Corona Virus

[VLC86]

14 minutes ago, Walkers said:

I don't think many people realise there is a second band of panic buyers who are doing so because of the first band of panic buyers (idiots)

We should try to flatten the peak.

[Izzy]

For all those fvckers panic buying bog roll they don't need, think of the poor buggers like me who actually need it desperately.

 

I've got Crohns disease and had my colon removed which means I need to 'go' on average about 6-8 times a day and once or twice during the night. 

 

I (and thousands of others who suffer from IBD's) genuinely go through a lot more bog roll than your average bear so it's pretty stressful for us not being able to buy any from the shops atm 

[bovril]

35 minutes ago, Ky Le Don said:

Just a theory why not keep all the elders and vulnerable at home self isolating and finding a system to help them whilst everyone else carries on their daily life and keeping everything as normal per se. Work, events etc.

 

And those that become poorly go home self isolate recover and get back on with it. 

Keeping the economy going at the same time as allowing for herd immunity?

I think that's close to what we're going to do. Maybe not keep everything totally as normal but to sequester away the elderly. 

[Guest Kopfkino]

45 minutes ago, Ky Le Don said:

Just a theory why not keep all the elders and vulnerable at home self isolating and finding a system to help them whilst everyone else carries on their daily life and keeping everything as normal per se. Work, events etc.

 

And those that become poorly go home self isolate recover and get back on with it. 

Keeping the economy going at the same time as allowing for herd immunity?

People under 65 and otherwise healthy can still get seriously ill, for example France has said 50% of those in ICU are under 60 so you still have to drip feed people into the system. And that's without the fact that it's impossible to completely cocoon the vulnerbable

Edited 15 March 2020 by Kopfkino

[The Horse's Mouth]

 

[stripeyfox]

19 minutes ago, Izzy said:

For all those fvckers panic buying bog roll they don't need, think of the poor buggers like me who actually need it desperately.

 

I've got Crohns disease and had my colon removed which means I need to 'go' on average about 6-8 times a day and once or twice during the night. 

 

I (and thousands of others who suffer from IBD's) genuinely go through a lot more bog roll than your average bear so it's pretty stressful for us not being able to buy any from the shops atm 

I'd stock up on socks instead mate.

 

And you can wash and re - use

[stripeyfox]

The panic buying is nuts (although I have been putting aside a few bit and pieces myself in the last couple of weeks). At the present time the supply chain is working and the only shortages are caused by people buying more than they normally would.

 

But, if the situation continues, and with countries tending to adopt a isolationist attitude - see the EU's lack of assistance to Italy for example - I do have concerns about the availability of items in the next months.

 

I don't know what proportion of food and other essential items are manufactured in the UK but I guess it's not very high. If other countries which usually supply these items to the UK decide to stockpile for themselves, then what?

 

[Izzy]

9 minutes ago, stripeyfox said:

I'd stock up on socks instead mate.

 

And you can wash and re - use

Funny you should say that 

[st albans fox]

Looking at the way the Italian death rate has increased over the three weeks, I’m more than concerned.... I was thinking that our increase from 21 to 35 today was a better sign than expected but then I looked at the way that Italy has moved and changed my mind !

 

 

 

[nnfox]

2 hours ago, String fellow said:

The problem is that the plan itself isn't based on proven data. Waiting 6-12 months to find out if our strategy has worked won't be a luxury enjoyed by the deceased victims of the experiment. If the rest of the world, including countries who have already experienced the worst of it, are doing one thing and we're doing another, based on the advice of a few government scientists, then it's hardly surprising that the WHO and many other scientists in this country are worried. France went down the softly-softly route for a while, but this weekend has suddenly changed track. Maybe that should also give us here food for thought.  

There aren't many plans out there based on proven data, is there?

 

It is very easy to run for the hills and hope the scary monster goes away, but there is no proven data to suggest that is the best plan.

 

I'm not saying that our plan is the right one, but I'm not one to base my strategy on what everyone else is doing because I don't know what to do myself. 

 

Our situation is different to China, Italy, Korea and others. They seem to have experienced an overwhelming concentration of cases in a small geographical area which is both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing because it is easier to shut down a city than it is to shut down a country and a curse because the local hospitals reach capacity very quickly and are unable to cope.

 

Our situation seems more spread out, which is also a blessing and a curse.  A blessing because local health facilities should be able to cope for longer, and a curse because a higher proportion of our population will likely become infected (which might not be a bad thing long term, but I'm sure people will point to a higher infection rate and claim the plan failed).

 

Patience is key to determining the relevant success of our plan.  Make no mistake, on a global scale, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

[stripeyfox]

It is a bad situation though. There was talk on Facebook earlier of some old boy in Melton wandering round the shops with a zimmerframe looking for bog roll. I've no idea if it is true or not, or if he found any. Another lady commented that she needs to buy nappies and baby formula but could not get any and has no means to travel. 

