Chat about Novel Coronavirus - 2019-nCoV - COVID-19

Yeah def most of south east Asia was scared to shit with sars and why there has been some drastic actions. Keep healthy keep clean and yeah cycling to work 👍 I spend 40% of my working day traveling on the MTR the rest teaching kids in large housing blocks I'm nervous if shit kicks off here in HK going to be difficult.

Yeah even the great Andy Lau concert posponed I think kid koala might be too 😞

https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/eu52sf/taxi_driver_in_beijing/

It's a great way to sell PPE

Luckily I kept this from the last time

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Suzhou (city next to Shanghai) announced today that businesses won't reopen (after Chinese New Year) until 8 February. Expecting something similar from Shanghai soon. Everything in Shanghai is closed until further notice, I'm so freaking glad I'm on holiday in the UK right now as it sounds boring as hell, plus also quite worrying...

Very very hard to say (from reading both western and Chinese media) what the real story is. I read a report on the virus by one of the virologists who worked on SARS, and it hasn't struck fear into my heart - yet, and things could change. Part of the giant lockdown could well be individual city/provincial governments wanting to impress the higher ups (this is a major factor in mainland Chinese goings on). Stories of 100s of people in hospitals having IV drips don't go on to say that this is a daily occurrence in China, where there's no primary health care and people believe in a) shitty TCM and b) IV drips solving everything. But then... All the figures released by China are almost certainly false.

Taiwan has banned Chinese tourists (which is kind of funny as China banned most tourists from going there last year), HK so far resisting closing the border.

Re: masks... In Shanghai at least, Chinese people wear them when they're sick, foreigners wear them for pollution. I'm stocking up on masks while I'm in the UK. Before I left SH on Friday I'd worn a mask all week, though obvs handwashing is much much much more effective and something that not enough people (globally, but specifically in China) do.

rip spnogebob

I can't believe I'm spending my holiday reading news articles about a fucking virus, FML.

As I understand it surgical masks are not good at preventing inhaling airborne virus but are good at restricting the amount of infected air that you breathe out. They do however reduce the chances of infected people spreading the disease. Doctors and nurses wear masks to protect the patients from the doctors and nurses.

This isn't about facts it is about scare mongering.

The Chinese people in my department are shitting bricks, with one young woman writing a departmental email saying 'don't go to France'. I take this to mean the Chinese media is going full-on panic mode, probably because getting billions of Chinese people to do adequate disease control in a country where health and safety is regarded as an optional extra is impossible.

Our Chinese colleagues told us not to go to Glasgow, they seem to be really shitting it.

I might get the family one of these each

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This was perhaps a foolish time to order some knock-off sunglasses from China...

Quick rinse under a tap before putting them, I'll be fine, right?

What is happening in Glasgow?

The most rugged viruses last a week outside a warm and moist body while flu is more like 24 hours so your cheap glasses on the slow boat will be fine.

I really don't know now that @charlie_lcc has shattered my confidence in their efficacy... 😬 We went to Invasion Day, it was great...

Not connected.. just don’t go to Glasgow

Glasgow. Don't start. Glasgow is fucking ace

Anyway, this should kill the virus

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Our Chinese colleagues told us not to go to Glasgow, they seem to be really shitting it.

Nah, that’s just everyday good advice. Nothing to do with coronavirus.

Ooh the banter

I did hear a story that in 09 a Director of Public Health was asking that their PCT but a JCB to build mass graves. Is this the same rumour..

don't fuck about rich. Just be safe dude. nobody knows anything

More suggestion of under reporting here:

https://twitter.com/sophia_yan/status/1221243889736011776

And here:

https://twitter.com/muyixiao/status/1221484214228529153

Both from credible sources

Article on likelihood of containment:

https://www.statnews.com/2020/01/26/containing-new-coronavirus-may-not-be-feasible-experts-say/