The Corona Virus

[Karin Schill]

Yesterday I had a chat with my doctor over the phone as I work in a nursing home and homes are being asked to take patients from hospital. I was advised to not be at work as I can not work 2 meters apart from staff or residents. There are 27 EMI residents who couldn't even be contained in their rooms as they have no understanding of it and are mostly all mobile. I am being sent a self isolation letter.
I am relieved I no longer have to be at work at risk and stressed but also very down at not being able to go to work and the prospect of being at home for the foreseeable. I am also worried for the safety of residents I have looked after for 4 years as well as some great work friends.

Working in the elderly care sector has been eye-opening of late. There is no support, it's like these people don't matter. Nursing homes with no cases of the virus who have been doing all they can to keep it out have been forced to take hospital patients who could have it into their homes. Residents aren't being tested quick enough. The PPE is laughable.
The governments whole response and they way they are dealing with everything is a shambles. If I hadn't have called my doctor this morning I would still be told to go to work and with terrible PPE and give end of life care to people who were possibly dying of Covid19 but who's deaths would probably be recorded as viral pneumonia.

I heard today that the first case of the virus has been diagnosed at my work.

I think it is appaling how little they care about the elderly. To bring covid 19 patients to a home for the elderly sounds like a receipe for disaster. They have done the same thing here and I read in the paper this morning that 30 people in the staff of this home are sick now.

 

[Barbara Fan]

Patients should have 2 -ve screens prior to DC from Hosptital to Nursing home.

Lots of staff are off now, Many are genuine but we took bets on who would milk it and use it as "sick leave" as they have apalling sick records anyway

we all guessed correctly and guess what? ... they were all the 1st to phone in sick

It annoys me as it doubles the work for the rest of us who are working very hard in extremey difficult conditions. its very hot to wear full PPE, including a mask and visor. I no longer bother to put on make up to work and i gave up straightening my hair 1 month ago! I dont care anymore and if i look a fright , so be it!

It has been lovely to see patients move in my ward from a C19 +ve bay into a C19 -ve bay meaning they are free of the virus or have fought it and won. Thats what makes it all worthwhile and we had 4 patients move yesterday.

 

[Alexis]

Patients should have 2 -ve screens prior to DC from Hosptital to Nursing home.

This wasn't happening at first. Since the home I work at had been shut down any and all visitors for about 3 weeks before the official lockdown they were able to see that the patient had contracted the virus at hospital and they weren't testing at that time. It's strange and new times and lots of mistakes have been made and are being made as this is something that there just was no planning for.

You are doing a great job and I hope that when this is all over that the Tory Gov do more than just applaud NHS and Healthcare workers.

 

[Barbara Fan]

I had to get tested and pleased to say the text I received said -ve!

life can go on as the new normal again x

 

[Emelee]

It it just me or does it feel like the virus is somewhat slowing down its spreading? At least the first big wave of it. I have no illusion about the virus going away anytime soon. But somehow it seems that we have shifted focus to fewer restrictions instead of more. Well, not in Sweden, we still have the same restrictions. I mean the restrictions around the world. More and more countries are opening up bit by bit. I just hope no country opens up too fast. Or rather, that people somehow think that a couple of fewer restrictions means that you can go back to living normally again. The old "hand them a finger and they take the whole hand" routine.

 

[Michael Torrance]

It it just me or does it feel like the virus is somewhat slowing down its spreading? At least the first big wave of it. I have no illusion about the virus going away anytime soon. But somehow it seems that we have shifted focus to fewer restrictions instead of more. Well, not in Sweden, we still have the same restrictions. I mean the restrictions around the world. More and more countries are opening up bit by bit. I just hope no country opens up too fast. Or rather, that people somehow think that a couple of fewer restrictions means that you can go back to living normally again. The old "hand them a finger and they take the whole hand" routine.

Mitigation works, but draconian quarantine is tough to enforce long term. More than likely, there will be a rebound, though the coming of warmer weather could help in Europe and the US.

