Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Support/advice

[Bletchleyite]

I've just been on a real bus from Southport to Ormskirk and back, and at the first stop was the only passenger on board, so I sat on the top deck front seat. I was appalled when at the next stop someone came and sat on the row of seats next to me. I moved, with some trepidation, because I didn't want to be accused of racism (the guy was black). I noticed that the lower deck front seats by the driver were cordoned off.

If you're in the window and they're in the window they are going to be more than 2m from you. That is what they are required to do.

Like the normal rule for commuting, don't choose a popular seat if you want people to stay well away.

 

[trainophile]

I've taken that bus a lot, and the upstairs front seats are the obvious ones to go for, except if you have long legs! I actually prefer the one behind the top of the stairwell now, same view but more room.

 

[Bantamzen]

I must admit, being on day 22 of working from home, its just starting to get to me a little bit. Thankfully the weather has broken for now meaning that walking along the river / canal, or walking to / from the local store is fairly pleasant. And the vast majority of people in my area are sticking to the guidelines, so there's not too bad an atmosphere although there is a growing hint of tension. We have just had confirmation that our holiday to Crete next month is now cancelled, and credit to Jet2 in offering a free re-booking & £100 off (when I can log on) so whilst being a blow after what has been a crappy winter isn't too bad. Probably the worst thing for my wife and I right now is what the future is for her self-employed business, and her work around promoting arts & crafts in the region. The business stalling is going to impact us financially, but my wife has also invested a lot of effort into the arts networks she has been involved with to help a lot of small businesses and artists / crafters.

It might not seem much in the great scheme of things, but loss of revenue in the short term combined with possible loss of business in the future is keeping me awake at night. And I know there are millions of us having the same worries.

 

[infobleep]

Strangely, despite all the people reporting what it was like, I still don't fear catching it at all, it seems pretty good odds for something that nasty. But then as a climber I'm fairly used to risk management in potentially dangerous situations.

It's my (very strong) altruistic side that wants to put the effort into not spreading it to others, not anything to do with fear.

On a related note. I have a very positive attitude to life and don't tend to worry about things until they actually happen. Even then I can be so involved with getting with whatever is happening to have any spare time to worry about it. I get more emotional after an event, if I stop to think about it.

So my positive mind is saying to me that even if I catch this, my body will deal with it. It's dealt with many other things over the years, including some it shouldn't. As an side have mutiple autoimmune illnesses - combinations of which the science of 5 years ago say should occur together. I digress.

However I am the type or peeosn who can doubt oneself and be cautious so that part of me is not wanting to actually put my theory to the test in case I'm wrong. As being wrong in this case might be fatal.

 

[trainophile]

Our county has 66 confirmed cases as at the last published count, out of a population of 194,000, so the chances of a random person I happen to pass on the street having it are pretty negligible. Obviously more will be in the 2-week incubation period, and I would keep my wits about me (if I was going out, which I'm not), but there's no point lying awake worrying about it.

 

[lyndhurst25]

I've just been on a real bus from Southport to Ormskirk and back, and at the first stop was the only passenger on board, so I sat on the top deck front seat. I was appalled when at the next stop someone came and sat on the row of seats next to me. I moved, with some trepidation, because I didn't want to be accused of racism (the guy was black). I noticed that the lower deck front seats by the driver were cordoned off.

The other day I went to the supermarket at 7am to take advantage of their 7am-8am Key Worker shopping hour. I parked my car in the deserted car park, well away from the shop entrance, only for the next person to drive in to the car park to deliberately park in the bay next to me. Maybe it's the same bloke?!

 

[Bletchleyite]

The other day I went to the supermarket at 7am to take advantage of their 7am-8am Key Worker shopping hour. I parked my car in the deserted car park, well away from the shop entrance, only for the next person to drive in to the car park to deliberately park in the bay next to me. Maybe it's the same bloke?!

That happens in car parks all the time and I've never quite understood why! It's almost like a car being there is reinforcement that it's the right place to park!

