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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 1, 2020 13:32:11 GMT
You are certainly working in the right industry for a time like this!
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Post by mossie on Apr 1, 2020 13:50:08 GMT
Received an extremely worrying letter from my local hospital containing 4 sides of closely typed instructions. This informs me that I am about to be struck down at any moment by the dreaded lurgy and I must at once pack my small kit in preparation for an immediate summons to attend sick quarters. Now I know we're all doomed.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 1, 2020 14:35:48 GMT
Son received the letter about having a bag packed ready as well. Scared the bejesus out of him.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 1, 2020 14:41:01 GMT
I had an extremely temporary hot flash last night (actually a quite common occurrence with me) and the first thing that came to mind was "FEVER! I should pack a bag." I didn't do it, but we all can become so paranoid at the moment.
I really hate paranoia.
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Post by tod2 on Apr 1, 2020 15:33:39 GMT
You are not alone. Everyday that goes by and I feel well is a huge tick on the calendar. We take our temperatures at least three times a day and one evening my husband hit 37.8C. After the initial sick feeling in my stomach we both realised he had just had a hot shower. Nevertheless I took his temp. again after 30 min and he was fine. Most days we are 36.9 or 37.1C. I've had the occasional headache but I know what's that from……..
Mossie. - This must be a precaution because of your age?
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 1, 2020 15:39:15 GMT
I don't even own a thermometer so it is all guesswork.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 1, 2020 15:42:31 GMT
You'll know if it's a proper fever.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 1, 2020 15:43:17 GMT
Nobody on here is to get sick. I absolutely forbid it.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 1, 2020 15:55:33 GMT
Tod, Cheery's son isn't old. I've got scary "reassuring" phone messages, Gawd I hate that. I suppose it can be useful for people who don't follow the news.
I'm really hoping that the city doesn't close the parks here. When I get my bicycle tuned up, I want to do laps on it around a large park here. There aren't usually many people early in the morning, but there might be teens or young men organising spontaneous footie matches as that park has a couple of pitches.
I'm sure they are also worried about large gatherings at Mont-Royal park, such as the tam-tams on Sundays when many people gather to make music, dance, and smoke weed.
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Post by bjd on Apr 1, 2020 18:34:57 GMT
I have an extremely old mercury thermometer that used to be my grandmother's. Probably from the 1940s. It takes forever for the mercury to move so it's lucky I never need to use it.
As Cheery says, you know when you have a fever.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 1, 2020 18:57:47 GMT
We take our temperatures at least three times a day... That's a bit like weighing yourself. It's never the same and as much as I would be tempted to do so, I would just do it once a day at the same time every day. Mrs M is currently waiting at a rather deserted airport for her flight. She tells me she is sitting far way from anyone else at the moment and the ironic thing is, going through security took as long as normal.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 1, 2020 18:58:42 GMT
We also have an old mercury thermometer. But also TWO newer digital thermometers we use to adjust the water temp in the hot tub (an older analog controlled unit). The digital ones measure to 1/10 of a degree.
But they disagree with each other by more than a degree!
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Post by mossie on Apr 1, 2020 20:55:27 GMT
I got the dreaded letter because I am classed as vulnerable, in that I have COPD caused by my bad habit of smoking, which I abandoned at the end of 1980 !! When the quacks called it asthma it was classed as slight and of no consequence, shows how paranoid we have become. I am trying to stick to the isolation track and relying on the good old "It will never happen to me" which has worked for 80 years now.
If thermometers disagree there must be one hell of a row, but saying they are digital gives the game away. They need checking against a proper thermometer, if they have a means of adjustment then adjust the duff one if no adjuster, then chuck it.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 2, 2020 0:12:04 GMT
Mossie, that means you've been a non-smoker for 40 years - half your life and I doubt you started smoking at 2 or 3. They are being ridiculous.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 2, 2020 6:42:22 GMT
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Post by mossie on Apr 2, 2020 7:17:46 GMT
Bloody Jerries again!
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Post by bjd on Apr 2, 2020 7:42:56 GMT
Skiers partying makes a change from fundamentalists of various religions getting together in large numbers.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 2, 2020 11:16:06 GMT
From out roving reporter (Mrs M). Frankfurt airport - Addis Ababa airport - And business lounge - I can personally testify that I've never seen Frankfurt airport so quiet and normally Addis is standing room only.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 2, 2020 15:03:23 GMT
Wow. Every time I see pictures of places that are normally crammed, but now deserted I have to again remind myself that this is all real.
I wonder if the smoking and the praying rooms in Addis Ababa airport were closed or at least had something in place to limit the amount of people in them at a given time.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 2, 2020 15:37:22 GMT
They were open Bixa, but from what I was told, there weren't even enough people about to make them a problem.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 2, 2020 16:48:17 GMT
Not sure how travelers stranded in other countries are faring, but those stuck in Peru may be running out of time: Event: IMPORTANT: The last repatriation flight from Cusco is tomorrow, April 3. We expect the last regularly scheduled charter flight to depart Peru on April 5. We will continue to facilitate daily travel and coordinate flights to repatriate Americans from all corners of Peru through April 5. U.S. Citizens who remain in Peru beyond that date should continue to shelter in place. The U.S. Embassy is working around the clock to get all U.S. Citizens who have registered with us on a flight home. To ensure that we are aware of your interest in repatriation, if you have not already done so, please register at bit.ly/3bx5ons. DO NOT register multiple times. Given the current COVID-19 emergency measures, be prepared to commit to a repatriation flight out of Peru on short notice. Please continue to monitor your emails and our website for additional information and flight confirmations. The U.S. Embassy has suspended routine operations, including visa appointments and public engagements, but remains operational for repatriation efforts that have helped more than 4,000 U.S. Citizens return home. The U.S. Embassy is working relentlessly to identify, assist, and repatriate U.S. Citizens in Peru. Americans in Peru who turn down land or air transport should understand that we cannot guarantee these arrangements indefinitely. We are working hard to bring #AmericansHome. For Assistance: U.S. Embassy Lima, Perú Avenida La Encalada cdra. 17 s/n Surco, Lima 33 +51-1-618-2000 LimaACS@state.gov pe.usembassy.govState Department – Consular Affairs +1-888-407-4747 or +1-202-501-4444 Peru Country Information U.S. Embassy’s COVID-19 Webpage To receive alerts, enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). Need help? Email: CASTEP@state.gov Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
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Post by bjd on Apr 2, 2020 16:59:45 GMT
We just received an email from our insurance company. Since so few people are driving, there are very few accidents, so we will get money back on our premium. They also offered the options of getting the money or else donating it to the hospital system in Paris or another fund for buying health protection.
