I had a look at some govt stats, deaths UK pa, roughly half a million. Deaths UK from influenza around 20,000, could be more could be less, depending on vaccination success etc. So as those who are frail, say with COPD etc will have no resistance to this new virus, would it be right to guess that the number of deaths will be similar to a bad flu year ie 20,000 +. If the rate of serious infections can be kept down and hospitals can cope (they usually struggle in flu season) with the flow of patients then there may be less deaths?
I think it's tough even for the experts to estimate it accurately, but keeping the numbers steady seems to be the key. No-one is talking about a vaccination anytime soon which is why it's impossible to say. The thing to bear in mind with flu is that most of us have had it before and as a result have some sort of resistance to it. We also have a vaccination. This spreads faster than Flu and has a higher fatality rate. If our healthcare system does get overwhelmed then estimates go out of the window in my opinion.
…. which means their hands are getting cleaned too ! Joking aside, good for them, so long as its responsible and well intentioned.
Australia shutting it's borders to all but citizens and permanent residents from 9pm tomorrow. Qantas stood down 20,000 staff today.
Saw on tinternet that the Chinese reckon the Japanese have a treatment which they were already developing for new flu strains which is looking effective against corona. However it was on tinternet . If it is true, then surely more publicity.
The editor of The Lancet has said that so much research is being presented to that august journal that there is every hope that something is going to be done soon and that it may be possible to relax restrictions within a few months.
There appears to be a lot of positivity around about both treatments for the infection and preventative.
My wife sent me out shopping, screaming at me;- "We need tinned food and paper!" There was still food on the shelves and I got loads of beans, mushy peas and prunes. Picked up a copy of the Mail and the Mirror too. Sorted.
I'm sorted for bread now like. Mornings aren't too bad to get hold of stuff tbf, it's by the time you get to late evening it's decimated. I'm sure part of it is folk just deciding to go the supermarket as there is nowt else to do and end up buying stuff that they don't immediately need. "Best get a bit more pasta while I'm here, and another 20 air fresheners." I also think it's folk trying to exercise some form of control over the situation. We're in uncharted territory here and there isn't one person anywhere who knows how this all plays out. And when you get massive disruption to normal routines it's not too surprising to see some people fall back onto something that they do know and can control, even if it is something as mundane as going shopping. We've just had our every day lives pretty much completely stopped and it's a situation that we can't truly control, we can only manage it. That's a scary thought tbf, that something we have no control over can knock our entire sense of normality off kilter in a matter of months.
Well Italy has 2,978 deaths and 35,713 cases. So by those figures if 240,000 people got it, 20,000 would die. That's just guessing of course, there are probably a load of people, especially young, who have it and don't even know. Until a fortnight ago I was taking the whole thing as a joke, but I'm not any more. As well as the health side I can't work much so am ****ed for money, and my 20-year-old son is working in a restaurant in Florida which is likely to close leaving him with no readies and no way of getting back. At heart I'm not a worrier though, there's ****-all I can do about it, best to get on with it and take each day as it comes
Just been watching youtubers in the USA telling us how we should be preparing. Does anyone know where I can find an Uzi and 80,000 rounds of amunition?
Tbh I am bored already, I am 67 and have dodgy kidneys, but a bit of exercise and diy garden work, already today, grandchildren not back for a couple of hours, then bedlam. There is no way I can do 3 months of this. Still cannot visit Mum in hospital.. Some consider me patient, other must be going up the wall..no sports on tv
I know me and the misses self isolation, but hospital today and opticians for the wife Nowt in shops anyway Nevertheless still people drinking in the town pubs at 12 o’clock We now back home until out for necessities
How many 70 plus year old people have you seen out and about the past week since Boris advised them all to stay home? I'll bet it's not zero, because were an ignorant nation who think we know better...[/QUOTE] In 5th There were plenty down Roker this morning when I went to walk pooch. Stayed for 5 mins and moved somewhere quiter where I could practice my social distancing skills. It was just like a normal sunny Sunday morning, cafes heaving.
It seems like maybe we can after all: They've spent the last 10 years decimating the numbers in our police force so the new plan is to police us by removing our right to privacy. It's a slippery slope.
It's a bit concerning around the world at the moment but at least the Northern Hemisphere is coming to the end of it's flu season. Those of us down south are about to head into winter as the outbreak reaches it's peak.