The COVID-2019 Thread

[harrybarracuda]

If Africa was shit at fighting pandemics, we'd all have Ebola by now. America will be more fuct.

Ebola isn't as efficient as spreading as it tends to kill the infected quite quickly.

Plus it's only a relatively small number of countries that were involved.

And the virus tended to start in remote areas, making containment a whole lot easier.

I think this will be different.

Although those remote areas might actually be unaffected.

One thing to consider is that a lot of research has suggested that Ebola originated in fruit bats.

I said earlier, imagine if Ebola and Covid-19 got married and had children....

[harrybarracuda]

Heather Scott, Idaho representative, is my hero today because she is proof that Natural Selection is alive and well. She states the stay home orders are unconstitutional in that Americans have the right to assemble. Yep, assemble. So... We will see how all this works out after all is said and done, and after the smoke has cleared from the crematoriums. Some people just don't have even the basic smarts to see danger. Geeez, my fellow Americans . . .

And don't forget the geographical wizard of Alabama that said "We don't need to lock down because we're not New York"....

[OhOh]

More than 52,800 people worldwide have now died from COVID-19

Has South Korea published it's methodology?

As they and China appear to have achieved zero growth.

[harrybarracuda]

I bet when the Ecuadorian leadership were getting their 'gifts' from the chinkies they never expected this one.

Bodies pile up on streets in Ecuador as coronavirus spreads

Bodies pile up on streets in Ecuador as coronavirus spreads - CBS News

Bodies pile up on streets in Ecuador as coronavirus spreads

[Dillinger]

Thailands rapid drop down the table


USA's rapid rise up the table

[Warwick]

Bodies pile up on streets in Ecuador as coronavirus spreads

Jeez! There ought to be a prize for the most shock factor, inducing headlines. Don't bother to read the article just share the headline and go back to hiding under the bed.


The article shows a picture of one - count 'em, one - corpse that has been put out on the street. Not necessarily because that person died from Covid-19 but because the measures the government have taken to hopefully reduce the spread of the virus, have so disrupted normal life that it is now difficult to get a body collected in the normal way.


Here's another headline to terrify you - EVERYONE WHO READS THIS IS GOING TO DIE - at least once.

[Troy]

I note that the reported deaths in the UK are only those who die in hospitals. Care homes, in particular, are not included. Bearing in mind a high percentage of reported deaths in Spain and Italy are from care homes, I wonder what the true figure is.

The French have just updated their figures to include care homes. That's why the figure jumped 1384 in one day.

[Latindancer]

'Oldest coronavirus survivor' celebrates his 104th birthday.

A veteran from WWII has celebrated recovering from coronavirus and his 104th birthday, making him possibly the oldest person to recover from the deadly virus.

'''Oldest coronavirus survivor''' celebrates his 104th birthday

[PlanK]

^
So there's hope yet for some TD members!

[misskit]

China scrambles to plug border gaps as thousands flood home

BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Regions along China’s porous borders with southeast Asia are working hard to improve surveillance and curb illegal immigration, authorities said, as thousands flood into a country seen as a safe haven in the global war against the coronavirus pandemic.


As the number of confirmed cases across the globe exceeds one million, China says its lockdowns of Wuhan and the province of Hubei, where the disease originated late last year, have brought domestic sources of transmission under control. Authorities have now turned their attention to potential infections from overseas.


But while they have imposed tough new quarantine measures on all passengers flying into China’s airports, they are struggling to handle an influx of people crossing the poorly policed frontiers of Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.


Premier Li Keqiang’s special government taskforce handling the COVID-19 outbreak decided on Thursday to strengthen border controls and impose centralised quarantine on travellers who enter the country via highways.


“China’s southwest land border with South East Asian countries is too long and porous to be enforced properly,” said Zhang Mingliang, professor of South East Asia studies at Guangzhou Jinan University.


These borders have often proved vulnerable to drug smugglers and human traffickers, and now local governments are facing the additional challenge of having to cope with thousands of people fleeing the coronavirus.


“Before the outbreak, Vietnamese people have scaled barbed wire fences to cross into Guangxi for work,” Zhang added, adding that it wouldn’t be a surprise if more people were now entering the country, either because of the virus or for other purposes.


Last month, 13 foreign citizens were reported to have illegally entered the city of Baise in the region of Guangxi, which shares a border with Vietnam. They were immediately repatriated, and authorities have now set up volunteer checkpoints to try to stop further illegal entry.




NO SIGNS OF STRICTER CHECKS


Although China has promised tougher controls, residents on the Myanmar side of the border said workers and businessmen continue to make routine journeys into the neighbouring Chinese province of Yunnan.


“People cross to China every day,” a resident of Namkham township, in Myanmar’s northern Shan state, separated from China by the narrow Shweli river, told Reuters. “Almost all of them are Myanmar nationals who are manual labourers on banana plantations, maize plantations and other plantations.”


