COVID-19 Coronavirus

Sar said:
Doncaster schools now cleaning doors/ washing hands.

At work we still have the first coronavirus info poster up. Would the Government publish a new one now the situation has eacalated? Do they even know what they are doing?
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I have no idea šŸ˜± it's. Scary being so close isn't it? the school 2 mins away with the infected parent hasn't even done a deep clean to my knowledge! My daughters school they have to wash hands when entering the building and they're sterilising handles šŸ’•
 
I'm going to jump in here, although I'm in a bit of a different situation. It's a bit of a rant, I'm sorry if it doesn't belong.

I'm in Nebraska, in the U.S., and the UNMC has current coronavirus patients in quarantine just outside my home. A 20 minute drive. I go by it 4 times a week. Just today(the 6th of March), it was released that the first case of the virus hit Omaha, from a woman who visited the UK. She had the virus for TEN DAYS before being quarantined. Officials are looking into who she's been in contact with, and where, but there's a super high chance that the virus has already gotten into the Omaha metro.

I have a horrible immune system. Influenza B knocked me down for 2.5 weeks my junior year in high school. My lungs are also in bad shape. Fatality rate in the US is 6.7% as of today. I'm super worried about the virus. I have family in Omaha, and I'm in Omaha at least twice a week for a few hours minimum. My S.O. also works in Omaha, and has been feeling awful all day šŸ˜°šŸ˜±

To make matters worse, I work at Walmart, on the poor side of town. If there are people who are infectious and dont know or cant afford to know it, they'll be there. With me. The cost of a test here in the US is $3,000+. That's not money I have to just... throw around every time I'm worried? Health insurance doesnt cover this sort of testing for a good chunk of Americans, let alone costs associated with if you DO need to be quarantined and medicated. Plus, work is very unforgiving about sick leave, and the system auto fires you past a certain point total. You have to go into work and manually input protected or paid time off.

I have noticed things going off the shelves more frequently. Masks are near impossible to grab, and hand soap is low too. Gloves are almost always out as well. I haven't noticed pets being raided, but I think anyone who gets their hay from a business may want to stock up in case of closures? Small animal supplies don't come in very often. If they're out, they can be out for weeks at a time before more is sent from the warehouses.

Does anyone know if the postal services would shut down if the virus goes haywire? That would really cause issues if that happened. I've got 45 pounds of hay right now, but that may only last me a few months. I don't want to need hay and not be able to get any.
 
Mikknu said:
I'm going to jump in here, although I'm in a bit of a different situation. It's a bit of a rant, I'm sorry if it doesn't belong.

I'm in Nebraska, in the U.S., and the UNMC has current coronavirus patients in quarantine just outside my home. A 20 minute drive. I go by it 4 times a week. Just today(the 6th of March), it was released that the first case of the virus hit Omaha, from a woman who visited the UK. She had the virus for TEN DAYS before being quarantined. Officials are looking into who she's been in contact with, and where, but there's a super high chance that the virus has already gotten into the Omaha metro.

I have a horrible immune system. Influenza B knocked me down for 2.5 weeks my junior year in high school. My lungs are also in bad shape. Fatality rate in the US is 6.7% as of today. I'm super worried about the virus. I have family in Omaha, and I'm in Omaha at least twice a week for a few hours minimum. My S.O. also works in Omaha, and has been feeling awful all day šŸ˜°šŸ˜±

To make matters worse, I work at Walmart, on the poor side of town. If there are people who are infectious and dont know or cant afford to know it, they'll be there. With me. The cost of a test here in the US is $3,000+. That's not money I have to just... throw around every time I'm worried? Health insurance doesnt cover this sort of testing for a good chunk of Americans, let alone costs associated with if you DO need to be quarantined and medicated. Plus, work is very unforgiving about sick leave, and the system auto fires you past a certain point total. You have to go into work and manually input protected or paid time off.

I have noticed things going off the shelves more frequently. Masks are near impossible to grab, and hand soap is low too. Gloves are almost always out as well. I haven't noticed pets being raided, but I think anyone who gets their hay from a business may want to stock up in case of closures? Small animal supplies don't come in very often. If they're out, they can be out for weeks at a time before more is sent from the warehouses.

Does anyone know if the postal services would shut down if the virus goes haywire? That would really cause issues if that happened. I've got 45 pounds of hay right now, but that may only last me a few months. I don't want to need hay and not be able to get any.
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That is a scary situation to be in, I am sorry.

I canā€™t imagine postal services will close. countries will not want business to lose too much as this is all governments really care about is the countries economic status. Also postal services are often man with van they will not want to lose money also.

