COVID-19 — Coronavirus

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kippax4ever said:
You can apply for a business interruption loan. The temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme is open to self-employed people and offers access to loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance of up to £5 million for up to six years. The Government could also give you a Business Interruption Payment to cover the first 12 months of interest and fees on the loan.

The scheme is now open for applications, and is offered by all major banks. Read more on the Government's Business Support website.
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Thanks bud, but I'm not self-employed mate (technically I am)- already been looked in to by my accountants - I am a director of my own company - a one man-band employee of it who pays PAYE.

I do not qualify for anything - HMRC basically admitted I fall between the cracks as I would get 80 per cent of my regular £800 a month salary for three months but I can't really furlough myself as I would not be allowed to do any work - hence my 25 year company would crash - I can just about earn the same amount that the HMRC would eventually backdate to me.

The vast majority of my earnings come from dividends each month that can be left to pay after liabilities.

We don't qualify for any benefits either because apparently the private pension that I have had since 19 (and can't be realised for another 26 years) is also factored into savings, which is fucked up. I have also been putting money by for the kids' university one day (stupidly in a joint account with my wife)

It's different circumstances for everyone, I'm sure there are plenty also in my situation. Nobody is going to take on extra debt via the assistance from banks in this climate, certainly not small business, freelancers or one-man-bands.

I don't trade in goods, I trade in my own efforts and intellectual property. When I stop, the business stops.
 
Cheadle_hulmeBlue said:
Looking at the figures it looks like there is quite a big delay in reported deaths/infections.

so when it gets to midweek it’s a more accurate figurE

it’s also pretty difficult to actually analyse the figures as they are all over the place at times. Up and down depending on the country and how they are reported
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The day-to-day figures are all over the place and unreliable, and the graphs they go into are useless. So much so that the medical officers at the 17:00 press conferences have stopped using them.

One day last week the actual figure and the figure reported for one day was 477 out.

Figures only start to become reliable a few weeks down the line once they’re confirmed and back-dated deaths are added to the correct days.
 
wattle said:
I’m in the same situation mate working with sen kids. It’s a real dilemma as you want to protect their best interests but also protect your family. I ‘think’ I had the virus a few weeks back but there’s nothing stopping it getting on my cloths and passing it onto my asthmatic wife and son. Our head teachers advice is if you are worried at all then stay at home and self isolate. It’d be down to the senior leadership to sort out the few kids that are left in. I run a satellite centre as part of our main school and had emails from a few parents saying that a and b we’re coming in because they are bored!!! I sent out a shitty email saying that schools are closed and only to come in if absolutely no other choice. People still don’t get it. If you are worried, and you have every right to be so, say you’ve got a sniffle and are self isolating. She won’t need to go in then. There’s being a hero then there’s putting your families life at risk. Some people have to do this eg nhs workers and they are golden people, but teachers, and poorly paid ones at that, should not be bring needlessly put in this group
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Thanks mate - she had to self-isolate within the home for 14 days last month :(

No idea if we had it or not, I had the symptoms first and had to do seven.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
How is he possibly qualified to objectively and effectively evaluate the efficacy of any therapeutic?
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Here’s my take. There is evidence that this drug has a therapeutic effect on this virus. As Fauci says the evidence is not yet sufficient to recommend it’s use. In normal circumstances there should be clinical trials with control groups so the efficacy of this drug can be assessed, which could take six months. If at the end of that six month period the results suggest that 50% more of those who took the drug survived, the drug would then be approved for use. However, in the meantime tens of thousands of people would have already died who could have been saved. This is a known drug with known side effects so the question is why not use it? If you had a loved one who was going to die would you want to wait for the results of the trial?
 
Psychedelic Casual said:
The day-to-day figures are all over the place and unreliable, and the graphs they go into are useless. So much so that the medical officers at the 17:00 press conferences have stopped using them.

One day last week the actual figure and the figure reported for one day was 477 out.

