Mutating Corona Virus

[hightail]

2 hours ago, honeybee13 said:

I was thinking back to this sad but inspiring story the other day, the village of Eyam in Derbyshire during the plague. Article from the Guardian about whether people now will or would be selfless during a pandemic.

They will because it's easy to be these days.  Online shopping means you aren't cut off from supplies, people don't need to go out.  You don't even have to cut off contact with people thanks to skype and facetime.

[honeybee13]

So are delivery people making arrangements to bring food and other goods to people in a way that they can't be infected? I'm not being facetious, I may have read something about delivery people being at risk.

[BazzaS]

Delivery people don’t have to be at any more risk than the general public.

 

Even if someone is self-isolated : order online. Pay online.

delivery driver drops off on doorstep. Walks away.

self-isolated person (wearing a surgical mask*), opens door, moves shopping into their home, closes door, never touches the environment of outside their front door.

delivery driver washes their hands / uses alcohol gel sanitizer.

 

* FFP3 mask (fit-tested, correctly donned and doffed) protects uninfected person from the environment. Surgical mask protects (large droplet) environment from infected person.

Edited February 28, 2020 by BazzaS

[honeybee13]

Thank you Bazza. I know I'm over simplifying this. Are the masks you talk about still available please?

[BazzaS]

FFP3 masks : only useful if used correctly by people who have been “fit - tested” - some people the masks just don’t fit well enough.

 

The problem then is that people think they are being protected by the mask, but aren’t.

[unclebulgaria67]

Worrying new case in Surrey where person appears to have caught the virus in the UK.

[honeybee13]

UB, there's a case in California that's the same, isn't there?

 

OH's firm, which is American-owned, issued an international travel ban yesterday whether for business or pleasure.

[unclebulgaria67]

Experts are saying the virus is likely to be present in parts of the UK, where people have come back from Italy and other hot spots.

The person in Surrey may not have personally been in presence of a carrier, but someone they have met has been.

Did you see that Wetherspoons have apparently said that those staff who self quarantine following advice from health services will not be paid.

With Civil Service, if staff have had health services advice to not go to work for 14 days, once they have contacted line manager and it is accepted it relates to this virus, the absence can be treated as special leave. But the absence can be part of overall absence management.

[hightail]

8 hours ago, unclebulgaria67 said:

Worrying new case in Surrey where person appears to have caught the virus in the UK.

They’re reporting it as the first case caught in the UK.  How do they know?  It may be the first case as such needing medical attention but surely that’s all they can say.  There could be cases where the symptoms were so mild they’ve gone unnoticed.

Edited February 29, 2020 by hightail

[tobyjugg2]

4 hours ago, unclebulgaria67 said:

Did you see that Wetherspoons have apparently said that those staff who self quarantine following advice from health services will not be paid.
 

 

So forcing people to go in  ....

.. and share the issue with all witherspoons customers and staff

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[unclebulgaria67]

Government are going to bring in legislation apparently, so they can implement controls.  Presume that this means that if they wanted to lock down an area, closing places of work, schools etc, they can do so. 

 

You would think they already have such powers. But I guess that it may not be specific enough to cover an outbreak of a virus, requiring controls on people movement.

 

Government has to be careful, otherwise they risk people panicking and buying huge amounts of food supplies, just in case they are housebound for 14 days or more.  

 

Easter holidays are only a month away !

[BazzaS]

The “proper officer” will have power over individuals (if the virus added to the list of organisms such as MDR-TB / diseases which they already have powers over those infected)

The Civil Contingencies Act gives broad powers over groups / areas.

 

I suspect the new legislation is mostly codifying, perhaps with some new powers to defer / suspend some statutory limits (such as class sizes - has been suggested by the BBC)

“There are few details about what the measures could involve - but school class sizes in England is one area which would be addressed. They would be permitted to rise above statutory limits, in the event of widespread teacher absences.”

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51684624

 

[honeybee13]

Easyjet have started cancelling flights. OH was due to travel from Gatwick to Montpellier and it's been called off.

[PIXeL_92]

I flew to Sweden on Thursday last week by Saturday morning I had a sore throat, chesty cough and occasionally very slight shortness of breath (put this down to blocked nose and having to breath through mouth.) It has started to wear off, should I have really gone to the doctors in case ?

Edited March 2, 2020 by PIXeL_92

[honeybee13]

I'm not sure you're meant to go to the doctor, you could infect people in the surgery. I thought the advice was to ring 111? Unless you're still in Sweden of course.

 

I hope you're better soon.

 

HB

[tobyjugg2]

Hard to believe the jumbled up mess I've seen reported over the weekend

 

You got an 'expert' who was supposed to be stating facts,

when asked about getting the infection through your eyes she said something like 'you can't catch it by looking at someone ...

and the presenter said nothing ...

 

Then you have the standard, quite sensible base instruction to self isolate

... but no standard government directives on whether people should be paid or not, so low income folk, like part time bar work at withered spoons,  have to go to work

but even that base instruction ---- if you have a cough and feel unwell - self isolate ... in cough and cold season ..... - even if you will starve or be thrown out on the street if you do - because otherwise you are throwing yourself on  Priti Patels mercy ........

 

and its likely to have barely started yet.

Edited March 2, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[BazzaS]

8 hours ago, PIXeL_92 said:

I flew to Sweden on Thursday last week by Saturday morning I had a sore throat, chesty cough and occasionally very slight shortness of breath (put this down to blocked nose and having to breath through mouth.) It has started to wear off, should I have really gone to the doctors in case ?

