Coronavirus - worldwide breaking news, discussion, stats, updates and more

[cupid_stunt]

I've spoken to 2 people that work at Worthing Hospital, they are not concerned, this was a locum doctor that has only done 2 shifts in A&E at the hospital, on the 4th & 5th Feb.

What they are pissed off about is the media circus that has set-up on the pavement outside the grounds, having been refused permission to come onto the site - BBC, Sky & ITV news are all there, together with some newspaper reporters too, and that's spreading fear amongst some patients & staff.

 

[elbows]

Yes, I tagged “severe” onto Coronavirus, because it's widely reported that in China mild cases are not being tested, and are turned-away to self isolate,

That wa certainly the impression earlier on, I'm not sure what the current reality there is, there are mixed indications.

For example there has been confusion in recent days about whether China changed the way they record numbers, to exclude cases that tested positive but show no symptoms. When it came up in a recent WHO press conference, they actually said sort of the opposite, that China has now broadened its case definition to include the sort of mild cases that would previously have been excluded. But where in the statistics those cases are listed is still not very clear to me. I mention it now only because there are mild and asymptomatic cases being picked up in China these days, though that does not answer the question of how many of those are still being missed.

Anyway the case bit of case fatality rate certainly makes a difference, due to varying definitions of case. In widespread outbreaks cases are always likely to be just a subset of actual people infected, and so there are other things like IFR that try to work off a broader picture. Infection fatality rate, ratio or risk (yay another level of confusion, 3 different sorts of R for this acronym!). Point being, an estimate of overall number of infections is used, rather than clinical cases.

 

[quimcunx]

It's very standard in schools now...

Biometrics in schools - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

View attachment 198262

Get them used to it young.

 

[two sheds]

I've spoken to 2 people that work at Worthing Hospital, they are not concerned, this was a locum doctor that has only done 2 shifts in A&E at the hospital, on the 4th & 5th Feb.

What they are pissed off about is the media circus that has set-up on the pavement outside the grounds, having been refused permission to come onto the site - BBC, Sky & ITV news are all there, together with some newspaper reporters too, and that's spreading fear amongst some patients & staff.

Go and breathe over them that'll shift em

 

[Yossarian]

According to this report, there's a big disconnect between the death figures China is releasing and the true number of deaths - people are dying at home and being cremated without ever being diagnosed.

The doctor told the family: “It’s the pneumonia that everybody around the country knows about.”

Local doctors have heard of many such cases and many Wuhan residents have complained that family members cannot get a proper diagnosis because frontline hospitals are overwhelmed in the face of high patient numbers and a shortage of supplies and testing kits.

Wei Peng, a community hospital doctor in the city, said that medical staff were not allowed to list coronavirus as a cause of death when cases had not been confirmed and said that later instructions had even banned them from listing pneumonia. Instead they can only write the immediate cause of a patient’s death, such as diabetes or organ failure.

The pneumonia ‘everybody knows’ but won’t show up in official death tolls

Wuhan’s overburdened health workers are unable to confirm many of those who died were suffering from Covid-19, which means they will not show up in official figures.

www.scmp.com

 

[weltweit]

I heard someone like Grant Shapps on the news today saying that the NHS is well prepared for this virus. I don't know about other people but I somewhat doubt the NHS has enough spare specialist isolation type beds should the virus properly take hold in the UK.

 

[weltweit]

According to this report, there's a big disconnect between the death figures China is releasing and the true number of deaths - people are dying at home and being cremated without ever being diagnosed.
..

Yes, my feelings also, I doubt we are seeing the truth being reported from China.

 

[elbows]

I heard someone like Grant Shapps on the news today saying that the NHS is well prepared for this virus. I don't know about other people but I somewhat doubt the NHS has enough spare specialist isolation type beds should the virus properly take hold in the UK.

If it properly takes hold then they wont be attempting the same degree of isolation anyway.

In terms of preparedness, most health services struggle to cope with 'bad influenza seasons', go beyond a certain number of people seeking care and things tend to break down. No matter how well prepared we are or not in other areas, this fact always lurks in the background. It would apply with this coronavirus too, though we will only get to see a demonstration of this if the infection rate reaches a certain level.

I struggle to call underfunded services well prepared for anything, and I wont make an exception in this case. People within the service will do the best they can, under circumstances made more difficult by the politicians. Politicians who now have to deliver messages of reassurance.

 

[Supine]

So a Chinese pharma company called Biogene have just announced they have successfully copied remdesivir which is currently the lead candidate for treatment.

As the drug is patented by Giliad I'm not sure if they're planning to offer extra manufacturing capacity to Giliad or if they plan to break IP and sell it on their own. Alongside a patent attack by another Chinese company Giliad seem to have their hands full at the moment.

