The Covid-19 community thread

by **RDW** Thu 19 Mar 2020, 9:37 am

First topic message reminder :

With not much sport going on I want to create a thread for anything to do with the global pandemic.

Feel free to use it however you want.

If you need to release stress or anxiety about what's going on to a bunch of strangers who don't know you then go ahead.

If you're self isolating and want some benign chat then crack on.

If you're struggling and looking for anyone to help with anything then reach out here and see if anyone can help out.

This may not be used or it may kick off and help someone out - either way please be nice. We're literally all in it together!

by **BigGee** Wed 15 Apr 2020, 11:10 am

guildfordbat wrote:Hi BigGee - thanks for your post. Can I ask what the public transport situation is like in London currently. I read last week that several bus drivers had died and I'm surprised that hasn't attracted more publicity.

Yes many public transport workers have caught it and some unfortunately have died, which is a tragedy as most of them have gone quietly about their work without any fanfare.

Buses and tubes are still running in London with a reduced service, largely due to many staff being off sick or isolating. A lot of them are running very empty as numbers using the system is down massively and this may be a big part in why we have seen a drop off in numbers at the hospital. It is hard to imagine a more contagious place than a crammed tube train!

I do hope all the others that have been victims of this disease, such as the bus drivers, are not forgotten about when this is all done with. What they are doing is just as important and probably far more dangerous than what we do!

by guildfordbat Wed 15 Apr 2020, 11:23 am

BigGee wrote:
guildfordbat wrote:Hi BigGee - thanks for your post. Can I ask what the public transport situation is like in London currently. I read last week that several bus drivers had died and I'm surprised that hasn't attracted more publicity.

Yes many public transport workers have caught it and some unfortunately have died, which is a tragedy as most of them have gone quietly about their work without any fanfare.

Buses and tubes are still running in London with a reduced service, largely due to many staff being off sick or isolating. A lot of them are running very empty as numbers using the system is down massively and this may be a big part in why we have seen a drop off in numbers at the hospital. It is hard to imagine a more contagious place than a crammed tube train!

I do hope all the others that have been victims of this disease, such as the bus drivers, are not forgotten about when this is all done with. What they are doing is just as important and probably far more dangerous than what we do!

Thanks again, BigGee.

It was reckless and crazy for reduced tube trains to be running when people were first being told to keep their distance!

The tube drivers at least have the protection of their cabs. There seems little or none for bus drivers.

Take care as much as you can.

by WELL-PAST-IT Thu 16 Apr 2020, 8:10 am

All the buses around our way have the perspex screen that encloses the driver, even the perforations have been sealed off, the only way that they can get infected is by touching and transferring as far as I can see.

They have been asking the few users they have to enter via the middle door, so they must be giving free rides as the pay unit is by the driver. Having said that, most of the people that use it seem to have a Freedom Pass or are students (lazy ones, that wait 10 minutes for a bus to go two stops) and get free travel anyway.

The tube fiasco was planning at it's worst, I don't know who is to blame, government directives which we haven't seen telling TFL to cut services or TFL it self and some very doggy logic.

by **BigGee** Thu 16 Apr 2020, 9:26 am

From what I recall, the tube situation was exascerbated by staffing numbers, they were forced to cut services largely by the shear numbers of staff off sick or in isoation at the begining of the crisis before the lockdown. The government was telling them to run a full service but they simply were not able to.

Glad to hear that TFL has improved the situation for the bus drivers, who I think were particularly vulnerable at the begining of all this.

by WELL-PAST-IT Thu 16 Apr 2020, 1:59 pm

I am not sure that it is TFL that have done anything BigGee, in this case they are lucky the the buses used, have the perspex screen built in to protect drivers from rowdies and drunks etc. The holes are to allow speech to be heard, it looks like a thick cellophane material has been applied to the inside of the perspex over the holes, this happened very early on, so someone was very quick to react.

by **BigGee** Sun 19 Apr 2020, 8:17 pm

Well on the hospital frontline, things have continued to be manageable. Our Covid admissions definitely seem to have plateaued and the health service seems to be getting through this well within the worst case scenarios that we saw in Italy and Spain.

Our main worry at the moment seems to be what is going on with other patients, often with chronic health conditions, that we see often in hospital. They have been conspicuously absent over the past 3-4 weeks and anecdotal evidence unfortunately seems to suggest that some of them are dying at home rather than coming into hospital. If this is true it will be yet another unforeseen consequence of this awful disease. We are actually in the process of re-configuring our hospital again to bring more non-Covid areas on line in anticipation of a significant rise in non-Covid admissions over the next few weeks.