 

 

 

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, whoareyaaa said:

surely its the warmer country's that have been hit the most so far, Russia has reported hardly any deaths considering the population for example

Wouldn’t trust Russia’s numbers at all and I haven’t seen any big expansion of cases in warm countries thus far  .....

[stripeyfox]

3 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Looking at the way the Italian death rate has increased over the three weeks, I’m more than concerned.... I was thinking that our increase from 21 to 35 today was a better sign than expected but then I looked at the way that Italy has moved and changed my mind !

 

 

 

I was thinking this. Italy has been on lockdown for a week but the death rate doesn't seem to have slowed at all. Maybe it will take longer to have an effect?

[st albans fox]

1 minute ago, stripeyfox said:

I was thinking this. Italy has been on lockdown for a week but the death rate doesn't seem to have slowed at all. Maybe it will take longer to have an effect?

Most of the deaths at the moment were patients infected before lockdown ....

 

you would expect the death rate to start  to drop by next weekend .....

[nnfox]

4 minutes ago, stripeyfox said:

It is a bad situation though. There was talk on Facebook earlier of some old boy in Melton wandering round the shops with a zimmerframe looking for bog roll. I've no idea if it is true or not, or if he found any. Another lady commented that she needs to buy nappies and baby formula but could not get any and has no means to travel. 

 

 

 

We all need to look out for each other.  After all the selfish idiots have got all their supplies and the shelves start getting back to normal, it's important to help each other out, especially those who can't get out.

 

Of course, the selfish idiots can take a running jump.

[stripeyfox]

4 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Most of the deaths at the moment were patients infected before lockdown ....

 

you would expect the death rate to start  to drop by next weekend .....

let's hope so...

 

[brucey]

 

 

[RobHawk]

1 minute ago, brucey said:

 

 

Someone I know is self isolating with suspected coronavirus. Had various tests and x-rays but not the actual test to confirm it 100%. They had the shits too

[stripeyfox]

3 minutes ago, nnfox said:

We all need to look out for each other.  After all the selfish idiots have got all their supplies and the shelves start getting back to normal, it's important to help each other out, especially those who can't get out.

 

Of course, the selfish idiots can take a running jump.

My next door neighbour is in her 70's but in pretty good health. She's been away for a couple of weeks in Madeira. I think she said she was due back later this week. With all the craziness going on I've put a couple of essential items aside for her and will get some fresh stuff for when she gets back.

 

It's not much, but if we all helped one person....

 

[BKLFox]

57 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Thanks for sharing, it's very easy to get emotionally caught up in wanting the government to shut down literally everything straight away, however these people have been preparing for this for their whole careers. Trust them, we are world leaders in this field and let's be honest one of the only countries who seem to have an actual plan.

That’s it there is a plan and just because we are not following suit doesn’t mean we are wrong, to couple that thread and by no means trying to dumb it down this video explains quite well the UKs approach I 🤔 

 

[nnfox]

14 minutes ago, brucey said:

 

 

I best go get some loo roll!

[Parafox]

17 hours ago, Dario_Rodriguez_ said:

Seasonal Flu kills a couple of thousand a year in the UK.

 

Covid-19 is on course to do that in less than two weeks in Italy.

 

Ur heads in the sand son.

I've been at work today, responding to emergencies so haven't had the chance to read or respond to this. 

Yes, Covid-19 will result in a higher mortality rate as it will cause additional deaths on top of seasonal flu. That's the expectation of medics and the government. People will die, unfortunately but it's (so far) nowhere near the death rate from seasonal flu and no-one gets panicky about that.

By the way, I'm 63 I'm definitely NOT your son. I dislike being patronised.

Edited 15 March 2020 by Parafox

[brucey]

 

[stripeyfox]

3 minutes ago, Parafox said:

I've been at work today, responding to emergencies so haven't had the chance to read or respond to this. 

Yes, Covid-19 will result in a higher mortality rate as it will cause additional deaths on top of seasonal flu. That's the expectation of medics and the government. People will die, unfortunately but it's (so far) nowhere near the death rate from seasonal flu and no-one gets panicky about that.

By the way, I'm 63 I'm definitely NOT your son. I dislike being patronised.

I'm unsure why @Parafox that you seem to have been attracting a couple of flippant and disrespectful comments on here  (like the one last night accusing you of being a 12 year old). So in the interests of balance, I would like to say on behalf of myself and I'm sure most FT regulars - thank you for your service. 

 

I've been reading your thoughts and comments on FT for a long time and would consider you a much respected member of the community here.

 

So thanks mate, and good luck for the weeks and months ahead....

[String fellow]

Looking at the BBC News website, there are doom-laden stories all over the place, seemingly getting worse by the hour. Meanwhile, the main headline for us is that the over 70s face isolation 'within weeks'. Various older folk I know are hunkering down already.