I know the fatality rate looks high in the US but that is because of the lack of testing, there are lots of mild cases authorities wonā€™t have counted. The fatality rate is a formula and forumlas are only as good as the exact data collected - Number of cases divided by deaths

if the correct number of cases is not reported then death rates looks astronomical. This doesnā€™t appear to be the case worldwide. The belief is very mild cases and
are going undetected

get soap as that is important but blocked soap works just as well as the anti bac stuff, masks are utterly pointless unless you are caring for a sick relative, they give a false sense of safety.

have a huge hug, scary times x
 
sport_billy said:
That is a scary situation to be in, I am sorry.

I canā€™t imagine postal services will close. countries will not want business to lose too much as this is all governments really care about is the countries economic status. Also postal services are often man with van they will not want to lose money also.

I know the fatality rate looks high in the US but that is because of the lack of testing, there are lots of mild cases authorities wonā€™t have counted. The fatality rate is a formula and forumlas are only as good as the exact data collected - Number of cases divided by deaths

if the correct number of cases is not reported then death rates looks astronomical. This doesnā€™t appear to be the case worldwide. The belief is very mild cases and
are going undetected

get soap as that is important but blocked soap works just as well as the anti bac stuff, masks are utterly pointless unless you are caring for a sick relative, they give a false sense of safety.

have a huge hug, scary times x
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Thanks for the hug, it really is getting scary lately. It's hard to balance the fear of a virus that spreads so quickly vs. The knowledge that even if it spreads fast, it isn't much worse than the flu.

I'm glad I don't have to worry about the postal services though. Well, glad and not. It does suck that money is at the root of it, which is also why it's so expensive to test for here, but it just isn't practical to shut down everything.

I've got soap everywhere right now, and my mom brought me immune supplements and extra vitamins. We're trying our best right now to keep my great grandma and I in clean zones. If one of us gets sick, we have a plan in place to move me to a separate house until things clear up for whoever got it.

Thanks again for the hugs. I'm sending some back at you too!
 
I agree, we're still working out how deadly it is but USA testing to death ratio is meaningless, due to lack of testing. Professor on radio saying even people with lung conditions will mostly pull through.
 
So much media hype... "almost 100,000 people have the virus"... which is actually 0.001% of the global population. Very little coverage of the fact that our most familiar corona virus causes the common cold.
OMG 0.001% of people have a fancy new bad cold!
Its a worry for the elderly and people with respiratory conditions and low immune response of course, but not really worth all the media headlines and panic buying...
 
Just popping in to once again stress that this is a situation immuno-compromised people deal with daily, we have advice: Use bar soap (ACTUAL SOAP, not "beauty bars" but any soap is better than nothing because water run off does a lot of work). It makes you wash your hands for longer, and more thoroughly, it also contains the emulsion needed to break down the virus at the base form (lipid breakdown, for those interested). If you're caring for elderly or infirm people, cut your nails short and wash your hands often and thoroughly. i.e. before and after dealing with the person, any animals, food, anything new coming into the house such as the post, shopping etc. It helps if you wipe down door handles, light switches and things like mobile phones, keyboards, mice and remote controls daily too. Basically, anywhere people touch regularly, banisters on stairs, for example, are high contact areas and likely to be places where a virus could linger. This is why you're seeing schools and offices enforcing those things being cleaned. It's genuinely a helpful strategy, even though I realise it seems like just...peeing in the wind, for want of a better term.

It's very likely the virus is currently wide spread amongst the world en masse and going undetected because the vast majority of cases are very mild symptoms or even asymptomatic, but that shouldn't cause panic because so are a million other virii that are equally or more lethal. This one only poses difficulties because it's very new, and science hasn't had a chance to catch up to it yet. People keeping their hands clean and doing their best to protect the more fragile amongst us buys science time to find a way to vaccinate against this newest version and spaces out the number of cases in need of urgent care, thusly ensuring more people survive and we all develop a nice herd immunity over time. (hopefully!)

If there's anything I'm taking away from this, it's that I have never been more grateful for the NHS as a whole, because the situation in the states is appalling and I'm so rooting for all of you out there caring for relatives at the moment. You have my deepest sympathies, I can't even imagine what you're currently fighting against.

All of this said, humans are amazingly resilient and I have the greatest faith that we can conquer this just like we have the many other things that have tried to get to us before, but in the mean time, maybe check on your elderly relatives and neighbours, but do it from outside their house or give them a ring?

