Coronavirus Preparation

[floppybootstomp]

Well I consider myself old and in 2002 I had heart failure so I'm probably at risk of dropping dead should Covid-19 pay me a visit.

The NHS state quite clearly face masks are no protection against the virus at all, people are stupid.

I had just stocked up with karzi rolls, I always buy them in bulk at Makros, a local trade outlet similar to Costco so I'm alright for those for a few months.

Here's my Facebook post on how I feel about it:

Coronavirus? Am I bothered? Cancer didn't kill me (twice); heart messin' up didn't kill me, two wives didn't kill me, several road mishaps didn't kill me and neither has living on this planet for many years put me six foot under. Just another bug and if it gets me it ****ing gets me - that's life, as they say

In the meantime I think another Guinness is in order

 

[crazylegs]

I'll join ya in a Guinness Mr Flopp's

 

[V_R]

Arcade uses toilet roll in grabber machine amid coronavirus panic

Manager Eddy Chapman came up with the genius plan to halt shoppers in their tracks at the Chapmans Fundland amusement arcade in Bridlington, East Yorks.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[V_R]

Tom Hanks and his wife have tested positive.

Edit, going forward, lets make this the Coronavirus discussion thread.

 

[Ian]

For any forum members over the age of 60, has anything on this scale ever happened in your lifetime (not in terms of a global pandemic, but impact on society - entire countries self isolating).

I suspect a lot of us are going to be working from home in the coming weeks, as it sounds like schools etc... are going to be closing and things will shut down for a month.

Tom Hanks

Noooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[nivrip]

I can certainly remember two or three pretty bad influenza epidemics over the last few decades. They always began in the far east and swept across Asia and Europe from there. On each of these occasions huge numbers of the population went down with the usual symptoms of influenza (not the "bit of flu" that goes round each year and is really just a cold) such as high temperature, severe muscular aches and pains, coughing, complete and utter lethargy and feeling like death for at least 48 hours.

And, yes, the people with pre-existing medical conditions often developed pneumonia and considerable numbers did die. So, really, this coronavirus outbreak is very similar to the influenza that we had before and I think the death rates are very similar too . But, although millions went down with it I never remember schools or airports and the like being closed down nor can I remember lockdowns and travel restrictions as we are seeing now. I get the feeling that the present state of affairs has come about because modern technology means that we can monitor things much more closely than in the past. In years gone by these things spread like wildfire but no-one had a clue on the numbers until it was all over. Now we seem to know to a few individuals how many cases there are worldwide (unless there are people with it with no symptoms whatsoever).

I would have thought that by now the numbers in China would have been in the millions but we are told that there are only 120,000 cases in the whole world. Either the Chinese are lying, the containment is working or this virus is not as contagious or virulent as was thought.

I still remain optimistic (with my fingers crossed).

 

[floppybootstomp]

I saw on the news that the current government health minister is suffering from this virus. Now that's funny

I also wonder if this is just another flu virus and whether or not my flu jab will protect against it. I've also had the pneumonia jab which, unlike the annual flu jab, is a one off but they say this jab will not protect against all strains of pneumonia.

I can recall previous flu 'epidemics' the most serious I believe was SARS which was relatively recent. Have never seen any disease outbreak spawning such terms as 'self isolation' though or causing schools etc to close.

Media fuelled? Over reaction?

 

[wizard1231]

We've been pretty lucky so far here in Thailand so far. Still under 60 total cases as far as I know. I'm personally not taking many precautions yet. I don't wear a mask (as so many do here anyway) and still go out to my co-working space to work every day. If the numbers start to rise quickly I might have to reevaluate my daily habits

 

[historian]

I have family and friends living in the Lombardy area of Italy, it's worrying for me because so much of the country is in lock down. Just hope they ride it out.

 

[V_R]

Its starting to get a bit more real now after that news conference this afternoon....

 

[muckshifter]

One case confirmed here in sunnyshining Southport. I went shopping yesterday, there was no soap on the shelves?

 

[nivrip]

Our local chemist has run out of face masks.


He recommended that I try Boots.


I'm not keen.

 

[Ian]

I went shopping yesterday, there was no soap on the shelves?

Just got back from Asda and there was very little soap, no pasta, few sauces/tinned tomatos, no painkillers apart from £4 packs of ibuprofen, no loo rolls. First time I've been where everyone looked like they were stocking up.

 

[V_R]

Yeah our local Aldi looked like parts of it had been ransacked.

 

[Ian]

Yeah our local Aldi looked like parts of it had been ransacked.

Give it a month and the army will be guarding supermarkets!

 

[EvanDavis]

I bought 2 rolls of bogroll and a can of beans today.

 

[nivrip]

Standing outside Tesco yesterday I saw trolley after trolley coming out laden down with loo rolls and bottled water !!!

What's wrong with old newspapers and the tap.

 

[Ian]

My neighbours daughter (in her 20s) had it last week, without hospitalisation. A friend that's a practice nurse also had her first suspected case come in today, although it was via a phone consultation thankfully. It's certainly starting to move!

What's wrong with old newspapers and the tap

Hahaha, this Aussie newspaper some "one ply" limited edition sheets available for free...

Coronavirus: Australian newspaper prints extra pages to help out in toilet paper shortage

NT News, known for its humorous front pages, produces a special edition amid panic over loo roll shortage

www.theguardian.com

 

[bodhi]

People in Australia have gone mental. There's literally no food in the shops at the moment. And forget about toilet roll.

Honestly, the human race is ridiculous some times.

Hope everyone is feeling ok and no issues so far.

 

[Taffycat]

The thing that is currently getting to me, is that for the past 18 years, I have shopped online at Sainsburys. This has not been through sheer laziness, but of necessity. Hubby and I both have a few health issues and frankly having our groceries delivered each week has been hugely helpful.

But now, that lifeline is lost to us. A few days ago I went online to submit our usual order. Ha! This was to discover that delivery slots are fully booked for the next three weeks! I read an article somewhere, in which Sainsburys stated that people had been emailed about the situation - hmm, strange, I didn't receive one. So much for being a "loyal customer" eh?

Unlike some of their competitors who have put quite large notices on their websites, to advise people of the situation, Sainsburys allow one to log in and get to the "book delivery" pages, before we see a little notice which reads: "We have limited delivery availability due to extremely high demand. We are doing everything we can to improve this situation, please check back regularly for latest availability." beneath which are the aforementioned three weeks' worth of unavailable slots.

We didn't panic-buy, I just purchased our normal quantity of grocery items, which means that we are now getting rather low on supplies. In practical terms, we don't have the space to greedily stockpile stuff anyway.

Government bods appear to think that people can simply call upon "neighbours and family" to step in and "help." Seriously? For some of us, family members are largely in the same boat. As for neighbours, we don't all live in cosy little "communities" where everyone looks out for everyone else. People have their own busy lives and are barely on nodding acquaintence with those who live around them. (I know it maybe different elsewhere, but it's certainly the case where we live.)

The annoying thing is, I wouldn't be making this rant, if only the darned supermarkets had been thoughtful enough to issue "codes" or whatever, to their regular home-delivery customers, to ensure that a few delivery slots were available to them. A big ask? Maybe, but right now, it's beginning to feel somewhat scary.