General Discussion/Q&A on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[dajop]

I found Texas to be a whole lot more polite than NSW or Victoria.

Which parts of NSW and Victoria? I find generally people in most country towns are more than adequately polite. YMMV.

 

[tgh]

what they are going to do for the huge number of their citizens

There is a terribly sad story unfolding world wide as the aged poor suffer and die.
First world countries cannot cope and it will be much worse in poorer countries.

It's already true. If you are over 65 or under 65 with other complicating conditions it is unlikely you'll receive any care beyond oxygen.
Resuscitation is off the table as is intubation, so the doctors say

It would be helpful to have some better detail and source info for this brutal postulation.
Will Resuscitation resources be means tested ?…
Can 80 yo millionaires buy an IC place ?
Will pollies get preferential access.. ?

 

[Sabot]

Which parts of NSW and Victoria? I find generally people in most country towns are more than adequately polite. YMMV.

Most parts as a general rule, absolutely agree that manners typically have a linear relationship with distance from the capitals.

 

[amaroo]

Didnt you listen to the announcement, they have the best medical facilities.

Wasn't the USA rated the best country equipped to handle something like this?

One of many articles on the topic....

The 20 countries in the world best prepared for an epidemic like coronavirus still aren't really all that ready

A 2019 report comparing how ready 195 countries are for a pandemic suggests even the best prepared have a lot of work to do. Now coronavirus is here.

www.businessinsider.com.au

 

[dajop]

Wasn't the USA rated the best country equipped to handle something like this?

And Singapore was one of the worst equipped (of relatively rich countries), rated around #54 IIRC, just above Indonesia.

 

[Sabot]

And Singapore was one of the worst equipped (of relatively rich countries), rated around #54 IIRC, just above Indonesia.

Probably more to do with the pure density of living there than anything else mate, Singapore has an exceptional healthcare system.

 

[amaroo]

And Singapore was one of the worst equipped (of relatively rich countries), rated around #54 IIRC, just above Indonesia.

Not true, Singapore rates in the 20's

https://www.ghsindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019-Global-Health-Security-Index.pdf

 

[dajop]

Not true, Singapore rates in the 20's

https://www.ghsindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019-Global-Health-Security-Index.pdf

You are right, I was getting the score and the rating mixed up. Still think the whole thing is a bit "garbage in garbage out" if Singapore (score 58) is only ranked marginally better than Indo (and Italy it would seem who both have scores of ~56 ).

What is missing on these sort of surveys is the "obedience of the population" to follow directions from the "guvment". Much higher here in SIN than in many countries!

 

[amaroo]

You are right, I was getting the score and the rating mixed up. Still think the whole thing is a bit "garbage in garbage out" if Singapore (score 58) is only ranked marginally better than Indo (and Italy it would seem who both have scores of ~56 ).

What is missing on these sort of surveys is the "obedience of the population" to follow directions from the "guvment". Much higher here in SIN than in many countries!

If all countries are rated on the same basis - it's going to be the closest thing to accurate you'll get.

The list might need to reassess China - they've either done a great job, or are lying through their teeth. FWIW I think it's the former.

 

[k_sheep]

Sorry for lack of updates ... shockingly enough I've been SUPER busy at work. I'm exhausted and actually threw a tantrum yesterday. Worked well - people look away a lot of my non-microbiology work, and the lovely receptionists bought me lunch People are still very timidly popping their heads into my office and throwing chocolate or asking if I need coffee.

Doesn't help that the media has managed to get my details somehow so I'm doing phone interviews for TV, radio, newspapers etc. I should tell them to send toilet paper then I will talk to them ....

Major points
- More and more labs are developing the testing methods. Unfortunately this means getting all the reagents (chemicals) for the tests is getting harder
- Most labs are closing down their collections centres and making them coronavirus testing only - so if you need a blood test, may be worth checking the website to see if they are still doing general collecting
- We are still working on the blood test to check for previous infection. Singapore and China apparently have these already, but I don't know how good they are.
- The next thing is flu season is rapidly approaching. To this end, most of the labs are trying to develop assays, or buy commercial kits, where you can test for SARS-CoV-2 along with all the usual respiratory suspects (flu, RSV, rhinovirus etc)
- The turnaround time for tests is blowing out TERRIBLY. The numbers of tests are just going through the roof, and no one can get enough testing kits or staff hours to keep up with demand. Yesterday we were apologising for 48 hour turnarounds, today looking like 4 days ....
- Now the most exciting for me is self collections - where you shove a swab up your own nose. A couple of labs under the same parent company are doing some studies where volunteers self collect (this is by scraping their throat, then shoving it up their nose - preferably in that order!) on one side, then the same is done by a properly trained collector. I thought for sure the self collect would be terrible, but initial data seems it's pretty comparable! As with a LOT of equipment (like masks, gowns) the swabs also might run low - so if you can just use one which you collect from 2 sites then that's really cool.

 

[tgh]

wonderful post k_sheep , thanks heaps for the comments from the coal face..

