Coronavirus (aka COVID-19) - just how serious?

[Syd]

My workday has been dominated by Covid 19 from getting on the bus to work until two hours after I arrived home again.

I wont go into detail but needless to say acute hospitals are working hard with the goal to double the capacity in their intensive care units for ventilated patients.

I’ve worked in the NHS for nearly 30 years and in that time seen SARS, MERS, Bird Flu and Swine Flu come and go. The preparation work being done for Covid 19 eclipses all that has gone before.

[reohn2]

tinned octopus, thats some new to me.any special nationality that eats that? I'll have a look tomorrow re the porridge

Well at least everyone gets a leg

PS,as for porridge,I think I'd rather have the Octopus

[niggle]

tinned octopus, thats some new to me.any special nationality that eats that? I'll have a look tomorrow re the porridge

Well at least everyone gets a leg

PS,as for porridge,I think I'd rather have the Octopus

But you can make flapjack from porridge oats (as long as you can also get sugar and butter/marge).

[mercalia]

What is worrying is that we are being told it wont peak for 3 months this will create panic buying and hoarding on a large scale?

[fullupandslowingdown]

If only our MPs were as relaxed and jovial as Kenyan MPs. Can you imagine Dominic Raab doing a prank call?

10:45 12 Mar
Kenyan MP pretends to have coronavirus during committee
A coronavirus phone operator left politicians in stitches after a Kenyan MP anonymously called the ministry of health hotline pretending to have symptoms during a committee sitting.
The legislator Sabina Chege did a test run in front of the health minister who was being questioned on government's preparedness.
The call ended up becoming a comic relief for the committee members when the phone operator asked the caller why she could not take a taxi to the hospital yet she had travelled to China.
The ministry worker had at first said "we do not have any coronavirus in the country" before proceeding to tell the caller she "did not sound to be very sick".
He asked the caller to go to the nearest hospital for check up. When asked which means of transport was best to use they told them to use a taxi to which the caller said she did not have money and the official asked how she managed to go to China without money.
The legislators asked the ministry to ensure staffers are well trained to handle such calls.

https://youtu.be/1T9efpN1AEI

[Oldjohnw]

Anyone with a new persistent cough or high temperature is now advised to self-isolate for seven days, as the UK government moves to the "delay" phase of its plan to tackle coronavirus.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51857856

well I wonder what will happen if some poor soul is out and about with a cough? lynched? vigilantes?

Today’s advice seemed pretty mild to me, somewhat British, really - don’t go on a cruise ship if you’re Old (duh!), don’t spread your sniffle/cough around if you’ve got one - doesn’t seem an unreasonable ask. There had been some unpleasantness towards individuals but overall, sitting on a train sniffing ranks with putting your feet or a bag on the seats, or spitting as I saw a young guy do today.

10-14 weeks before we hit the peak - China says it thinks it has peaked. “A lot of families are going to lose a loved one before their time” - pretty chilling stuff from the PM. He doesn’t exactly seem all over this issue - I can’t tell if that’s from statesmanship, indifference or incompetence.

Use separate bathrooms at home. That's us doomed.

[Oldjohnw]

So our new blue passports have a use after all.

They give us protection from coronavirus.

[djnotts]

Seems clear to me. I catch it, I die. Don't catch it, the boredom of 12 weeks alone at home sounds appalling. Good luck all.

[Baydon Flyer]

I'm supposed to be going to Mallorca next Friday for a weeks riding with mates, we're concerned that even if we're still able to fly there schedules will be disrupted, that most bike hire, bars, & restaurants will be closed , and we may well get suck out there.
I'd love to hear from anyone who's there at the moment or about to go as to what there views are.

[brooksby]

Anyone with a new persistent cough or high temperature is now advised to self-isolate for seven days, as the UK government moves to the "delay" phase of its plan to tackle coronavirus.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51857856

well I wonder what will happen if some poor soul is out and about with a cough? lynched? vigilantes?

Today’s advice seemed pretty mild to me, somewhat British, really - don’t go on a cruise ship if you’re Old (duh!), don’t spread your sniffle/cough around if you’ve got one - doesn’t seem an unreasonable ask. There had been some unpleasantness towards individuals but overall, sitting on a train sniffing ranks with putting your feet or a bag on the seats, or spitting as I saw a young guy do today.

10-14 weeks before we hit the peak - China says it thinks it has peaked. “A lot of families are going to lose a loved one before their time” - pretty chilling stuff from the PM. He doesn’t exactly seem all over this issue - I can’t tell if that’s from statesmanship, indifference or incompetence.

Use separate bathrooms at home. That's us doomed.

I suspect De Pfeffel Johnson doesn't know that many many households don't have a spare bedroom or more than one bathroom...

[brooksby]

Seems clear to me. I catch it, I die. Don't catch it, the boredom of 12 weeks alone at home sounds appalling. Good luck all.

Don't forget the fun of being unable to pay your bills and mortgage and no job to go back to at the end.

For me, at the moment, the possible social and economic upheaval seems more scary than the virus

[Oldjohnw]

So for people who get it, 24 days isolation.

For older people who don't have it, three months isolation.

[mercalia]

What do people make of the shares plumeting.

seems so irrational. in fact seems so stupid. it not the end of the world? maybe time to move away from a shares based economy?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51849106

I am fearful how this will affect the YHA. may drive them into bankruptcy? I dont want to share dorms with foreign strangers.
Losing the YHA would be a big loss?

[David9694]

My workday has been dominated by Covid 19 from getting on the bus to work until two hours after I arrived home again.

I wont go into detail but needless to say acute hospitals are working hard with the goal to double the capacity in their intensive care units for ventilated patients.

I’ve worked in the NHS for nearly 30 years and in that time seen SARS, MERS, Bird Flu and Swine Flu come and go. The preparation work being done for Covid 19 eclipses all that has gone before.

I’m out of the loop at the moment so that’s interesting and reassuring to hear. IIRC, ICUs can support a range of the body’s normal function - will the Coronavirus give us a cohort of patients who are in other respects stable, but just need respiratory support?

[pwa]

What do people make of the shares plumeting.

seems so irrational. in fact seems so stupid. it not the end of the world? maybe time to move away from a shares based economy?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51849106

As I said earlier, at some point (not yet) the FTSE will bottom out and that will be the ideal time to put some savings in. The big investors will have been thinking about that for weeks already. There will be a big recovery, though it might take years for shares to get back to where they were a few weeks ago. But I think some big companies will falter and possibly fail in the next couple of months so jumping in just now would be premature.

It is irrational for share prices to fluctuate so wildly but unless you want to access the value of your shares right now it matters less that might be at first apparent. What matters more is where they are when things have settled after the pandemic.