COVID-19/Coronavirus Information and Support Thread (see OP for useful links)

[UKMikey]

I'm just gonna phone my boss on Monday, tell him I'm back from Singapore and let him make the decision on whether I should come in or not. If the BBC gets infected it won't be my fault.

 

[Tired Tyres]

A woman at my work was sent home as a precaution today, as she was unwell and had just returned from Italy (Rome)... and yet she still came into work

But Rome is nowhere near the problem area....

 

[baldgye]

But Rome is nowhere near the problem area....

Many places in Rome have been closed (it's causing chaos for my brother in law's christening) due to the outbreak

 

[Daz555]

Unless the pandemic kills about 3 billion, it will hardly be noticeable.

Depends who it kills.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Depends who it kills.

You may well be right. It's always worse when things like this affect "us" instead of "them".

In other news it's being reported that the Pope is ill (no suggestion that he's ill with coronavirus), he's very much "us" to a lot of people.

 

[Barra333]

In other news it's being reported that the Pope is ill (no suggestion that he's ill with coronavirus), he's very much "us" to a lot of people

He'll be fine. No shortage of thoughts and prayers going his way.

 

[Mr P]

Not sure if this has already been shared but I just saw this on Twitter wow! Dean r Koontz was a Soothsayer back in 1981 apparently! Crazy stuff for sure and pretty much right on the nose



I haven't read the book myself to know if this has been doctored to be sensationalized?.. Just sharing the tweet is all 👍

 

[TenEightyOne]

Not sure if this has already been shared but I just saw this on Twitter wow! Dean r Koontz was a Soothsayer back in 1981 apparently! Crazy stuff for sure and pretty much right on the nose

How does it end?

 

[Mr P]

How does it end?

I edited my post as you posted yours.. I haven't read it

 

[baldgye]

Not sure if this has already been shared but I just saw this on Twitter wow! Dean r Koontz was a Soothsayer back in 1981 apparently! Crazy stuff for sure and pretty much right on the nose



I haven't read the book myself to know if this has been doctored to be sensationalized?.. Just sharing the tweet is all 👍

Hate to break this cool conspiracy theory buuut

What is a coronavirus?
It is a novel virus named for the crownlike spikes that protrude from its surface. The coronavirus can infect both animals and people and can cause a range of respiratory illnesses from the common cold to more dangerous conditions like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

via

 

[Barra333]

Not sure if this has already been shared but I just saw this on Twitter wow! Dean r Koontz was a Soothsayer back in 1981 apparently! Crazy stuff for sure and pretty much right on the nose



I haven't read the book myself to know if this has been doctored to be sensationalized?.. Just sharing the tweet is all 👍

This was posted as a reply to the tweet - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dean-koontz-predicted-coronavirus/. Aside from Wuhan (which is only referenced in some versions of the book), and the year there are very few similarities.

 

[Mr P]

Ah well Dean R Koontz was just an ordinary man after all

Moved on to find some other ridiculous similarities and crazy theories :tup:

 

[TenEightyOne]

This was posted as a reply to the tweet - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dean-koontz-predicted-coronavirus/. Aside from Wuhan (which is only referenced in some versions of the book), and the year there are very few similarities.

He got Wuhan, he potentially got an accurate source facility for the virus (as per @Touring Mars earlier comments on the Wuhan facility) and he got the year. Koontz will certainly take that as a win for predictive fiction, and in my opinion he should

 

[Joey D]

People believe the writings of Nostradamus on less so it really doesn't surprise me. Plus, if I were going to pick anywhere in the world to have a virus outbreak occur, China would be it. 1 out of every 7 people on the planet live in China so the probability is pretty good.

This is probably a dumb question, but in this case, if the disease is in your DNA for a long time, would that not make you more "immune" to it in the future or diseases of a similar strain? Assuming in that time frame, your body has fought and adapted to it being present in the body. Or does it just become dormant until something causes it to affect you again?

Someone who's more knowledgable about microbiology is going to have to step in here. The scope of my knowledge goes on what the doctor explained to me about the flu virus and some rudimentary Googling. The gist of what the doctor explain to me is that even after the body has "defeated" a virus, the DNA of the virus lingers in the body for a bit. I imagine it helps boost your immunity to that strain in the future since the body now knows what it is and can fight it better in the future.

