Coronavirus

[jonab 1,584]

I agree with the remarks re handwashing with soap and Happy birthday or other nonsense phrase that  le pitre (the clown) is uttering.

 

All is to nought if, even after removing every organism from your hands, you then proceed to dry them on a dirty towel. By dirty, I don't mean manky,. I mean merely one that is anything other than sterile.

 

The alcohol wash is the method favoured in France but, really, I wonder if any of these procedures are of any real use?

[Waddo 925]

In a way, although I don't have any evidence to support it, i think that our modern way of life could be partly responsible for the impact that this virus. Personally I think that we ourselves have reduced our immune system with probably too much hygiene, only a thought!!

[Jill Sparrow 7,902]

Totally agree with you, Waddo.

[Oztalgian 2,062]

I think it may be time to provide some data.

I admit that * may be distorted by under-reporting or limited testing.

Our thoughts should be with Nonna and Italy in general as for some reason they have been badly affected.

Yes we need to be sensible/cautious/careful based on our individual circumstances but absolutely no need for panic buying (and why toilet rolls)

Country                 Total Cases                Cases per million of population

Italy                          17,650                            292         Posn 1 out of the top 40 and by far the worst

China*                      80,817                            56           Posn 13

France                      3661                               56           Posn 14

UK                            798                                  12           Posn 27 

Australia                 199                                   8             Posn 34 

USA*                        2269                                7             Posn 36 

[philmayfield 3,672]

It’s norovirus which requires toilet rolls! I wash my hands whilst humming the Dead March from Saul. It takes longer than ‘happy birthday’

[oldphil 224]

14 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said:

Totally agree with you, Waddo.

my grandmother used to insist "you eat a cwt of dirt before you die"

[PeverilPeril 2,469]

There is now talk of the elderly being advised to stay at home for the next 4 months! What gets me is that 'elderly' was being quoted as the over 70's  

Us over 80's are definitely written off!

Looks like I'll be doing a lot of fishing and gardening for some fresh air and skipping the pub.

[Jill Sparrow 7,902]

Thought of you the moment I read about the over 70s, Terry. I could just picture your face!

 

Stock up on more wine, lad. Us Old Berridgians will come through it with flying colours!

[Waddo 925]

Oldphil, is a cwt about the same as a peck of dirt?

[philmayfield 3,672]

It’s not for drinking. It’s to sanitise his hands.

[benjamin1945 12,937]

26 minutes ago, PeverilPeril said:

There is now talk of the elderly being advised to stay at home for the next 4 months! What gets me is that 'elderly' was being quoted as the over 70's  

 

Cheeky Gits........i am getting out as much as i can,,,,and i won't be wearing a Mask either,,,could'nt believe it when i saw folk shopping in Strelley yesterday wearing em...anyway a Mask would be a waste of time for me,,,i now breathe thru my neck......Mouth used only for eating and a good night kiss''',,,

[Brew 3,532]

1 hour ago, trogg said:

for you to use the phrase above is a bit below the belt.

 

To all I unreservedly apologise. It was meant to be jocular and obviously didn't come across the way I intended. Mea Culpa.

 

I believe hand washing is necessary to prevent the spread of disease of course I do but the excessive hand cleaning some are suggesting does little more than to provide them a degree of reassurance. I have always washed after the toilet and before eating as do we all, I don't think in my situation any more is necessary and I refuse to panic.

 

Read the experts, NHS, CDC etc and all say the virus has a relatively short life (a few hours at most) on hard surfaces and only if the conditions are right. The temperature has to be right, the humidity has to be right, the surface has to be right and if they aren't the time comes down to mere minutes. True it only takes seconds to catch the virus but for all the conditions to line up just right at the moment you touch a surface then you can see that the chances are very small. I note also no suggestion of wearing fabric gloves has been suggested and yet the experts are telling us the virus cannot live on soft surfaces. The best thing anyone can do is avoid close proximity (breathing, coughing distance) to other people.

 

I will say this as well, be wary of products that claim they kill 99.9% of germs. A virus is not bacterial - not a germ

 

I don't know if the Italian reaction will work, I hope it does.

