SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

F-Red

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Best case scenario:
Wuhan has been in lockdown for 2 months? If European countries will follow the same route (many did), the trajectory of a potential (emphasis on potential) lift would be somewhere around the end of May or beginning of June?

I guess that would be a case by case situation, considering the amount of cases in each country, the growth, the peak and eventually the decline.
My gut feel says mid-June is where we’ll see restrictions lifted in the UK if Wuhan is anything to go by. I think ours will take longer to control mainly because we’re still quite relaxed in who is staying in at home & who isn’t, where as Wuhan was pretty swift in shutting down.
 

P-Nut

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Can anyone in the UK describe to me the message they got if they are one of the high-risk people advised to completely isolate for 12 weeks?

My mum got two phone calls this morning and then a text on her mobile from the NHS. It didn't give any specific instructions so we're not sure if she is at-risk or not. Was there just a general mass text sent out today?
PM'd you the text I received
 

F-Red

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I've been trying to get clarification from my boss but he's clueless and I don't think he's actually asking for me.

Ordinarily I only qualify for SSP if I'm off work. However I'm classed as key worker and have to come and look after children who have been sent to school. As far as I'm concerned I'm at a much higher risk of contracting the virus as I'm working 5 days a weeks with care home children who will have contact with various other people out of school. With the government stating they'll pay 80% of wages does this include workers forced into SSP due to illness?

I'll be in a real catch 22 if I get ill. While I would stay off and take the hit financially I know some colleagues who would likely come to work as they cannot afford to live on SSP.
The 80% of wages is when the company puts you into a furlough status, essentially non-duty status (extended holiday) and then the company can claim back the grant from the government. If you’re working throughout this period then they cannot claim this. If you fall sick in this period then you’ll fall into standard SSP process or whatever your contractual status says about sick pay.

It’s worth checking with Citizen’s Advice at this time to ensure you’re clear on what happens in your scenario. The furlough status is simply there to stop companies putting people into redundancy.
 

Jippy

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Colour me sceptical, but I severely doubt the average cabbie is performing a full disinfection of the cabin between customer visits. He could. But who does that?

Also the cabbie is taking cash in hand from most passengers. Being passed notes and coins another person handled.

Might be safer than the tube, but it ain't safe.
Cabbie's take cards these cards ffs! Agree they're unlikely to do a full cleaning of it, but if the passenger wears gloves and a mask, it should surely be low risk.
 

F-Red

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Cabbie's take cards these cards ffs! Agree they're unlikely to do a full cleaning of it, but if the passenger wears gloves and a mask, it should surely be low risk.
It’s not low risk, anything but low risk. Unless taxi’s are deep cleaning then it’s a non-starter as far as I’m concerned, the risk is too high.
 

Penna

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Can anyone in the UK describe to me the message they got if they are one of the high-risk people advised to completely isolate for 12 weeks?

My mum got two phone calls this morning and then a text on her mobile from the NHS. It didn't give any specific instructions so we're not sure if she is at-risk or not. Was there just a general mass text sent out today?
My friend's niece in the UK got a letter yesterday telling her to stay in for 12 weeks. I'd say give her GP a ring and see what the system is where your mum is.
 

Renegade

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Just got a call from my work saying the Government have told them select employee’s can still go into retail store’s to fulfil online orders etc.
 
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b82REZ

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The 80% of wages is when the company puts you into a furlough status, essentially non-duty status (extended holiday) and then the company can claim back the grant from the government. If you’re working throughout this period then they cannot claim this. If you fall sick in this period then you’ll fall into standard SSP process or whatever your contractual status says about sick pay.

It’s worth checking with Citizen’s Advice at this time to ensure you’re clear on what happens in your scenario. The furlough status is simply there to stop companies putting people into redundancy.
Thanks.

I think when the dust settles on this there will be legal action taken by employees against employers and I can see laws being changed in regard to sick pay.
 

Jippy

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It’s not low risk, anything but low risk. Unless taxi’s are deep cleaning then it’s a non-starter as far as I’m concerned, the risk is too high.
OK, lower than tube then- look either way, key workers are having to put their health down to chance as much as anything here.
 

VeevaVee

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Girl on my Facebook fretting about having a kid that lives between two houses and being given contradictory advice on it by the government.

Put your brains together and come up with a common sense decision yourselves ya dumbass. It’s obviously not essential when it comes to saving lives, despite the government apparently saying it is.
 

Oggmonster

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Friend who works as a contractor building Aldi stores has said that Aldi have had to step in and close their construction sites as the government have failed to do so.
The government need to shut them down if the clients don't (in Aldi's case there for example) if the contractor tells their staff and subcontractors to close the site before the government tell them to then they will be held to liquidated damages which can be tens of thousands a day.
 

RedDevilRoshi

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I got what I think was a mass text message. I've no particular risk factors, not on medication, under treatment for anything.

