new coronavirus outbreak China, Korea, USA - mod warnings in OP (updated 24/02/20)

BlaktainPicard

Lots of companies are pulling out of the mobile world congress in Barcelona because of this, but Huawei aren't and will be sending 100s of employees over.
Very irresponsible.

Stark

Corona in Barcelona. Has a catchy ring to it.

ceadaoin.

ceadaoin. wrote: »

People are losing the run of themselves in here. The posters who live in countries who actually have cases are calmer.

In contrast to Vietnam, China's next door neighbour, this thread is mad. Particularly so in the last few days.

It's like the first scractch on your new car.. You try and you care and you try and you care, and then it happens. And it's a bit of an adjustment, but it's fine. The scratch is there. And it's something you deal with over a couple of weeks and then you move on and things are ok.

A few cases in Ireland will have a bunch of people ready to throw themselves of cliffs, but it will be grand. It'll arrive in Dublin and the people who freaked out before it arrived will freak out less when it's here and does nothing.

ceadaoin.

givyjoe wrote: »

I'm referring to the posts which detailed what to purchase. Premature, really? It's not like it's already completely out of control in China, despite massive quarantine measures. The more people are prepared early, the less need for utter mayhem in shops grabbing the last available supplies.

Its "out of control" in one region of China, a huge country. But by all accounts there are plenty of supplies remaining and the supermarkets are well stocked and without mayhem. Yeah in some regions you can only go to get groceries every other day, oh no society is collapsing. Have a look on reddit. There are accounts from people in the quarantine zones and even on the cruise ship. It's not mayhem. Boredom seems to be the main issue

josip

There's a good chance MWC won't go ahead this year so the Huawei irresponsibility will be moot.

BlaktainPicard

josip wrote: »

There's a good chance MWC won't go ahead this year so the Huawei irresponsibility will be moot.

Problem is too that Barcelona city council should cancel it, they aren't planning to ... greed getting in the way of things.

Wibbs

wakka12 wrote: »

https://www.reddit.com/r/China_Flu/comments/f2s75c/a_japanese_official_tests_positive_after/
Virus jumps ship!
A japanese official from the Health Ministry surveying the ship has tested positive, I assume he was in a hazmat suit or at least a lot of protective gear, shows how infectious it is

Well... maybe W.

Now this may be well outa left field, but.. I've been thinking on this and in particular the test for this coronavirus. I have a few questions, questions that keep getting louder for me with every passing week into this epidemic.

Numero Uno; how accurate is this test? Does it give a positive for all coronaviruses for example. That dose that was doing the rounds just after christmas, IIRC that was another coronavirus, albeit a harmless if irritating one. Would this test give a positive for this WuFlu? Would the test give a positive for other coronaviruses or is it very specific?

My reasoning such as it is, is that if we consider this test(one that was by necessity rushed to market) is giving false positives and possibly negatives it might explain the apparently oddball nature of this particular virus. The ever increasing incubation period(almost by day, up to 40 days now IIRC?) before symptoms, those people who are asymptomatic, or those who have very few symptoms, or a bit of a sniffle for a week and it's over. Then compared to those who come down with very serious illness. Sure it tends to hit the elderly more, but it's also killing young healthy and fit people.

Something about this virus, its virulence, strong transmissibility and how it's operating just doesn't make sense to me at the moment. However if the test isn't accurate and is giving false positives/negatives that makes much more sense. IE more people could be diagnosed as sick with this but aren't and they just recover from a non threatening bug that's in the population anyway. People aren't actually showing weeks long incubation periods, but are showing that they're triggering a false positive and some might actually get the real thing weeks down the line, while others don't.