 

[Cowley]

That happens in car parks all the time and I've never quite understood why! It's almost like a car being there is reinforcement that it's the right place to park!

Oh absolutely. We parked up in the van in a deserted carpark overlooking a nice beach near us one evening. Went for a walk, came back, and the only other vehicle in the car park had parked so close to us that I had to get back in via the passenger side!

You would think that in a fairly highly populated small country that we’d actually be quite good at socially distancing ourselves?

 

[Busaholic]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-52123446

When they announced the shielding measures at the 22 March press conference, it was clearly stated the method they used was digital and it won't have caught everyone, so if you felt you need to be included get in contact.

Perhaps that message got lost after that, with no or not much promotion from central government and/or the media. You may say it's not the media's job to promote it but they are, or at least the BBC are, promoting various other aspects, like how to wash your hands.

My widowed sister, 68 years old with no children and lives independently nearly 300 miles away, was one of these people who 'fell between the cracks', having been diagnosed nine
years ago with an incredibly rare lung disease, for which she was offered a double lung transplant by Harefield Hospital but, given the statistical chances of surviving five years after such an operation were 30% to 40% at best and, even then, probably experiencing extreme rejection reaction, she decided against. Her life now, on oxygen for much of the day and night, is very constrained and many of her friends have either died or are incapacitated. She is totally reliant on supermarket home deliveries, which have been a huge problem because (a) she appeared not to be on any list and (b) she's thirteen months off reaching the magic age of 70. Today she got that letter, as I'd insisted she contact her G.P. to find out why she was being ignored.

 

[telstarbox]

That happens in car parks all the time and I've never quite understood why! It's almost like a car being there is reinforcement that it's the right place to park!

Surely it's easier to leave a gap and give yourself more space to swing in - why make work for yourself?

 

[Cowley]

My widowed sister, 68 years old with no children and lives independently nearly 300 miles away, was one of these people who 'fell between the cracks', having been diagnosed nine
years ago with an incredibly rare lung disease, for which she was offered a double lung transplant by Harefield Hospital but, given the statistical chances of surviving five years after such an operation were 30% to 40% at best and, even then, probably experiencing extreme rejection reaction, she decided against. Her life now, on oxygen for much of the day and night, is very constrained and many of her friends have either died or are incapacitated. She is totally reliant on supermarket home deliveries, which have been a huge problem because (a) she appeared not to be on any list and (b) she's thirteen months off reaching the magic age of 70. Today she got that letter, as I'd insisted she contact her G.P. to find out why she was being ignored.

That’s awful. I don’t know your sister but it’s worth just taking a moment to think about her situation and how difficult that must be.
My best wishes for you and your sister Busaholic.

 

[infobleep]

My widowed sister, 68 years old with no children and lives independently nearly 300 miles away, was one of these people who 'fell between the cracks', having been diagnosed nine
years ago with an incredibly rare lung disease, for which she was offered a double lung transplant by Harefield Hospital but, given the statistical chances of surviving five years after such an operation were 30% to 40% at best and, even then, probably experiencing extreme rejection reaction, she decided against. Her life now, on oxygen for much of the day and night, is very constrained and many of her friends have either died or are incapacitated. She is totally reliant on supermarket home deliveries, which have been a huge problem because (a) she appeared not to be on any list and (b) she's thirteen months off reaching the magic age of 70. Today she got that letter, as I'd insisted she contact her G.P. to find out why she was being ignored.

Glad to see she is now getting help.

 

[Domh245]

Hope everyone is doing alright - the fact that nobody has posted in this thread for almost a week can only be a good sign?

More a rant that wouldn't fit anywhere else than anything, but I'm very tempted to order some ear plugs. Turns out that one of the downsides of living in a predominantly student area is that when most of them go back to their parents homes and set the alarms on their houses, if you happen to have a brief powercut over a week ago you'll be serenaded by the sounds of alarms going off on an irritatingly frequent basis!

 

[telstarbox]

3 weeks of shielding done, 9 to go!

Had a good day of Working from Home today, felt pretty productive for once.

