COVID-19 Pandemic

[alexisj9]

2 hours ago, Ravelin said:

Out of 4 people in our household 3 are teachers and the other is still in Secondary school. I suspect class numbers will possibly decline first, as parents withdraw kids but teachers 'soldier on'. In my case I work in a school with a lot of extremely vulnerable children (due to disabilities and health conditions) and I know a lot of parents are already very concerned. 

What baffles me, for a health standpoint, is that schools can be a real focal point for outbreaks of illness. You have lots of people crowded into a confined space 5 days a week, then all heading back out into the community mid afternoon. Even if kids are less likely to be badly affected by this virus I've seen nothing to suggest that they can't get it and can't spread it.

If keeping schools open is primarily an economic argument then the government need to be clear on this. I don't buy the argument that kids will just congregate elsewhere, 90% of the will 'congregate' in thier bedrooms on thier phone/tablet/xbox/ps4. 

Exactly, I'd have no problem keeping my kids in for a couple of weeks, it's standard. However one of mine had an accident a little while ago and because it's been so wet, and the dressing had to be kept dry, he's been stuck mostly indoors for a monthish now, I've been letting hi# friends in to play on the console, tablets with him, but he's about ready to play out now, I'm not sure keeping him in another two weeks or so would be good for him. 

[BornFromTheVoid]

 

Iceland still leading the way in terms of density of cases, but Switzerland and Italy closing in. 15 countries now have a higher proportion of COVID-19 infections than China

[Spikecollie]

Many French people, including those with young children, are trapped at Marrakech airport after flights were suspended between the two countries.

This is the less palatable side of a travel ban.

[swebby]

2 minutes ago, The PIT said:

Well the population density is greater in the northern Hemisphere so you would expect a greater number of infections.

 

Mumbai, Cairo, Mexico city, Sao Paulo - all densely populated cities that have not yet had a huge number of cases.  This may be down to absence of testing however.

[Snipper]

3 minutes ago, Spikecollie said:

I saw that and really have no idea what it is about.

Bag contaminated so free bag can be dumped. Reusable bags could hold virus for an Extended period. 

[The PIT]

I saw a post earlier about asthma suffers.How they are effected will depend on the individual generally I don't get to serious colds but I have had some where it's felt like there was a furnace in my chest. Luckily it passed in a day but wasn't pleasant before the cold ran to it's conclussion. Generally a cold knocks about knocks about 100 to 150 when I test my Ashma. No idea what flu would do to it as I haven't had flu since I can remember.

[Snipper]

Right I’m off to make sausages.

best of luck for a while. 

[Stabilo19]

2 minutes ago, The PIT said:

Well the population density is greater in the northern Hemisphere so you would expect a greater number of infections.

 

 

9 minutes ago, swebby said:

Only that the spread appears to have been prolific in northern hemisphere countries in comparison to the examples you list. but concrete evidence of seasonality? not as far as i know. If it does spread well during summer, that would actually assist the governments strategy.

Also, the northern hemisphere is much more connected by air travel than the southern hemisphere. Could be a factor involved in Europe now being the epicentre of covid-19.

[alexisj9]

2 hours ago, Yarmy said:

Not as yet, as far as I can tell. What will the bookies do when all sport stops? 

Help people with a gambling problem by not bothering to open, as no reason to hopefully. 

[Guest Delete Me]

11 minutes ago, CatchMyDrift said:

There is no such thing as "the temperature corridor", northern Italy has been far warmer than normal for weeks on end. This has been described as "spring" by their weather pages and far above the "5-11C band" that you're referencing:

The unusual warmth was the hot topic before the virus came along, if you've got Facebook just search a few Italian Meteo pages and you'll see what I mean

I don't recall specifically referencing a temperature range / band for this corridor nor did I know there was one.

Africa will not bear the brunt of this.

PS - Currently the virus is concentrating on countries within or close to this band you speak of.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Delete Me

[Zak M]

 

[kold weather]

2 minutes ago, Snipper said:

Bag contaminated so free bag can be dumped. Reusable bags could hold virus for an Extended period. 

Yes that makes perfect sense Snipper.

In terms of this virus, the optimal temperature according to some research out of the USA is 8.72C. However the virus doesn't become inactive until something like 60-65c so it will still be able to spread at a far higher temperature than that 5-11c range.

