The CV19 thread

I reckon this thing has been around since tail end of last year many people went do with a bad flu like thing

The latest surveillance data from PHE shows that GP consultations for Influenza-like Illness have risen by 24% from week 48 to week 49, while the impact of flu on hospitals was at moderate levels.
NHS England » Public urged to act fast to avoid festive flu

 

Nope that was some form of flu, this thing was only crossing the species barrier in China then and although it's like flu in some respects it isn't flu. That's part of the problem - there will be always some people who feel ill and report their coming down with Covid 19 but when tested won't have it. That's why testing is so important - its the only sure way of discovering how fast and where it is spreading.

 

This was last bit of 2019. and there was a strange undercurrent virus going around that a number of people had

 

Amid reports today that Donald Trump is offering large sums attempting to secure exclusive access to any Coronavirus vaccine from a German company for the US only,

Trump offers 'large sums' for exclusive access to coronavirus vaccine

the UK Government has upgraded its strategy for countering the pandemic from

Catch it
Bin it
Kill it

(is it just me or is that first stage counterproductive?)

to the old favourite of

pick it
lick it
roll it
flick it

 

BE LUCKY

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The White Horse
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come and see!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. (Revelation 6:1-2)



The Red Horse
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come and see!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword. (Revelation 6:3-4)

The Black Horse
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" (Revelation 6:5-6)

The Pale Horse
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come and see!" I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8)

 

Ah - I need my eyes retested - so the 2 x Red Horses are ? twins?

TD

 

made me laugh
a typo
i am normally such a great cut and paste expert but mistakes happen

 

The HQ Squadron tanks of 24th Lancers were named after the Riders of the Apocalypse. Ken Wareham said he was always a little bothered about chugging around in a Sherman named Death.

 

It does make me laugh the usual idiot politicians screaming to close everything in the UK for months.It is such a cheap throw away comment to get the moral high ground.No thought on how these people will fund their absence from work.

What about the people who live day to day from a monetary way of life plus child care issues.
Small independent shops will go bust
The self employed will fall off the edge

No doubt the schools will close possibly by this Friday and this will cause many parents issues.

Hopefully our local communities will pull together and help the more needy

The media are absolute scare mongers

Yes I know its serious

But I wonder what they will do to help in a few months (or perhaps longer) when this passes into history and a lot of people are broke along with businesses

 

The squirrel ( grey, Essex yob type ) has got fleas, comes and eats the sunflower hearts from the bird-feeder every day. Scratches himself a lot. The robin, blackbird, blue tit, they all come and catch the fleas. But the pigeons have worked out how to get food and they have a feed and get very fat and fall down the chimney if I'm unlucky, the stupid things, and I have to pick them up in a towel and let them out. But the males chase a female ( I think ) around and, high on protein, partake of their own seed distribution, whether the other party likes it or not. And at the bottom of this is little big me going to the shop to pay over the odds for a kilo of food at a time. So when I am put in jail and can't go out there's a whole world out there that will fall apart, unless it's all just quantum entanglement, or a parallel universe.

 

Just look at the old Irish word Shebeen

 

Think we may regret not shutting everything down for a mere 2 weeks. Leaked govt health report estimates 531,000 deaths in Britain over the next 12 months. That modelling was assuming it dips in June and resurfaces during the next flu season in November. I think it was the Guardian that got a hold of a copy.

I just know my Dave is going to be saying shortly, 'see, told you we should have bought some chickens!'

Picture my sister sent from a store in Peterborough

 

My drive to work this morning through the streets of southwest London, was very much like that during the school holidays. Not too many folk about apart from those in search of loo roll of course.

 

Talking of the streets of South West London, here's Albert Steptoe preparing for a visit from Ted Heath. The loo paper hoarders should take a leaf from him, so to speak:

Two for Tea

Starts at 14.38

Vitellino

(My grandparents hung the necessary on a nail behind the door.)

 

So we are/have been suffering with the lurgy. No way of knowing if its Covid-19 because we couldn't get tested.

We called 111 and were told they were only testing people that had come back from an infected country, or those who had exchanged bodily fluids with a known victim. Our GP didn't want to see my wife, but told us to call 111 back and demand a test...anyway, at least it gave us something to do last Tuesday, getting bounced back & forth between local doctors & 111, even if we couldn't get a test.

I've never seen my wife so ill. Her temperature spiked >40'C last week, which is dangerously high and she started rambling...high enough to potentially cause brain damage, organ failure & death. I struggled to get her temperature under control and to keep it under control for a few days, as it could climb above 39'C with very little notice. She is now through the fever and just feels grotty and coughs a lot.

If I have one piece of advice, it is to make sure you have a sensible thermometer and that you start measuring your temperature straight away to; a) establish what it is while you are still well, and b) to get an early indication that your temp is higher than normal. You also need to take readings 3 or 4 times a day while you are well (since it will vary during the day) and (say) every 15mins if it gets dangerously high (i.e. >38'C).

Those with a very high temperature should lay on their back with their legs elevated. Use cold wet cloths to wipe the skin, with a fan blowing to aid cooling. Don't put them in a cold shower. They should take paracetamol or whatever you have that can reduce a fever.

The strange thing about 'heatstroke' is that the victim stops sweating and shivers & shakes uncontrollably and feels very cold. So the last thing they want is a cold flannel touching their skin...you just have to ignore their complaints.

Accurate temperature measurements of anything are difficult, so make sure you use a consistent method (e.g. we measure under the tongue for 80 seconds) so you can spot trends.

Like I said at the beginning, there is no way to know if it was Covid-19. If it was some form of flu, then it was either not one of the 4 strains covered by our annual flu jab...or the flu jab doesn't work.

Don't Panic People!