Coronavirus thread

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The other day she shot off in the wrong direction, got lost and thus ended up behind me 
The walk took in a number of World War Two 'pill boxes' which interested me. They were there to guard the railway line to London.

I had to google what a 'pill box' is.   

Alright, Jeffrey, now is your chance to work on your cardio (presuming that you don't have any big health issues?  Pardon if I'm wrong here).   

Hate to say it but here, I was/am pretty stiff in certain areas after a long day of bending/squatting to weed, rake and pick up 'stuff' in my garden:  must get in fighting shape!   

Best wishes,

PD

[vandermolen]

I had to google what a 'pill box' is.   

Alright, Jeffrey, now is your chance to work on your cardio (presuming that you don't have any big health issues?  Pardon if I'm wrong here).   

Hate to say it but here, I was/am pretty stiff in certain areas after a long day of bending/squatting to weed, rake and pick up 'stuff' in my garden:  must get in fighting shape!   

Best wishes,

PD

Good point PD. I tend to go swimming quite a lot but of course the pool is closed down for now. My wife wants me to go cycling with her next week. Oh dear! 
Yes, a pill box might be a uniquely British term, I don't know. They can either be the thing I put my medication in to prevent me accidentally overdosing on it or one of these (this one is familiar to me as it's local):

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Good point PD. I tend to go swimming quite a lot but of course the pool is closed down for now. My wife wants me to go cycling with her next week. Oh dear! 
Yes, a pill box might be a uniquely British term, I don't know. They can either be the thing I put my medication in to prevent me accidentally overdosing on it or one of these (this one is familiar to me as it's local:

lol  I, do understand the common conception of what a pill box is, but on this side of the puddle, I hadn't heard of the meaning re WWII meant.  By the way, was that the term used then or a more recent ascription?

And, hey, just put a bit of air into your bike tires and go for a short ride (do stretch before and after);  I expect that you will enjoy the freedom.  Give it a shot, you can do it Jeffrey.   

Will hit garden again soon here.

All the best,

PD

[Mandryka]

Coronavirus: low antibody levels raise questions about reinfection risk

https://amp-scmp-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3078840/coronavirus-low-antibody-levels-raise-questions-about?usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D&amp_js_v=0.1#aoh=15864136864555&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scmp.com%2Fnews%2Fchina%2Fscience%2Farticle%2F3078840%2Fcoronavirus-low-antibody-levels-raise-questions-about

[Mandryka]

Coronavirus: Passport Office staff told to go back to work


Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52219930

[Florestan]

I think these are good thoughts, especially the recognition of the uncertainty. I wish more here recognized that they didn't know enough to pronounce the one true answer.

+ 1.

And the uncertainty is even more frightening than it appears at first sight. How do we know that right now there's not an even more dangerous virus somewhere in the world, waiting just for the right opportunity to spread and which will make the Covid-19 crisis look like a walk in the park?

[vandermolen]

lol  I, do understand the common conception of what a pill box is, but on this side of the puddle, I hadn't heard of the meaning re WWII meant.  By the way, was that the term used then or a more recent ascription?

And, hey, just put a bit of air into your bike tires and go for a short ride (do stretch before and after);  I expect that you will enjoy the freedom.  Give it a shot, you can do it Jeffrey.   

Will hit garden again soon here.

All the best,

PD

OT

Thank you PD.
Extensive research has come up with the following item on the WW2 Pill Box which you might find of interest:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillbox_(military)
Actually I didn't realise that the term goes back to WW1.

Under pressure I did buy myself a bike a while back. My last one was stolen when I was about 12 I think. I have now recovered from the traumatic 'Austrian Bike Ride' - a notorious event in my family. On holiday with my wife and daughter, some years ago,  they insisted on a bike ride - so we hired bikes. Of course I was miles behind them. Firstly I took a wrong direction and realised that the increasingly steep road I was on went up a mountain. Then the chain came off the bike but with mobile phone instructions from my daughter I managed to fix it. I eventually arrived at the village where we agreed to meet. There was some marvellous scenery once I found the right cycle path, and I was cycling on a nice flat path in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountain scenery on both sides. I liked to imagine myself as James Coburn on his bike escaping from the Nazis in 'The Great Escape'. At the village I had a nice glass of beer and assumed that we would be returning on the train, but, Oh No! We had to cycle back. We set off and I was just pushing the bike, then my wife shouted at me 'Get on the bike Jeff - Get on the bike Jeff'. So, of course I did, setting off on a narrow path with the river on one side of me and a wall on the other side. I tried to brake but there were no brakes as I had the handle-bars the wrong way round. It was a surreal moment when I thought, with rising panic 'where are the brakes?' According to my daughter I then wobbled precariously between the river and the wall before crashing into the wall and, apparently in slow-motion, toppled off the bike. When I looked back my wife and daughter were rolling around in hysterical laughter. At least I didn't fall into the river!