So TL;DR? How actually accurate is this text for the WuFlu?

saabsaab

Australia is well prepared. We have plans that we are adapting as we learn more about the virus and how it spreads.
Australian Government agencies and state and territory governments are working together to coordinate an evidence-based response. This includes:

• providing information in English and Chinese based on the latest medical advice, including through Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, WeChat and Chinese newspapers
• applying a 14-day isolation period to people at risk of getting coronavirus
• applying travel restrictions to reduce the number of travellers from mainland China
• organising assisted departure for Australian citizens in Wuhan
• tracing coronavirus cases
• continuing to screen travellers who arrive in Australia
• continuing with border surveillance
• applying enhanced border measures at international air and sea ports, including announcements and signs

State and territory health authorities are:

• testing anyone who shows symptoms of the virus
• monitoring close contacts of confirmed cases every day

ohnonotgmail

Wibbs wrote: »

Well... maybe W.

Now this may be well outa left field, but.. I've been thinking on this and in particular the test for this coronavirus. I have a few questions, questions that keep getting louder for me with every passing week into this epidemic.

Numero Uno; how accurate is this test? Does it give a positive for all coronaviruses for example. That dose that was doing the rounds just after christmas, IIRC that was another coronavirus, albeit a harmless if irritating one. Would this test give a positive for this WuFlu? Would the test give a positive for other coronaviruses or is it very specific?

My reasoning such as it is, is that if we consider this test(one that was by necessity rushed to market) is giving false positives and possibly negatives it might explain the apparently oddball nature of this particular virus. The ever increasing incubation period(almost by day, up to 40 days now IIRC?) before symptoms, those people who are asymptomatic, or those who have very few symptoms, or a bit of a sniffle for a week and it's over. Then compared to those who come down with very serious illness. Sure it tends to hit the elderly more, but it's also killing young healthy and fit people.

Something about this virus, its virulence, strong transmissibility and how it's operating just doesn't make sense to me at the moment. However if the test isn't accurate and is giving false positives/negatives that makes much more sense. IE more people could be diagnosed as sick with this but aren't and they just recover from a non threatening bug that's in the population anyway. People aren't actually showing weeks long incubation periods, but are showing that they're triggering a false positive and some might actually get the real thing weeks down the line, while others don't.

So TL;DR? How actually accurate is this text for the WuFlu?

The short answer seems to be that the test is not very accurate at all.

According to the South China Morning Post

The test, first developed during the Sars outbreak, extracts nucleic acid from a sample of the patient’s mucus taken from their nose or throat to determine if the virus is present. The nucleic acid contains the genetic information of the virus, which can then be identified in a lab via either biochemical reaction or gene sequencing. The whole process takes just hours.

However, since the test involves several steps, a mistake at any one stage could affect the outcome, Li Yan, head of the diagnostic centre at the People’s Hospital of Wuhan University, said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday.

The accuracy rate of the test is only 30 to 50 per cent, said Wang Chen, president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, during a CCTV interview on Wednesday.

Given the nature of the test it will also lead to false negatives in the early stages of infection. There just wont enough of the virus to detect.

RebelButtMunch

wakka12 wrote: »

I agree, does certainly seem that way. Does anyone know if thats a common thing, where the I dont know what youd call it 'higher concentration' of the virus passed to you has a bigger impact? Or does it not matter to your body what the quantity is?

Please consult your horoscope. That's the territory your heading to...

odyssey06

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Please consult your horoscope. That's the territory your heading to...

It's a reasonable question. And here's an explanation of sorts from a medical professional.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapo...led-whos-fight
How severe the illness in a person is depends both on the person's own immune system, as well as how large the viral load is when the person is infected. If someone who is very sick sneezes or coughs in the person's face, the viral load could be high.
(according to Professor David Heymann, who headed the WHO response to SARS)

Wibbs

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

The short answer seems to be that the test is not very accurate at all.

30-50% isn't very accurate alright O. This could explain quite a bit of the oddball stuff about this virus. For a start the quite wildly differing outcomes between "feel fine/bit of a sniffle" to ICU and/or pine box due to an overwhelming onslaught on the lungs/cytokine storm.

