away, who is really in the “at risk” group for this virus, to look after our daughter.. in a repeat of the event I went through above happening to both of us, i’ve not yet figured out what to do (suggestions please). But if the UK does start going “viral”, we may leave the country to the wifes parents ahead of this as theres a much bigger family on their side. Their opinion is if it takes off in the UK, the UK will be isolated from the world and they aren't sure they would be able come to help, despite being Doctors as travel restrictions generally affect all.

 

btw, wife’s parents advice to managing this... good sleep.. catching this when already fatigued really doesnt help.. thats their theory on why they think that 30 year old Dr died in Wuhan.

 

But what do I know.. i’m alarmist, it wont happen to me, it only affects old people, its just a cold, UK is prepared, were British,  it wont happen to me, it wont spread..

 

You should not be worried by being worried and anyone on here that has taken the piss needs to shake their head just a little and maybe wake up. You are reacting to events that involved you some time ago and that is a very sound strategy. If you are never infected again then you can look at your action as worth the time taken. If you do get poorly then damn good planning and thoughtfulness for you family and others on your part. There are far too many folk just being blase about this and yes it might be overhyped but ti is there and many folk elsewhere are having a bloody awful time. 

Well done mate and stay well.

Phil

[Gwiwer]

10 hours ago, sharris said:

 

 

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-number-of-cases-in-england/coronavirus-covid-19-number-of-cases-in-england

 

 

 

What ever the media, antisocial or otherwise, thinks and promulgates those figures do not give me personally any cause for concern.  There are just a couple of areas - and those areas are not very specifically defined in the table - where double figures of confirmed cases have been notified.  Mostly the UK has few if any cases.  There remains more chance of catching and departing this life from the common cold.  

 

Sensible precautions seems to be all that is necessary.  Panic-buying of commodities and posting of ill-considered or uninformed comment in the public domain (by which I do not wish to imply this topic) helps no-one.  

 

This thing is out there.  A very few places on our planet have a larger number of cases.  It might yet develop more severely here and elsewhere.  I shall maintain my watching brief, my awareness and my week's supply of toilet paper!  Other opinions are available.  

[jonny777]

I am not a person who keeps a diary of these things, but I would estimate that a toilet roll will last the wife and I just over a week. Therefore one packet of 12 would suffice for around 3 months. I can understand that with a big family these numbers are increased substantially; although with parents at work and children at school - the home consumption would not be simply a direct multiple. 

 

How many months are these loo-roll hoarders expecting to have to survive with no access to basic commodities? 

 

Or, have they just used up all their no-deal Brexit hoard, and can't think of a future without a garage stuffed with emergency provisions? 

Edited March 8, 2020 by jonny777

[Butler Henderson]

6 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Sensible precautions seems to be all that is necessary.  

Sadly not evident shopping on Friday and Saturday where I encountered 4 people openly coughing and wondering why they were glared at by other shoppers. If it is about then it quite clearly is going to spread quickly.