Coronavirus : Early Days
Discussion
Are most people in agreement nowadays that the media’s tales and photos of the Chinese people coughing up blood and dying on the pavement and the bodies piled up in Italy and the mass graves being dug in NY was lies/fake/propaganda? Or has our Government and NHS just done a top job of keeping it all (reasonably) civilised here?
Interesting this one, good thread.
I work for in the travel industry. At the end of February 2020 I was on my last foreign trip working with our Engineers down route, I remember we were aware of it and chatted about what had been on the news - little did we know that we worked for an industry that would be hit very very hard, or that simply jumping on a company aircraft whenever i wanted, and to whereever I wanted, would not be possible in just a few weeks!
March 22nd was Mothers day - We'd been out for tea, settled down to watch Boris on the news.
I remember going into the office and everyone was sort of milling around, trying to work out what to do. I luckily had a company laptop as I sometimes travel but lots of colleagues didnt, there was a bit of a scrabble on to claim IT kit and we all got sent home.
I distinctly remember thinking 'this will be interesting and different for a few weeks!
Loads of us got seconded temporarily into helping out our call centre/customer service team who were obviously being inundated - I spent hours respoding to facebook posts on our corporate page!
I was furloughed straight away when it was announced and stayed off for 18 weeks I think - a time I will look back on very fondly. Our company was great, supported us well and remained very positive throughout (still do). Since July 2020, I've been working from home mainly with the odd visit or in-person stuff a couple of times a month. Hoping to be back in the office, ableit 2 or 3 days a week maybe, from October 2020.
One of the important things I do as part of my job is dealing with training and mental health issues, so I'm acutely aware of how awful the past 2 years have been for many, and how different each persons experience was and still is.
However, I am very lucky and I will look back very fondly in particular on those 18 weeks on furlough in Spring/Summer 2020 - I was getting paid by the government and my employer. The weather was beautiful. My little boy was around 18 months old, and my partner was also getting full pay to stay at home. We didnt spend any money, so despite having taken a pay cut we were saving a fortune.
We had the most wonderful time just in the garden, in the paddling pool, it was like an extended, belated paternity leave that every father should get. I rode my bikes every day, I was fitter than ever, happy, relaxed, healthy.
Very, very lucky, and I'll remember it well.
(Pistonheads bit - I'd resisted Diesel for years, and in March 2020 I was driving a300bhp V6 turbo, manual daily car, in which i'd spend 1 hour every morning, and 1 hour every evening sat in a traffic jam at 20mpg-ish of Shells V-power on the ring road, commuting. 18k miles a year maybe? Looking back, that seems ridiculous. Anyway, I had eventually succumbed and bought a diesel auto. Just before lockdown. Only did 4k miles in it in the first year
typical luck!).
I work for in the travel industry. At the end of February 2020 I was on my last foreign trip working with our Engineers down route, I remember we were aware of it and chatted about what had been on the news - little did we know that we worked for an industry that would be hit very very hard, or that simply jumping on a company aircraft whenever i wanted, and to whereever I wanted, would not be possible in just a few weeks!
March 22nd was Mothers day - We'd been out for tea, settled down to watch Boris on the news.
I remember going into the office and everyone was sort of milling around, trying to work out what to do. I luckily had a company laptop as I sometimes travel but lots of colleagues didnt, there was a bit of a scrabble on to claim IT kit and we all got sent home.
I distinctly remember thinking 'this will be interesting and different for a few weeks!
Loads of us got seconded temporarily into helping out our call centre/customer service team who were obviously being inundated - I spent hours respoding to facebook posts on our corporate page!
I was furloughed straight away when it was announced and stayed off for 18 weeks I think - a time I will look back on very fondly. Our company was great, supported us well and remained very positive throughout (still do). Since July 2020, I've been working from home mainly with the odd visit or in-person stuff a couple of times a month. Hoping to be back in the office, ableit 2 or 3 days a week maybe, from October 2020.