 

[High Dyke]

Hope everyone is doing alright - the fact that nobody has posted in this thread for almost a week can only be a good sign?

More a rant that wouldn't fit anywhere else than anything, but I'm very tempted to order some ear plugs. Turns out that one of the downsides of living in a predominantly student area is that when most of them go back to their parents homes and set the alarms on their houses, if you happen to have a brief powercut over a week ago you'll be serenaded by the sounds of alarms going off on an irritatingly frequent basis!

And there was me thinking the daily karaoke from the neighbour behind my house was annoying... Still the day's I've not been working have proved interesting, especially when it comes to hearing the neighbours (apart from the karaoke). One last weekend was a young lady thinking of "removing the 'low maintenance' garden and replacing it with grass seed." She apparently scraped off the top layer of stone chippings to reveal the clay soil underneath. After an exasperated phone call to a friend it seems the project has now been put on hold.

 

[GusB]

I've certainly noticed an increase in neighbourly noise. There is a lot more drilling, hammering and sawing, along with the usual mowing and strimming - sounds that would normally only be heard at the weekend.

I'm usually a bit of a night owl and waken up quite late in the morning, but lately I've been waking up earlier and have found it harder getting back to sleep due to the activities going. Then there's the tap-dancing wood pigeon that starts its routine at 08.30.

 

[Bantamzen]

I've certainly noticed an increase in neighbourly noise. There is a lot more drilling, hammering and sawing, along with the usual mowing and strimming - sounds that would normally only be heard at the weekend.

I'm usually a bit of a night owl and waken up quite late in the morning, but lately I've been waking up earlier and have found it harder getting back to sleep due to the activities going. Then there's the tap-dancing wood pigeon that starts its routine at 08.30.

Luckily so far noise levels in my area haven't gone up, indeed they've gone down with fewer small people running around. And talking of owls, they seem to have cottoned on to the quieter nights here and seem to have upped the volume as they fly around shouting at each other.

 

[Mathew S]

How's everyone else doing? I've been mostly absent for the last couple of weeks and, given the reason, I thought I would explain why:

While I haven't been tested (I'm not even going to go there) I've spent the last few weeks being ill with what I think it's fair to assume was Covid-19. As well as a persistent cough, and the worst sore throat I've ever had (bad enough that codeine was the only thing that would touch it), I lost my sense of taste completely, had a fever, an extremely rapid heart rate (120+ while I was lying on my back in bed with a fever - got my watch to thank for recording that one) and - oddly - my tongue become swolen.

While I'm very glad I had a relatively mild form of the infection, what concerns me is that the illness has lasted for several weeks. It was only bad enough to keep me actually 'off work' and in bed for a couple of days, but it's been well over a month since I first had symptoms and I'm still nothing like back to 100%. And that's me as a basically healthy, relatively young 35 year old.

All I can say is I'm very, very glad it's over with. It was genuinely pretty scary, and an all round rather horrid experience. If what I had was 'mild' I don't want to imagine what it would be like if it were more severe.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Sounds like it to me. I'm not sure why more is not being made of the sore throat thing. I've heard a number of people report that, and for me (I suspect I had it) that was the most obvious symptom - it was literally like swallowing a broken bottle every time I swallowed, by far the worst sore throat I've ever had.

It is of course possible there's another unusual sore throat virus "going round" - but that seems an odd coincidence.

 

[Mathew S]

Sounds like it to me. I'm not sure why more is not being made of the sore throat thing. I've heard a number of people report that, and for me (I suspect I had it) that was the most obvious symptom - it was literally like swallowing a broken bottle every time I swallowed, by far the worst sore throat I've ever had.

It is of course possible there's another unusual sore throat virus "going round" - but that seems an odd coincidence.

I've had a sore throat that was similar, but not as bad, once before: when I was a fresher at uni in 2002. It was the same feeling - as you say, like swallowing broken glass - though not quite as bad. I've always assumed that was from coming into contact with a virus I'd never been exposed to before... which is the thing that makes me really think it fits so well. As you say, possible there's another virus doing the rounds that I've not had before, but that would be one heck of a coincidence.

