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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Mar 31, 2020 3:52:00 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2020 16:06:40 GMT
BLOODY AMAZING, in days London has created the largest critical care centre in the world. God bless the NHS, The British Army and everyone who has contributed to this astounding feat, able to care for 4,000 Covid 19 patients. The Nightingale Hospital London
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Apr 2, 2020 0:55:07 GMT
So through my work I just found out Australia is in Level 2 lockdown, NZ is in Level 4. They are not messing around- Good on them !
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Post by elkawho on Apr 2, 2020 22:28:37 GMT
My sister worked a 37 (!!!) hour shift at her hospital and got home at 8 PM last night. Had some food, a shower, slept and then went back to do all again today.
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Post by theother on Apr 4, 2020 2:08:45 GMT
The social distancing is starting to get to me.
I'm an introvert by nature. So in some ways I'm better suited to the current climate than some.
Still doing some hours at work (I am a chef at a restaurant). The restaurant is currently doing takeout orders only. I do see a couple of co-workers here and there.
Beyond work, only going out for groceries and other necessities.
My partner and I live separately.
Under normal circumstances he and I see each other most nights (either out to dinner or him staying over at my place, or I at his place). He works in the healthcare field (in an elder-care facility). We decided at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak that it would probably be best if we didn't see one another due to the vulnerable nature of his patients/residents.
Though we talk on the phone every night and often Skype with one another, we haven't actually seen each other in about 3 weeks. It's hard. I know that there are couples that deal with not seeing each other for weeks on end as a regular part of their relationship. But this is new for us.
And though I am an introvert, (and despite the perception of most extroverts that introverts want to be alone all the time), usually I do a fair amount of socializing with friends during the week as well. Of course that has also had to come to a stand still for the time being.
Dunno.
I guess most people are dealing with some version of this right now. Just feeling the effects of this whole thing pretty strongly this evening.
I hope that you are all doing as well as can be expected under these strange, strange circumstances we find ourselves in.
Best to you all.
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Post by tuigirl on Apr 4, 2020 9:02:39 GMT
Quite of a bit of a shock yesterday- a colleague and me had woken up with slight scratch in the throat (since we had no other social contacts due to lock down, we must have infected each other).
Nobody showing the slightest sign of a sniffle is allowed near my company at the moment. However, without us, no work could have been done. Catch 22. So we resolved this that we had to have a COVID test done on ourselves and were allowed to work when the tests came back negative. Needless to say I had another panic attack.
I also was massively upset, angered and disappointed by a report yesterday that a certain former supposed superpower nation had stolen thousands of security face masks for our police and health services from under my government's noses. The report goes that the company was about to load them into our German government plane when the shipment was, without further discussion, diverted and loaded into another plane destined for the Unkind States of A******.
This caused a diplomatic incident. But why was I disappointed? This is exactly what the big orange blimp in charge is preaching, after he had ignored and downplayed the situation for ages and told everyone it was a hoax. Now that he has gotten a rude wake-up call and is fearing for his fat a**, he behaves like a schoolyard bully. And this in a time when we all should work together and help each other. But, the world is watching. And we will remember.
Why was I so angered and upset? Because I can see the COVID test results every day. And it breaks my heart. We had dozens of old people in care homes die in my region alone. The nurses and carers have all but run out of protective gear. Without protective gear, they can do nothing but infect the most vulnerable old people. Because the only other option would be abandonment.
What can you do? I really breaks my heart. Seeing the test results from local care homes and then seeing, every day, who of these people has now died.
I have a strong feeling of "Fremdschämen" (German expression of feeling guilt and shame in place of someone else who is unable or unwilling to have these feelings themselves) for my relatives who are US citizens (and, since my US uncle is old and sick, also very much in danger) and also for all my US friends who are decent people and who would not condone this Wild West robbery behaviour.
It appears that the world has become a battleground of wild beasts fighting for the scraps, and no sign of decency and humanity is left. We were deluding ourselves calling us "civilised" and the name for our species, "Homo sapiens" is a sick joke.
This makes me very sad.
To cite the 7th Doctor in one of my favorite scenes: "If we fight like animals, we will die like animals!" Yeah, exactly. This is what we have become.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Apr 4, 2020 9:54:04 GMT
Quite of a bit of a shock yesterday- a colleague and me had woken up with slight scratch in the throat (since we had no other social contacts due to lock down, we must have infected each other).
