Author Topic: Is anybody else worried?  (Read 7458 times)

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #25 on: 04 April, 2020, 12:07:03 am »
I'm worried about the possibility of getting the disease.

I am also worried about the effects of sitting at home with too much food and too little exercise.

If it were just me and other household members in (probably) reasonably low-risk groups* then I would probably take it less seriously than I do: Dez lives with us and as a kidney transplant patient is in a massively high-risk group. He will die in reasonably short order if he stops taking immunosuppressants as his body will reject his kidney. There is a strong chance that he will become very ill if he contracts the disease, as a result of him taking those immunosuppressants.

I am also worried about climate change. I know I keep banging on about this, but I feel that it is a far greater threat than CV-19. More people are already dying worldwide as a result of climate change than are likely to die from this current pandemic. More people have been dying from vehicle pollution than are likely to die from this pandemic. There is a fair chance that the reduction in vehicle use (which accounted for 40000 deaths in the UK in 2010, according to WHO figures) as a result of CV-19 will outweigh the number of deaths from the pandemic in the UK in 2020.

So there are loads of things to worry about. I just wish the government would take the other threats as seriously as they do this one.

*I too have been prescribed immunosuppressants (methotrexate) for my rheumatoid arthritis. Another forummer, also on methotrexate, remarked a long way upthread that they had received a government letter telling them that they are in a high-risk group and take relevant action, ie stay at home for 12 weeks and have as little contact as possible with other members of the household. I have received no such letter but I have had so little trouble from my arthritis for a long time that I decided almost 5 weeks ago to stop taking my tablets.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Davef

Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #26 on: 04 April, 2020, 12:14:33 am »
Some of the immunosuppressant drugs used in treating RA are being trialled in treating covid-19 though at first thought you would be they would make it worse (and probably will for some people). Complicated beasts we are.


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bludger

  • Randonneur and bargain hunter
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #27 on: 04 April, 2020, 12:24:26 am »


I am also worried about climate change. I know I keep banging on about this, but I feel that it is a far greater threat than CV-19. More people are already dying worldwide as a result of climate change than are likely to die from this current pandemic. More people have been dying from vehicle pollution than are likely to die from this pandemic. There is a fair chance that the reduction in vehicle use (which accounted for 40000 deaths in the UK in 2010, according to WHO figures) as a result of CV-19 will outweigh the number of deaths from the pandemic in the UK in 2020.
I see it as the same problem. Systems of power and wealth that drive us to ignore our own lives and health, and those of other people and our own children, because it's easier to just focus on the next mortgage payment or the next jet airline holiday. Or indeed the next bacon sandwich.

It's all the same thing to me.
YACF touring/audax bargain basement:
https://bit.ly/2Xg8pRD



Ban cars.

Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #28 on: 04 April, 2020, 05:36:30 am »
Covid-19 is actually an attempt by an alien life form to communicate with us. Unfortunately they totally misunderstood how humans do communicate due to over reliance on the information they gleaned from the amount of pornography they discovered on the Internet. Consequently their misdirected efforts have gone very badly wrong.
Move Faster and Bake Things

Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #29 on: 04 April, 2020, 09:39:52 am »
Im worried about my parents,particularly my Dad who was virtually housebound before Covid19 lockdown.
He has careers to get him up and put him to bed. Mum is losing it as well. Sure they’ve had their 4 score years but still a worry.

Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #30 on: 04 April, 2020, 10:23:00 am »
Some of the immunosuppressant drugs used in treating RA are being trialled in treating covid-19 though at first thought you would be they would make it worse (and probably will for some people). Complicated beasts we are.


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It's also suggested that people who have TB immunisation are less prone to Covid-19.

A few countries, such as Japan have mass TB vaccinations programmes and also lower than expected Covid-19 victims.

It may be coincidence, however; they are by no means certain.
Move Faster and Bake Things

Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #31 on: 04 April, 2020, 10:31:44 am »
The "best" thing is that the lockdowns are temporarily giving us a break on the climate change front, so the fact that we are currently obsessed with the the virus at least isn't aggravating the climate crisis.

Hopefully it will demonstrate even more strongly how bad pollution is during our previously normal activities, and accelerate the shift to cleaner businesses.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #32 on: 04 April, 2020, 10:39:39 am »

THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO THINK. WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!

Don’t wake the Sheeple!
https://xkcd.com/1013/
The one a few days later is for your line of work:
https://xkcd.com/1015/

Not seen that one before. Made me guffaw heartily.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #33 on: 04 April, 2020, 10:47:39 am »
You think the virus is bad now?

Just wait til they switch 5G on  :o

We torched our mast yesterday.



There's an xkcd for that too:
https://xkcd.com/1014/

That these three cartoons are consecutive is clear evidence of a conspiracy. It's all ruled by numbers. In a code hidden in plain sight. It all started with ISBN numbers.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #34 on: 04 April, 2020, 12:20:29 pm »
The "best" thing is that the lockdowns are temporarily giving us a break on the climate change front, so the fact that we are currently obsessed with the the virus at least isn't aggravating the climate crisis.

Hopefully it will demonstrate even more strongly how bad pollution is during our previously normal activities, and accelerate the shift to cleaner businesses.

