COVID19

[Mellsblue]

Latest numbreros:

           Fat./ Cases (%)
UK      71/  1950  (3.6)
Ire        2/     223 (0.9)
Fra  148/   6664  (2.2)
Ger    20/  8084   (0.25)
Ita 2503/31506   (7.9)
Spa 499/11309   (4.4)

Tot: 3243 /59736 (5.4)

Alot of fatalities quite quickly, as we know.
Not sure if the big variation in fatality rates reflects differences in treatment success, in built flu-like resistance in Northern peeps or just reporting methods.
Maybe pickled cabbage is the way forward..

Melbourne group identify immune response cell-types..(akin to common flu it seems. )
Question of promoting/facilitating this separate from a vaccine, in the short term maybe.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-51921403

In the UK we are being asked to self isolate if any symptoms occur. Many people will feel a little unwell and recover but probably not be formally recorded. I’m thinking that’s why the mortality rate in the UK is higher than predicted.

Sir Patrick Vallance’s estimate for the UK is 1,000 cases per death.

[Which Tyler]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/51929628

Coronavirus and ibuprofen: Separating fact from ]

On the mother hand, there's this: https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m1086

[Which Tyler]

Another petition if anyone wants to sign: https://www.change.org/p/test-frontline ... usoutbreak

Test frontline NHS staff for COVID-19 as a priority.

[Mellsblue]

The info from Sir Patrick’s appearance at yesterday’s Commons health select committee is interesting. Along with the fact that we’re living with this, with fluctuating levels of quarantine/social distancing, for months until a vaccine is produced, this seemed the most important part:
‘Intensive care demand and rising cases led to change in advice
Boris Johnson was criticised for the abrupt way in which socialising was banned, but Sir Patrick told the public to get used to rapid rethinks.

“As you see things changing you might need to do more, you might need to do less, and that might happen quickly just as it did over the course of the last week. That isn’t because there’s a sudden change of strategy it is because you are responding to the information you’ve got,” he said.

Modelling of the outbreak changed over the weekend, as emerging data on cases suggested Britain was much closer to seeing exponential take off than believed. It also became clear that more intensive care beds would be needed because oxygen alone wasn’t working for patients in Italy, China and Britain.’


This probably also needs a mention:
Neil Ferguson of Imperial College, who carried out the modelling for the government, said restrictions had been imposed just in time. “We have got the timing about right. We’re about three weeks or so behind Italy, two weeks behind France and Spain, so we are making these decisions in a more timely manner than other European countries,” he told the BBC.’

Imperial College paper here:
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperi ... 3-2020.pdf

[Banquo]

Another petition if anyone wants to sign: https://www.change.org/p/test-frontline ... usoutbreak

Test frontline NHS staff for COVID-19 as a priority.

Its being put in place.

[bruce]

For those contractors amongst us, the ir35 reforms have been delayed for 12 months due to coronavirus. Every cloud...

[Sandydragon]

For those contractors amongst us, the ir35 reforms have been delayed for 12 months due to coronavirus. Every cloud...

That announcement changed my
LinkedIn feed substantially. For weeks now I’ve had nothing but moaning contractors.

[Sandydragon]

So all schools are closing from Friday except for key workers. And no exams this year. That’s a very big decision.

[Galfon]

So all schools are closing from Friday except for key workers. And no exams this year. That’s a very big decision.

Education / exam. matters aside, this will be devastating news for some working families in non 'key worker' or non 'vulnerable' child households.
Also keeping restless 12-18 year olds off the streets & away from shops etc ( i.e. avoiding social contact )
for potentially months on end, as days lengthen and weather improves, could be problematic.
This and the ongoing food availability issue will defo bring more uniformed peeps into the arena.

[bruce]

Also on a brighter note, Eurovision has been cancelled.

[Galfon]

Also on a brighter note, Eurovision has been cancelled.

..and Euro2020 will now be played in 2021

[morepork]

Nearly 500 people died in Italy today. This show is coming to a town near you soon. My niece in Milan has started baking, and no one should be subject to that outrage.

[paddy no 11]

Morepork

Hydroxychloroquinine smashing it?

Already approved so safety not an issue

How long till they could do a trial and then start treating people?

[morepork]

Morepork

Hydroxychloroquinine smashing it?

Already approved so safety not an issue

How long till they could do a trial and then start treating people?

The Chinese have been trialing a version of it (chloroquine) since early Febuary, but no data yet. It looks like it may inhibit viral entry into cells (grown in a dish: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-0156-0) but that's a far cry from a living animal, bearing in mind it is toxic.

Worth a crack though.

China have also trialed anti-retrovirals effective against HIV, but they didn't work (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001282). Being able to conduct a controlled trial in the middle of all this in China is no mean feat, so a tip of the hat there.

[Stom]

We've introduced new measures.

Any existing loans are basically put on hold until the end of the year, so no mortgage payments (yay! We'll be putting that money to use in our ad budget). Companies in certain industries have to pay no payroll tax at all, and workers pay no income tax and no social security until the end of July.

Good news all round. Especially that the Forint tanked afterward! Very good news as I'm paid in $ and every time Trump opens his mouth I earn £0.01 less per hour!

[paddy no 11]

Check out gauterat at al they've done more testing using hydroxychloroquine

[paddy no 11]

https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/ ... -covid-19/

[morepork]

Looks effective in the short term, but it's a pretty brutal regimen. Could people handle 3 weeks of that?

[paddy no 11]

If it's toxic then 600mg a day would be pretty rough alright, if it were an option for people in ICU until a better treatment arrives you'd have to take that........

[morepork]

Agreed, but keeping people out of the ICU? Dunno.

[Which Tyler]

Yay!
Our Prime Minister has finally decided that knowledge may be better than ignorance after all, so we're going to ramp up testing.
About f***ing time!
That pealing back was by far the biggest mis-stwp of this whole thing.
When you have the data, you can I reduce measures at the right time. With testing, you can send people back to work knowing they're healthy, or send them back in knowing that they've had it, and should now be immune.

[morepork]

I managed to purchase a modest 4-pack if shit roll without doing battle with anxious survivalists. Result.

[Galfon]

Bread now reappearing on shelves after several days of diddly-squat anywhere - not even unpalatable danish or wholemeal variants.Oddly, no paracetamol available in any high st. pharmacist/supermarkets, but back street stores fine.
The Sh!theads have moved on to scamming peeps to get into homes, guising themselves as 'Coronavirus testers' dressed in suits ..ffs.
Good to see promise on treating the extreme 'Cytokine storm' response to our CoV.Irony is that the healthy long-living bat happily harbors ebola, sars, rabies, hiv etc and doesn't normally get ill from them (or get cancer), as they don't exhibit this immune reaction...little feckers.

[Digby]

Why do people even especially want paracetamol?

[Galfon]

Why do people even especially want paracetamol?

a much cheaper and less disruptive mild pain reliever, compared to say alcohol or opiates.Also a preferred alternative for peeps sensitive to asprin et al.