Jump to content
  • Sign up for free and receive a month's subscription

    You are viewing this page as a guest. That means you are either a member who has not logged in, or you have not yet registered with us. Signing up for an account only takes a minute and it means you will no longer see this annoying box! It will also allow you to get involved with our friendly(ish!) community and take part in the discussions on our forums. And because we're feeling generous, if you sign up for a free account we will give you a month's free trial access to our subscriber only content with no obligation to commit. Register an account and then send a private message to @dave u and he'll hook you up with a subscription.

Coronavirus


Bjornebye

Recommended Posts

Just now, TheHowieLama said:

No man - it will be within 6 months.

Hope you're right mate but getting an effective vaccine then mass producing and distributing it are two different things. Especially if the thing has gone global. It took long enough with Ebola and that was relatively isolated and contained. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, magicrat said:

Hope you're right mate but getting an effective vaccine then mass producing and distributing it are two different things. Especially if the thing has gone global. It took long enough with Ebola and that was relatively isolated and contained. 

They spent a number of years working on similar with SARS 20 years ago - same origin (bats) 80% same genetic code.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, magicrat said:

My lad had it and was extremely sick for a week. We didn't catch it which is the underlying point . Coronavirus is much more contagious and people are infectious without symptoms. Even if the mortality rate is low if some of the numbers for possible infections over the next couple of years are half true then lots will die. On top of this there is the chance it could mutate into something more deadly. A vaccine is probably several years away and far from it being hyped up I suspect we are not being told about the very real damage this could do if the spread can't be contained. 

You sound a bit like one of the women in my office there.

 

The overreaction to this thing is ridiculous, yes - it's a concern but out of 66m people in Britain, one person has died & he was on a cruise ship somewhere. More people have probably died putting their trousers on this year as it currently stands.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Mook said:

You sound a bit like one of the women in my office there.

 

The overreaction to this thing is ridiculous, yes - it's a concern but out of 66m people in Britain, one person has died & he was on a cruise ship somewhere. More people have probably died putting their trousers on this year as it currently stands.

But the whole point is how many people will get it . I dont know the answer any more than you but I think when the dust settles more than one person will be dead and less than the half million some have speculated. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, magicrat said:

But the whole point is how many people will get it . I dont know the answer any more than you but I think when the dust settles more than one person will be dead and less than the half million some have speculated. 

Aye, you're right, we don't really know how it will pan out. I do worry about people who will be particularly succeptable to it but then they're the same people who are vulnerable to a normal flu anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Mook said:

Aye, you're right, we don't really know how it will pan out. I do worry about people who will be particularly succeptable to it but then they're the same people who are vulnerable to a normal flu anyway.

True but the vulnerable, elderly and health workers get flu jabs now which makes them a lot less susceptible plus if what we are told is correct this thing is massively more contagious . Anyway I am probably coming across as a neurotic fanny and there is fuck all we can do about it .

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, polymerpunkah said:

Some positives in this article:

 

'They have changed the course of this outbreak:' Revelations from handling of coronavirus in China

 

All based on the accuracy of China's information, and tentative in any case. 

And then you have this- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/28/coronovirus-test-wellbeing-herd-vaccination - which is sadly far more likely to apply in the UK and the US, what with the denigration of experts and the rise of conspiracy theory bollocks over the years, the indoctrination of 'fuck you, I got mine' attitudes and the utter incompetence and stupidity of our governments. As Stig mentioned in a post either earlier in this thread or elsewhere, people shit themselves over shops being shut on Christmas Day or a brief flurry of snow. If things get bad here, it's going to be an absolute shitshow.

 

Quote

 


Has Britain become too selfish to cope with coronavirus?

Stopping the virus’s spread is about putting others first – but we all know what’s happened to vaccination levels

When death came to the village of Eyam, it was probably hidden inside a roll of cloth. Bubonic plague is thought to have been carried to this remote corner of Derbyshire from London back in the 1660s by infected fleas, trapped in a bale of fabric ordered to make costumes for a festival. The sickness spread fast, killing dozens of villagers and leaving many on the verge of fleeing in panic – but then something extraordinary happened.

The rector of Eyam, believing it his duty to spare neighbouring towns from infection, persuaded his parishioners to take the astonishingly self-sacrificing step of sealing themselves off from the world. They would live or they would die, but nobody would leave until the sickness had burned itself out. One mother is said to have buried six of her children, yet by staying must have saved countless other women from the same fate.

 It’s impossible to read the story of Eyam without wondering who on earth would be capable of such selflessness now
It’s impossible to read the story of Eyam without wondering who on earth would be capable of such selflessness now. When it came to the crunch, how many of us would secretly have more in common with the local squire, who fled after the first few deaths and left his neighbours to their fate? Compared with 17th-century peasants, modern Britons simply aren’t enormously used to the idea of sacrifice for the supposed collective good.

