Coronavirus - Overall
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@Victor-Meldrew my bro signed up 4 days ago and is still waiting to have his ID verified. Keeps trying to sign into the app and keeps getting told to check his email for steps in verifying ID or some such...
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Parts of South Africa are going to get hammered
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@MiketheSnow It's a great concern that if it gets a hold in Africa where in many countries the infrastructure is not very robust, the outcome could be catastrophic.
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@Catogrande said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@MiketheSnow It's a great concern that if it gets a hold in Africa where in many countries the infrastructure is not very robust, the outcome could be catastrophic.
can almost guarantee that from what I saw when I was there - the continent is one big hot zone waiting to happen - zero to sweet fuck all infrastructure
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The USA is totally screwed.
Virus has entered the USA prison system. No protections in place for prisoners or guards. Mass release of remand and low level offenders into the community. Who knows how many are infected and gone home to their families untested? If a prison gets it, would be impossible to stop the spread to other prisoners and guards Another story I read talked about a guard who was sick for 2 days coughing and spluttering and carried on working before the prison eventually sent him home.
The USA is in serious trouble. Poor healthcare for people without super duper insurance, high levels of poverty and limited social welfare. Add to that, poor levels of trust in govt, a buffoon in charge and crippling levels of partisanship making a strong coordinated response impossible. Almost the worst possible combination of factors. They're also continuing to travel like mad and due to lack of social security, employees are continuing to work.
The USA death-rate is going to make Italy look like nothing. We could see 100,000 dead in a couple of weeks. It's going to be horrific.
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@Damo said in Coronavirus - Overall:
The USA is in serious trouble. Poor healthcare for people without super duper insurance, high levels of poverty and limited social welfare. Add to that, poor levels of trust in govt, a buffoon in charge and crippling levels of partisanship making a strong coordinated response impossible. Almost the worst possible combination of factors.
And a big dose of the general anti-science streak we are seeing emerge in a lot of countries.
This is scary:
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I just hope these scroats suddenly contract respiratory illnesses and Covid-19
The scientists working to steer Britain out of the coronavirus crisis are being targeted with death threats, the Telegraph can disclose.
Members of the public have sent threats to experts on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the publicly-funded organisation which advises the government at times of crisis.
A SAGE source said: “There are already all number of death threats being sent to people involved. In the last few weeks, some of the people who have been involved have received abuse in the street.”
It’s a combination [of people who are angry at the lockdown] and also this concept of herd immunity. A lot of people are under the misapprehension that all the scientists want people to die in order to protect the masses,” the source said.
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I don't want to get all full on journal here but its been an eventful weekend.
Work colleague sent home Thursday with symptoms is very poorly, her friend had been hospitalised Friday, died the same night, she was 70 so has 10 years on my colleague. Extremely sad to hear and my colleague lives alone, we are all keeping in touch with her but she's now feeling dreadful and grieving.
Two other colleagues have been poorly but manageable similar symptoms to eachother (sore throat dry cough and diarrhoea) , their husbands however are on about day 7 and feeling worse than ever, one of which works with a guy who is now in intensive care only 48.
Fourth colleauge is on day 2 of what we hope is recovery and now can talk without coughing and has the energy to get around the house. She's 62. (I work with a lot of older ladies)
A friend of ours is a male nurse at a local surgery, hes on day 7 too woke up feeling better, husband tells me he put on his Facebook he's feeling great then his wife updated it a few hrs back saying false alarm he's back downhill again.Thankful I worked those last two weeks at home and not been in any contact with above colleagues.
Really seems to be hitting men pretty bad apart from that one older lady who sadly died, also this pattern of feeling better then getting worse again hearing that a lot.Shits getting real now, definitely feeling more scared about it.
Stay safe guys.
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@R-L said in Coronavirus - Overall:
I don't want to get all full on journal here but its been an eventful weekend.
Work colleague sent home Thursday with symptoms is very poorly, her friend had been hospitalised Friday, died the same night, she was 70 so has 10 years on my colleague. Extremely sad to hear and my colleague lives alone, we are all keeping in touch with her but she's now feeling dreadful and grieving.
Two other colleagues have been poorly but manageable similar symptoms to eachother (sore throat dry cough and diarrhoea) , their husbands however are on about day 7 and feeling worse than ever, one of which works with a guy who is now in intensive care only 48.
Fourth colleauge is on day 2 of what we hope is recovery and now can talk without coughing and has the energy to get around the house. She's 62. (I work with a lot of older ladies)
A friend of ours is a male nurse at a local surgery, hes on day 7 too woke up feeling better, husband tells me he put on his Facebook he's feeling great then his wife updated it a few hrs back saying false alarm he's back downhill again.Thankful I worked those last two weeks at home and not been in any contact with above colleagues.
Really seems to be hitting men pretty bad apart from that one older lady who sadly died, also this pattern of feeling better then getting worse again hearing that a lot.Shits getting real now, definitely feeling more scared about it.