All this and first trial results for remdesivir aren't even expected until April.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I work in the kitchen at a school in Brighton.
We have, today, been given hand sanitiser to use (on top of the normal handwashing) but that seems a bit lame when we have a cashless system, using fingerprints, for the kids (and in addition to that, they quite often don't work unless the kids blow on their finger first*).

I have mentioned this several times today, not in any mental, panic-stricken way, just quietly a bit... erm HELLO! but it seems to have been largely ignored/played down (in favour of not panicking, I guess).
My manager told me she had suggested they santize the kids hands at the tills but that there was no way of ensuring that was done but the SLT member I spoke to was very upbeat/dismissive about the whole thing - that we should just be taking guidance from PHE, comparisons to flu/some stuff about people with weakened immune systems, which is not what seems to follow, neccesarily, going on the info from this thread - and I get that they don't want to scare anyone, particularly kids, but I'm also a bit wtf about it all, too.



*I quite often SUGGEST they do that although obvs not right now!

Realistically a school is always going to be a germ paradise fingerprint pad or no. Door handles spring to mind. I work in various different schools and ultimately the only thing for it is try not to think about it and wash your hands every time you have access to running water.

If it's a primary school, well it never ceases to amaze me how efficient young kids are at distributing snot around the place. Maybe it's an evolutionary thing, to infect and kill off us old weak ones so there's more resources for them.

 

[donkyboy]

I woke up past 3 am on monday morning shivering and sweating flue like symptoms. I thought oh shit could it be the dreaded C word. But told myself, calm down. dont be a melodramatic donkey. No reported cases in Vauxhall. Anyway, it was a one off and I'm fine now.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I heard someone like Grant Shapps on the news today saying that the NHS is well prepared for this virus. I don't know about other people but I somewhat doubt the NHS has enough spare specialist isolation type beds should the virus properly take hold in the UK.

It must be a different country I'm thinking of, where they were doing shit like withholding funding from hospitals that refused to sell off chunks of their estates. Could've sworn it was here though.

 

[Indeliblelink]

Coronavirus: Ninth case found in UK

A woman who flew into London from China is being treated at a hospital in central London.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[cupid_stunt]

Coronavirus: Ninth case found in UK

A woman who flew into London from China is being treated at a hospital in central London.

www.bbc.co.uk

But, on the positive side...

Meanwhile, all 83 people being held in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral have been told their final set of test results for the coronavirus have come back negative, confirming they are free of the virus.

It is expected they will leave the accommodation on Thursday morning, having spent two weeks there in quarantine.

Earlier, British man Steve Walsh, one of the nine UK cases of coronavirus, left hospital having fully recovered.

... and, so far, there hasn't been a single case of confirmed person-to-person infection in UK.

 

[weltweit]

..
... and, so far, there hasn't been a single case of confirmed person-to-person infection in UK.

I thought that became obsolete with a doctor that tested positive today?

Two of them are known to be GPs.

Officials know the pair worked at a nursing home, Worthing Hospital A&E and two GP practices between them.

Public Health England confirmed on Wednesday it has traced and advised all close contacts of the two GPs, including about 12 patients.

Coronavirus: Ninth case found in UK

A woman who flew into London from China is being treated at a hospital in central London.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Supine]

Fake news has started in the UK

 

[Callie]

There are circulating strains of yer bog standard Coronavirus too regardless (think common cold!) So the story might on some level be true.

 

[SpookyFrank]

There don't seem to be any cases in the UK that cannot be traced directly back to someone arriving from SE Asia, which is good. Still feels like a matter of when rather than if though. Of course if 'when' can be held off until the slightly warmer months that could make a lot of difference.

 

[Shechemite]

Are we all going to die or not?

 

[cupid_stunt]

I thought that became obsolete with a doctor that tested positive today?

No doctor has tested positive today, 4 new cases were reported on Monday, last night one of those were confirmed to have worked at Worthing hospital for a couple of days after returning from France.

Those 4 plus 1 other were all traced back to this so-called 'super-spreader', who infected them & 6 others whilst in France.

Basically 6 out of the 8 UK cases up to this morning are all connected to this one bloke, and all had been at the ski chalet in France.

 

[Callie]

Are we all going to die or not?

100% yes

 

[Shechemite]

One less thing to worry about then

 

[cupid_stunt]

I am in Worthing, part of the Great Brighton area, where 6 out of the 9 UK cases have been confirmed, all infected outside of the UK, one of which worked a couple of days last week in A&E at Worthing Hospital, so you could say at the 'epicentre' of UK cases.

