Corona Virus

[Crinklyfox]

2 hours ago, Webbo said:

My wife has a slight heart problem, the doctors said she wasn't in the at risk group. She tried though.

Many heart problems aren't on the list of conditions that class a person as extremely vulnerable.  I suffer from a condition called atrial fibrillation which is a periodic problem and which I thought would get me designated as extremely vulnerable but it didn't (I do have another medical condition that was on the list).  I've been trying to keep up with worldwide developments and noted with some concern that a study in Italy on medical conditions suffered by those dying from Covid-19 revealed that 21% had atrial fibrillation.  So I expect that the list of 'qualifying' conditions will evolve as more becomes known about the virus.

[ealingfox]

 

[davieG]

UK public asked to submit questions for daily briefing

The daily UK coronavirus briefing from Downing Street has become a familiar fixture since March, but now the public will now be able to submit questions.

The government says submissions will be reviewed at midday and only one question will be chosen by an independent polling organisation. The person selected can then have their question read out or can ask it themselves in a pre-recorded video.

To take part you have to be over 18 and submit your question and some personal details online.

The BBC's political editor, Laura Kuenssberg said she had received thousands of emails from the public in the past few weeks - with the most common themes being people worried about jobs and income, concerns about personal protective equipment and questions over why travellers are allowed to arrive in the UK without health checks.

[Webbo]

3 minutes ago, Crinklyfox said:

Many heart problems aren't on the list of conditions that class a person as extremely vulnerable.  I suffer from a condition called atrial fibrillation which is a periodic problem and which I thought would get me designated as extremely vulnerable but it didn't (I do have another medical condition that was on the list).  I've been trying to keep up with worldwide developments and noted with some concern that a study in Italy on medical conditions suffered by those dying from Covid-19 revealed that 21% had atrial fibrillation.  So I expect that the list of 'qualifying' conditions will evolve as more becomes known about the virus.

I don't want to over state her condition, she has a  tiny hole in her heart and her heart is smaller than normal. She's not on any medication. It doesn't really affect our everyday lives. She's not allowed to go scuba diving but that's not really a problem where we live.

[davieG]

1 minute ago, Webbo said:

I don't want to over state her condition, she has a  tiny hole in her heart and her heart is smaller than normal. She's not on any medication. It doesn't really affect our everyday lives. She's not allowed to go scuba diving but that's not really a problem where we live.

I've had a stent fitted 2 years ago am old and I'm taking 7 tablets a day and i'm considered not extremely vulnerable.

[Webbo]

1 minute ago, davieG said:

I've had a stent fitted 2 years ago am old and I'm taking 7 tablets a day and i'm considered not extremely vulnerable.

But can you go scuba diving?

[davieG]

Just now, Webbo said:

But can you go scuba diving?

Ha, Not with my perforated ear drums, even swimming is a no, no. It was swimming in the sea at Great Yarmouth as a kid with all the turds and other effluent floating around that caused it, we knew no difference then - stupid as we were.

[Nalis]

16 minutes ago, davieG said:

UK public asked to submit questions for daily briefing

The daily UK coronavirus briefing from Downing Street has become a familiar fixture since March, but now the public will now be able to submit questions.

The government says submissions will be reviewed at midday and only one question will be chosen by an independent polling organisation. The person selected can then have their question read out or can ask it themselves in a pre-recorded video.

To take part you have to be over 18 and submit your question and some personal details online.

The BBC's political editor, Laura Kuenssberg said she had received thousands of emails from the public in the past few weeks - with the most common themes being people worried about jobs and income, concerns about personal protective equipment and questions over why travellers are allowed to arrive in the UK without health checks.

Happy to clear this one up.

 

It's because when other countries do it they are taking coronavirus seriously and are being understandably cautious whereas if the UK did it then we would be unfairly xenophobic.

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

15 hours ago, MattFox said:

I work in still open retail ,we were planning for 50% of the workforce of 30 to be off because of this minimum but have had had 1 off in 4 weeks (touch wood)

 

I genuinely think with strignent social distancing plus isolating vulnerable as well as core NHS staff And care workers theirs away out of this

 

 

Me too 

[Guest Kopfkino]

 

 

[murphy]

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to be followed by even more deadly and destructive disease outbreaks unless their root cause – the rampant destruction of the natural world – is rapidly halted, the world’s leading biodiversity experts have warned, writes Damian Carrington, the Guardian’s environment editor.

