SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

I’m extremely concerned about my gran. My grandfather died in January and she’s in her late 80s. Had a fall last week to make matters worse and I was going over there to see her as much as I could. I’ve been told her general mood has decreased massively in last two weeks because no one has been to see her (I was away on holiday). Loneliness can make people go insane.

Are you or anyone nearby able to set her up with some type of video calling software on a computer? One that you can make simple for her with a list of contacts and tell her just to leave on. I don't know if it's feasible but could be an idea.
 
Does anyone think 18 months isolation is even feesible?

Even if the government told us it was 18 months, people would last 2 and think feck this I'll take my chances.

Imagine you're old and you live 17 months in isolation then die anyway.
The reality of a 'lockdown' is only just starting to dawn on people. It would be tolerated for a while if the benefit was obvious and demonstrable, but the truth is that people are not good at social isolation. We enjoy the company of friends and family, we enjoy participating in activities with like-minded individuals, and for many it is precisely those opportunities that make life worthwhile.

The more draconian the measures put in place, the more quickly they will break down. The current mood is one of stopping the spread of the virus at all costs, but that will change. Sooner or later, the question will be about whether the restrictions are really worthwhile.

I'd be surprised if we get past 3 months before that question is asked seriously.
 
The British policy is designed to try and avoid it. As far as I can tell, we're one of the few nations in the world that's worrying about doing so at the moment.

Whether it works out that way or not, it remains to be seen. I think it's a 50-50 chance.

The likes of Italy, Spain, China and South Korea will almost certainly need additional lockdowns.
South Korea has never been in lockdown, and China outside of Hubei has not been in lockdown.

South Korea's strategy is probably the best one. Extreme social distancing, but life still goes on, people go to work, kids go to school. But be very careful at managing the situation, ban big gatherings, and so on.
 
You are an idiot and exactly how community spread happens.
You don't know me, but I'm very definitely not an idiot.

I'm looking forward with great anticipation to your ground breaking explanation of how an uninfected person can spread a virus (or maybe you're simply an idiot).
 
You don't know me, but I'm very definitely not an idiot.

I'm looking forward with great anticipation to your ground breaking explanation of how an uninfected person can spread a virus (or maybe you're simply an idiot).
Ok I see two options here
1) You are the only person in the world that gets a siri voice notification of the sort : Ding, Covid 19 has entered your system .
2) You indeed have mental deficiencies .
 


Have we discussed this? Do we know if there's any chance of this happening?
 
Even with all the shit going on, I can still find the time to get annoyed about people using the Fahrenheit scale. :D
 
Ok I see two options here
1) You are the only person in the world that gets a siri voice notification of the sort : Ding, Covid 19 has entered your system .
2) You indeed have mental deficiencies .
Sorry, I'm not sure I follow your point here. What is a 'siri voice notification'? - presumably a kind of Cortana/Alexa variant?

I guess you are suggesting that it is possible for me to have the virus but to be unaware of it. If so, then I accept that there is a small possibility that is the case. My question then would be why is the risk that I pose greater when visiting a pub than it is going to the supermarket (which I did early on Tuesday morning)? I'll probably need to go to the shop again, to buy some milk, in the near future (how irresponsible is that?). If I happen to be an asymptomatic carrier, then just how many others are there? The entire strategy of self-isolation based on symptoms breaks down if we posit a world in which there are legions of unknowing carriers out there.

To your second point, I can affirm that I have no mental deficiencies (and I really don't know why you would suspect I have, unless of course you attribute such a condition to anyone who holds a different point of view to you).
 
Sorry, I'm not sure I follow your point here. What is a 'siri voice notification'? - presumably a kind of Cortana/Alexa variant?

I guess you are suggesting that it is possible for me to have the virus but to be unaware of it. If so, then I accept that there is a small possibility that is the case. My question then would be why is the risk that I pose greater when visiting a pub than it is going to the supermarket (which I did early on Tuesday morning)? I'll probably need to go to the shop again, to buy some milk, in the near future (how irresponsible is that?). If I happen to be an asymptomatic carrier, then just how many others are there? The entire strategy of self-isolation based on symptoms breaks down if we posit a world in which there are legions of unknowing carriers out there.

To your second point, I can affirm that I have no mental deficiencies (and I really don't know why you would suspect I have, unless of course you attribute such a condition to anyone who holds a different point of view to you).
The whole "pub" thing has become a trigger after Starkie's bizarre "I'm alright Jack and you're all idiots" ranting from the other day. If you had said "orgy" instead of "pub" then you would have been fine, which is actually what you were at so please stop lying to us.

I'm at one right now. I stand at the foot of the bed and clap.
 
The whole "pub" thing has become a trigger after Starkie's bizarre "I'm alright Jack and you're all idiots" ranting from the other day. If you had said "orgy" instead of "pub" then you would have been fine, which is actually what you were at so please stop lying to us.

