spacecadet Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 Just now, Cryptoprocta said: Maybe so, but in the countries which are shutting down schools and nurseries, who is looking after the children of the essential health and care workers? Are they being gathered informally to be 'minded' together? That's apparently part of the reasoning. Health workers with children at home aren't health workers anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptoprocta Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 6 minutes ago, spacecadet said: That's apparently part of the reasoning. Health workers with children at home aren't health workers anymore. That, and also apparently children with no underlying conditions apparently (as far as we know, so far) cope well with this virus, so can help to build up the herd immunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobD Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 There is also the chance that hard pressed parents will pass them on to the most vulnerable, the grandparents. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, meanderingemu said:  woohoo a red arrow!.... bring it on.   if they cared,  {Insert country you have prejudice about} (A) would do away (BAN) with {insert typical generalization}  , so i guess you are saying (A) doesn't care about its people  One day the lights will go on around the planet, and we'll all be "great"... 😉  If you're headed back to La Belle Province any time soon, I guess you know that Legault has declared a "state of emergency" in Quebec. He's urging 70+ oldsters like me (I'm 71) to stay indoors, which is no doubt a sign of things to come in other provinces as well.  Edited March 14, 2020 by John Mitchell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanderingemu Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 (edited) 5 minutes ago, John Mitchell said:  One day the lights will go on around the planet, and we'll all be "great"... 😉  If you're headed back to La Belle Province any time soon, I guess you know that Legault has declared a "state of emergency" in Quebec. He's urging 70+ oldsters like me (I'm 71) to stay indoors, which is no doubt a sign of things to come in other provinces as well.    i made it there, and as coming from other country am in day 2 of Self Isolation in my sister's basement as per requirements. She has been really supportive...  hope everything is fine on your side Edited March 14, 2020 by meanderingemu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Douglas Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, spacecadet said: That's apparently part of the reasoning. Health workers with children at home aren't health workers anymore.  …. or the shop workers, the delivery drivers, the people who keep the electricity on, the phones working, and the internet running, and everything else that we just take for granted.  My understanding is that we're 10-14 weeks away from the peak, so if drastic measures are implemented now they'd have to be in place for 5 or 6 months. On that timescale, many things that can be put off for a few weeks become more critical.  The virus hides away infecting other people before showing signs of any symptoms in its victim. Keeping it out of the UK would have required truly draconian measures that would not have been accepted by the general public. Just think of the way the media reported hard done by passengers stranded on a cruise ship out in Japan.   Edited March 14, 2020 by Keith Douglas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 2 hours ago, Cryptoprocta said: Maybe so, but in the countries which are shutting down schools and nurseries, who is looking after the children of the essential health and care workers? Are they being gathered informally to be 'minded' together? I don’t know but what I do know is that the general approach is to introduce as much social distancing as possible which is the idea behind banning mass gatherings. Now schools are mass gatherings by any definition. You don’t need to have all the kids in one room for spreading viruses: toilets, canteens, moving around classrooms, sport and so on. A superior mixing pot and then there are the staff. Basically there is no way of stopping the pandemic but it can be slowed down. The UK government approach is contrary to this. The island of Ireland might make an interesting testing ground as the North is going to keep schools open for the foreseeable future following BoJo and co whereas the Republic has taken the decisive step. Personally I would be far more inclined to trust Varadkar (a former GP, highly intelligent Irish prime minister and incidentally on the conservative side of the political spectrum) who is following the WHO approach and taking the vulnerability of the elderly as a priority than Johnson who appears to be primarily interested in economics and essentially throwing the elderly away as Covid fodder. These are extraordinary times and need extraordinary measures. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 21 hours ago, meanderingemu said: if they cared, the USA would do away (BAN) guns, so i guess you are saying the US doesn't care about its people   easy to generalise Do you really want to fight with me? Bring it on. I may be getting on, but I’m feisty. After all, the USA’s founding fathers were British, considered themselves so. And this is what they put in our constitution. So jump into a time machine and take it up with them. If ever a World War 3 happens, we’ll see which countries are overrun and which aren’t.  The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.  So I respectfully (or not) say, the U.S. cares about its people by following the constitution. And I don’t give a flip what you think about it. Betty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 15 minutes ago, Keith Douglas said:   My understanding is that we're 10-14 weeks away from the peak, so if drastic measures are implemented now they'd have to be in place for 5 or 6 months. On that timescale, many things that can be put off for a few weeks become more critical.  