COVID 19 GLOBAL

[Bazle]

1 minute ago, Thai Spice said:

The ressort I am living in has 30 bungalows, only 2 occupied. Me and another guy on a very long holiday.

Not worth staying open for just 2.

You'll have to go and stay with the in-laws! 🙂

[Thai Spice]

6 minutes ago, Bazle said:

Not worth staying open for just 2.

You'll have to go and stay with the in-laws! 🙂

The owner stays in one of the big bungalows (same mine)... And I dont use any facilities except the pool, so even if they close the kitchen its OK.

I think there may be some "refugees" from Jakarta or Surabaya  coming in the future. 

[coxyhog]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/30/attempt-create-ingenious-anti-virus-device-sees-australian-doctor/

There have been many tales of bravery and sacrifice by medical workers fighting Covid-19 around the world, but none quite compares to the Australian astrophysicist who got four magnets stuck up his nose while trying to develop a device to prevent people from touching their faces.

Dr Daniel Reardon, a research fellow at Melbourne’s Swinburne University, had to be taken to hospital after his efforts to build a necklace that sounds an alarm on facial contact went awry.

The 27-year-old, who studies pulsars and gravitational waves, said he was trying to combat boredom as well as Covid-19 when he began experimenting with four powerful neodymium magnets.

“I thought that if I built a circuit that could detect the magnetic field, and we wore magnets on our wrists, then it could set off an alarm if you brought it too close to your face… I accidentally invented a necklace that buzzes continuously unless you move your hand close to your face,” he told Guardian Australia.

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After abandoning the idea, Dr Reardon continued to tinker with the magnets, at one point placing two inside his nostrils and two on the outside. When he removed the outer magnets, the two inside didn’t budge.

“At this point, my partner who works at a hospital was laughing at me… After struggling for 20 minutes, I decided to Google the problem and found an article about an 11-year-old boy who had the same problem. The solution in that was more magnets.”

Dr Reardon then tried to use the outer magnets to extract the inner ones, and all four got stuck.

Before going to hospital, he attempted to use pliers to pull them out, but the pliers themselves became magnetised, causing a fair degree of discomfort.

At the hospital, a team of two doctors applied an anaesthetic spray and manually removed the magnets from Dr Reardon’s nose, but the chaos wasn’t over. While three of the magnets came out, the one in his right nostril fell down his throat. Fortunately, he was able to cough it out.

“Needless to say I am not going to play with the magnets any more,” he said.

 

 

[Evil Penevil]

  

Coronavirus: UK Spread Shows 
Early Signs of Slowing – Key Adviser
Epidemiologist Prof Neil Ferguson points to decreased rate of hospital admissions

The spread of coronavirus in the UK is showing early signs of slowing, according to Prof Neil Ferguson, a key epidemiologist advising the government.

...

Ferguson also said that “maybe a third, maybe 40%” of people do not get any symptoms but there was no evidence to back up claims that the vast majority of people are asymptomatic.

He said it appeared that 3-5% of people in central London could have been infected, but the figure may be higher in hotspots, while the figure for the country at large is more likely to be 2-3%.

(READ MORE)

[Evil Penevil]

I wonder what the U.S. is importing from Thailand?  Surgical masks, maybe?    

FEMA is working with manufacturers 
around the world to get critical supplies
 
From CNN's Leyla Santiago

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is working with global manufacturers for critical supplies and distributing them domestically. 

“We are working with manufacturers from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, Honduras and Mexico. Contracted flights arrived at private sector distribution hubs this morning in Chicago, and more will be arriving in Ohio on Tuesday. From there, supplies are being sent to other states through private sector distribution networks,” a FEMA spokesperson said in a statement to CNN today.

The first flights landed this past weekend at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport and the personal protective equipment is "being distributed to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut,” the spokesperson said.

(READ MORE)

[Evil Penevil]

Agony in Spain and Italy as deaths climb and lockdowns are extended.

Struggling to give its beleaguered medical workers a fighting chance to combat a virus that has torn through their own ranks in recent weeks, Spanish officials said on Monday that they would impose even more rigorous restrictions on residents’ movements, calling for a national period of “hibernation.”

The officials compared the tighter restrictions to those imposed in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected last year. The measures there were perhaps the most draconian attempted anywhere in the world so far.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain said at the weekend that the tighter lockdown was needed to avoid the collapse of saturated hospitals in Madrid and a few other regions of the country.