[Guest Delete Me]

Oh by the way folks, It's just the flu

 

[swebby]

3 minutes ago, Paul Faulkner said:

Oh by the way folks, It's just the flu

 

Shows how lucky we were with the most infectious phase of SARS occurring in the highly symptomatic. If it had been like covid-19 and had been most infectious in the early stages of symptoms.......

[Zak M]

 

[kar999]

39 minutes ago, alexisj9 said:

What on earth, doesn't sound right at all. 

Point 2, the right to detain people carrying the virus .... Unless I'm mistaken, that has always been the case for every notifiable disease.

[swebby]

2 minutes ago, kar999 said:

Point 2, the right to detain people carrying the virus .... Unless I'm mistaken, that has always been the case for every notifiable disease.

I'm still not sure if it is now a notifiable disease?  Initially it was not,  then there was talk of it would be for insurance reasons but no idea if that happened? 

[Stabilo19]

Interesting article: 

"Coranavirus (BBC need a spelling checker): Emergency plan for prisons in England and Wales

The possibility of designating other buildings as prisons to cope with pressures has not been ruled out.

Senior figures do not believe large numbers of prisoners will have to be released to cope with any strain.

There is, however, significant concern about the impact on older prisoners with underlying health issues.

Ministers are thought to have not ruled out releasing vulnerable inmates most at risk, but the instinct in government is that they should serve their sentences."

Emergency coronavirus plan for prisons

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

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Prisons in England and Wales bring in measures to deal with "unprecedented" challenges.

 

[Spikecollie]

1500 more cases in Spain (Source BBC online)

[Tilly]

Panic buying and people just generally being absolute disgusting creatures is really effecting us now. There’s no baby formula I have 3 under 3 and we go through 3 tubs a week. Went to buy some and No stock. Other half looked on ebay and people are selling them, 3 for £90! Usual price is £10.99 each. The toilet roll was ridiculous, the hand sanitiser ridiculous and inconsiderate but baby milk is an absolute disgrace. There are possible alternatives but it’s not just a simple switch you can do with formula and I’m sure these are probably now getting brought up by money hungry idiots looking to make a pretty penny out of desperate parents. I literally just stopped breast feeding a couple of weeks ago (bad timing) so hopefully I can get it back else we are going to be in a desperate state! How people can be like this is beyond me  

[Summer Sun]

Whilst coronavirus dominates the media. One of the UK's top trends on Twitter currently is Woolworths thanks to this joke.

Since the football has been suspended I’ve had to start talking to my wife. Just found out she’s been made redundant from Woolworths

 

[Spikecollie]

Travellers in tears in Amsterdam airport

Gavin Lee

BBC Europe reporter

"Amsterdam Schipol Airport, one of the biggest transport hubs in Europe, now feels like a small regional airport because of the lack of passengers.

There is one notable queue, at customer services, and it chicanes right around the side of Departure Hall 3. These are people trying to work out how to get home, and how to travel to the countries that are closing their borders. One significant travel ban is the US one imposed by President Trump, which has been in force since the early hours. It means airport staff here must turn away anyone who has been in one of the 26 European countries that share a passport-free travel agreement known as the Schengen Zone over the past two weeks.

Although US citizens are exempt, I’ve spoken to a large group of American students in the queue who were backpacking around Europe but have cut their holiday short by two weeks to try to get home now. Karen, 21, from Seattle organised the trip. She lifts her face mask to tell me there had been many arguments between the group about whether they should leave or stay. They ultimately voted to go in case of any further restrictions.

Further back in the queue, Stefania, an Italian studying in Bulgaria, is trying to return home to Sicily, but all flights to Italy are cancelled. She’s trying, like many in the queue, to get a refund, and then to work out another way to travel.

In the past 48 hours there has been a domino effect on countries around the world imposing full or partial travel bans for foreign citizens - India, Russia, Norway, Israel and Argentina to name a few in a growing list.

I’ve seen several people in tears here as they leave customer services. There are so many questions for the staff here. There’s now a 90-minute wait for those at the back of the queue. It’s an enormous task for the airlines, which are dealing with an unprecedented crisis." (Source:BBC online)

What a misery...

[cyclonic happiness]

21 minutes ago, Paul Faulkner said:

Oh by the way folks, It's just the flu

 

I think parliament should pass a law banning the utterance of the phrase "it's just flu"

I must have heard it a hundred times last week

[Summer Sun]

TUI have or in the process of suspending flights to the following destinations.

