Worried about coronavirus thread 24

[ofwarren]

Sorry everyone, I was watching that shambles of a press conference

Just went into my local Sainsburys for a couple of things and they're out of loo rolls again, I noticed.

English Football League has agreed to suspend all games until at least 4 April due to the virus outbreak
Sky news

The coronavirus threatens not just the elderly, but also younger people already coping with chronic health conditions like heart disease and diabetes. That’s roughly half of all Americans. t.co/JKo3S4s4UU
New York times

Please can I join? Until yesterday I wasn't too worried. But now I feel like things are spiralling out if control. I have an underlying health condition and pick up every respiratory illness going plus my DCs and DH have asthma. DS is severely asthmatic and has been hospitalised several times.

I'm stocking up on inhalers and we have calpol and nurofen in the house already. My DH doesn't do stockpiling at all. He's blasé about the whole thing.

I think this will have far reaching effects on mental health in adults and children. I'm frightened and can't sleep at night.

Well my GP surgery has just closed its doors. The notice online says they are cancelling ALL appointments, and are conducting 2 minute telephone triage only...

After some advice please. DD had a slight cough on Sunday which was still very mild on Tuesday. She didn't cough at all Wednesday or Thursday but woke up coughing today. She has no other symptoms apart from a cough. I've kept her off school today as per the new advice. My question is will she be ok to return to school on Monday if the cough has gone or should I be counting from today as she wasn't coughing midweek?

UK government's coronavirus advice – and why it gave it

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/12/uk-governments-coronavirus-advice-and-why-it-gave-it

If Coronavirus is a “Notifiable illness”, does anyone know why we are now being told not to ring 111 if we suspect we’ve got it? It’s like the government are trying to put their heads in the sand. I’m so confused.

On my Facebook there are at least three people who are absolutely shitting themselves because they have coronavirus symptoms and have been told to just stay at home and not contact the NHS. One is a mum who’s frightened for her five year old child who also has symptoms.

People want a test to know if they’re infected or not. They don’t want to have to self isolate unnecessarily when they have caring responsibilities or need to go to work. More than anything they just want some reassurance that their case is on record and they’ve been checked over and are being monitored. They’re terrified to be left alone with an unknown potentially fatal disease and just told to get on with it.

Other worries I have-

Increased homelessness as a result of the pandemic
Children already living in poverty being forced into worse conditions
Unrest, robberies, looting
When people lose loved ones they will be pushed over the brink. I'm worried what will happen

Just topped up at lidl. They have loo rolls and pasta. No frozen food. Queues till the end of the shops. Queued for half an hour. There was a suppressed feeling of panic in the air.

@Exochord - absolutely!! Given we increased testing capacity to 10k per day from today, why not test them? Or is it that we don't have the right type in line with isolation (so people would have to visit a hospital or walk-in centre for the tests potentially exposing many more people to it?!).

"Anyone returning from Italy and Spain will be met by environmental health workers on their return at the airport and told to restrict their movements" t.co/40pvSUJYMv
BBC news

"if it mutates even those who have had it will catch it again."

China reported that they had at least 2 main strains, L & S and that people could be infected with both at the same time

I haven't read any (reliable) report on whether catching one variant renders one immune to the other variant(s)

or whether any vaccine can handle them all - maybe a different vaccine for each of the most dangerous strains ?

The government is sending us all into panic.

Largely because we are dealing with this so differently to all the other countries around us.

And also because people do want a test to know whether they've got CV or not. Who wants to be left alone with an unknown potentially fatal disease and just told to get on with it.

official guidance here on self isolation due to cough or fever

@Lacazettes yes she has to stay off for a week. Ive just posted the official guidance above

If Coronavirus is a “Notifiable illness”, does anyone know why we are now being told not to ring 111 if we suspect we’ve got it? It’s like the government are trying to put their heads in the sand. I’m so confused.

Because the service is overwhelmed and cannot cope.

does anyone know why we are now being told not to ring 111 if we suspect we’ve got it? It’s like the government are trying to put their heads in the sand.

Where is this advice?! Two days ago you could probably get pissed playing a drinking game the amount of times MH told us to ring 111

I see their logic a bit but hate it too. I’m very conflicted. I don’t know what to think! I just feel that if we could delay it till the warmer months, would that buy us time to prepare the nhs and find some anti viral meds before it hits again in autumn.

Overwhelming the nhs in one big swoop now would kill more. We’d have to choose not to treat the old and vulnerable as is happening in Italy.

We need at least 60% of people to catch it for herd immunity. Shouldn’t we do that while killing as few as possible?

I do see your reasoning too though definitely. It’s tough.

From that Fail article, the expert does say the theoretcial ideal would be to let the healthier people get it, to bring some immunity into the community
BUT
he says that strategy would require first completely isolating the vulnerable people - which is impossible

Hence, he strongly advocates the WHO / majority strategy of taking measures to slow down the outbreak, so that the NHS has a better chance of coping:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8108243/Expert-warns-UK-not-change-behaviour-coronavirus-death-toll-big.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailUK

'Professor Medley said his ideal way to process the outbreak would be to quarantine all vulnerable people in the north of Scotland and push everyone else into Kent and 'have a nice big epidemic' there so people could get it over with and become immune to virus, then bring society back together.

Admitting that was not possible, he said slowing down the outbreak and spreading cases out over a long period of time would be the best way to handle it.'

Morning all,

Another day, another attempt to try and rationalise the whole situation while I'd rather be in my blanket fort with crayons.....

Thanks for updates etc - most helpful - also have been reading articles on the psychology of responses to the CV issue as knowledge is allegedly power.

I do think they could have picked a better pic of BoJo for the Guardian article about why our beloved leaders are doing what they're doing, but that's probably just me and when I'm jittery my filters are a bit off and inappropriate can be my unconscious default.......

The worst thing about this is trying not to let it dominate my thoughts 100%. The more I tell myself not to think about it too much, the bigger the damn elephant gets.

Ah well. Best wishes to all and shall pop in to the next thread :)

Who wants to be left alone with an unknown potentially fatal disease and just told to get on with it.

They are just hardening us to when we are telling to old and vulnerable to stay home to die.

@Horehound The PM said it in his speech. He said if you develop symptoms, go into NHS111 online. If they are mild then don't bother the GP or phone NHS111 so they can deal with people who are in a more serious way. He said if you deteriorated, then is the time to contact the GP or 111. Pretty much in the same way as you wouldn't go to the GP for a cold, but you would if you couldn't shake it or it deteriorated and you could have developed a chest infection. That sort of thing.

Because most coughs etc will be just coughs.