[oldphil 224]

29 minutes ago, Waddo said:

Oldphil, is a cwt about the same as a peck of dirt?

A peck is two gallons, a cwt is 112 lb

So how much would two gallons of mud weigh?

[Waddo 925]

About 25 pounds, at a guess!

[Stavertongirl 1,246]

For me self isolating will be easy, just a case of not going to my Monday Club and then meal at the Holly Tree and my Friday club with meal after at the local pub. Going to miss them but needs must and I can keep in contact by phone and txt, same with relatives and can also talk via Alexa and FaceTime, won’t be the same but better than nothing. Obviously I won’t be doing the invigilating at the exams this summer, unless there is a miracle, pity I was looking forward to taking my young lady thru her exams after doing the mocks with her. Hopefully will be able to do the exams later this year possibly?
I have plenty of cross stitch kits to be getting on with, going to order some wool off the internet for knitting and crocheting to keep me busy and charge up my kindle. Might even get some paint and paint my fence when the weather improves!
I am a little concerned about Kai not being able to go for a walk every day (weather permitting) although we don’t really see anyone where we walk so not sure whether to get up early and take him out then or not. I will miss our walks together which help to keep us both mobile. I suppose it is technically breaking the self isolation so will have to think about it when the time comes. 

It is strange I never considered myself elderly and it didn’t hit home that I was included in that group until a relative pointed out that I was. I always thought of “elderly” as being older than me!

I do wonder when the peak finally hits if age will become a factor in hospitalisation and treatment. I am lead to believe this is the case in Italy but am not sure, it could just be “fake news”, perhaps NonnaB will be able to confirm this or not as I heard the cut off age was 65 there.
I don’t know if the governments strategy is correct. Let “nature take its course” which it seems to be sounds a bit risky. I would have thought the South Korea model would have been better than the Italian route, but with hardly any information being given out except wash your hands and sneeze into hankies it is hard to tell. 

Sorry to go on for so long, stay safe and healthy everyone.
 

[Cliff Ton 8,552]

19 minutes ago, Stavertongirl said:

It is strange I never considered myself elderly ......... I always thought of “elderly” as being older than me!

 

That's exactly what I've always thought ! 

 

I've found that the older I get, the less I realise exactly how old I am.

 

So far, I've never thought of myself as being old; I'm just older than I used to be.

[nonnaB 3,609]

Thanks to those who have read my posts and have understood the drastic situation we are now in. Self isolation is hard, my daughter is isolated and on her own with her dog. I provide her meals and leave them covered on her doorstep. She only lives within our courtyard but she won't venture out because she's afraid of passing something on which she hasn't got. Every morning she messages me to ask if we're ok. She keeps sending videos and articles about this virus. I know she's very worried and probably scared but there's nothing we can do apart from reassuring her.

We are doing all we possibly can but when we hear of other countries seemingly not doing much it makes us so sad and angry because they haven't experienced the effects of this virus yet. I really hope U.K. doesnt get any worse but think it will get worse before it gets better.

Saw something this morning which I hope will be repeated and that I will be sure I saw correctly. NOT that I hope it's true but our cases are now topping 21,000. If that's true it doesn't bear thinking about. 

SG  don't know if there's a cutoff age for hospitalisation, I'll check but don't think so. They are starting to open exhibition centers to accommodate victims , also a cruise liner is being made into a hospital. 

We are getting loads of texts about Boris Johnson that aren't very complimentary. 

Enough said.

[philmayfield 3,672]

I did an online test of ‘guess your age’ yesterday and I came out as 16. Mental age probably!

[nonnaB 3,609]

SG , strangely enough that has just been the discussion on sky news 24. No it's not true but the answers were saying that due to the hospitals being at their extreme positions beds may not be available, masks too, all medical equipment , ventilators etc . If these things aren't available to care for people of ALL ages some were bound to die. They are trying desperately to care for everyone. Medical staff are exhausted and some are falling asleep at their computers or desks when they have a minute or two.