Sounds like a great plan. Let things become more  critical and then deal with it. The time to put out a fire is when it is starting not when the house has burnt down. The fire is already burning and we will be in the Italy situation within a few weeks. The guy in the video back there was right when he said people don’t understand the meaning of exponential. When the Premier League suspend football you know it’s serious and time to act. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 1 minute ago, MDM said: Sounds like a great plan. Let things become more  critical and then deal with it. The time to put out a fire is when it is starting not when the house has burnt down. The fire is already burning and we will be in the Italy situation within a few weeks. The guy in the video back there was right when he said people don’t understand the meaning of exponential. When the Premier League suspend football you know it’s serious and time to act. I agree, Michael. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Chapman Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 (edited) 54 minutes ago, MDM said: Johnson who appears to be primarily interested in economics and essentially throwing the elderly away as Covid fodder.  Indeed, I took a look at some numbers to put the idea of achieving "herd immunity" in a few months (we are being told the peak is 2 -3 months away) Typical UK mortality in a typical year is around 500,000 deaths / year (I quote this to put the following numbers in context) If the infection peak is to be curtailed through "herd immunity" (which seems to be part of the current UK strategy) it will require over 50% of the population to acquire immunity by surviving an infection. The UK population is around 68 million. So 34 million need to be infected and survive Under good healthcare conditions the death rate is expected to be around 1% (average across all ages). So if all ages are infected at equally, then that's 340,000 extra deaths (with most amongst elderly and vulnerable) due to Corona virus over a period of just a few months. If we can protect the elderly and the vulnerable through social distancing/isolation then the death rate should be considerably lower than 1%. But, if we can't provide adequate healthcare for the sick, then the death-rate will be significantly higher.  Mmmm. Sobering death number of deaths. Did I miss something? Maybe I did, maybe they hope the combined effect of the (less severe) distancing measures and some herd immunity will produce the peak?  There's a open letter from UK scientists asking for more action here http://maths.qmul.ac.uk/~vnicosia/UK_scientists_statement_on_coronavirus_measures.pdf There's also some interesting (worldwide) analysis here https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca  Mark Edited March 14, 2020 by M.Chapman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 1 hour ago, meanderingemu said:   i made it there, and as coming from other country am in day 2 of Self Isolation in my sister's basement as per requirements. She has been really supportive...  hope everything is fine on your side  Glad you made it back. Self-isolation for 14 days doesn't sound like much fun. Chances of getting the virus in BC are still low according to the powers that be. However, I was in a local grocery store today and it looked like the proverbial war zone -- empty shelves everywhere. The BC health ministry is asking people not to horde food, etc. and assuring us that the supply chains are strong. It seems that many people aren't listening, though.  Getting back to stock photography, I'm leaving my empty grocery shopping bag at home and returning to the store to take some pictures of bare shelves... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanderingemu Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 3 minutes ago, John Mitchell said:  Glad you made it back. Self-isolation for 14 days doesn't sound like much fun. Chances of getting the virus in BC are still low according to the powers that be. However, I was in a local grocery store today and it looked like the proverbial war zone -- empty shelves everywhere. The BC health ministry is asking people not to horde food, etc. and assuring us that the supply chains are strong. It seems that many people aren't listening, though.  Getting back to stock photography, I'm leaving my empty grocery shopping bag at home and returning to the store to take some pictures of bare shelves...   i'm taking it in stride (but this is only day 2), and am lucky i have a sister who understands i need to do this for my mental stability. I have been going around with the cloud as a nomad of becoming a walking incubator, so now being holed up inside i am feeling so much tension finally leaving....  Quebec does seem way more aggressive. which is increasing some of the stress with people. it will be an interesting few months...  currently going through my images of things i skipped over.... i'll have to wait a couple of weeks for new stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Douglas Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 36 minutes ago, MDM said: Sounds like a great plan. Let things become more  critical and then deal with it. The time to put out a fire is when it is starting not when the house has burnt down. The fire is already burning and we will be in the Italy situation within a few weeks. The guy in the video back there was right when he said people don’t understand the meaning of exponential. When the Premier League suspend football you know it’s serious and time to act.  It's not about letting things become more critical, it's about lowering the peak of cases to a level where (hopefully) health services and others can cope.   The experts are saying that shutting schools down is symbolic but not effective in controlling the spread. In fact it may make things worse by exposing more vulnerable groups.  What would you suggest we do instead?  