There may be other unforeseen consequences of this pandemic, that may also have longer term effects. cancer referrals are way down for instance and that seems unlikely to be because less people have cancer. We may well see a lot of late referrals and the unfortunate consequences of that later on this year.

We have had a difficult weekend in my hospital however, not because of the workload, but because we have lost two long standing and well respected members of staff. We are all feeling their loss and if we were not in any doubt about how deadly this disease can be, we certainly know now.

two good people gone before their time and we will miss them.

by tigertattie Sun 19 Apr 2020, 10:56 pm

I’m just worried about possible second spike. Hopefully the powers that be have the information they need to make decisions on opening up again.

Stay safe everyone and remember to watch the SRU rugby replays on YouTube on Friday evenings

by **RDW** Sun 19 Apr 2020, 11:15 pm

Good to hear from you Biggee and sorry to hear about your colleagues. There's a huge emotional toll on all frontline workers just now and I hope they are looked after - something the NHS traditionally hasn't been great at! I've read Adam Kay's books (very funny but also shocking to hear a lot of the stories) and there were several times he had experienced real mental trauma at work but basically had to dust himself off again and go in the next day, with no real follow up.

by jimbopip Mon 20 Apr 2020, 9:20 am

Gee, sorry to hear about your loss. Hug

How about MrsGee? How is she coping with you going out to work? When this is all over you must take one of your cycle trips to Sunny Essexand stop for tea and cakes at CasaPip. cake

by **BigGee** Mon 20 Apr 2020, 9:36 am

I actually got out on my bike yesterday, the first time in 2 weeks and did a gentle spin out to Epping and back. I was blowing like a train but it did me the power of good.

Bike therapy is certainly very good for mental well being.

Maybe get over to see you guys sometime in the summer when this has blown over a bit and I have better legs!

by **BigGee** Mon 20 Apr 2020, 9:45 am

RDW wrote:Good to hear from you Biggee and sorry to hear about your colleagues. There's a huge emotional toll on all frontline workers just now and I hope they are looked after - something the NHS traditionally hasn't been great at! I've read Adam Kay's books (very funny but also shocking to hear a lot of the stories) and there were several times he had experienced real mental trauma at work but basically had to dust himself off again and go in the next day, with no real follow up.

It can be quite brutal in a hospital sometimes. The NHS as an employer is a lot better than it used to be about helping people that are struggling, certainly compared to how it was when I started 30 years ago, but in such a vast organisation, that is inevitably more patient than staff focused, it will always struggle to do enough.

What is good though is the peer support from your colleagues, by necessity we are good at supporting each other when times are bad. When you have worked in one place for a long time, as I have and you have spent so much time with some of these people, day and night, year on year, it does have a family feel to it. I felt it very strongly a few years ago when my dad died and I am feeling it again now. I feel very comfortable being back in amongst it with my colleagues.

by **RDW** Mon 20 Apr 2020, 10:01 am

Yeah I can imagine the blitz spirit is strong between hospital staff just now. It's great that you have that support.

It's just a shame how often they're let down by the powers at be.

by **RDW** Wed 22 Apr 2020, 12:02 am

Well to help ease the boredom and reduce TV time we've had a digital piano delivered. I've played all my life but Mrs RDW is keen to learn so I'm going to teach.

This will definitely be a test of marital lockdown harmony - women are renowned for happily taking instruction from their partners right? Erm

Without turning this thread too highbrow I've set myself the task of learning this (it's quite mesmarising watching this guy too) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VR-6AS0-l4

Starts off nice and easy but quickly becomes brain meltingly difficult. 2:15 starts to get tough, 3:00 my hands fall apart.

by jimbopip Wed 22 Apr 2020, 9:30 am

RDW wrote:Well to help ease the boredom and reduce TV time we've had a digital piano delivered. I've played all my life but Mrs RDW is keen to learn so I'm going to teach.

This will definitely be a test of marital lockdown harmony - women are renowned for happily taking instruction from their partners right?

Without turning this thread too highbrow I've set myself the task of learning this (it's quite mesmarising watching this guy too) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VR-6AS0-l4

Starts off nice and easy but quickly becomes brain meltingly difficult. 2:15 starts to get tough, 3:00 my hands fall apart.

have you started quoting from the Nick De Luca unauthorised biography, "The Boy Who Ran Away From The Circus!"?

by **BigGee** Thu 23 Apr 2020, 10:33 am

Well a further update from front line:

Happy to report that things continue to improve and we have come down several notches from Defcom 3 where we probably were 2 or 3 weeks ago.