(READ MORE)

[coxyhog]

Just an update on myself,I've still got a rough tongue & throat(but not sore),my stomach doesn't feel right & I've no appetite.Also every now & then I feel like absolute shit.This is the 8th day I've been like this.

Taking 4Flu tablets before I go to bed,after some alcohol they act like knockout drops.Jameson's(& Black Bush but it's run out)Irish Whiskey seems to sooth my throat.

I just hope & pray that my missus & mum haven't got it.

[dcfc2007]

Italy has reported its lowest number of new cases since the 17th of March.

[Evil Penevil]

As Toll Mounts, Lawmakers Look to Next Phase of Response

A 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship, the Comfort, docked in Manhattan. Federal guidelines warning against travel and gatherings were extended through April. In Washington, talk turned to expanding paid sick leave.

About three out of four Americans are or will soon be under instructions to stay at home. In New York, the governor said that 1,218 people had died, and that 9,517 people in the state were hospitalized with the virus.

Here’s what you need to know:

• As the virus’s impact expands, Washington mulls more emergency measures.
• China says it’s halting the virus’s spread. Is that true?
• Agony in Spain and Italy as deaths climb and lockdowns are extended.
• “Doctors are getting sick everywhere.” Health workers confront fear as colleagues fall ill.
• As the virus spreads behind bars, there are calls rising to free inmates.
• The virus sweeps into Detroit, a city that has seen its share of hardship.
• Oil prices are sliding as energy demands erode.

(READ MORE)

[galenkia]

2 hours ago, coxyhog said:

Just an update on myself,I've still got a rough tongue & throat(but not sore),my stomach doesn't feel right & I've no appetite.Also every now & then I feel like absolute shit.This is the 8th day I've been like this.

Taking 4Flu tablets before I go to bed,after some alcohol they act like knockout drops.Jameson's(& Black Bush but it's run out)Irish Whiskey seems to sooth my throat.

I just hope & pray that my missus & mum haven't got it.

Still got a sore throat and the sniffles, but now have dodgy guts.No temperature or cough though. 

[coxyhog]

19 minutes ago, galenkia said:

Still got a sore throat and the sniffles, but now have dodgy guts.No temperature or cough though. 

No sniffles but just read about a reportedly fit 48yo local shop owner who had symptoms for 12 days before he passed away & that was not very reassuring.

Gonna stop looking at the news!

[Krapow]

[Krapow]

Think he has a log in here -

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-belarus-president-refuses-to-cancel-anything-and-says-vodka-and-saunas-will-ward-off-coronavirus-11965396

 

[Aqualung]

4 hours ago, coxyhog said:

No sniffles but just read about a reportedly fit 48yo local shop owner who had symptoms for 12 days before he passed away & that was not very reassuring.

Gonna stop looking at the news!

Something doesn't add up for me.... Surely, those dying at an early age from this shitty virus and having no underlying symptoms have something else wrong with them. Maybe a weak immune system or something genetic. 

[Thai Spice]

6 minutes ago, Aqualung said:

Something doesn't add up for me.... Surely, those dying at an early age from this shitty virus and having no underlying symptoms have something else wrong with them. Maybe a weak immune system or something genetic. 

IMO there is a difference (but not easy to identify) between dying because of the virus and WITH the virus.

Somebody who had lung problems, pneumonia etc, and was at home, if he catches the virus is it likely his immune system will be overwelmed.

My English mate here in Bali, ex HKG, is a heavy smoker, has a few health issues, takes medecine daily, so he is very scared about this and doesn't move from his house. Makes sense.

Same as a bad flu will kill somebody who was already weak more easily then somebody in good health.

Just an hypothesis...

 

[fygjam]

2 hours ago, Aqualung said:

Something doesn't add up for me.... Surely, those dying at an early age from this shitty virus and having no underlying symptoms have something else wrong with them. Maybe a weak immune system or something genetic. 

 

1 hour ago, Thai Spice said:

IMO there is a difference (but not easy to identify) between dying because of the virus and WITH the virus.

Somebody who had lung problems, pneumonia etc, and was at home, if he catches the virus is it likely his immune system will be overwelmed.