[Florestan]

my wife shouted at me 'Get on the bike Jeff - Get on the bike Jeff'. So, of course I did, setting off on a narrow path with the river on one side of me and a wall on the other side. I tried to brake but there were no brakes as I had the handlebars the wrong way round. It was a surreal moment when I thought, with rising panic 'where are the brakes?'

Are you sure you and Mr. Bean were not separated at birth? 

[Rinaldo]

I just want to post some thoughts about where this thing is going.

Ed Yong's How the Pandemic Will End comes to mind.

One could easily conceive of a world in which most of the nation believes that America defeated COVID-19. Despite his many lapses, Trump's approval rating has surged. Imagine that he succeeds in diverting blame for the crisis to China, casting it as the villain and America as the resilient hero. During the second term of his presidency, the U.S. turns further inward and pulls out of NATO and other international alliances, builds actual and figurative walls, and disinvests in other nations. As Gen C grows up, foreign plagues replace communists and terrorists as the new generational threat.

One could also envisage a future in which America learns a different lesson. A communal spirit, ironically born through social distancing, causes people to turn outward, to neighbors both foreign and domestic. The election of November 2020 becomes a repudiation of "America first" politics. The nation pivots, as it did after World War II, from isolationism to international cooperation. Buoyed by steady investments and an influx of the brightest minds, the health-care workforce surges. Gen C kids write school essays about growing up to be epidemiologists. Public health becomes the centerpiece of foreign policy. The U.S. leads a new global partnership focused on solving challenges like pandemics and climate change.

In 2030, SARS-CoV-3 emerges from nowhere, and is brought to heel within a month.

[Que]

I'm aware this is slightly off topic, but this crisis has shown a strong acceleration of the decline of the influence of the United States on the world stage.

Q

[Pohjolas Daughter]

OT

Thank you PD.
Extensive research has come up with the following item on the WW2 Pill Box which you might find of interest:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillbox_(military)
Actually I didn't realise that the term goes back to WW1.

Under pressure I did buy myself a bike a while back. My last one was stolen when I was about 12 I think. I have now recovered from the traumatic 'Austrian Bike Ride' - a notorious event in my family. On holiday with my wife and daughter, some years ago,  they insisted on a bike ride - so we hired bikes. Of course I was miles behind them. Firstly I took a wrong direction and realised that the increasingly steep road I was on went up a mountain. Then the chain came off the bike but with mobile phone instructions from my daughter I managed to fix it. I eventually arrived at the village where we agreed to meet. There was some marvellous scenery once I found the right cycle path, and I was cycling on a nice flat path in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountain scenery on both sides. I liked to imagine myself as James Coburn on his bike escaping from the Nazis in 'The Great Escape'. At the village I had a nice glass of beer and assumed that we would be returning on the train, but, Oh No! We had to cycle back. We set off and I was just pushing the bike, then my wife shouted at me 'Get on the bike Jeff - Get on the bike Jeff'. So, of course I did, setting off on a narrow path with the river on one side of me and a wall on the other side. I tried to brake but there were no brakes as I had the handlebars the wrong way round. It was a surreal moment when I thought, with rising panic 'where are the brakes?' According to my daughter I then wobbled precariously between the river and the wall before crashing into the wall and, apparently in slow-motion, toppled off the bike. When I looked back my wife and daughter were rolling around in hysterical laughter. At least I didn't fall into the river!