One of the important things I do as part of my job is dealing with training and mental health issues, so I'm acutely aware of how awful the past 2 years have been for many, and how different each persons experience was and still is.
However, I am very lucky and I will look back very fondly in particular on those 18 weeks on furlough in Spring/Summer 2020 - I was getting paid by the government and my employer. The weather was beautiful. My little boy was around 18 months old, and my partner was also getting full pay to stay at home. We didnt spend any money, so despite having taken a pay cut we were saving a fortune.
We had the most wonderful time just in the garden, in the paddling pool, it was like an extended, belated paternity leave that every father should get. I rode my bikes every day, I was fitter than ever, happy, relaxed, healthy.
Very, very lucky, and I'll remember it well.
(Pistonheads bit - I'd resisted Diesel for years, and in March 2020 I was driving a300bhp V6 turbo, manual daily car, in which i'd spend 1 hour every morning, and 1 hour every evening sat in a traffic jam at 20mpg-ish of Shells V-power on the ring road, commuting. 18k miles a year maybe? Looking back, that seems ridiculous. Anyway, I had eventually succumbed and bought a diesel auto. Just before lockdown. Only did 4k miles in it in the first year
typical luck!). Edited by snotrag on Monday 16th August 13:33
ColdoRS said:
Are most people in agreement nowadays that the media’s tales and photos of the Chinese people coughing up blood and dying on the pavement and the bodies piled up in Italy and the mass graves being dug in NY was lies/fake/propaganda? Or has our Government and NHS just done a top job of keeping it all (reasonably) civilised here?
Can't speak for China or NY but wasn't it the case that in Italy in Wave 1, a lot of the deaths were heavily concentrated in one or two regions and even cities. I recall Bergamo being one of them. This could have caused such a situation of 'bodies piling up'.In the UK our deaths were relatively evenly spread across the regions, so the impact was more easily absorbed.
Left for a 2 week holiday / roadtrip on 6th March 2020 - ultimate destination Valencia for the Fallas festival which has many thousands of people crammed into the main square twice a day for a fireworks barrage - literally inches apart.
Did think there might be issues, but checked daily in the two weeks leading up to departure and it all looked to be going ahead.
Biarritz was fine - watching 6 nations in bar - no sign of Covid whatsoever
San Sebastian was fine - crammed into Tapas bar after Tapas bar - no sign of Covid whatsoever
Foothills of the Pyrenees - mostly normal, but starting to pick up vibes. The owners of the hotel we were staying in were starting to get concerned about upcoming bookings being cancelled. Got a phone call from the travel company with whom I had booked my next holiday (in August) - asking what my plans / intentions were - I laughed it off and said all of this would be long over by then and of course we were planning to go (which we did manage to do)
Day 2 in the Pyrenees, we find out Fallas had been cancelled. Hotel in Valencia was pre-paid and non-refundable. Called them and they agreed to move the booking to the same dates in 2021. Re-booked the ferry and decided to head for Bilbao. Night out in Bilbao - all the bars closed at 10pm. Re-rebooked the ferry to get the boat back from St. Malo the next day.
Left for St. Malo at 8am - filling up with petrol was weird - signs up everywhere - the guy wouldn't come out of the kiosk and everything had to be done through the night hatch.
Long trek across France, by now we were aware of the UK bog roll shortage. Stopped for lunch around Bordeaux - Hypermarket had LOADS of bog roll. Bought as much as we thought we could fit into the car (which wasn't much). Caught the ferry and arrived home a week early.
Get to Jan 2021 and no Fallas in 2021 - Hotel moved the booking again to the same dates in 2022 - hopefully we'll go this time.
Did think there might be issues, but checked daily in the two weeks leading up to departure and it all looked to be going ahead.
