General Chat

Rambling...Rollo seems to infer more needs to be done...well your average person walking down the street is unlikely to catch the virus just by walking down the street. You may though touch something that has the virus on it, hence you wash your hands and don't touch your face.
From what we can gather soooooo many people in Europe didn't wash their hands AND when they felt sick went to their family doctor etc. There they weren't made to wear a mask and they were left sitting in general waiting areas. THAT'S how it's spreading so fast and unexplained.
Here if you went to the emergency room for instance before you even get into the building there will be a sign saying STOP if you have a cough or/and you've been out of the country put on a face mask. They're asking you though to phone ahead not just turn up.
ALL cases so far have been people recently returned from China and Iran and I believe one from Egypt. ...or in a couple of cases partners of people who have just returned. Only one person went around town for a week before going to the hospital and their places are being checked out and people warned. AGAIN though unless someone literally coughs at you you'll only get it by touching an infected surface and then touching your face. I believe only one or two have spent any time in a hospital all the others are at home in self-isolation.

Rollo inferring more needs to be done is only SAYING what has already been said by experts.

Would that we all lived in Canada eh. But we don't, we live here where we have a PM who even lies about what he did on his last hospital visit...amongst much else. I don't rate his ability to organise the proverbial 'party' in a brewery , let alone deal with a health crisis. :-|

I went into my little shop across the road from me tonight for some milk and a man came in that we knew he was wearing gloves that doctors and nurses wear to examine you he told us that his sugary had rang him up and told him to come in and collect his gloves he was fine four boxes with 500 in each box me being nosey asked him why he said he had a bad heart I don't know if all doctors are doing that but what a good idea and if their not then they should

So you're saying the experts are saying washing your hands is not enough...so what are you meant to do?!!

FYI we have a Clown for PM but it's been in place for so many years there's nothing really for him to do.

That said....it still doesn't get from the fact that just walking around will not get you the virus assuming you're not in a big crowd with someone coughing over you or touching you.

As for the gloves...assuming he takes them off correctly yes it would work but like masks most wouldn't take them off correctly.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

beware of dem supermarket trolleys......

Having worked closely with all types of Food Industries, I loathe the sight of plastic or vinyl gloves as they give the wearer a false sense of security. I've seen people wearing them going straight from handling raw meats to touching cooked/processed meats.

The rule with wearing gloves is that you change them as frequently as you would wash your hands, and especially before starting a type of process ie handle raw foods, change gloves then handle cooked; prior to going to the toilet remove gloves and when finished wash hands and put on new gloves.

Bare skin does have some slight germicidal property, but not probably enough to counter viruses

Allan posted ..........

"Bare skin does have some slight germicidal property, but not probably enough to counter viruses"

..... and especially not if you then put your fingers in your mouth, up your nose, or in your eye, eg to take out a contact lens.

Yes, you in the UK have got an idiot for PM, so have other countries, eg the US and Trump.

Our PM isn't always with it either, BUT we learnt from the SARS epidemic in 2003 and the H1N1 in 2009, and those lessons have been used and proven to work. They are now written down, and every hospital, care home, emergency centre, and health practitioner either already have put them into practice, is putting them into practice, or is preparing to get upto speed with them ASAP.

I gather from what you are all saying that not only is Boris out in left field, but also so are your medical people.

Didn't you have SARS in 2003/2004? Didn't you have the H1N1 epidemic in 2009/2010?

Are your local health officers, Minster of Health whoever so far behind the ball that what they say doesn't take precedence over what Boris is or is not doing???

Ours were making statements, giving updates, and making decisions while Justin was out of the country in Africa. They tell him what to do! This is a health emergency after all, and medical people are dealing with it here. Are they not with you.

But it doesn't help to fearmonger ...............

I don't know how else to say it, but be sensible, wash your hands and face frequently, keep your hands away from your face, don't hug and kiss ANYONE, keep your distance from everyone, and self isolate if you start to feel sick and phone your doctor's office to find out what else you need to do.

Do not just walk into doctor's office, clinic or emergency feeling sick, you'll just infect other people.

I definitely agree with your comments re skin, Sylvia, and also PM's, although after his recent handling of the bushfires situation Scott Morrison has actually shown some leadership in this particular instance.