Nobody showing the slightest sign of a sniffle is allowed near my company at the moment. However, without us, no work could have been done. Catch 22. So we resolved this that we had to have a COVID test done on ourselves and were allowed to work when the tests came back negative. Needless to say I had another panic attack.
I also was massively upset, angered and disappointed by a report yesterday that a certain former supposed superpower nation had stolen thousands of security face masks for our police and health services from under my government's noses. The report goes that the company was about to load them into our German government plane when the shipment was, without further discussion, diverted and loaded into another plane destined for the Unkind States of A******.
This caused a diplomatic incident. But why was I disappointed? This is exactly what the big orange blimp in charge is preaching, after he had ignored and downplayed the situation for ages and told everyone it was a hoax. Now that he has gotten a rude wake-up call and is fearing for his fat a**, he behaves like a schoolyard bully. And this in a time when we all should work together and help each other. But, the world is watching. And we will remember.
Why was I so angered and upset? Because I can see the COVID test results every day. And it breaks my heart. We had dozens of old people in care homes die in my region alone. The nurses and carers have all but run out of protective gear. Without protective gear, they can do nothing but infect the most vulnerable old people. Because the only other option would be abandonment.
What can you do? I really breaks my heart. Seeing the test results from local care homes and then seeing, every day, who of these people has now died.
I have a strong feeling of "Fremdschämen" (German expression of feeling guilt and shame in place of someone else who is unable or unwilling to have these feelings themselves) for my relatives who are US citizens (and, since my US uncle is old and sick, also very much in danger) and also for all my US friends who are decent people and who would not condone this Wild West robbery behaviour.
It appears that the world has become a battleground of wild beasts fighting for the scraps, and no sign of decency and humanity is left. We were deluding ourselves calling us "civilised" and the name for our species, "Homo sapiens" is a sick joke.
This makes me very sad.
To cite the 7th Doctor in one of my favorite scenes: "If we fight like animals, we will die like animals!" Yeah, exactly. This is what we have become.
Agreed ^.
So as I have been having daily nurse visits, 1 of my regulars I haven't seen in 5 weeks tells me her husband is an official Corona tester, basically wears a hazmat suit plus extra all day at work.. We (Australia) have basically run out of the official testing kits but they have developed a blood test. The original test kits, the wait time for results here in Australia is 1-2 days, not sure about the blood test. He came down with "symptoms" early last week so he immediately had 2 separate indiviudal tests by his colleagues, as he is the Senior person. They put a rush on it- both came back negative. PHEW.
Unfortunately, mental health issues are going to skyrocket just in general all around the world the longer it goes on. Blows my mind there are groups of people who still believe this is all a scam/fake etc.
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Post by tuigirl on Apr 4, 2020 10:30:09 GMT
Quite of a bit of a shock yesterday- a colleague and me had woken up with slight scratch in the throat (since we had no other social contacts due to lock down, we must have infected each other).
Nobody showing the slightest sign of a sniffle is allowed near my company at the moment. However, without us, no work could have been done. Catch 22. So we resolved this that we had to have a COVID test done on ourselves and were allowed to work when the tests came back negative. Needless to say I had another panic attack.
I also was massively upset, angered and disappointed by a report yesterday that a certain former supposed superpower nation had stolen thousands of security face masks for our police and health services from under my government's noses. The report goes that the company was about to load them into our German government plane when the shipment was, without further discussion, diverted and loaded into another plane destined for the Unkind States of A******.
This caused a diplomatic incident. But why was I disappointed? This is exactly what the big orange blimp in charge is preaching, after he had ignored and downplayed the situation for ages and told everyone it was a hoax. Now that he has gotten a rude wake-up call and is fearing for his fat a**, he behaves like a schoolyard bully. And this in a time when we all should work together and help each other. But, the world is watching. And we will remember.
Why was I so angered and upset? Because I can see the COVID test results every day. And it breaks my heart. We had dozens of old people in care homes die in my region alone. The nurses and carers have all but run out of protective gear. Without protective gear, they can do nothing but infect the most vulnerable old people. Because the only other option would be abandonment.
