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Coronavirus.

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Typhoon

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Local media, like the BBC radio, will be vital in the coming weeks.
I couldn't agree more. While many commercial stations becoming essentially national stations, BBC local radio has stood out as a source of sound information. From re-enforcing the current guidance hour after hour, through alerting listeners to local support networks, to offering a friendly voice to those on their own forced to self-isolate. I do hope government remembers their contribution when all of this is over.
 
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Peter Sarf

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Just listened to it and..I'm actually speechless. No doubt one of the most selfish and ignorant callers I've heard on a phone-in to date, and blimey Charlie I've heard the full gamut of IQs in freefall over the years. I bet right now she thinks she showed that radio presenter a thing or two and is likely proud of putting him in his place, or something asinine. Sometimes I really hate...people.

Talking of hating people, I see that Trump's approval ratings are going -up- as the US's Covid situation worsens by the hour. He's now intending on kickstarting normality by Easter. All the while we have folks such as the Lt Gov of Texas who's confirmed he'd rather die than see the US economy go through the consequences of lockdowns and distancing. I'm assuming he's not talking on behalf of all 45 million US residents who are 65 or older.


https://www.texastribune.org/2020/03/23/texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick-says-bad-economy-worse-coronavirus/

"Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told Fox News on Monday that he would rather perish from the new coronavirus than see the economy destroyed for his grandchildren by overreaction to the disease."

"Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, chiming in to support President Donald Trump's new focus on the economy over fierce warnings from public health officials, suggested on Fox News on Monday night that he would rather die from the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus than see instability in the American economic system.

"No one reached out to me and said, 'As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?' And if that's the exchange, I'm all in," he said. "And that doesn't make me noble or brave or anything like that."

Well.... It really depends what price you want to put on lives. If someone thinks lives are cheap then its not worth all this isolation. Except there is another factor. While the hospitals are full of people being kept alive through COVID-19 some younger healthier person that has an accident might not get the care they need. So, instead of stuffing the NHS to death, lets spread this epidemic out so it can manage. The worst long term effect will be the economic collapse (or whatever). However I think economies will recover quite quickly as the cause of the problem is perceived to go away. It is not like the 2008 (year ?) recession where things happened to expose what a basket case the finance industry had become.
 

Cowley

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Does anyone know if non-urgent engineering work will be suspended for the duration of COVID-19?
My neighbour stated to me that HS2 works are still carrying on, I said I wasn’t sure but I wouldn’t have thought so.
I might have been wrong about that though. Does anyone know?
 

Belperpete

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Looking at the number of threads now running on this new sub-forum and since this particular one with a single-word generalised thread title seems the one to ask a question. The majority of countries affected by the virus that have featured in the media are all what could be described as non-Muslim countries and wonder why any of the Sunni Muslim middle-East states (Iran being a Shia Muslim state) and other Sunni Muslim places such as Pakistan and Afghanistan are noticeable by the lack of any reporting on them, whereas India has certainly been mentioned.
Don't know which media you are referencing, but the BBC news web-site has definitely been reporting on the progress of the virus in middle-Eastern countries, Pakistan and India. It has not appeared on the TV and radio broadcasts, because there has been more than enough to cover on the home situation.
 

Belperpete

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Does anyone know if non-urgent engineering work will be suspended for the duration of COVID-19?
I was quite amused by the TV report tonight from a building site that was still working, with the site manager stating that they were observing separation requirements, while in the background there were multiple examples of staff walking around in pairs patently not keeping 2m apart. To be honest, I find it difficult to believe that any major construction site could function with all staff always keeping 2m separation, and applaud Wimpey for shutting their sites down.
 

Cowley

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Hmm, how are the French in the west of the country going to take to train-loads of coro carriers being shipped into them?
I suppose the equivalent over here would be that if London hospitals were becoming overwhelmed and people were in serious danger of dying, then a converted HST being used to transport people desperately in need to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital near us (if it had the spare capacity), then how could we turn our backs as long as the necessary precautions were taken?
Maybe not everyone would be happy about it but it could well come to it in the end.
 

Cowley

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I was quite amused by the TV report tonight from a building site that was still working, with the site manager stating that they were observing separation requirements, while in the background there were multiple examples of staff walking around in pairs patently not keeping 2m apart. To be honest, I find it difficult to believe that any major construction site could function with all staff always keeping 2m separation, and applaud Wimpey for shutting their sites down.
Yes I totally agree with that. I’ve worked on sites before and it’s nonsensical saying that they can keep going.
That’s an awful lot of people still moving around and interacting when everyone else has been told to stop.
 

bussnapperwm

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Hang on...

The media says you should stay indoors (especially Sky News)

Does that mean one isn't allowed to go into one's garden? (I found Monday filming videos on a green screen with outside natural light a bit better than indoors with a phone torch)

(Attachd is two screenshots from a sky news Facebook video)
 

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SHD

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Hmm, how are the French in the west of the country going to take to train-loads of coro carriers being shipped into them?