Also, adjacent to this whole topic...VACCINATE YOUR CHILDREN. I cannot stress that enough. You are currently seeing the result of a lack of herd immunity, this is the thin end of the wedge because this one isn't even particularly lethal by viral standards, but if the trend for anti-vaxxing continues, this variety of global pandemic is going to become a yearly thing and it absolutely will get worse. If you're an adult, get your flu vaccine if you can, make sure you're up to date on the others available too. It could save your life, wider spread use of all vaccinations available to us as a species will DEFINITELY save the lives of millions globally.
 
Huge hugs to any Americans worrying about this outbreak. We are fairly lucky in the UK in that we have statutory sick pay and employment laws which should prevent anyone getting sacked for isolating for two weeks and not leave them without any income. It should hopefully mean that no one feels the need to attend work and share the germs over fear of money or job security and I wish that same reassurance was there for everyone.

This is going to be one where anti vacciers are likely to see more problems. Kids who haven't had their flu jabs etc. I take a common sense approach. The NHS don't offer things easily because it's expensive for them and they are struggling financially. Therefore if the NHS recommends a vaccine it's because the benefits far outweigh the risks. I had my whooping cough and flu vaccine as soon as I was allowed last year which wasn't as soon as I would have liked considering difficulties getting the flu vaccine. But I am now reassured that I have done everything I can to protect myself and my unborn baby and it might just be several weeks before we are out and about regularly so that s/he can build some immune system first
 
Black piggies said:
If anyone didn't get sick pay for self isolating that would be very bad.
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Self employed people won't like me but we have to factor things like this in and take the hit. My concern is that people will be more reluctant to isolate when they have little or no contingency or find themselves without income because hiring is delayed or paused as a reaction. We shall see but this is something I'm monitoring closely. The upside is that most people already in a contract can work remotely.
 
Case very close to me, going to have to be really careful now... Less than 10 mins
 
@Mikknu sorry that you are in that position. I do feel for you and other Americans in this position & hope for good outcomes for you all.

I had a bank appointment today, so did some shopping afterwards. There is no sanitising hand gel anywhere! Boots & Superdrug have signs up saying 2 per customer only but their shelves are empty. Savers & pound shops empty too, I don't need any as carry it every where anyway so always have some in. It makes me wonder if people are buying the gel thinking it is a substitute for proper hand hygiene.

Was pleased to see posters in the toilets around coronavirus & hand washing. People were actually washing their hands... with soap & water properly-ish! Was then disheartened to see a man sneeze everywhere (saw the spray go all over) & then wipe his nose on his hands.

Seems everyone is just carrying on....
 
Thanks @Sar , and everyone else too. I'm hoping that I'll be lucky enough to avoid getting it, though my hopes aren't quite that high.

And oh boy... You're not making me look forward to going to work xD With the news coming just yesterday, I can't imagine how cleared out the store is going to be today. I'll be saying, "No, unfortunately we ran out of stock for that" all day I bet!

We don't have signs up in the Nebraska quite yet, but I'm sure they're coming. My lunch bag today includes a bar of soap to bring with, and of course some Gatorade to add to my pyramid of empty bottles when I get home. I'm curious as to whether or not they're going to address the virus at work today, especially since a lot of us stock grocery and handle food items. As far as I know though, no schools, universities, or businesses in my state are doing extra cleaning or putting out special measures so far.
 
Its funny that here in Liverpool there is no evidence in the community or in the local newspapers of anyone over reacting, no empty shelves in the supermarket not even in the hand sanitiser and hand wash aisle- but our uni has banned all overseas travel for all staff and students and is asking us to consider how our teaching can be delivered "remotely" in a crisis, even though its only 5 weeks until then end of term!
Well shucks I don't mind lecturing online through a microphone in my pyjamas with a lap full of guinea pigs, if it helps in any way :)
 
Even my 15 year old daughter was saying people are being pathetic by panic buying ... we said in the car today - what if an 'at risk person I.e elderly or Immune compromised person ' has no family or friends and their local shop is sold out of basic things... due to people panic buying....what then?

My mum was spoken to rudely today because she was in a q and got the last hand gel behind the till that they were rationing...
 
Some people seem to love the "drama" aspect of all this. I realise that it is serious and we need to be vigilant but "fighting" over stuff and stock piling isn't the answer. I appreciate we all have different circumstances but some people are over- reacting in the shops. That was totally uncalled for, for someone to be rude to your Mum.
 
piggles 7000 said:
Some people seem to love the "drama" aspect of all this. I realise that it is serious and we need to be vigilant but "fighting" over stuff and stock piling isn't the answer. I appreciate we all have different circumstances but some people are over- reacting in the shops. That was totally uncalled for, for someone to be rude to your Mum.
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I know... it is serious but we should stick to the facts etc.... I have seen fights in Australia over toilet rollsšŸ˜³šŸ˜³
 
So the theories have started!