I think it has taken us all a bit by surprised in that we expected the peak and then plateau to roll on for a good while. Instead, at least here in London, which is probably the epicentre of the UK epidemic in any case, it has dropped off quite sharply, much to our relief.

We have bed capacity, ITU capacity and non invasive capacity and are now going into the phase where we decide what to do with it. Covid related admissions are significantly down and those coming in do not seem to be as sick as they were a few weeks ago and non Covid admissions are starting to creep back up again, though they are still well short of the levels we would normally see.

How things are managed from here on in is going to be very important and probably critical to how the whole epidemic pans out. We need to be ready for another peak, which common sense would suggest may well happen some time after the lock down restrictions start to get loosened but we also need to start to resume some sort of normality within the health service, as we beleive that with the almost total focus on Covid over the past month, other peoples heath care needs have been neglected.

When the study is done about this pandemic and the damage it casued, the direct deaths will be the easy ones to pick out, but there will also be many indirect ones secondary to people being unwilling or unable to access the health care that they needed. There may well end up being as many indirect ones as direct ones.

The mood in the hospital is also a lot better, as people get more relaxed about their roles and realise that not everyone is dying and in particular, most staff who get it are fine. Sickness rates amongst staff does seem to be improving, largely, I suspect, as most of us have had it now!

If there is a second wave, i hope that we will be better prepared, with more of an idea what is coming. We got hit by a tidal wave the first time around and really did struggle to cope, but we did and next time around, it is more likely to be a rising tide than a Tsunami.

I think I have said this before, but i am very proud to have been part of this effort by the health service and to have played my small role in it. This may turn out to be career defining for many of us, especially those nearer the end than the begining of their journey through their life in the NHS. I don't like war analogies to describe what has gone on, there have unfortunatly been some who have died from CV, which may in some cases have been work related, but the risks to most of us have actually been very small and should not be overstated. In many cases you are at far more risk out of hospital than in it, with the equipment and precautions we take.

What i will take away from it is the sheer professionalism of many staff, who have been flexible, willing to make decesions on the run to deal with something that we were not familiar with. Many people (not everyone of course) have risen to the challenge and there has been a spirit of team working that has been quite inspiring at times.

I am fortunate to work at a well rated and well managed hospital and that has not doubt stood us in good stead but I am reassured that there has been a coming together of minds and egos (of which there are a lot in the health service) all accross the country in that respect.

Strange times indeed, but we have been able in many ways to be able to show the best of what we can do.

by **RDW** Thu 23 Apr 2020, 10:57 am

Great post Biggee - I really hope for you and your colleagues the worst is over and you can soon go back to supporting the 2nd best rugby team in Scotland Hug

by **BigGee** Thu 23 Apr 2020, 11:45 am

RDW wrote:Great post Biggee - I really hope for you and your colleagues the worst is over and you can soon go back to supporting the 2nd best rugby team in Scotland

I thought the second best rugby team in Scotland was Scotland!

by jimbopip Thu 23 Apr 2020, 12:56 pm

A we bit too ambiguous there Gee. Erm

The Luvvies might get confused.
So, for clarity; starting from the best
Glasgow Warriors
Scotland
Ayr ( while Shrek provides World Class propping)
Linlithgow Ladies Thirds
Metrosexual Festival Luvvies.

by tigertattie Fri 24 Apr 2020, 11:12 am

RDW wrote:Well to help ease the boredom and reduce TV time we've had a digital piano delivered. I've played all my life but Mrs RDW is keen to learn so I'm going to teach.

This will definitely be a test of marital lockdown harmony - women are renowned for happily taking instruction from their partners right?

Without turning this thread too highbrow I've set myself the task of learning this (it's quite mesmarising watching this guy too) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VR-6AS0-l4

Starts off nice and easy but quickly becomes brain meltingly difficult. 2:15 starts to get tough, 3:00 my hands fall apart.

Love Ludivico

Once you master that Flounder, give this a crack.
https://youtu.be/9fAZIQ-vpdw

Funky new age weird guitar tab type tutorial can be found here (what has happened to sheet music?)
https://youtu.be/4j3Q2dwVM7o

by jimbopip Fri 24 Apr 2020, 12:08 pm

BigGee wrote:I actually got out on my bike yesterday, the first time in 2 weeks and did a gentle spin out to Epping and back. I was blowing like a train but it did me the power of good.

Bike therapy is certainly very good for mental well being.

Maybe get over to see you guys sometime in the summer when this has blown over a bit and I have better legs!

Better legs than Mrs Pip? I very much doubt that. Whistle

by **RDW** Mon 27 Apr 2020, 12:08 am

Been pretty quiet on here - what's everyone's chat?