Biarritz was fine - watching 6 nations in bar - no sign of Covid whatsoever
San Sebastian was fine - crammed into Tapas bar after Tapas bar - no sign of Covid whatsoever
Foothills of the Pyrenees - mostly normal, but starting to pick up vibes. The owners of the hotel we were staying in were starting to get concerned about upcoming bookings being cancelled. Got a phone call from the travel company with whom I had booked my next holiday (in August) - asking what my plans / intentions were - I laughed it off and said all of this would be long over by then and of course we were planning to go (which we did manage to do)
Day 2 in the Pyrenees, we find out Fallas had been cancelled. Hotel in Valencia was pre-paid and non-refundable. Called them and they agreed to move the booking to the same dates in 2021. Re-booked the ferry and decided to head for Bilbao. Night out in Bilbao - all the bars closed at 10pm. Re-rebooked the ferry to get the boat back from St. Malo the next day.
Left for St. Malo at 8am - filling up with petrol was weird - signs up everywhere - the guy wouldn't come out of the kiosk and everything had to be done through the night hatch.
Long trek across France, by now we were aware of the UK bog roll shortage. Stopped for lunch around Bordeaux - Hypermarket had LOADS of bog roll. Bought as much as we thought we could fit into the car (which wasn't much). Caught the ferry and arrived home a week early.
Get to Jan 2021 and no Fallas in 2021 - Hotel moved the booking again to the same dates in 2022 - hopefully we'll go this time.
I remember hearing bits about it on the news in February, and thinking it would all blow over before it ever got here... had a day in London with my Dad and brother in early Feb., and my Dad saying we should do it more often. Then I went to Texas for work in February, went in some crowded restaurants, full plane etc... a week and a half later my wife came down with a really bad cough and other stuff, and ended up in hospital for over a week. I remember her phoning up in tears on the second day saying I couldn't come and see her as she'd been put in isolation.
Couple of days later she tested negative for Covid, but had all the symptoms. This was at the same time people were panic buying everything in sight, so I was dealing with an ill wife, and worrying that I would be able to properly feed myself and my daughter.
I also remember seeing footage of "socially distanced" queues outside European supermarkets, thinking "that'll never happen here"... then turning up at Aldi a few days after lockdown was announced and there's a line of people around the car park all two metres apart. Seems mental now.
Also remember my boss leaving me a scanner and a car full of boxes of slides (we're a photography company) to keep me busy for the few weeks we thought we'd be shut. That lasted a couple of days before it was decided it would be better to put me on furlough for three months!
Looking back, like the poster above, it was actually a pretty good time, once my wife was on the road to recovery. Couldn't do a lot except sit in the garden, walk around the countryside, and cycle - and get paid for it! At the time there was always that nagging doubt about whether I would still have a job at the end of it. As it was, I've been really busy and been abroad about 10 times since last July!
Couple of days later she tested negative for Covid, but had all the symptoms. This was at the same time people were panic buying everything in sight, so I was dealing with an ill wife, and worrying that I would be able to properly feed myself and my daughter.
I also remember seeing footage of "socially distanced" queues outside European supermarkets, thinking "that'll never happen here"... then turning up at Aldi a few days after lockdown was announced and there's a line of people around the car park all two metres apart. Seems mental now.
Also remember my boss leaving me a scanner and a car full of boxes of slides (we're a photography company) to keep me busy for the few weeks we thought we'd be shut. That lasted a couple of days before it was decided it would be better to put me on furlough for three months!
Looking back, like the poster above, it was actually a pretty good time, once my wife was on the road to recovery. Couldn't do a lot except sit in the garden, walk around the countryside, and cycle - and get paid for it! At the time there was always that nagging doubt about whether I would still have a job at the end of it. As it was, I've been really busy and been abroad about 10 times since last July!
Been updating my "retrospective" just now, and back on 5th March 2020 PH'er "king arthur" posted this video:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmqgGwT6bw0
Pause the clip at 0:24, and look at the case numbers in China at that date. 80,270 confirmed cases as at 4th March 2020.
