[Tapper]

Friends of ours (living in Paris had) it.
He thinks he caught at an airport.

Here in the Netherlands, we're waiting for the prime minister to make an announcement, but my wife says the talk at her work (a european union institute) is a ban on meetings until june 1, with speculation that schools and daycares open in May again.

Then again, one of our friends works in a hospital in Rotterdam and she says the peak is expected mid-April. If that's worse than the expectation, we may well look at schools not opening at all until after summer...

[Tiste Simeon]

Been on the Covid Squad the past couple of shifts - two or three of us in a big carrier responding to virus, or rather "breaches of restrictions" related calls.

People are idiots, that's all I can say.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Tiste Simeon, on 29 March 2020 - 06:37 PM, said:

Been on the Covid Squad the past couple of shifts - two or three of us in a big carrier responding to virus, or rather "breaches of restrictions" related calls.

People are idiots, that's all I can say.

'South African police fire rubber bullets at shoppers amid lockdown'

https://www.theguard...vid-19-lockdown

[Tiste Simeon]

Azath Vitr (D, on 29 March 2020 - 06:49 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 29 March 2020 - 06:37 PM, said:

Been on the Covid Squad the past couple of shifts - two or three of us in a big carrier responding to virus, or rather "breaches of restrictions" related calls.

People are idiots, that's all I can say.

'South African police fire rubber bullets at shoppers amid lockdown'

https://www.theguard...vid-19-lockdown

Hah. We just have a word with people and threaten them with a fine if we have to come back.

[Aptorian]

Beaver Killia, on 29 March 2020 - 07:00 PM, said:

Hopefully I finally got through to the old man. I went full dark outlook on him to try to get him to stay here and let me go shopping/bill paying when needed.

You could quote Fauci's estimate that more than a hundred thousand Americans could likely die do to corona related illness. That should sober most people up.

[Cause]

Yip I’m very worried for my family in South Africa. It’s of course impossible to predict but I think South Africa will be hit hard. Rampant tuberculosis, ten million people with aids, a crappy health care system and lots more mean it’s pretty vulnerable.

The townships which are the poorest suburds in South Africa, essentially holdovers from apartheid are particularly gonna be hard hit and are ignoring the lockdown and social distancing rules. Why? Lots of reasons. Lockdown started Thursday but many of them would only have been paid Wednesday, so they had no choice but to go buy food. They are uniinformed, for many South Africa’s they will have only the vaguest idea of what covid19 is, how it spreads and why they should care. 20% can’t read, even more won’t have access to TVs or newspapers.

The police resorting to rubber bullets is also probably proof that they are improperly trained to deal with this but also that the average South African doesn’t take their advice seriously either

[amphibian]

Beaver Killia, on 29 March 2020 - 08:00 PM, said:

Little Rock(such a pretty city) instituting a curfew.

Burn ban in Louisiana to “keep the air clean”. Good luck with that one out here in the Kountry. I’m looking at 2 smoke stacks now and mine will be going around 12:30 AM to.

Why are you burning stuff when there is a ban?

[Mezla PigDog]

Cause, on 29 March 2020 - 07:52 PM, said:

Yip I’m very worried for my family in South Africa. It’s of course impossible to predict but I think South Africa will be hit hard. Rampant tuberculosis, ten million people with aids, a crappy health care system and lots more mean it’s pretty vulnerable.

The townships which are the poorest suburds in South Africa, essentially holdovers from apartheid are particularly gonna be hard hit and are ignoring the lockdown and social distancing rules. Why? Lots of reasons. Lockdown started Thursday but many of them would only have been paid Wednesday, so they had no choice but to go buy food. They are uniinformed, for many South Africa’s they will have only the vaguest idea of what covid19 is, how it spreads and why they should care. 20% can’t read, even more won’t have access to TVs or newspapers.

The police resorting to rubber bullets is also probably proof that they are improperly trained to deal with this but also that the average South African doesn’t take their advice seriously either

Yeah I think what those of us in the UK and US are worrying about rather pales into insignificance in parts of the world where public health is already in a bad place. This virus is going to show us what kind of species we are for turning a blind eye to inequality allowing vast populations to be left so vulnerable to this and it's secondary impacts. While Brits are hording rice the people who grow it for us will probably be starving.

Edit to add - if I do have covid the only thing it is doing now is driving me mad keeping me awake coughing every night.

This post has been edited by Mezla PigDog: 30 March 2020 - 07:45 AM

[Aptorian]

I've been wondering how the big refugee camps around the middle East and North Africa are dealing with the virus. Haven't seen any coverage in the news.

[Macros]

Oh silly apt, why would the news care about those foreigners? Tom Hanks is sick!

[Tsundoku]

Mezla PigDog, on 30 March 2020 - 07:43 AM, said:

Edit to add - if I do have covid the only thing it is doing now is driving me mad keeping me awake coughing every night.

Not getting tested? Don't you fit the criteria?

[Tiste Simeon]

Tsundoku, on 30 March 2020 - 08:34 AM, said:

Mezla PigDog, on 30 March 2020 - 07:43 AM, said:

Edit to add - if I do have covid the only thing it is doing now is driving me mad keeping me awake coughing every night.

Not getting tested? Don't you fit the criteria?

She's not rich or famous so no.

