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

  • Thread starter baldgye
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Yesterday I got a document from my company that basically says I can be in public during work days in case the Polizei stops me for questions. Probably the country/city will implement a France style lock down soon. Dunno.
 
Touring Mars
Meanwhile, my Dad is still in self-isolation having come back from Spain the same day as I started my own isolation, and yet he is only isolating himself from us. He was in the pub on Friday when they announced that bars were closing that night :rolleyes:

I can't be too hard on him because he lives alone and he normally goes to the pub pretty much every day, so he will find it difficult. But, he's 78 and has asthma, hence for him to still be hanging out at the pub while the rest of us are effectively in lockdown seems pretty odd, and it also means that our efforts to avoid contact with infected people may be compromised if my Dad isn't being as careful as we are.
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Oh dear.

So, he doesn't want to risk infecting you & your mum ... but he's OK with infecting everyone at the pub, or being infected by them?

I just don't get it. Is he not aware of what's going in Italy & increasingly in Spain ... & coming soon to a town near you? :indiff:
 
Listening to Bojo’s conference and the responses to some of the questions, seems obvious that next week we’ll be under full lockdown at some point.

Let’s hope it isn’t too late
 
Our Prime Minister has just given his daily press conference, he has warned of tougher measures if people don't follow social distancing whilst outdoors. We are in a sort of lockdown right now as he told pubs, bars, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and leisure centres to close and for people to stay home and whilst generally speaking it is having an effect as most of the country is now pretty quiet there are some idiots who take the risk and go out, most people are going to rural areas thinking it will be safe, Mount Snowdonia had its most visitors yesterday in two years.

As of 9am Sunday there were 5,683 confirmed cases with 281 deaths in the UK.

My opinion is that a full lockdown is coming, possibly this week, maybe even tomorrow.

Edit; sort of tree'd by @baldgye
 
Blitz24
2's a crowd. Also pretty much closes all businesses.
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Seems work is still an option?
"It is possible to go to work, receive emergency care, go shopping, visit the doctor, participate in meetings, necessary appointments and examinations, do individual sports and exercise in the fresh air - as well as other necessary activities," reads the resolution.
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DG_Silva
Can you imagine a Fiat-built ventilator? It will make the patient breathe at 120 resps per minute for half an hour, then breakdown for a day and a half.
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The Ferrari one will randomly self-immolate. I don't think this is a good idea.
 
FPV MIC
Also GM, Ford, and the VW Group are offering to help with ventilators. VW are looking at 3D printing them.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/aut...-us-faces-critical-shortage/story?id=69689489
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It's not that simple.

https://mashable.com/article/experts-doubt-tesla-elon-musk-manufacture-ventilators/

The term "ventilator" gets thrown around a lot too, but they're not all the same. Some have been talking about like nasal cannulas or CPAP, which is not the same thing. We can't just start churning out ventilators. 3D printing isn't a magic bullet either, because those 3D printed versions haven't been tested on humans. It's not clear how they'll hold up, and they're not cleared for medical use (unless they can literally print it with the same materials the original ventilator was built with, which seems unlikely).

There are bottlenecks for ventilator manufacturing though, so in some cases getting a single part mass produced might be possible and allow a greater supply. A lot of companies are looking into this issue right now.
 
Danoff
It's not that simple.

https://mashable.com/article/experts-doubt-tesla-elon-musk-manufacture-ventilators/

The term "ventilator" gets thrown around a lot too, but they're not all the same. Some have been talking about like nasal cannulas or CPAP, which is not the same thing. We can't just start churning out ventilators. 3D printing isn't a magic bullet either, because those 3D printed versions haven't been tested on humans. It's not clear how they'll hold up, and they're not cleared for medical use (unless they can literally print it with the same materials the original ventilator was built with, which seems unlikely).

There are bottlenecks for ventilator manufacturing though, so in some cases getting a single part mass produced might be possible and allow a greater supply. A lot of companies are looking into this issue right now.
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At least they're trying to help in any way.

Screenshot_20200322-001245.png
 
Danoff
It's not that simple.

https://mashable.com/article/experts-doubt-tesla-elon-musk-manufacture-ventilators/

The term "ventilator" gets thrown around a lot too, but they're not all the same. Some have been talking about like nasal cannulas or CPAP, which is not the same thing. We can't just start churning out ventilators. 3D printing isn't a magic bullet either, because those 3D printed versions haven't been tested on humans. It's not clear how they'll hold up, and they're not cleared for medical use (unless they can literally print it with the same materials the original ventilator was built with, which seems unlikely).

There are bottlenecks for ventilator manufacturing though, so in some cases getting a single part mass produced might be possible and allow a greater supply. A lot of companies are looking into this issue right now.
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It's only 'not simple' if the existing companies make it that way. If they license out manufacture of parts/assembly to these other companies it becomes a lot easier.

The UK is also looking at designing them from scratch.

The UK government is expected to decide in the coming days on how to plug a shortage of medical ventilators needed to treat coronavirus, with options including mass production of existing designs or a new British model made from scratch.

Companies including Smiths Group, Meggitt, Airbus, McLaren, GKN and Nissan have been working on plans to quickly churn out thousands of the machines, following prime minister Boris Johnson’s plea for industry to lead a national effort to tackle the Covid-19 crisis. The government is aiming to start production by March 30, one person involved said, although this date could be pushed back.
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https://www.ft.com/content/51ac1c14-6bb1-11ea-89df-41bea055720b
 
My firm have classified all of my fellow campus based engineers who haven't been sent home yet as key workers who will no doubt have to struggle in in the event of a lockdown in London. Not sure whether that includes me since I've been sent home to avoid catching the virus at or on the way to work and infecting my mum.

