That IMO does not explain the low incidence of serious or criticals.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2020/03/23/germany-an-outlier-with-very-low-coronavirus-case-fatality-rate-and-minimal-number-of-patients-in-critical-condition/#4bd917e43a0e

 

---

Absolutely not a Uber car: they're mostly just private cars with no separation from the driver.  I'd feel reasonably safe in a proper London taxi with separation from the driver and I reckon a lot of drivers would feel the same way.

---

Last week I read the interview of a German expert in FAZ and he was saying that a lot of their patients so far have been young (skiing) and they were expecting their numbers of deaths to rise. He also said that social distancing was applied very quickly and efficiently in Germany.

He provides no evidence or links for this statement.

All Wilko stores across the UK are going to remain open as they sell food and hardware.

AFAIK it was initially allowed, but then stopped in many countries. 

One of my friends is a self employed builder and electrician. He feels totally let down by the absence of guidelines as to what he should do. He also rents his home and has been told there is no rent holiday on offer. 

As he points out though, scaffold boards are 60cm wide, so how can you enforce social distancing on a building site?!

---

Similar numbers here, it just shows how idiotic was to try and use nudge theories in unprecedented situations. The public is much more mature.

 

NEW SNAP POLLING:

The public overwhelming back the measures announced by the Prime Minister last night.

➡️Support: 93% (including 76% who strongly support)
➡️Oppose: 4%
➡️Don’t know: 3%

These are crazy high levels of support.https://t.co/68WcoAJj5M

— Chris Curtis (@chriscurtis94) March 24, 2020

Many factors in play:

Germany has tested more than 3x the number we have and are picking up many mild cases. We are only testing very sick people.

Based on my professional experience Germans are definitely much better at following rules than Brits. Our daughter has reported that her German boyfriend's family now even have a set of Coronavirus rules within the household.

---

As my friend who works in the building trade just messaged me:

“ Building sites up & down the country telling trades to get working, guideline is pointed out, reply is ‘if you’re ill go home and self isolate and claim £94’... ‘But what about our 80%?’ ... ‘You only get that if the government closes sites down and they are NOT doing that’.

This is what we’re up against & not just in construction, everywhere. Massive H&S issue and exacerbated by government dithering.

Oh and the self employed amendment - it unintentionally screws us as well as most people put as much through their company to avoid a wage, so will be earning a fraction unless we can self-cert for the payments. The upper limit is set at the same for the 80% rule of salaried workers.”

We need clear guidance on this. If the government is serious about a shutdown they need to shut sites down and provide an assurance that people’s basic food and housing needs will be met.

---

"A member of the International Olympics Committee has said the 2020 Olympic Games will be postponed by one year, but a formal announcement is expected in coming days  "

Half a cheer from me - but why not announce it today?

---

Meanwhile I am on my second contracted day of my new job and haven’t been able to do anything. At least (for now) I have been assured that I will be paid from my contracted start date. Boss has confirmed he can’t come here to get me set up. I assume I will be able to use my own laptop and be sent logins etc remotely.

---

I think as the number of deaths starts rising, the lockdown will become stricter, but eventually it will work. What we (and the European countries) need to do though is learn from Asian countries. We need to set up a massive test, isolate and contact trace regime so when the number of infections starts coming down we can then break the transmission chains.

Otherwise we'll keep having periodic lockdowns until mass vaccination is available.

 

Basically, the entire system has been set up to fail in the event of something like this coming along to give us a kicking. One of the most important things now is that we as a society (and globally, not just here) finally learn our lessons.

The “40 year curse” continues.

---

Can anyone remember which European country was the first to record cases of COVID-19? I know that Italy has been the worst affected country in Europe but I'm not sure if it reached there before it reached anywhere else in the continent of Europe.

---

I had a new starter join my team and we’ve had the same experience - it has been a total nightmare for similar practical reasons.

She has been paid for doing very little over the past week or so! 

---

It's funny to see articles saying 'we lost our freedom'. Yeah, we lost our freedom to infect each other! Of course all these measures are very authoritarian and the state is now controlling our lives more than ever, but there is no other way and we know this is to protect lives and it will be temporary.

Any news on the arrival of the antibody tests? When we are able to use them the results will make a huge difference. As you say a total lockdown will stop the virus but without other measures as soon as it is lifted the problem will return.

France was the first country in Europe to report a case, on Jan 21. Or Jan 24, this article contradicts itself:  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_Europe

 

---

Totally agree, these are exceptional circumstances and as long as the measures are temporary I think it's exactly the right thing to do.

I agree with you on this.  It is an ideal time to complete construction and I see no reason for them not being able to arrange better transport facilities.  They could even arrange lodging during the week near to to their work sites, given there must be a lot of hotels empty.  

There are ways around this. It just needs a bit of thought and a willingness to do things a bit differently.  After all, we’re all going to be doing things differently for at least the next three weeks.  We have to change our ‘no can do’ attitude. 

---

I've been working on it 24/7 in my shed  No idea really but as many people have said it will probably be a very valuable tool.

Well worth taking the time to read in full:

https://unherd.com/2020/03/china-is-not-the-hero-in-this-darkest-hour/

 

---

 And of course freedom of speech should be maintained and protected  more than ever. It's absolutely fine for people to disagree with the tactics and criticise etc.