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

[jase05]

Probably wasn’t a wise thing to do but rellies headed back to the UK last night on QR from ADL so I caught up with from a quick drink at a pub beforehand and couldn’t believe how busy the pub was and clearly no social distancing going on. The barmaid said they have been busier than normal for the last few days as people fear the closure of pubs is imminent and many people are using pubs as sort of an outlet to escape the current dramas in their lives. By the way my Uncle is 70 and they are currently in Doha awaiting their flight back to LHR, he has been told the recommendation is to self isolate for 3 months but the government is in the process of bringing in a 4 month self isolation policy for over 70’s

 

[blackcat20]

My gym is taking it seriously. Alternate cardio machines are offline to maintain space, and they are cleaning everything constantly. as are the users which is unheard of.

 

[hada88]

The fact that we're talking about gyms remaining opening at this stage is just not good enough tbh.

 

[Pushka]

Many of us are trying to distance but others just can't be bothered. The mixed message of 80% have a mild case and they are likely the younger ones, is the only message being heard in that age group and they don't hear that 20% will be seriously ill and a % of those will need ICU and will die. And hospitals don't have enough beds.
Given what has happened with toilet paper, I don't know what it will take. There should be no exceptions, whatsoever, of the distancing rule. I don't even think the 100 person rule is relevant. Just stay home.

 

[Pushka]

And on the gym note. Husband is a gym junkie. Has been a member for decades. Came home today with a mini stepper for cardio workout and has called a temporary halt. Never thought I’d see the day. Wish me luck. The gym was his ultimate stress relief.

 

[hada88]

And on the gym note. Husband is a gym junkie. Has been a member for decades. Came home today with a mini stepper for cardio workout and has called a temporary halt. Never thought I’d see the day. Wish me luck. The gym was his ultimate stress relief.

Same. I'm 6 times a week, and haven't gone the last week. I guess, I have the slight benefit of being an ex-pat so I'm focusing on what is happening on Europe and think we're really only 2 weeks behind that curve.

 

[Pushka]

Same. I'm 6 times a week, and haven't gone the last week. I guess, I have the slight benefit of being an ex-pat so I'm focusing on what is happening on Europe and think we're really only 2 weeks behind that curve.

Maybe the advertising needs to focus on some of the faces of those who may become seriously ill. Show the younger ones pictures of their Parents, the Grandparents with their grandchildren etc. Currently it can be dismissed by them by saying it impacts the 'oldies' and not thinking that means their mums and dads.

 

[tgh]

Houston..we have a problem and it's not just On Bondi beach…..

Dear Members,
I feel that it is appropriate at this time to keep you informed of the progress at the club.
Firstly, thank you to all Members and Guests who joined us at the club last night. We had strong bookings for dinner. In fact, we were booked out on the deck and we had a great night.
I want to correct the inaccuracies being fed to us by some in the media. I am constantly hearing that there now must be 4 square meters between each person for any indoor gathering, this is incorrect. The rule is that we must only allow a maximum number into the indoor area, say upstairs, equal to the total square meterage of the area divided by 4.
This means, for example, that the upstairs indoor area (not including the deck), can host 96 people. The 1.5 metre social distancing rule does apply.
For those members and guests who wish to self isolate we fully support your decision, for those of you who wish to escape for a while why not do it at the best club in SEQ, MBTBC. We have adjusted the club to comply with the new regulations and our great team is ready to serve you.
I will be there tonight if you wish to join us

 

[dajop]

Is there any temperature scanning going on at all in Australia?

 

[Must...Fly!]

Is there any temperature scanning going on at all in Australia?

The readings are so wildly inaccurate that there is little point.

But then again if it reinforced the seriousness of this issue, I'd be for it.

 

[moa999]

My gym is taking it seriously. Alternate cardio machines are offline to maintain space, and they are cleaning everything constantly. as are the users which is unheard of.

Same with mine. I've been avoiding it nonetheless.

And just got an email that they are immediately closed for a deep clean after a person advised they had symptoms and had gone for a test. Won't get results until Monday.

