Coronavirus

[CriedWhenBrucieLeft]

I think peeps in UK should take a hard look at why we're top in the world's death charts and forget about blaming others.

 

[Brigantium]

The UK death rate isn't getting as much attention as it should be, really. I do wonder if it's because too few people are being tested (or rather the over-cautious account for a most of the negative tests while many people who are sick don't bother to get tested) and too few cases are being identified. I've lost count of the number of people who have told me they've had a 'weird virus that knocked them out for a couple of weeks but it CAN'T have been Covid'. And you ask them if they got tested, and they say no because one of the big three symptoms was missing.

It strikes me that the number of deaths in the US more recently was more like what was going on in the UK in April, although we supposedly only had a couple of thousand cases a day, not about 50k. Of course one of the more publicised ideas has been that a hell of a lot of Brits are obese. But then compare with American stats...

 

[Black Wizard]

I think peeps in UK should take a hard look at why we're top in the world's death charts

Tremendous achievement. A badge of honour.

 

[The Flash]

Of course eating meat isn't directly the problem, but these pandemics happen because of close proximity between humans and infected animals. This is how we get swine flu and bird flu pandemics.

It is well-established that the advent of agriculture and animal husbandry resulted in an up spike of infectious diseases among human populations. You have to call into question agriculture and animal husbandry in general if you want to go that route, not just eating meat. At this point in human history, the downside of doing away with animal husbandry outweighs the upside drastically, regardless of what we may feel about it retrospectively.

 

[GhostofCain]

I think peeps in UK should take a hard look at why we're top in the world's death charts and forget about blaming others.

Back in 2016 Boris Johnson claimed that Brexit was going to be a Titanic success. He now leads a government that has, according to his hyperbolic language, a world beating response to COVID-19 (does he mean in terms of number of people death?). He probably sees that as a Titanic success too. A sinking ship of a country indeed!

 

[GhostofCain]

We've had 3 counties go back into lockdown due to outbreaks associated with meat processing plants. The problem seems to be it's low paid work, mainly migrant workers all living together and going to work sick as there's no sick pay.

Some of the recent outbreaks in Spain are linked to seasonal workers picking up fruit in farms and being forced to live crammed in places that would make Victorian slums look luxurious. Same problem of low paid work with no measures in place to prevent the transmission of the virus.

 

[Brigantium]

Seasonal farm hands living together caravans, that happened somewhere like Herefordshire too, didn't it?

 

[GhostofCain]

Seasonal farm hands living together caravans, that happened somewhere like Herefordshire too, didn't it?

Correct, even though living conditions seem to be significantly better in the UK than for seasonal farm hands in Spain.

 

[Brigantium]

There are some horrors. People who need the work aren't in any position to argue

 

[GhostofCain]

There are some horrors. People who need the work aren't in any position to argue

I am not going to disagree with that, and supermarkets here are partially to blame, but things are much worse down there:

The plight of Spain’s migrant workers

Coronavirus is exposing the problems faced by day labourers in southern Spain, who have for many years worked in appalling conditions to supply fruit and vegetables for supermarkets in the UK. Clare Carlile of Ethical Consumer explains.

newint.org

‘Consumers are not aware we are slaves inside the greenhouses’

Exploitation plagues Spain’s farming province, with migrant workers paid below minimum wage and living in squalor.

www.aljazeera.com

This week a farm hand from Nicaragua, forced to work 11 hours everyday with no water in Murcia, with temperatures of 44 degrees Celsius, died from a heatstroke. His farmer/employer, dropped him at the door of a hospital while he was unconscious but still alive.

Things like these make my blood boil!

 

[Brigantium]

Looks like someone has finally managed to capture a sample of live virus at large in aerosol form:

'A Smoking Gun': Infectious Coronavirus Retrieved From Hospital Air

Skeptics of the notion that the coronavirus spreads through the air -- including many expert advisers to the World Health Organization -- have held out for one missing piece of evidence: proof that floating respiratory droplets called aerosols contain live virus and not just fragments of genetic...

uk.news.yahoo.com

The WHO has so far been sceptical that this could be a significant source of transmission, despite being petitioned by a collection of scientists from various fields of expertise who believe it's a greater risk than the WHO and many countries' authorities recognise. Genetic material from the virus has been found in the air in a number of tests, and an experiment which involved using high power aerosol equipment (ie nothing like the effect of people speaking, breathing, singing, shouting, coughing or sneezing) has shown the virus can be airborne in certain conditions. But this study has captured the live virus from the air in a hospital at a distance of seven to 16 feet from patients ill with COVID-19.

It's got to be something the WHO will have to look at again, surely, and ought to have implications for poorly ventilated indoor areas in particular, where there could potentially be an accumulation of the virus in the air over a period of time. What the article doesn't say is whether the patients had breathing equipment such as mechanical ventilation or CPAP machines, which can cause more of an aerosol effect than normal breathing, speaking and coughing.

 

[Black Abyss Babe]

Something to cheer everyone up a bit: what with the current pressure towards seeing face masks as just another way to make a fashion statement (on the presumed grounds that we'll all be wearing them for a while) it suddenly occured to me to think "what is Lady Gaga wearing?"

A Google images search turned up quite a few things, most of which predate the current situation but still indicates she was probably ready to go on this one well before anyone else:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

I knew she wouldn't disappoint

 

[Brigantium]

I'm slightly surprised Gaga wasn't wearing masks before the pandemic.

Edit:
Of course she was.

 

[Midnight]

I'm slightly surprised Gaga wasn't wearing masks before the pandemic.

Edit:
Of course she was.
View attachment 12618

It reminds me of something...

Actually, now that I think about it, this would be a very effective way to enforce social distancing.

 

[CriedWhenBrucieLeft]

I think Buckethead was ahead of the curve...



Dude was wearing a mask and a visor last year. I'm not sure what protection the KFC bucket affords.

 

[Lamia020281]

I think Buckethead was ahead of the curve...

Dude was wearing a mask and a visor last year. I'm not sure what protection the KFC bucket affords.

Maybe it keeps the hair in place. I just learned yesterday that if you wear a mask in Finland, you have to keep long hair in a ponytail to prevent your hair from touching the mask. I had no idea.

 

[Lampwick 43]

So I tested positive for Covid. I was in contact with someone 2 weeks ago who ended up testing positive. They got their positive result on Monday, so I decided to get a test myself as a precaution. I had my test on Thursday, and just got my results back today.

I'm actually pretty shocked that I ended up testing positive. I have absolutely 0 symptoms right now, and I haven't had any noticeable symptoms at all anytime over the last 2 weeks. I have been self-quarantining since I first found out I had been potentially exposed, and will continue to isolate for at least the next 10 days.

 

[Perun]

Good luck, Lamps.

 

[Night Prowler]

That sucks, @Lampwick 43, but at least you don't have symptoms. Huge respect for the mature response with the self-isolation and testing itself though. More people should be like this.

 

[Perun]

That sucks, @Lampwick 43, but at least you don't have symptoms. Huge respect for the mature response with the self-isolation and testing itself though. More people should be like this.

Thanks for highlighting this, I couldn't have said it better myself.