Things continue to look good Coronawise in Aus, with some states even easing restrictions to allow people to go for picnics, group exercise, open non-essential shops etc. Not NSW where I live as we have been hardest hit (although way, way below most other countries) and we're still in lockdown. Australia has had just over 6700 cases and 90 deaths which is very sad in itself, but is remarkable when you consider how bad it could have been. The government have launched a tracker app which you leave running in the background - if you have come near someone later diagnosed with Covid-19 you get an alert to go get tested. There's been some murmurs about Big Brother and the state tracking you etc but over a million Aussies have downloaded it in the space of a day - we need 40% of the population to have the app for it to be effective apparently.

The biggest thing for us is the likelihood that international travel isn't going to resume any time soon so the chances of us seeing our families this year are slim. The original plan was for our parents to fly out later in the year but that ain't happening. We then though about flying back ourselves later in the year to see everyone given what has happened, but that ain't likely to happen either! Hope to God nothing bad happens to anyone back home as the thought of not being able to get back.....

TBH I'm just really looking forward to being able to go outside our local area and explore the rest of Sydney's coastline and surrounding areas - that would make a huge difference.

by **RDW** Mon 27 Apr 2020, 12:17 am

tigertattie wrote:
RDW wrote:Well to help ease the boredom and reduce TV time we've had a digital piano delivered. I've played all my life but Mrs RDW is keen to learn so I'm going to teach.

This will definitely be a test of marital lockdown harmony - women are renowned for happily taking instruction from their partners right?

Without turning this thread too highbrow I've set myself the task of learning this (it's quite mesmarising watching this guy too) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VR-6AS0-l4

Starts off nice and easy but quickly becomes brain meltingly difficult. 2:15 starts to get tough, 3:00 my hands fall apart.

Love Ludivico

Once you master that Flounder, give this a crack.
https://youtu.be/9fAZIQ-vpdw

Funky new age weird guitar tab type tutorial can be found here (what has happened to sheet music?)
https://youtu.be/4j3Q2dwVM7o

Woah that's impressive - there's a lot going on there! I've gone back to a bit of Chopin that I learned when I was a younger lad - it's amazing how long muscle memory survives as I picked it up pretty quickly. I had forgotten there's a chord that requires you to play 6 notes with your 5 fingers though...

by **BigGee** Mon 27 Apr 2020, 9:58 am

Well after a very manic April of 60 hour weeks, we are now attempting to start the process of returning to normality.

I and a lot of other nhs workers who increased their hours considerably to help with the peak of the outbreak are now being stepped back down again, albeit on the understanding that we may be needed again. So I am going back to my semi retirement of 20 hours a week for now, I am not sure that I am going to know what to do with myself and I will now have to face up to the realities of lockdown, which has largely passed me by as I have been working on the time!

On sunday, we had double the amount of non covid admissions to covid and perhaps more interestingly, those coming in with the suspicion of the disease are not nearly as unwell as they were a few weeks ago, when everyone seemed to be in extremis. So it looks as if some degree of normality is returning to hospital life and people may be feeling confident enough to come back in when they are sick, which is a good thing.

I still worry about when the final maths of this crisis is done, there will be as many indirect as direct deaths caused by it.

Now time to start concentrating on putting my house back together again!

by **RDW** Mon 27 Apr 2020, 10:28 am

You able to find contractors to work on the house just yst? Biggee?

by **BigGee** Mon 27 Apr 2020, 10:38 am

RDW wrote:You able to find contractors to work on the house just yst? Biggee?

A fair bit of it I should be able to do myself, provided I can source some plaster and other bits and pieces. B&Q have now reopened and others like Wickes are doing a click and collect, so it should be manageable provided you don't mind standing in some queues, which lets face it, are going to be a part of life for some time into the future!

Contractors have never really been stopped working, provided you can maintain some sort of distancing from them. From what you see on the roads around here, more and more of them do seem to be going back to work. Our hallway is a bit of a mess and I will need a plasterer to sort that out for me. I will probably put the job up on my builder and see if anyone is interested, we can certainly stay out of their way whilst they are doing it. We are not in any mad rush though and can wait until people feel ready to come back to work if that is what they prefer.

by tigertattie Mon 27 Apr 2020, 10:46 am

RDW wrote:Been pretty quiet on here - what's everyone's chat?

Things continue to look good Coronawise in Aus, with some states even easing restrictions to allow people to go for picnics, group exercise, open non-essential shops etc. Not NSW where I live as we have been hardest hit (although way, way below most other countries) and we're still in lockdown. Australia has had just over 6700 cases and 90 deaths which is very sad in itself, but is remarkable when you consider how bad it could have been. The government have launched a tracker app which you leave running in the background - if you have come near someone later diagnosed with Covid-19 you get an alert to go get tested. There's been some murmurs about Big Brother and the state tracking you etc but over a million Aussies have downloaded it in the space of a day - we need 40% of the population to have the app for it to be effective apparently.