AMAICA

• We are aware that the Jamaican authorities have taken the decision not to permit entry to anyone travelling from the UK to Jamaica from 14th March 2020 for 14 days. We will proactively contact all customers due to travel to Jamaica between 14th March and 28th March, including all cruise bookings to offer alternative holiday options or offer a full-refund.

SPAIN

• Following local measures put in place by the Spanish Authorities, including closing some hotel facilities and the local bars, restaurants and beaches we have made the difficult decision to cancel holidays due to travel between 14 and 16 March. Although there is currently no advice from the UK Government against travelling to Spain it would not be the holiday experience we would want for our customers.
• We will proactively contact all customers due to travel to Alicante between 14 March and 16 March to offer alternative holiday options or offer a full-refund. Any customers due to travel between 17 March and 23 March will be contacted about their holiday on Monday 16 March.

CYPRUS

• Due to restrictions introduced by the local authorities, we’re sorry to advise that all holidays to Cyprus departing up to and including 24 March have unfortunately had to be cancelled. If you are due to travel in the next two days, you will receive a full refund. We are proactively contacting affected customers departing between 16 and 24 March to find a suitable alternative holiday.
• Customers who manage to rebook onto an alternative holiday will receive £50 per adult and £25 per child discount off their new holiday cost. If it is absolutely not possible to find a suitable alternative, customers will receive a full refund. All holidays on or after 25 March are currently operating as planned, therefore normal terms and conditions for amendments and cancellations apply. Should the restriction remain in place we will proactively contact affected customers.

MALTA AND TUNISIA

• Due to restrictions introduced by the local authorities, we’re sorry to advise that all holidays to Malta and Tunisia departing up to and including 22 March have unfortunately had to be cancelled. If you are due to travel in the next two days, you will receive a full refund. We are proactively contacting affected customers departing between 16 and 24 March to find a suitable alternative holiday. Customers who manage to rebook onto an alternative holiday will receive £50 per adult and £25 per child discount off their new holiday cost.
• If it is absolutely not possible to find a suitable alternative, customers will receive a full refund. All holidays on or after 22 March are currently operating as planned, therefore normal terms and conditions for amendments and cancellations apply. Should the restriction remain in place we will proactively contact affected customers.

ITALY

• We’re aware that the FCO has now changed its travel advice for Italy to all but essential travel and the Italian Government has implemented new internal measures to minimise the spread of Coronavirus which will run up to and including 3rd April. If you are due to travel between now and 3rd April to Italy a member of our customer services team will contact you directly to discuss your options including an amendment or full refund. Customers who rebook will receive a refund of £50 per adult, and £25 per child. Holidays from 4th April onwards are due to operate as planned.

FLORIDA

• We are aware that Universal Orlando Resort and Walt Disney World Resort have announced they will be closing between 15 and 31 March. Any customers due to travel to Florida in those dates who wish to discuss their options should call our customer contact centre. To discuss your booking to Florida, please call us on 0800 009 3836 or 0203 636 1997: 9am - 7pm (Monday to Friday), 9am – 6pm (Saturday) and 10am-5pm (Sunday).

SRI LANKA

• The local authorities in Sri Lanka have implemented restrictions meaning that passengers will no longer be able to apply for a visa on arrival into the country. Therefore, all customers due to travel on a TUI holiday, TUI Tour or Multi-centre holiday to Sri Lanka must secure their visa prior to travel. You can buy one here: http://www.eta.gov.lk/slvisa/ 

THAILAND

• The local authorities in Thailand have implemented restrictions meaning all customers due to travel on a TUI holiday to Thailand, whether with TUI Airways or a third party airline, will be required to download an AOT Airports app onto their mobile phones and complete the required information such as full name, passport ID, mobile phone number and address. This information will be stored for 14 days and used if state agencies are required to make contact with individuals either during their holiday or afterwards.

VIETNAM

• We are contacting customers who are due to travel to Vietnam from 17th March onwards as they will now need to apply for a visa from the Vietnamese Embassy

[Zak M]

Very empty at the moment in Milan 

Live Cam Milan Cathedral

WWW.SKYLINEWEBCAMS.COM

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View over the Milan Cathedral, the Galleria and the equestrian statue of Vittorio Emanuele II