 

[Danoff]

Has sterility been verified as a side effect yet? I have heard or read this numerous times but nothing official.
I wonder what the effects would be if this is the case. Especially in a place like China where it looks like 2/3 of the population getting infected might actually happen. It might turn into a weird place, especially if that's only men being effected.

That basically has to be complete speculation. It takes about 2 months (even longer) for sperm to grow inside the testes. If the virus were causing sterilization, the first we'd hear about it is 2 months after the person was infected. And the way to verify would be to know that they were fertile before and then verify infertility after. I don't know what this fear is based on but it sounds unfounded. It is possible, but we wouldn't know it yet.

 

[TexRex]

That basically has to be complete speculation. It takes about 2 months (even longer) for sperm to grow inside the testes. If the virus were causing sterilization, the first we'd hear about it is 2 months after the person was infected. And the way to verify would be to know that they were fertile before and then verify infertility after. I don't know what this fear is based on but it sounds unfounded. It is possible, but we wouldn't know it yet.

I'm getting "virus designed to decrease Chinese population growth" conspiracy theory vibes.

 

[baldgye]

I'm getting "virus designed to decrease Chinese population growth" conspiracy theory vibes.

Kind of negated by the genocide of Muslims (ughrs? I can't spell)they're carrying out at the moment though

 

[baldgye]

Coronavirus: Weakest patients could be denied lifesaving care due to lack of funding for NHS, doctors admit
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-protocol-a9361916.html?utm_source=reddit.com

This must be lefty propaganda and fake news, because as we all know, the NHS is now getting £350m a week thanks to brexit

 

[Dotini]

Not sure if this has already been shared but I just saw this on Twitter wow! Dean r Koontz was a Soothsayer back in 1981 apparently! Crazy stuff for sure and pretty much right on the nose



I haven't read the book myself to know if this has been doctored to be sensationalized?.. Just sharing the tweet is all 👍

Mr Koontz would easily be able to predict a viral epidemic occurring in 2020 if he had read the works of Svante Arrhenius, Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe, all proponents of panspermia. There is a body of science literature on the subject of extraterrestrial origin of life - and viral pandemics. In this theory, pandemics are associated with solar maxima and solar minima. For instance, at solar minima, the magnetic field contracts allowing all sorts of particles (cosmic rays to comet dust) from space to arrive more abundantly to Earth's surface.

 

[TexRex]

Oh, goody...

 

[Dennisch]

I'm getting "virus designed to decrease Chinese population growth" conspiracy theory vibes.

Great minds think alike.

Mass sterilisation through a disease of currently unknown origin from a city with a virus breeding lab in a country dealing with massive overpopulation you say?

 

[Touring Mars]

The Chief Medical Officer for England, Prof. Chris Whitty, has said that schools and offices could face closure for two months, major sporting events face cancellation and he expects this to come at a 'heavy social cost'.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ents-in-england-test-positive-for-coronavirus

He also said that it is 'only a matter of time' until the UK is impacted, but that the impact of the virus will depend on how well containment strategies work - it remains to be seen if school, work and event closures are part of this strategy. I guess that there will also be severe restrictions on transport as well.

Japan has closed all public schools for a month starting on Monday... the UK will likely follow suit unless an outbreak doesn't happen - which I severely doubt.

It would be a good plan to discuss these issues with all of your immediate family - I spoke to my family at the weekend and they seemed a bit surprised by my concern... I don't think they quite realised how soon things could change and, possibly, how drastically.

 

[baldgye]

The Chief Medical Officer for England, Prof. Chris Whitty, has said that schools and offices could face closure for two months, major sporting events face cancellation and he expects this to come at a 'heavy social cost'.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ents-in-england-test-positive-for-coronavirus

He also said that it is 'only a matter of time' until the UK is impacted, but that the impact of the virus will depend on how well containment strategies work - it remains to be seen if school, work and event closures are part of this strategy. I guess that there will also be severe restrictions on transport as well.

Japan has closed all public schools for a month starting on Monday... the UK will likely follow suit unless an outbreak doesn't happen - which I severely doubt.

It would be a good plan to discuss these issues with all of your immediate family - I spoke to my family at the weekend and they seemed a bit surprised by my concern... I don't think they quite realised how soon things could change and, possibly, how drastically.