In an article, they write:

There is a single species responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic – us. Recent pandemics are a direct consequence of human activity, particularly our global financial and economic systems that prize economic growth at any cost. We have a small window of opportunity, in overcoming the challenges of the current crisis, to avoid sowing the seeds of future ones.

Professors Josef Settele, Sandra Díaz and Eduardo Brondizio led the most comprehensive planetary health check ever undertaken, which was published in 2019 by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). It concluded that human society was in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems.

In an article published on Monday, with Dr Peter Daszak, who is preparing the next IPBES assessment, they write:

Rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of agriculture, intensive farming, mining and infrastructure development, as well as the exploitation of wild species have created a ‘perfect storm’ for the spillover of diseases.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/27/halt-destruction-nature-worse-pandemics-top-scientists

[leicsmac]

53 minutes ago, murphy said:

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to be followed by even more deadly and destructive disease outbreaks unless their root cause – the rampant destruction of the natural world – is rapidly halted, the world’s leading biodiversity experts have warned, writes Damian Carrington, the Guardian’s environment editor.

In an article, they write:

There is a single species responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic – us. Recent pandemics are a direct consequence of human activity, particularly our global financial and economic systems that prize economic growth at any cost. We have a small window of opportunity, in overcoming the challenges of the current crisis, to avoid sowing the seeds of future ones.

Professors Josef Settele, Sandra Díaz and Eduardo Brondizio led the most comprehensive planetary health check ever undertaken, which was published in 2019 by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). It concluded that human society was in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems.

In an article published on Monday, with Dr Peter Daszak, who is preparing the next IPBES assessment, they write:

Rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of agriculture, intensive farming, mining and infrastructure development, as well as the exploitation of wild species have created a ‘perfect storm’ for the spillover of diseases.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/27/halt-destruction-nature-worse-pandemics-top-scientists

I'm pretty sure no-one wants to be condescended to, but unfortunately what is being said here is accurate - it's a simple truth that the more humans forge into natural habitats and change them to suit our purposes, the more likely it is we will find something that fights back and that we cannot stop. That applies equally to forest and jungle being cleared for development and permafrost melting on account of man-caused climate change, among other things.

[Big Dave]

5 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

I'm pretty sure no-one wants to be condescended to, but unfortunately what is being said here is accurate - it's a simple truth that the more humans forge into natural habitats and change them to suit out purposes, the more likely it is we will find something that fights back and that we cannot stop. That applies equally to forest and jungle being cleared for development and permafrost melting on account of man-caused climate change, among other things.

To me, it is almost like this Coronavirus pandemic is a warning to the world. 
Buck your ideas up, or I will **** you over worse next time.

[Lionator]

55 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

 

 

This is interesting as it supports the legitimacy of the death numbers from covid-19 in Wuhan alone.

 

It's also important to remember that Wuhan had an early and exceptionally strict lockdown yet still 10% of the population were infected. In places like New York and London where this was circulating for much longer pre lockdown, it's likely to be well over 20% as indicated by the New York study last week. 

 

While overall herd immunity is unlikely at this stage and in the future, if even 20% of people in big cities are infected then that will naturally slow the infection rate down as only 4 out of 5 people could be infected. That's assuming you can't get reinfected. It also however doesn't take into consideration potential cross-immunity from other coronaviruses which now seems a very real possibility (up to a third of people). So we could actually be closer to herd immunity than previously thought in a best to middle case scenario.  

[twoleftfeet]

It is interesting that even though we are in the midst of a pandemic the world's population is still growing.

 

[leicsmac]

2 minutes ago, Big Dave said:

To me, it is almost like this Coronavirus pandemic is a warning to the world. 
Buck your ideas up, or I will **** you over worse next time.

An idea I've heard before and one that does have some merit to it. As bad as Covid-19 has been and is being and will be, there are other potential pathogens out there that make it look very tame indeed.

 

We need to be better stewards of this planet or become much more capable at handling what it might throw at us - doing neither is a scenario that likely isn't going to end well. Unfortunately, however, I doubt the ability of enough people to look beyond their own line of sight and long term enough to make some difficult decisions on that score.