I also learned today that the reason so few tests were carried out in France was because the tests existed but there was a lack of reactants to read them. These reactants were only made by China or the States. China stopped exporting during their epidemic and the States kept their for themselves.
I imagine a lot of questions are going to be asked about self-sufficiency in certain kinds of supplies rather than simply looking for the cheapest.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 2, 2020 17:20:20 GMT
the States kept their for themselves. I don't know if they kept them for themselves or if the reactants were part of the supplies that idiotically got sent abroad even as the US was scrambling to find stuff the country needed: The news broke that the United States has been sending medical supplies to other countries while our own health care workers don’t have masks or PPE (personal protective equipment). Politico revealed that an administration official called counterparts in Thailand to ask for PPE only to be told by a confused official on the other end who said that the U.S. was shipping those very supplies to Thailand. One shipment had already arrived, and another was on its way. Vice President Mike Pence, who is in charge of the administration’s coronavirus task force, immediately halted the shipment. It appears that there has been no coordination between the administration and USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, so we have apparently been exporting the very supplies we need at home. This created a furor over the fact that we also sent 17.8 tons of medical supplies, including masks, gowns, gauze, and respirators to China in February, after the severity of our own impending crisis was already clear. The administration has said these supplies were “donated,” but I have not been able to track down by whom. --- more hereI came into this thread just now to talk about France & saw Bjd's post about some of the things France is doing right. Some more of what they're doing right: When France started shutting down a few weeks ago as the coronavirus marched relentlessly into the country ... The future of ... hundreds of thousands [of businesses] around France spiraled into uncertainty. Instead of sinking, though, they are being thrown lifelines as the French government deploys a targeted plan aimed at sheltering companies and keeping every worker possible employed. ... France is rapidly emerging as a test case of whether a country can hasten the recovery from a recession by protecting businesses from going under in the first place, and avoiding mass joblessness. ... Patrick Artus, chief economist of Paris-based Natixis Bank [said] “The idea is to have no layoffs or company closures, so that when the coronavirus is finally under control the economy can start right back up.” France is hoping to learn a lesson from the 2008 financial crisis, when it didn’t take aggressive steps to support workers and businesses. Unemployment soon jumped to around 10 percent and stayed high for half a decade. By contrast, the rise in joblessness in Germany — which kept companies from collapsing by subsidizing furloughs in a system known as Kurzarbeitergeld, or short-time work — lasted less than a year before falling steadily. much more here, albeit behind the NYTimes paywall. And some non-paywalled news of centuries-long kindness in France: www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/02/the-charitables-french-brotherhood-burying-dead-since-1188
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Post by lagatta on Apr 2, 2020 19:00:38 GMT
Yes, I've been through Frankfurt Airport - a weird route out from Florence - and it was extremely busy. No time to have even a sausage.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 2, 2020 19:34:45 GMT
It's so obvious, but I had never thought of it. People really DO need more toilet paper now. They are staying at home and not going to restrooms at the office, in restaurants or bars or in other public places.
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Post by fumobici on Apr 2, 2020 19:39:57 GMT
I looked at the photos of the Frankfurt airport and it (and this is perhaps inappropriate) looked lovely. The last time I was there last Summer, it was packed like a tin of sardines and 35 degrees outside and my flight left from a special unair-conditioned Hell terminal set up special for flights to the US. Just what you want before boarding for a ten-hour flight!
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Post by mich64 on Apr 2, 2020 19:42:16 GMT
My husband purchased a 12 pack at the gas station today. His dad told him to stop there as he got some there a few days ago. Sure enough, there was a good supply. There is still none at the grocery stores. Odd to find it at the gas station and at a fair price.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 2, 2020 20:00:16 GMT
Mich, I read that as a 12-pack of - BEER.
Which also might come in handy, but perhaps not counted as essential!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 2, 2020 20:18:49 GMT
8pm this evening everybody went out to show their appreciation for the NHS... I thought that it was a bit naff...but in fact it was really nice. Neighbours I've not seen for 3 weeks out on their driveways clapping, banging pans with spoons, cheering...children in their dressing gowns...it was a strange unifying experience. Quite a few fireworks were let off which hopefully the staff in nearby hospitals might see from their windows.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 2, 2020 20:29:17 GMT
Our health secretary, Matt Hancock led the press briefing this evening after his week in isolation (tested positive for the virus a week ago). He was a changed man..quite bouncy and confident. Relief at not having been one of those floored by the virus? Or just rested? Anyway he spoke with passion and determination. It remains to be seen whether any of these plans come to fruition.
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