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For frog snacks. As soon as I thought I´d watch some more vijahos of a Canadian fellow taking things a-part what for taking my mind off things viral, this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KF1j99Qd0M

This is going to be a hard ´un to unfuckulate. To think I recently tried to send over some doll hairs to Uncle Bumblefuck.

Beware of Swedes saying this. They have a strange anglo-positive world view that thinks we're as competent as a romantic view of the Victorians.

Indeed. This is why I included the quote, as the massive alarm bell it is. The same goes for any determiner attached to "pool of experts" or similar. Sorry if I keep banging on about this, but I do think it is important.

Edit: There´s a virulent strain of anglophilia ripping through the population on the other side of the Gulf of Bothnia too. Our (Finland´s) telly is full of British programming and even otherwise hardened journalists gush whenever any of you lot gives an interview in RP.

Edit 2: For anybody wishing to have copious coitus after a night out in Finland and Sweden, just do a Hitchens/Mirren impression as applicable. What with Game of Thrones, a Bean/Whittaker impression would likely result in similar levels of shaggery.

In a statement issued today, Finland´s health ministry urged regional authorities to close schools and to ban gatherings of more than 10 people.

The government had invoked the Emergency Powers Act (1522/2011) yesterday.

Edit: the PM did announce school closures at a news conference yesterday.

Jan Albert, a microbiologist at Karolinska, had been quoted by Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (a news agency) as saying on Friday that the Swedish authorities´ decision to refrain from school closures was the right way to go.

Patrick Vallance was mentioned in the article.

"This is interesting because the British are world leaders in [the field of] infectious [disease] epidemiology. They are very smart, and this shows that we in Sweden are on the right track," Albert told TT.

https://www.dagensmedicin.se/artiklar/2020/03/13/professor-ratt-att-inte-stanga-skolorna/

He also told privately owned broadcaster TV4 that (full?) shool closures would work only in a totalitarian country.

https://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/professorn-kan-bli-skolst%C3%A4ngningar-ocks%C3%A5-i-sverige-12532508

I think Sweden are closing high schools now? There was just a press conference but my Swedish is not perfect so didn’t catch it all.

From SVT (public broadcaster):

Regeringen rekommenderar alla gymnasier, vuxenutbildningar och högskolor och universitet att införa distansutbildning från och med i morgon.
Folkhälsomyndigheten gör fortfarande bedömningen att grundskolor och förskolor inte ska stängas. De negativa konsekvenserna bedöms bli för stora.
Gymnasieskolor i Göteborg stängs onsdag - 20 000 elever berörs.

The government RECOMMEND that all secondary schools, adult education institutions and higher education ones switch over to distance learning as of tomorrow.

Public health officials remain convinced that primary schools and preschools are not to be closed. The negative consequences are judged to be too high.

Secondary schools in Gothernburg to close on Wednesday, 20,000 pupils affected.

I think Sweden are closing high schools now? There was just a press conference but my Swedish is not perfect so didn’t catch it all.

I would translate but the Folkhälsomyndigheten (public health authority) website seems to have crashed.

Imagine how popular you will be with your mates/ housemates/ family if you bring it back and spread it around and then one of their/ your gran dies.

What with the pandemic on, whatever I bring home, including food packaging and said salvaged bike parts, gets scrubbed with a clean microfibre cloth doused in alcohol. Stopped buying fresh fruit and veg a long time ago. Go with frozen instead. Our daily household cleaning routine looks like a South Korean civil defence squad going through a train minus the PPE. Good enough for you?

Also, exercise boosts the immune system and keeps Jack from becoming a dull boy. Am Finnish so own an axe.

If you're after a stress/ anxiety relief tool, last night I built a wheel while listening to some old favourite tunes and having a beer. When building a wheel it's really difficult to think of anything else, so I recommend it if you need a couple of hours of headspace.

This is perhaps the best bit of advive so far, as far as mental health is concerned. May I add that in case you lack wheel parts, go for a solo ride first and rummage bins behind bike shops. My usual Omnium/Wallaroo 50k ride usually yields a shitload of perfectly serviceable if not new parts. A couple of days ago I came home with a brand new front disc wheel with a Deore hub and a Cube-branded rim, presumably because the customer wanted generator lights.

Free course by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine - starts 23 march

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/covi­d19-novel-coronavirus

Thank you very much, signed up.

Good to hear (at least some suggestion) they’re not bollocks.

Fuck I´m kicking myself for not having taken notes. My days consist of going out for a daily ride with the kids, preparing meals and scrubbing. The rest of the time I watch/read media outlets, read/watch accounts by experts. And be a besserwisser prick on an outdated bike forum obvs. ;)

I´ll have a crack at finding that interview. It was a Dutch scientist talking to one of the many arms of the Dutch public broadcasting system.

Closing the schools is a difficult call.

Its estimated it would cause a 10-20% reduction in health worker availability as they would need to stay at home to look after their kids.

"Closing schools" here across the Channel means teachers still working, manning e-learning computers, while a handful of kids, including those of healthcare workers, continue to show up. See here for eerie footage of a school in the Netherlands with a capacity of 120 pupils teaching three instead, starts at about 7:00:

https://nos.nl/uitzending/48573-nos-journaal.html

In case you don´t suffer from the Low German throat disorder, the mum of the pupil who´s alone in a classroom with a teacher works in food processing.

it just doesn't seem viable or the best use of our (scarce) resources to me.