 

In case of what?

 

In case it was "what you normally get when you fly" : if you normally get that and there isn't anything different to normal, why are you worried about what is normal for you?.

 

In case it was a cold? Would you normally go to the doctors with a cold?

 

In case it was the current coronavirus people are panicking over?.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19

 

In case *something else*: what *something else*?

 

 

So, if you think you have an ordinary cold, do what you normally do. I'd hope you don't go to the doctors with a cold unless there is something *out of the ordinary* or your doctor has previously told you "come to the surgery if ........" and you meet what they've advised.

 

If you think you might have Covid-19, just as HB has pointed out, going to the GP or the hospital is *just the wrong thing to do* (unless you need an ambulance to take you to A&E urgently, because you are that ill, in which case dial 999/112 for an ambulance, but tell them [or get whoever is calling for you if you are that unwell, to tell them] where you've traveled).

 

It is important to take simple precautions, and not ignore the risk this current virus poses, but at the same time : don't over react.

Think you have a cold or flu? : "Catch it. Bin it. Kill it."

Want to avoid catching covid-19, a cold, or flu: wash your hands. Wash them if contaminated. wash them before eating or touching your mouth or face.

This has been a BazzaS public service announcement on behalf of common sense, everywhere.

Edited March 3, 2020 by BazzaS

[BazzaS]

9 hours ago, honeybee13 said:

Easyjet have started cancelling flights. OH was due to travel from Gatwick to Montpellier and it's been called off.

 

Likely cancelled for commercial reasons (people cancelling their travelling plans, not enough pax to make the flight commercially viable).

There is no current FCO advisory against travel to Montpellier, although it seems sensible to limit non-essential travel.

 

In general terms (so, anyone, not just HB or her hubby!)

Able to work from home just as effectively as office? Why aren't you working from home already? :)

Able to work from home more (and still be as effective, or almost as effective)? Do so. "Sell it" to your employer as "I'll be less likely to get ill, so it can fit in with your resilience plan ......."

Is it essential you travel abroad? Put off non-essential travel : but if you have already booked? Follow the FCO advice.....

[tobyjugg2]

UK reveals plan to tackle outbreak

 

 

* The prime minister is expected to establish a sealed “war room” to keep him and carefully selected people safe

 

* While the NHS will be required to 'launch a public information campaign' costed from their existing budget, which will be reduced further to cater for the costs of the sealed war room and to deliver further reduction in cost benefits

 

* and in an unexpectedly swift implementation of Priti Patels 'make the old and ill work, especially where no one wants to' philosophy, retired doctors and nurses asked to return to work to deal with infected people

- Scandalous entirely unconfirmed Rumours declare she was heard to mutter - we don't want young doctors with a lifetime of work ahead of them at risk

We understand that there has been a rush on Irish passports from older people who worked in the medical fields

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-news-live-symptoms-update-map-cases-china-uk-deaths-a9371196.html

Edited March 3, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

Latest update

 

"Britain is not planning to cancel mass gatherings or large sports events over the concerns about coronavirus"

the health minister, Matt Hancock, has said

 

- but apparently he will not be attending any.

 

schools as well should not be closing unless there is a positive case and the schools have the advice to close," Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast.

 

It is understood that the minister aspires to be in a position to be able to advise schools to close within a relatively few days of an outbreak at a school being confirmed

Edited March 3, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[honeybee13]

So apart from protecting the great and the good in the war room, they don't seem to be in a hurry to do much for the rest of us.

[tobyjugg2]

Warren Murray

Top story: Some can’t afford to stay off work Hello, Warren Murray with you at a time when “hope you’re well” is no longer an empty salutation. The government is failing to grasp the threat of gig economy workers spreading coronavirus by continuing to work because they don’t get sick pay and can’t afford unpaid time off, unions say. They number more than a million, and many visit hundreds of addresses every week delivering parcels and takeaways and carrying passengers in minicabs. The government has suggested they should claim benefits but that involves delays and not all would be eligible. Uber has told drivers with symptoms to stay at home but did not reply when asked how it would compensate them.

Edited March 3, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

While our new chancellor

 

Coronavirus: Treasury officials draw up plans to protect economy

 

New chancellor Rishi Sunak rushes out statement insisting he is ready for the financial backlash from the virus

'water off a ducks back' he allegedly said in private.

 

 

"Amid falling stock markets, economists have warned of a possible global recession as consumers cut spending and companies' supply chains struggle to cope with factory shutdowns"

 

- Its understood that the proposals were outlined to the ERG members 2 days ago, and they retorted:

 

'Thanks for the heads up. We'll just expand our shorting of British companies that will struggle as we did due to the negative impacts of Brexit"

"We'll make even make more money from our careful consideration of the expected tribulations of British workers and companies"

"As we've always stated - Brexit will bring great benefits to those who matter to us"

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

ooops

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-uk-budget-economy-plan-recession-a9370876.html

 

"The comments came after Mr Sunak briefed Boris Johnson and other ministers at the COBR meeting that agreed an action plan to be published on Tuesday"

[tobyjugg2]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-uk-budget-economy-plan-recession-a9370876.html

 

I find it hugely telling that they are getting prepared for the financial impact to London, but nothing in place for gig/zero hours/low paid workers

... or even school kids