You know, these will not be train-loads as in 8.30 AM Cannon St train-loads. We are talking about the transfer of ICU patients from overwhelmed hospitals, with a capacity of ~30 patients max per train. Besides, medevac transports have already happened since the beginning of the crisis (e.g. from Corsica to mainland France), these will be the first by train.

In addition, I think that the feelings of the local population of Angers or La Roche sur Yon are of extremely low concern to the health authorities and medical committees that are planifying and organising these transfers. Besides, I doubt that many people would actively resent "coro carriers" being treated in their communities. Yet, I reckon that there are selfish and unconcerned people everywhere, and the media here has reported isolated but telling incidents since the beginning of the lockdown, such as neighbours (in a flat building) leaving unsigned notes on the door of healthcare professionals' apartments, essentially saying "we're scared - you bring the virus everyday in the building - please find accommodation elsewhere - thank you - xoxo".
 

SHD

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Hang on...

The media says you should stay indoors (especially Sky News)

Does that mean one isn't allowed to go into one's garden? (I found Monday filming videos on a green screen with outside natural light a bit better than indoors with a phone torch)

(Attachd is two screenshots from a sky news Facebook video)

No, there's absolutely no reason why enjoying one's garden should be prohibited. Sky news' caption is erroneous. The key is to stay home and avoid all contact with people who do not belong to one's household, unless absolutely necessary (food, health etc), not barricade oneself behind shutters :smile:
 

bussnapperwm

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No, there's absolutely no reason why enjoying one's garden should be prohibited. Sky news' caption is erroneous. The key is to stay home and avoid all contact with people who do not belong to one's household, unless absolutely necessary (food, health etc), not barricade oneself behind shutters :smile:

Phew! That's a relief!

Having Aspergers Syndrome, living with my brothers who both have it too (the one also having ADHD too!), makes it more likely for one of us want to kill the other.

Filming in the garden with my green screen (working on a railway related YouTube series) is the only way I'm having any relief (thanks to both a injured leg and this Coronavirus pandemic meaning I haven't been able to go anywhere near a bus or train (or even work!), and I highly doubt there would be anything running on my local freight line at the moment) from more meltdowns by myself. (It doesn't help my one brothers college is shut and the other one is a restaurant worker who is off work!)

I'll just be glad to go back to work myself in a couple of weeks (if my leg heals by then!)
 

Belperpete

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The media says you should stay indoors (especially Sky News)
Sky News - I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. I was reliant on Sky News when abroad for awhile (it and CNN were the only two English language TV stations available in my hotel). I was astounded at how sensationalist it could be and still apparently meet UK guidelines. And they kept regurgitating week-old news as though it were "news".
 

Peter Kelford

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The French directorate-general of Health and SNCF have announced that a medicalised TGV will enter service tomorrow. It will be used to transfer patients from areas under extreme pressure at the moment in the Eastern part of the country to other hospitals in the West.

This train-hospital has been converted from a regular Duplex trainset. Each trailer has a capacity of up to 4 patients, installed on stretchers over the regular seats. The bar coach is occupied by medical equipment.

No English source at the moment but here is a link to a video in French: https://www.lci.fr/population/coron...medicalise-vers-pays-de-la-loire-2148995.html
This video shows the proof-of-concept of this TGV-hospital which was tried in 2019.
It reminds me of these:

(picture shows 1st World War hospital train being loaded in France)
124187631.jpg

Out of interest, would anyone know which Chalons is implied? There are multiple.
 
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The Ham

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My reading of the guidance is that you shouldn't go outside in public.

In some of the older guidance it was said that you had to be 2m away from your fence if you were in your garden (sorry to those in a new build with a postage stamp garden).
 

Bantamzen

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The full guidance is available on Gov.uk.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others

It is perhaps better to go by official sources as to what we can and cannot do, instead of the whole internet making up their own interpretations. As government rules change, so will this guidance.

Edit: Just a footnote for the Mods, I have omitted quoting this link as it is a live document and as such subject to change. Hope this is OK.
 
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dgl

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For those who want to listen to the aforementioned Radio Solent Telephone call someone has uploaded it to YouTube.


ABSOLUTLEY MADDENING! :{
 

Bletchleyite

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Hang on...

The media says you should stay indoors (especially Sky News)

Does that mean one isn't allowed to go into one's garden? (I found Monday filming videos on a green screen with outside natural light a bit better than indoors with a phone torch)

(Attachd is two screenshots from a sky news Facebook video)

It would better be indicated as "don't leave your property". You can use your garden but don't go within 2m of a neighbour (so no chatting at the fence).

Sky News is as you might expect typically London-oriented where most people don't have one.
 

Bletchleyite

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Sky News - I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. I was reliant on Sky News when abroad for awhile (it and CNN were the only two English language TV stations available in my hotel). I was astounded at how sensationalist it could be and still apparently meet UK guidelines. And they kept regurgitating week-old news as though it were "news".

I'm sticking with the BBC on this one. Though even they have made mistakes, they issued something yesterday that made it look like the ability to go out for exercise had been withdrawn.
 