If you compare it to SARS or MERS it's quite different. In SARS the vast majority had quite clear and serious symptoms and shorter incubation and resolution and fatality periods. In MERS it was the same, if not more so. 75% of patients required intubation ventilation. Both were far more consistent in mechanism(?) even in the middle of the outbreaks and concern.

With this dose the differences are far more stark and so far outside of China and Chinese folks those differences are even starker. Much lower death rate for a start. Even the UK "superspreader"(which sounds like a porn category ) has recovered and feels fine and reports the dose as not much of one. If he is indeed one such case of a highly infectious individual he must have had some level of virus being produced in him and yet...

Between China's reticence with facts and an inefficient test and general panic and conjecture something is not adding up for me at all.

ObiTwoKenobi

Wading in here to repeat the suggestion that it will be the progression of cases outside China that may offer the best insight to the real nature of the virus re rates of infection, recovery and death.

RebelButtMunch

ObiTwoKenobi wrote: »

Wading in here to repeat the suggestion that it will be the progression of cases outside China that may offer the best insight to the real nature of the virus re rates of infection, recovery and death.

I'd agree. Not many other places would be able to lockdown citizens like China did.

ardinn

Just going back to the tumeric debate - its something I have been looking at and stocking up slowly on.

Tumeric is a natural anti inflammatory - the pneumonia caused by CV inflames the (some medical term here) in the lungs. During the virus should you have it, the end of week one would be a good time to start taking a good dose of it along with some ibuprofen.

Reduce the inflammation - reduce the need for oxygen - reduce the need for hospitalisation.

It is a very small but simple step that may help recovery or or stop the onset of serious complications.

Im gonna chance it anyway! Definately wont kill me!

ardinn

ObiTwoKenobi wrote: »

Wading in here to repeat the suggestion that it will be the progression of cases outside China that may offer the best insight to the real nature of the virus re rates of infection, recovery and death.

Currently the best experiment is on the ship in japan. And i believe that is a worst case scenario situation.

The prison in England will be the next experiment!

car_radio19834

Markets in US still hitting all time highs. They seem unfazed by this.

ardinn

And also also

To completely reduce inflammation in the body - go on a carnivore diet. Green veg and meat - stay below 10g of carbs a day - Something I do sporadically, the trick is to go keto.

You would be amazed the difference in your joints when you reintroduce bread or spuds or pasta - similar to what getting hit by a truck feels like.

ObiTwoKenobi

Has anyone seen the "Andology" channel on YouToob. Seems crazy to me. He has a prediction tool, available for download, that is predicting millions dead by the summer. He is also advocating a prepper approach, boarding up your house, and arming yourself against the looters.

lolanacho

A student from my child’s classroom has just came back to school today after spending the last two months in China with his grandparents.

Apparently the teacher was talking to all the kids yesterday regarding this pupil but never mentioned he’d be in today. The teacher was reassuring the kids that this pupil was ok because he was in Central China and were virus free over there!

The school haven’t informed the parents about our children sharing a classroom with someone who has just came back from China, following the advice from the HSE the child doesn’t have to stay at home for 14 days.

Now, this child has a younger brother who attends the same school but who didn’t go to China, he stayed in Ireland with his parents.
I’ve just found out that the parents are keeping the brothers separated from each other for a couple of weeks so they are not sharing the same house, car etc at the moment. The child that came back from China is at the moment living with his grandparents, if virus free he’ll go back to his parents in two weeks.

I understand they are concerned about him passing something onto his younger brother...... but they don’t give a crap about sending him to school and sharing a classroom with another 26 children!

I’m thinking about talking to the Principal tomorrow and keep my child at home for two weeks.

Any advise? Thanks

ardinn

car_radio19834 wrote: »

Markets in US still hitting all time highs. They seem unfazed by this.

If the U.S. can keep cases low, industry should boom, china is pretty much fúcked for the next 3 to 5 years already.