I think Sweden is a cautionary tale for some governments and an aspiring beacon for others. On the one hand, with a population of 10 million, it has 26,670 reported cases and 3,256 deaths as of this writing. That is significantly more than neighbouring countries (and let's not even compare other EU countries with similar population and more urbanized populations that just had a fraction of Sweden's deaths). The Swedish economy is also going to contract, at a 7% rate this year compared to the EU's 8%. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sweden...own-its-economy-is-hurting-anyway-11588870062

So, there was no economic benefit from the absence of a forced lockdown. But the reason the Swedish economy will contract after all is that despite the absence of forced directives, people did follow the guidelines. The benefit is that people in Sweden are less likely to go crazy to thee other extreme, which we see happening in places where restrictions are lifted. Contrast that to the US, where people are protesting social distancing measures same as they do gun rights etc. (the groups happen to more or less be the same people). I am sure we will see the numbers rise again there.

 

[Rove]

It it just me or does it feel like the virus is somewhat slowing down its spreading?

In my state of New South Wales (Australia) no reported cases of Covid-19 have occurred in the last 24 hours. The fear of course is Australia is tip-toeing towards winter. New South Wales Health is also reporting we have one of the highest testing for Covid-19 in the world.

 

[Emelee]

I think Sweden is a cautionary tale for some governments and an aspiring beacon for others. On the one hand, with a population of 10 million, it has 26,670 reported cases and 3,256 deaths as of this writing. That is significantly more than neighbouring countries (and let's not even compare other EU countries with similar population and more urbanized populations that just had a fraction of Sweden's deaths). The Swedish economy is also going to contract, at a 7% rate this year compared to the EU's 8%. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sweden...own-its-economy-is-hurting-anyway-11588870062

So, there was no economic benefit from the absence of a forced lockdown. But the reason the Swedish economy will contract after all is that despite the absence of forced directives, people did follow the guidelines. The benefit is that people in Sweden are less likely to go crazy to thee other extreme, which we see happening in places where restrictions are lifted. Contrast that to the US, where people are protesting social distancing measures same as they do gun rights etc. (the groups happen to more or less be the same people). I am sure we will see the numbers rise again there.

Stockholm is the city hit hardest. Up where I live in northern Sweden, we've had about 20 deaths in total and people are not really staying home either. That's why I have remained so calm during the pandemic. It still doesn't feel like it has hit us. Life here is almost normal. Going out, you can't really tell any difference from a non-pandemic reality. Kids are out playing or in school, senior citizens are out walking, people go to the stores like normal and go to work like normal. I live close to the hospital, and it looks calm.

Might be a matter of time before it hits us, or maybe we will be lucky.


I think it's much too early to talk about the outcome for the economy. The countries that have been in complete lockdown will probably not know the full extent of how the economy has suffered for months.

I feel bad for the countries that rely a lot on tourism for their BNP. People may not travel for many months to come, meaning these countries will suffer tremendously for a very long time. Some even losing half their BNP for the year 2020. If their economy was bad before COVID-19 hit, they will be very bad off now.

Even if Sweden reached a 10% unemployment level because of COVID-19, I am still not too worried about our economy since it was fairly good before the pandemic started. Of course it's gonna be a struggle, but I feel it's gonna be okay.

I might be naive about our situation, but I am actually not worried. I have even begun to feel optimistic.

 

[Emelee]

Why are there so little news about Belgium? It's the country with absolute most deaths per capita. 762 deaths per 1.000.000 people. Spain is number 2 with 572 per 1.000.000, which is quite a lot less. Still, all countries I hear about are UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Brazil, China, Korea and USA. Nothing about Belgium.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/

 

[Barbara Fan]

I would love to know the real figures of countries like China - who have so much to answer for!

I dont believe their stats at all and bet there has been a huge cover up, same goes for Russia

 

[Angela Channing]

Why are there so little news about Belgium? It's the country with absolute most deaths per capita. 762 deaths per 1.000.000 people. Spain is number 2 with 572 per 1.000.000, which is quite a lot less. Still, all countries I hear about are UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Brazil, China, Korea and USA. Nothing about Belgium.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/

The reason why Belgium isn't often included in international comparisons is because they count their covid-19 deaths very differently from most other countries. They assume all deaths in care homes are from Covid-19 including people who have not been tested.

The most accurate way to compare countries is to look at excess deaths over the Covid-19 period compared with the average for that same period in recent years. Each country is given a Z Score based on mortality patterns and population size. When viewed in this way, Belgium are still high but behind Spain and significantly behind England.