A Reuters reporter saw no signs of tight surveillance on either side of the river at two crossing points.


However, many people now entering China are Chinese nationals doing so legally, with tougher border and airport controls spooking thousands of Chinese farmers, traders and construction workers into returning home.


Local authorities have promised to strictly apply quarantine rules on those who enter.


Yunnan province, which shares a rugged and sometimes lawless 4,000-km border with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, has become the “front line” of efforts to prevent infections entering the country from overseas, senior provincial officials said at a meeting on March 31.


In Mengla, a county in Yunnan on the border with Myanmar, traffic flows have surged since March 28 as people return to China by road following the cancellation of flights as well as toughened airport controls, residents said.


Authorities have commandeered 46 hotels to quarantine incoming travellers, with as many as 3,589 incoming travellers isolated in the county by March 28.


Xishuangbanna prefecture, which runs Mengla and forms a large part of China’s border with Myanmar, has also set up a special task force to build a “defensive line” preventing illegal border entry, especially for citizens from Myanmar and Laos, it said in a notice on Thursday.


“To be honest we were not that panicked during the domestic outbreak given our remote location,” said a Xishuangbanna resident. “But now we are frightened as we suddenly stand on the front line of the battlefield.”

China scrambles to plug border gaps as thousands flood home - Reuters

[misskit]

Indonesia Records Second Highest COVID-19 Death Toll in Asia

Indonesia, with 170 fatalities, surpassed South Korea on Thursday as the Asian country with the second highest death toll from COVID-19 as Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said his government would not prevent people from traveling to their hometowns to celebrate Eid al-Fitr amid the pandemic.

MORE Indonesia Records Second Highest COVID-19 Death Toll in Asia

[misskit]

U.S. expected to recommend masks for Americans in coronavirus hot spots

[misskit]

I despair. The idiots that run this country.


Governor DeSantis includes '''attending religious services conducted in churches''' as essential services

[Iceman123]

Has the government overreacted to the Coronavirus Crisis? | Toby Young | The Critic Magazine

Have a read

[jabir]

China scrambles to plug border gaps as thousands flood home

Must feel for anyone that tries to break into China!

[harrybarracuda]

Can't help but think the seppos are going to eclipse them.

Italy, Spain and France pass 30,000 combined deaths, about 56% of the world’s total COVID-19 fatalities

Coronavirus: Italy, Spain and France pass 30,000 combined deaths - Baltimore Sun

[Dillinger]

Have a read

I hope the kunt snuffs it together with his parents and grandparents, the money grubbing fuck

Some people reading this will think, “I bet he changes his tune if he gets the virus.” In fact, I’ve got the virus. I became symptomatic seven days ago, have been bedridden ever since and am now anxiously waiting to see if the disease spreads to my lungs. I’m 56 with no underlying health conditions, so my odds are good. But if the Government follows my advice, and it turns out that by the time I require urgent care the NHS cannot accommodate me, I won’t regret writing this. Yes, I probably have at least 20 years of healthy living ahead of me, so my life is worth more than £500,000, but I’ll be the exception. In the unlikely event of the NHS being overwhelmed, the majority of people whose lives could have been saved only have one or two years left and those will not be good years. It isn’t worth spending £185 billion to save them, nor is it worth a 15% drop in GDP which will result in a greater loss of life. My death would be acceptable collateral damage.

[harrybarracuda]

Must feel for anyone that tries to break into China!

No objection to them going home as long as they stay there.

[NamPikToot]

Interesting graphic on the Nightingale hospitals in the UK, except they aren't called that by the SNP. I fear more may be needed.

[Troy]

^ Smarty points for whoever dreamt this up. Far better to utilise available assets than building new sites.

Do they have the staff and equipment to man them?

[harrybarracuda]

The US has gone past a quarter of a million infections.

[OhOh]

We love you NHS’: UK health service gears up for virus peak





FILE - In this Tuesday, March 31, 2020 file photo work continues at the ExCel centre which is being made into a temporary hospital called NHS Nightingale in London. In the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, soldiers are delivering millions of face masks to hospitals and helping to build makeshift medical facilities, including one at London's ExCel convention center that can treat as many as 4,000 patients. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP, File)

LONDON (AP) — Dr. Nishant Joshi is on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic — and he’s angry.
The emergency medicine specialist says he risks his life every time he walks into a British hospital because doctors and nurses haven’t been equipped with the personal protection equipment they need to prevent them from being infected with COVID-19.

But he’s not just a doctor: he’s a 31-year-old husband expecting his first child.

“Some of my colleagues have been taking out life insurance in the last few weeks,” Joshi told The Associated Press.

“The government has to take square responsibility for this, because you should never be putting your health care workers in a situation where we are scared for our lives.” Britain’s National Health Service, the cornerstone of the nation’s post-war welfare state, will be stretched to the breaking point in the coming weeks as hospitals treat an expected tsunami of critically ill patients when the pandemic reaches its peak across the United Kingdom.

