Worried about Cornovirus 30

[Angryrant55]

New thread.

I was deleted this morning on another thread when a poster put a laughing emoji about the army in Italy transporting the dead last night out of Bergamo.
Hey ho.

Barnier is someone I admire. I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

On the news in Oz today.....

@RedToothBrush The school I work in has sent something very similar to parents, although they haven't mentioned Easter opening to parents yet (they have, sort of, to teachers). I think they are also accepting parent's definitions of "key worker" for the moment until the government gives further clarity.

They've made it clear it's an "opt in" service, and if you want to opt in, you do need to e-mail the school by Friday (I guess this is so they can work out their staffing for next week)- although I'm sure if children with care plans/ECHPs turn up, they won't be turned away on Monday!

LBC News - 'Northern Ireland has recorded the first death of a patient who had Covid-19, the Department of Health has announced.'

bbc.in/3d9cOPn

It is horrifying that our medical staff are being put at risk. There is no excuse that in our country the necessary equipment will not arrive until 23rd March. China gave us plenty of warnings about the absolute necessity to have this protection. The viral load can put even healthy staff at risk.

How many idiots are going to decide they are key workers and help spread this around? It's wide open to abuse until a definitive list is announced.
I'm stunned that ds's classmates are still going in until it closes tomorrow.

Called the pharmacy to arrange my elderly disabled mum’s prescription delivery. I said can you let me know if you become unable to deliver at any point because I’ll arrange collection somehow, even if I have to pay a taxi or something.

They said no, we can’t promise to ring because if we get shut down there’ll be nobody here to ring you. Our pharmacist is still here but his bosses (the owners of the chain) have buggered off into self isolation and are unreachable. So we’re just doing our best to keep going with no instructions from above. Staff are dropping like flies, randoms are wandering in and we have no PPE, there’s nobody in charge organising things or recruiting extra delivery drivers. We’ve just been left to cope on our own.

I said how will my mum get her medication if you close? The assistant said your guess is as good as mine. Glad my mum wasn’t the one who rang because she’d be terrified. I’ve blatantly lied and said her supply of medication is guaranteed.

@Bercows - I know many who are sending their DC’s to school until closure as they need the time to organise how they are going to work from home from 9-5, including conference calls whilst look after their DC’s. This includes the majority of my staff. Not everyone can stop working.

www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2020/03/rising-number-medical-staff-infected-coronavirus-italy-200318183939314.html?__twitter_impression=true
Thousands of medical staff infected with coronavirus in Italy
New figures show percentage of infected health workers is almost double number registered in China throughout epidemic.

"Figures regarding the contagion among doctors, nurses and general health professionals have started being disclosed only on March 11. Hundreds of new cases have been daily recorded since then. But medical personnel on the front line should be the first to be protected."

Cartabellotta said the actual number was likely to be higher because healthcare workers are not always tested and protection measures at hospitals were inadequate.

And

According to figures published in JAMA Network Open, an online medical site from the Journal of the American Medical Association, infected medical staff in China made up 3.8 percent of the total cases, with only five deaths.

And

There are no official figures on the number of medical personnel who have died of coronavirus in Italy.

According to Italian daily Corriere della Sera, a general practitioner from the province of Lodi died on Wednesday. This raised the death toll of family doctors in the area to four. Other regions have also registered losses among medical staff.

China did try and cover up deaths of at least two those medical staff - and couldn't because one of them was so high profile - so I'm a little dubious over only 5 medical deaths.

It's worrying that Italy isn't reporting the number of medical deaths though.

This account is reputable. They are a press photographer who gangs outside Downing Street taking pictures of comings and goings and of documents that haven't been put securely in their folders and are being carried around a little too causally.

They are delivering lots of beds to No10 for a fun sleepover. They are gearing up to bunker down there...

Political Pics @politicalpics
Breaking ;I think we can predict a close down of London very soon as beds are being moved into to No10 as we speak...

The pharmacist has phoned back to reassure me. If he gets sick he’s planning to self isolate inside the pharmacy with a stash of tinned food, send everyone else home and lock the doors, so he can continue to take deliveries and dispense prescriptions for the driver to deliver. Because otherwise the elderly and vulnerable won’t get their meds. It’s disgraceful that it’s come to this.

There are various TV news reports about it. It's starting to be a scandal. Lots of frontline staff without the proper protection. The GP who died in Lodi was iirc the wife of one of the hospital doctors.

Lucy Fisher @los_fisher
John Glen, economic secretary, says in Commons the Chancellor "will today be meeting with the TUC, the CBI, the BCC and the FSB.

"This will be with a view to urgently developing new forms of employment support to protect people’s jobs & incomes through this period."

Greg Clark, chair of sci & tech cmtte, suggests: "The monthly wage bill is known to HMRC. Instead of firms paying PAYE to the gvt, that flow should now be reversed with the nation paying the wages of people for the next few weeks, if & only if they continue to employ their staff"

Iain Duncan Smith calls for three urgent changes to Universal Credit, which he says the "gvt could do literally today":

1) lower taper rate
2) change benefit rates to allow "the greater expanse of money to flow to" claimants
3) reduce waiting time "almost immediately"

Gvt coming under a LOT of pressure from Tory MPs demanding urgent extra employment support.