ObiTwoKenobi

Outrageous. It's that sort of ignorance that will spread this thing far and wide. Does anyone else here feel that the HSE and other authorities are asleep at the wheel? What screening is there at airports? Sure we have no direct flight to/from China, but it is just one connection away.

ObiTwoKenobi

Apologies previous post was re the classroom - should have quoted it

givyjoe

ceadaoin. wrote: »

Yeah talking about foods to keep them going, fortifying homes, spices and vitamins that will save them (lol) etc. In a country with zero confirmed cases. Bit premature dont you think? Yeah it's useful alright, at spreading anxiety and fear. More useful would be discussing hygiene methods to help prevent it spreading.

Prepping lists of things to buy if you are unable to get to the shop/shouldn't because you are infections, is useful at spreading anxiety or fear? Are you that nervous a person or what? Not considering what to do in such a situation (food, cleaning, whatever), considering the virus is incredibly infectious and running rampant in China, is really shortsighted to be honest. Why wouldn't you consider such preparation? We don't have a case yet, we will at some point. Its absolutely inevitable based upon on what we know of the virus already, i.e. incredibly infectious, asymptomatic carriers etc.

Your logic is more than a bit flawed to be honest, if we dont have any cases here and shouldn't consider foods to eat if we're stuck at home, why would we bother considering hygiene methods to stop its spread, seen as we dont have any cases here

ceadaoin.

odyssey06 wrote: »

I don't think it's panic to have 2 weeks' worth of supplies in the house, should you self quarantine.
The stuff isn't going to end up in the bin, it has long shelf life and will be cycled through.

Hand gels etc are good to have regardless to stop you picking up coronavirus or just run of the mill stuff.

Yeah I've done that myself, bought some extra food and hand sanitisers/bleach just in case I dont want to go out too often in the event of widespread infection where I am. I live in a country that has had cases so I feel that's more cautious preparation than panic. In the meantime, life goes on as usual.

I was more talking about the slightly hysterical posts about securing your home in the event of a walking dead style society collapse, getting months worth of supplies and crackpot theories about turmeric and vitamin c etc.

ObiTwoKenobi

Seems like a lot of pharmaceuticals come from China, not to mention the manufacture of just about everything else, so the effects will not be isolated to China.

auspicious

Meanwhile Russia is putting penitentiary inmates to making grade quality masks and Putin has suggested stripping licences off pharmacies if they increase price of masks.
They are checking flight passengers temperatures e.g. flights from Prague to Moscow.
India are checking 29 airports and have checked over 1100 flights so far.

A Dublin based company has developed a test which can confirm infection in patients in 60 mins. It's being fast-tracked to China for clinical evaluation.

ceadaoin.

givyjoe wrote: »

Prepping lists of things to buy if you are unable to get to the shop/shouldn't because you are infections, is useful at spreading anxiety or fear? Are you that nervous a person or what? Not considering what to do in such a situation (food, cleaning, whatever), considering the virus is incredibly infectious and running rampant in China, is really shortsighted to be honest. Why wouldn't you consider such preparation? We don't have a case yet, we will at some point. Its absolutely inevitable based upon on what we know of the virus already, i.e. incredibly infectious, asymptomatic carriers etc.

Your logic is more than a bit flawed to be honest, if we dont have any cases here and shouldn't consider foods to eat if we're stuck at home, why would we bother considering hygiene methods to stop its spread, seen as we dont have any cases here

See my post above. I dont see anything wrong with getting a few extra supplies of food cleaning products. I've done it myself. I'm just seeing a slightly hysterical edge to some posts is all, and people just refusing the accept that this may not be that bad at all.

Also you'd be amazed at the amount of people who seemingly dont know basic hygiene practices. If everyone did then any virus or illness would have a harder time spreading. It's still the best way to not get coronavirus, or any virus . No amount of vitamin c will protect you if you dont wash your hands

ardinn

auspicious wrote: »

Meanwhile Russia is putting penitentiary inmates to making grade quality masks and Putin has suggested stripping licences off pharmacies if they increase price of masks.
They are checking flight passengers temperatures e.g. flights from Prague to Moscow.
India are checking 29 airports and have checked over 1100 flights so far.

