elisi | Update from The House of Plague, Day 31

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spanish flu 2020 remix edition

Update from The House of Plague, Day 31

Coronavirus: Capt Tom Moore finishes NHS fundraiser as it tops £13m
(The honour guard just about did me in.)

How To Send A Virtual Birthday Card To Captain Tom, Who's Raised Millions For The NHS
Captain Tom Moore has raised £5 million for the NHS. In response, an eight-year-old from Wales wants to give him a 100th birthday to remember.

But also:

All these NHS fundraisers are so well-intentioned and I have donated to them myself...but it's also worth remembering that the NHS is not a charity and had it been properly funded nurses wouldn't be making PPE out of bin-liners and begging the public for £. This is so, so wrong
— Sirin Kale (@thedalstonyears) April 15, 2020

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What do countries with the beset coronavirus responses have in common? Women Leaders.

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Experts divided over comparison of UK and Ireland's coronavirus records
Analysis showing lower death rates in Ireland provokes debate on differences between two countries

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How Greece is beating coronavirus despite a decade of debt
Country’s hospitals bore brunt of cuts but its efforts to contain Covid-19 appear to be paying off

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The guy who bought 20k bottles of hand sanitiser (There is a happy ending)

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And finally:

I’m seeing a lot of “How X characters would respond to the Coronavirus” posts but I haven’t seen one from my all-time favorite show Community yet so here goes
(Perfect and very accurate!)

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Troy: Is completely convinced the the virus is related to Corona beer and that in fact there must be corresponding viruses for each other major beer brand. He figures that’s why his Jehovah’s Witness parents didn’t want him drinking.

Haha, that was my favorite but also enjoyed the rest. Thanks for the other links, will be reading them.

This was also a bit of cheery news: https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/g264mt/florida_animal_shelters_kennels_empty_for_the/

I love the ending on the hand sanitizer hoarding guy. I thought it was hilarious when I found his website and he'd replaced his entire e-commerce business with a promise to donate the hand sanitizer. And then it got better!

That Community one is great!

The main reason for the difference between us and Ireland is testing. Our death rate appears high, because we only test people going into hospital. All the cases in the community that reciver are presently unrecorded. (I have three friends locally who had it and recovered after isolating themselves, none have been tested)

Haha, that was my favorite but also enjoyed the rest. Thanks for the other links, will be reading them.
You're welcome. And it was perfect, perfect Community. <3

This was also a bit of cheery news
I have seen similar stories from elsewhere. He's to hoping all the pets will be happy in their 'forever homes'. :)

I love the ending on the hand sanitizer hoarding guy.
Great isn't it? All stories should have endings that good!

That Community one is great!
It's so spot-on it's ridiculous.

Our death rate appears high, because we only test people going into hospital. All the cases in the community that reciver are presently unrecorded. (I have three friends locally who had it and recovered after isolating themselves, none have been tested)
Yeah, it does depend on what you count... If we count deaths relative to how many are hospitalised that is a lot higher than if we could compare to all those with mild or no symptoms. I guess comparing to the population generally is a better indicator.

Comparing deaths per million population is better, but you still have to take demographics into account. Our population is much older than Ireland's.
It gets even messier if you look at countries like the USA that have areas of high and low population density.
The virus spreads much faster in areas of high population density, so deaths are higher there.

The virus spreads much faster in areas of high population density, so deaths are higher there.
:( We should have shut down way before we did. But then we knew that...

Maybe, maybe not.
The herd immunity thingy does have some things going for it.
A total lockdown early on leaves you with no way to get out of it.
China has that problem. They can't open their borders, because it will let the virus in again.
The virus won't be eliminated. Like measles, it will come back again and again. The more people who have it and recover, the better protected the vulnerable are.

Humanity has only ever managed to eradiate one disease as far as I'm aware, and that was smallpox, and that took an international effort of many years.

The problem with herd immunity (as Sweden is discovering) is that it's the vulnerable who pay the price. :(

There is no good answer. Except maybe tax the billionaires until there are none left.

I'm totally for taxing the billionaires. Inherited wealth is obscene.

I don't know that Sweden's vulnerable (as opposed to the population in general) have been hit particularly hard compared to anywhere else. haven't seen any data either way.

Their death toll per million looks high now, but there's a chance that they may come out looking better than everyone else a year from now. It may be (and we really don't know at this point) that vulnerable people in countries with tight lockdowns may start to emerge at a specific time, only to be hit with a new wave of infections, whereas Sweden's vulnerable may be better protected in the long term.

We really don't have enough data to know what the long term results will be. It may be that some countries are trading live saved now for lives lost later, or it may be the other way round. Or maybe they can save now and save later.

One also has to remember the other vulnerable group - the poor. Every day of lockdown is lost income to people on low wages who can't work. (Paying them 80% was the best thing our government did, not all countries'poor are so fortunate) Loss of income correlates directly with worse health outcomes, increased suicide, increased debt, poor housing, etc.

What's the trade off in poverty and future deaths from poverty related illnesses against lives saved now (of which around 50% are people who would have died in the next few months in any case)?

There are no easy answers in this pandemic, but an awful lot of questions.

I'm totally for taxing the billionaires. Inherited wealth is obscene.
Uh-huh. Ditto making billions and treating your workforce appallingly. All they need to be a Bond villain is a white cat.