Created in 1948, the NHS is a revered institution that promises free medical care to everyone in the U.K.

Yet with years of austerity cuts and rising demand already straining resources, the health service is facing the biggest test in its 72-year history. After delays that have been sharply criticized, the Conservative government is racing to ensure that hospitals and clinics across the country have the staffing and equipment they need to cope with the coronavirus onslaught.

Authorities have urged retired doctors and nurses to return to work — and some 20,000 have complied. Routine surgeries are being canceled so resources can be focused on COVID-19. The government is building several makeshift hospitals as it scrambles to find thousands of additional ventilators and build up stocks of masks, gloves and other protective equipment.

But Britain, like other countries around the world, is relying on one non-medical tactic to stretch NHS resources: emergency rules that require most people to stay indoors except to buy groceries, exercise or work in essential industries. Public health officials hope this social distancing will slow the rate of infections, delaying the flood of cases so the peak of the wave is lower and hits after the flu season. Some 750,000 volunteers have stepped forward to help bring food and medicine to people who cannot leave their homes.

Even so, the mood in Britain is somber.

“It’s important for me to level with you — we know things will get worse before they get better,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a letter sent to 30 million households. “But we are making the right preparations, and the more we all follow the rules, the fewer lives will be lost and the sooner life can return to normal.’’

In the meantime, the British military has mobilized. Soldiers are delivering millions of face masks to hospitals and helping to build makeshift medical facilities, including one at London’s massive ExCel convention center that can treat as many as 4,000 patients.

Ventilators are an especially pressing need because COVID-19 can cause severe damage to the lungs in the most serious cases. Industries in Britain are scrambling to build the lung machines.

NHS Professionals, which provides a pool of medical staff who can be deployed wherever there is a need, is working overtime to get skilled healthcare workers to the right places.

This includes registering retired doctors and nurses so they can return to work and helping them get training, said Juliette Cosgrove, the former chief nurse of the job bank, who is now herself working at a front-line hospital.

“We’re asking people to step into situations which they’ve never stepped into before,” she said.

The additional resources are helping the NHS plug gaps in a system that struggles to meet the demand every winter flu season.

In November, all of England’s 118 major accident and emergency units failed to meet a government target that 95% of patients be seen within four hours and recorded its worst performance since the metric was introduced in 2004. The NHS also missed its targets for starting treatment of cancer patients and for waiting times for non-emergency procedures.

The editor of a respected British medical journal has put the blame on the Conservative government, accusing it in a scathing editorial of doing too little, too late, to expand virus testing capacity, distribute protective gear and set up training programs for protecting NHS staff.

“Patients will die unnecessarily. NHS staff will die unnecessarily,” Dr. Richard Horton wrote in a commentary on the The Lancet website. “It is, indeed, as one health worker wrote last week, `a national scandal.′ The gravity of that scandal has yet to be understood.’’

That has left doctors and nurses on the front lines shaken as they look at the devastation already taking place among medical workers in Italy, Spain and France. Over 60 doctors have died in the last few months in Italy alone.

“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I wouldn’t be sure of a surgical mask in this country,” Joshi said. “I never thought in my wildest dreams that we would be feeling consistently unsafe as doctors.”

“In Italy, they said we didn’t take care of our doctors first — now they’re dropping like flies. Just do what you can to protect your health-care staff because we are no good when we’re lying on the bed next to our patients.”

Ordinary Britons somehow grasp what their beloved NHS staff is facing.

In what is becoming a weekly ritual, hundreds of thousands of people open their front doors and windows at night, clapping hands, banging pots and cheering for the medical workers battling the virus. Children have been drawing “Thank You NHS” cards.

Doctors like Joshi appreciate the applause and the volunteers who show up with cake, pizzas and other acts of kindness. But that doesn’t ease his worries.

https://apnews.com/1dd79f76eb8d7ea7166d9485c8eb2b48

[pickel]

Ebola isn't as efficient as spreading as it tends to kill the infected quite quickly.

Plus it's only a relatively small number of countries that were involved.

And the virus tended to start in remote areas, making containment a whole lot easier.

I think this will be different.

Although those remote areas might actually be unaffected.

One thing to consider is that a lot of research has suggested that Ebola originated in fruit bats.

I said earlier, imagine if Ebola and Covid-19 got married and had children....

I understand they are different diseases. My point was more about how Africa has dedicated professionals with experience fighting contagious diseases. America used to, until Trump cut their funding. America is fuct.

[NamPikToot]

Do they have the staff and equipment to man them?

The Army and other services Med staff are all on standby and are training in advance, i also assume the drafted ex NHS staff will be billeted as required.

[Chittychangchang]

Also 600k volunteers..