A Dublin based company has developed a test which can confirm infection in patients in 60 mins. It's being fast-tracked to China for clinical evaluation.

All good things

s7ryf3925pivug

ardinn wrote: »

And also also

To completely reduce inflammation in the body - go on a carnivore diet. Green veg and meat - stay below 10g of carbs a day - Something I do sporadically, the trick is to go keto.

You would be amazed the difference in your joints when you reintroduce bread or spuds or pasta - similar to what getting hit by a truck feels like.

Almost any diet where you
- strictly eliminate junk,
- eat loads of vegetables
- and aren't deficient in anything
is going to make you feel better.
A quick Google suggests some possible brain protecting effects with ketosis, which is interesting, but otherwise there doesn't seem to be any particular benefit in eliminating whole grains and other healthy carb foods.

That said I would be interested in any evidence for any foods that reduce inflammation.

One surprising thing I learnt recently was that carbonated water is high in carbonic acid. I had acid reflux every night for months. Discontinued drinking carbonated water - and made no other dietary change - and it stopped. I know it's not really related; just saying you can find out surprising things about food.

ObiTwoKenobi

I'm trying to find a halfway house between the insane and the ignorant. I have been casually watching YouTube videos about the next pandemic for years now and always had it at the back of my mind.

When this event in wuhan hit the news, I sat up and took notice immediately. Right now I have two weeks of supplies for the whole family plus pets. It's all non-perishable so none will go to waste if this blows over. As soon as there is a development re Irish cases I will then assess the situation and stock up accordingly with a view to staying in for a while.

I believe that by the end of this month we will have a much better picture of where this is going because there are enough people affected now outside Europe to give us a real indication of case outcomes by that time re death or recovery.

I don't advocate panic, but some quite preparation is warranted I feel until we know more.

ThePopehimself

lolanacho wrote: »

A student from my child’s classroom has just came back to school today after spending the last two months in China with his grandparents.

Apparently the teacher was talking to all the kids yesterday regarding this pupil but never mentioned he’d be in today. The teacher was reassuring the kids that this pupil was ok because he was in Central China and were virus free over there!

The school haven’t informed the parents about our children sharing a classroom with someone who has just came back from China, following the advice from the HSE the child doesn’t have to stay at home for 14 days.

Now, this child has a younger brother who attends the same school but who didn’t go to China, he stayed in Ireland with his parents.
I’ve just found out that the parents are keeping the brothers separated from each other for a couple of weeks so they are not sharing the same house, car etc at the moment. The child that came back from China is at the moment living with his grandparents, if virus free he’ll go back to his parents in two weeks.

I understand they are concerned about him passing something onto his younger brother...... but they don’t give a crap about sending him to school and sharing a classroom with another 26 children!

I’m thinking about talking to the Principal tomorrow and keep my child at home for two weeks.

Any advise? Thanks

Can I ask how old the child is?
I'm wondering why they didn't send him/her to the grandparents too - perhaps to also protect the grandparents from catching it?

I would ask the principal if both parents work. If not, why not keep the child at home. If yes, I would be angry that they put an entire school at risk in order to continue their lives as usual.

megatron989

ObiTwoKenobi wrote: »

I'm trying to find a halfway house between the insane and the ignorant. I have been casually watching YouTube videos about the next pandemic for years now and always had it at the back of my mind.

When this event in wuhan hit the news, I sat up and took notice immediately. Right now I have two weeks of supplies for the whole family plus pets. It's all non-perishable so none will go to waste if this blows over. As soon as there is a development re Irish cases I will then assess the situation and stock up accordingly with a view to staying in for a while.

