state of emergency

[Viktoria]

I am reminded of the blazing hot summer of 1976 .
We were returning to live in Britain after twelve years in Belgium.
We were in the process of organising quarantine kennels got our dog.
Howeverva dog was released from quarantine after the statutory six months
only to bite someone the next day.
Tests proved the dog was rabid.It was destroyed.
So quarantine was going to be extended to nine months .
The panic from - would it be DEFRA at that time? - the wholesale slaughter of wild life,including birds which might fly down and peck someone in the eye!!!
Quarantine is costly and not all kennels ,if any ,allowed visits
The law as it already stood allowed kennels to destroy animals if they exhibited symptoms,without seeking consent as you had given that when you handed your animal,over.
The fuss re not allowing the animal to walk on shore but the kennel van drove  on board ,the dog’s  needs took over .
We decided we could not condemn our pet to nine months imprisonment and then possibly be destroyed without us there, no .
So we had  her put   to sleep ,at home with us.
But the point was the absolute ridiculous panic was risible.
Now Corona Virus is not rabies,much more serious and insidious, so we  do have to heed  warnings, but some of the instructions almost mean any sort of normal life will be impossible,as with a younger person inhabiting the same house, using the same facilities etc as people who are in the self isolating group.
Own towels well yes ,most people do that( ooh remember the communal roller towel on the back of the door? ,( my Mum finicky Ann would not entertain  one))
Hand washing etc ,generally good hygiene, and a good measure of ordinary muck to help develop your immune system, only that had as yet not been invented.
Fresh air ,either walking to work, , doing shopping ,walking to school or the draught through the ill fitting windows and doors.
None of the above will cure the latest health scare , but I do wonder as we have used antibiotics irresponsibly , gone overboard with cleanliness and sophisticated products and has that lowered our resistance?
No,use shutting the stable door after  the horse has bolted( there is another old saying) but hopefully we learn .
Just started to set up online shopping at Tesco ,as my son is not too well at
the moment and other two down South and no need to get them up here as yet.
Hope everyone is OK especially those with underlying health issues and special treatments to which they have to travel fair distances.
Kind regards to you all .
Viktoria.

[Nick_Ips]

I can also forsee scams developing, ill-intentioned people calling on elderly households, pretending to be from some official source, going to shop for them .... money first, please!!!

A very good point.

Hopefully there will be very clear guidance and publicity on what to do if you need to stay at home and arrange food deliveries.

[ThrelfallYorky]

Yes, but some of the desperately alarmed elderly could well be fooled by an official looking "ID" pass and that sort of thing.
Seriously, confining the elderly like that for such a period simply cannot work. Yet again someone near No 10 simply hasn't yet mastered joined-up thinking!

[Pennines]

I must confess I haven't been too concerned so far about the Coronavirus here in England. Thought that the news was going 'over the top' and causing a bit of a panic.

I have done on-line shopping from Sainsburys for years now -- but went on the website today and there are NO delivery slots available for the next 3 weeks (which is as far ahead as you can book). Their slots are from early morning until 11pm at night.

Hence my normal on line shopping has gone for a burton!

I went into town - fairly quiet -- wanted something from Boots. There was a notice on the town centre store that it was closed due to 'unforeseen circumstances'. I realise that maybe their tills were down or heating not working - but if it was something like that they would surely have put this on the notice. As it is why was our town centre Boots store closed?

[Skoosh]

We will be needing vaccines ASAP, what a time to be leaving the EU.

Skoosh.

[Nick_Ips]

None of the above will cure the latest health scare , but I do wonder as we have used antibiotics irresponsibly , gone overboard with cleanliness and sophisticated products and has that lowered our resistance?

Not in this case, but resistance to antibiotics is another fundamental health issue that needs to be tackled going forward.

The fundamental issue with COVID-19 (and future coronaviruses) is the way we have become a connected world with people being able to travel cheaply, freely and quickly all over the place.

Going forward we should expect restrictions to be placed on long-distance air travel, not just because of the environmental impact is has, but also because of its ability to spread illness around the globe in a matter of hours.

We've become vulnerable not through cleanliness, but through our ability to export a novel virus far faster than we are capable of dealing with it.

[jillruss]

My newspaper today was suggesting we all adopt the 'Blitz' mentality of our parents/grandparents. What a laugh! It just wouldn't happen today - most people are too self-centred and couldn't give a monkeys about anyone else. They'll probably just go onto social media to complain and to find something to feel insulted by. This is the closest I ever get to social media.

Another thing: have you noticed how, in the past couple of days, the '70 and above' age group thought to be in the most danger has now become '60 and above'? Watch the age range decrease as it progresses! Another thing: there can't be many people over 70 who don't have some kind of underlying condition, can there? And I resent to hell and back the way deaths are announced with that post script: he/she was over 70 and had an underlying condition. Oh, that's alright then - just another old codger we don't have to worry about/pay a pension to/give a free tv licence to etc etc etc

[rosie99]

I have done on-line shopping from Sainsburys for years now -- but went on the website today and there are NO delivery slots available for the next 3 weeks (which is as far ahead as you can book). Their slots are from early morning until 11pm at night.

Out of curiosity I looked at their website at 11 last night and there were no slots, I looked again just after midnight and Saturday 4th April had been added to the list but no available slots for that day.

Surely everyone can't have done their shopping and filled all of the slots for April 4th in my area in the space of 3 minutes or are S'sby not releasing them until they have more idea as to what is going on.

[Pennines]

That's a good point Rosie -- although for people registered with them, you would think we might be sent an email explaining current situation (I do realise and sympathise with how busy these organisations will be with queries though.)