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morrison Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 49 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said: Do you really want to fight with me? Bring it on. I may be getting on, but I’m feisty. After all, the USA’s founding fathers were British, considered themselves so. And this is what they put in our constitution. So jump into a time machine and take it up with them. If ever a World War 3 happens, we’ll see which countries are overrun and which aren’t.  The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.  So I respectfully (or not) say, the U.S. cares about its people by following the constitution. And I don’t give a flip what you think about it. Betty  Calm down, Betty. It wouldn't be the first time you've been thrown out of the forum for unseemly brawling. And what's all this about arming bears? 😷 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 2 minutes ago, Keith Douglas said:  It's not about letting things become more critical, it's about lowering the peak of cases to a level where (hopefully) health services and others can cope.   The experts are saying that shutting schools down is symbolic but not effective in controlling the spread. In fact it may make things worse by exposing more vulnerable groups.  What would you suggest we do instead?  Not being an expert in epidemiology myself, I would suggest doing what the vast majority of International experts, including the World Health Organisation, are suggesting which is to act early and decisively. This is not about old political battle lines, it is about common sense. That’s about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 2 minutes ago, John Morrison said:  Calm down, Betty. It wouldn't be the first time you've been thrown out of the forum for unseemly brawling. And what's all this about arming bears? 😷 John, I adore you! Thanks for the humor. I needed it. 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 1 minute ago, John Morrison said:  Calm down, Betty. It wouldn't be the first time you've been thrown out of the forum for unseemly brawling. And what's all this about arming bears? 😷 Perhaps Betty should paws for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 Just now, MDM said: Perhaps Betty should paws for thought.  Problem was, I paws(d) for thought too long. I let it go for ages. Until I didn’t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 36 minutes ago, M.Chapman said:  Indeed, I took a look at some numbers to put the idea of achieving "herd immunity" in a few months (we are being told the peak is 2 -3 months away) Typical UK mortality in a typical year is around 500,000 deaths / year (I quote this to put the following numbers in context) If the infection peak is to be curtailed through "herd immunity" (which seems to be part of the current UK strategy) it will require over 50% of the population to acquire immunity by surviving an infection. The UK population is around 68 million. So 34 million need to be infected and survive Under good healthcare conditions the death rate is expected to be around 1% (average across all ages). So if all ages are infected at equally, then that's 340,000 extra deaths (with most amongst elderly and vulnerable) due to Corona virus over a period of just a few months. If we can protect the elderly and the vulnerable through social distancing/isolation then the death rate should be considerably lower than 1%. But, if we can't provide adequate healthcare for the sick, then the death-rate will be significantly higher.  Mmmm. Sobering death number of deaths. Did I miss something? Maybe I did, maybe they hope the combined effect of the (less severe) distancing measures and some herd immunity will produce the peak? Mark I can’t see any logic to this. Vulnerable people are going to die. If I was cynical I might think this also has economic benefits for the health care system on the way to herd immunity. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 Yes. Allow most everyone over 70 to die. Sure to save a lot of money. All that wisdom dies too. That’s throwing out the baby with the bath water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanderingemu Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 (edited) 24 minutes ago, MDM said: I can’t see any logic to this. Vulnerable people are going to die. If I was cynical I might think this also has economic benefits for the health care system on the way to herd immunity.  not only the health care system, pension reserve release would also be a big gain, especially with all the assets way down. (yes i'm a former actuary) Edited March 14, 2020 by meanderingemu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 (edited) "And what's all this about arming bears?"Â Â There was a general at the Pentagon who tried to put together a Special Forces Group of bears. The Fury Fighters they were going to be called. It turned out that, with a little redesigning of firearms, bears were pretty good shots. But in the end they abandoned the idea because the bears would not march in formation. Bears, it seems, just don't get along with other bears unless it's mating season. Edited March 14, 2020 by Ed Rooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 8 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said: "And what's all this about arming bears?"  There was a general at the Pentagon who tried to put together a Special Forces Group of bears. The Fury Fighters they were going to be called. It turned out that, with a little redesigning of firearms, bears were pretty good shots. But in the end they abandoned the idea because the bears would not march in formation. Bears, it seems, just don't get along with other bears unless it's mating season. 😊 Are you pulling our legs, Edo? I’m very gullible. I believe you unless I otherwise find you’re lying through your teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 If you believe that story, Betty, I have an offer of part ownership of an amazing bridge that connects Brooklyn with Manhattan that you might be interested in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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