I believe that by the end of this month we will have a much better picture of where this is going because there are enough people affected now outside Europe to give us a real indication of case outcomes by that time re death or recovery.

I don't advocate panic, but some quite preparation is warranted I feel until we know more.

Careful, that kind of talk will enrage the head buried in sand brigade who seem hell bent in defending their position and justifying their lack of preparation.
I can't think of any other reason why theirs so many comments regarding being prepared. It's kind of funny looking at the arguments they try to make, sure it'll be grand kinda stuff, kind of people who would expect the state to protect them from something like this. Completely ignoring the fact that our health system is hilariously unprepared for any large influx of needy patients. 50 cases would crash a hospital here and see an emergency being declared in that hospital. We could be looking at thousands if this goes south.

Mic 1972

wakka12 wrote: »

Not to scare monger but being as infectious as it is it has the potential to infect several billion people easily, and has an estimated mortality rate of 2%. Swine flu is less infectious and infected up to more than 20% of the worlds population. So taking that figure of 20%, 1.6 billion people, 2% of that is 34 million deaths. Spanish flu killed 50 million. This is simply because the worlds population is so much larger than it was at the time of Spanish flu, but still, its a lot of deaths.

It may not be the Spanish flu but it could very easily be the worst pandemic since the Spanish flu, by a very wide margin. I dont feel any panic really, but I dont understand the insistence by many that it is the flu, when most signs would imply its a more serious issue.

On a positive note, millions or even billions of people are probably genetically immune to this and will survive no probs or with mild symptoms
Unfortunately for the rest of them that 2% looks very unrealistic

Kaya Prehistoric Landlord

Kaya Prehistoric Landlord wrote: »

Almost any diet where you
- strictly eliminate junk,
- eat loads of vegetables
- and aren't deficient in anything
is going to make you feel better.
A quick Google suggests some possible brain protecting effects with ketosis, which is interesting, but otherwise there doesn't seem to be any particular benefit in eliminating whole grains and other healthy carb foods.

That said I would be interested in any evidence for any foods that reduce inflammation.

One surprising thing I learnt recently was that carbonated water is high in carbonic acid. I had acid reflux every night for months. Discontinued drinking carbonated water - and made no other dietary change - and it stopped. I know it's not really related; just saying you can find out surprising things about food.

Think about another way. Carbonated anything cause gas bubbles, gets to your stomach, the carbonated bubbles rise pushing stomach acid towards your oesophagus which causes the acid reflux. It's more physics of the bubbles rising than anything chemical the carbonic acid is doing.

ardinn

Something I hadnt thought about.

Prisoner in uk

Had come from thailand - presumable in custody over there - so huge possible transmission.

Would have had to be Flown over - accompanying officers plus 300 odd passengers

Prison - 1100 inmates, i presume a few hundred employees + visitors etc.

This guy could have infected about 2000 people!!!!!

Doctor John

ObiTwoKenobi

wakka12 wrote: »

Not to scare monger but being as infectious as it is it has the potential to infect several billion people easily, and has an estimated mortality rate of 2%. Swine flu is less infectious and infected up to more than 20% of the worlds population. So taking that figure of 20%, 1.6 billion people, 2% of that is 34 million deaths. Spanish flu killed 50 million. This is simply because the worlds population is so much larger than it was at the time of Spanish flu, but still, its a lot of deaths.

It may not be the Spanish flu but it could very easily be the worst pandemic since the Spanish flu, by a very wide margin. I dont feel any panic really, but I dont understand the insistence by many that it is the flu, when most signs would imply its a more serious issue.

I agree 100%. I think successive epidemics of SARS, MERS, Swine Flu and Bird Flu etc. have left the public desensitised to the potential threat of a virus like the current one. Records show there was a single case of SARS in Ireland, which recovered thankfully, but because none of the above list disrupted daily life here people are inclined to dismiss this as just another non-event.