As the video states, the data is taken from the John Hopkins University of Medicine. Now have a look at the current data:-
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
The data will take a while to upload. However, scroll down the list on the left of Cases / Deaths by Country until you get to China. It is currently showing 106,529 cases to date....
Really??? Just over 26,000 cases between 4th March 2020 and 16th August 2021???? In a country with a population well over 1 billion.
[yoda]Stack up this does not[/yoda]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmqgGwT6bw0
Pause the clip at 0:24, and look at the case numbers in China at that date. 80,270 confirmed cases as at 4th March 2020.
As the video states, the data is taken from the John Hopkins University of Medicine. Now have a look at the current data:-
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
The data will take a while to upload. However, scroll down the list on the left of Cases / Deaths by Country until you get to China. It is currently showing 106,529 cases to date....
Really??? Just over 26,000 cases between 4th March 2020 and 16th August 2021???? In a country with a population well over 1 billion.
[yoda]Stack up this does not[/yoda]
30th January 2020
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-513055...
https://twitter.com/who/status/1222967082733559808...
Public Health Emergency of International Concern declared by WHO
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-513055...
Report said:
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to 170, and a confirmed case in Tibet means it has reached every region in mainland China.
Chinese health authorities said there were 7,711 confirmed cases in the country as of 29 January.
Infections have also spread to at least 15 other countries.
Somewhat different to the John Hopkins numbers of the same date,Chinese health authorities said there were 7,711 confirmed cases in the country as of 29 January.
Infections have also spread to at least 15 other countries.
geeks said:
As of 30 January, a total of 161 UK tests have concluded, of which 161 were confirmed negative and 0 positive.
https://twitter.com/who/status/1222967082733559808...
Public Health Emergency of International Concern declared by WHO
I had heard of it in early 2020, and then got a copy of The Economist for the week 1-7 February 2020.
I read the article and didn't pay it too much attention, then a week or two later things changed massively!
My mother was in a residential home at the time, and it seems I was the last visitor they allowed in on 11 March. Looking back I wish I had known at the time.
Thankfully they were a bit ahead of the game and very protective of their residents, but as a result I didn't get to see her again until July.
Then once more in August, both visits being outdoors, distanced, etc. and then ahead of the next lockdown visits were stopped again.
Next time I was able to visit was 3 November, but she had passed away long before I was able to get there.
Thankfully not Covid related, but Covid ruined the last months of her life.
I read the article and didn't pay it too much attention, then a week or two later things changed massively!
My mother was in a residential home at the time, and it seems I was the last visitor they allowed in on 11 March. Looking back I wish I had known at the time.
Thankfully they were a bit ahead of the game and very protective of their residents, but as a result I didn't get to see her again until July.
Then once more in August, both visits being outdoors, distanced, etc. and then ahead of the next lockdown visits were stopped again.
Next time I was able to visit was 3 November, but she had passed away long before I was able to get there.
Thankfully not Covid related, but Covid ruined the last months of her life.
Edited by Mr Tidy on Tuesday 17th August 02:08
31st January 2020
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cmo-confirms-ca...
https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/1223218...
Chinese drone footage harassing non-mask wearers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-51329361
Whitty on record stating 2% mortality and will be a minor illness for the vast majority
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cmo-confirms-ca...
Report said:
We can confirm that 2 patients in England, who are members of the same family, have tested positive for coronavirus. The patients are receiving specialist NHS care, and we are using tried and tested infection control procedures to prevent further spread of the virus.
https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/1223218...
Chinese drone footage harassing non-mask wearers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-51329361
Whitty on record stating 2% mortality and will be a minor illness for the vast majority
2nd February 2020
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51345279
Early Government advice on how to prevent the spread of the virus (which was useful)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7957645/H...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-china-513...