I'm at one right now. I stand at the foot of the bed and clap.

I think you could create a TV show and solve the nation's boredom and sexual fantasies in one swoop.
 
A friend has asked me to go bowling tomorrow night. His reasoning is that there will be nobody there and he needs a night away from the wife and kids before we all get locked down (his wife is getting a similar "night off" from him and the kids tonight).

I can kinda see his logic but will probably pass, those bowling shoes are probably dripping in Covid-19.

And putting fingers / thumb into the ball...!?

I’m extremely concerned about my gran. My grandfather died in January and she’s in her late 80s. Had a fall last week to make matters worse and I was going over there to see her as much as I could. I’ve been told her general mood has decreased massively in last two weeks because no one has been to see her (I was away on holiday). Loneliness can make people go insane.

Skype mate, regularly. And make her laugh, if you have that type of relationship.
 
The whole "pub" thing has become a trigger after Starkie's bizarre "I'm alright Jack and you're all idiots" ranting from the other day. If you had said "orgy" instead of "pub" then you would have been fine, which is actually what you were at so please stop lying to us.

I'm at one right now. I stand at the foot of the bed and clap.
I get nervous when I see 'clap' and 'orgy' in the same post.
 
Does anyone think 18 months isolation is even feesible?

Even if the government told us it was 18 months, people would last 2 and think feck this I'll take my chances.

Imagine you're old and you live 17 months in isolation then die anyway.
I do not think such a lockdown is feasible, it may even be unneccessary.

What I do hope to see here in Europe (otherwise we're fecked):
- escalating levels of restrictions
- eventually you contain the virus like China, Korea. May take a few months
- after health services have recovered from the initial shock, and have been structurally optimized and reinforced we may see attempts a very slow ease of restrictions. By slow I mean each time we'll have to wait a few weeks, until we're sure health services can deal with the new cases
- meanwhile less virulent strains will hopefully have become more precavalent, a few will now be immune. Knowledge on how best to treat the disease will improves. Maybe we'll be closer to a vaccine...
- a bit less restricrion
- rinse and repeat

Maybe 18 months the whole thing, but hopefully not a full lockdown, it will be eased.

A sort of "Brirish Strategy" but reversed.

You strike with extreme force - as we are unprepared. And then you ease up as the situation allows.
 
I am by no stretch of the imagination drunk!

I accept the point you make about the ability of the virus to persist on solid surfaces. Having said that, I'm as confident as I can be that I arrived at the premises virus free (there are people who get it and remain entirely asymptomatic, so without testing I can't entirely rule out having it - the odds are extremely low).

If I touched the kinds of surfaces you talk about, and I most likely did, then there is a risk that I could have picked up the virus from someone else. If so, I will start to exhibit symptoms in a few days and will self-isolate. There is no-one who I came into close contact with between leaving the pub and arriving home, and no-one I am likely to come into close contact with between now and the point at which I would become symptomatic.

In short, the only risk has been to myself, and I'm happy to accept that risk.

There may be a time when you'll either have nowhere to go, or be detained. We will be living in police places, hopefully temporarily. Much (but not only) due to people like you.
 
what would banning wet markets do to help?

The unsanitory conditions and the diversity of animals slaughtered there are the perfect storm for breeding viruses. This video is an eye opener, but it explains it well.

Viewer discretion if you can't stand seeing animal cruelty, it's a hard watch and left me pretty angry, but the science is interesting:

 
The whole "pub" thing has become a trigger after Starkie's bizarre "I'm alright Jack and you're all idiots" ranting from the other day. If you had said "orgy" instead of "pub" then you would have been fine, which is actually what you were at so please stop lying to us.

I'm at one right now. I stand at the foot of the bed and clap.

He probably could have said Nazi bondage party and got less flack, at least they'd only be spreading it in a private room dungeon.
 
There may be a time when you'll either have nowhere to go, or be detained. We will be living in police places, hopefully temporarily. Much (but not only) due to people like you.
Perhaps, but does anyone really look forward to having nowhere to go? Whether it is imposed by legislation, or implied through government advice and social conscience, it will still be miserable. There will be a growing tide of resentment towards the restrictions, and they will ultimately fail. Not immediately, perhaps not even for a few months, but certainly in less than a year.
 
Start with San Marino. It is they and not Italy that are the worst hit country in the world per capita. Italy is big and has areas less affected. San Marino is right in one of the shit zones.
Yeah that makes sense. I would be surprised if they had the infrastructure to support an outbreak like in Italy.

Edit: not that Italy is able to support its outbreak.
 
Yeah that makes sense. I would be surprised if they had the infrastructure to support an outbreak like in Italy.

Edit: not that Italy is able to support its outbreak.
Surely for these purposes it is Italy?