Think about it, this virus emerged in November, unrestricted flights from China brought thousands of people over here all through that time. Do we really think the virus managed to stay locked up in China all that time?

I'm suspicious about the combination of anti-viral drugs being effective but we shall see. China and Italy would probably have deployed them by now if they were useful. The other points I agree with.

Not sure, but I've bought 64 cans of gas and a camping stove.

There was a very small umber of infections in China in Nov and Dec until Xmas, so the chance of infection here would have been absolutely tiny.

I'm not buying it. Look at the surge in deaths in Italy and increasingly France and Spain. Britain too has started to measure an increase in recent days.

Well that’s good then. We only have to have a breath of wind in N Norfolk and the power goes awry, so we are used to having power cuts. 

you’ve got quite a stash of stuff up there in the north east, Nick😛😛

There are different ways of looking at it - it depends how long it took for masses of the most vulnerable people to come down with it.

One thing we can be sure of, there are many more cases than there are known about - until mass testing for antibodies can start, we simply have no clue how many people have already had the virus without knowing about it (could have put it down to winter flu or a bad bug of some description). Only when people start being hospitalised does the whole thing become big news.

Laura K on BBC is like watching North Korea TV.

'you can't blame the chancellor for looking serious. He is doing everything possible to address this crisis.'

Walked out of my local Sainsbury's tonight. The place has been stripped. It's getting worse now as all the fresh fruit and veg has gone this time. Fresh meat, Baked beans, Soup, Tinned veg, Pasta, Eggs, Dog and Cat Food, Toilet Rolls..... It's fxcking madness. I can only shop at that time as I start work so early. I feel so sorry for people who really need this stuff and can't because of these selfish and profiteering cxnts

Yes, I’ve noticed that fresh produce is also disappearing more rapidly. The shelves round here were pretty desolate 

I bet she was bubbling with praise. I really can’t stand the women 

Nothing about us type Bs though 

Back to Ursula von der Leyen and her completely irresponsible comment today - irresponsible, because people will see the headline comment and expect a vaccine in the autumn.

I have tried to spread some realism about that and now the BBC Website has posted the following:

How close are we to a vaccine?

Let's dig a little deeper into this.

The head of the EU commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said a German company could have a vaccine ready by the autumn.

But how likely is this? And what needs to happen for us to get there?

So far, researchers have developed vaccines and are starting to test them. There could be human trials by the end of the year if these tests go well.

But, even if a vaccine is developed before 2021, there's still a major hurdle beyond that in the shape of firms being able to successfully mass-produce doses.

It means, realistically, one would not be ready until at least the middle of next year.

Here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-51921683

Agreed, it’s ridiculous. Lots of people got a bad cold/chest infection around Christmas. What else is new. So many posts in social media trying to claim they had this virus “before it was cool”. I’m reminded of this. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/health/hipster-claiming-to-have-covid-18-20200309194292%3fformat=amp

Given the timelines in China, Italy and elsewhere I would be staggered if more than 150k in the UK have been infected already. However, I agree about the need to antibody testing here and elsewhere.

How do you know it is “profiteering”? As opposed to people quite sensibly making sure their families have food on the table? I very much doubt people are buying stuff up to sell it on, because in the current climate who would buy food from some dodgy stranger?

I don’t think it is even panic buying as such, simply that far more people are going shopping because they don’t know whether they will be able to do so again in the near future. Perfectly sensible behaviour, unless you always keep two or three weeks’ worth of food in your house at all times?

Massive, massive underestimate of asymptomatic cases (and the likelihood they were in Europe far, far earlier), and they are big spreaders. The death rate being quoted is based on symptomatic cases. I'm not sure I agree with what I've been told, but I'm more shocked now than before, hence the booze...