What can you do? I really breaks my heart. Seeing the test results from local care homes and then seeing, every day, who of these people has now died.
I have a strong feeling of "Fremdschämen" (German expression of feeling guilt and shame in place of someone else who is unable or unwilling to have these feelings themselves) for my relatives who are US citizens (and, since my US uncle is old and sick, also very much in danger) and also for all my US friends who are decent people and who would not condone this Wild West robbery behaviour.
It appears that the world has become a battleground of wild beasts fighting for the scraps, and no sign of decency and humanity is left. We were deluding ourselves calling us "civilised" and the name for our species, "Homo sapiens" is a sick joke.
This makes me very sad.
To cite the 7th Doctor in one of my favorite scenes: "If we fight like animals, we will die like animals!" Yeah, exactly. This is what we have become.
Agreed ^.
So as I have been having daily nurse visits, 1 of my regulars I haven't seen in 5 weeks tells me her husband is an official Corona tester, basically wears a hazmat suit plus extra all day at work.. We (Australia) have basically run out of the official testing kits but they have developed a blood test. The original test kits, the wait time for results here in Australia is 1-2 days, not sure about the blood test. He came down with "symptoms" early last week so he immediately had 2 separate indiviudal tests by his colleagues, as he is the Senior person. They put a rush on it- both came back negative. PHEW.
Unfortunately, mental health issues are going to skyrocket just in general all around the world the longer it goes on. Blows my mind there are groups of people who still believe this is all a scam/fake etc.
I just have seen in international news that agents of the big orange blimp have pulled the same piracy stunt on France and Canada. At the rate they are going, it will be not so much "America First" anymore but "America Alone" when the time comes that they are desperate enough to actually ASK for help. Media are already writing "With friends like these, you do not need enemies".
Yeah, mental health issues... I am not really coping well with this, either. And not being able to sleep well, because I wake up with nightmares every night, does not help, either.
As for the test- well, the blood test we have here is just for antibodies- telling you if you have been infected. It cannot tell acute infections since your body takes up to 10 days after infection to produce detectable antibodies. So the test is useless if you want to determine acute infected people.
The blood test we have is a so-called "snap-test", you will get a result almost instantly.
But of course you could also run a slower and more accurate ELISA, which will also take several hours.
The PCR test we do has a turn around time of 4 hours. You cannot do it any faster, because this is how much time it takes to safely handle the samples and how long the machines take. The big issue is the lack of people. Like everybody, we have many people in home office and home sick (because nobody with a bit of a sniffle is allowed to come in) and people caring for kids and old relatives. We only have a handful of people on the ground so to speak (someone has to actually handle the samples!).
And it is impossible for these few people to work around the clock- for one, there are health and safety rules to adhere to and exhausted people also make mistakes.
So we do not have any chance to work at night and no work on sundays.
The bottleneck of lack of people is a real problem. Plus, as you say, the government is only allotting us a certain number of test kits and protective gear. So we are also limited by that and cannot run as many tests as we would like to.
And these are the reasons why these tests can take several days to give you a result (although the normal turn-around time is just 4 hours). It is not because we are lazy, or unkind or uncaring. We are hindered by factors completely out of our control.
I know that people in the health sector are getting frustrated and fed up and accusing us of inefficacy.
But what can we do?
It is therefore massively frustrating and offensive when you hear the reports of the piracy tactics going on now in supposed "developed" countries.
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Post by barnabaslives on Apr 5, 2020 5:31:34 GMT
The bottleneck of lack of people is a real problem. Plus, as you say, the government is only allotting us a certain number of test kits and protective gear. So we are also limited by that and cannot run as many tests as we would like to.
And these are the reasons why these tests can take several days to give you a result (although the normal turn-around time is just 4 hours). It is not because we are lazy, or unkind or uncaring. We are hindered by factors completely out of our control.
I know that people in the health sector are getting frustrated and fed up and accusing us of inefficacy.
But what can we do? No worries. I'm sure anyone whose opinion actually matters is intelligent enough to imagine things being like this for you and knows you are doing your very best. Try and get yourself some good sleep!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2020 5:45:50 GMT
Quite of a bit of a shock yesterday- a colleague and me had woken up with slight scratch in the throat (since we had no other social contacts due to lock down, we must have infected each other).
