Wuhan and Coronavirus.

[andyinluton]

So we are all being told to wash your hands.

As there are no hand sanitisers left on the shelves, unless you want to pay extortionate prices on a fleabay equivalent black market, people are resorting to making themselves.

Good old PHE counsels against it. Use only what "The professional drug and soap companies" sell or in any case soap and water is better. Incredible! If you can't buy it over the counter and you are not near a washbasin with plentiful soap and water then do nothing!

Well, good old PHE (Nanny public health England who I have had a run-in with in the past)......

Anything is better than nothing and as I can't find soap and water on the tube, the railway network or many public spaces I will make my own. I'm not a chemist but I can read simple instructions and I do know that the effective agent in hand sterilisers is alcohol and I do know what Isopropyl or ethanol is. I do know what Aloe vera is and I do know that if I mix in the ratio 2:1 I should get a concentration over the recommended 60% with enough gel consistency to be able to apply to the hands.

Oh, and by the way PHE, most hand sanitisers on the market are anti - bacterial, not anti viral, and the three different household name brands I have had in my house recently all have less than 60% alcohol concentration so I would prefer to ignore your advice to stick to over the counter products!

Good to see alcohol listed - I’ve been taking it internally , am I doing something wrong?

 

[Amarillo]

Good to see alcohol listed - I’ve been taking it internally , am I doing something wrong?

No. Alcohol is a preservative - take as much as you like.

 

[WelshGas]

I think it’s probably best to be an early adopter & get it now, grab a hospital bed whilst there are still some free.
Looking at the facilities available - only 15 beds across the whole country with the full life support facilities that the Chinese have been using to treat the bad cases & that bed required for two weeks + per patient.

When it is anticipated that 80% of the uk population are going to get it at some point our whole hospital set up looks inadequate.

My youngest caught swine flue aged 10 months. I spent a month in hospital with her in strict isolation for that & it’s not an experience I would want to repeat.

Not quit as desperate as that.
If elective Surgery is postponed then a whole new world of Intensive Care options opens up.
Each operating theatre has the capability of ventilating and monitoring a patient to within 99% ability of an Intensive Care Bed and in some cases better still as they often deal with very sick ICU patients who are also undergoing surgery so have to be on top of their game. Likewise Theatre Recovery and High Dependancy units often have such capacity.
In my last hospital we had 8 ICU Beds , 4 HDU beds, 8 theatres with attached Anaesthetic rooms and an 8 bedded Theatre Recovery unit.
You don't need a highly trained ICU nurse for every bed but you would need 1 ICU nurse and 2 general nurses for the general nursing duties for 2 patients.
In the Swine Flue epidemic we went from 8 ICU patients to 20 and still had capacity for another 4 to 6 patients.
ICU 8, HDU 2, Recovery 2 and 4 theatres looking after another 8 patients.
2 Theatres were manned 24/7 for Urgent Surgery only. Elective Surgical beds were closed as there were no patients and nursing staff re-tasked to work with a ICU nurse for general duties looking after the needs of 1 or 2 ICU patients leaving the ICU nurse to concentrate on specialist ICU therapy etc:
Anaesthetists who work in theatre, all of whom have extensive ICU training and knowledge were freed up by the re-purposing of Theatres to look after the ICU patients in these facilities.
Many Recovery and Theatre staff also have extensive experience in dealing with very sick patients.

The main problem is not lack of facilities or staff but the management of those staff in the longterm and the fact that they may become unwell.

We shall see how things pan out in the coming weeks.

It might seem that there are more Critical Care Beds in other western countries / head of population but many count ICU,HDU and Coronary Care beds as Critical Care Beds, we don't. In the UK we only count Critical Care beds as ICU only ignoring HDU and Coronary Care for the most part.

 

[kave]

I here retired NHS staff is not interested in working extra with fear of beeing ill.

 

[T6 CFO]

I here retired NHS staff is not interested in working extra with fear of beeing ill.

There was a negative interview on BBC News last night by a retired NHS employee. Nothing new there, it would have been just as easy to find someone who was quite happy to return in an emergency. But hey let’s be negative.


Mike

 

[Cloud Dodger]

Dubai, our hotel had undergone thorough cleaning due to virus, you could smell it and notices were displayed. Hardly anyone in the streets wearing masks, so we did not bother.

Singapore, our hotel had manned temperature camera sensors so every guest had to pass through them before entering the hotel each time.

Some Singapore taxi drivers wore masks, some did not. Hardly anyone in the streets wearing masks, so we did not bother.

Singapore airport had manned temperature cameras rigged on entry and in various places throughout the terminal.

Very sickly flight from Singapore to Australia (probably just noticing it more due to virus news), lots of people coughing and spluttering on the 7-8 hour transit, probably just dry air.

Manned temperature cameras again on entry to Sydney AUS.

At Christchurch NZ. From memory no temperature cameras but staff handing out flyers on what to do if you fall sick (don't go to doctors call a number).

On our travels have noticed lots of people cleaning hands in public, on flights using gels etc, so the message is getting through.

Interesting talk with travel insurance before leaving, they would cover medical expenses if we got hospitalised BUT they would not cover cancelled flights, new flights or hotel expenses if we were quarantined.

