Covid-19

[Kleio]

I don't really see how it can work any way. If you come back from an at-risk place and go home, even if you somehow are able to not leave your house for 14 days, what about everyone else who lives with you?

One of the local schools has sent some students and staff home to self-quarantine and all their families have to self-quarantine too.

Same here with a local school who have just come back from Milan. The whole school shut yesterday and will be reopening Monday according to the local news.

I’ve got family in that part of Italy so I should call them to check up on them.

[Froozy]

Is he flying direct, Lucy? There are places you're not meant to even transit through (although I can't remember which ones :helpful:). I think it might be much clearer in another week, anyway. Either it will all fizzle out or they'll have been another step in infection and new rules will be in place. There must come a point where self isolating when you're asymptomatic has too much of an impact to be sustainable.

[Topcat]

He he he.... the shit stirrer I was furious about at the start of the week has just theatrically complained of burning up.

I have given her 15 minutes to get out of the building before I report her to my director. I hope that karmic boomerang doesn't smack her on the back of the head on her way out.

[Disco]

[Little My]

[Ella77]

Hope she’ll be unpaid too .

[smalex]

Dawb a cross on her desk and ring a bell as she leaves.

[Ella77]

FFS, I’m in the hairdresser, and a guy has just sauntered in saying that loads of people in Canary Wharf have been sent home as a precaution. Fine, but he has come in FROM that same building. Nobody has any sense.

[Bat Macdui]

My Manager has worked out to how isolate either herself and child or husband and child within their own home if one of them gets it. I am incredibly impressed and slightly concerned by this, as I consider her to be really sensible. Her son needs steroids everytime he gets a chest infection though, so I can kind of see why she'd want to make sure he didn't get it.

I read a really good explainer article the other day, I'll see if I can find it. We just did read throughs of stuff going into the r.apid respons.e grant programme so I am suddenly a minor expert.

[Bat Macdui]

Article. I don't know The Atlantic, so I don't know how reliable a source it is, but this seems to chime with and summarise what I've generally read elsewhere as well.

[Ruby]

Bats. That has made me hysterical. What about my children and my elderly father?

[Bat Macdui]

Um, they might possibly vaguely at some point get a mild flu sort of thing? Tell your Dad to drink a lot, for the antiseptic qualities.

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON?

[Epponnee Rae]

My work jolly to Panama has been cancelled because of this mofo.

Sympathies. Same thing happened to me with my work trip to Tanzania (not because of anything happening there but because it was a joint mission with China). That was three weeks ago, too.
Hasn’t stopped half my team swanning off to Benin and Kenya though

Unless you have pre-existing conditions and/or are elderly the prognosis for this is fairly mild. It’s not ebola. In health systems like the UK and the US, where Primary care is strong and secondary care facilities are extensive and decent quality, there is not a huge amount to be worried about in terms of serious illness. And I’m saying that as an asthmatic (so pre-existing). Even the ability to detect and confirm cases is limited by the health system’s capabilities because the diagnosis requires lab-based, molecular methods (PCR).

Its spread into systems and countries where healthcare and lab capacity is weak is the real concern as then the mortality rate is likely to be MUCH higher than seen in China. From finding suspected cases, diagnosing them accurately, being able to support treatment of severe cases, and even autopsic capacity to clearly understand causes of death. It will be a struggle - and it’s almost definitely already in more places that have ‘found’ it - I suspect most have no incentive to publicise they have cases given the impact felt by China and Asian economies.

Knowing it’s coming and getting ready for it with response plans is really important.

[Ella77]

Honestly, I have serious doubts about the NHS these days.

[Luce]

This is what is hard to find non-hysterical information about - how bad actually IS coronavirus? Is it just a bad cold that is deadly only to a few? I can't read the article because I'm prone to catastrophising and Ruby's reaction to it has nearly sent me over the edge!

[cluefree]

The Atlantic article and Ruby’s reaction has also just sent me right over.

[Luce]

Fuck sake, Ruby

[Bat Macdui]

This is what is hard to find non-hysterical information about - how bad actually IS coronavirus? Is it just a bad cold that is deadly only to a few?

Yes. Mortality rate of 2%, only really increasing if you're over 70 - it's 15% for over 80s. Like ordinary flu or colds. And this is based on Wuhan/China, where the healthcare system isn't as good. Overall, cradle to grave healthcare, as well as emergency provision. Some people who get COVID-19 won't even notice they've got it.

The main potential issue is the NHS coping *if* a lot of people get it, on top of general winter flu admissions and austerity. It's not the quality of our healthcare, it's availability.

[Bat Macdui]

Fuck sake, Ruby

I thought I was being all practical and helpful.

[Bat Macdui]

Nice BBC stats.