The biggest thing for us is the likelihood that international travel isn't going to resume any time soon so the chances of us seeing our families this year are slim. The original plan was for our parents to fly out later in the year but that ain't happening. We then though about flying back ourselves later in the year to see everyone given what has happened, but that ain't likely to happen either! Hope to God nothing bad happens to anyone back home as the thought of not being able to get back.....

TBH I'm just really looking forward to being able to go outside our local area and explore the rest of Sydney's coastline and surrounding areas - that would make a huge difference.

I'm pretty sure that come a few weeks time you'll be able to come back to the UK at any time Flounder, you just may not be allowed back into Oz afterwards which would be the kicker.

I'm still not sure what is going on with this virus. I'm not sure what has the governments so woried about it, I'm not sure if we need to be more worried about it either!!!

Thank the stars I've not lost anyone I know to the virus. I've had 3 cousins catch it (tested and confirmed) but they recovered and I know of 2 people (people in the area who I've never met) who sadly have passed away.

They are starting to talk about opening up again over here with Footballers going back to training in the hope that they can at least play behind closed doors soon (I'm not even going to start to talk about that here)

We're now getting to the mixed messages stage from the government. One minute the Scottish Gov have an ad on the tele saying "we know yer bored, but you must stay indoors still" and the next wee Nikki is out saying "things aint as bad now, we may start to let folk out again, in the meantime, B&Q and the Range have opened up again so off you toddle there to get some paint for your garden fence"

All very odd

by **RDW** Mon 27 Apr 2020, 10:50 am

Aye that's the issue - I'm sure there'd be a way to get home but we'd not be able to get back in Aus until international travel is lifted as they're only letting citizens in. So I'd be in the UK not able to do my job and with rent coming out every month but nowhere to live in the UK! It's just not an option.

by tigertattie Mon 27 Apr 2020, 11:31 am

It just hows you how messed up the world is.

We can put man on the moon but we can't get get rid of a tiny wee single strand piece of genetic material that causes so much damage.

We can build the tallest sky scraper but we can't get folk not to visit the park for a lay down in the sun.

We can connect the world through apps like facebook and twitter but we cant get folk to download an app to track covid contacts for fear the government will be tracking if they've spent thier day sitting on the pan.

We can form democratic governments to look after the population but the Americans can't elect a president with a "you know what" - points to head!

by **RDW** Mon 27 Apr 2020, 11:53 pm

Well finally a slight chink of light at the end of the tunnel in Aus - yesterday Western Australia (Perth) and Queensland (Brisbane etc) announced quite large easing of social restrictions, including allowing people to travel up to 50km! NSW (Sydney) and Victoria (Melbroune) were still to remain in lockdown.

Today however the NSW Premier has announced that as of Friday 2 adults will be able to visit another household, and I'm assuming that will mean travel restrictions will be eased too - currently we're only allowed out once a day for essential activities only.

I'm in 2 minds about this - on one hand the thought of being able to get out more is great, and we do have friends here we'd like to see, but I also can't help but think 2 more weeks of the current restrictions would really put us in a great position. There were only 5 new cases in NSW in the last 24 hours - if we stayed locked down for a few more weeks we'd surely be down to next to no new cases. Obviously that doesn't mean the virus is gone but it would put us in such a strong position.

It's also fair to say that a lot of Aussies can't be trusted to be sensible, given the whole beach saga - they have tried to open beaches recently for surfers and swimmers only, only to have to close them again soon after because people descended on mass to go sunbathing and paddling! Beaches to Aussies are like pubs to Brits - they just can't help themselves!

by **Pal Joey** Tue 28 Apr 2020, 12:34 pm

RDW wrote:
It's also fair to say that a lot of Aussies can't be trusted to be sensible, given the whole beach saga - they have tried to open beaches recently for surfers and swimmers only, only to have to close them again soon after because people descended on mass to go sunbathing and paddling! Beaches to Aussies are like pubs to Brits - they just can't help themselves!

That's mostly the tetchy locals and bulletproof backpackers though, RDW. So it's unfair to say "a lot of". Those eastern suburbs locals believe they have a God-given right and regard the beach as an extension of their backyard. It's the same for parts of the northern beaches and ones in The Shire.
The vast majority of Sydneysiders are obeying the rules and wouldn't be going to the beach now in mid-late autumn. It's starting to get too cold.

by **RDW** Tue 28 Apr 2020, 12:36 pm

Aye it was a bit of a gross generalisation! Beaches are like religion to certain sectors of Australian society that's for sure.

