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

Their is a staff meeting taking place at arrowe park hospital at the moment where management will explain what is happening in the accommodation block next the hospital. The inconvenience at the moment is from the media scrum taking up car parking spaces. I think one of the biggest questions will be who is paying for it all and what gain is their to the teaching hospital?

I think one of the biggest questions will be who is paying for it all

The taxpayer

and what gain is their to the teaching hospital?

Treating patients, infection control training and safeguarding the public.

In no way am i criticising anyone . The hospital is bending over backwards to help and under continuing financial constraints .
My partner has come home feeling incredible proud of her work colleagues this evening . No nhs patient has had anything cancelled this week. Even if they think they have.

I think that the short period where I was seconded to a regional NHS public health team for pandemic respone is one of my warmest memories of my time in the NHS. So many people had to go above and beyond for weeks in end. A real cross discipline effort.

I think I miss it. Have been hounding old friends there for updates on what they're doing.

Another day another page of numbers: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Two recent deaths of note
44 year old in the Philippines
39 year old in HK

Now wash your hands

It's not all bad news for everyone. On ebay sellers of face masks are making a killing. Prices have risen from about 10p each to 70p to £1.40 each. One seller claims to have 300,000 in stock.

I think there is quite a lot of counterfeiting of 3 ply masks

Would also be hugely ironic if the shipment of facemasks were contaminated with Coronavirus, all it takes is someone coughing over them as they package them up for postage.

It wouldn't survive that long on the mask.

Already been meme'd.

You've not seen the film cassandra crossing?

This Podcast Will Kill You are covering Coronaviruses today (SARS, MERS, nCOV).

So three days on, still not a biggie for our forum naysayers?

I for one welcome our new virus overlords

I guess I kinda wanted an excuse to never go out again.

BBC reporting that victims typically over 60 or with pre existing health conditions.

Is there any more data to suggest that other than being careful where we travel and being clean more changes to our lives and habits are required? I haven’t looked so genuine question.

Heard on the bus - "everything comes from China these days "

Really sad. One of the Dr's who got reprimanded and pulled by the police for starting vicious rumors in wuhan has died from the virus only 34 😔 causing alot of people in China to question why he was cencored and reprimanded.

RIP Dr Li Wenlaiang

See the link up thread ‘worldometers’, they have a link to death rates https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-rate/ which summarises the current at risk people quite well.
They also say that the higher death rate in Hubei is because of a lack of available resources. So outside Hubei the death rates are much lower (0.16%) than in Hubei (3.1%) or Wuhan (4.9%) thanks to the availability of critical care facilities and drugs. I should think Australia is still comfortably able to cope unless infection levels skyrocket.
Ignore Howard’s comments on the over 60s being at risk, he’s just trying to scare you, it’s the over 80’s at highest risk.

For comparison, the UK has about 6000 intensive care beds, generally fairly evenly spread.

Kings and Royal Free have about 100 between them. Not sure about other London hospitals

Yes. Still not a 'biggie'. Still something that is being handled as such things need to be handled, and nothing the average Londoner needs to be overly concerned about at this point.

Anything could still happen, but based on what we currently see, we will likely live to ride another day. Sad for the deaths that happened and continue to happen, but it's not going to wipe out the world.

This is worth a watch.
Some indication from a world-leading expert on pandemics about just what we do and don't know right now. Estimates are: 50,000 new infections per day, pandemic doubling in size every 5 days, will peak in Wuhan in about 1 month, peak in China in about 2 months, and the rest of the world after that depending on how well connected to China they are.

Thanks, that's a very good video. (Don't read the comments underneath it though)

What I am more worried about with regards to the situation in the UK, and with respect to what @Stonehedge said about intensive care beds, is how this will play out in the context of the NHS already seemingly being at breaking point at all times. I suppose if we're lucky the weather stays warmish - afaik the stress on the system increases significantly every time there's really cold weather.

Very very sad about Dr Li. Also fucking mental that Chinese state media retracted the statement about his death for a while yesterday. My social media is wall-to-wall posts about him and criticism of the govt. Quite a few people have had their wechat accounts suspended and there are millions of posts on weibo calling for freedom of speech (pretty sure all of these will be removed).

Must be reasonable odds that this brings down the CCP in the medium term. A public health disaster compounded by economics impacts from the management of the crisis would be difficult for any government to manage. Expect them to dial up the brutal authoritarianism in response.

If the only thing you define as a 'biggie' is a virus that will wipe out the world, then I agree this isn't it.

However, it now seems likely to me that this will have profound effects that are felt around the entire world, with the possibility for very damaging impacts in some regions of the world.

They've already said that they are keen to restrict the media further, which is an impressive goal I guess.

Saw a great propaganda poster the other day saying "bored at home while in quarantine? why not have a second child?!"