It reads:
GOV.UK CORONAVIRUS ALERT New rules in force now: you must stay at home. More info & exemptions at gov.uk/coronavirus
Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.

I assume the "you're at risk" text tells you to expect a letter or has a different link - but I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if I get another text later clarifying whether or not this is the heavy duty version.

Meanwhile in assuming it isn't, because I'm going to be doing the shopping for some family members who are in home isolation.
Yeah, I got that text at exactly 8.30am this morning.
 

TheReligion

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I've been trying to get clarification from my boss but he's clueless and I don't think he's actually asking for me.

Ordinarily I only qualify for SSP if I'm off work. However I'm classed as key worker and have to come and look after children who have been sent to school. As far as I'm concerned I'm at a much higher risk of contracting the virus as I'm working 5 days a weeks with care home children who will have contact with various other people out of school. With the government stating they'll pay 80% of wages does this include workers forced into SSP due to illness?

I'll be in a real catch 22 if I get ill. While I would stay off and take the hit financially I know some colleagues who would likely come to work as they cannot afford to live on SSP.
I don't understand why it's a catch 22. You simply must self isolate if you're unwell. If people don't have the moral compass to do that then they are killing others. In your situation you are looking after the children of key workers or those with special needs. So going against that is basically infecting the vital key work needed to run the country.
 

vodrake

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The current US trajectory is looking worse than Italy and Spain's.
And then you see Trump and pals talking about cracking on as normal within a few weeks because "old people would happily sacrifice themselves to protect the economy" and realize the USA is proper screwed
 

sglowrider

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And then you see Trump and pals talking about cracking on as normal within a few weeks because "old people would happily sacrifice themselves to protect the economy" and realize the USA is proper screwed
The Greatest Generation haven't sacrificed enough? Why doesn't Trump lead by example and sacrifice his worthless cnut heel spur of a life?
 

Pexbo

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The current US trajectory is looking worse than Italy and Spain's.
If there's one thing this virus is going to absolutely thrive on, it's ignorance, liberty and personal freedom.
 

11101

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The Greatest Generation haven't sacrificed enough? Why doesn't Trump lead by example and sacrifice his worthless cnut heel spur of a life?
It's not really them anymore. You'd have to be at least 91 now to have been old enough to sign up even for the last few months of the war. Can't be many left who fought.
 

The Cat

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Girl on my Facebook fretting about having a kid that lives between two houses and being given contradictory advice on it by the government.

Put your brains together and come up with a common sense decision yourselves ya dumbass. It’s obviously not essential when it comes to saving lives, despite the government apparently saying it is.
I was in the same boat, fortunately my ex wife agreed the sensible decision would be for my son to stay with me as she works in the hospital so it was an easy decision.
 

Wumminator

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The American response to this will hopefully alert some of those 'America is #1' type people. I genuinely hope so. I love that country but feck me.
 

DOTA

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Nogbadthebad

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Cabbie's take cards these cards ffs! Agree they're unlikely to do a full cleaning of it, but if the passenger wears gloves and a mask, it should surely be low risk.
Actually, I was talking about the government paying cabs to JUST ferry NHS workers around.

So no one would be paying anyone, and they could take appropriate measures for protection for drivers and individual passengers.

Cabs, paid by government, just to take individual NHS workers to and from work.
 

Pagh Wraith

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Agree with all of this, it’s too late but at least they have ditched this ‘herd immunity’ nonsense, and this is from someone who hates Johnson.
I'm not saying just letting everyone get it is a viable strategy but 'herd immunity' is clearly not nonsense but very important. There was another virologist on German TV last night who warned against slowing down the infection too much too quickly as this makes achieving herd immunity much more difficult. According to him, we have to find some sort of middle ground, between slowing it down enough to ensure the health system's capacity to act and protecting the most vulnerable on one side and managing the infection rate in a way immunity can develop on the other. He isn't alone with this opinion, a number of virologist and epidemiologists have said similar over the last few days.
 

arnie_ni

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Pictures from the world in lockdown.

See the first reply from London this morning
 

Berbasbullet

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I'm not saying just letting everyone get it is a viable strategy but 'herd immunity' is clearly not nonsense but very important. There was another virologist on German TV last night who warned against slowing down the infection too much too quickly as this makes achieving herd immunity much more difficult. According to him, we have to find some sort of middle ground, between slowing it down enough to ensure the health system's capacity to act and protecting the most vulnerable on one side and managing the infection rate in a way immunity can develop on the other. He isn't alone with this opinion, a number of virologist and epidemiologists have said similar over the last few days.
Interesting, I think I worded my post badly to be honest, I meant that as in the initial strategy which seemed to be, just let it spread with 0 worries.

I was under the impression regarding herd immunity, that you need a vaccine for it to be effective?

Maybe with that in mind we are achieving a strong middle ground.