The Mock Turtle

It's all starting to sound a bit like a movie with what's happening in China. Wuhan and Huanggang have been quarantined and a few hundred people (officially) have caught the virus and 30 or so have died.

We'r flying from Gatwick tomorrow evening and I'll admit to being a bit nervous. I'm sure it's all hype but I've never heard of an entire city being closed.

Should I cancel my direct debits and go crazy?

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1220317863044665346?s=20

I think you'd be fine just making sure you wash your hands a lot, use antibacterial stuff etc.

As per the daily thread, my brother is in Wuhan and says it's not on lock down and you're able to get in and out. I don't know if that's just for certain people though.

It is quite scary in general.

I always catch a cold or something on a flight but I'm just getting over one so hopefully I'll be OK.

I hope your brother stays well.

I don't mean to sound callous, but the death rate doesn't seem to be all that concerning at the moment. I mean, considering how many people die of normal flu (15,000 in England & Wales in 2017, for instance), it seems like hype more than anything at the moment.

Yes, you're probably right but I have reduced kidney function so the flu (or similar) would be very serious for me.

I don't think it is the death toll right now, as you say less than normal flu, but it is more a case of just how fast it is moving and the potential ramifications if it gets a grip and turns into a pandemic

Tsu wrote: ↑Thu Jan 23, 2020 1:25 pm I always catch a cold or something on a flight but I'm just getting over one so hopefully I'll be OK.

I hope your brother stays well.

Put some Vicks First Defence up your schnozz; I do this before every flight and often when I'm going on a long train journey too.

Keep an eye on the FCO website - we have had a couple of concerned enquiries at work (people who consider themselves at 'severe risk' because they are going to Thailand in six months ) - but there is no crisis comms or anything, so it doesn't seem a massive issue yet.

4 people in Scotland are being tested for this virus.

Are they?!

I am relying on you lot to let me know when to panic, I've had to avoid reading much about it cause it pushes all my anxiety buttons.

Apparently. But I don't think it's worth any panic, Shoebels.

The Daily Heil will have a field day, but they've quarantined some people who had travelled through China and then felt a little unwell.

There's a helpful Guardian article on how worried you should be.

Though this does not cover returning to areas of contagion with a grin and no mask. *Strong look at Ken's bro*

If you heard an interview about this on Today just now, that was my brother. (Not the unidentified Chinese student, but the other one).

Why doesn't he like the Guardian? Is it because they're a bit snooty and disapproving? They can be very paternalistic about China.

I think.

'.

Maybe he should start doing his whole own 'Dispatches from Ken's Brother' thing.