Coronavirus

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So David  are you complaining about being locked in your workshop

Edited By XD 351 on 13/03/2020 08:16:27

Edited By XD 351 on 13/03/2020 08:25:11

Yes indeed. As I said, I am pretty sure the health concerns will come to the fore in time. (Probably a short time too.)

Two interesting news items today. The bad news: Flight Centre, a national chain of travel agents has closed 100 shops Australia-wide until the whole Coronavirus thing is over.

The good news, a Canadian biotech firm reckons they have the cure, will have it ready to go by November -- but can only make 10 million doses a month. So that will be 30 months to innoculate North America. Hopefully others will be able to manufacture it under license? VACCINE LINK

It's only a media report at the moment but it does offer perhaps a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. The Aussie stock market seemed to think so, going from 8 per cent down to 4 per cent up in the three hours following the announcement. Phenomenal and a new record for a one-day swing.

Interesting times indeed.

Yesterday, I went into Manchester on the ‘bus, and chose to sit in the very front seat “away from all that shared air”

On the return journey, I suddenly realised that the litter in the footwell comprised a discarded tissue and face-mask

... Sometimes you just can’t win.

MichaelG.

My soon to be 96 year old mother is in a care home, so my brother and sister and I and our families were organising a visit for mothers day and her birthday the following Sunday, I've just had a call from the home effectively saying they are in lockdown and all gatherings have been cancelled for the forseeable future, well understood by us of course but because mum suffers from vascular dementia and is not sure of time and events it wont be much for her to worry about,

Martin P

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You're welcome. Yes I thought it brightened things up at least a bit. Modern science will win through in the end despite what the climate deniers say about it.

Rather amazing the techniques they are using if you read the article all way through. Instead of growing the vaccine cultures in eggs the traditional way, they grow it in soil bacteria which is then taken up through the roots of plants and the vaccine extracted from the plants. Who'da thunk it?

Science. It's the way of the future. And we have every reason to be confident in it.

PS @ MG: Ewww. Some people are beyond even modern science.

@ Martin P: Yes, I've been through the dementia thing. Sometimes it's tougher for us than for them. Sometimes a phone call is almost as good as a visit, if she can manage it. They are doing the same here at nursing homes etc too. All for the best in the long run.

Edited By Hopper on 13/03/2020 10:27:36

Edited By Hopper on 13/03/2020 10:30:33

I wonder if any labs are researching the survival time of the virus on oil covered hands. Does the oil kill it or provide a feeding ground? Does machinists barrier cream work as a defence?

Just tried to order food delivery from Tesco and the first available date is next Wednesday at the moment. I suppose I will have to go shopping as the beer will run out well before then and what about Sunday lunch. The wife is coughing quite a lot and I was using that as an excuse to isolate in the shed. At least I got the parts for latest project masked up for painting.

David

Viruses don't feed - they use cellular contents to multiply their own template so it comes down to whether the oil will denature viral protein, or dissolve its outer shells or have some direct chemical effect. Of course you might just manage to modify the virus chemically that way - for better or worse....
The most likely effect will be sticking virus to your hands (and or face if you're a mucky engineer) all ready to be flushed down the sink.

A nice UV light should work

One of the worst things invented are hand driers - blowing a spray of poorly rinsed hand muck aerosl around public loos. Dysan airblade is one of the worst - just look at the floor underneath them - covered in splashes and spot At least with paper towel the bad washers are wiping some muck off.

Two weeks ago we had a rally held in Perpignan with over 100,000 Catalan separatists coming from Spain. Now there are cases of COVID-19 in Perpignan. What were these people thinking?

Now we have all schools and Universities closed throughout France so will those kids go to stay with their grandparents while Mum goes to work. Us over seventies are advised to stay at home and in our village (10km from Perpignan) all community activities and sports are forbidden.

Just for once I think Boris might have it right!

Russell

Just been having a discussion about whether to keep our Men's Shed open. Its main aim is to provide social interaction and that has been highlighted by several news reports as a negative effect of hasty shutting down of so many facilities in other countries. No advice from the Men's Shed Association which is disappointing. Nothing either from the various council bodies that refer people to us.

Many clubs rely on public running for an income. which could be a problem for them. For us our club nights relies on a good turn out to pay for the hall fees. Might end up cancelling meetings but not sure if we still have to pay for the hall. Hopefully it will be over before the St Albans ME club show at the end of September which is vital for our club finances but is another risk for us not covering the venue fees.

Just had an email from one of the Shed's suppliers of timber etc saying how they are keeping up their supply chain. However Costco who see fit to spam me daily have not mentioned anything about their loo roll supplies while offering me a coffee machine and steam iron.

Edited By Bazyle on 13/03/2020 17:52:48

I am chair of a Village Hall management committee and where organisations have to cancel their bookings we adopt a policy of not charging the hire fees if there are circumstances such as snow, illness, circumstances such as the Coronavirus situation or other unavoidable happenings. One would hope that your venue would adopt a similarly sympathetic approach.
Dave W

It has been a very stressful week and making sure all my patients are safe and well looked after with weekend plans. We have been constantly updated with up to date guidelines and flow plans in preparation for this situation. Not to be negative but my chances of exposure is very high and its a matter of time for me. I will accept this and continue to look after my elderly patients until I can't. Hoping that our NHS can cope with this. Best way to minimise chances of getting this is to avoid going out in public unless it is important. Hand washing and properly scrubbing all your fingers and applying alcohol gel if you have it. Be safe everyone.

Raphael

Take care, Raphael, and thanks!

Nice one Raphael. You brought a tear to my eyes. You take care.

Steve.

Good advice, thanks Dr Raphael, re not going out unless important / hand washing. Take care of yourself and best of luck.

I think keeping calm is important to beat or at least fight this pandemic too. High stress and panic about things out of our control is not good for anyone.

Edited By Jeff Dayman on 13/03/2020 23:20:05

... or the CBC report which says it will take a year. Take your pick!

Concerning news from the Western ( Australian ) Front. There have been adequate supplies of toilet paper in the local supermarket for the last two days running.

Obviously this is very concerning for the desperately needed toilet paper-led economic recovery. Our only hope now is for a flow-on effect from the increased sales of baked beans.

Fortunately we live in an effluent society but I am uncertain how others will fare. Perhaps the government could issue senna pods on a daily basis to those bunged up with surplus rolls.

Hopper is right to be concerned about the economic effects. These are likely to last for up to a decade ( or more ) and the associated indirect death toll could well exceed that of the virus by an order of magnitude. The worst affected will be those in third world countries where on income equals on food and there is no social services back-up.

Obviously it is up to us to keep on shopping so don't delay on the new mill Hopper!

Keep healthy everyone and do follow the medical advice. This is not the time for silly bravado.

Cheers

Pero

They've moved on from bogroll where I stay

The latest hoarding fetish is pasta and tinned tomatoes

Only a year to go... sigh

Can they bring back non-stop Brexit news please