Figures only start to become reliable a few weeks down the line once they’re confirmed and back-dated deaths are added to the correct days.
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Yea they are really unreliable. Suppose it’s difficult as they have to consult families and such, but it’s making all of the analysis ‘were flattening the curve’ kinda pointless.

until we know the actual figure. They still aren’t reporting deaths outside of hospitals either.
 
hgblue said:
I’d say that those who have discounted his proposed therapeutics out of hand could be in for a shock. The question I’d ask is what’s in for him to recommend a drug that turns out to be a dud? If he pushes this therapy in the teeth of opposition from the media and it turns out to save American lives it could turn out to be a game changer in the fight against the virus and therefore in his re-election campaign.
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I agree.
 
wattle said:
I’m in the same situation mate working with sen kids. It’s a real dilemma as you want to protect their best interests but also protect your family. I ‘think’ I had the virus a few weeks back but there’s nothing stopping it getting on my cloths and passing it onto my asthmatic wife and son. Our head teachers advice is if you are worried at all then stay at home and self isolate. It’d be down to the senior leadership to sort out the few kids that are left in. I run a satellite centre as part of our main school and had emails from a few parents saying that a and b we’re coming in because they are bored!!! I sent out a shitty email saying that schools are closed and only to come in if absolutely no other choice. People still don’t get it. If you are worried, and you have every right to be so, say you’ve got a sniffle and are self isolating. She won’t need to go in then. There’s being a hero then there’s putting your families life at risk. Some people have to do this eg nhs workers and they are golden people, but teachers, and poorly paid ones at that, should not be bring needlessly put in this group
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Advice given to headteachers include:
Open during the Easter holidays if possible.
Only take in children of key workers, particularly NHS staff.

I understand your fears but if you closed the school to the golden NHS workers, then they may have to take time off work to look after their children, meaning that more lives could be lost.
Yes you are right to be worried, but Public Sector workers are just that, there for the public. And in this case you are just as golden for looking after the children of heroes in the NHS, without whom are fears would be tenfold.
 
Ladies and Gentleman it is now highly likely that you are more likely to catch this virus from breathing in aerosol droplets in the air than touching a surface on which there are infected particles.
Some articles on this subject (there are hundreds - Google is your friend):
https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-can-spread-as-an-aerosol.html
https://www.sciencealert.com/is-coronavirus-spread-by-talking-and-breathing
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsa...-might-travel-through-the-air?t=1586254404572

SARS was determined to be aerosol spread, so why people think Coronavirus won't be is beyond me.

WEAR A MASK OR WEAR A SCARF OVER YOUR NOSE AND MOUTH WHEN YOU ARE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO OTHER PEOPLE.
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
Yes mate. she is currently doing Monday and Thursdays - don't know the staff ratio but it is small - 18 kids in total - some from another local school.

I will tell the wife about the communique, as she is in this week during the 'holidays'.

Thanks mate.
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Mate of mine made up a cough etc, his Mrs is a teacher and had to isolate for 14 days. Rightly or wrongly he believes it’s took her out of the fire for 14 days, at the peak.
 
Cheadle_hulmeBlue said:
Yea they are really unreliable. Suppose it’s difficult as they have to consult families and such, but it’s making all of the analysis ‘were flattening the curve’ kinda pointless.

until we know the actual figure. They still aren’t reporting deaths outside of hospitals either.
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I’m using the england.nhs.uk Covid statistics which show amount of deaths on the actual days to see if there’s any pattern or slow down occurring. They still have like a 4 day period where the numbers update until you can get a clear picture though.
 
kippax4ever said:
I'm a limited company director – do I qualify for any of these schemes?
No official scheme has been announced for directors of limited companies, even if they're just one (wo)man bands, and it looks unlikely one is coming, though many are lobbying for it.

However, we have it rock solid CONFIRMED that self-employed limited company directors, even if they're the only employee, can furlough the PAYE element of their income – ie, get 80% of their salary up
up to £2,500/month. This isn't likely to be huge, as it's likely more of your income is dividends (and there's no help there), but it's something.

If you do this, technically you can't then work for the firm, but you can continue to perform your statutory obligations as directors, eg, official legal filings.