Post automatically merged: Mar 21, 2020

The readings are so wildly inaccurate that there is little point.

But then again if it reinforced the seriousness of this issue

Exactly it's little more than theatre.
And I suspect there wouldn't be enough scanners in the country.

 

[dajop]

The readings are so wildly inaccurate that there is little point.

But then again if it reinforced the seriousness of this issue, I'd be for it.

Yes, what I find here in SG, where it used in many places, irrespective of accuracy, it does reinforce the seriousness and does make us all a bit more conscious of our own health, and whether we should be out and about, and risk being "caught" with a high temperature.

 

[dajop]

Exactly it's little more than theatre.

Behavioural science would suggest theatre is often just as important as functionality and rules.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Wow what a joke! We really will have no one to blame but ourselves. All this nonsense about social distancing and isolating when all we had to do was close our borders effectively and immediately.

Won’t work. Too easy to spread and there is plenty of local transmission. Closing doors is only a delaying tactic and only buys you a few weeks.

Is there any temperature scanning going on at all in Australia?

The pandemic influenza plan outlines why it isn’t being done at the airport. During the first SARS outbreak, over 1,000,000 people had their temperatures taken, and they picked up 4 cases. And scanners don’t pick up people who develop symptoms after they arrive.

 

[Cossie]

Is there any temperature scanning going on at all in Australia?

A bit different as it is a hospital, both her and I scanned when I took in on Tuesday morning, then I was scanned when I went to visit her in the afternoon. I was also scanned before I could enter the ward to pick her up Wednesday.

 

[Cossie]

Sounds like she might have been on one of the meds I'm on, feel free to PM me and will share.

It's because of her ankle op, although she did go religiously whilst in das boot.

 

[dajop]

The pandemic influenza plan outlines why it isn’t being done. During the first SARS outbreak, over 1,000,000 people had their temperatures taken, and they picked up 4 cases. And scanners don’t pick up people who develop symptoms after they arrive.

I'm not talking about airport arrival scanning, I'm talking about going into an office or some public venue, and someone holds up a scanner to your forehead. Again not terribly accurate, but nevertheless makes you think. We've had a few people sent home because of high readings (and a few more who'd been sitting outside having lunch who had high temperatures, but waited in the aircon lobby to cool down a bit before returning for rescanning ) . This sort of stuff encourages people to think twice about leaving their homes. Of course this "social effect" is irrelevant to inbound screening, and also of course there wouldn't be enough readers to go around.

 

[p--and--t]

Seeing how cases/deaths are doubling every few days in many parts of the EU like Italy, Spain, France I'm surprised we are allowing Australians returning home from Europe to be responsible enough to "self isolate"

I know it's way OT but if we want to be serious about protecting Australia from facing what is going on in those countries right now I think we need an even harder stance.

Totally agree. Hong Kong citizens on self isolation have wrist/ankle bracelets with GPS tracking. Here we hand out ambiguous pamphlets, no signature of acceptance and say she'll be right with obvious non-compliance being reported all over the place.

AU is currently where Italy was on the 8th March!!!!!

 

[p--and--t]

The pandemic influenza plan outlines why it isn’t being done. During the first SARS outbreak, over 1,000,000 people had their temperatures taken, and they picked up 4 cases. And scanners don’t pick up people who develop symptoms after they arrive.

One person isolated could result in a couple hundred infections in less than a week of which a dozen could die.

Any action that will take a single infected person out of circulation is worth it.

 

[PineappleSkip]

There are plenty of estimates of the mean number of people each infected person infects, and IIRC most are somewhere between 2 and 3, with a few outliers, and so on with the mean time from exposure to symptoms also being measured in several days.

I'm not an apologise for the national pandemic influenza plan, or whatever its called, but there's the matter of using scarce resources in the most cost effective matter. You could have everyone who has to isolate monitored daily by the police, or transfer them to quarantine stations, but that's not happening either.

Of course, there will be 300,000 cases by tomorrow and there were only 8,000 SARS cases altogether. But the available resources to deal with the problem at the airport? - Somewhat fewer, given 12 years of efficiency dividends since then.

Cheers skip