Getting cold?? I don't think it's dropped below 18deg yet! Laugh

by **Pal Joey** Tue 28 Apr 2020, 12:46 pm

We're quite sensitive buggers sometimes. Smile

You're right though. Beach culture is like a religion to some. There used to be gang wars over the swells and patches of sand even. See "Bra Boys".
The water temp is around 23 degs now but the air temp is starting to drop below that... which means it feels OK in the water... but it's starting to get on the cool side. Don't wanna catch a chill, you know? Laugh

by **RDW** Tue 28 Apr 2020, 1:03 pm

What do you make of the easing of restrictions in Aus? I'm nervous about it and probably not going to massively change my own behaviours for a while yet. As I said previously it will be nice being able to.go outside a bit more though. I'm not sure it would be overly relaxing to sit in a busy park just now though.

by jimbopip Tue 28 Apr 2020, 1:10 pm

Pal Joey wrote:We're quite sensitive buggers sometimes.

You're right though. Beach culture is like a religion to some. There used to be gang wars over the swells and patches of sand even. See "Bra Boys".
The water temp is around 23 degs now but the air temp is starting to drop below that... which means it feels OK in the water... but it's starting to get on the cool side. Don't wanna catch a chill, you know?

I thought the Bra Boys all played in the front row.

by **Pal Joey** Tue 28 Apr 2020, 1:27 pm

RDW wrote:What do you make of the easing of restrictions in Aus? I'm nervous about it and probably not going to massively change my own behaviours for a while yet. As I said previously it will be nice being able to.go outside a bit more though. I'm not sure it would be overly relaxing to sit in a busy park just now though.

I'm the same. I'm dying to get out but I'm not going to throw myself into crowded places. There are some parks near me or my Mum's place where there's not many people... so I'll check those out first.

jimbopip wrote:
Pal Joey wrote:We're quite sensitive buggers sometimes.

You're right though. Beach culture is like a religion to some. There used to be gang wars over the swells and patches of sand even. See "Bra Boys".
The water temp is around 23 degs now but the air temp is starting to drop below that... which means it feels OK in the water... but it's starting to get on the cool side. Don't wanna catch a chill, you know?

I thought the Bra Boys all played in the front row.

A bunch of tattooed pansies if you ask me!

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Tue 28 Apr 2020, 1:35 pm

RDW wrote:Aye it was a bit of a gross generalisation! Beaches are like religion to certain sectors of Australian society that's for sure.

Getting cold?? I don't think it's dropped below 18deg yet!

You’re gonna be like me out there, consistently aghast at anyone who thinks they’re cold!

by **RDW** Tue 28 Apr 2020, 2:03 pm

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:
RDW wrote:Aye it was a bit of a gross generalisation! Beaches are like religion to certain sectors of Australian society that's for sure.

Getting cold?? I don't think it's dropped below 18deg yet!
You’re gonna be like me out there, consistently aghast at anyone who thinks they’re cold!

18deg was a summer's day in Scotland!

by tigertattie Wed 29 Apr 2020, 10:07 am

RDW wrote:
Dolphin Ziggler wrote:
RDW wrote:Aye it was a bit of a gross generalisation! Beaches are like religion to certain sectors of Australian society that's for sure.

Getting cold?? I don't think it's dropped below 18deg yet!
You’re gonna be like me out there, consistently aghast at anyone who thinks they’re cold!

18deg was a summer's day in Scotland!

a warm one that that!

Currently 9 degrees here just now.

During the Easter "heat wave" the rUK were seeing temps of 25/26 we got to 16 one day and it was taps aff.

Apparently even the covid virus has buggered off somewhere warmer to get away from our crappy weather.

by **RDW** Fri 08 May 2020, 7:59 am

Hi all - a bit of self promotion if you care to indulge me (for charity)

https://www.606v2.com/t69578-3046-push-ups-for-3046-lives-lost-to-suicide#3903585

by MrInvisible Tue 19 May 2020, 4:13 pm

Hi folks, 1st time I posted on this thread - I'm mainly following the 'serious thread' with occasional contribution there.

Who on here thinks they may have had the virus? Or did anyone actually get tested and get a positive result?