My English mate here in Bali, ex HKG, is a heavy smoker, has a few health issues, takes medecine daily, so he is very scared about this and doesn't move from his house. Makes sense.

Same as a bad flu will kill somebody who was already weak more easily then somebody in good health.

Just an hypothesis...

 

Remember, it's not the virus that kills you. It's your body's reaction to the virus, your immune system, that can overreact, that causes excessive inflammation and it's the excessive inflammation that kills you.

Accumulating evidence suggests that a subgroup of patients with severe COVID-19 might have a cytokine storm syndrome. We recommend identification and treatment of hyperinflammation using existing, approved therapies with proven safety profiles to address the immediate need to reduce the rising mortality.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30628-0/fulltext

 

Edited March 31, 2020 by fygjam

[tommy dee]

36 minutes ago, fygjam said:

 

Remember, it's not the virus that kills you. It's your body's reaction to the virus, your immune system, that can overreact, that causes excessive inflammation and it's the excessive inflammation that kills you.

Accumulating evidence suggests that a subgroup of patients with severe COVID-19 might have a cytokine storm syndrome. We recommend identification and treatment of hyperinflammation using existing, approved therapies with proven safety profiles to address the immediate need to reduce the rising mortality.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30628-0/fulltext

 

yeah it basically blocks all the sacks in your lungs and you will feel like you are drowning.    coughing is the best defence, according to my quack, as its your lungs clearing shit out.  cough all the shit up if you can and get a proper inhaling machine..with a mask and the meds too, to help clear shit out of your lungs.  this is worse for those with existing conditions but still a potential killer for the perfectly healthy

[Thai Spice]

The Miss just arrived back from Java. And obviously the news have reached the jungle drums. 

She travelled at night to do the Java - Bali crossing at 02.00 am. As there seems to be some confusion about travel restrictions, she said "better at night, police not yet up" .... Her ID mentionning Java as her home town, she could have been questioned about why travelling to Bali.

Anyway, arriving at home she starts to prepare / mix some "home made" handsanitizer and insisting on applying to my hand, arms and legs...🙄🙄🙄

Next she sprays all the door handles with some sanitizing product...

She also bought some masks...

And as I have a soar throath since a few days, "what happen to your voice ? Papa you are sick ?"

And of course the usual "Java no problem, but Bali dangerous.."  Which is not completely wrong considering the international travelling here.

Well, welll.....   

 

[forcebwithu]

Half-mind vigilantes are now making the news. All because the guy had an out of state license plate. Fcking covidiots (thanks Tommy, like that term).

Armed vigilantes blocked a neighbor's driveway with a tree to force him into quarantine

A Maine man said armed neighbors descended on his home and chopped down a tree to block his road and prevent him from leaving because they believed he may have coronavirus.

The Vinalhaven resident said he went outside Friday to check why his cable service wasn't working and found a tree blocking the end of his road, according to the Knox County Sheriff's Office.

"While investigating the downed tree, a neighbor started yelling at him and a group of people showed up and began to gather around. Believing the group may be there to harm him, (he) fled to his residence and told his roommates what he had found," the sheriff's office said on Facebook.

The three roommates stayed in the home, where they used a VHF radio to contact the Coast Guard for assistance and a drone to monitor the group's activity, the sheriff's office said. Vinalhaven is an island town.

When law enforcement arrived, the group had fled and it was "apparent" that a tree had been cut down and dragged to block the road, the sheriff's office said.
Officers learned that some residents believed the roommates needed to be quarantined. None of the roommates, who were from New Jersey and were renting a home in Vinalhaven while working a construction job since September, showed symptoms consistent with Covid-19, deputies said.

The residents had been on the island for nearly a month before the incident took place.
...
After a verbal altercation with a few locals who targeted the roommates because of their New Jersey license plate, "a group of local vigilantes decided to take matters into their own hands," McDonald said.
...

The sheriff's FB post mentioned in the article has been removed due to the usual idiot FB comments.

Edited March 31, 2020 by forcebwithu
removed a chart I was going to use in another post

[Evil Penevil]

The following is a good account of the failure of COVID-19 testing in the U.S.  It is strongly anti-Trump, but nevertheless presents most of the facts.  What's most striking are the two graphs which compare the U.S. and South Korea, both of which reported their first case of COVID-19 on the same day, Jan. 21.