The reason for this is that HMRC find it difficult to separate the dividends you get from your own company from dividends you get from other sources, such as share income. So you're not eligible for the self-employed support scheme, but you will be able to furlough yourself under the employees scheme on your PAYE element
It's also worth remembering that if you furlough yourself, it can be for as short a time period as three weeks. So, if a project's coming up, but not quite yet, you could furlough, then take yourself off furlough and work, and then re-furlough once the project's finished (assuming the furlough scheme is still operational then). We're also checking whether you can work or freelance for others when you're on furlough from your own company. We'll update this guide when we've had confirmation this is allowed.

If furloughing on PAYE leaves you with cash flow issues, check the benefits section below to see if you qualify.
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Thanks for the advice. I am a ltd company (me doing the work, me and my wife as directors) and take some PAYE and the bulk in dividends. I have a trickle of work (telephone advice, policy reviews etc) but not enough to even cover PAYE. I guess I have a decision to make but dont want to let trusted clients down.

.
 
BlueAnorak said:
Ladies and Gentleman it is now highly likely that you are more likely to catch this virus from breathing in aerosol droplets in the air than touching a surface on which there are infected particles.
Some articles on this subject (there are hundreds - Google is your friend):
https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-can-spread-as-an-aerosol.html
https://www.sciencealert.com/is-coronavirus-spread-by-talking-and-breathing
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsa...-might-travel-through-the-air?t=1586254404572

SARS was determined to be aerosol spread, so why people think Coronavirus won't be is beyond me.

WEAR A MASK OR WEAR A SCARF OVER YOUR NOSE AND MOUTH WHEN YOU ARE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO OTHER PEOPLE.
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I’m sorry but you are doing what a lot of others do when they wish to push a particular agenda.
The articles include a lot of woulds, coulds and maybes etc etc.

Whilst I agree there seems to be valid reasons to cover your face you cannot say “it is now highly likely that you are more likely to catch this virus from breathing in aerosol droplets in the air than touching a surface on which there are infected particles.” because that, inherently is not true.
 
squirtyflower said:
I’m sorry but you are doing what a lot of others do when they wish to push a particular agenda.
The articles include a lot of woulds, coulds and maybes etc etc.

Whilst I agree there seems to be valid reasons to cover your face you cannot say “it is now highly likely that you are more likely to catch this virus from breathing in aerosol droplets in the air than touching a surface on which there are infected particles.” because that, inherently is not true.
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The evidence is now overwhelming.
Take precautions.
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
Thanks mate - she had to self-isolate within the home for 14 days last month :(

No idea if we had it or not, I had the symptoms first and had to do seven.
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Hi S. my daughter is a nurse at a Yorkshire hospital and has 2 young children.
Her husband is a solicitor so now works from home. That way her usual 3 x 12 hour shifts per week are covered.
They now self educate the kids via books from eg Schofield and Sims who I believe are very busy keeping up with demand so not all key workers need to make use of schooling.
 
hgblue said:
Here’s my take. There is evidence that this drug has a therapeutic effect on this virus. As Fauci says the evidence is not yet sufficient to recommend it’s use. In normal circumstances there should be clinical trials with control groups so the efficacy of this drug can be assessed, which could take six months. If at the end of that six month period the results suggest that 50% more of those who took the drug survived, the drug would then be approved for use. However, in the meantime tens of thousands of people would have already died who could have been saved. This is a known drug with known side effects so the question is why not use it? If you had a loved one who was going to die would you want to wait for the results of the trial?
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If they are at the point when they’re going to die then nothing is going to save them.

I take your point, and people will do anything when they are desperate, but it’s the same difference as to what you would want to do to someone who killed a family member, as oppose to the sanctions they would face from society, via the judicial system. Rules and laws are there for a reason. I realise these are unusual times, but we abandon prudence around clinical trials at our peril. If this disease was killing a higher proportion of the population then a more reckless approach may be justified, but as things stand we should proceed with a degree of caution that Trump is conspicuously eschewing; and as I say, he is wholly unqualified to evaluate the associated risk. The fact he is surrounded by yes-man, sycophants and vested interests only serves to accentuate that risk imo.
 
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