I self isolated in late March. I was working at home when during the morning I progressively started to feel weaker - really felt the need to lie down. Then I needed to rush to toilet a few times, before feeling nauseous, fainting and vomiting. At this stage I felt I had food poisoning or a stomach bug. Felt weaker and lay down for rest of day. Felt hot and was shivering but no temperature initially after several checks with thermometer. Finally later in evening I reached 38 degrees, which, following the 111 advice meant self-isolating even though I didn't have any of the other symptoms - didn't have the cough (I tend to get coughs more than most whenever I have a cold) and my temperature returned to normal the following morning. For the next 2 days I felt a bit weak and needed to lie down a fair bit, but other than that had no symptoms whatsoever and resumed working the day after my symptoms had started.

The one lingering doubt I had though making me wonder if I had in fact had the virus was that between day 5 and day 14 I started getting occasional (mild) chest tightening, a symptom I had never experienced before. Between day 10 and day 14 I started feeling my heart racing at random intervals, again a novel symptom I'd never experienced in my life. Now, 8 weeks on I feel absolutely fine apart from occasional random shivers in my legs. I'm a young(ish) healthy adult with no health conditions.

The more I have read about this virus the more I have read that there are a whole multitude of symptoms which can present. Still can't be sure whether I had it or not, in absence of testing, but my symptoms although mild were pretty unusual and slightly troubling for me given my usual excellent health.

by **RDW** Tue 19 May 2020, 11:44 pm

Good to hear from you MrInvisible.

Your symptoms sound like classic food poisening (or heat stroke, which is probably less likely!) but as you say there is a chance it could have been Covid - you never know.

Most of my team at work had more typical symptoms (I had moved to Australia before this happened) but of course they don't know for sure if they had it as no one was getting tested!

Biggee and Mrs Biggee potentially had it and he's talked about it before on here - I'm sure he'll have some more feedback for you.

by jimbopip Wed 20 May 2020, 9:55 am

Mr Invisible, welcome!

Your symptoms sound not unlike my eldest son's; late 20's, first team captain of the local rugby club so quite fit. he and his partner had been at friends' for a meal on the Saturday before lockdown and left early because he was feeling "rough and under the weather". Sunday, he lay around their flat feeling tired and listless. Sunday night and his young lady began coughing. About midnight she took herself off to the spare room as she was keeping him awake.
Monday morning and he woke up feeling, in his words, "as if I' had peed the bed". The sheets were wet from his sweating all night. Nevertheless, they both decided to go to work.

For Bigson this meant a 40 minute train journey to central London and a tube to his office saarf of the river. He says that when he sat at his desk he could see the sweat dripping onto his keyboard. His colleagues alerted his manager and he was sent home immediately. Cue another hour on public transport. Meanwhile his partner's cough had all but disappeared by the time she got to work.

Back home, he went to bed with pretty classic flu like symptoms for two days then felt much better by the Thursday. By that weekend he was phoning his mother back to his normal self. His partner had worked from home all week but showed no symptoms after the initial cough.

The following Friday he called his mother complaining of tightness in the chest and a slight discomfort when breathing. We were alarmed by this but he said it wasn't bad enough to call an ambulance. It passed over the course of the day and on Saturday he was as good as new.

Without testing, as we know the 111 advice was don't go to your GP or A&E, I would say they both had Covid-19. Do they now have immunity? Again, no test is available so they don't know. How many people did they infect? Where did they catch it?

Without getting all partisan politics about it; TTIS, Test Trace Isolate Suppress. How many boxes were ticked in the case of my son and his girlfriend? I would suggest not a single one.

by **RDW** Wed 20 May 2020, 10:20 am

Mrs RDW and I were discussion just how far back this might have started, as it's common knowledge that big pandemics always start much earlier than first realised.

Beginning of December I had the worst cough I've ever had in my life and similar to other people's experience was sweating buckets. Early January Mrs RDW did something she very rarely does because she was so ill - took a day off sick. One of her colleagues had been to China for Christmas...

Of course this could have just been normal seasonal flu. I'd certainly be interested in taking an anti-body test to see if I did have it! One that works anyway...

by tigertattie Wed 20 May 2020, 11:21 am

Firstly, glad everyone reporting illness is now well again Hug

I think the general lack of knowledge on the virus is part of the biggest worry. We live in an age where we have so much information at our fingertips that when something comes along we don’t fully understand, we lose our shoite, quite literally in Mr Invisible’s case!

When Spanish flu hit in the 1920's folk didn’t know what was going on, but they dealt with things how they saw best. Mothers would chuck castor oil down the kids throats but that was bout it. A few lucky folk had access to a doctor who would in reality prescribe bed rest. Nowadays you have scientist A on youtube saying to do to x, scientist B on Facebook saying to do y and Politian C on news 24 saying to do z. Simple fact is that we still don’t fully understand the virus enough to give a definitive answer across the board.

