RandoEFC

Dont forget @CaaC (John)!!

Isn't it just a result of more developed countries having closer links with each other, more travel etc. And also that they have the means to diagnose it increasing the numbers? I cant imagine Niger and Uganda making it a massive priority to import thousands of coronavirus testing kits unless I'm just being woefully ignorant?

Government who ultimately rose to power based on the "people are fed up of experts" Brexit campaign now furious that people aren't listening to the experts. You made your bed.

So today the Isle of Man has increased to a total of 5 confirmed cases, all mild and none yet requiring hospital treatment. Crucially though, one of today's new cases has no travel history so has been locally transmitted. The government's response is to close borders to all but returning Manx residents. Schools will close at the end of the day tomorrow with some staying open only to children of key workers. All pubs, bars, gyms, restaurants close from midnight tonight. Restaurants allowed to stay open to provide delivery or collection services only. All residents advised not to leave their house except for food shopping and work if necessary. Fair play to them, even if they have to be ultra cautious on account of there apparently only being six ventilators available on the island in total. Rather be here than most of Europe right now, especially England.

I have no problem with schools being used as emergency childcare for people who need (as in actually need like medical staff, not fucking bank clerks and bus drivers) to keep going to work. I would happily man it myself and take that risk as someone who isn't vulnerable. They've given parents a choice to keep their kids at home with no penalty over here now but nobody seems to care about keeping teachers out of the firing line. Just been told that if you have underlying health issues or you're pregnant to self isolate. People need to start listening to what's happening across the world. Italy aren't able to treat under 60s now because people are dangerously circulating stats about how under 60s wont die from it, but they still need intensive care in many cases and hospital staff have been forced to choose to prioritise the younger patients because they have a better chance of survival. Many many vulnerable people who could have survived are dying because younger people (or the people around them) are being stupid and allowing themselves to get sick and take up beds, indirectly killing others unnecessarily. I cant believe we've got this far into this pandemic and people still haven't opened their eyes.

Sit on your fucking sofa. It's not hard.

This isn't the point though. Even if children don't suffer severe symptoms they do carry the virus. I've seen them described as super carriers as early as last month. Imagine one person has the virus, it is symptomless for up to 4 days, so they catch it on Saturday. Monday they send one of their kids to primary school and another to secondary school. Both carry the virus. With luck, the kids each pass the virus on to two other kids, who show no symptoms, take it home, pass it to their parents, come back into school the next day and pass it on to two new class mates each. This whole time, even the parent of the first two kids doesn't know they're carrying the virus. Wednesday arrives and the original parent develops a cough and a fever, the family self isolates for 2 weeks. Too late. One of the teachers at the secondary school catches the virus off one of the kids that is carrying it invisibly. They take it home, pass it to their partner who works in an office, as well as their daughter who goes to a school 5 miles away. The process continues. Today our local government told us not to visit our mothers for Mothers Day. I have no symptoms and my Mum isn't vulnerable, nor are any of her household, but her Mum, my Nana is vulnerable as a woman in her 70s, so I'm staying away. It isn't worth the risk. Yet tomorrow, I am expected to turn up to school where I'll be within two metres throughout the day of at least a dozen staff and probably a hundred kids, all from different households, all potential carriers. Keeping schools open is totally idiotic.

Are you guys getting the "schools should stay open because kids aren't vulnerable and fuck the teachers" treatment too?

I'm an introvert and I have three house mates to keep me company. Not looking forward to it in the slightest if it happens here. You can be an introvert and still need the face to face contact of a mixture of people and colleagues and stuff in your daily life, not to mention the fresh air and change of scenery. In fact that's eminently normal.

it's like three posts but I look forward to linking the "Peru Appreciation Thread" or whatever it's called every time you mention Peru in other threads for the next few days .

I've been on a strange journey with Lewis Hamilton. I supported him in 2008 when I first got into the sport as a British driver. Then Jenson Button came to prominence the following year and completely swayed me in his direction. The contrast in persona between a young Lewis Hamilton and a wiser Jenson Button was pretty stark back then so I was firmly Team JB when they teamed up at McLaren from 2011. It's taken me until the last 6-18 months to really actually be able to say I quite like Lewis Hamilton these days. He seems to have grown up.

I'm going to try not to get angry and hope that the idiots learn their lesson even if they're choosing to learn it the hard way.

Mental and infuriating but hopefully that's what it is, one last hurrah, that will surely indirectly lead to the deaths of several vulnerable people but at least we can be proud that we won't be told what to do, or something.

It's going to take a long time for it to sink in just how bizarre the denial was from so many governments in larger countries thinking that doing the same thing as the countries that got infected before them would somehow yield better outcomes.

Didn't they say they're to close tonight? I guess 3am could be interpreted as tonight.

I haven't watched either of the press conferences that he has been involved with, but both times I have seen the reaction on Twitter where he has received praise from even the most ardent lefties. He does have the benefit of being the man to deliver the good news, but it is significant that he speaks well and is reassuring. Johnson speaks to people during light-hearted times, and they find him relatable, but the way he speaks and bumbles isn't exactly reassuring in a time like this.

We're not a very smart species really are we. Thousands of years of evolution and this is what we amount to .

To be fair the guy who owns Wetherspoons is a Conservative party donor who printed off Vote Leave beermats to be placed in every Wetherspoons in the country so we're pretty high up on the gammon-meter when we're talking about him.

Lol the Isle of Man is apparently the first place in the UK to jail someone for failing to observe self-isolation guidance. Less than 12 hours after our first case was confirmed. Amusing but also reassuring. They're using the pit lane that's usually used for TT as a testing spot. Drove past this morning and there was a whole line of cars in the queue to get tested and a nurse in overalls with a mask on giving instructions. Mad times we are living in.

We've got it (officially): Going to be pandemonium over the weekend.

People in the UK still don't seem to understand this and think stuff like closing schools is an overreaction or that it's alright to still go to the pub if you're not in the vulnerable group, or that stopping social gatherings isn't required if all over 70s are self isolating out of the way anyway. It doesn't matter who gets it or whether they'll be fine. Everyone is likely to pass it on to at least 1 or 2 other people and it snowballs from there. I really worry that too much of our population have the "it'll be fine" attitude because they've never lived through anything like this before and collective responsibility is an alien concept to too many of them. I hope I'm wrong.

Schools are staying open over here for the time being. Today I had to go in and convince Year 11 and Year 13 kids to keep on studying as normal until we know more about their exams but ultimately the exams are going to be cancelled, the kids want some guidance on what they need to do, some of them have places at university riding on their results this summer, and we're completely helpless. Some students still stayed behind to ask me questions at the end of the day and I actually couldn't help them because I didn't have the energy or concentration. I'm absolutely empty work wise right now between having to deal with that today and trying to organise ways of helping kids learn at home for the next weeks and months when any day we could be told not to come in tomorrow. Crazy times.

I'm not praising them, I'm just interested in how they managed it.