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

[ethernet]

I think I heard this morning, well, husband did, that maybe Garvan? In Melbourne was trialling plaquenil as a preventive dose. Heaven help me getting some now. It's funny, he's never taken any notice of all the bottles of tablets I need to take and have done so for quite a few years now. Now, he is suddenly very interested, eyeing off the little white bottle of Pills. I'll have to tell him that tonic is just as good especially when mixed with gin. And we've both had the flu shots now so that removes some complexity if we become unwell. The pharmacist I visited yesterday was the one who gave me the shot - he said I should go to the Doctor next time in July for a booster as with the health issues I'd qualify for the much stronger free one for oldies.

DrRon is correct. And in UK illegal to export I think. There is some thought that planquenil has eye toxicity - think blindness. There is a height formula for the correct dose with coughulative levels being all important.
So don't borrow any before knowing what is correct.

 

[Pushka]

DrRon is correct. And in UK illegal to export I think. There is some thought that planquenil has eye toxicity - think blindness. There is a height formula for the correct dose with coughulative levels being all important.
So don't borrow any before knowing what is correct.

Yes of course drron is correct. He gave me a heads up yesterday about supply and acting on that I did indeed find out my pharmac_ has sold out. I don't need to borrow any. I've been on plaquenil for a few years now prescribed by a rheumatologist for lupus/autoimmune issues. I have to have regular blood tests and an annual eye examination.

 

[ethernet]

Yes I saw an interview from one of the medical staff on this. From memory it was the anaesthetist.

Yet some will buy them on ebay etc despite it having been reported that some who try and sell these things through these channels have sourced them in inappropriate ways. We also know that some have been stolen from hospitals.

Trump is right. Reuse. Dunk in alcohol and let dry. I suppose soapy water and sunlight would be pretty effective. Such as on car dashboard. Folded paper towels, gauzepack or tissues with a stapled loop may not look professional, but better than none.

 

[ethernet]

Yes of course drron is correct. He gave me a heads up yesterday about supply and acting on that I did indeed find out my pharmac_ has sold out. I don't need to borrow any. I've been on plaquenil for a few years now prescribed by a rheumatologist for lupus/autoimmune issues. I have to have regular blood tests and an annual eye examination.

I am curious. If plaquenil is about the 126th most prescribed drug, how many patients on this drug reported in Corona stress? PBS will say who's on it, and I presume Corona positive is now a reportable event, sorted by age descending.

Repeat for Azothyioprine. OMG Chlamydia is in for a tough time. Now do a join for hypertension drugs. The PBS database is a treasure chest of facts, yet they god rid of all their SQL guru's . Repat for a join with overseas arrivals. Yep, no data scientists there.

 

[drron]

Good thing i am in the business.Strong family history of auto immune disease.I have only had psoriasis with possible arthritis.Plaquenil solved the psoriasis.
Azithromycon.No problems on a private script-basically as much as I wanted.

 

[amaroo]

Our school has made the call. Last day this Friday. Year 12 will return to do their exams as the only students on the school ground. On-line learning from there.

Seems like a very sensible solution.... as long as your child has access to the web, and the web will be able to cope with the massive increase of traffic around the country. I think we all know the plan wont work.

Very happy the call has been made and our daughter can stay at home without the fear of missing out.

 

[tgh]

Yes our sons school will also go to on line learning next week iirc.
He has been a bit terse, busy boy reworking all the curriculums…

 

[teammongo]

Not sure if this is the right thread for this question - re cleaning grocery and other goods after purchase. I just received a couple of bags of groceries from a friend (who shops with disposable gloves) (we're self-isolated) - i used diluted household bleach to clean packaging and F&V (which can be peeled) - then rinsed and dried - is this sufficient? This is to save my limited supply of disinfectant wipes.

Use bleach 1:1000.

see DOH COVID19 cleaning

 

[Flashback]

Our school has made the call. Last day this Friday. Year 12 will return to do their exams as the only students on the school ground. On-line learning from there.

Seems like a very sensible solution.... as long as your child has access to the web, and the web will be able to cope with the massive increase of traffic around the country. I think we all know the plan wont work.

Very happy the call has been made and our daughter can stay at home without the fear of missing out.

Ditto the high school I went to, the old boys association sent out an e-mail that the headmaster had penned.