MrInvisble sounds like a classic food poisoning case or stomach bug to me but I'm no doc. meanwhile JimboJnr does sound like covid was the problem. Because we don’t understand it, folk just simply don’t know what to do, such has JimboJnr going to work. There’s then also people forgetting that there's a multitude of different sicknesses out in the world and everything must be Covid. Because its on the news nonstop, its the first conclusion you come to when you think something is wrong. It's like that fella at work who always seems to come down with some kind of localised virus on the first Monday after pay day!!! I think you'll find you don’t have a virus but some other form of affliction.

As for our Flounder's comment, you may not have heard over in Oz, but Sticky Nikky is getting pelters as its been found that some conference in Scotland has been confirmed as a source of a covid breakout in February! It was known about at the time but the government felt that it wasn’t appropriate to make the outbreak public knowledge.

World is a messed up place just now. Its very difficult finding that balance between being prepared, not getting paranoid, living your life and putting the brakes on transmission.

Hopefully everyone is staying safe and healthy.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 20 May 2020, 11:29 am

RDW wrote:Mrs RDW and I were discussion just how far back this might have started, as it's common knowledge that big pandemics always start much earlier than first realised.

Beginning of December I had the worst cough I've ever had in my life and similar to other people's experience was sweating buckets. Early January Mrs RDW did something she very rarely does because she was so ill - took a day off sick. One of her colleagues had been to China for Christmas...

Of course this could have just been normal seasonal flu. I'd certainly be interested in taking an anti-body test to see if I did have it! One that works anyway...

Interesting you mention this RDW - I was completely knocked out by coughing/sweating/breathing issues on week commencing 16th December, for two days I pretty much spent 24/7 on the sofa because I was to tired to move or do anything bar sleep or watch TV half hearted. Since this has all happened, I do wonder if it was something more than just flu...and similar to you, very keen for the antibody test when it becomes available to see!

by tigertattie Wed 20 May 2020, 11:57 am

Hate to break the news to you Olly (and Flounder) but if an antibody test does become available, assuming you did have covid, with it being 6 months ago now, it's more than likely that the antibodies have buggered off now.

by **RDW** Wed 20 May 2020, 12:06 pm

Well in another news, there is a Covid tracker in New South Wales so you can search by postcode. My area in the last 14 days has had zero new cases and all known active cases have recovered. The flip side to that is we've also had very low testing rates in our area. Australia as a whole only had 11 new case in the last 24 hours and several states are essentially Covid free. Australia very very early on identified foreign arrivals as the main source so shoved them in hotels for 2 weeks - and it's worked.

I've actually stopped giving these positive stats to my family and friends - they're completely miserable and disillusioned by what's going on in the UK!

by **Pal Joey** Wed 20 May 2020, 12:32 pm

I downloaded the Covid-19 tracker a few weeks back now and have had no alerts whatsoever. Every morning (at 9 am sharp) there is a reminder to "keep my bluetooth switched on" - which I have been doing since I installed it.

The interesting thing about Australia is that out of the 100 deaths (up until May 20)
22 have been from the Ruby Princess cruise ship,
17 at Newmarch House and
6 at Dorothy Henderson Lodge.
(the last two are aged care homes)

So that makes 55 fatalities in the rest of the country since the first reported death on March 1.

Obviously halting incoming international flights from certain areas has helped but from what I've seen people are still getting out and about and have been pretty much been doing so from early April. I was at a shopping centre a fortnight ago now and I was surprised to see over half of the stores open. They all had notices and hand sanitisers at the door. Spacing marks were everywhere on the floor of the concourses but folks were still freely moving around... but with an almost visible disposition of caution and responsibility... if such a thing is perceptible.

by **RDW** Wed 20 May 2020, 12:36 pm

Sorry Joey should have been clearer - it's a tracker website not the tracking app. You type in your postcode band it gives you all the stats.

The app literary does nothing unless you get a notification that you've been near someone that tested positive. And in NSW they haven't even started looking at the data yet because there's been no need to!

by **Pal Joey** Wed 20 May 2020, 12:47 pm

Yes, I'm doing that too. Nothing much to report. 4 cases all recovered.

Went and got a hair cut today. Had a good long chat with my Korean friend. She was complaining that they are too causal over there (I did hear about a mini outbreak in some locale in Seoul last week) but I said I thought they were pretty much on top of things.

Nevertheless, she still seemed quite furious about the way it's being handled over there and agreed with me that Australia has been open and transparent about the whole thing... not to mention very lucky indeed. Gave her a $5 tip because she put that little extra effort into the micro-cutting of hairs behind the ears.

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