I don't know that Sweden's vulnerable (as opposed to the population in general) have been hit particularly hard compared to anywhere else. haven't seen any data either way.
Re. Sweden then I happened to see this today, although that seems more to do with lack of PPE. :(

One also has to remember the other vulnerable group - the poor.
And disabled and BAME. I agree that paying them was a Good Thing, but it didn't reach everyone, and Universal Credit is a disgrace already. Austerity was killing people already. Here's to hoping that this whole mess will have highlighted the issues so much that people can't look away.

There are no easy answers in this pandemic, but an awful lot of questions.
Ain't that the truth. :(

Scattered thoughts:

Confirmed COVID-19 cases, new map of Ireland pic.twitter.com/Yu4zgKmJGC
— Fergal Bowers (@FergalBowers) April 16, 2020

The HSE wouldn't have access to Norn Iron's stats, that's why Ulster is Like That.

Re: the Guardian article about Ireland and UK, on Paddy's Day, An Taoiseach predicted upwards of 15,000 cases for Ireland by 31/03 and explained why cocooning and social distancing were needed. I posted the transcript of his broadcast, if you're curious :) We still haven't hit that amount yet. (at least not in terms of confirmed cases, there's some debate if enough ppl are being tested. A friend of a family member had a cough on the Thursday before Holy Thursday and was gone the Sunday before Easter due to "complications of pneumonia" without having been tested for covid-19).

That same week, Boris didn't give two shits about coronavirus and bleated about handwashing techniques while boasting about shaking hands with everyone, and didn't even advocate social distancing at Cheltenham. Any Irish person that attended Cheltenham was obliged to isolate for 14 days. Part of the problem with Ireland is that we have so many ties to the UK, we consume as much or more UK media as we do Irish, and it felt sometimes like we were getting mixed messages because the Brits weren't treating the pandemic as seriously as we were :(

I keep looking at how the Swiss government is handling it, and the Federal govt went from watching what the Italians were dealing with to taking social distancing measures Very Quickly Indeed and they're still getting badly hit. But I'm not in a position to know if their employers are treating the virus as seriously as the govt - or if the cantonal govts are following the federal govt, for that matter :( At least Freddie has his mask. But the Irish govt took similar steps to the Swiss and it's defo flattened the curve quite a bit, here.

Edited 2020-04-16 21:22 (UTC)

OMG I LOVE THE COMMUNITY ONE!

I binged it as soon as I was off work sick and I love it, and that's absolutely spot-on for all of them!

Edited 2020-04-16 22:44 (UTC)

So many frightening, horrible similarities between the UK and the US.

LOL, that Community is ridiculously accurate and I haven't seen the show in ages.

Stacey

Edited 2020-04-17 02:55 (UTC)

I have to say that my niece, who is a nurse in Newcastle, says that applause on the Thursday is the best moment of her week and sets her up for the next week.

Part of the problem with Ireland is that we have so many ties to the UK, we consume as much or more UK media as we do Irish,

We are the same on the Isle of Man - and we, too, took it a lot more seriously and also brought in 14 days quarantine for anyone arriving on the island before our first case was confirmed.

We then pulled up the drawbridge completely, which we know you can't do. Then we went into complete lockdown on March 27th with 24 hrs notice, when we got to over 20 confirmed cases, rather than waiting for more. And we contact trace and have also tested and tested and tested. We have tested about 2.6% of the population.

The result is that we are keeping our figures much more in line with the Irish ones than the UK ones - currently we have had 4 deaths, 289 positive tests, 11 people are being treated at the hospital (although there are also five people there whose test results aren't back), and 168 are now recovered, from our population of about 83,500.

My sister is a nurse and it makes her feel happy as well. As I said, I don't necessarily want the clapping to stop, I'm just not a fan of the way certain people have tried to use it as a substitute for actual help. Or the way it's been used as an excuse to congregate.

I don't have anything to add, really... I mean, I could throw in the gif of Crowley yelling 'we are f*cked' but other than that it's just depressing. :(

OMG I LOVE THE COMMUNITY ONE!
IT IS PERFECT!

I binged it as soon as I was off work sick and I love it, and that's absolutely spot-on for all of them!
it is a show composed of weirdness and hilarity and rainbows. <3 <3 <3

It's so true, the NHS should not be in this position. It's why I don't join in with this "clap for our carers" thing that's happening every Thursday evening. Not that I want to stop other people from doing it or that I don't appreciate them but clapping doesn't give NHS workers PPE. Clapping doesn't give them immunity. The NHS isn't Tinkerbell.
I hear ya. Although the clapping is the people saying thank you. (And maybe even 'I am sorry I voted for the fuckwits who did not plan for this adequately?' We can only hope. But I think it's an 'AND' issue, not an 'INSTEAD' one... That is, 'we should clap for them AND make sure they get paid better', not 'we should make sure they get paid better INSTEAD of clapping'. It's a fine distinction to draw though, and I doubt the politicians can figure it out.

And nice gif - I was tempted to use this one. ;)

BitchesGetStuffDone

So many frightening, horrible similarities between the UK and the US.
Well, look at our leaders... *raises eyebrow*

LOL, that Community is ridiculously accurate and I haven't seen the show in ages.
Perfect lockdown viewing though!

I think it's an 'AND' issue, not an 'INSTEAD' one... That is, 'we should clap for them AND make sure they get paid better', not 'we should make sure they get paid better INSTEAD of clapping'. It's a fine distinction to draw though, and I doubt the politicians can figure it out.

You're absolutely right on both counts.

Bitches do get stuff done!

You're absolutely right on both counts.
And it's far too easy to be drawn into arguments. :(

And here's to women!

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Update from The House of Plague, Day 31

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