The Covid19 Thread

[sunndog]

Just come back from town. Glad to see people are being sensible; shelves empty except for chocolate and buiscits! I did notice that the McVities Digestive shelf was empty though

Luckily there was plenty of Fevertree Tonic - all I needed really

Oooh good point actually. My booze supplies are perilously low

 

[Mesquite]

Oooh good point actually. My booze supplies are perilously low

I just realised my Mcvities Digestive biscuits are seriously low.

I've taken it in hand though and told the wife to collect some on her way home tonight

 

[TLM]

I think I am definitely underpanicked, I have not prepped in any way. I have taken my self out of normal circulation by getting my bottom to the cottage which is not in a high population area. The reason for that is taking my 88 year old mother from the city. Closest permanent neighbor is a few klicks away, closest village 7 km by road. And it is raining sleet.

 

[santaman2000]

I was once given a tour round...NOT a fire station, but the saftey depot of the local council.

(And was then given a trip out in their fire engine and got to let off the siren and scare everybody)

They had the equipment, but I very much doubt they had breathing kit for all their Fire trained staff.

I dont know what it would be like in a `proper` station but it might be the same.

An SCBA is issued to every fireman here. They can’t enter smoke filled buildings without it. Nor many other dangerous environments for that matter (such as chemical leaks/spills at water purification plants, train wrecks, etc.) realistically it’s not expensive kit.

 

[Paul_B]

If they built that bomber now it wouldn't last long in combat. Things move on. Simple might mean lower success rate. A hospital with say 15 modern ventilators that get 15 rushed, old design ventilator dropped on them might not save double the number of people. They might only save half the people hooked up to them and recovery might take over twice as long. Would you want your loved one hooked up to a heath Robinson contraption that is less likely to work?

There's very good reasons why the basic designs got replaced with the modern, complex ventilators. Busy fools rush in perhaps.

Even if they did go ultra simple there's a totally different world now. Regulation, quality standards and procedures. Also legislation putting the risk onto the manufacturer if the equipment goes wrong. Rush into production without proper planning, checks, and balances opens companies up to losing lawsuits.

It's not the case they can't actually do it just they can't risk doing it. Not without due diligence and procedures followed.

 

[TLM]

WW2 military aircraft were designed for a service life of some thousands of hours, they were usually shot down before that. Present day airliners reach over 100000 hours.

Hospital ventilators have a chord of other functions included. As said if only ventilation is required the military models work wonderfully and just keep on working.

 

[santaman2000]

I must have missed a post? Who mentioned bombers?

 

[TLM]

I think it was WG when RR manufacturing respirators was discussed.

 

[santaman2000]

Well locally the public schools are closed at least until the end of the month. They had just begun spring break when parents started getting emails that or was extended due to the virus. Most universities have switched to remote instruction in Florida and in Louisiana some universities have announced closing for the remainder of the school year. All Okaloosa County libraries have closed.

 

[crosslandkelly]

In a pinch.

 

[C_Claycomb]

My dad is closer to 90 than 80. If the choice was a Heath Robinson simple machine, vs nothing, well something is better than nothing.. In the event, I doubt that anyone that age will have any choice at all.
Normally the standards are there so you don't kill anyone. In a situation where not having anything will cause more deaths, it would be nice if there was a rethink on the standards.

 

[Navaja]

The patients needing a ventilator might be using it for around three weeks, that's why so many will be required.

The time spent on the ventilator gives the body's own immune system extra time to overcome Covid 19 while having breathing difficulties.

Germany & France manufacture them & despite already having way more than the UK are understandably using all production for themselves as they know they are most likely going to need them. Germany already has 25000...........

https://www.ft.com/content/5a2ffc78-6550-11ea-b3f3-fe4680ea68b5

 

[GuestD]

 

[Nice65]

I see parliament are not avoiding large groups and working from home, one rule for us one for everyone else. Mind you as somone said, when the rich and powerful are worried, thens the time for worry. When there is a stream of mps exiting london, youll know the jigs up. I hope they are isolating the majority of the house of lords too !

Neither are UK schools, one of my brother in laws is a teacher and just posted he’s been in a ‘small gathering’ of 1500 all day! I can’t see the sense in it myself, while restaurants, pubs, gyms etc are closing to reduce contact. If everyone stands still and stays put for a few weeks, the spread will be limited.

 

[Navaja]

I'm pretty sure schools will be closed within a matter of days........

 

[Woody girl]

Just been down to the local shop for some more milk and a few more luxuries to make life bearable...... more chocolate and a rare bottle of wine.... kids coughing wiping slimy noses on their hands and then touching things on the shelves. Barging past shoppers and not keeping a distance. Older people are observing the protocol thankfully. Perhaps the kids need a bit more education that while they may not be so much at risk others may well be.
I wore my mask mainly to see what reaction I got from others as well as to protect my damaged lungs. Most took no notice at all apart from one older man who laughed at me. So I simply said I hope you are still around to take the micky in a few months time. ! He looked sheepish and didn't reply.
More women seem to be taking it more seriously than men. Saw several ladies wearing gloves and using hand gel. Didn't see one single chap doing that.
I still don't think it's sunk in to a lot of people. The weekend will see a change I hope. We have a case in our local community now. I'd expected to see a bit more concern. Hey ho Hopefully this will weed out the stupid aswell!

 

[Tengu]

Kresen Kernow have stoppedvoluntary work

(No mention of them activley closing yet)

 

[MrEd]

Fine with me. Care to back up your ‘fact’ with which rescue services, a link to the information? No offence, but there’s a lot of hearsay, fake news etc out there, people just chucking stuff out there.

I like this idea, because people will tend to re-use a medical mask, but don’t mind chucking away a square of kitchen roll. All that’s asked of it is to reduce virus carrying water particles from leaving and entering your nose and mouth.

i am sorry but that wont work, no way does kitchen towel have a small filtering medium.

Distance is good, as large droplets fall to the ground after a few feet, but aerosoled aprticles (very very small around 5microns) can travel much further.

use kitchen towel to sneeze into but dont make a mask out of it.

 

[Mr Wolf]

Well yesterday I woke up with a bad allergy that triggered a wheezy asthma (officially undiagnosed) episode. I spent a drive to work coughing my guts up due to phlegm. Right now I've got a very sore airway right now. Salbutamol stops this cough by opening airways so I can cough up phlegm and phlegm is reduced with antihistamines.

The thing I am curious about is whether this allergic response counts as underlying conditions? My partner doesn't think so because it developed as an adult fairly recently. She had asthma badly as a kid a few times. So she believes that counts as underlying conditions.

My point being is that there's a lot on media about the outbreak, about the precautions to take but there's little about what could put you into a higher risk group. Has anyone seen a good list of what counts as underlying conditions?

Low immunity mainly

 

[Mesquite]

i am sorry but that wont work, no way does kitchen towel have a small filtering medium.

Placebo effect