Not sure about others but Tesco don't provide carrier bags anymore wheñ delivering.

Those interested in the US angle can watch Trump at the NIH earlier today. It is quite interesting. Key points:

1) The uninsured will be looked after

2) They now have 70,000 testing kits available and very soon will have millions due to a change in the law signed off in the last few days. This reverts to pre Obama when certified labs were allowed to produce their own test kits without requiring fed level sign off

LIVE: President @realDonaldTrump participates in a briefing at @NIH https://t.co/zj2o3BdoLE

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 3, 2020

And Trump told you that?

Why would you tell them?

No. It was the health secretary. Much of the presentation is by Drs and Trump (by his abysmal standards) is actually not too bad.

As if

The whole system will fall apart if those that don't pay are looked after as well as those that do

Which is, as of two days ago at least, you don't need to get tested unless you've been to very specific areas. My friend's partner went through all this the other day and he was working immediately next door to where Kent's case of COVID-19 was reported.

NB, when you eventually get through to 111 - can take over an hour - they ask about extra symptoms which haven't been mentioned on any of these threads, or indeed media reports. Just having a persistent dry cough, fever, aches and pains and a headache isn't enough.

Only 142 new cases so far today for South Korea they are testing 10,000 people a day . No country  comes close to that. Definitely the best country to analyse death and hospitalisation rates. India upto 27 cases now with some home grown infection.  9 dead already in the USA.

I believe all the American deaths are from a nursing home in Washington State

A report saying Spain’s first death was a victim who was tested post mortem and died on 13th February.  If correct, that suggests the virus has been circulating some time before being discovered and could be more widespread than we thought.

Guardian live blog saying 512 new cases on Wednesday in SK.

Yes, this was the issue in Lombardy. It was circulating for a while before the Italians were aware and this is why they have so many cases.

Yes grim.

MM said he feared an outbreak in India and it looks like its coming to pass.

Yes, there was a horrible air of inevitability about that outbreak in Washington. 

The Italian and Spanish cases do make you wonder if the virus is already circulating in many places of which we are currently unaware.

Yes 370 odd were already reported yesterday it has caused some confusion.  I think SK will release more cases soon which will add to tomorrow's.  Confusing!

Yes, I think the time difference doesn't help. Do we know there official timing of figures released.

I think the US response appears woeful and I think their performance soon needs to be downgraded to an F.

I think they release data 1am and 8 am our time.

Was only a matter of time - same goes for Pakistan of course.

Yes, I think that’s become increasingly obvious from reports and comments over the last several weeks.

The good news, as I’ve said, is that this most likely means there are undiagnosed cases and Covid-19 is less lethal than the stats suggest.

 Meanwhile, in an action that questions the wisdom of outsourcing and our dependence on distant foreign countries for supplies of essential products, India has banned the export of a range of pharmaceutical ingredients due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Paracetamol is amongst the list. 

Being a ‘great global trading nation’ doesn’t look so smart when other states decide not to play. It makes us very vulnerable.

Exactly. Hence the government’s expectation that this will spread here.