Nobody showing the slightest sign of a sniffle is allowed near my company at the moment. However, without us, no work could have been done. Catch 22. So we resolved this that we had to have a COVID test done on ourselves and were allowed to work when the tests came back negative. Needless to say I had another panic attack.
I also was massively upset, angered and disappointed by a report yesterday that a certain former supposed superpower nation had stolen thousands of security face masks for our police and health services from under my government's noses. The report goes that the company was about to load them into our German government plane when the shipment was, without further discussion, diverted and loaded into another plane destined for the Unkind States of A******.
This caused a diplomatic incident. But why was I disappointed? This is exactly what the big orange blimp in charge is preaching, after he had ignored and downplayed the situation for ages and told everyone it was a hoax. Now that he has gotten a rude wake-up call and is fearing for his fat a**, he behaves like a schoolyard bully. And this in a time when we all should work together and help each other. But, the world is watching. And we will remember.
Why was I so angered and upset? Because I can see the COVID test results every day. And it breaks my heart. We had dozens of old people in care homes die in my region alone. The nurses and carers have all but run out of protective gear. Without protective gear, they can do nothing but infect the most vulnerable old people. Because the only other option would be abandonment.
What can you do? I really breaks my heart. Seeing the test results from local care homes and then seeing, every day, who of these people has now died.
I have a strong feeling of "Fremdschämen" (German expression of feeling guilt and shame in place of someone else who is unable or unwilling to have these feelings themselves) for my relatives who are US citizens (and, since my US uncle is old and sick, also very much in danger) and also for all my US friends who are decent people and who would not condone this Wild West robbery behaviour.
It appears that the world has become a battleground of wild beasts fighting for the scraps, and no sign of decency and humanity is left. We were deluding ourselves calling us "civilised" and the name for our species, "Homo sapiens" is a sick joke.
This makes me very sad.
To cite the 7th Doctor in one of my favorite scenes: "If we fight like animals, we will die like animals!" Yeah, exactly. This is what we have become.
😭
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Post by tuigirl on Apr 6, 2020 19:50:14 GMT
I just saw the news about Boris. I am actually pretty worried. You may think of him and his politics what you like, but he has a pregnant wife at home and he is still leader of a nation. I do not think it will help any nation (well, apart from a few obvious exceptions...) if their leader in this crisis dies. Yes, Boris has made some bad decisions at the start of the crisis and said some questionable things. I do not even want to start with this Brexit business. But I think he has upped his game and also has grown a bit as a person.
This is not good. It would be tragic and ironic if he entered history not as the slightly ridiculous Brexit clown but the first world leader dying of COVID 19. I worry about his family.
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Post by grinch on Apr 6, 2020 20:22:00 GMT
I just saw the news about Boris. I am actually pretty worried. You may think of him and his politics what you like, but he has a pregnant wife at home and he is still leader of a nation. I do not think it will help any nation (well, apart from a few obvious exceptions...) if their leader in this crisis dies. Yes, Boris has made some bad decisions at the start of the crisis and said some questionable things. I do not even want to start with this Brexit business. But I think he has upped his game and also has grown a bit as a person. This is not good. It would be tragic and ironic if he entered history not as the slightly ridiculous Brexit clown but the first world leader dying of COVID 19. I worry about his family. Precisely. Politics aside, he is still a fellow human being who we should look out for in these difficult and troubling times.
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Post by johnhurtdoctor on Apr 6, 2020 20:44:00 GMT
I just saw the news about Boris. I am actually pretty worried. You may think of him and his politics what you like, but he has a pregnant wife at home and he is still leader of a nation. I do not think it will help any nation (well, apart from a few obvious exceptions...) if their leader in this crisis dies. Yes, Boris has made some bad decisions at the start of the crisis and said some questionable things. I do not even want to start with this Brexit business. But I think he has upped his game and also has grown a bit as a person. This is not good. It would be tragic and ironic if he entered history not as the slightly ridiculous Brexit clown but the first world leader dying of COVID 19. I worry about his family. I agree. I am completely opposed to him & his party but hope he makes a full recovery. & it certainly won't help if Dominic Raab is in charge.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 20:51:11 GMT
In much, much lesser news I was sent home from work two weeks ago because as a diabetic, I was thought to be at too high a risk. Today I get a message from work saying unless I have a Doctor's note - which they know I don't have - then I am expected back ASAP. And PS - without a note, I won't be paid for the time I've had off. I'd like to say I work for a tiny company who really needs to take care of the pennies. But I actually work for a very large multi-national company. Warms the heart doesn't it?