As has been mentioned before, if the serious complication rate is even 16% and 10,000 people in Ireland contract the virus, then 1,600 people will need hospital care, with a further fraction requiring ICU care. Just thinking about this should illustrate the potential problem. Our inability to respond appropriately may be more deadly than the virus itself.

You can tell yourself that the Spanish Flu was 100 years ago and things have moved on so much since then, but the basic problem is the same. If the numbers of infected get high enough, deaths will surely follow. Hopefully this will not come to pass, and if so I'll never be so glad to be wrong.

Here is an article I broadly agree with regarding turmeric.
In my opinion, whilst it may do no real harm, the evidence isn't out there that would convince me of it's benefits. Realistically, I can't see it having an effect on reducing severity of flu cases.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/style/self-care/turmeric-benefits.amp.html%3f0p19G=3248

lolanacho

ThePopehimself wrote: »

Can I ask how old the child is?
I'm wondering why they didn't send him/her to the grandparents too - perhaps to also protect the grandparents from catching it?

I would ask the principal if both parents work. If not, why not keep the child at home. If yes, I would be angry that they put an entire school at risk in order to continue their lives as usual.

The child is 10, they are not trying to protect the grandparents, in fact the child is now living with the grandparents, the three of then went to China for two months while the younger brother who’s 7 stayed in Ireland with his parents.
They are trying to protect themselves and the younger brother by not sharing the same house and car as they did before the other three travelled to China.

Both parents work, they run a Chinese take away.

I’ll talk to the principal, see what happens.

ObiTwoKenobi

ObiTwoKenobi wrote: »

I agree 100%. I think successive epidemics of SARS, MERS, Swine Flu and Bird Flu etc. have left the public desensitised to the potential threat of a virus like the current one. Records show there was a single case of SARS in Ireland, which recovered thankfully, but because none of the above list disrupted daily life here people are inclined to dismiss this as just another non-event.

As has been mentioned before, if the serious complication rate is even 16% and 10,000 people in Ireland contract the virus, then 1,600 people will need hospital care, with a further fraction requiring ICU care. Just thinking about this should illustrate the potential problem. Our inability to respond appropriately may be more deadly than the virus itself.

You can tell yourself that the Spanish Flu was 100 years ago and things have moved on so much since then, but the basic problem is the same. If the numbers of infected get high enough, deaths will surely follow. Hopefully this will not come to pass, and if so I'll never be so glad to be wrong.

Epidemiologically, the main wave of the Spanish flu that killed people was the second wave. This corresponded to massive trench warfare going on in WW1 at the time. The whole world was concentrated on WW1. A lot of doctors/nurses were taken out of normal hospitals to work in field hospitals for the soldiers. This led normal hospitals to be quickly overwhelmed. There was less supportive measures for people back then as well. No worldwide co-operation to combat the flu. The circumstances are totally different this time.

dominatinMC

lolanacho wrote: »

The child is 10, they are not trying to protect the grandparents, in fact the child is now living with the grandparents, the three of then went to China for two months while the younger brother who’s 7 stayed in Ireland with his parents.
They are trying to protect themselves and the younger brother by not sharing the same house and car as they did before the other three travelled to China.

Both parents work, they run a Chinese take away.

I’ll talk to the principal, see what happens.

Definitely do. Incredibly selfish, or at the very least irresponsible, of those parents. As they are just back from China, they are probably more aware of the situation there than most.

Goldengirl

megatron989 wrote: »

Careful, that kind of talk will enrage the head buried in sand brigade who seem hell bent in defending their position and justifying their lack of preparation.
I can't think of any other reason why theirs so many comments regarding being prepared. It's kind of funny looking at the arguments they try to make, sure it'll be grand kinda stuff, kind of people who would expect the state to protect them from something like this. Completely ignoring the fact that our health system is hilariously unprepared for any large influx of needy patients. 50 cases would crash a hospital here and see an emergency being declared in that hospital. We could be looking at thousands if this goes south.