 

[Emelee]

The reason why Belgium isn't often included in international comparisons is because they count their covid-19 deaths very differently from most other countries. They assume all deaths in care homes are from Covid-19 including people who have not been tested.

The most accurate way to compare countries is to look at excess deaths over the Covid-19 period compared with the average for that same period in recent years. Each country is given a Z Score based on mortality patterns and population size. When viewed in this way, Belgium are still high but behind Spain and significantly behind England.

I find it interesting that many countries count so very differently. Sweden is counting in a similar fashion to Belgium. We count deaths that occured at hospitals, at nursing homes and regular homes etc. We also don't need a test to show a person died of COVID-19 in order to add them to the statistics. The patients doctor just need to write down "most likely died of COVID-19" for that person to get on the list of COVID-19 fatalities. Then you may order a post-mortal test to find out for sure if you feel you must.

I am really wondering why some countries don't count the people who have died of the virus, but not at a hospital. Why only count the people who died "at the right place"?

I have no doubt in my mind that many countries' official death numbers are completely wrong. China and Russia comes to mind. But not only them. Many countries have suspiciously low death numbers despite having many cases combined with a health care system that I wouldn't trust with my life. I won't name these countries, but I think most of you suspect the same. Poor countries with somewhat fascists leaders with little concern for the sick and poor. I don't trust their official statistics one bit.

 

[Angela Channing]

I am really wondering why some countries don't count the people who have died of the virus, but not at a hospital. Why only count the people who died "at the right place"?

I have no doubt in my mind that many countries' official death numbers are completely wrong. China and Russia comes to mind. But not only them.

You are absolutely right. Many people in the UK say we can't trust the official number of Covid-19 deaths reported in China or Russia but say nothing about how the UK government are deliberately understating the true number of Covid-19 deaths here.

The UK official figure of deaths from Covid-19 currently stands at 33,614, however excess deaths of how many more people have died so far this year compared with the average across the past five years is about 61,000 so our government are probably under-reporting Covid-19 deaths by almost half. They are doing it to avoid criticism for their shambolic handling of the crisis which has caused thousands to have died unnecessarily.

 

[Sarah]

This person is creating a bit of a stir in my local area. Not a joke and has appeared in local newspapers.

 

[Willie Oleson]

This person is creating a bit of a stir in my local area

He looks like a villain from a slasher movie.

 

[Daniel Avery]

"Are you my mummy?" [/obscure Doctor Who reference]

In my state of New South Wales (Australia) no reported cases of Covid-19 have occurred in the last 24 hours. The fear of course is Australia is tip-toeing towards winter. New South Wales Health is also reporting we have one of the highest testing for Covid-19 in the world.

Well then you've gotten it doubly-good. Typically when an area ratchets up their testing, their reported cases goes up, as well, since un-diagnosed cases are now diagnosed. So even after you have done more testing, the positive cases are going down to nothing. Bravo to that.

One of the reasons many elderly deaths are listed as Covid-19-related in some of the larger American cities is financially motivated. When a patient dies from heart failure or kidney disease or any other pre-existing condition, the hospital may get a certain amount of compensation/payment from Medicare or Medicaid, but if they list the death as a result of Covid-19, they get a bunch of other compensation from all the myriad funding resources set up to combat the disease. So if a patient has the virus but also had severe obesity, diabetes or any other condition, you can be sure the hospital will try their best to declare the patient died as a result of the virus and not any of their underlying conditions.

 

[Rove]

I feel bad for the countries that rely a lot on tourism for their BNP. People may not travel for many months to come

There has been some talk today in Australia we may not open our borders until 2023

 

[Emelee]

There has been some talk today in Australia we may not open our borders until 2023

That's specific. I would love to be a fortune teller too so I can know when it's safe to travel again.

 

[Toni]

In Spain, they said that there will be no tourism business going "as usual" until early next year, if... Besides, this will be pulled if there is a new virus outbreak in September, as predicted. Not surprised because in phase 0 a lot of people stopped using masks and gloves already. Don´t they even care about their children (who play without them, of course...)? I hope things go better in your countries...

 

[Rove]

Deaths has now reached 100 as of May 19.​