Yes
No
All overblown fearmongering, or is it really time to crack open skulls and feast on the goo inside?
Short of a complete lockdown of the entire country, similar to what Italy is finally doing, it seems pretty much impossible to stop the spread of this thing.
All day, dealing with freaked students who want us to shut down. I've said the words "HSE guidelines" so many times they're starting to lose all meaning.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
And you're right. However it could be argued that some of the advice coming from the top is questionable. For example, the national emergency group (can't remember the name off the top of my head) says that nursing homes shouldn't necessarily be closed, when the biggest at-risk group is the elderly, and they're arguing against undertakers suggesting that bodies should be sent for cremation immediately. Whatever about the latter (undertakers arguing against their bottom line?), my mother's nursing home is closed, and I'm glad it is.
Schools and colleges closed from tomorrow, i.e. 6pm today.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/li...087df56e4c72fb
Was on the phone to my mother last night, (I am UK based & due a visit home next week) both my parents would be in the underlying health issue / age range risk category which along with my work, I run a bar / music venue meeting lots of people, had my mother kinda hinting at postponing my visit which I had phoned up to suggest anyway. I get it, people are panicking but am I risking bringing this thing into my home in Ireland ? Nope. Mad times lads.
All gatherings over 500 people to be cancelled. So Premier division matches off, First division still on?!
This is my story. I'm not looking for sympathy or attention, but it will help my mental health to anonymously shout this into the void of the internet, so you guys are it.
On Feb 25th a fella in my work took a phone call from home. His son had been on a skiing trip in Northern Italy over half term, and had been sent home from school to self isolate. The following day the isolation was all knocked on the head as none of them had any symptoms and although they had gone through Milan Airport the resort they were in wasn't thought to be in an affected area at that time.
Thought little more of it until last friday when we were talking about it and he mentioned the son has developed a cough. The kid is 17 so he's as fit as a fiddle.
Then yesterday my daughter started coughing. It's dreadful now. We've explained the situation to her GP who hasn't sent her to be tested on the basis that she has no fever, and has a history of developing croup during the cold months. They have to draw a line somewhere and it seems reasonable to me that they aren't pulling the emergency .
If she has it i'm fairly sure that I've carried it home from work, and that it will go through the house.
She is under self-isolation now, although she doesn't know it. Our entire company is working from home.
But she was with my parents yesterday for over an hour. They are in their 60's and in really good health for people at that age. My dad has a few issues with sciatica which causes him problems like needing to uses the lift in Lansdowne rather than those god forsaken steps, but I'll shake hands right now on that being my biggest issue at his age.
I would suffer with some anxiety related issues from time to time, but this is different.
I'm legitimately scared this time.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
Its normal to feel anxious backstothewall. 100% normal. Everyone is to some degree - anyone that says otherwise is either a liar or a p---k.
Don't give yourself a hard time over being scared of something. The person sitting next to me at work has a child with severe immune deficiency as well as a host of other physical disabilities and she has been a wreck now for the past 3 weeks.
Stay safe, follow all the procedure's and get your parents to stay at home. Mind your head man and talk to someone if you need to.
It’s no harm at all, BTTW, and sometimes the best thing we can do, to shout into the void – and, genuinely, this is a worrying time. It’s only natural to feel concern about your parents, your daughter and the rest of your family, but temper that with the knowledge that they all, from your post, seem to enjoy generally good health which puts them less at risk of a bad infection, and much less at risk of something more acute. It may seem only a small seed of comfort amidst all the uncertainty, but nurture it.
It always comes across as a platitude to ‘follow the advice’ – wash hands, keep distance, avoid unnecessary contact or journeys – but there is comfort in the routine it creates as well as medical sense. For me, the worst thing is a profound sense of helplessness, but consciously doing what’s recommended makes me feel like I have some small degree of personal agency and I’m 'doing my bit', whatever that is.
That said, I’m resigned to the fact that I will probably get it. Mrs Grise is, too. She’s a nurse and certain they’ll cancel her outpatients' department except for patients who need ongoing treatment, and staff will be sent to the ED or wards. But we’re staying calm by talking it through and planning how to manage things if that day arrives.
So, talk often and long with those you love and trust. Working from home can keep us physically safer, but it can also remove the social networks that help with mental wellbeing, and allow negativity in. Keep us updated, and let us know all is well – that goes for anyone in the same boat.
Last edited by Eminence Grise; 13/03/2020 at 2:22 PM.
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
Yes, you are. It's quite virulent, two touches is all that's needed: carrier touches your hand or you touch a door handle that was touched by them recently; then you touch your mouth, nose or eyes, and there's a good chance now you're a carrier. Same happens in your home, your family has it.
My wife works in health, albeit social health, but she's always had an interest in biology, epidemiology, etc. We have a 7 year old that's always gotten terrible chest infections, lots of visits to SouthDoc, lots of antibiotics (unfortunately), even a couple of visits to the emergency room. We started doubling our shops a few weeks ago, have a handy (but not obscene) stock of the necessities, and we won't be moving out of the house until at least the end of the month. If the lads need to run around, they can do it in the back garden. It just isn't worth the risk. I don't want him getting it, and TBH I don't want it. It's a nasty bugger of a thing, you'll find it quite hard to breathe, which is an awful feeling, and that's on top of headaches, a fever and probably more besides.
Similarly, my mother is in a nursing home that closed their doors earlier in the week. I'm glad, but I wouldn't have visited anyway. Again, it's just not worth the risk.
This isn't the annual flu. Nor is it Spanish Flu. But it remains a pandemic.
I did something similar. Never even mentioned it to the wife but I gradually started bringing home this or that thing we probably didn't need yet. Then we just did a standard big shop the day before yesterday when it became clear that we were about to cross the Rubicon. We've a pretty well stocked warchest at this stage. Enough dry stuff to do for a while, and enough fresh to keep us going until the madness subsides in a week or two.
I don't intend to go very far for a while even after the daughter is out of isolation. The wife works with kids with learning disabilities who often have compromised immune systems so her place is likely to close. She's a qualified social worker so I'm sure they will find work for her though.
This collective feeling in the country must be a bit similar to how it felt for people in 1845 when reports of blight started to circulate. I doubt we're going to lose 2M people, and there is nowhere worth emigrating to, but I mean the reports of a weird disease popping up in other parts of the country and wondering when/if its going to show up in this parish and how bad it's actually going to be.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
Day 2 of social distancing...my kids have become the most annoying people on the planet.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
You don't want to get it if you can avoid it, even if you are "healthy". I had a bacterial lung infection a few years ago - it felt like a terrible flu, I got over it but I ended up with calcified adrenal glands, which although relatively minor is something that cannot be fixed. A lot of lung infections (like TB and to a lesser extent pneumonia) can give you long term issues that only become apparent later. Corona could be like this as it aggressively attacks your lungs.
Pubs to close, thankfully.
Those scenes from Temple Bar really do show we have a fair percentage of pig-ignorant 'epic bantz' w@nkers in our midst.
Cheltenham going ahead was an absolute farce, as were the European games with crowds.
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