Not quite as bad as that , of course. :D

You know what I mean though. 

Originally Posted by: Joe Bloggs 

Breaking: Italy have announced 5,217 new coronavirus cases and 756 new deaths

Originally Posted by: Gavin D 

Looks like they may, just may, have peaked in terms of deaths - that's a fair bit down on yesterday, which is excellent news.

Keep an eye on what happens there as they're a couple of weeks ahead of us...

Originally Posted by: Retron 

I believe The Road is by far the most depressing film ever....

Originally Posted by: roadrunnerajn 

I missed the update - what was the main headline ?

Originally Posted by: Gooner 

 Looks like they may, just may, have peaked in terms of deaths - that's a fair bit down on yesterday, which is excellent news.

Keep an eye on what happens there as they're a couple of weeks ahead of us...

Originally Posted by: Retron 

Following that awful news shared by Gavin D , just one tiny positive...after battling a raging fever for 11 days on the trot and that awful cough, my brother has reported from Ohio that today, the fever has dropped to more normal levels and the cough is more manageable... as a family we are so, so thankful...he is of course utterly washed out...and won’t be doing anything other than to rest.... I can’t really imagine what it is like to have a temperature between 102 and 104 for 11 continuous days...doesn’t bear thinking about. Interestingly, at no point did he have any breathing problems....that is probably what has saved him.

Originally Posted by: Chichesterweatherfan2 

David, it doesn’t have anything to do with hygiene standards: it’s about contact with wild animals which are a reservoir of viruses that are capable of making the species jump to humans.

As I understand it, SARS-Cov2 has spread rapidly because of the characteristics of the virus, ie contagious before symptoms appear. 

Ebola was only contained because of a significant international intervention.  Zika doesn’t pass easily from person to person, AFAIK, which limits the risk significantly.

Originally Posted by: Gandalf The White 

We didn’t hit the 10k tests. 

Usual lines. BUT We are def in this for the long haul. It’s clear this will go on for another 3 months at least according the the deputy CMO

Originally Posted by: Heavy Weather 2013 

If you happen to have some thin cotton gloves, slather your  hands in hand cream before bed, don’t have to rub it all in, just most of it. Put on gloves and leave til the morning. It helps. 

Originally Posted by: chelseagirl 

I accept what you say about it not being anything to do with hygiene or lack of it. At the same time, I can't help but wonder whether China's rather barbaric treatment of some animals could well have played a part in how it began. They do things to this country that we in this country wouldn't ever dream of. Would a disease such as coronavirus have started in a country like the UK or another similar developed country in the west with the standards re treatment of aninals that we have? I rather doubt it.

That's why I think there needs to be a big move away, once this is all over, from so much manufacturing of electrical goods etc being done in China. If I was in charge of an international business that has been operating in that country in recent times, my faith in the powers that be there would now have been destroyed forever.

Originally Posted by: David M Porter 

From my local observations at least, I believe the numbers of people walking or driving about is low enough to seriously impede the spread. Here at least, it seems like enough. Might be different elsewhere if adherence is less good.

Nationwide, we will see what happens to the figures in about 10 days time - that is when I expect to see them start to fall. On current form, that means we might still see two or three doublings yet.

Originally Posted by: Ulric 

We are going to see a massive rise in nationalism just like the period post the 1929 crash

Far from countries working together, we are more likely to have another global war

Originally Posted by: The Beast from the East 

I doubt they will learn.. historically many things have come out of China..

Spanish flu,

Asia flu,

Hong kong flu,

SARS..

And now covid-19

4/5 becoming pandemics!!

And these all in the last century or so. Goodness knows how many more things in the past have originated from that way.

Originally Posted by: picturesareme 

I think a lack of good hygiene standards in some countries has had a part to play as well. I very much doubt that coronavirus would have started in a country with generally high standards of hygiene such as the UK for instance, and most other developed western countries.

The question that keeps coming to my mind is why has this virus been so much worse in terms of the way it has spread over the vast majority of the world and the number of people infected than those other diseases.

IIRC, the Ebola outbreak in 2014 was largely contained within the continent of Africa. I remember the Zika virus was in Brazil around the time that country hosted the 2016 Olympics; I seem to recall that a few UK athletes across a number of sports withdrew from those games amid fears over that virus. Yet, despite Brazil being a country with a huge population, I don't recall hearing any reports at that time of that disease spreading throughout a number of other countries.

Originally Posted by: David M Porter 

We didn’t hit the 10k tests. 

Usual lines. BUT We are def in this for the long haul. It’s clear this will go on for another 3 months at least according the the deputy CMO

Originally Posted by: Heavy Weather 2013 

 I doubt they will learn.. historically many things have come out of China..

Spanish flu,

Asia flu,

Hong kong flu,

SARS..

And now covid-19

4/5 becoming pandemics!!

Originally Posted by: picturesareme 

 I don't understand why there's not more testing in the UK. We're doing 5k tests a day here now according to a piece on RTE(our BBC). 

Originally Posted by: Lionel Hutz