[Aptorian]

Dont know what the situation is like in Britain but in Denmark, both because of a shortage of tests and because they want to limit the spread of the virus, the advice is to stay home and deal with the illness unless it worsens. As long as you're just having the milder symptoms of a flu there is no reason to leave your house.

[Mezla PigDog]

Aptorian, on 30 March 2020 - 09:24 AM, said:

Dont know what the situation is like in Britain but in Denmark, both because of a shortage of tests and because they want to limit the spread of the virus, the advice is to stay home and deal with the illness unless it worsens. As long as you're just having the milder symptoms of a flu there is no reason to leave your house.

Yes, same here. They are prioritising testing for those admitted to hospital and healthcare workers.

There is a lot of criticism about lack of testing because WHO advice all along has been "test, test, test". I support the sentiment but the logistics of doing so many PCR tests is huge. It's expensive. There is a finite source of materials required, including biological materials - it is much more laborious to replenish stock than injection moulding a tonne of plastic parts. Components have to be shipped on dry ice. Tests cost in the region of £1 per test, at best. Once we can manufacture a decent antibody test that will be a few pence per test when manufactured at scale. There will still be biological components needing manufacture but they are more easily scaled than PCR enzymes and primers. The failure in testing here is not due to recent errors. It is due to a lack of pandemic preparedness in general. You can only stockpile for so many eventualities and it's for society to decide what they want their tax bill going towards.

Refugee camps aren't featuring much yet as the virus has been slow to get there. China was first, Europe second because we have so much business travel there, US third for the same reasons. The rest of the world is a few weeks behind - the first case in Syria was 1 or 2 weeks ago.

This post has been edited by Mezla PigDog: 30 March 2020 - 10:19 AM

[Tiste Simeon]

Well they're spending £6m on sending a letter to every house in the country so there's 6 million tests they could have had instead!

[Traveller]

Last night was a bit if a shock to the system. Did a nightshift in our 'new' ICU, was basically given about 10 minutes to get the basics on the computer that records.. everything, and then pretty much left. Got an hours break at 12.30, and then nothing. My job does not really include nursing as such; looking after anaesthetised patients during surgery isn't the same as looking after someone who is tubed for days. The amount of personal care, drug infusions, observations and everything required means that if you're doing hourly obs, by the time you've finished, you're starting back at the beginning.

There was also a patient who was awake when I got there, who was slightly confused still and was walking around coughing everywhere. They didn't have a room ready to send him to, so he was there all night, and i had the pleasure of getting him back to bed every 10 minutes until he finally went to sleep at about 1.

Never seen time move so slowly. In the morning, all the day shift from theatre turned up and got directed in - they are getting their orientation today. Support workers, scrub nurses, ward nurses - all in for ICU training, all looking a bit bewildered.

Long night. Got the kids today; they let me get 2 hours while they played games this morning which took the edge off at least.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 30 March 2020 - 11:16 AM

[Gorefest]

Damn, Traveller, sounds tough. Hope you hang in there.

Just a small addition on the WHO 'test, test, test' message: you also need to bear in mind that the WHO is a world-wide organisation, speaking quite generically to all countries. The message is mainly intended for countries where the healthcare system is less advanced. The WHO assumption is that most developed countries have suitable national expertise in-house to make informed decisions on their 'local' testing regime. So you cannot just quote the general WHO guidance and then use it to comment on your specific national response.

[amphibian]

This is an absolutely bonkers article to read: https://www.vice.com...angering-locals

A young couple in Quebec sold everything and tried to move to the most remote community that they could with zero preparation or skills needed to survive. Luckily, they were discovered and sent back south as soon as possible.

[Malankazooie]

They should have watched Life Below Zero or Mountain Men. It's not something you just decide to do and try. It's a process and you really need to learn from someone who has experience.

[EDIT] Along those lines, the bus popularized in the book and the movie that followed - Into the Wild - has been a headache because of ill prepared tourists wanting to visit it.

Tired of 'Into the Wild' rescues, locals want bus removed

This post has been edited by Malankazooie: 30 March 2020 - 04:55 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Mezla PigDog, on 30 March 2020 - 10:19 AM, said:

Aptorian, on 30 March 2020 - 09:24 AM, said:

Dont know what the situation is like in Britain but in Denmark, both because of a shortage of tests and because they want to limit the spread of the virus, the advice is to stay home and deal with the illness unless it worsens. As long as you're just having the milder symptoms of a flu there is no reason to leave your house.

The failure in testing here is not due to recent errors. It is due to a lack of pandemic preparedness in general. You can only stockpile for so many eventualities and it's for society to decide what they want their tax bill going towards.

'Last September, I met the vice-president for risk for a Fortune 100 company in Washington DC. I asked the executive – who previously had a long career as an intelligence analyst – the question you would ask any risk officer: "What are you most worried about?" Without pausing, this person replied, "A highly contagious virus that begins somewhere in China and spreads rapidly." This vice-president, whose company has offices throughout east Asia, explained the preventive mitigating steps the company had subsequently adopted to counter this potential threat.

[...] Last week, the Washington Post reported on the steady drumbeat of coronavirus warnings that the intelligence community presented to the White House in January and February.

"Donald Trump may not have been expecting this, but a lot of other people in the government were – they just couldn't get him to do anything about it. The system was blinking red."'

https://www.theguard...e-in-us-history

The UK almost certainly would have had similar intelligence....

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 30 March 2020 - 04:56 PM