This. Marc Van Ranst is now urging members of the (Belgian) public who´ve hoarded masks to deposit any unopened packages at their local hospital´s reception desk.

I see. Sorry, assumed she was either independent or in a care home.

I do worry for the old. Our neighbour is a nonagenarian in top shape. Still drives, does own shopping and cooking. Saw him in a packed tiny supermarket yesterday, rubbing shoulders with other customers.

I assume they're open because they often also sell food?

No, fags, papers, public transport tickets and that sort of merde.

I'm visiting my Grandma - not my parents...

That´s even worse then. Don´t.

Flemish humour on Contagion from seven years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sazhbaqb7s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPqA7o9N_nY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry_C7cYd2_o

Van Ranst, a senior government adviser, and compulsive Twitterer, has begun referring to himself as BV, short for bekende viroloog (famous virologist). BV usually stands for bekende Vlaming (a celebrity) because he keeps popping up on telly.

He´s taken flak on Twitter for telling young people to stay the fuck home even though boomers seemed to be the worst offenders on Friday, shoehorning themselves into cafes and organising lockdown parties.

NL government announced yesterday evening that cafes, restaurants and schools to shut with immediate effect. Bruno Bruins, the health minister, said at a news conference that sexclubs and coffee shops would shut too. The horror. Schools and daycare centres to run skeleton crews for kids of essential workers, others to use e-learning.

News conference: https://www.npostart.nl/nos-journaal/15-03-2020/POW_04508177

The running gag here in Flanders is that local authorities in North Brabant, Zeelandic Flanders and Limburg panicked as nice weather saw hordes of thirsty Fleming boomers riding north of the border for their midday post-ride beers.

There was also some news footage suggesting officials in Friesland had begun acting independently of The Hague.

One microbiologist told a public broadcaster (can´t find the clip now) that the Washington Post simulation repeatedly mentioned here was realistic.

Mass hoarding, including of weed.

Went for a ride Friday evening in Wezembeek-Oppem, Stokkel, Tervuren and Zaventem. Cafes, restaurants and frituurs absolutely rammed.

One solution offered on Twitter: "stempeltjes met onuitwasbare inkt geven op terrasjes:
ik ga ermee akkoord dat ik liever een terrasje wil dan n intensive-carebed."

Translation: "Rubber stamps dipped in permanent ink applied (to patrons at cafe, restaurant) terraces: "I hereby declare that I would rather have a pint than an intensive care bed .""

For anybody who doesn't understand why schools aren't closing now.

https://twitter.com/Lstedmanbryce/status­/1238906195651559424

One thing that keeps cropping up with regard to school closures is this non-complience/behavioural fatigue thing. I am not questioning the experts, but would just like to know how this applies to schools (or care homes).

Also, here in Belgium schools and care homes will be closed (to visitors for the latter) from 12 March until Friday 3 April, the start of the Easter break that ends on Sunday 19 April, so more than five weeks of nobody in school. Experts, namely Marc Van Ranst, have been telling the public that the pandemic will rage until mid May. The parent mob seems to have concluded from this that schools will simply remain closed for another month. Obviously I´m not saying that that is what he meant, but folks seem to expect themselves and the economy to be proper fuckered.

Really good visualisation of different methods of disease control here for curve flattening:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/­2020/world/corona-simulator/

Fair to say UK strategy so far closer to the first one, Norway's closer to the fourth?

As Harris was quoted as saying at the end of the story, the flaw in the simulations is that some dots should disappear.

Given that surfaces has been mentioned many times on here, I thought I´d post the relevant World Health OrganiSation advice:

"It is not certain how long the virus that causes COVID-19 survives on surfaces, but it seems to behave like other coronaviruses. Studies suggest that coronaviruses (including preliminary information on the COVID-19 virus) may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. This may vary under different conditions (e.g. type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment).

If you think a surface may be infected, clean it with simple disinfectant to kill the virus and protect yourself and others. Clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, or nose."

https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

Went to two Lidls last night with son and heir to buy coffee filters and alcohol, forgot to buy both as he kept banging on about his precious courgette rööschti recipe. Turned out too soggy. Still, as I ate I got depressed because we don´t live in Bern.

Can anybody link to any footage of those Chinese testing and isolation facilities as described by the NYT health correspondent or are telly crews not allowed?

Sweden's approach doesn't seem to be too far from Britain's. Some social distancing measures like banning big events, but schools mostly open and not even trying to test every suspect anymore but trying to slow it spreading. Finland is on the same path, but a bit behind, schools and everything mostly open, working from home and other social distancing adviced, big events banned, toilet paper sold out.

Yebbut as you and I know all too well, bits of Finland have far more reindeer than people and we do have our fair share of exceptionalism as well. I would like to know if the Finnish and Swedish approaches have something to do with population density.

Also, Finns will just cut n paste Swedish policy as per usual.

Are you in Helsinki? Bog roll shelf pics or it didn´t happen. ;)

This is particularly interesting

https://twitter.com/mikeisaac/status/123­8604080571772928?s=21

Yes. The description of the Chinese testing and isolation process... Just, wow. Population-level CT scans. The mind boggles. Also, 75-80 per cent of spread in family units...

this from a nation who thinks you take drugs up your arse

Lots of other countries, including Germany, are up for some arse drugs as well.