Darandio

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I did see something about this posted last night but it was then removed, I believe the link went to a dead end. Originally in the Financial Times but now finding it's way to many outlets, it's about a study from the University of Oxford where they believe Coronavirus was here much earlier than originally thought. It actually makes quite a lot of sense, to me anyway.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/hea...n-oxford-university-study-finds-a4396721.html

The coronavirus could have infected as much as half of the the UK’s population, according to researchers at the University of Oxford.

Sunetra Gupta, professor of theoretical epidemiology at Oxford, led a study into the infection rate of Covid-19 across the country.

The findings came on the same day the official death toll jumped to a record 87 in one day to 422 and confirmed cases leapt by 1,427.

The new model from Oxford University suggests the virus was circulating in the UK by mid-January, around two weeks before the first reported case and a month before the first reported death.

And the research suggested that less than one thousand of those with Covid-19 became ill enough to need treatment in hospital, with the vast majority developing mild symptoms or none at all.

This means it could have had enough time to have spread widely, with many people in the country acquiring immunity.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Professor Gupta said testing was needed to assess the theory.

Oxford’s research represents a very different view to the modelling at Imperial College London, which influenced government policy to tackle the spread of the virus in the UK.

“I am surprised that there has been such unqualified acceptance of the Imperial model,” Professor Gupta told the same newspaper.

But she was reluctant to criticise Boris Johnson’s decision to place the country on lockdown as the accuracy of the new model has not yet been confirmed.

If accurate, the results would mean the country has already acquired substantial “herd immunity” through the unrecognised spread of the illness.

Herd immunity is the idea that coronavirus will stop spreading when enough people have become resistant after being infected.

The shutdown across the UK could be removed much sooner expected if the findings are confirmed by testing, it was reported.

It is hoped testing will begin as soon as this week.

More than 90,000 people have been tested for Covid-19 in the UK, 82,359 of which came back negative.
 

Bletchleyite

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The antibody test, applied to a suitably random selection of the population, will prove whether that's true or not. The NHS has I believe purchased about 1.5 million of them.
 

Darandio

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The antibody test, applied to a suitably random selection of the population, will prove whether that's true or not. The NHS has I believe purchased about 1.5 million of them.

3.5 million if Hancock is to be believed. It will be interesting to see what data comes in from it.
 

DarloRich

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I did see something about this posted last night but it was then removed, I believe the link went to a dead end. Originally in the Financial Times but now finding it's way to many outlets, it's about a study from the University of Oxford where they believe Coronavirus was here much earlier than originally thought. It actually makes quite a lot of sense, to me anyway.

Interesting - around the turn of the year i had a couple of people off work for 10-14 days with a terrible hacking cough, shortage of breath, weakness and a high temperature. It could be completely coincidental but you do start to think.

3.5 million if Hancock is to be believed. It will be interesting to see what data comes in from it.

No delivery dates mentioned though.
 

Bletchleyite

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Interesting - around the turn of the year i had a couple of people off work for 10-14 days with a terrible hacking cough, shortage of breath, weakness and a high temperature. It could be completely coincidental but you do start to think.

As I've mentioned I had something like that around late Jan/early Feb too and it was like nothing I've ever had before. Massive sore throat too, which others seem to be reporting.

I think there is a very good chance it has already "been around". But what's also interesting is that I had something which seemed a very reduced version of the same thing last week as well (released from isolation on Thursday evening)...have I potentially had it twice, which changes the game? Or were they two unrelated things?

This possible second bout, however, came pretty much a week and a bit after doing a long distance endurance hiking event (50 miles) which took me to and beyond exhaustion...I can see logic there...whack my immune system to nothing (exhaustion does that, it's something runners have been sort-of warned about), interact with a load of people (including teenagers, it's a Scout event), pick it up there, it grows while my immune system recovers and then gets whacked down again as I recover.

This of course is all theoretical and even with an antibody test non-provable, but I will still be very interested to know if I've had it and still do suspect I have.
 
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JonathanH

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it's about a study from the University of Oxford where they believe Coronavirus was here much earlier than originally thought. It actually makes quite a lot of sense, to me anyway.

That seems really unlikely unless it was a really mild strain - the number of deaths in the UK during February was lower than the average of the preceding five years. Given the severity of the illness for some people and the pressures on hospital beds during the current outbreak and to come, I think that is really false hope.
 

scotrail158713

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For those who want to listen to the aforementioned Radio Solent Telephone call someone has uploaded it to YouTube.


ABSOLUTLEY MADDENING! :{
As someone posted recently, this is a family friendly forum, so I better not give my true opinion on this bafoon of a person. :{
 

lyndhurst25

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I know that the plural of anecdote isn't data, but over the New Year holiday I was ill with the full house of coronavirus symptoms - fever, myalgia, uncontrollable coughing and breathing difficulties. When the coughing fits came I couldn't breath in, had a "stridor" (a noise like a wheeze but on trying to inhale, caused by the airways closing up), turned blue in the face and nearly passed out a couple of times. The dry cough persisted for weeks and I'm only just over it. I don't know what bug I had but I've never experienced anything like it. It does make you wonder if coronavirus has been in the U.K. longer than we think.
 
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