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

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I’ve just been furloughed, is volunteering not actually that helpful?

History of the last big Virus

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/1918-flu-pandemic

Isn't the A318 (that does, or did the LCY-JFK route) bigger and faster than a Hercules?

1st world problem? Sure:

Just been to the worst two pubs ever with four mates. Started on Zoom but that was shite and went to Jipster which was also shite.

Fuck the future.

Is it patronising to say thanks to people who are generally keeping our world turning? I ran past two BT engineers this morning working on a line and said thanks for keeping going. I also want to leave a note and some beers for the bin dudes on the next bin day but can't tell whether they'd just think it was a piss take. Any waste disposal / infrastructure maintainers on here who can shed some light on this stuff at the moment? Was reassuring to see that NHS people generally saw yesterday's pot banging as a good thing...

How much of the issue is political.

With our current government, everything is about politics.

I did that with a garbage man yesterday.

Was out walking a little trail in Leyton where he was pulling some stuff out of the undergrowth and in passing said "you really notice who the essential workers are when everything shuts down". "Thanks!"

It wasn't awks, so what have you got to lose?

I’ve just been furloughed, is volunteering not actually that helpful?

From my limited understanding staying home may be the most useful thing for the next week or two ... by which time more formal arrangements should be in place and volunteers utilised. You should give your details though. The mammoth task of processing volunteer info is underway. If you have specific skills offer them as directly as possible aswell as on the goodsams app.

In the meantime... Do watch out for neighbours, associates and random vulnerable people (either through your own initiative or local community groups via Nextdoor etc). I worry there could easily be people at some risk before the ‘hubs’ are up and running.

And thank you.

Fuck me. What an idiot. That is actual footage of the Chief Medival Officer contracting the virus he is supposed to be in charge of saving society from, that he then passed to the PM? We are so fucked.

Cite the source or I delete that post.

Misinformation can be deadly

Actually @Señor_Bear I did it a different way... I've deleted. Please link to the source instead rather than verbatim copy.

I was coming back to post no citation.

Apologies if we had this before and I missed it, but Amazon set up a fund and asked for public donations to pay their staff. Wouldn’t use the tax-cheating, high street destroying, exploitationist scumbags at the best of times, but this is pretty fucking low.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/amazon-donations-sick-leave/

I don’t know whether we should believe them or not but their suggestion is to make a fund like this it needs to be open to public donations (I assume that means some sort of charitable tax break which is shitty enough on its own)

Playing devil's advocate somewhat, as u understand it (i.e. read on the internet somewhere) the type of fund that was set up had a regulatory requirement that it is open to public donations. They utterly fucked the wording though.

[Edit] ^ that. Except it's not as if Amazon pays taxes anyway.

Lock down in Somerset (wellington) is showing, hardly anyone about. I’m still heading into work 3 days a week as bike shops are essential... motorway had about 80% less traffic. Took my colleague 25 minutes instead of 45.

Police patrolling; feels very weird!

One of two allotments attempted to be shut down by the council, going against the government’s ruling and got a total backlash again those using it! Luckily we are still able to cycle to ours and take only back lanes avoiding pretty much any chance of contact!

Have been hearing a lot more helicopters, I guess probably air ambulance sadly

Half of parents on low incomes with children eligible for free school meals said they had not yet received any substitute meals to keep their children fed, despite government promises to provide food vouchers or parcels. Around 830,000 children are therefore likely to be going without daily sustenance.
...
On 21 March the government instructed people at greater risk of Covid-19 to stay in their homes and self-isolate for 12 weeks. It said it would contact 1.5 million people in this category and set up a system with local authorities, voluntary organisations and business to deliver food parcels to the homes of those who lacked family support. ... the Guardian understands that the scheme is not yet running and will take a few weeks to scale up to supplying food to 400,000 people. The Food Foundation has calculated that more than twice that number – 860,000 people who fall into the medically vulnerable category – were suffering from food insecurity even before the crisis.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/28/families-borrowing-buy-food-week-of-lockdown

Pretty desperate situation for huge numbers of people in this country.

Car parks in the Peak District closest to us are closed off so people are just parking on the roads.

It’s another confused message. If they’re closing the national parks to cars, the rangers/councils need to be stopping people from going in.

Adam Buxton’s most recent pod provides well informed balance between medicine, psychology and societal morals this week. He’s talking to Doc Xand Van Tulleken. I do recommend:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-adam-buxton-podcast/id1040481893?i=1000469606713

It's not a confused message, they've been very clear now that people should stay local to exercise which doesn't mean driving into a national park:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52062209

Why should rangers/councils have to police people who aren't capable of digesting and acting on government advice?

And if the car parks are closed off it's pretty obvious you're not supposed to be parking there. People are dumb/selfish.

Listened to that yesterday.
Fully agree with your recommendation.

I mostly agree but or ople have shown they won’t listen. There’s nothing to suggest national parks are closed until you arrive at the car parks.

The cabinet office guidelines are still that it’s fine to take your car to exercise. I’m fortunate I don’t have to do that but lots of people will continue to do so until it becomes impossible.

Edit: People will deliberately misinterpret ‘where possible’ and ‘local’ because they’re too vague.

This thread has slowed in the last few days, must be a good sign of sorts. Yesterday the US were starting to row back from the idea of reopening areas by Easter. This seemed positive, sounds like more will be decided on Monday. They don't appear to have learned from the UK news yesterday, shit-ton of key people still hanging around the lectern together in close proximity. VP and President.