COVID-19 Coronavirus

Man, this biddings getting too rich for me , I'm outta here....(puts gobstopper back in mouth) 

I knew it.....tightarses..

Kola cubes are a gift from the heavens.

You're right...I am incredibly greedy. I'll never change.

So, predictions are that we will see a peak of the number of cases here in France at the end of next week.
I think that the company I work for will look at splitting the working time, so if there are 10 of you in the office normally, 5 will work days and 5 nights. Oh joy.

The biggest point that seems to have been made is that if you think you have symptoms, DO NOT take Ibuprofen. Stick to paracetamol.
Advice published by the medical services here are to - Clean your hands on a regular basis, drink hot drinks, avoid drinking cold/chilled water. Eat soup etc.

I am self isolating where possible. Avoiding crowds. I am thinking of avoiding the canteen at work next week, and taking food in from home. 

Am I over-reacting? I think not....

I know of someone who has been exposed to it at work, by a colleague.

If it keeps you or loved ones alive then it is not overreacting.

We're being left to develop Herd Immunity

Ridiculous

It's better safe that sorry

Not worried about the immediate family, we're all quite robust but the old girl has COPD so she could be in big trouble if she caught it

I think the idea is to stop it spreading.

If that is possible then containment strategy is best. If that is not possible then herd immunity strategy is best. Take your pick.

Germany are now closing their borders.
I think France will follow soon.

I've not witnessed shelves being cleared by anyone, was in the supermarket this morning, all completely normal and fully stocked.

Wouldn't surprise me if the tv news sent stooges in to clear the shelves just to give them a story with some good 'end of the world' images.

I understand the Gvts approach with the herd immunity thing , it's quite nuanced though and there is a lack of clarity with it. I think that many will not understand why they are not bein more proactive though.

The big risk with the herd immunity thing imo is that nobody really knows what reinfection rates might be as this is to new to tell.

If 60 % or so of the population need to get infected to achieve this fine but - what measures are they actively taking to protect those vulnerable groups? They have not made this clear at all which is a real failing and seem to be reacting to what people are doing already - eg thinking about banning large gatherings. This decision has largely been made for them by organisers like the premier league etc.


Even if they are aiming for eventual herd immunity as an outcome then taking action to limit disease vectors would seem to me to be a priority to flatten the curve, this is not being done. People are starting to enact social distancing already without Gvt encouragement which I think is a good thing overall.


Now they appear to be reacting to other pressures as Paul says which is not a good thing and will only reduce confidence in whatever measures they decide to take in the future. It's all a bit Yes Minister really, shaping to be classic British F#ck up, after years of NHS neglect.

Same here.  Went in yesterday and I don't know what it says about our local demographic but the white wine shelves were emptying fast (not red though), there was no flour ....baking goods shelves were mostly empty, toilet rolls decimated, no hand wash, soap or bread, no paracetamol.  Utterly ridiculous and selfish.  The same selfish tossers bulk buying bread are the same ones who couldn't usually be arsed to make bread from all the (bread) flour they'd bought up no doubt!  

Was informed tonight by someone in the pub trade that they've been told to ready themselves as all pubs and restaurants will be closed next week following suit with Eire. Haven't seen anything in the press on this yet though but wouldn't be surprised.

Self isolation I think was always going to be the natural reaction so the miscalculation here is that we won't spread the infection rate to flatten the peak....we'll just push it on a few months into the winter where more people will die.  That's the insanity of an over-reaction.  Too much early isolation won't work as the all clear will be sounded, people will return to normality and one infected person will kick start the whole thing again.  Controlled exposure is almost impossible to enact, but total lockdown could well prove inneffective in anything other than affecting our financial health, cost hundreds of thousands of jobs as businesses go bust and cause a massive rise in mental health issues.  As electronumpty says, it's shaping to be classic British F#ck up!

On a serious note, I honestly do think it gives us pause for thought, and a slowing to the pace of life and opening our eyes as to what really matters, consigning fake news crusades to room 101 where they belong, is no bad thing.  Literally everything that might have been important in some peoples lives will change overnight highlighting just how unimportant that really those things might really be.  For the religious amongst us, it's akin to God raising a glass and tapping it with a spoon to get our attention, then saying, "ahem, so now that I have your attention....stop and listen for a change, at least for a while....."

My shortest commute ever today. I am working in my man cave.
My wife is “home schooling” the littl’un while trying to work at the same time. We swap this afternoon.

I am drinking hot drinks on a regular basis, as this helps kill the virus (if présent) apparently.

The amusing thing is that the VPN connection to work is over loaded, so I can only get e-mails etc. and do online meetings. Fortunately, I don’t need any of the other systems.