Theres a reason places like italy are suffering so badly.
6… soft Italian mommas boys. (Ok that ones just because. But the others are true.)
Depends on what the govt decide. Do too much too soon and it will create havoc. According to my mates in schools, the thinking is shut schools a week early for Easter and maybe extend the holiday for a week, which is when HQAC may decide to do something. TBH a longer easter break for schools etc will make more sense for parents and see how it goes. If that means as a result we are told to stand down, so be it. Like the schools it will be precautionary action, which is the way it seems to be going, with no real scientific basis.
Are all these new cases, just the result of tests where it takes a few days for the results’ or are they people just peeling up off the street saying I’ve got it. If the former well there’s a surprise … test more people and you are bound to get more results some of which will be positive, but an awful lot more negative, but that won’t be reported. If it’s the latter that’s a bit different. Reporting seems to be about stoking fear and panic, when what you need is calm. In the paper and online lots of photos of supermarkets with empty shelves doesn’t help. Many of the “stockpilers” will be the same idiots who went out to buy mental amounts of things when we did the first bit of leaving the eu. Anyone suspected of this should have the amounts reduced unless they can prove they have a genuine reason and told to go on their way and not refunded. I went to ASDA this morning for mum and dad and a woman with 18 bog rolls (2*9 pack) was complaining to the manager, quite loudly, despite the fact there was a big sign when you came in that customers would only be allowed so much of things on the list, one of was … two packs of bog rolls. People that stupid should not be allowed out unescorted.
When my wife did out weekly shop on Friday she said it was like Christmas with amount of stuff people were buying and the lady on the checkout said she’d been getting lots of £200 - £300 ‘shops’. I reckon secretly supermarkets and loving this as they getting rid of things that sit around for months.
I spoke to a lady in our church who volunteers at a food bank and they were seriously considering hiring security, as they feared people breaking in and stealing what was there, as they mostly have ‘long life’ items.
I’m a paramedic outside the corps. Someone posted on our group chat that we are akin to the band on the Titanic, playing on while the ship sinks. We are almost out of PPE, still being sent out to muppets that have ignored and/or are too thick to understand simple instructions, loads of our staff are being exposed unnecessarily and being forced to self isolate; we are likely to end up in a bit of a pickle. If that’s the case you can forget the band, I’m off to the back seat of the vintage car with Kate Winslet…
I can see them having to break open the PRPS kits, at least that’s technically reusable even though it’s not designed to be used that way.
It’s not an easy decision to shut down schools early - many working parents would have to stay at home = impact for their place of work (how many local mums work in close-by supermarkets for example?), especially for any parents employed in health care (less workers available at an important stage). Who would pay for any proposed compensation? Kids are very low risk, but of course mingling at school might pass the virus on - on the other hand, let’s get elderly relatives to look after kids whilst mum / dad still work, ah, extra risk for the elderly…
However, if people react like the Italians in the Lombardy region, many allegedly went on a short holiday when their schools were closed & probably helped transmit the virus quicker! We don’t (yet) have severe nodes of contagious people (as they had in Italy) - & unlikely Italy, with huge concentrations of ill people in only a couple of areas (hence their over-load on ICU beds, even although as a country, they have more than the UK!), then I think that NHS is coping - just.
BUT - get the risk assessment/ action wrong, then the NHS WILL be really over-loaded, & perhaps other essential requirements - think of delivery services (basic food to supermarkets, fuel to garages, etc), local government services such as rubbish collection, social services, etc, etc.
Don’t forget that any test is only as good as the day it is taken - you could get a “clear” result like Trump, but in the intervening couple of days have picked up the virus.
TBH shut schools and it will affect parents of pre-school and primary the most. Parents or Secondary kids go to work and the kids just go out. I know that’s what I would do if I were there age.
However when it comes to schools, saying as some places, as from now all schools are shut, gives schools or parents no time to put any sort of contingency in place, ergo chaos. I would suggest that if this is going to happen, do it with 1 or 2 weeks notice, which gives schools and parents the chance to plan.
Just saying as of NOW everything stops is a nonsense. Although “media” don’t seem to think like that, as it doesn’t give them the option of chaos, havoc and end of the world headlines and then moaning because the govt has done what they want the govt to do.
Something that has struck me is that if we were fully into “cuddly” renewable electricity for everything, would the nation be able to cope?
A friend of mine landed in orlando yesterday pre ban. Got a phone call today from BA that their departure flight has been bought 12days forward and they are to leave the US on Monday…sucks to be them.
Why did they even bother going…
Er, there are suitable methods used these days to prevent this!
Lenin has lasted rather well… 
Perhaps somebody could Skype it.
Crematoria are planning for exactly that
I think adding two weeks onto Easter might be sensible, but beyond that I don’t think it is realistic to go into full shutdown mode. They are talking about this lasting for months. Schools can’t close for months, businesses can’t close for months, parents can’t look after kids off school for months. These are all short term measures. The only thing to really be done is to isolate when infected and try to treat those that need it.
I found the below from the Washington Post quite interesting,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/
Apparently we’re only two weeks behind Italy. Easter is too late. I don’t care if nobody under 20 had died from it, just letting kids get it still isn’t an okay thing to do. It seems like the perfect way to prove that it will kill those under 20.
The kids will be getting it, the only thing the early school closure would do is potentially delay it. The kids aren’t the ones who need protecting here, they are just good carriers. Shutdown now, and you risk kids going back to school when the infection rate really takes off, which will just make it worse.
The alternative would be to lock down everyone for a period of time so those that have the virus can recover and not be infectious. Since not everyone would get it at once, you would need to do it for more than two weeks - a month or more. I don’t think that is realistic. It would also require every other country to follow suite, otherwise it would all just start all over again.
Depending on mindset & if it is the “flavour” of the day, it may actually be beneficial for the populace for as many “healthy” people get infected in order to build up “herd immunity.”
Whilst the full details of all the UK deaths have not been announced, it would seem highly likely that nearly all have been in their 70s’ / 80’s, & with very few exceptions, all have had underlying health issues. Nine from the 10 from yesterday were male, over 80 & underlying health issues.
Can’t find any more recent data but this table suggests very low fatality fate for 10-19 yr olds (0.2%) & zero for 0-9 yr olds. Note the very recent case of a new born baby with the virus = doing fine. Not quite sure how to do an easy comparison, but from the ONS data for 2018, there were 4.1 infant deaths per 1000 (infant = under one year, so only a small part of the the child / teenager “population”). There were some 66 million people in the UK in 2018, so I will let you do the maths! 
Regardless, I would suggest that quoted 0.2% fatality of infected people is very low, & probably would be in the region of “normal” statistical norms for deaths.
Herd immunity would be a valid idea if A) there was a vaccine and/or B) getting it actually rendered you immune. Without either of those it’s just herd infection.
He said it could be “effective later on” and it was “possible” the closures could be for as long as 16 weeks
The above is a quote from the education minister for Wales.
Vaccine not necessarily needed, & the general premise is that someone who was infected would become immune. However, it is much less efficient than a vaccinated society.