I have family & friends that work at the hospital, I've spoken to dozens of people locally today, inc. staff from the hospital & at a meeting of 30 plus people this morning, not a single one has expressed any concerns.

Well, except mother who has dementia & has got paranoid over the TV news coverage & them being camped outside the hospital, because of her forthcoming hospital appointment, until I pointed out that appointment isn't at Worthing hospital, but over at St Richards in Chichester.

I can forgive her for her paranoia, because of her condition, the paranoia I see online just beggars belief TBH.

 

[elbows]

There don't seem to be any cases in the UK that cannot be traced directly back to someone arriving from SE Asia, which is good.

That may be in part because we arent looking for any cases that dont have such links, so we wont find any. That will only change by accident, ie stumbling into such a case, or because they change the criteria for suspecting Corvid-19.

 

[SpookyFrank]

That may be in part because we arent looking for any cases that dont have such links, so we wont find any. That will only change by accident, ie stumbling into such a case, or because they change the criteria for suspecting Corvid-19.

They do seem to be saying don't phone 111 unless you or someone you've had contact with has recently arrived from China, Korea etc. Which is a good way not to spot the third- or fourth-hand cases, if there are any.

 

[elbows]

They do seem to be saying don't phone 111 unless you or someone you've had contact with has recently arrived from China, Korea etc. Which is a good way not to spot the third- or fourth-hand cases, if there are any.

Exactly, and this is a known weakness. Given the time of year and the similarity of symptoms with umpteen other things, they would have been swamped if they entirely removed the geographical constraint, so it is tricky. Ideally broader surveillance would still be undertaken, which would somewhat help diminish the effects of the blind spot, eg random testing of samples aquired via the existing surveillance systems, testing of pneumonia cases in general, etc. But this sort of thing wouldnt be designed to detect most cases in a very timely fashion, just to give you an indication of whether any general community spread is happening.

I see that a few of the USA's CDC comments today were along the same lines as what was said in Singapore some days ago, sort of preparing people for the possible next phase.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it is preparing for the new coronavirus, which has killed at least 1,115 and sickened more than 45,000 worldwide, to “take a foothold in the U.S.”

“At some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S. or in other countries,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on a conference call. “This will trigger a change in our response strategy.”

Top CDC official says US should prepare for coronavirus 'to take a foothold'

"At some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S. or in other countries," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Yossarian]

Is it paranoia? I'd say it's probably quite sensible at this point for people in the groups most at risk to consider postponing any hospital appointments that aren't urgent.

 

[Tankus]

“With due regard to the safe and healthy environment in Barcelona and the host country today, the GSMA has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances, make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event.""

The world’s biggest phone show has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns

MWC is no longer taking place due to health concerns over the coronavirus spread.

www.theverge.com

The GSMA is an industry trade body that represents more than 1,200 companies across the mobile ecosystem, and MWC is the chance for thousands to gather for partnerships, deals, and product launches. MWC is usually held annually in Barcelona, and it has a big economic impact of 492 million euros, and also generates 14,100 part-time jobs.

Thats a biggie

 

[two sheds]

AVANI RIVERSIDE BANGKOK HOTEL, THAILAND
Tue 1st - Thu 3rd December 2020


well quite:

Due to the recent Coronavirus outbreak in China,
the Steering Committee of the 6th AsiaBrake Conference and Exhibition
would like to announce the postponement of the conference
from the 16th – 18th February
to Tue 1st December – Thu 3rd December 2020,
at Avani Riverside Bangkok Hotel.

 

[elbows]

Its not as simple as paranoia, its a well known feature that pops up all the time in these situations, for reasons good and bad. Its a big part of the thinking behind public health messages & responses to situations, even though mistakes are made all the time in these areas.

If I were designing a society, I would try to give people lots of things that they can do personally in these sorts of situations. Because it is good for mental health and stress to be placed in a position where you feel like you have some control over your fate. There is much in life we cannot control, but thats no excuse for officialdom to hoover up the last dregs of self-empowerment.

On that note, if I found myself with undirected mental energy bursting forth in unpleasant ways as a result of this outbreak, I would try to direct it somewhere vaguely useful. To start with it doesnt even need to involve any action, it can involve observations about our own behaviour that normally passes unnoticed. Perhaps I could try to calmly take note of all the time I touch different parts of my face with my hands. Perhaps I could start to think about situations where that could be problematic for infection, and this awareness could be used to modify my own behaviour in these situations. But obviously anything positive in either the practical or mental health sense could be undone if I became unduly fixated and obsessed with these themes, so likely this sort of thinking is not for everyone and needs to be approached with a particular positive mentality.