COVID-19 — Coronavirus

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gordondaviesmoustache said:
A number of reasons in my view.

Firstly, their healthcare system, whilst of a generally very high standard, is disjointed and lacks any form of cohesion. I also think the absence of a culture of healthcare being free at the point of delivery is likely to present very real challenges in dealing with this.

Secondly, because of poor and ineffectual leadership. Their head of state is clinically insane in my view. At the very least, he is providing little or no meaningful leadership or vision. He also underestimated this far more significantly than any other western leader, mocking its likely effects only a few weeks ago. They are woefully unprepared and lack effective decision making where it matters.

Thirdly, the size of the country will make this harder to manage and contain, than in European countries. It’s also correct to say that the amount of people that previously travelled around within its borders will have greatly accentuated this challenge in all but the most isolated northern states.

Fourthly, the numbers of people with underlying health conditions will be greater than any developed country, both numerically and proportionally; especially the clinically obese.

Fifthly, is the prevailing culture of recalcitrance and distrust of big government, especially within the more rural states. This will make operating and enforcing any policy around this pandemic (Federal or State) far more challenging and make the likelihood of social disorder far greater. This characteristic renders any comparison with China to be nugatory.

Sixthly, and this follows on from five, is the proliferation of firearms within the general population, which will present a range of challenges of their own which won’t subsist to anything like the same extent in European countries.

I could probably come up with a few more if I applied my mind more rigorously to the issue.
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/28/trump-coronavirus-politics-us-health-disaster
You might already have read this article but I thought it relevant to your post.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
A number of reasons in my view.

Firstly, their healthcare system, whilst of a generally very high standard, is disjointed and lacks any form of cohesion. I also think the absence of a culture of healthcare being free at the point of delivery is likely to present very real challenges in dealing with this.

Secondly, because of poor and ineffectual leadership. Their head of state is clinically insane in my view. At the very least, he is providing little or no meaningful leadership or vision. He also underestimated this far more significantly than any other western leader, mocking its likely effects only a few weeks ago. They are woefully unprepared and lack effective decision making where it matters.

Thirdly, the size of the country will make this harder to manage and contain, than in European countries. It’s also correct to say that the amount of people that previously travelled around within its borders will have greatly accentuated this challenge in all but the most isolated northern states.

Fourthly, the numbers of people with underlying health conditions will be greater than any developed country, both numerically and proportionally; especially the clinically obese.

Fifthly, is the prevailing culture of recalcitrance and distrust of big government, especially within the more rural states. This will make operating and enforcing any policy around this pandemic (Federal or State) far more challenging and make the likelihood of social disorder far greater. This characteristic renders any comparison with China to be nugatory.

Sixthly, and this follows on from five, is the proliferation of firearms within the general population, which will present a range of challenges of their own which won’t subsist to anything like the same extent in European countries.

I could probably come up with a few more if I applied my mind more rigorously to the issue.
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I think you may be underestimating Trumps leadership ability.
 
hgblue said:
I think this forum can cope with at least one person who posts in support of the government. There’s enough of you queuing up to give it a good kicking.
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I’ve got this novel approach where I post in support of things they do well and criticise where I think they are lacking.

The only thing I don’t really criticise is City. But politics isn’t football and shouldn’t really be treated as such.
 
Number 2 son is an NHS doctor working on the South coast. With most routine visits cancelled, they are very quiet and have mostly now completed their prep for the virus. Lots of staff (including him) are having quite a lot of time off. Next door neighbour is a GP in Northampton. She is currently on holiday at home because the surgery is so quiet. Finally, my Dad is in hospital in North Wales. My brother has been to visit him and said the hospital is near deserted with lots of parking spaces. Probably the lull before the storm but let’s be hopeful.
 
Chippy_boy said:
Another thing worth mentioning:

I have just put the post and the newspaper in the oven for 30 minutes. Apparently Coronaviruses are rendered non-infectious by 30 minutes at 75C, so I am giving it 30 minutes at 90C to be safe.

Provided you don't have a gas oven and you keep your post/newspaper well away from any heating element, this might seem like an easy and worthwhile precaution. 75C isn't going to set fire to anything.

The survival abilities on the surfaces of eight different materials and in water were quite comparable, revealing reduction of infectivity after 72 to 96 h exposure. Viruses stayed stable at 4 degrees C, at room temperature (20 degrees C) and at 37 degrees C for at least 2 h without remarkable change in the infectious ability in cells, but were converted to be non-infectious after 90-, 60- and 30-min exposure at 56 degrees C, at 67 degrees C and at 75 degrees C, respectively.

https://europepmc.org/article/med/14631830
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3 things - 1. I'd love to hear from Maverick...
2. That's from 2003 and there seem to be significant variations in how long SARS 1 and SARS 2 last on various materials, so that may be the same with the effect of temperature.
3. Trusting the research which said SARS2 could survive on cardboard for 24 hours I just leave paper and post alone for 24 hours (and trusting the starch-based compostable packet for the Weekend Guardian behaves like cardboard more than like plastic)...
 
NorthamptonBlue said:
Number 2 son is an NHS doctor working on the South coast. With most routine visits cancelled, they are very quiet and have mostly now completed their prep for the virus. Lots of staff (including him) are having quite a lot of time off. Next door neighbour is a GP in Northampton. She is currently on holiday at home because the surgery is so quiet. Finally, my Dad is in hospital in North Wales. My brother has been to visit him and said the hospital is near deserted with lots of parking spaces. Probably the lull before the storm but let’s be hopeful.
Click to expand...
Think it’s out of order having a favourite son. You should love them all equally.
 
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