Don't believe the Government have a plan that actually works... or that they actually care! They say we are a couple of weeks behind Italy so hope they think of something!

Hope everyone is ok. Am trying to think rationally about it but I would hate to have high levels of anxiety or OCD right now.
 
People are stockpiling in Northampton, there's little toilet paper left, so looks like il have to use a water pistol soon as a b day. It's an absolute embarrassment what the sheeple humans have become. And what I mean by sheeple is the people who follow the grain, and listen to everything the media is putting out there.
 
Sar said:
So the theories have started!

Don't believe the Government have a plan that actually works... or that they actually care! They say we are a couple of weeks behind Italy so hope they think of something!

Hope everyone is ok. Am trying to think rationally about it but I would hate to have high levels of anxiety or OCD right now.
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Of course the government care but there is little that can be done. People aren't washing their hands properly and for one reason or another they won't self isolate/ stop travel/ think about preventing mixing with people. The government have a very difficult job to do, they could lock down cities but that comes with its own risks. It's not guaranteed to prevent the virus spreading and could set the economy back greatly which could put us straight back into austerity measures. I'm sure they have planned for the worst case scenario which is what every government and business should be doing but it's finding the right time to implement such a plan without causing widespread panic. Basically we don't know enough about the illness to know how best to handle it
 
I think the most sensible thing to do in the UK will be for the government to carry on as we are now for a few more weeks if possible then time any "shut down" to coincide with the Easter holidays when the schools are closed anyway and many people have already booked time off work and got all their shopping in for the holidays!
 
We should also remember that there are some complex maths equations that health agencies use to calculate risk, I seem to vaguely remember from my epidemiology classes that a major public health risk requires an exponential (10 times) increase in infections during the known disease incubation period, adjusted for the risk of death or life long illness... so if the current 373 cases reaches 3730 within 14 days that probably justifies a major government intervention... I am sure the scientists at Public Health England are crunching numbers around the clock to assess the public health risk as new cases come in, but whatever they advise will never be seen as enough for anyone who tragically loses a family member to Covid-19, and will always be seen as excessive by anyone healthy who gets stuck at home without enough loo roll!
 
As someone very, very likely to be on the family/friend loss side of that equation, you're quite right @PigglePuggle , whatever they do, I'll probably never forgive them if one of mine is lost, but I also recognise that the vast majority of people will sail through this. I think at this point I'd just like everyone to remember that every one of those numbers on a spreadsheet was someone's mother, father, husband, wife, sister, brother, someone's kid, someone's best friend. It seems very abstract to people until they're staring it in the face themselves and then someone else's average Tuesday becomes the worst day of your life.

Please, everyone out there, don't tell people it's nothing, for some people, it will be everything. Not scaremongering, no theories, no conspiracy, just 4000 families mourning.
 
We are not worried about the loo roll (we currently have enough). We have bidet in the house. Hubby installed it in 2011 when I moved to the UK. That's how we do it in the Philippines. For those who don't have bidet in the Philippines, as long as there's water and a dipper/scoop (and soap!), it's good. šŸ˜

We just got back from America yesterday and had our shopping delivered by Sainsbury's today. Will have another delivery on Thursday. We are not panic buying but we are stocking because we don't plan to get out and mingle in the shops for a week or so. Piggies (and the birds) are good in terms of food too.
 
I'm assuming the Italians in lock down just can't do any unnecessary going out, but they can still go and buy food?
 
Here in Fulton County, Georgia (Atlanta is in the middle of it) a teacher got sick on Friday, and on Monday doctors determined he had the COVID-19. All Fulton County schools are closed right now as they try to determine who he's had contact with, which is a long list of students and teachers. My church has also canceled the Wednesday night youth event, and the idea of conducting the Sunday morning service only through Facebook video is being talked about. Stores have run out of certain items and are low on others--hand sanitizer, household cleaners and toilet paper--kinda like snack items and chicken wings are ransacked the day of the Super Bowl.

ToiletPaper-OutbreakOfStupidity.webp

I'm still going to work. So far I've not had to resort to eating toilet paper.
 
I don't get the toilet paper thing, if I was going to panic buy the small bit of extra storage space I have would be used for food! I went shopping today, soap is scarce and there is no paracetamol anywhere. Luckily having lived in the back of beyond and often unable to travel to the shops I'm always well stocked with essentials from habit.
 
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