Stay safe guys.
🙏🏻😢Awful. Where do you reside?
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@pakman
UK West Midlands. Huge amount of cases piling up here, and tons you hear about word of mouth but won't know if they are actual covid19 cases or not as testing won't happen unless hospitalised.
The ones I know of that are poorly are all linked to Positive cases so more than likely.Edit. My work place might receive some of the new tests soon if they are rolling them out, will see if I can get some pics of process if I get tested for the geeks amongst you put not sure when as we are in general practice and no GP surgery is accepting patients at the moment. Just trying to maintain day to day practice with video and phone appts.
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@R-L said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@pakman
UK West Midlands. Huge amount of cases piling up here, and tons you hear about word of mouth but won't know if they are actual covid19 cases or not as testing won't happen unless hospitalised.
The ones I know of that are poorly are all linked to Positive cases so more than likely.Edit. My work place might receive some of the new tests soon if they are rolling them out, will see if I can get some pics of process if I get tested for the geeks amongst you put not sure when as we are in general practice and no GP surgery is accepting patients at the moment. Just trying to maintain day to day practice with video and phone appts.
My daughter's a first year doctor in Winchester. Cases building. Testing about to start for those with symptoms. No proper eye coverage. Doctors wearing welding masks and ski goggles!! Hope it gets better soon.
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@R-L TA!
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@R-L said in Coronavirus - Overall:
I don't want to get all full on journal here but its been an eventful weekend.
Work colleague sent home Thursday with symptoms is very poorly, her friend had been hospitalised Friday, died the same night, she was 70 so has 10 years on my colleague. Extremely sad to hear and my colleague lives alone, we are all keeping in touch with her but she's now feeling dreadful and grieving.
Two other colleagues have been poorly but manageable similar symptoms to eachother (sore throat dry cough and diarrhoea) , their husbands however are on about day 7 and feeling worse than ever, one of which works with a guy who is now in intensive care only 48.
Fourth colleauge is on day 2 of what we hope is recovery and now can talk without coughing and has the energy to get around the house. She's 62. (I work with a lot of older ladies)
A friend of ours is a male nurse at a local surgery, hes on day 7 too woke up feeling better, husband tells me he put on his Facebook he's feeling great then his wife updated it a few hrs back saying false alarm he's back downhill again.Thankful I worked those last two weeks at home and not been in any contact with above colleagues.
Really seems to be hitting men pretty bad apart from that one older lady who sadly died, also this pattern of feeling better then getting worse again hearing that a lot.Shits getting real now, definitely feeling more scared about it.
Stay safe guys.
🙏🏻😢Stay safe yourself #crumpeton #dontdodrugs
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Majority of Americans disapprove of media's handling of coronavirus: poll
A new Gallup poll reports that out of nine sectors in the U.S., including hospitals, state governments, the federal government, child care facilities and schools, employers, the media and Congress, only the news media received negative ratings on its handling of the response to the coronavirus.
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@chimoaus said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Not sure how I had not stumbled across this site which tracks all flights that are in the air. Kind of surprised just how many are happening in the US now and its 1am over there.
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Geez, another article based on a Fern post. They may as well pay us for doing their work.
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From today's Times
Formula One rivals join forces in race to build enough ventilators
Under normal circumstances, the Mercedes Formula One team would today be starting to arrive in Vietnam for next weekend’s grand prix to help Lewis Hamilton defend his world title. Instead, they are deeply involved in the manufacture of ventilators to help fight coronavirus.
It is not just Mercedes, though. The seven F1 teams based in England have come together in a single campaign called Project Pitlane. These are highly competitive engineering units whose mission in life is to beat each other on the track, but for now they are racing against time and towards the same goal.
Their factories and competition bases have been locked down apart from those responding to the government’s call to build ventilators. They are working around the clock and collaborating in virtual meetings. As one team leader explained, they will typically have one daily to discuss the next required steps and that will be followed by two to three hours of intense engineering to take them.
One team described it as like “drinking from a fire hose”. Another said: “It’s a case of building the plane and flying it at the same time.”
The switch from making racing cars to ventilators is not only an engineering challenge but a supply chain challenge, with different parts being sourced from around the world.
There is then the test of upscaling from design to mass-manufacture with everything done at speed.
It all began on the day that the F1 season was supposed to start. The Melbourne grand prix was scheduled for March 15 and all the teams were in the Australian city in preparation. Three days before, though, the race was called off and the season suspended.
On the day the race should have been held Pat Symonds, the F1 chief technical officer, took a call from Mark Gillan, an engineer who formerly worked in a number of F1 teams, and is now chief technology officer at Innovate UK, the public innovation agency. The government had put a call out for advanced engineering skills. Both Mr Symonds and Mr Gillan knew that F1 was exceptionally well-placed to help.