Evil

 

11 to 100,000: What went wrong
with coronavirus testing in the U.S.

By 
Meg Kelly, Sarah Cahlan and Elyse Samuels 
March 30, 2020 at 3:00 a.m. EDT

The president spent nearly two months issuing confusing and contradictory signals — leaving the bureaucratic machine of the U.S. government to chart the course for the coronavirus response.

The CDC designed its own test. The FDA picked a conservative testing strategy, allowing labs to use only the CDC test. When those tests failed, neither a new strategy nor a new test was available for more than two weeks. Azar failed to push the agencies to change direction, and the president didn’t intervene.

Even then, widespread testing was not immediately available. Few people qualified to be tested, and even if they did qualify, the CDC was essentially the only place that could do those tests. (A total of 12 other labs received EUAs by late February.) That meant relatively few tests were performed, and thus few people tested positive for the virus.

It’s not just the number of tests that are the problem — it’s getting the materials to do the tests and the personal protective medical equipment for providers to give those tests. That means we may never have a true count of how many Americans contracted the virus.

The missteps that went unmanaged were ignored by leaders at the highest level of government and allowed cases to go undetected, contributing to the spike in the virus’s spread.

(READ MORE)

[Lemondropkid]

4 minutes ago, Evil Penevil said:

The following is a good account of the failure of COVID-19 testing in the U.S.  It is strongly anti-Trump, but nevertheless presents most of the facts.  What's most striking are the two graphs which compare the U.S. and South Korea, both of which reported their first case of COVID-19 on the same day, Jan. 21.

Evil

 

11 to 100,000: What went wrong
with coronavirus testing in the U.S.

By 
Meg Kelly, Sarah Cahlan and Elyse Samuels 
March 30, 2020 at 3:00 a.m. EDT

The president spent nearly two months issuing confusing and contradictory signals — leaving the bureaucratic machine of the U.S. government to chart the course for the coronavirus response.

The CDC designed its own test. The FDA picked a conservative testing strategy, allowing labs to use only the CDC test. When those tests failed, neither a new strategy nor a new test was available for more than two weeks. Azar failed to push the agencies to change direction, and the president didn’t intervene.

Even then, widespread testing was not immediately available. Few people qualified to be tested, and even if they did qualify, the CDC was essentially the only place that could do those tests. (A total of 12 other labs received EUAs by late February.) That meant relatively few tests were performed, and thus few people tested positive for the virus.

It’s not just the number of tests that are the problem — it’s getting the materials to do the tests and the personal protective medical equipment for providers to give those tests. That means we may never have a true count of how many Americans contracted the virus.

The missteps that went unmanaged were ignored by leaders at the highest level of government and allowed cases to go undetected, contributing to the spike in the virus’s spread.

(READ MORE)

I can't read the whole article so can't make an informed comment, but not sure it's a valid comparison to compare any Western country to South Korea. That said Germany seem to be doing better, but this is still way too early in this epidemic to come to conclusions.

South Korea had been through both SARS and MERS, and partly as a learning from these  episodes were better prepared having test kits ready and testing facilities.

Also unlike a liberal Western democracy the citizens there are happy for Government agencies to build apps that have access to citizen's movements. There are able to message you if you have been near a confirmed COVID-19 case and tell you to come in for testing (I suspect order).

Tracking was also a key element in Singapore and China too

Germany are surprisingly starting to show a slight shift in the use of citizens data to track COVID-19. 

 

 

[fygjam]

Van Gogh painting stolen from Dutch museum

Thieves have stolen the £5m Parsonage Garden at Neunen in Spring by the famous artist from the Singer Laren museum

 

Police are looking for one or more people wearing masks.

 

[Steelers4Life]

[galenkia]

We called a meeting with the manager this morning over lack of personal protection and general safety concerns. 

We all share scanners, keyboards, pallet trucks etc. 

Me and 2 others chose to go home until they do something about it.Even before the virus the place was dangerous and is getting worse. Will go back Monday and see if anything has changed or will go home again if it ain't. Won't get paid but I ain't bothered about it. 

These new owners are total cunts. 

[ArtyGraph]

I made the mistake of telling Briana an early symptom of Covid is the loss of smell. She has now taken to farting in my vicinity and when I react she tells me “I'm performing a health check Dad, you're fine!”