Building a hospital in 10 days compressed to 60 seconds
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51345279
Early Government advice on how to prevent the spread of the virus (which was useful
)https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7957645/H...
said:
A hunt is underway to find hundreds of people who flew from coronavirus-hit Wuhan to Britain who are unaccounted for.
Officials are trying to trace 480 travellers who arrived in the country nine days ago from the city in China.
Officials are trying to trace 480 travellers who arrived in the country nine days ago from the city in China.
Erik997 said:
Just imagine Boris announcing a country wide curfew, mass travel bans, etc. Would take 5mins before total and utter chaos on the streets.
Well, at the time, you'd have thought yeshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-china-513...
Building a hospital in 10 days compressed to 60 seconds
I'm a retail manager at Tesco. We were making plans for how to run the shop if all 10 managers (big shop multiple departments) were bed Ridden or hospitalised. 3 people were trained up very quickly on how to open or run the shop. Plans were made for just running 1 manager all day.
Then lockdown hit panic buying went mental the NHS workers couldn't get food as everyone was buying 5 packets of chicken 4 packs of bog role.
You couldn't get pasta anywhere even the slow selling gluten free stuff sold out.
Bread ran out.
I overruled the budget (lol wages budget) and ran the bakery 24hrs and day so they could bake bread but then we ran out of flower.
People fighting in the store 4-5 cashiers getting abuse from customers about other customers.
Then the queues and limited numbers started and I ran that in the carpark. Every person treated tesco like a day ot the worst were the old people.
People complained because you told them to distance, people complained because you didn't tell another customer to distance. People were just
s . They lied. Everyone delevoleped some mental health thing that meant they had to have a friend shopping with them. I could go on the stories of what people thought was acceptable in the early days when you genuinely thought he world was ending. Every ambulance thst went by people in our shop stopped just a second and you knew they were thinking another serious covid case....
Then lockdown hit panic buying went mental the NHS workers couldn't get food as everyone was buying 5 packets of chicken 4 packs of bog role.
You couldn't get pasta anywhere even the slow selling gluten free stuff sold out.
Bread ran out.
I overruled the budget (lol wages budget) and ran the bakery 24hrs and day so they could bake bread but then we ran out of flower.
People fighting in the store 4-5 cashiers getting abuse from customers about other customers.
Then the queues and limited numbers started and I ran that in the carpark. Every person treated tesco like a day ot the worst were the old people.
People complained because you told them to distance, people complained because you didn't tell another customer to distance. People were just
s . They lied. Everyone delevoleped some mental health thing that meant they had to have a friend shopping with them. I could go on the stories of what people thought was acceptable in the early days when you genuinely thought he world was ending. Every ambulance thst went by people in our shop stopped just a second and you knew they were thinking another serious covid case....johnboy1975 said:
vixen1700 said:
All the reported deaths on the news 'had underlying health issues'.
Anyone got a date for when this figure was dropped?Or certainly when it "found its way into" care homes.
sim72 said:
johnboy1975 said:
vixen1700 said:
All the reported deaths on the news 'had underlying health issues'.
Anyone got a date for when this figure was dropped?Or certainly when it "found its way into" care homes.
)And to note it is a slightly disingenuous stat, as most elderly have one or more comorbidity. But I do think it helps to highlight the fact that fit and healthy people had little to fear.
5th February 2020
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-51381594
https://twitter.com/billbirtles/status/12250474728...
Panic buying bog rolls in Hong Kong
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/beast-movi...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-51381594
said:
At least 10 people on board a cruise ship docked in the Japanese port of Yokohama have tested positive for coronavirus, health authorities say.
Almost 300 of the 3,700 people on the Diamond Princess have been tested so far. The number of infected could rise.
The checks began after an 80-year-old Hong Kong man who had been on the ship last month fell ill with the virus.
Almost 300 of the 3,700 people on the Diamond Princess have been tested so far. The number of infected could rise.
The checks began after an 80-year-old Hong Kong man who had been on the ship last month fell ill with the virus.
https://twitter.com/billbirtles/status/12250474728...
