The corona virus thread

[jibberjabber]

Very sorry to hear this Andy, even if you didn’t see much of each other, it’s inevitable that as this virus progresses onits way, more and more of us will eventually be affected either directly or indirectly.
I too wish you the very best in the circumstances of your MRI. They are noisy cranky things, but yes, a fascinating piece of equipment, electronically and engineering wise (engineeringly?)

Hi Clive,

or should that be Victor

How are things to do with CV developing over your way, are you in front, behind or level with the UK ? Hope all is well.

 

[clivehorridge]

Hi Clive,

or should that be Victor

How are things to do with CV developing over your way, are you in front, behind or level with the UK ? Hope all is well.

Not bad at all, given the effects it’s had worldwide...

Bearing in mind that Romania has a population of only circa 20 mi, our first case was reported on 26 February and we currently have 1,952 confirmed cases, 33 of which are classed as serious, and 43 deaths to date.

So it doesn’t compare with the UK‘s 19,522 confirmed cases and 1,228 deaths, if I have all the numbers reasonably correct.

were all working from home here (those that can) and Ana’s getting interweb tutoring because all the schools are closed. I’m old (almost 67) so I’m not allowed on the streets other than between the hours of 11:00 to 13:00 but that doesn’t bother me, and working from home gives me the chance to enjoy being out in the country at our house...

it’s nice to take a walk in the garden occasionally to see springtime progressing... it’s my favorite time of year up here on the hill...

 

[jibberjabber]

Not bad at all, given the effects it’s had worldwide...

Bearing in mind that Romania has a population of only circa 20 mi, our first case was reported on 26 February and we currently have 1,952 confirmed cases, 33 of which are classed as serious, and 43 deaths to date.

So it doesn’t compare with the UK‘s 19,522 confirmed cases and 1,228 deaths, if I have all the numbers reasonably correct.

were all working from home here (those that can) and Ana’s getting interweb tutoring because all the schools are closed. I’m old (almost 67) so I’m not allowed on the streets other than between the hours of 11:00 to 13:00 but that doesn’t bother me, and working from home gives me the chance to enjoy being out in the country at our house...

it’s nice to take a walk in the garden occasionally to see springtime progressing... it’s my favorite time of year up here on the hill...

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Great pic's, lovley spot to escape to, I'm not far behind you age wise, I don't think there is any Interweb tutoring for the state school kids here not 100% sure on that.

 

[clivehorridge]

Great pic's, lovley spot to escape to, I'm not far behind you age wise, I don't think there is any Interweb tutoring for the state school kids here not 100% sure on that.

I don’t know if the interweb bit is nationwide, or whether it’s just an initiative at her school. It works anyway, and the kids are very enthusiastic to partake in it, they think it’s cool not to go to school and learn at home instead, we’ll have to drag Ana back to school kicking when it’s all over.

 

[Shayne]

Shayne, is there no income support being provided by the UK govt? Here, all workers who have been laid off, including self employed who have to stop working are getting income support payments. Fisheries here are still operating as far as I know too.

Manx business Bob , i've been trying for the past couple of weeks to secure a market anywhere else but all are just doing what they can to keep their regulars afloat . Some will be putting lobsters in stock pots but its an exercise in futility because it will only flood the market when it does open making the lobster near worthless .

Gov announced all sorts of financial assistance similar to UK but all applications from the fishing industry have been denied , perhaps because at 5pm today they have announced specific measures to protect the Manx fishing industry will follow in the coming days . I won't hold my breathe and i'm not at all optimistic but i just phoned my skipper to tell him there is hope yet game over might be avoided .

 

[Shayne]

Just been out for the first time in 2 weeks to get shopping and fuel and all i can say is wow - community , strangers are saying hello or smiling at strangers again , respecting each other very obviously with regards to personal space but it runs deeper than that , an old lady i offered to swap places with so she could jump 2 metres in the queue replied with a laugh"get stuffed i'm enjoying the sunshine for a change"

Perhaps a side affect of this universally unwanted situation is those so out of touch with reality they can only come up with slanderous explanations might gain some genuine understanding of the nostalgia that drives so called populism .

We can but hope .

 

[Bob]

I reckon you're right Shayne. When all this is over, I do think that society could be better for it.. despite the awful tragedy that comes with it. People may begin to value things they have taken for granted. There'll always be a few die hard pricks.. but the community spirit and willingness of people to help strangers is very comforting

 

[goodoldboy]

I reckon you're right Shayne. When all this is over, I do think that society could be better for it.. despite the awful tragedy that comes with it. People may begin to value things they have taken for granted. There'll always be a few die hard pricks.. but the community spirit and willingness of people to help strangers is very comforting

Agree 100%.we would all do well to remember that a good percentage of the worlds population live with life threatening disease , a total lack of healthcare & economic uncertainty on a permanent basis.

 

[jibberjabber]

No looks like we are here for the duration. Had contact from the Embassy today so we are known about by the authorities.

We're lucky to have a good group here, including a doctor and 2 nurses. We got permits today to allow us to leave the village for shopping but we can come and go locally.

I won't be exploring any new pistes for a while but we can walk along the coast, go to the beech etc.

Currently no way out and the State of Emergency ends on the 20th April so looks like we will be here until then.

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with your events, are you back home yet, or still stuck?

 

[Tractionman]

Just had an official letter from Downing Street. You MUST stay at home, except in situations given, and If people break the rules, police will issue fines and disperse gatherings. Ha!
Good sentiments, but after government cuts where the police are depleted, how they gonna do it ? Especially with groups of idiots that congregate in parks, sunbathing for example.
I got all excited opening the letter, I thought it was an open invite to use their staff canteen, which we subsidise !!

 

[jibberjabber]

Just had an official letter from Downing Street. You MUST stay at home, except in situations given, and If people break the rules, police will issue fines and disperse gatherings. Ha!
Good sentiments, but after government cuts where the police are depleted, how they gonna do it ? Especially with groups of idiots that congregate in parks, sunbathing for example.
I got all excited opening the letter, I thought it was an open invite to use their staff canteen, which we subsidise !!

You can't go to their canteen, you MUST stay at home.

 

[Chas]

Gonna try going somewhere new this bank holiday weekend, I'm so excited, I'm gonna sit on the settee instead of the armchair.

 

[Shayne]

Especially with groups of idiots that congregate in parks, sunbathing for example.

Helen was raging about this until i said its hundreds , maybe a few thousand morons out of 66.5 million , thats not a bad score by anyones standards .

 

[Tractionman]

Guess not Shayne, put in that context, but none of those are helping to control the virus or others.

 

[Chris]

I have been trying to find / formulate an answer to a question but so far no luck. The question is: what happens next?
If we are all disciplined and remain in our current mode, new cases should begin to drop off, people suffering will recover or inevitably die and theoretically ( I stress theoretically) we could reach a point where the virus has all but gone. ie no live samples left anywhere. It's a stretch but possible. At present with everyone distancing, really the only transmission is going to be from places like hospitals to home but with the strict measures in place in the NHS even this should be pretty unlikely. Isolated cases within households will begin to die back too once everyone iin the familiy has been exposed.

So we are heading toward a point where we're all in our homes except for those recognised exceptions, virtually no one in hospital but, and here's the thing, only around 1 million of the UK's population for around 65million will have had the disease.

What happens then? There's no vaccine, no cure, no effective treatments, no heard immunity, still so how do we manage the next phase? If the virus only made you a bit poorly, then so what. But it doesn't, it can kill. So until all those whom it may kill have been through it, as it were, we have to remain as we are. It's not as though we can have a controlled exposure, is it? Given that some very ordinary folk have died, the percentage left in over 60 million people is going to be pretty high. We've flattened the curve, but if we all behave and don't transmit the virus further, aren't we in danger of actually going too far? Don't we need to maintin a trickle of cases going through the system to gradually get everyone exposed?

I'd appreciate any serious thoughts. Because I am a bit stumped.

Next thing is that people will think that it's all over and done with, come out of their isolation and as we know, nature will find a way and the whole thing will kick off again a bit like boom and bust. I guess the problem is how do we manage transmission rates moving forward so that we don't swamp the NHS but also get people through in a timely fashion so the UK at least can begin to function again.