 

[RooFlyer]

As some may know, I am doing a Uni degree, studying from home, but am also in isolation for the past week, one week to go. I've been using the 'Flexible Library Service' (FLS) where the Uni library post books out to you, and you can post or take them them back. Perfect for me, and any anyone not wanting / willing to venture onto campus. Loan period usually up to 3 months, extendable.

Well, today I noticed that the ability to request a book (either to pick up on campus or have delivered) had disappeared from the Library web site. Calls to all and sundry - IT, Library, student services - failed to find anyone who knew what was going on.

Revelation at 5pm (close of business) e-mail received. Library closed for visits, they are working hard to shove as much as they can on-line (meaning undergrad texts etc). Nothing about FLS. e-mailed the head librarian. Reply: "Access to print collection closed entirely. No FLS. Hopefully what you need is on-line."

Unfortunately, this is a mind-set that I've been combating at all levels of the Uni admin for years. Because STEM is the be-all and end-all, and most STEM stuff is journals and on-line, they have a myopia about humanities, and my discipline, History, which has a huge volume of books and journals NOT on-line. They just don't get that "dusty old books R Us".

But the most annoying thing is that no notice was given of the shut-down. Unlike air travel and just about everything else that's been closed down, the University shut down the web site functionality a day before they even announced it. If they had said 'we are closing the print section in 2 days - get your orders in now', than many research students could have acted. But no - close now, announce later.

No, not nearly the type of difficulty that many are facing - trivial in fact - but this is just so consistent with the bloody-minded attitude of the University of Tasmania's administration over library services that i'm minded to think that they welcome the opportunity to shut down the hard-copy library, and couldn't do it fast enough.

 

[jase05]

Talk about jumping out of the frying pan and in to the fire.

Hundreds of Australians are on a cruise ship about to dock in the virus epicentre, Italy

Retired teachers Julie Turnbull and Maria Manera are among 200 Australians on board the Costa Victoria cruise ship which will dock at a port west of Rome after searching for a place that would accept them.

www.abc.net.au

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Trump is right. Reuse. Dunk in alcohol and let dry.

"DO NOT use alcohol and chlorine [bleach]-based disinfection methods," they wrote. "These will remove the static charge in the microfibers in N95 facial masks, reducing filtration efficiency. In addition, chlorine also retains gas after de-contamination, and these fumes may be harmful."

Doctors scramble for best practices on reusing medical masks during shortage

These masks aren't healthy to reuse, period. But some medical professionals have to right now.

www.livescience.com

 

[Flashback]

"DO NOT use alcohol and chlorine [bleach]-based disinfection methods," they wrote. "These will remove the static charge in the microfibers in N95 facial masks, reducing filtration efficiency. In addition, chlorine also retains gas after de-contamination, and these fumes may be harmful."

Doctors scramble for best practices on reusing medical masks during shortage

These masks aren't healthy to reuse, period. But some medical professionals have to right now.

www.livescience.com

Also, it's a real bloody waste of the booze when it could be put to much better use!

 

[juddles]

Our school has made the call. Last day this Friday. Year 12 will return to do their exams as the only students on the school ground. On-line learning from there.

Seems like a very sensible solution.... as long as your child has access to the web, and the web will be able to cope with the massive increase of traffic around the country. I think we all know the plan wont work.

Very happy the call has been made and our daughter can stay at home without the fear of missing out.

Our school likewise here on the Sunshine Coast. We have been teetering on doing the only sane thing which is to stop daughter from attending, but also did not want her to "miss out".

So as bizarre as Life has become, it was a relief to finally get a specific date for school closure. Now we can get on to sorting out how we as parents can try to manage home schooling...

 

[Flashback]

738 deaths in Spain today, surpassing the number in China. 5000 medical staff have fallen sick, not a good sign. They've spun up some rapid testing centres to help ensure medical staff are not picking it up through part of their working day.

 

[Anna]

Number of actual covid19 cases 200,000. Number of covid19 deaths 8,000.

That was a week ago. By today the global figures have more than doubled. Number of cases 450,000. Number of deaths 20,000

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Resident Medicos - received attached via email - how accurate is this please?

 

[tgh]

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Resident Medicos - received attached via email - how accurate is this please?

View attachment 210847

I will not comment its accuracy...but if you have any symptoms and need guidance you can use telemedicine now so that can get good quality medical advice without leaving home.

There are various colds and other viruses active at present and so most people with any symptoms have these and not CV19.

 

[tgh]