There is a small village here that is starting to make masks out of material. They produce material and also make ladies wear and have.   an outlet shop in our village. So they are trying to do their bit.

 

Ben, is it your image and pride that you are worried about or your health? Get your priorities right and be sensible please , don't want to hear you've got something else to worry about.

[DJ360 5,024]

5 hours ago, Brew said:

OK Col tell us what you want the government to do that they aren't doing? In the face of a pandemic with no known cure how would you tackle it? 

 

I'm not getting into a lengthy political debate on this thread Jim.  I explained it clearly enough last night I thought.  In my view, the Govt. response relies on younger people doing 'the right thing' in order to minimise spread and therefore pressure on the NHS and by 'knock on' risk to the elderly and vulnerable. I don't believe that enough people are behaving sensibly in areas such as keeping a sensible distance from everyone. 

 

It just feels to me that people in my position and worse, are relying on public common sense and common decency for protection.. and I think panic buying etc., have clearly demonstrated the lack of that.

 

Yes, the disease is spread principally by droplets from an infected person, but to describe it as 'airborne' sort of implies that it is floating about everywhere like the fabled 'Miasma' blamed for Cholera etc.. in days past. I'm not sure that is the case.  I've searched for more info on this but can't find much. My layman's suspicion is that exposure to UV light outdoors may well disable it.

 

I've no idea how Labour would react, but I strongly suspect that their focus would be less on supporting business and more on supporting people.  Even Corbyn recognises that we need both business AND people to be important considerations when making policy.

[DJ360 5,024]

1 hour ago, Brew said:

I have always washed after the toilet and before eating as do we all, I don't think in my situation any more is necessary and I refuse to panic.

 

Don't think anyone's asking you to panic Brew.

 

Surely the key point with hand cleaning is not to touch your mouth nose or eyes unless you are sure your hands are clean. This for your own protection an to avois passing on to others via the contact route. This takes some doing if, for e.g. you are driving and have an itchy nose. BUT the point is that if you've been out there are any number of things you are likely to have touched which might be contaminated.

Cash/parking ticket and other machines. door handles, rails, goods in shops etc..ad infinitum. 

 

My approach is to clean my hands with gel before getting back into the car.  Alternatively to thoroughly clean hands (and purchases) with a slightly bleachy cloth and to do the same to touched surfaces in car and work back into house. It literally takes a couple of minutes.

 

Evidence seems to show that the virus can survive for up to 72 hours on metal and plastics, several hours on cardboard and fabrics. These days packages are often despatched in plastic bags, for e.g., so I'll be taking care.

 

 

I can't guarantee I won't get CV, but if it does get me, at least I'll know I did my best to prevent it.

[DJ360 5,024]

19 hours ago, MargieH said:

You'd think some enterprising local pharmacist would make up  his own sanitiser - apparently you need hydrogen peroxide, alcohol over 60% proof, glycerol/glycerine? And some scented stuff...don't know what else....

 

My youngest's partner is a delivery driver who visits a string of McColl's and Morrison's daily. At the moment they have a couple of bottles of sanitiser gel, but since the general message is that soap is actually better., I've suggested this: 

1. Ask all the shops he delivers to if they could maybe reserve him a bottle of sanitiser if they get any.

2. Make up a small bottle of strong soap solution and use as per hand gel.  Also put a wet flannel, face cloth in a sandwich box/food container type thing and use for wiping hands after using soap.  Keep both in the car/van.

[AfferGorritt 669]

What are the practicalities of self isolation when one partner in a marriage is over 70, and the other is under 70?

[philmayfield 3,672]

...... and how can it be enforced? Do we have to carry our birth certificates with us? If it’s a question of relying on people to be sensible, some will, some won’t.

 

 

 

[HSR 227]

1 hour ago, Cliff Ton said:

 

That's exactly what I've always thought ! 

 

I've found that the older I get, the less I realise exactly how old I am.

 

So far, I've never thought of myself as being old; I'm just older than I used to be.

Too much time listening to Byrd's cover versions of Dylan? ,