The Winter vomiting bug or seasonal flu epidemic is enough to generate a bed / trolley crisis here , but we are somehow " prepared" according to HSE ?

Mic 1972

Can people flight back from China and just walk out of the airport like that in Dublin??

ObiTwoKenobi

Deleted User wrote: »

Epidemiologically, the main wave of the Spanish flu that killed people was the second wave. This corresponded to massive trench warfare going on in WW1 at the time. The whole world was concentrated on WW1. A lot of doctors/nurses were taken out of normal hospitals to work in field hospitals for the soldiers. This led normal hospitals to be quickly overwhelmed. There was less supportive measures for people back then as well. No worldwide co-operation to combat the flu. The circumstances are totally different this time.

Yes you are correct about the situation in 1918, but does that really matter if the infected numbers start up stack up? Hospitals will still be overrun. Just look at the trolley crisis we have now under "normal" circumstances, then add this.

PopePalpatine

bodhrandude wrote: »

Did anyone see this doing the rounds on Facebook, some company taking advantage of our paranoia and probably making a killing from the sales. The OxyBreathPro mask, apparently retailing at 49 Euro. Nuts.

Nobody cared who I was until I put on the mask.

ardinn

Deleted User wrote: »

Here is an article I broadly agree with regarding turmeric.
In my opinion, whilst it may do no real harm, the evidence isn't out there that would convince me of it's benefits. Realistically, I can't see it having an effect on reducing severity of flu cases.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/style/self-care/turmeric-benefits.amp.html%3f0p19G=3248

Nothing to do with flu - its the inflammatory response cause by pneumonia in the lungs that tumeric will help with.

Not getting into a long winded dialogue about it tho. I'll chance it if I cant breathe at some point!

laurah591

lolanacho wrote: »

A student from my child’s classroom has just came back to school today after spending the last two months in China with his grandparents.

Apparently the teacher was talking to all the kids yesterday regarding this pupil but never mentioned he’d be in today. The teacher was reassuring the kids that this pupil was ok because he was in Central China and were virus free over there!

The school haven’t informed the parents about our children sharing a classroom with someone who has just came back from China, following the advice from the HSE the child doesn’t have to stay at home for 14 days.

Now, this child has a younger brother who attends the same school but who didn’t go to China, he stayed in Ireland with his parents.
I’ve just found out that the parents are keeping the brothers separated from each other for a couple of weeks so they are not sharing the same house, car etc at the moment. The child that came back from China is at the moment living with his grandparents, if virus free he’ll go back to his parents in two weeks.

I understand they are concerned about him passing something onto his younger brother...... but they don’t give a crap about sending him to school and sharing a classroom with another 26 children!

I’m thinking about talking to the Principal tomorrow and keep my child at home for two weeks.

Any advise? Thanks

This is mental. Is your source of information reliable 're the parents separating the 2 kids yet sending eldest to school. I would most definitely be contacting school principal to discuss.

ardinn

lolanacho wrote: »

The child is 10, they are not trying to protect the grandparents, in fact the child is now living with the grandparents, the three of then went to China for two months while the younger brother who’s 7 stayed in Ireland with his parents.
They are trying to protect themselves and the younger brother by not sharing the same house and car as they did before the other three travelled to China.

Both parents work, they run a Chinese take away.

I’ll talk to the principal, see what happens.

Id also alert the hse tbh - if the parents sent the child to the grandparents house thats a fair indictment something is up!

Mr.Wemmick

So how do you know if you have a normal flu or the corona virus?

Is there a marked difference? I have read that the symptoms can present as mild in some people.

ObiTwoKenobi

Mr.Wemmick wrote: »

So how do you know if you have a normal flu or the corona virus?

Is there a marked difference? I have read that the symptoms can present as mild in some people.

The advice seems to be to go home, self isolate, and wait to see what develops. I imagine if you contact the HSE they will say "call back when you can't breathe".:eek: