Coronavirus

[Sriram]

Do some deep breathing exercises. That will strengthen your lungs and respiratory tract and also boost your immune system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVBrqO77HYI

[Nearly Sane]

Not understanding the position on pubs - it seems to put them in the worst position of not being able to claim insurance.

[Roses]

Not understanding the position on pubs - it seems to put them in the worst position of not being able to claim insurance.

Our local café is very popular, my husband likes to have his lunch there once a week, however if nobody goes anymore it will probably close. It is mean if they aren't entitled to insurance because the Government hasn't ordered them to close.

[SusanDoris]

Whatever else the corona virus is doing, it has done one lovely thing for me. Yesterday, I was trying to work out the best way of getting to and using the assisted shopping service always provided by Tesco, when the phone rang. It was a young woman I knew well a few years ago. She has just called in to take my list and get it for me. Now that is so very kind and thoughtful of her.

[Udayana]

Not understanding the position on pubs - it seems to put them in the worst position of not being able to claim insurance.

Indeed. When the earth is invaded by an alien life form threatening to kill 1% of the population the first thing Dr Who does is take a deep breath and check whether the pubs are insured.

Don't worry .. expect emergency powers to be in effect by the end of this week.

[ad_orientem]

Our pool league has been suspended now. Can still go down the club to practice or play money games but no official competitons.

[Nearly Sane]

Indeed. When the earth is invaded by an alien life form threatening to kill 1% of the population the first thing Dr Who does is take a deep breath and check whether the pubs are insured.

Don't worry .. expect emergency powers to be in effect by the end of this week.

  But then Dr Who doesn't generally worry about 3 million jobs

[Nearly Sane]

Whatever else the corona virus is doing, it has done one lovely thing for me. Yesterday, I was trying to work out the best way of getting to and using the assisted shopping service always provided by Tesco, when the phone rang. It was a young woman I knew well a few years ago. She has just called in to take my list and get it for me. Now that is so very kind and thoughtful of her.

That's lovely to hear

[Udayana]

Whatever else the corona virus is doing, it has done one lovely thing for me. Yesterday, I was trying to work out the best way of getting to and using the assisted shopping service always provided by Tesco, when the phone rang. It was a young woman I knew well a few years ago. She has just called in to take my list and get it for me. Now that is so very kind and thoughtful of her.

That's great.

Trying to think through how to generalise this... Between the NHS, Govt, local councils and supermarkets there must be enough information in the various databases to identify nearly everyone at risk of a serious case of covid-19.

Or a specific database could be started where people could self register or be registered.  Then the nearest local supermarkets could manage deliveries.

[Walter]

I've just been to the local village co-op near where I am at the moment , all bread sold out .Assistant said people were waiting from 7 AM !

[wigginhall]

I got to Waitrose at 8am, they had a few loaves left, also spuds and green veg.  No fish.

It looks as if herd immunity has been abandoned, since collateral damage is large.   Suppression it is, hope it works.

[Udayana]

Our pool league has been suspended now. Can still go down the club to practice or play money games but no official competitons.

We are trying to decide if we should continue going to the gym or not. There is a risk from the point of possibly catching and spreading the virus but is it unnecessarily risky? Does it help anyone if we don't go? As it is still open, maybe it is fine?

I think swimming is OK - but I always end up chatting to other regulars.

[Nearly Sane]

That's great.

Trying to think through how to generalise this... Between the NHS, Govt, local councils and supermarkets there must be enough information in the various databases to identify nearly everyone at risk of a serious case of covid-19.

Or a specific database could be started where people could self register or be registered.  Then the nearest local supermarkets could manage deliveries.

Agree. I think we would need to suspend GDPR

[Udayana]

I've just been to the local village co-op near where I am at the moment , all bread sold out .Assistant said people were waiting from 7 AM !

In the USA they are queuing for weaponry.

[Udayana]

I got to Waitrose at 8am, they had a few loaves left, also spuds and green veg.  No fish.

It looks as if herd immunity has been abandoned, since collateral damage is large.   Suppression it is, hope it works.

The "science" was right all along and remains the same ... the problem was not the science but how to interpret and act on it. There would never have been time for herd immunity to help.

[jeremyp]

We are trying to decide if we should continue going to the gym or not. There is a risk from the point of possibly catching and spreading the virus but is it unnecessarily risky? Does it help anyone if we don't go? As it is still open, maybe it is fine?

I think swimming is OK - but I always end up chatting to other regulars.

Balance your risk of dying from coronavirus against your risk of dying of coronary heart disease.

Don't forget, when you are swimming (in a pool, not open water), you are literally in a bath of (very weak) bleach designed to stop all those pesky viruses and other germs.