Panic buying bog rolls in Hong Kong
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/beast-movi...
said:
If indeed 2019-nCoV becomes pandemic, humanity may be stuck with it indefinitely. After spreading far and wide, the virus might become endemic in the human population, just like four other coronaviruses that cause the common cold, and occasionally cause fresh outbreaks. How much death and disease it would cause is anyone’s guess
My bold6th February 2020
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/coronavirus...
Coronavirus vaccine in 90 days, goal for Maryland biotech firm
7th February 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/07/brit...
https://www.archyde.com/schwabinger-chief-physicia...
18 months down the line, do we know how accurate that was?
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/coronavirus...
Coronavirus vaccine in 90 days, goal for Maryland biotech firm
7th February 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/07/brit...
said:
A British man onboard a cruise ship docked at a port in Japan has tested positive for coronavirus, Princess Cruises said.
Alan Steele, from Wolverhampton, posted on Facebook that he had been diagnosed with the virus. Believed to be on his honeymoon, Steele said he was not showing any symptoms but was being taken to hospital.
Alan Steele, from Wolverhampton, posted on Facebook that he had been diagnosed with the virus. Believed to be on his honeymoon, Steele said he was not showing any symptoms but was being taken to hospital.
https://www.archyde.com/schwabinger-chief-physicia...
said:
Chief physician Clemens Wendtner from the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in the Munich Clinic Schwabing, where seven of the twelve infected in Germany are treated, considers the danger of the coronavirus to be overestimated.
Schwabingen doctor rates mortality considerably lower
Mortality is said to be two to three percent in China, Wendtner said. But: “We think that is overestimated. We assume that the mortality rate is well below one percent, rather even in the alcohol range.” This is a similar size to that of influenza. It doesn’t have much to do with a very, very dangerous disease – the coronavirus is in no way more dangerous than influenza. The overvaluation stems from the fact that in China only the severe cases are admitted to hospitals because of the capacity bottlenecks; the number of unreported cases is high.
My bold above.Schwabingen doctor rates mortality considerably lower
Mortality is said to be two to three percent in China, Wendtner said. But: “We think that is overestimated. We assume that the mortality rate is well below one percent, rather even in the alcohol range.” This is a similar size to that of influenza. It doesn’t have much to do with a very, very dangerous disease – the coronavirus is in no way more dangerous than influenza. The overvaluation stems from the fact that in China only the severe cases are admitted to hospitals because of the capacity bottlenecks; the number of unreported cases is high.
18 months down the line, do we know how accurate that was?
cherryowen said:
https://www.archyde.com/schwabinger-chief-physicia...
said:
Chief physician Clemens Wendtner from the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in the Munich Clinic Schwabing, where seven of the twelve infected in Germany are treated, considers the danger of the coronavirus to be overestimated.
Schwabingen doctor rates mortality considerably lower
Mortality is said to be two to three percent in China, Wendtner said. But: “We think that is overestimated. We assume that the mortality rate is well below one percent, rather even in the alcohol range.” This is a similar size to that of influenza. It doesn’t have much to do with a very, very dangerous disease – the coronavirus is in no way more dangerous than influenza. The overvaluation stems from the fact that in China only the severe cases are admitted to hospitals because of the capacity bottlenecks; the number of unreported cases is high.
My bold above.Schwabingen doctor rates mortality considerably lower
Mortality is said to be two to three percent in China, Wendtner said. But: “We think that is overestimated. We assume that the mortality rate is well below one percent, rather even in the alcohol range.” This is a similar size to that of influenza. It doesn’t have much to do with a very, very dangerous disease – the coronavirus is in no way more dangerous than influenza. The overvaluation stems from the fact that in China only the severe cases are admitted to hospitals because of the capacity bottlenecks; the number of unreported cases is high.
18 months down the line, do we know how accurate that was?
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