Topic: Corona Virus Panic/Discussion Thread

@Thrillho @AdamNovice During this time, I actually think we should just post Ric Flair gifs to make everyone smile.

I remember he won or got close to winning the Royal Rumble by hiding under the ring. Amazing.

@themcnoisy

Emerging from quarantine be like;

That’s the Orange Walk been cancelled. I knew some good would come out of this whole mess.

Take care and be safe @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy. You're a star for going back to work; it really highlights just how important teachers are to society, so I hope that you will all be more valued once we return to normality. Do the children have to social distance in the class and on the playground?

@KratosMD Glad you're interview went well and that handshake awkwardness was avoided.

@KratosMD I thought Sweden was pretty strict with the measures, but I've learned they're were actually pretty lax, allowing people to go shopping and whatnot.

I don't know if that means it's being ''contained'', or if they're just a few weeks behind on the curve. I fear it's the latter.

@Octane they are attempting herd immunity. Also Sweden is a proper grown up country with an engrossing socio democratic society with high value placed on its governance, if they are encouraged to socially distance they will. Stockholm is more prepared than you would realise too and are comparably ready.

Unlike the brat states like the UK, Italy, Parts of the USA whom act like kids after first tasting icecream. Sweden is the grandad of maturity.

@themcnoisy You calling Kratos a grandad?

@themcnoisy What's this "herd immunity" people keep talking about?

Eventually enough people will have had the virus and be immune. But it's the rate at which this is done that is crucial. The unfortunate reality is that people will die regardless, the question is whether you want additional people dying on top of it because the hospitals are overworked, and can't give healthcare to the people that would otherwise survive this with professional care.

@Octane That's right Oct, glad you are keeping up.

What you are referring to is flattening the curve. Trying to keep hospital admissions below max capacity.

What I am referring to with herd immunity is the coronavirus exit plan. For starters it's widely acknowledged that South Korea and Germany have the best testing and mitigation so far. However this may not be the best method in 6 months time if it makes a resurgence. Whilst Italy, Iran, Spain, New York and other unprepared areas will be back to normal, Mass immunity numbering tens if not hundreds of millions. Germany and similar proactive areas could be still be in a form of lockdown.

There are other caveats to Germanys play, new meds could be found to be effective, inoculations could be designed etc.

This is an unknown of course and Germanys course could be correct. Short term it definitely is. Long term, well that's anyone's guess.

That's what herd immunity is. 75% of the population getting infected, due to the way virus are transmitted it will have nowhere to go. The most at risk will be sheltered. The country will be back to normal sooner with a much greater risk of death.

love a nice bit of risk of death

@themcnoisy Catching the virus later is always the better option. The are two main reasons for this.

There is evolutionary pressure on viruses to become less lethal. It’s because the longer the host survived the more likely it is to be passed on. Catching it next year and it will be far less likely to kill you even in the absence of treatment.

The more we learn about the virus. The more effective treatment becomes. It is perfectly possible than a couple of months from now we will discover that an existing drug is affective against it and that will dramatically cut the death rate.

@Ryall Right now I agree, no way would you want to catch it now. Viruses can also become more lethal, although I haven't done enough research to say if it's more or less likely so we will run with your better researched conclusion.

Thoughts going to Boris Johnson, love him or loathe him, without BoJo around the government looks weak and I can't see how Brexit could move forward without him in a relatively ordered fashion. Get well soon Boris! I may dislike your agenda but do admire your personality and attempts to diversify the conservative party, get through this.

@themcnoisy Meanwhile I’ve got my fingers crossed. (NB: joking... mostly 😉)

@themcnoisy Time will tell if Sweden's strategy pays off. Herd immunity is probably the long term solution globally as I'm not sure it can be eradicated, but it's got to be staggered so that healthcare systems are not overwhelmed. We've already seen the strain various countries have been under with just a fraction of the population infected.

I absolutely loathe Boris Johnson's politics and what his party has done to this country, however on a personal level do wish him well and hope he gets better soon. He's still a human being and it's extremely scary to be in hospital with an acute, serious illness.

Dominic Raab is quite dangerous to have in charge given his views and he's proven himself inept and uncaring many times. I'm not sure he's up to the challenge of running the country.

@LaJettatura Well, in very very simple terms, BoJo is slightly further left than the Dems in terms of policies but for us, that’s seen as conservative. There’s similarities in their shambolic presentation but strangely in terms of politics, there’s not really that much in common with Trump other than the use of scapegoats to further their own agendas. I guess it’s more that in each of our perspectives, the most conservative senior figure would be Trump or Boris.

I'm not a fan of any of our well known politicians, far too many of them are dishonest, disingenuous and manipulative.

Having said that, Boris is our leader right now during this pandemic and everyone needs to listen to him. Him being ill right now is terrible news for everyone, let's hope for a swift recovery.

D'awww thanks @mookysam! 😁

Thank you too @Ralizah

The children's safety is paramount so we've implemented social distancing as much as we can with tables all spread out, designated seats, pens, books etc...

We're a joint Primary and Junior school but we have seperate playgrounds between the primary and junior sections anyway which is handy to help minimize the risks.

We've also been staggering the mid-morning breaks and lunch breaks between the year groups to minimize it further. The small class sizes have made it pretty easy thankfully to keep an eye on them.

It can get a bit boring for the kids in that they can't really play with each other properly but luckily I'm teaching the year two children (I'm so glad I moved up from reception(Or Kindergarten for our american friend Ralizah)) so they understand the reason why they can't.

I'm keeping safe too of course with all the various things such as hand gels, gloves etc

So yeah... Just a little glimpse into my day yesterday & today.

Hope you two and everyone else here is ok too!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Good luck! My wife is an ex Nursery/Reception teacher but works in a charity pre-school and has narrowly missed going back into work as they dont have enough key workers sending kids in.

My work is pretty horrid as we work on furloughing people amid all the uncertainty. Heart goes out to anyone also affected.

The whole thing seems like a lottery. Chances are you won't win (and be that bad) but if your name comes up and you need hospital treatment, things just get worse. Scary times.

My wife has been suffering from some of the symptoms over the last couple of days. She's feeling pretty rough today, and I've been noticing I'm a little short of breath at times although I feel all right generally. It might just be the stress of looking after the kids, although they're keeping me going at the moment to be fair! My hands are now constantly bleeding due to how much I'm washing them. I look like I've been in a street fight.

@RogerRoger Cheers. We're fine, it's just a tricky balancing act trying to run a household with one of you out of action, while also trying to keep the kids from getting scared, or even ill themselves (although thankfully there has been no sign of that so far).

I'm not worried at the moment. We're in our mid-thirties and we're fairly healthy, we're not fitness freaks or anything but we're not overweight either. Mind you, I might be by the time this is all over!