Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Sheilbh]

I'll start WFH tomorrow with the whole company across the UK and India switching to it by the end of the week. It is basically indefinitely, leadership will be monitoring the situation, but my understanding is that we will sit out the peak of the virus at home.

Same - company going to remote working for everyone tomorrow. I think messaging is expecting this for probably a minimum of 3 months.

[Sheilbh]

So what's the plan?

Are we going to 'stay' here and chat away as the apocalypse envelops us or do we head to the Ed Anger memorial bunker in the Mid-West by any available transport?  :canoes: :bicycles: :rollerskates: :deliverance:

I was thinking that since you are bit out there in the woods, British Languish could flee there once societal order breaks down in the big cities

Basically as Michael Caine, in the classic film Children of Men

[mongers]

So what's the plan?

Are we going to 'stay' here and chat away as the apocalypse envelops us or do we head to the Ed Anger memorial bunker in the Mid-West by any available transport?  :canoes: :bicycles: :rollerskates: :deliverance:

I was thinking that since you are bit out there in the woods, British Languish could flee there once societal order breaks down in the big cities

Good idea, though Hampshire has one of the higher counts, like Hertfordshire. Plus it seems to have a lot of bloody minded old people willing to spread the disease rather than change lifestyles.

[Iormlund]

I'll start WFH tomorrow with the whole company across the UK and India switching to it by the end of the week. It is basically indefinitely, leadership will be monitoring the situation, but my understanding is that we will sit out the peak of the virus at home.

It's only been 5 days for me and it's already getting old. And I'm an indoor cat. With my history I'm looking at months of this ...

[Sheilbh]

God the NHS planning is grim. Doctors will be getting guidance on triage for ICU if we get to that point, but the guidance is being prepared. Most visitors will be banned - the main exception is for people with parents/children and people in end of life care, front-line workers will be offered hotel rooms if they want to self-isolate if they want to carry on working but one of their household shows symptoms (to avoid household isolation)

[Valmy]

Joint statement by American conservatives Stephen Moore, Art Laffer and Steve Forbes: "Don't expand welfare and other income redistribution benefits like paid leave and unemployment benefits that will inhibit growth and discourage work"

Soon as you stop redistributing wealth to the big companies and banks that discourage competence, sure.

Granted they probably agree with that also.

I hate the argument that starvation and homelessness are the only reasons the peons would ever work. It is not a good look really. Maybe if people had options we wouldn't need things like extensive government regulations and minimum wages because businesses would actually have to attract workers instead of using their fear of destitution to exploit them? Like a free market solution to big government? Nah best to keep the current system.

Universal Basic Income, it was good enough Milton Friedman it should be good enough for these clowns.

[Tamas]

God the NHS planning is grim. Doctors will be getting guidance on triage for ICU if we get to that point, but the guidance is being prepared. Most visitors will be banned - the main exception is for people with parents/children and people in end of life care, front-line workers will be offered hotel rooms if they want to self-isolate if they want to carry on working but one of their household shows symptoms (to avoid household isolation)

That IS grim. It's a bit scary/worrying to be immigrants in such situation, simply because the lack of the generations-spanning contact network that I had via my family and friends back home. Couple of nurses we know could get us around such restrictions to see loved ones or get stuff to them and such.

[Sheilbh]

Another 14 deaths, up to 69.

The UK figures on mortality are really concerning. This may just reflect the different spread of the infection so out of London is about three weeks behind Italy and London is further ahead - I think most of the deaths so far have been in London. But we are about or just under trend on infection rates, we are way, way above trend on deaths.

[Tamas]

Another 14 deaths, up to 69.

The UK figures on mortality are really concerning. This may just reflect the different spread of the infection so out of London is about three weeks behind Italy and London is further ahead - I think most of the deaths so far have been in London. But we are about or just under trend on infection rates, we are way, way above trend on deaths.

An obvious explanation would be deficiencies in testing keeping infection numbers WAY off real numbers, even more so than in other countries.

[Sheilbh]

That IS grim. It's a bit scary/worrying to be immigrants in such situation, simply because the lack of the generations-spanning contact network that I had via my family and friends back home. Couple of nurses we know could get us around such restrictions to see loved ones or get stuff to them and such.

Yeah - that's a really good point because there's going to be so many people in a similar situation who might need to self-isolate for a while and may not have any support network.

[Legbiter]

So what's the plan?

Are we going to 'stay' here and chat away as the apocalypse envelops us or do we head to the Ed Anger memorial bunker in the Mid-West by any available transport?  :canoes: :bicycles: :rollerskates: :deliverance:

Stay put and self-isolate. With enough self-isolation the virus will go extinct in local communities. Then you can lift restrictions and only have to babysit foreign travellers.

[Sheilbh]

An obvious explanation would be deficiencies in testing keeping infection numbers WAY off real numbers, even more so than in other countries.

Maybe. It'd be interesting to see who is getting tested in different countries and how many tests are being done and the rate it's growing. Because on the raw numbers, we're way behind South Korea and Italy but seem to be doing quite a lot:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/covid-19-testing/

This is a week old and at that point the average daily rate has gone up from 1,500, between then and now it's averaging 3,500 a day and the number of tests have doubled. But I think given how important everyone says testing is it'd be an area where we could do with a lot more information about other countries.

As I say I don't really understand why we haven't learned and replicated what South Korea have managed to do on testing.

[Sheilbh]

Incidentally my medical research friend - works at a UK university that is feeding into all of the research efforts - but he's not got a medical background. He's a biologist and normally focused on malaria and some other tropical illnesses.

As I mentioned Public Health England are apparently stretched so apparently they've asked this uni (and I imagine others) to help develop the serology test - which would be able to identify if people have it AND if they have previously had it. But the NHS are also asking for volunteers to basically help run the general tests currently. So it feels like they really are stretched and asking for help from anyone with potentially relevant skills.

I mean I don't know what my physio is being re-directed to do - "do you feel more coronavirusy in your right leg or your left leg?"

[Legbiter]

This is from Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow. All passengers getting off the plane get masks and temperature checks.

[Fate]

And Russia has only reported 114 cases. Something's rotten in Moscow.