The other point about the gloves there are different grade of gloves you'd be surprised how easily most will rip and gloves or no gloves it doesn't go in through the skin you have to touch your face...which you can absent-mindedly do with or without gloves on.

I saw online earlier today that the Chinese have identified TWO forms of the virus as a result of a mutation.

The first one appears to have caused a much milder sickness than the second mutated form, which is much more aggressive and spreads faster.

They're now finding that the first milder form is becoming more common in China.

Now how do you fight a virus that mutates so fast??

Sylvia, "Didn't you have the H1N1 epidemic in 2009/2010?" Yes I did personally,

Someone shared an FB post saying it is "a numbers game", well yes of course if we are all statistics it is, 81% of those who get it get it mildly, another percentage have it badly, somewhere between 1% and 3.9% ( figures have varied) die... a numbers game which is irrelevant if you or yours are unlucky enough to be in that 1%, and for those who have, or have relatives with, pre existing lung,heart conditions or diabetes etc...not so cheering!

I stopped watching a documentary a couple of weeks ago, about the 1918 flu epidemic, just after the point where it said the original burst of the epidemic had died down, and there were fewer cases, only to mutate and return with worse effects. Also cheering!

What is obvious is that the NHS have not been coping with the numbers of 'ordinary' patients for years, nor with the normal winter flu patients, so I am dubious that as understaffed as they are they will be able to cope with an epidemic, if there is one.

I am not scaremongering or unduly anxious for myself ( relatives are a different matter) but being sensible is imperative. I have a cough and sore throat at the moment, it is just that, but I am keeping away from everyone as much as possible because speading this cough could weaken someone's immune system and put them more at risk.

My son is flying from Guatemala to Cuba via Mexico City in the next couple of days.

His partner asked if she should buy face masks?

His reply was "don't bother because if you think I'm shaving off my full beard in order to gain minimal benefit from a mask you can think again" :-D

It hadn't crossed my mind that if you have any reasonable amount of facial hair face masks are absolutely useless.

I do use hand sanitizer, twice on Tuesday, once when I exited the GP surgery and then when I left the hospital.

Can't exactly wash hands in either of those situations. We had some issued by the hospital a while ago and I ordered two more which arrived on Monday. Both makes have 80% alcohol content.

We had our usual shopping delivery this week and the driver said that people were going nuts clearing shelves of what they considered essentials.

Due to my ingrained habit of always having 3 months worth of food in the freezer and in my cupboards I only really have to buy fresh fruit, veg and dairy each week. That from living with my sister who always remembered rationing with hatred...lol

There still doesn't appear to be any guidelines nationally which seems to negate any local precautions taken.

People having to self isolate and suffering financially is concerning as is the proclaimed intentions of some employees, who will be on full pay, taking advantage and staying home.

The drastic measures taken in Italy will, I guess, provide much needed data regarding the benefits of countrywide closures of places of education and banning mass gatherings.

I hope the powers that be get solutions in place that will be effective.

Sue

Sue strange that the memories of food rationing never really leave you. Like you I could probably feed us and a couple of neighbours for a few weeks with all the stuff in the food cupboard and freezer.

We are not going to town as much as usual mainly because we always go by bus, then lunch out. I have a chiropodist appointment next Thursday in town, wondering whether to go or cancel. (following a nurse appointment locally at the doctors on Wednesday to remove stitches). Some things have to be done but retail therapy doesn't.

I was very annoyed to hear that the Cheltenham Festival (horse racing), will still go ahead bringing people from all over the world and all over Uk to Cheltenham where they are not confined to the race course because they make 3 or 4 days of it so are in town.

Michael Jackson face masks are regaining popularity. ;-)

For anyone interested Future Learn is offering a course on Covid19. The course, which is open to anyone, is free and is being run by the London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine

Here is a link to future learns website.

https://www.futurelearn.com/

I did try to post a link directly to the course but it caused the page to dramatically widen.

I've done several courses now with Future Learn and they have all been very interesting and instructive.

Thanks, Rollo. I have seen tiny URLs mentioned but was totally unaware of the significance.

Further to my earlier post, and Roll's follow up on how to make a tiny url, below is a direct link to the course I mentioned

https://tinyurl.com/tmbygql

My thanks again, Rollo.

It is now being reported that two baggage handlers have tested positive. I wonder if their occupation is just a coincidence.

Probably not.