[Nalis]

Just now, twoleftfeet said:

It is interesting that even though we are in the midst of a pandemic the world's population is still growing.

 

That story about the father of 13 getting it is crazy, I can understand big families back in the day when child mortality rates were a lot lower. World is over populated as it is, why anyone in 2020 should have over 5 kids let alone 13 is beyond me.

[pleatout]

12 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

I'm pretty sure no-one wants to be condescended to, but unfortunately what is being said here is accurate - it's a simple truth that the more humans forge into natural habitats and change them to suit our purposes, the more likely it is we will find something that fights back and that we cannot stop. That applies equally to forest and jungle being cleared for development and permafrost melting on account of man-caused climate change, among other things.

Or on the other hand, it has been happening about every 50-100 years for as long as recorded history goes back. 

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, pleatout said:

Or on the other hand, it has been happening about every 50-100 years for as long as recorded history goes back. 

Yes, it has - but at no point during that time have humans reached across and attempted to change as much of the world as they have today. And that record will only keep being broken, I would guess.

 

I'm not about to go misanthrope here but the more drastically we change things or seek to change things, the bigger the odds get of trouble arising - so as above, we either need to be a bit more circumspect, or somehow find ourselves a way to become bulletproof from pretty much every natural threat imaginable.

[StanSP]

Thoughts on Boris saying it's been a success so far? 

[st albans fox]

Just now, StanSP said:

Thoughts on Boris saying it's been a success so far? 

Shows he has actually been testing away from the news ........

 

on a serious note, doesn’t that tell us that for govt, the main measure for them was that the NHS wasn’t overwhelmed and the number of deaths would be whatever they were ..... I expect the assumption being that if the NHS was ok, then the number of dead wouldn’t exceed 20k ....

[Sampson]

13 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Yes, it has - but at no point during that time have humans reached across and attempted to change as much of the world as they have today. And that record will only keep being broken, I would guess.

 

I'm not about to go misanthrope here but the more drastically we change things or seek to change things, the bigger the odds get of trouble arising - so as above, we either need to be a bit more circumspect, or somehow find ourselves a way to become bulletproof from pretty much every natural threat imaginable.

No offense leicsmac because you're clearly an intelligent person, but you're one of the biggest misanthropes I've ever known and I certainly think that is coming into play in your assessment here.

 

There's not really any evidence or scientific basis for what you're claiming tbh. It's pure speculation.

 

I think humans just like to feel like their in control of their destiny and the goings on in the world. It's just a random genetic mutation- it happens to all species of animals and has happened to humans much more frequently in the past than it does now due to our improved sanitation, vaccinations/medications and hygiene. Scientists had been warning for decades that a pandemic was overdue stastically.

 

Think people claiming this is nature kicking back against humans or whatever are just trying to justify to themselves that humans are somehow in control, just like conspiracy theorists do - because a random mutation of nature that humans have no control over is a much scarier threat. It was already a statistical likelihood that we were well overdue a pandemic regardless of human interference.

[pleatout]

4 minutes ago, Sampson said:

I think humans just like to feel like their in control of their destiny and the goings on in the world. It's just a random genetic mutation- it happens to all species of animals and has happened to humans much more frequently in the past than it does now due to our improved sanitation, vaccinations/medications and hygiene. Scientists had been warning for decades that a pandemic was overdue stastically.

 

 

So true, the last Swine Flu pandemic meeting I attended in 2009 was concluded with the words "this wasnt the pandemic we expected or planned for... thankfully"

 

This one IS!

[Lionator]

12 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Shows he has actually been testing away from the news ........

 

on a serious note, doesn’t that tell us that for govt, the main measure for them was that the NHS wasn’t overwhelmed and the number of deaths would be whatever they were ..... I expect the assumption being that if the NHS was ok, then the number of dead wouldn’t exceed 20k ....

This concerned me to be honest. Italy's healthcare system got completely overwhelmed yet they only have 6k more deaths than us with a three week headstart. Ours didn't yet there's still a high volume of deaths. My thought is perhaps the media overplayed the state of Italian hospitals based on one or two hospitals which were overwhelmed. 

[EastAnglianFox]

Death toll 22% lower than last Monday's figure.

 

Preliminary figure shows 350 deaths recorded in last 24 hours for England, Scotland and Wales