 

[jibberjabber]

I have been trying to find / formulate an answer to a question but so far no luck. The question is: what happens next?
If we are all disciplined and remain in our current mode, new cases should begin to drop off, people suffering will recover or inevitably die and theoretically ( I stress theoretically) we could reach a point where the virus has all but gone. ie no live samples left anywhere. It's a stretch but possible. At present with everyone distancing, really the only transmission is going to be from places like hospitals to home but with the strict measures in place in the NHS even this should be pretty unlikely. Isolated cases within households will begin to die back too once everyone iin the familiy has been exposed.

So we are heading toward a point where we're all in our homes except for those recognised exceptions, virtually no one in hospital but, and here's the thing, only around 1 million of the UK's population for around 65million will have had the disease.

What happens then? There's no vaccine, no cure, no effective treatments, no heard immunity, still so how do we manage the next phase? If the virus only made you a bit poorly, then so what. But it doesn't, it can kill. So until all those whom it may kill have been through it, as it were, we have to remain as we are. It's not as though we can have a controlled exposure, is it? Given that some very ordinary folk have died, the percentage left in over 60 million people is going to be pretty high. We've flattened the curve, but if we all behave and don't transmit the virus further, aren't we in danger of actually going too far? Don't we need to maintin a trickle of cases going through the system to gradually get everyone exposed?

I'd appreciate any serious thoughts. Because I am a bit stumped.

Next thing is that people will think that it's all over and done with, come out of their isolation and as we know, nature will find a way and the whole thing will kick off again a bit like boom and bust. I guess the problem is how do we manage transmission rates moving forward so that we don't swamp the NHS but also get people through in a timely fashion so the UK at least can begin to function again.

I think the boffins are way ahead of us with regard to the outcome of all of this, I also understand exactly what is said at the daily briefings, and think for the most part, the powers that be are doing a good job, considering this catastrophe was just plonked on all of us.

It was stated at one of the briefings that a vaccination usually takes 20 years to develop, but with all the worlds scientists puttung their heads togeather they are hoping to bring a vaccine into play within approx a year, fingers crossed.

But I can understand exactly what your concerns are, as everything is if's and but's at the moment.

Stay Safe.

 

[Chris]

I just find it a bit odd that no one sems to really be raising this. Not the public, not on question time, not on your questions answered, not even Laura Doomsberg. Typically the media are way ahead in asking even impossible questions - look at Brexit. But here in this case it doesn't seem to be getting an airing at all. What I'm digging at is more in line with the management plan. I think you're right there isn't a clear one yet, but a vacuum is quickly and easily filled. Unless the authorities come up with what the next steps are going to look like then people will begin to make their own minds up. I said to someone, well you can write off April at the very least. We won't have a picture before then. They were staggered that I was suggesting this is going to last more than a week or two. I just feel we need to be managing peoples' expectations already. The idea that we're going to be past the peak soon suggests that there's only going to be one peak. Well, there isn't!

 

[jibberjabber]

there's only going to be one peak. Well, there isn't!

Very much in agreement, with your statement.

Thunder rumbles on and on and on.

 

[flint]

It looks as though it will probably be a "suck it and see" approach when it comes to removing lockdown, the main aim at the moment being to try to keep levels of infection down to manageable levels for the NHS, who even without the present crisis were hard pushed to cope. As we've seen, the government ignored earlier warnings of the seriousness of the outbreak in China, failed to prepare as well as they could have done and are now trying to play catch up. Placing multi million pound orders with people like tax exile Dyson for unbuilt and unproved ventilators is window dressing. The level of testing, even amongst front line NHS staff who deserve much, much better, is pitiful, making targeted isolation a guessing game. Blaming shortages of protective equipment on those who are having to expose themselves to risk every day is shameful. If availability of testing improves (there seems little sign of the government accepting multiple offers of help from industry to achieve this) and tracing and isolating contacts of those who are infected is stepped up, then it might be possible to reduce infection rates enough to allow a gradual lifting of general lockdown, but otherwise it will be a tough nut to crack.

 

[Shayne]

I've given it plenty of thought and herd immunity is the only answer i can see , 40 years worth of investment into dealing with a pandemic everybody involved in such things has been expecting for 40 years has happened in a matter of weeks and disregarding the cost the logistics of it are insane . Given time for logistics to become routine we now have the facilities .
A staggered approach to ending lock down is the safest way forward i can see , so many from each age group given a free pass in the post maybe ?

It in't going to end its just going to become the new norm , a flue 2 in manageable moderation i reckon , the next generation will be immune .