Agree with both of you. Most of the oldies here are keeping their distance and following the rules - but many of us go out for exercise walks and shopping too, often in pairs from a single household. What do you expect us to do when we see friends and neighbours - walk on by in silence?  Nobody does - we stop for chat at a distance.  Any government that thinks this is not taking place is deluded. We don't invite them in for a cuppa or get close.

When the clapping stops tonight we will hear multiple conversations across the lanes and gardens.

In contrast I know of friends desperate about relatives who are seriously ill in care homes who they can't visit, or other with special needs children, climbing the walls because they would like to be back at school. In both cases PPE is an issue for staff and visitors.

Roger

Check out eBay, much earlier delivery dates for masks and plenty of choice.

 But when this started people were saying it will be carnage in poor African countries. Is it? 

I’m 65 and don’t consider myself elderly and I’m fit and healthy with no known underlying problems, overweight by a couple of Kg since lockdown - must walk further!  I work and have no intention of packing up so I’ll contribute to the economy and pay taxes towards the NHS for as long as I can.  Why would anyone want to lock me up?  That was rhetorical, so no need for rude answers!  

Seriously, if under 65’s are at such lower risk, then I’m no threat to them and I’d gladly take my own chances with freedom, otherwise my life is as good as over!  Don’t bother putting me on a ventilator if I get it, then I won’t be draining NHS resources, just as I’ve never drained them before, other than with childbirth.  If I get it, just let me go, don’t make me recover so I can later die a slow death with Alzheimer’s or Dementia.  What’s the point of existing in your front room until your 90?

Time to let the oldies out methinks!  

I think it goes back to what we have discussed before. The system is geared up to measure success by number of years lived because it is a "hard" number. Quality of life which should take precedence is a lot more subjective.

Indeed, this would have been the smart thing to do. The buy from Amazon was spurred on by an impulse driven by desperation. Got up yesterday morning and my hair frightened me. Looked like I was battling with live electric cables all night whilst I slept. I just thought there and then that enough is enough. 

In countries with almost non-existent healthcare and very young populations, I would expect the overall effect of the pandemic to be very small because the vulnerable groups don't exist to the same extent that they do in wealthy countries.

I don't think so but, if I did, I apologise.

Of course I don’t want to die yet. I have a lot of living still to do.  The emphasis being on ‘living’.

I saw someone who lives a few minutes' away from me wearing a scarf just the other week while out walking their dog.

Speaking as someone who is a "shielded" person at the moment owing to an underlying health issue, I am out very little anyway and when I take a walk it is only a couple of times a week. However, if/when I di go out, I think I may adopt the scarf idea.

And can immune people still act as hosts and carry the virus?

#AntiviralWipe is on BBC2 at 9pm TONIGHT - It’s 45 minutes of hopefully cathartic Wipe-flavoured FUN including Cunk and Shitpeas and the whole damn thing. pic.twitter.com/fA37Zfr0gt

— Charlie Brooker (@charltonbrooker) May 14, 2020

Two of my close friends who live close to one another met up in the back garden of one of them last Saturday afternoon for a chat. They posted a pic on our WhatsApp group of them social distancing, each with a beer.

A couple hours later, another pic. Less distancing, a fair few empty cans on the table.

And then ;ater, when both were pretty whammed, they thought it would be an idea to cut each other's hair with clippers. The pictures they posted at gone 9pm were *interesting*. . Both posted pics the next day with No1 buzzcuts that they'd had to tidy up with.

No. It’s fake news being spread by the far right. You guys have just issued guidance to the public about the dangers of spreading misinformation. https://t.co/o1pJdsbXhl

— Ayesha Hazarika (@ayeshahazarika) May 14, 2020

Cummings and the Tufton St machine have been very busy trying to silence anyone who criticises the Govt

Massive response to this true tweet. Many who dismissed GMB's record ratings as a lie and tore into @piersmorgan were obvious bots. No followers, loads of numbers in their Twitter handles. Wonder who's paying for this weird disinformation campaign? https://t.co/2ZdGo65viM

— Kevin O'Sullivan (@TVKev) May 14, 2020

On the subject of vaccines, treatments and testing, seems those responsible for all this 'may' be trying to seek information by hacking other countries.
US warning over Covid-19 'cyber-theft' by China
From the BBC news ticker:
US security agencies have said hackers backed by the Chinese government are trying to steal American research dealing with the response to the Covid-19 crisis.
The statement comes amid increased tensions between the two countries over the source of the outbreak.
The statement said the FBI was investigating digital break-ins by cyber-actors linked to China who were trying to steal data on vaccines, treatments and testing.
It warned scientists and public health officials to be on the lookout, but didn’t identify the institutions that had been targeted. The US authorities have long accused the Chinese government of cyber-espionage, which Beijing denies.
But this warning coincides with a much broader surge in cyber-theft and attacks by nations seeking advantage in the pandemic. Last week the US and Britain issued a joint statement about cyber threats to medical research, but didn’t name a specific country.

What's all this working together to find a common goal? Does beg a few questions if true. Why China are doing this? I suspect there is already so much of this going on in all fields, and it's quite 'normal' perhaps?

I don't really know anyone who gives a s*** about twitter. It's like a weird little club which thinks it represents the real world but in fact is a world all of it's own.

This is an interesting story..

Why hasn't the UK listed loss of smell as a symptom of Covid-19?

At first Dan, 23, dismissed his stuffy nose as hay fever, but when he couldn't taste his beans on toast, he began to worry he had come down with Covid-19.

But when he called the NHS helpline, 111, he was told there was no problem as he didn't have a cough or a high temperature.

"They were obviously reading off a script and they said, 'You're good to go back to work,' which I felt a bit funny about," Dan says. "To have suddenly lost my sense of smell and taste when I work with some patients who have coronavirus felt like too much of a coincidence."

Ignoring this advice, he began self-isolating, as did the rest of his family, including his mum, a podiatrist whose clients include vulnerable elderly people, and his sister, an intensive care nurse at a children's hospital.

Meanwhile Dan's manager arranged a coronavirus test for him - and a few days later it came back positive.

"Based on government advice alone, I would have been back at work, going from patient to patient and potentially giving them coronavirus," says Dan.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-52638382

I'm completely bemused as to why mortality seems to be the only thing you are factoring in. This disease has some horrendous effects on the body and mind and getting it can lead - in young people - to serious and potentially long-term health issues. The 'if you don't die you're fine' implication here is mind-boggling.

What may start on twitter or facebook spreads everywhere like a virus - WhatsApp, other social networks and forums etc. 

Many people don't get their news from reputable sources anymore

So it does matter and its why Cummings and Trump know fake news on social media is so effective and can win you elections