Augh!     I trust that it was just (mostly) your dignity that was bruised?  Poor Jeffrey!  Well, you lived to tell the tale!  O.k., so now you have plenty of time now I trust to get 'back on the horse'--so to speak?  But seriously, I know a couple of people who having other health issues, find that bike riding is a good exercise for them.  I need to put air in my tires myself and get back to it...rather cold and rainy though today.  We all have our issues; I'm recovering from overdoing it in my yard/garden recently (really tight muscles), so you're not alone!

Thanks for that link to pill boxes; I'll read it over coffee in a bit.   

Best wishes,

PD

p.s.  A relative of mine purchased an inexpensive electric-assist bicycle a few years ago.  You still have to pedal, but it does help.  Perhaps that's a thought?

[Florestan]

A relative of mine purchased an inexpensive electric-assist bicycle a few years ago.  You still have to pedal, but it does help.  Perhaps that's a thought?

More useful for him would be an electric-assist brake with a big red button reading "PRESS TO BRAKE".   

[vandermolen]

Are you sure you and Mr. Bean were not separated at birth? 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

More useful for him would be an electric-assist brake with a big red button reading "PRESS TO BRAKE".   

I expect most of us would be a bit nervous being on a narrow path like that to begin with.   

Still, I'm trying to figure out how he could be riding the bike with the front wheel flipped the wrong way around (or am I misunderstanding?)? 

Best,

PD

[Florestan]

I'm trying to figure out how he could be riding the bike with the front wheel flipped the wrong way around (or am I misunderstanding?)? 

This is what I asked myself when reading his post, but I'm sure that if somebody can do that it must be Jeffrey. 

[SimonNZ]

Saudi Arabia begins two-week ceasefire in Yemen due to coronavirus

"Saudi Arabia has started a two-week unilateral ceasefire in Yemen, in a move designed to show its awareness of the threat the coronavirus poses to a war-torn country with only rudimentary health services.

So far no Covid-19 cases have been reported in the country. However, Saudi Arabia, with which Yemen shares a border, has suffered more than 40 deaths and is projecting many more. Yemen has closed its borders.

The Saudi move has been welcomed by aid agencies and the UN special envoy, Martin Griffiths. A key test now will be whether it can be sustained, unlike a previous ceasefire a fortnight ago that collapsed within days.

Fighting has been especially intense in the Al Jawf governorate in the north, where the Yemen government, backed by Saudi Arabia, has been trying to reverse recent Houthi gains. The Houthis were still firing ballistic missiles in the Marib in Wednesday after the Saudis announced the ceasefire and, as with many ceasefires, will be wary of letting Saudi Arabia use the ceasefire to regroup."[...]

[Pohjolas Daughter]

This is what I asked myself when reading his post, but I'm sure that if somebody can do that it must be Jeffrey. 

That said, I do have my backward ways of doing things at times; some....times works, but often....

[MusicTurner]

I just want to post some thoughts about where this thing is going.

Even when a large swathe of the population is immune to the virus in its current form, it's still there. It will not be able to infect people so easily, but it still will be able to infect people.

That would be bad enough if it were like a bad dose of flu, but it isn't -- it has a sting in its tail which is probably lethal to vulnerable people and lethal or very debilitating to many others.

I don't see a way out of this conundrum without good medication or a vaccine. I'm not sure what the rational thing to do is, particularly at the level of individual decisions (...)

There's a lot of work regarding possible medicine going on. In my little country, 5 possible types have now already been officially acknowledged for testing. The newspaper article describing them mentions 11 examples of maybe relevant medicine.

[vandermolen]

I expect most of us would be a bit nervous being on a narrow path like that to begin with.   

Still, I'm trying to figure out how he could be riding the bike with the front wheel flipped the wrong way around (or am I misunderstanding?)? 

Best,

PD

The handle-bars can turn completely around, so, believe me, it's quite possible to do it (for me anyway). No, my dignity was bruised but I was otherwise unscathed thank you. The story, known in the family as 'The Austrian Bike Ride' has provided hours of entertainment especially for my daughter who likes to tell everyone about it.

[vandermolen]

Back on topic I was very impressed by this:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-52227222/coronavirus-bbc-presenter-emily-maitlis-criticises-misleading-language

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/emily-maitlis-praised-as-she-slams-language-used-amid-coronavirus-crisis-in-extraordinary-newsnight-a4410761.html