 

[Domh245]

I've had a sore throat for a while, but nothing quite as severe as described. At worst it's when I've woken up and not drunk anything in a while but even then it's just a fairly mild 'itch' rather than broken glass!

 

[ainsworth74]

Yes another in the "I had a bad sore throat a few weeks ago" camp who is now wondering if that was Covid-19 or not. It wasn't persistent but every time I swallowed it was quite agonising. Strepsils didn't touch it and I just toughed it out otherwise as it came and went in severity from "oh god why do I need to swallow so much" to "this is annoying but I can put up with it, probably" so didn't want to bother with any medication beyond Strepsils. But equally it could have just been a cold! Who knows!?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've had a sore throat that was similar, but not as bad, once before: when I was a fresher at uni in 2002. It was the same feeling - as you say, like swallowing broken glass - though not quite as bad. I've always assumed that was from coming into contact with a virus I'd never been exposed to before... which is the thing that makes me really think it fits so well. As you say, possible there's another virus doing the rounds that I've not had before, but that would be one heck of a coincidence.

The other thing that seems too much of a coincidence to me is that my Mum had something similar but also I'm told woke up in the middle of the night unable to breathe one night. She isn't asthmatic and has never had that before or since. A friend I spend a lot of time with has also had similar symptoms. So there seems a very good chance we've all had the same thing...whatever it is!

And in normal circumstances I spend a reasonable amount of time in London and am not very germophobe at all - I wash my hands after using the toilet but otherwise not very often, and only really started doing it more often when instructed to do so due to the virus. I also spent a weekend in a packed youth hostel the weekend before the symptoms came on, and there were a number of Chinese people there, wouldn't surprise me if there had been some Italians (or young people who had just come back from an Italian ski trip) too...

It might prove to have been something else e.g. a flu virus that wasn't in this year's jab, but there are a lot of clues there.

 

[Domh245]

Yes another in the "I had a bad sore throat a few weeks ago" camp who is now wondering if that was Covid-19 or not. It wasn't persistent but every time I swallowed it was quite agonising.

I periodically get it where it's painful to swallow, but that's more like I'm trying to swallow something too large and pain in the front of my throat than anything else described. Had it again recentlyish, but wrote it off as 'not COVID' because of how often i've had it in the past

 

[class387]

Around February I too felt ill with a fever, (mild) sore throat and shortness of breath. I think it's unlikely to have been coronavirus though, given that I felt well enough to do all everyday activities, and since it was accompanied by a runny nose.

 

[Mag_seven]

Until we have the test that can tell us if we have had it - we don't know we've had it! I've had no symptoms of any description in the last three months but that doesn't mean I've not had it - I could have been asymptomatic!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Around February I too felt ill with a fever, (mild) sore throat and shortness of breath. I think it's unlikely to have been coronavirus though, given that I felt well enough to do all everyday activities, and since it was accompanied by a runny nose.

Given that some people get no symptoms at all, it's a distinct possibility it was. The fever would certainly "qualify" you for self-isolation.

Until we have the test that can tell us if we have had it - we don't know we've had it! I've had no symptoms of any description in the last three months but that doesn't mean I've not had it - I could have been asymptomatic!

That (plus immunity) is what we are really hoping for - that loads of people have already had it and won't get it again.

 

[class387]

Given that some people get no symptoms at all, it's a distinct possibility it was. The fever would certainly "qualify" you for self-isolation.

I think this was when the advice was to only self isolate if returning from China, so given that I had not been in close contact with anyone who had been in China I assumed it was allergies or maybe a cold and went to school as usual. Looking back it probably would have been wise to self isolate.

 

[DarloRich]

it has been a tough period at work since the bank holiday. Haven't felt like coming on here much.

 

[Cowley]

it has been a tough period at work since the bank holiday. Haven't felt like coming on here much.

I’d noticed you’d been a bit quiet. I’ve just pm’d you.