Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Sheilbh]

ONS have released their latest retail stats (generally down 5.1%):

Food stores and non-store retailing were the only sectors to show growth in monthly sales, with food stores seeing the strongest growth on record, at 10.4%. Alcohol store sales (which can be volatile on a monthly basis) rose by 31.4% compared with the previous month.

[Josquius]

ONS have released their latest retail stats (generally down 5.1%):

Food stores and non-store retailing were the only sectors to show growth in monthly sales, with food stores seeing the strongest growth on record, at 10.4%. Alcohol store sales (which can be volatile on a monthly basis) rose by 31.4% compared with the previous month.

I do wonder how much of that is down to us drinking more and how much due to the pubs being shut.
There's definitely some of the former amongst my colleagues.

[Sheilbh]

I think there's a lot more drinking going on.

Part of it is that we're weirdly socialising more. I have like three sets of work drinks on a fairly regular basis and have 2-3 sets of drinks with friends that are more or less weekly. In normal times I would not be drinking with or socialising with everyone this regularly

[Legbiter]

Chilling article on the situation in Ecuador.

Officially only 500-some confirmed Covid deaths, with 900-some suspected, but Guayaquil has had 6700 deaths in the first two weeks of April, when normally they'd expect around 1,000.  The system has broken down for dealing with the dead bodies, leading to bodies sitting at home for several days - rotting.

https://undark.org/2020/04/22/guayaquil-covid-19-ecuador-death-bodies/

Yeah you have to die in just the capital to get counted.

[Legbiter]

No new cases found here today. That's a first for a long time it seems.

[celedhring]

First day where active cases fall in Spain. Daily mortality also reaches a 30-day low.

[Malthus]

Serious question here. Is there anyway Trump can be held legally liable for this stupid advice to drink bleach?

I would say not, because his rambling nonsense is more a sort of stream of consciousness type speculation than actual advice.

Not that this won't stop some of the more deranged Trumpites from recreating the Tide Pod Challenge as a medical practice ...

[Maladict]

Government's latest figures suggest finances to fall off a cliff. Government debt to rise from 48.3 to 65.2 % of GDP, which makes it the worst year since 1918.

Dark times ahead 

[Tamas]

Government's latest figures suggest finances to fall off a cliff. Government debt to rise from 48.3 to 65.2 % of GDP, which makes it the worst year since 1918.

Dark times ahead 

So should I hold off before buying ABN Amro stocks then?

[Maladict]

So should I hold off before buying ABN Amro stocks then?

They're supposed to be too big to fail, so there's that. But yes, you should.

[alfred russel]

Dorsey, the area under the curve is definitely not the same, sorry.

Dorsey,  there is a direct correlation between number of ICU beds occupied and deaths.

Dorsey, the whole point of the most restrictive approach is to spread out the cases so as not to overwhelm the system. See: Italy.

Dorsey, this has been pointed out and explained a gazillion times, in the media, in scientific papers, on this forum and in this very thread.

What, exactly, do you not understand?

Your chart (copied again below) is not the way things work. If the cases ever go to near zero, it is because there is a vaccine, the disease just went away on its own (such as in the summer), or we reached enough immunity in the population to get there even without a vaccine.

The point being--the procedures that are "flattening the curve" won't get us to zero any faster than doing nothing, and may in fact slow the process down.

I don't understand why you won't acknowledge that.

[Grey Fox]

He has, it's the 3rd Dorsey in your quote.

[The Larch]

The point being--the procedures that are "flattening the curve" won't get us to zero any faster than doing nothing, and may in fact slow the process down.

That's not their objective, and the fact that you think it was means you don't really understand the problem at all.

[Legbiter]

The objective is to buy time to allow society and the health services to prepare and increase capacity. Bring the numbers of infections down while you ramp up testing, tracing and measures to protect the most vulnerable. Then you ease control measures and get to work. Since containment failed miserably that's all you can do while waiting for a vaccine.

[Tamas]

The objective is to buy time to allow society and the health services to prepare and increase capacity. Bring the numbers of infections down while you ramp up testing, tracing and measures to protect the most vulnerable. Then you ease control measures and get to work. Since containment failed miserably that's all you can do while waiting for a vaccine.

At least half a dozen of you have been explaining that on a near-daily basis for weeks now. Dorsey is not listening.