Bernard Jenkin warns ministers "must take note" of calls for "far more radical measures".

"Can I urge the gvt to say something today to give people assurance that the help will come."

Peter Aldous, Tory MP for Waveney, warns many businesses say they face difficulties accessing gvt loans.

Adds: "Can I urge the gvt to support payroll costs far more directly as other European gvts are doing - and this is the way to avoid large-scale redundancies."

FFS. My boss is coughing and has a headache. He came back from Disney Orlando 8 days ago.

He was in the office last week while we set up home working.

My Dh is 58 with hypertension and diabetes.

Unbelievable how selfish some people are.

@IrisAtwood

Thank you for the handhold 💐

And thank you to others who have offered me support. Wishing everyone strength.
We will come out the other side eventually.

for now x

@Petiolaris But surely if he contracts the virus he shouldn't be dispensing medication . I hope a pharmacist may be on here to advise on what obligations a pharmacy are under. How can the owners just bugger off? They are an essential service and included in emergency planning etc.

Our large primary school has given no info or an update to parents since the school closures announcement.

Just a short email to confirm they're going to be following the government plans from Friday, and will update parents with further details ASAP would be nice!

The pharmacist has phoned back to reassure me. If he gets sick he’s planning to self isolate inside the pharmacy with a stash of tinned food, send everyone else home and lock the doors, so he can continue to take deliveries and dispense prescriptions for the driver to deliver. Because otherwise the elderly and vulnerable won’t get their meds. It’s disgraceful that it’s come to this.

Given that the virus can survive on surfaces isn't this an effective way of infecting every vulnerable person taking prescription medication

Or does he have an unlimited supply of full hazmat?

I mean, it's an incredibly noble thing to want to do but the practicalities of making it work safely are more than a bit dicey surely? Not to mention his own safety if he is ill!

Spain reports 2,378 new cases of coronavirus and 129 new deaths, raising total to 17,147 cases and 767 dead t.co/eUoE2b20hL

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-bill-what-it-will-do/what-the-coronavirus-bill-will-do

The new coronavirus bill and what it entails

Parker, surely people should have been making contingency plans at least a week ago when it became obvious schools would close? There's very little sense of personal responsibility about all this with everyone needing to be told what to do instead of using their intelligence. There will be some who have little in the way of choices though, I appreciate that. However, the parents I am talking about are able to keep their kids home before next week.

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/coronavirus-pharmacies-medicine-stockpiling-symptoms-restricted-access-social-distancing-a9410586.html
CORONAVIRUS: PHARMACIES URGE PEOPLE NOT TO STOCKPILE MEDICINE FOLLOWING 'TIDAL WAVE OF DEMAND'
Community Pharmacy Scotland says Covid-19 could impact the way pharmacies operate

CPS also said that the coronavirus may impact the way pharmacies operate, with measures such as restricted access and social distancing being considered.

Close
CORONAVIRUS: PHARMACIES URGE PEOPLE NOT TO STOCKPILE MEDICINE FOLLOWING 'TIDAL WAVE OF DEMAND'
Community Pharmacy Scotland says Covid-19 could impact the way pharmacies operate

Sarah Young
@sarahjyoung
1 hour ago
People are being urged not to stockpile medicines as pressure on the sector increases amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS), which represents the owners of Scotland's network of around 1,250 community pharmacies, said its members are facing a “tidal wave of demand” due to the outbreak.

As a result, CPS has asked people to only buy the medicines and supplies that they need, and that if they have symptoms of infection to ask someone else to collect essential medicines wherever possible.

CPS also said that the coronavirus may impact the way pharmacies operate, with measures such as restricted access and social distancing being considered.

The organisation has written to members of the Scottish parliament to ask for their help in relating the message to the public.

Matt Barclay, director of operations at CPS, said: “Covid-19 has brought unprecedented pressure on the pharmacy network at this time to continue to supply life-saving medicines to population of Scotland.

As more and more GP surgeries close their doors and move to virtual consultations only, people are understandably turning to community pharmacy for support.”

Barclay added that while teams are committed to helping their communities, the pharmacies need help to protect them and maintain the supply of medicines, services and advice for those who really need it.

And

He added that to keep pharmacies open and providing essential services for as long as possible, owners and teams might have to operate a little differently

There is no plan. Not from government nor pharmacy owners. Everyone is making it up as they go along. Meaning it's the frontline who are left to do whatever they feel best without support from above.

CMO and CSO on sky news live now.

sunnyday45
They had no warning the closure announcement would be yesterday. None whatsoever. They’ll have been prepping work etc but the practicalities of setting up Essential Worker provision couldn’t be sorted out down to “who is going to staff it?” etc. They’ve been continually told to stay open, stay open, stay open until they suddenly couldn’t.
LEAs don’t seem to have anything in place for this, as in the schools chosen for limited opening. All they have to announce is the official closure statement from last night.