So it’s lucky for us, then, that Covid-19 is nothing like the Black Death. Where untreated, plague killed about half of its victims. This new virus seems to have a death rate of about 2%, and medicine has thankfully come a long way in 400 years. Having been caught up in the noughties’ swine flu outbreak and suffered nothing worse than a few days sweating under a duvet, I’m certainly not inclined to panic unnecessarily about this one, but then people like me aren’t the point. It’s the elderly and infirm, people with existing lung conditions or suppressed immune systems, who may be most vulnerable, and it’s them we are being asked to protect.

Doing whatever is necessary to stop the virus spreading is, much like vaccinating your kids against measles, not just about protecting your own interests but putting the wellbeing of the herd first. The trouble is that we all know what has happened to vaccination levels across the west, as a minority of parents seemingly decided the herd was someone else’s problem.


Are we really ready for a pandemic? Not so much for the virus itself as the personal sacrifices and inconveniences that might follow a serious outbreak: for lockdowns and school closures, empty streets and cancelled holidays, perhaps even factory shutdowns and shortages in the shops if there is serious disruption to global supply chains. The word “quarantine” sends a particularly medieval shiver down the spine because it means being trapped where the infection is – like the tourists now confined to a Tenerife hotel after an Italian guest tested positive – when instinct tells you to flee. But even self-isolation, or voluntarily shutting yourself away at home, as the government recommends here for those potentially exposed to the virus, will be hard on self-employed people who don’t get sick pay, and those in jobs so precarious they don’t want to risk taking 14 days off.

If NHS beds come under intense pressure, difficult choices may have to be made. Yet it’s hard to imagine the spirit of Eyam prevailing when ministers have already had to invoke draconian emergency powers to prevent a man rescued from coronavirus-stricken Wuhan leaving quarantine in a Merseyside hospital.

China’s solution to this dilemma has been the kind of brutally sweeping measures that perhaps only the most authoritarian of states could muster: sealing off whole cities, banning travel, knocking up new hospitals in days and reportedly even nailing victims’ front doors shut, in some cases, to stop them venturing out. The virus now seems to be peaking in China. Yet what can be made to work in a society where everyone fears the consequences of disobeying authority, and where the concept of collective sacrifice for the communal good is drummed in from childhood, won’t translate easily to European democracies.

So far, Britain has opted more for keeping calm and carrying on, bearing in mind the World Health Organization’s warning that this is about containing the social and economic damage caused by mass outbreaks, as well as saving lives. Japan is closing all its schools but the health secretary, Matt Hancock, was clear, when briefing MPs on Wednesday, that this government would seek to keep schools open wherever it could. The scientific advice is seemingly that the economic and social disruption caused by widespread closures, which stop parents going to work, isn’t worth it at this stage.


The unspoken fear is obviously that there may be more than enough economic disruption as it is, with efforts to contain the virus hampering the free movement of goods and people around the world. The modern equivalent of Eyam’s bolt of cloth is lorry drivers shuttling between factory depots, or middle managers flying to and from meetings, meeting and greeting and sneezing and coughing as they go. Airlines freezing recruitment, restaurants reporting cancellations and factories running low on parts are only the most visible signifiers of what may be to come.

But when the WHO urges countries to step up preparations, it isn’t just talking about hospital beds and economic resilience and endlessly reminding people to wash their hands. This isn’t just a test of clinical resources but a test too, in some ways, of Britons’ willingness to put ourselves out for others. Thankfully, this isn’t another Eyam. But we have a choice about whether to be vicars or squires, all the same.

 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

I was in an All Bar One today, they have Corona on draft. I asked the barman how many shit jokes he’s had to listen to. You’ve never seen an eye roll like it.  

Haha I bet. I don't mind Corona, I prefer it without the lime as well. Most people insist on lime with it though. How does it work in a pint? Do they use lime cordial or a slice of lime? or do they just tell the punter to fuck off? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

Haha I bet. I don't mind Corona, I prefer it without the lime as well. Most people insist on lime with it though. How does it work in a pint? Do they use lime cordial or a slice of lime? or do they just tell the punter to fuck off? 

I think it’s shite. But the pump was really fancy, you can tell they’ve spent a fortune trying to market it. Shit timing. Like that time there was a diet product in the 80’s called AIDS.  

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Rico1304 said:

I think it’s shite. But the pump was really fancy, you can tell they’ve spent a fortune trying to market it. Shit timing. Like that time there was a diet product in the 80’s called AIDS.  

Do you remember the old Becks ones? Big massive white and green ceramic thing that took up half the bar 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...