 

[gvick]

Italy have decided to close all schools for two weeks and uk are considering something similar. D of H have told my wife that the virus is now mutating and there are new cases where individuals have contracted the virus without direct contact.
When this was first in the news I thought oh well flu is more serious and we don’t get worked up about that every year.
This definitely is starting to feel a bit more serious. As I stated previously the3 to 4% mortality rate is not limited to the very young or old it is killing normal healthy people eg the doctor who first broke the news in China was in his 30’s and healthy.

One last tip is that alcohol gels once opened only maintain effectiveness for a few days its far better to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.

 

[WelshGas]

Italy have decided to close all schools for two weeks and uk are considering something similar. D of H have told my wife that the virus is now mutating and there are new cases where individuals have contracted the virus without direct contact.
When this was first in the news I thought oh well flu is more serious and we don’t get worked up about that every year.
This definitely is starting to feel a bit more serious. As I stated previously the3 to 4% mortality rate is not limited to the very young or old it is killing normal healthy people eg the doctor who first broke the news in China was in his 30’s and healthy.

One last tip is that alcohol gels once opened only maintain effectiveness for a few days its far better to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.

I very much doubt that the virus has mutated rather that it is now out in the community and some people have the virus but minimal symptoms thus passing it on unknowingly.
That Chinese Doctor was in his 30’s, but he was in the frontline being exposed to new, infected, patients everyday thus receiving a very heavy virus load each time. Also many staff in that situation not resting properly, snatched meals etc: are known to have lowered immunity and he would also have been exposed to all the secondary bacterial infections the really sick patients develop. The Chinese authorities are responsible for his demise.
The death rate amongst medical and nursing staff could well be higher unless they have the best protective equipment and their workload properly managed. We will depend on them.

 

[willwander]

In the news today, apparently it has mutated into L and S variants. New L strain believed to be more aggressive.

Coronavirus has mutated into more aggressive disease, say scientists

Coronavirus has evolved into two major lineages and it is possible to be infected with both, a new study shows

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[WelshGas]

In the news today, apparently it has mutated into L and S variants. New L strain believed to be more aggressive.

Coronavirus has mutated into more aggressive disease, say scientists

Coronavirus has evolved into two major lineages and it is possible to be infected with both, a new study shows

www.telegraph.co.uk

From the article

 

[Jabberwocky]

What are we like? A single snowflake and suddenly there's a 10m high drift at the door! Sorry, had to be said.

 

[WelshGas]

My Daughter in law , a solicitor in Sydney NSW, is now in self quarantine as my son's work colleague has tested +tve. My son is an A/E specialist. They are expected to work but wearing full masks and gloves to protect patients until they develope symptoms then they go off on sick leave and hopefully recover and be back at work when the epidemic is at its height.

 

[Amarillo]

San Marino is now the world's Coronavirus leader with 0.069% of the population with the virus. If that level of infection was replicated in Britain there would be 45,500 cases.

 

[soulstyledevon]

One last tip is that alcohol gels once opened only maintain effectiveness for a few days its far better to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.

Really...???
I’ve not heard that one before?

 

[westfalia]

I´ve got a cold.

 

[Hamish S]

Don't forget to wipe your nose on your sleeve!!! ( or a tissue they say).

 

[Meoncoast]

Really...???
I’ve not heard that one before?

So that is why the opened bottle of whisky tastes like tea.

 

[ArunAlec]

Really...???
I’ve not heard that one before?

Think it's going to last longer than a few days, so long as its resealed after use to stop the alcohol evaporating and it's within its use by date. The hand cleanser dispensers used in hospitals certainly are not changed out as a routine unless empty (at least when I worked in a hospice they weren't).

 

[Hotel California]

Today a person presumaly with the virus has came in the nearest hospital to where i live only 15min drive from our place....it's all arround!

 

[Maxx]

I’m an ICU doctor. The NHS isn’t ready for the coronavirus crisis | Tim Cook

As the virus spreads quickly in the UK, hospitals need to step up plans to care for the very sick, recruit more staff and cancel routine surgery, says ICU doctor Tim Cook

www.theguardian.com

 

[soulstyledevon]

Think it's going to last longer than a few days, so long as its resealed after use to stop the alcohol evaporating and it's within its use by date. The hand cleanser dispensers used in hospitals certainly are not changed out as a routine unless empty (at least when I worked in a hospice they weren't).

I did wonder.
Had a quick search, I think you’re right with what you say.
I have some in the van, for after I’ve filled the Evian bottle.
Would seem pointless, if it did go off that quickly after opening.

 

[Amarillo]

AUSTRALIA

Following panic buying, shops run out of toilet paper. This has given arcade owners a great money spinning idea.

Australian pranksters likely hit upon multi-thousand dollar toilet paper arcade machine business idea overnight

Literally best sh*t ever.

www.mothership.sg

 

[TripleBee]

ArcGIS Dashboards

ArcGIS Dashboards

gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com

 

[Calimili]

I´ve got a cold.

Good luck getting an appointment with a Dr unless you have Temperature

 

[westfalia]

Good luck getting an appointment with a Dr unless you have Temperature

I wouldn't go to the Docs with a sniffle.
Lemsip for me.