They met two days later at Mr Gillan’s offices on Victoria Embankment. The next day they had all seven teams, which include Red Bull and McLaren, around a virtual meeting table with all in agreement that, for the moment, rivalry was suspended and now was the time to work together. This was the birth of Project Pitlane.
“We understand the gravity of the situation,” Mr Gillan said. “We want to deliver product. Since that Wednesday it has been a true collaborative effort.” It was, said Jonathan Neale, the chief operating officer of McLaren Racing, “a compelling call to arms from the government”. He added that it was hugely motivating, too: “We know that our pitlane rivals are fierce competitors and when they are motivated to do something, every one of them can perform something extraordinary.”
The F1 teams are a very specialised pocket of elite output. The quality of design and engineering in England is world-class and, even if not widely appreciated, has certainly become known to a number of F1 teams who, over the past two decades, have made England their base. It is not just British teams here, but German (Mercedes), French (Renault) and American (Haas). “We have in the UK this mix of brilliance in engineering technical knowledge,” Mr Gillan said.
It is this mix that he is calling on for Project Pitlane. He believes that the F1 teams “have probably the best rapid prototyping manufacturing reverse-engineering capability here in the UK”.
He also believes that the nature of their work, on F1 cars, makes them ideally placed for the challenge of building ventilators: “They are used to work in a fast-paced dynamic environment. Their abilities in creating a digital model of a device are second to none. They are used to this rollercoaster on the development side. That is why they are well-suited to this task.” Project Pitlane is a part of a greater campaign called Ventilator Challenge UK in which the government has challenged British industry to produce 30,000 ventilators in a matter of weeks. Companies such as Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Dyson are involved.
Mr Gillan is leading the contribution of the F1 teams. They have identified three different streams in which to work: reverse engineering existing medical devices; upscaling the production of existing designs; and designing and mass producing new devices from scratch. All seven teams are collaborating across the three streams. Mr Gillan virtually chairs a small governance group across the teams twice a day. “We are operating around the clock,” he said. “It is pretty humbling to see what people are committing to.” Have they had any breakthroughs? “About every two hours,” he said.
Even though the seven teams are usually fighting tooth and nail they have been quick to blend into one. Many of the personnel have worked on more than one team in the past. Also, the international nature of the sport means that they tend to spend the season travelling together to the same places in the same planes. Their challenge has been to slot together an engineering project with thousands of different parts. One hospital in New York, for instance, reported not only a ventilator shortage, but a lack of the necessary accessories such as tubing and filters.
In Project Pitlane one arm of McLaren has been designing trollies and stands for the easy movement of the ventilators around hospitals. Mercedes has been making CPAP (continuous positive airwave pressure) devices, which patients who are able to breathe on their own, but need help keeping their airways open. This has moved so fast that the government has already ordered these devices to go into testing.
Some of it is a challenge of sourcing and procurement. A Williams team has sourced more than 800 components in the past four days. The sourcing is not just from within the UK; McLaren has sourced a particular electronic component from the Middle East and information on valve technology from North America.
Inside each of the seven F1 bases, work patterns have completely changed. Many corners of these bases are dark, in others there are frantic pockets of activity. Staff canteens are shut; receptions are closed. At McLaren, an infamously clean environment where work surfaces are expected always to be clear, staff are, for once, allowed to eat a sandwich at their desk.
“Every one of us is feeling it,” Mr Neale said. “There isn’t any part of our operating world that hasn’t been dramatically changed. There is no sense of normality. It is all: what can we do next to make a contribution?” For McLaren, this call of duty has taken them beyond the ventilator project.
A request came from the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, asking them to make a facemask with a certain type of airflow. These devices have already gone to clinical trial. Other hospitals are making similar requests.
As devices like these get closer to mass production, those working in Project Pitlane can see the value in their work. The intention is to have a new product out and being used within a fortnight. For specialists used to working with speed this is their most important race against time.
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German minister commits suicide after 'coronavirus crisis worries'
RANKFURT AM MAIN (AFP) - Mr Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany's Hesse state, has committed suicide apparently after becoming "deeply worried" over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, state premier Volker Bouffier said on Sunday (March 29).
Mr Schaefer, 54, was found dead near a railway track on Saturday. The Wiesbaden prosecution's office said they believe he died by suicide.
"We are in shock, we are in disbelief and, above all, we are immensely sad," Mr Bouffier said in a recorded statement.
Hesse is home to Germany's financial capital Frankfurt, where major lenders like Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have their headquarters. The European Central Bank is also located in Frankfurt.
A visibly shaken Mr Bouffier recalled that Mr Schaefer, who was Hesse's finance chief for 10 years, had been working "day and night" to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact of the pandemic.
"Today, we have to assume that he was deeply worried," said Mr Bouffier, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"It's precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him," he added.
Popular and well-respected, Mr Schaefer had long been touted as a possible successor to Mr Bouffier.
He leaves behind a wife and two children.