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

In supermarket bare shelves update I was tickled by this scene at Kingston Sainsbury's.

The store had been pretty much decimated, but alone on the cans aisle was a solitary slightly bashed can of artichoke hearts.

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Have it on good authority (a hospital doctor) that the NHS is entirely unprepared for the coming situation. Basically, we need to be doing more to protect the elderly. A lot more.

wow scrolling past that then back again is trippy. (slightly)

just you wait.

When refrigerated lorries are commandeered to carry the dead, when mass grave legislation is changed or we start importing cremation machines, and when you need to walk past armed guards to the self-checkout section of your local Tesco Metro.... that's when you know shit has hit the fan.

They opened a Lidl in teddington today , there was a 1km of a human queue outside this morning and some people had camped out overnight

Also making sure it works. You need a protein chain that will trigger an antibody reaction, and one which will be effective at killing off the viruses. If it was easy we'd have a vaccine for HIV by now.

The bakery section is almost worth that.

Relative in the NHS was also talking about plans to use ice rinks as morgues. It's hard to know what is silly rumour and what is a reality too terrifying to accept.

check the link in my comment esp p. 18, 20, 22, 24

Is that the old Wickes?

What really fucks me off, is that in early feb I saw that there was potential for this to happen to us and I stocked up with food and medicine before leaving the UK on business for 2 weeks.

Partly I did it because was concerned I would pick it up overseas and be quarantined, but also did not want to return to chaos unprepared.

If I could see the risk and possible trend when my only source of intelligence is mainstream news. Why the fuck did the government or major retailers not work it out, 6 weeks ago.

Btw, one thing I did not buy was bog roll.

"The public perception may be that vehicles used for [body] transport cannot safely/hygienically carry any other goods in future."

Good point, but then I hadn't considered that as there has not exactly been as much consideration historically from those with power of HIV as something that affects "everyone", if you know what I mean.

Didn't notice the link! Not sure it'll make good bedtime reading.

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Every region will have contingency plans for a mass casualty event, be it a pandemic, a tsunami, a nuclear attack or a plane crash into a full football stadium. It doesn't take much at all to overwhelm normal infrastructure.

These plans will have existed before covid-19 was a thing and it's sensible to be making sure you can enact them if needed.

My first taste of emergency planning was in the 2005 tube bombings. The decision to handle bodies a certain way wasn't made on the hoof, it was a well drilled plan that swung into action after years of planning and drills.

The existence of these plans or the fact that the implementation plans will be tested is not an indication of an expectation that things will get that bad. They're just making sure that it can be done if needed.

Also, I am starting to more and more understand my parents' occasional lax attitude to all this. My dad has MS which isn't going anywhere and they were both parents of young children in NI at the height of the Troubles. Apples and oranges to a certain extent but the "this too shall pass" sentiment from the Mary E Black blog that @Chalfie posted certainly makes sense when thinking about their frame of mind.

She's quite nice really. I know it's a bit trite the way it's written, but her lived experience is valid.

guys ive heard a load of shit on the internet so I'm just going to repeat it. they might be rumours or, dunno, maybe there's some truth to them. please look after your mental health guys ok xxx

It was pages 27 & 28 that caught me off guard.

Well, HIV is only one example. We still don't have effective vaccines for SARS1, MERS, or Ebola. Hell, we don't even have a vaccine for the common cold, albeit that's a rhinovirus not a coronavirus so the challenge is rather different.

It is of course one of the great joys of modern life that we have vaccines against so many other viral diseases, not least smallpox. And then you get the anti-vax dullards who rail against one of the genuinely great human achievements. I'll stop now before I get too offensive.

A generic hospital doctor is not a good authority to judge preparedness in their own hospital, let alone the NHS as a whole, it is not their job.

If the doctor was also the lead for pandemic planning, another matter.

FWIW:
I don't think it is possible to be prepared for the worst predicted outcome. I do think the nhs is aware of the likely pressure, and steps have been made to try and withstand that pressure.

From what I do know- pandemic planning has been happening at least since SARS, with local simulations and yearly updated protocols.

And from what we're all feeling- is a sense of unease as the management make decisions but are not communicating particularly well. We all know the next months are going to be hard, very hard. I have previously suggested a frustration that certain things have not moved with enough alacrity early enough, but that time has passed and defeatism is not the solution to any problem.

Whether or not this means we're prepared- I don't know. We go to work, just the same as any day^, and we've had the benefit of forewarning- unlike our Italian and Chinese colleagues.
Signed, A generic hospital doctor.

^ well- those of us who aren't isolated, but just a few more days...

good stuff H. And big thanks for the good work that is going on out there x

Sadly I'm stuck isolated-and still febrile- so nothing to do with me at the minute (and remember- I'm surgical -our role has been very odd recently).

I'm sure there are many more deserving people than me in my extended colleague base as well- The ambulance crews and nurses and HCAs really spring to mind.

And from what we're all feeling- is a sense of unease as the management make decisions but are not communicating particularly well.

I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the lack of communication is entirely pre-meditated and deliberate. It would be nice to think that informing the general public of contingency plans for worst case scenarios would make them feel reassured. Given the ongoing spate of panic-buying, I'm not sure that such a measured and rational response would be a realistic expectation.