 

[helenma]

Great post. I and just about everyone I know are so confused as to what to do. Only get tested if you have been overseas or in close contact with a confirmed case. Some Australian cases have unknown origin. Get tested if you feel sick. Don't get tested if you feel merely sick. Seek help early. Don't over burden health system. I don't know how ringing a 'help' line could sort it out. We need clearer and more direct guidelines that aren't varying state by state

 

[juddles]

Just got online, and am sure that in one of the pandemic of Corona threads this has been / is being discussed, but the news today that the USA is closing the aerial border between itself and Europe was shocking to me.

Shocking in the sense that it is a huge thing, but not in the "surprising" sense. I expect all manner of closures, embargoes, curfews, containment action. But I feel that this decision was a huge milestone in the history of this particular pandemic.

I note also that Denmark has decided on a nation lockdown. I admire them for having the sense of reality to take this step. History will recall them with this decision as being the most sane and proactive country, even if even for them it is a tad late. They rank 13th in the current cases numbers, but are so much more ahead of other nations in facing reality.

Here in australia I still hear people talking about the school trip their kids want to go on in a few weeks.....

 

[helenma]

Just got online, and am sure that in one of the pandemic of Corona threads this has been / is being discussed, but the news today that the USA is closing the aerial border between itself and Europe was shocking to me.

Shocking in the sense that it is a huge thing, but not in the "surprising" sense. I expect all manner of closures, embargoes, curfews, containment action. But I feel that this decision was a huge milestone in the history of this particular pandemic.

I note also that Denmark has decided on a nation lockdown. I admire them for having the sense of reality to take this step. History will recall them with this decision as being the most sane and proactive country, even if even for them it is a tad late. They rank 13th in the current cases numbers, but are so much more ahead of other nations in facing reality.

Here in australia I still hear people talking about the school trip their kids want to go on in a few weeks.....

And the Formula 1 Race, major events still planned. Seems drastic to curtail these events but disruption now better than disaster later? I even said to my partner if I am going to catch this I want it now before the hospitals have no staff and no beds!

 

[Bundy Bear]

That Coronavirus thread is catching up to the TOTT.

Has been a tough working week as our company internet support supplier received a virus and screw up our company wide network and emails, what a mess.

I used to be able to stay up until 11pm now I’m in bed most nights by 10pm must be the old age catching up with me.

 

[juddles]

And the Formula 1 Race, major events still planned. Seems drastic to curtail these events but disruption now better than disaster later? I even said to my partner if I am going to catch this I want it now before the hospitals have no staff and no beds!

RE the first part of your post - this is something that irks me. How there are people still thinking Australia (and everyone) will not have massive lockdowns and disruption, is beyond me. IMHO anyone who still thinks that any sort of public event will go on in the next few months is delusional. Or maybe, to be less argumentative, it is the fault of the government to not be honest and LEAD. We are just a few days behind Italy and Spain and Denmark and the rest of the countries. We have no magic system that is any better than theirs, and we have already shown the first wave cases that confirm that. As of today I have no doubt that mass school closures, etc will occur here in the next week or two - something far swifter than I imagined just recently. But it is happening, and anyone who does not see this is either misled or just "hoping".

RE the second part of your post, this is a dilemma that faces us all. We are fairly well prepared as a family for most things, but is there a benefit or a loss of staving off the virus for a few weeks or months? We are "young" in the sense that this virus seems to have greatest lethality against older people. So from that angle I have, as have had from the start, more a fear of disruptions that actual fear of perishing. So from one aspect I can argue that for we as a family unit the sooner we get and get over the damn thing the better. But my wife, who is such a nicer person than me, argues that it is every ones civic duty to try to help slow down the overall spread, even if there are not dire dangers to oneself....

This is what we discuss, as I read others asking if their trip to Bali will be affected.....

 

[helenma]

Yeah some tough questions. ie I work as a 'casual' in an aged care facility. Will I get paid if a resident (very vulnerable to anything ) gets crook and I have to stay at home - just in case?? What if I get it? How the hell with no sick leave or annual leave (like millions of Aussies) will I buy food let alone pay my mortgage?

Post automatically merged: Mar 12, 2020

This isn't scaremongering - valid questions that need to be addressed by gov't and banks until virus has passed. And it can only pass if we don't keep cross contaminating

 

[PineappleSkip]

Greetings from Somaliland

https://www.ghsindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019-Global-Health-Security-Index.pdf

Looks like Somalia is around stone motherless last. Story of my working life. I take some comfort from being in the grey part that wasn't surveyed.

Cheers skip

 

[jase05]

Friends that we stay with in Alabang have said that there have been armed forces and police patrolling the streets in Manila this evening and the city is going into lockdown

 

[JessicaTam]

The McLaren F1 team have just withdrawn from this weekend's race.

McLaren withdraw from Australian Grand Prix as F1 plunges into crisis

McLaren have been forced to withdraw from the Australian Grand Prix after a team member tested positive for coronavirus.

www.express.co.uk

Cross posted from the 2020 F1 thread.