Topic: Corona Virus Panic/Discussion Thread

@nessisonett Haha, it doesn’t take much for a quote by a politician to take hold and become part of society’s lexicon. It’s why I simply can’t abide partaking in any sort of news (from either political side). It’s filled with out of context sound bites and radical claims. Anyways, I digress...

To bring it back around, I find that the Coronavirus has also become a cesspool of misinformation. I can hardly keep up with the opposing theories and thoughts about it. It makes my head hurt. I think I’ll just keep to my small and relatively meaningless life and wait for the storm to pass.

@thmcnoisy Thanks mate. It was quite scary, but aside from some memory issues and back pain I'm mostly better now. Glad that your Graves disease was quickly diagnosed and treated.

@Th3solution Anyone who goes on American television and talks about death panels (or writes it elsewhere) is point blank lying in order to further a particular political ideology. If they need to lie in order to push their politics then that should tell people everything they need to know.

@mookysam “If they need to lie in order to push their politics then that should tell people everything they need to know.”
Yes, this! exactly!
Problem is, I’m suspicious that 90% of them are lying. 😜

In terms of the NHS, I'm a huge fan and supporter. By and large I have been served pretty well by the NHS. Any bad experience I have had was down to over demand and lack of capacity which I blame slightly on management and the government. I was once left on a trolley for 5 hours after a bad car accident while I waited to find out if I had skeletal damage and/or internal bleeding (I didn't) but I could see they were literally run ragged.

I also accept that people make mistakes and sometimes, in healthcare, they are very dangerous. But we have to monitor and investigate etc. I am amazed at what the NHS is doing right now given the state of it. God knows the damage it is doing to all healthcare and support workers.

In terms of funding etc. I have seen first hand a lot of money blown in the I.T and infrasturvute and procurement world which I think needs working on massively.

@Rudy_Manchego The NHS IT section is notoriously outdated. If they bothered to invest, they’d probably end up saving more money in the long term.

@Th3solution 'one of the inherent principles of the US culture is individual rights, freedoms, and privileges.'

This is a tougher nut to crack. If you work for a company, America has one of the worst deals in as much as holiday entitlement on the planet. You can get zero holidays, which is Insanity to me. We get 20 holiday days plus 8 Bank Holidays for a 40 hour week - that's a legal requirement accrued each month, some companies offer even more. If you work longer your legal entitlement goes up. Although companies tend to offer holidays in the USA (10 roughly per year) where is the freedom in handing over your rights to see your own family over to a company like that?

The people in France have 30 days a year plus bank holidays! Freedom (in a French accent).

The UK is very Americanised, we love your music, sport and going to the states is sought after. Wherever that's to travel route 66, visit Orlando or watch the Yankees play (and do shopping).

So you are a cultural super power in every meaning of the word. Productivity is high from the workforce and you have the most powerful military the world has ever seen. However social mobility is true freedom, freedom to move up the ladder and be successful. The freedom to spend time with your family. America has tumbled down this list over the last twenty years. Here's a link to countries with the best social mobility;

https://markets.businessinsider.com/amp/news/ranked-the-socia...

@themcnoisy I see what you’re saying but I’m not sure that’s exactly right. A more extreme example might be to say that in the UK we are free from getting shot so readily because we have laws against gun ownership. Not that I’d want guns to be legal here but you can’t take a freedom away and say it’s been replaced by another freedom. In terms of holiday entitlement an American might just say the owner of the company who was free to set up his business has his every right to dictate holiday conditions. Having the state decide is ultimately eroding freedoms.. although I don’t argue this benefits the majority and of course I prefer it that way, having lived here my whole life. But I guess that’s the cultural difference.

@kyleforrester87 That's true. Essentially we just need shelter, warmth and sustenance. Everything else is a bonus.

Edit - it's an assumption that you can't own a firearm in the UK. You definitely can. There are 700,000 registered firearm certificates (mostly shotguns). That's a rate of over 1% of the population eeeek. Its just way harder if you live in an urban environment, there's no reason to own one.

@themcnoisy yeah exactly.

OK so back on track with covid 19, the antibody rollout has started in New York. 3000 results are in and its good news.

It's prevelant to a higher degree than originally thought, Cuomo reckons 1.7 million residents has had covid-19. Of course more antibody testing needs to be done but if that bears out is amazing news! The Death rate will be around 0.5% way lower than previously thought.

@themcnoisy I mean, that’s assuming the guns are licensed. Plenty crime goes on with unlicensed guns. Some dude my uncle went to school with got gunned down at the local Asda with a ‘Clint Eastwood-looking gun’. Alas, poor Gerbil, wee bit of a nutter and small-time gangster but he gets our Asda on the news.

@themcnoisy yeah, what @kyleforrester87 said. I agree that it’s a two sided coin. And yes — I’d love more holiday time. Absolutely I would.

Interesting article on the social mobility. I think access to education is probably a large player there.

@LaJettatura It can’t be easy under these circumstances but the work you and others do is so, so important. Not only because of this pandemic though, HCW have been underappreciated for years and if one good thing comes out of this, let it be proper appreciation for what you and your colleagues do on a daily basis.

@LaJettatura the rash you are referring too is new. Thanks for the info share, that could be interesting moving forward. Seems covid 19 has more tells than a temperature and dry cough.

@nessisonett there's another way to look at gun ownership though, women are as empowered as men and you would be way less likely to be randomly mugged if you could carry in public.

Prior to joining the military, I had only ever seen a real gun in person at a clay pigeon shooting introduction course as a team building exercise about twenty years ago, I didn't even get a go for some reason. In the RN the initial buzz of holding a weapon soon gives way to a harsher reality. You never forget you are holding a semi automatic rifle on duty. They are a massive inconvenience when literally nothing happens.

With all that said If I was in America I would still definitely own a gun.

Hm, here’s an idea - has anyone thought about injecting patients with disinfectant???

@kyleforrester87 I literally just saw that there. Perhaps if Trump kills enough Americans, he’ll win the election.

So, suppose we hit the body with a big truck at 100mph, fast enough to knock the virus out. I say, suppose we bring it inside the body. It sounds interesting. You're going to test that, right? Is there a way we could do something like that? It sounds interesting to me.

It’ll be beautiful

@nessisonett Not if it’s his own supporters he takes out.

@Thrillho I guess that’s true, the only ones that would have actually injected bleach probably would have voted for him anyway.