Looks like Lara's at the crease now up 32 to 85 cases

Just visit Milan if you can get a flight.

As for Beast's question about why it took off in Italy - I did read that a hospital in the region failed to follow procedure - someone turned up with a fever and instead of being tested, sat in a waiting room with all the other A&E cases and was assumed to have influenza so had ample time to infect others, was not tested for COVID-19 and it spread from there - this is from CNN:

"Italian authorities were on the defensive Tuesday as they faced tough questions over the country's handling of the novel coronavirus, which is rapidly spreading across the country's northern regions.

According to Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper, a 38-year-old man with coronavirus symptoms had to wait 36 hours at a hospital in Lombardy before he was tested for the virus, during which he had contact with hospital staff and visiting friends and family.

The man, identified only as Mattia, was admitted to the emergency room in Codogno, Lombardy, early on February 19 with respiratory problems, reported the Corriere della Serra and CNN.

Mattia was tested at around 4 p.m. on February 20 — 36 hours after being admitted — and at 9 p.m. the infection was diagnosed, according to Corriere della Sera. The delay in testing was because he wasn't recently returned from China, the newspaper said."

This is Wetherspoons. Nothing is complimentary.

And so it begins

I would expect our numbers to fly up because we are testing thousands much more than France and Germany. 

and they need a decision.

Breaking: Flybe has told the government that it is running out of cash and will not survive until the end of the month. Airline has been hit by slump in bookings since COVID-19 outbreak. FlyBe says it needs a decision on its request for taxpayer loan of £100m “in the coming days”

— Joel Hills (@ITVJoel) March 4, 2020

FT reckons the request will be refused. Doesnt mention coronavirus but for businesses on the edge any significant drop in bookings will surely be a serious matter

Hopefully, they will soon be identified and apprehended and then we shall find out.

As soon as that number broke on peoples phones a moment ago chatter increased within the office and people started to seem more agitated.

As of 9am today.

• 16,659 people have been tested


• 16,574 tested negative.


• 85 tested positive.

Meanwhile, about 1,000 people tested positive for cancer today in the UK ....

To be fair and reasonable, if that's allowed, there's no surprise in someone presenting with flu-like symptoms who has not been anywhere near an affected area not being seen as suspect/a risk.

It could just as easily happen here or anywhere.  I think suggesting it was somehow 'mishandled' is just using hindsight, which is ever so easy and ever so pointless.

From a correspondent in Australia who just posted this on another forum

"So the locals have this idea that the Corona virus can be stopped in its tracks by purchasing sh!tloads of toilet paper!"
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.abc.net.au/article/life/12024738

"Some basic food items like flour as well as some medications are also starting to become scarce. This is a worry...that people are starting to panic." he adds.

I don't. Its why I posed the question.

What point were you making?

Most were from known regions apparently, which is to some extent reassuring - from the BBC:

"Twenty-nine had recently travelled "from recognised countries or clusters" while three contracted the virus in the UK."

Barmy - much worse things to worry about being on shortage - like beer !

Just cut up squares of newspaper, punch a  hole in them, put some string through and  and hang them in the khazi .  Next !

How does that solve the beer problem though?

After the credit crunch we were left with a lot of zombie companies surviving only because of low interest rates. I suspect a lot of them could now go under. 

Occurs to me that one of the best places to spread Covid-19 would be in a packed Indian cold-call center ...... So with luck, it'll take off big time on the sub-continent and the number of calls to UK phones will half overnight

Germany has broken ranks with the WHO (from the BBC website):

""The coronavirus outbreak in China has become a global pandemic," says German Health Minister Jens Spahn.

Speaking to German lawmakers on Wednesday, he said: "The situation is changing very quickly... what's clear is that we have not yet reached the peak of the outbreak."

The World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet labelled the outbreak a pandemic."

Yes, I think that in the coming weeks many companies could go to the wall and this will become just as big a story.