I work on a tech park and travel by train to work... there have already been scare stories from other companies on the park of them having staff who've tested positive (that obviously haven't) and I would imagine it'll only take a few breakouts of it to totally disrupt large sectors of the country. In theory an outbreak in Birmingham could spread across the whole country in a very short period of time

 

[Danoff]

The Chief Medical Officer for England, Prof. Chris Whitty, has said that schools and offices could face closure for two months, major sporting events face cancellation and he expects this to come at a 'heavy social cost'.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ents-in-england-test-positive-for-coronavirus

He also said that it is 'only a matter of time' until the UK is impacted, but that the impact of the virus will depend on how well containment strategies work - it remains to be seen if school, work and event closures are part of this strategy. I guess that there will also be severe restrictions on transport as well.

Japan has closed all public schools for a month starting on Monday... the UK will likely follow suit unless an outbreak doesn't happen - which I severely doubt.

It would be a good plan to discuss these issues with all of your immediate family - I spoke to my family at the weekend and they seemed a bit surprised by my concern... I don't think they quite realised how soon things could change and, possibly, how drastically.

I have no idea what these closures are supposed to serve. Just try to contain the outbreak until a vaccine is available?

 

[Touring Mars]

I have no idea what these closures are supposed to serve. Just try to contain the outbreak until a vaccine is available?

Pretty much... the UK's official "4-part plan" as laid out by the Health Minister is "Contain. Delay. Research and Mitigate."

If it cannot be contained, then delay is the next step.

I reckon the plan/hope is that treatments can be found or a vaccine developed to minimize the possible impact, but given that both of these things could be months (realistically it will be at least 6-12 months before a vaccine of any sort is available), the 'delay' strategy could be very, very difficult to implement.

 

[Danoff]

Pretty much... the UK's official "4-part plan" as laid out by the Health Minister is "Contain. Delay. Research and Mitigate."

If it cannot be contained, then delay is the next step.

I reckon the plan/hope is that treatments can be found or a vaccine developed to minimize the possible impact, but given that both of these things could be months (realistically it will be at least 6-12 months before a vaccine of any sort is available), the 'delay' strategy could be very, very difficult to implement.

Yea, I don't think we can all just stay home for a year.

Edit:

Anyway, we put Vice President Pence on it, so you've got nothing to worry about.

 

[Joey D]

Anyway, we put Vice President Pence on it, so you've got nothing to worry about.

So does that mean we're all going to get HIV now?

Also why on Earth would you put a dude that's open about his science denial in charge of something that requires a great deal of science to combat?

 

[Touring Mars]

Yea, I don't think we can all just stay home for a year.

This is why I've been telling my family that the virus itself could well be the least of their worries...

Weirdly, my current job can pretty much be done remotely - not all of it, but pretty much the last 12 months have not required me to be 'at work'. My sister already works from home, and my parents are retired. And my 11-y.o. nephew will probably love the idea.

But, it depends how severe things get. Not being able to leave the house when you want for whatever reason you want is an idea that has probably not ever crossed the minds of the vast majority of people in the world, let alone the UK or US.

My concern is, how will it be enforced? China has the handy advantage of a single party system and is already a quasi-police state, with no shortage of military, police and helpful local Communist Party officials to police damn near every housing estate and street corner in China... the UK does not.

 

[Slapped]

Coronavirus: Weakest patients could be denied lifesaving care due to lack of funding for NHS, doctors admit
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-protocol-a9361916.html?utm_source=reddit.com

This must be lefty propaganda and fake news, because as we all know, the NHS is now getting £350m a week thanks to brexit

Honestly it doesn't surprise me. Since I've been living on the Europe mainland I've often heard comments to the effect of that the UK is a third world country pretending to be a first world country.

At first I took offence to that, but 14 years later I'm inclined to agree, although I'd rather not.

 

[baldgye]

Honestly it doesn't surprise me. Since I've been living on the Europe mainland I've often heard comments to the effect of that the UK is a third world country pretending to be a first world country.

At first I took offence to that, but 14 years later I'm inclined to agree, although I'd rather not.

The 6th biggest economy in the world, is a 3rd world nation? What?