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Post by frisby78 on Apr 6, 2020 20:53:32 GMT
I'm still good despite working in a supermarket. I've never had cleaner hands. I did just stub my toe though. The language was quite blue outside Great Yarmouth
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Post by timegirl on Apr 6, 2020 22:15:58 GMT
I'm still good despite working in a supermarket. I've never had cleaner hands. I did just stub my toe though. The language was quite blue outside Great Yarmouth I hope your toe feels better soon!🤞
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 22:17:52 GMT
In much, much lesser news I was sent home from work two weeks ago because as a diabetic, I was thought to be at too high a risk. Today I get a message from work saying unless I have a Doctor's note - which they know I don't have - then I am expected back ASAP. And PS - without a note, I won't be paid for the time I've had off. I'd like to say I work for a tiny company who really needs to take care of the pennies. But I actually work for a very large multi-national company. Warms the heart doesn't it? Snap. Today I was informed by my employer (a large healthcare provider in the UK), that if I go down with the Corona virus then I will be paid statutory sick pay...provided I can show proof from my GP...who following Government guidelines have closed the door on face to face appointments for the foreseeable future to all but those with the most extreme needs... I had to really resist the temptation to sarcastically suggest that if "I end up in hospital, would a thumbs up selfie in an oxygen mask be sufficient proof?" Needless to say I also had to resist the temptation to tell them where to shove their job. For now anyway.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Apr 6, 2020 22:29:07 GMT
So at the new pop up office I am at, 1 of the workers (just before it opened up) was interstate so she was in self quarantine for 2 weeks. No symptoms in any way, just sitting at home by herself.. Comes into work, there is a policy of temp checks for everyone, besides the mounds of disinfectant spray and hand sanitsers.. Her temp was 0.1c higher than what my work deems "acceptable". Back home and off to see her doctor.. So frustrating- it's obvious the electronic thermometers aren't 100% accurate, I was 35.6C the other day, I was red faced, slightly puffed out and sweaty from walking 30 mins to work.. DERP DERP. Oh and I have a key to the building and had to sign a bunch of forms stating I have state and federal police clearance. Just call me Angus McGuyver LOL
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 22:43:55 GMT
I just saw the news about Boris. I am actually pretty worried. You may think of him and his politics what you like, but he has a pregnant wife at home and he is still leader of a nation. I do not think it will help any nation (well, apart from a few obvious exceptions...) if their leader in this crisis dies. Yes, Boris has made some bad decisions at the start of the crisis and said some questionable things. I do not even want to start with this Brexit business. But I think he has upped his game and also has grown a bit as a person. This is not good. It would be tragic and ironic if he entered history not as the slightly ridiculous Brexit clown but the first world leader dying of COVID 19. I worry about his family. Nobody deserves to suffer because of this damned virus. Not the richest of men nor the beggar on the street. Not the oldest of souls nor the most helpless of newborns. Not the Prime Minister of a nation nor the migrant worker in a factory. In normal times my opinion on Boris and his politics would differ from a fair few on this forum. But these are not normal times nor is it a time for political differences or point scoring. So in the spirit of goodwill I will hope the Prime Minister's time in the ICU is brief and wish him a swift recovery. I will hope his pregnant fiancee's recovery from the virus is equally swift. Most of all I will sincerely hope their unborn child has not been affected.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Apr 6, 2020 22:47:54 GMT
Yesterday morning we had a brief meeting in which we were told that the two weeks of online teaching that we were beginning next term with has provisionally been extended to five. Two hours (!) later, we were told that we should start preparing for the whole ten weeks. Delivering a combination of online, hard copy (for homes without internet) and face-to-face teaching (for children of essential workers who can’t access childcare). That’s basically asking us to do our job three different ways at the same time. Not impossible but when we’re differentiating between different ability groups in a classroom as well, it does make life challenging.
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