Worried about coronavirus part 10

[GPwife2411]

Previous thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3836973-To-be-worried-about-coronavirus-part-9

updated data on this page every day at 2pm until further notice.
www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public#number-of-cases

It's not just like flu www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/yes-it-is-worse-than-the-flu-busting-the-coronavirus-myths

Why WHO not declaring a pandemic www.newscientist.com/article/2235342-covid-19-why-wont-the-who-officially-declare-a-coronavirus-pandemic/

Worldometer www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

BNO News bnonews.com/index.php/2020/02/the-latest-coronavirus-cases/

Link to WHO report www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

The Lancet coronavirus hub - latest research and comment www.thelancet.com/coronavirus

JAMA coronavirus research centre jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/pages/coronavirus-alert

Now it's a 4 step plan

contain

Delay

Research

Mitigate

Is this from the plan? This sounds extremely sensible and pragmatic.

I've just been appointed the 'Coronavirus Champion' at work because I have such an in-depth knowledge of the subject!

I always have been, and always will be, a secret Mumsnetter, so I just look clever - thanks folks!

@BiBiBirdie Try to take things a day at a time. I know it's difficult, especially when you have a child with health problems. It's going to be difficult for most of us if one family member gets ill, figuring out quarantine if it's even possible in small houses. I think no-one knows what the situation might be in a week or even two weeks' time.

I'm sorry, but that was a waste of fucking time.
What was that bluster about shaking hands? The guy stood next to him looked dumbfounded. "Wash your hands before shaking hands..."
Absolute joke

The normal flu can knock you for six. I don’t have any lung issues but unfortunately caught flu 4 years ago which progressed to mild pneumonia. I got the flu in December and didn’t feel fully recovered until March.

I was due to fly to Gibraltar on 13th but had to cancel after getting a PE and being put on anti coagulants.. however my friends are still going

@Dusty01 let the awful man shake hands and catch it. Horrid man and not my PM.
The only positive we can take is that I think if it hits and hits badly, the NHS will not cope at all and I think his position and that of his party would be untenable. It may just be the push we all need to take to the streets to oust the lot of them once this virus has gone or been contained.

We've all stopped shaking hands at work, we bow or fist bump according to personal preference. It's vital to clarify which we're doing in advance as a combination of the two has led to some minor injuries

Iran reports 835 new cases and 11 new deaths; total of 2,336 cases and 77 deaths t.co/eUoE2b20hL

Also, after SARs/MERs (both strains on CV, with this one being Covid-19) why did they not continue to create a vaccine? Whilst they were demonstrably not as bad as the current strain, it still killed people and hit in many countries. So why on earth did the science lot not continue to investigate it and create a medicine? I mean correct me if I'm wrong of course but all this now is yet another "lessons will be learnt" exercise.

Canterbury College (Kent) has sent an email to students saying a student has tested positive. I havent seen the email personally so cannot say this is 100% true yet

🤦‍♀️😟 😢

For anyone mocking the handwashing advice, have a look at this illustration of the extraordinary difference it makes to the speed and spread of infection transmission across the UK:

mobile.twitter.com/FryRsquared/status/1234491912775782400

The government realise it can't be contained and there is no vaccine.

They've also calculated that there isn't a high enough death rate to do a lot.

So they want the population to build an immunity which means its a question of people getting the disease in an organised and orderly fashion.

This helps in the long term if this becomes a seasonal infection (which it's likely to) and would provide a degree of protection to more vulnerable groups through herd immunity.

It does however leave vulnerable groups utterly bewildered and anxious worrying about how they can avoid being part of the unlucky 1%.

Anyway I've been to the supermarket this morning and bought my milk and onion rings so everyone can go and panic buy this afternoon. There was plenty of stock of everything although there was low stock on some brands.

I was planning to go on holiday at whit so that looks screwed now if they are aiming for a May peak.

China will be pissed off though. They've done all the quarantining only for the UK to say, "stuff that". They've already report 7 imported cases from Italy.

Where do they get the 1% mortality rate

Just spoke to my mum on the phone. She is 70 and has been in and out of her GP and hospital for a huge number of ailments in the last 6 months, is on all kinds of medication, has high blood pressure, and has always been susceptible to very bad coughs.
She could not have given less of a fuck about what’s going on
When I asked her if she’s going to stay away from crowded places etc, she almost laughed and went down the route of ‘well, flu causes more deaths per year’... Boris says we should just wash our hands etc etc

Then she said she hasn’t really been following it all that closely on the news...

She’s now off for a large gathering and luncheon at a big hotel 🙄

The overall message does seem to be that we can't do much about it so stay calm, wash your hands but still shake lots of hands in succession and carry on as normal. I don't feel reassured at all.

@Sassenach85 In the report they say that people have to realise that for most cases, treatment will be OTC medicines and staying in.

Re travel for school trip, thanks Dusty - sounds like what I expected then. It just seems, dunno, asymmetrical that France is cancelling its school trips abroad, whilst foreign school trips into France are still going ahead.

Bercows, to an extent, I think that's all we can do.

One thing I do wonder about is people travelling back over the Christmas period into this country having visited relatives abroad. My town is a University town, and relies heavily on International students. We also have a huge amount of language schools. There has been nothing about their potential to carry and spread the virus. Students are likely, surely, to have been to crowded areas all over the world, and if they are less likely to be ill, as they are mainly young, I would have liked to see the education system working with the health system to screen and contain and by extension reassure that they are no greater risk than anyone else. I was horrified to read about a Singaporian student beaten by xenophobic arseholes because of this - I think a publicly proclaimed screening programme for those who have travelled while part of any large institution would be good practise and help ease public fears.

@ofwarren I do hope that Nazanin is released, her family must be absolutely in bits. 🙁

It does however leave vulnerable groups utterly bewildered and anxious worrying about how they can avoid being part of the unlucky 1%.
Exactly that!
I feel in a worse position watching that as nothing has been put in place to help the vulnerable.
It's all well and good saying most people will only get a mild dose but that does nothing to help people in my position.

What can I do except self isolate my family for the next 6 fucking months while everyone else is like, "ah well, it's just a mild virus".

Why don't the just say not to shake hands. It's not that big a deal as a precaution and it would avoid confusion. I don't understand the mixed messages. It's just makes the government seem even more ridiculous.

Guardian live blog update, summarising a point from the PM's briefing today:

Infections in UK would peak three months after first sustained transmission
The government is working on the basis that it will take between two and three months after the first sustained human to human transmission for the outbreak to peak.

That potentially key point on timeframes was spelled out by Britain’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.

After that, it would take another two to three months for it to taper off.

(So... End of July/Aug before it tapers off)