The boss has signed me off for fourteen days only so I will probably have to join them. At this rate we'll be the only people besides cleaners, security and catering staff in the building. Hoping I can get some kind of exemption as the minute I go back to work my mum is at risk again.
 
FPV MIC
It's only 'not simple' if the existing companies make it that way. If they license out manufacture of parts/assembly to these other companies it becomes a lot easier.
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I can tell you from experience that medical equipment providers are rather notorious for using proprietary designs to make sure that hospitals have to use their parts and people for maintenance and repairs, so it really isn't going to be as simple as subcontracting other companies to make pieces X, Y and Z like they did with planes and tanks back in WWII.
 
McLaren
I believe the end goal is despite the fact everyone will likely get it at some point, they don’t want everyone catching it at once and over-taxing the health care.

I’ve seen some medical experts suggest even if you think you have it, avoid hospital visits unless your symptoms get really bad. Some have suggested going to Urgent Cares first in the chance you may actually end up contracting it if you go to a hospital where infected patients may be present.
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(In my area of Pennsylvania at least)
We're supposed to call a doctor or hospital to set up a visit if the symptoms fit.
They meet people in the parking lot with protective gear and give them a test kit to mail in.
Also I believe they're working on drive thru pharmacy pick up tests as well.

Doctors and hospitals are attempting to reserve everything for people that need immediate care.
 
EngieDiesel
I can tell you from experience that medical equipment providers are rather notorious for using proprietary designs to make sure that hospitals have to use their parts and people for maintenance and repairs, so it really isn't going to be as simple as subcontracting other companies to make pieces X, Y and Z like they did with planes and tanks back in WWII.
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Yeah I know. I have to deal with it through using medical equipment... but it could be if they allow it was my point. They don't have to be dicks, and it does seem like at least one could be working on licensing.

At the same time, the industrial consortiums are talking to manufacturers of heavy-duty ICU ventilators about possibly licensing their design for manufacture in the UK.
“The companies will take instruction, if it is the prototype or a licensed design [that is chosen], and work out how to make it quickly,” the person said. “People are working through how the licensing might work. I am fairly confident this will be sorted out in the next three to four days.”
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Biggles
Oh dear.

So, he doesn't want to risk infecting you & your mum ... but he's OK with infecting everyone at the pub, or being infected by them?

I just don't get it. Is he not aware of what's going in Italy & increasingly in Spain ... & coming soon to a town near you? :indiff:
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I know... the only saving grace is that the only people likely to be infected by my Dad are people who are as bad as self-isolating as he is.

3 regulars at his pub have already died in the last 6 months, and none of them had coronavirus...

-

Meanwhile, everyone (including us) seem to be receiving heart-warming pieces of A4 apparently written by a local family who want us to know that they are available to help with anything from shopping, to dog walking and picking up prescriptions... very kind, but hopefully the adult or kids who are actually posting these things through every letter box in the area are both not infectious themselves and/or sanitising their hands every few doors.

Granted, the risk they pose is perhaps no greater than the postman, but... call me a cynic, but it maybe isn't such a great idea letting kids go door-to-door in an area with a high % of elderly residents during a pandemic.
 
FPV MIC
It's only 'not simple' if the existing companies make it that way. If they license out manufacture of parts/assembly to these other companies it becomes a lot easier.

The UK is also looking at designing them from scratch.



https://www.ft.com/content/51ac1c14-6bb1-11ea-89df-41bea055720b
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No it's not simple because nothing in heathcare is simple. You hook someone up for the first time to an untested, non-approved, 3D printed ventilator, and it doesn't work perfectly, and they die, and then what? Try again? Try a different one of the 1000 3D printed ventilators? How many different groups try one of these and kill patients?

If it's really that simple, let's just use the untested vaccine! That's got a shot of stopping all of this (much better than untested ventilators). And we actually have it... like... in hand.

Perhaps everyone over 80, or 70, should be welcome to come get a free sample of our attempt at untested vaccine development. Sounds better to me than giving them a free sample of our attempt at untested ventilator development.

To make a ventilator, you need to use an existing, proven, design, and probably existing factories. That's where we should be focused (and that's where focus is). The rest of this is fairly uninformed scrambling, and some superhero-image puffery from the guy who was going to build a robot to save those soccer players.
 
Danoff
We can't just start churning out ventilators. 3D printing isn't a magic bullet either, because those 3D printed versions haven't been tested on humans.
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Another problem with 3D printed parts is the fact it typically takes hours to print a part. Other manufacturing methods typically take seconds or minutes to make a part.
 
Dallas County has announced its quarantine measures. More info to come later tonight.
Dallas County residents are being ordered to stay in their homes except for essential work and errands. All businesses that are not deemed essential are also ordered to stop operating.
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BTW, am I the only one annoyed by Covid-19 articles getting stuck behind subscriber/paywall news sites? The rest of the article this quote is from had to be shared to me because I receive this when I go directly to it.
We are providing public-health coverage of coronavirus free of charge as a service to North Texas.

Support us by becoming a member now and stand with us. OR to continue reading, please enter your email below.
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Yes, spend $2/month or spam your inbox.
 

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