People are still overestimating the risk of catching the virus. As of yesterday, there were 1,543 confirmed COVID 19 cases out of 44,105 tested. That means, if you meet somebody who has the symptoms, there is still less than a 1/25 chance they have COVID 19 i.e. if you meet 25 people at random with a cough and high temperature only one will have the virus.

Look at it another way, let's say that we have only recorded 1% of all cases, that means there are 154,300 cases in the country at the moment. The probability of you meeting one of those people at random is about 1 in 500, and, of course, a high proportion of them are already self isolating so you won't meet them.

As things stand right now, you would have to be quite unlucky to catch coronavirus from any random person in the street. The government models say this is all going to change, so my advice is to do all the things you like doing now, because, in a couple of weeks, you won't be allowed to.

[jeremyp]

In the USA they are queuing for weaponry.

Well, there's a photo of a queue outside one gun shop in California that might be being taken out of context.

[jeremyp]

I got to Waitrose at 8am, they had a few loaves left, also spuds and green veg.  No fish.

It looks as if herd immunity has been abandoned, since collateral damage is large.   Suppression it is, hope it works.

Nobody was ever relying on herd immunity. The government's policy has always been to try to balance the cases against NHS capacity and to try to avoid doing too much damage to the economy.

[Nearly Sane]

Balance your risk of dying from coronavirus against your risk of dying of coronary heart disease.

Don't forget, when you are swimming (in a pool, not open water), you are literally in a bath of (very weak) bleach designed to stop all those pesky viruses and other germs.

People are still overestimating the risk of catching the virus. As of yesterday, there were 1,543 confirmed COVID 19 cases out of 44,105 tested. That means, if you meet somebody who has the symptoms, there is still less than a 1/25 chance they have COVID 19 i.e. if you meet 25 people at random with a cough and high temperature only one will have the virus.

Look at it another way, let's say that we have only recorded 1% of all cases, that means there are 154,300 cases in the country at the moment. The probability of you meeting one of those people at random is about 1 in 500, and, of course, a high proportion of them are already self isolating so you won't meet them.

As things stand right now, you would have to be quite unlucky to catch coronavirus from any random person in the street. The government models say this is all going to change, so my advice is to do all the things you like doing now, because, in a couple of weeks, you won't be allowed to.

   I don't think it will be a couple of weeks - more like the end of this week and even that feels optimistic

[wigginhall]

Nobody was ever relying on herd immunity. The government's policy has always been to try to balance the cases against NHS capacity and to try to avoid doing too much damage to the economy.

"Our aim is to try to reduce the peak, broaden the peak, not suppress it completely; also, because the vast majority of people get a mild illness, to build up some kind of herd immunity so more people are immune to this disease and we reduce the transmission, at the same time we protect those who are most vulnerable to it.”

Patrick Vallance, chief scientific advisor, FT quote.

[ad_orientem]

We are trying to decide if we should continue going to the gym or not. There is a risk from the point of possibly catching and spreading the virus but is it unnecessarily risky? Does it help anyone if we don't go? As it is still open, maybe it is fine?

I think swimming is OK - but I always end up chatting to other regulars.

I belong to a gym too and have been thinking exactly the same thing. Not decided yet. Mind you, I might not have to make the decision.

[SusanDoris]

Well, there's a photo of a queue outside one gun shop in California that might be being taken out of context.

Yes, apparently in the US  bullets are the topof the list of things people are stocking up with.

[ekim]

Round the clock cremations, I wonder if this country can cope.

"ROME —In the part of Italy hit hardest by the coronavirus, the crematorium has started operating 24 hours a day. Coffins have filled up two hospital morgues, and then a cemetery morgue, and are now being lined up inside a cemetery church. The local newspaper's daily obituary section has grown from two or three pages to 10, sometimes listing more than 150 names, in what the top editor likens to "war bulletins."
By death toll alone, the coronavirus has landed in the northern province of Bergamo with the force of a historic disaster.
But its alarming power goes even further, all but ensuring that death and mourning happen in isolation — a trauma in which everybody must keep to themselves. "

[Walter]

In the USA they are queuing for weaponry.

yes but Warburtons are producing loaves baked around a hidden hand gun !

[Udayana]

I belong to a gym too and have been thinking exactly the same thing. Not decided yet. Mind you, I might not have to make the decision.

Indeed.

I agree with Jeremy here and am going along with his suggestions: 

Balance your risk of dying from coronavirus against your risk of dying of coronary heart disease.
...
As things stand right now, you would have to be quite unlucky to catch coronavirus from any random person in the street. The government models say this is all going to change, so my advice is to do all the things you like doing now, because, in a couple of weeks, you won't be allowed to.

The problem is not so much getting ill ourselves but, if we do, of spreading it so that it affects others, including older relatives or friends for example.