The only thing that we are getting a respite from is pollution related to local air quality, NOx, SOx, particulates, VOCs.  This reduction in activity will do nothing for climate change in the medium or long term
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #35 on: 04 April, 2020, 12:49:39 pm »
I’ve been eyeing the 5G masts all over town. They think they’ve done a good job hiding them in the new lampposts, but I know otherwise.

I’m going to buy an axe and then I can start cutting them down. If one takes more than an hour, hell I’ll come back tomorrow.
It is simpler than it looks.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #36 on: 04 April, 2020, 12:55:25 pm »
UR Doc Sarvis AICMFP.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #37 on: 04 April, 2020, 01:00:32 pm »
I’ve been eyeing the 5G masts all over town. They think they’ve done a good job hiding them in the new lampposts, but I know otherwise.

I’m going to buy an axe and then I can start cutting them down. If one takes more than an hour, hell I’ll come back tomorrow.

They are under the drain covers  ;)

If you stand on them you can feel them vibrating.

Chris S

Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #38 on: 04 April, 2020, 01:09:30 pm »
The "best" thing is that the lockdowns are temporarily giving us a break on the climate change front, so the fact that we are currently obsessed with the the virus at least isn't aggravating the climate crisis.

Hopefully it will demonstrate even more strongly how bad pollution is during our previously normal activities, and accelerate the shift to cleaner businesses.

The only thing that we are getting a respite from is pollution related to local air quality, NOx, SOx, particulates, VOCs.  This reduction in activity will do nothing for climate change in the medium or long term

Could well help those with respiratory problems though. If cleaner air helps their lungs to heal a bit, maybe they'll be spared the worst of Covid19 too?

Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #39 on: 04 April, 2020, 01:16:59 pm »
The "best" thing is that the lockdowns are temporarily giving us a break on the climate change front, so the fact that we are currently obsessed with the the virus at least isn't aggravating the climate crisis.

Hopefully it will demonstrate even more strongly how bad pollution is during our previously normal activities, and accelerate the shift to cleaner businesses.

The only thing that we are getting a respite from is pollution related to local air quality, NOx, SOx, particulates, VOCs.  This reduction in activity will do nothing for climate change in the medium or long term

Could well help those with respiratory problems though. If cleaner air helps their lungs to heal a bit, maybe they'll be spared the worst of Covid19 too?

I doubt it'll spare my mum.
She just doesn't get that she should stay indoors.
My sister will do her shop and drop it on the doorstep, but no - mum gets on the bus and goes to Tesco or Sainos.
I've tried to explain to her that she will become ill, be taken to hospital, where she will die, on her own because neither my sister nor I will be allowed to visit her.
We're talking about an 86 year old who lost her kid sister to malnutrition before sister had reached her teens.
She's not about to let some little virus stop her from going to the stupormarket.....

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #40 on: 04 April, 2020, 01:29:03 pm »
We know how old SARS-CoV-2 is (it's not distinct enough to be a species, it's a strain of SARS-CoV-1, hence the name). There's a genetic molecular clock built into us all. Anyway, this particular strain dates back to late 2019.

We can (and have) done a significant amount of metagenomics* on bats as they're reservoirs for all kinds of diseases, including CoVs. So we know a fair amount of how all these viruses relate to each other.

While some bacteria can survive long periods of time as spores (like anthrax), viruses are generally labile, so you're unlikely to find some ancient virus in a glacier, under the icecap, or from a frozen mammoth. You might find a buried UFO though.

It is reasonable to assume that during times of disruption, natural disasters, and warfare, any kind of infection is likely to gain more traction.

*a posh way of saying someone wanders around the forest scooping up bat guano, and then we mass sequence the DNA.
I don’t think Sars-cov-2 is a strain of sars-cov-1, that would indicate one has mutated into the other. They will have a common ancestor but not in humans (or necessarily still in existence). I believe the genetically nearest coronavirus is in pangolins. Never liked them. Beady eyes.

Edit: ok I might be wrong on this.

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Poor wording on my part (did I mentioned the six pints of beer, the Tiny Rebel IPA was quite nice), they're both strains of the SARS-CoV, but not different CoVs. Viral taxonomy is more fiddlesome than most as they have rapidly changing genomes and their phenotypes are molecular.

They're all derived quite recently (via mutation) from CoVs in bats (we think). The pangolin thing is unproven, but they have found CoVs with very similar receptor binding proteins that have the same predicted shape affinities for their human cell receptor (ACE-2). Viruses are basically a fast-forward of evolution, they mutate quickly and reproduce in vast numbers. As the adage goes, unlike religion, evolution doesn't need you to believe in it.

Pangolins are ace. But this might be an object lesson in leaving them the fuck alone.

The man ain't kidding. According to this, there are now over 3000 descendants of the virus originally isolated in Wuhan back in December:

https://nextstrain.org/ncov?c=region
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #41 on: 04 April, 2020, 01:52:10 pm »
I didn't realize the 5G theory was a real thing but I've just seen the story about masts being arsoned in Liverpool. Though you've got to wonder to what extent those responsible actually believe it, as opposed to it just being an excuse for arson.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #42 on: 04 April, 2020, 01:58:46 pm »
I didn't realize the 5G theory was a real thing but I've just seen the story about masts being arsoned in Liverpool. Though you've got to wonder to what extent those responsible actually believe it, as opposed to it just being an excuse for arson.
Good for them - doing their bit to protect the people from the threat of faster download speeds.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #43 on: 04 April, 2020, 01:59:01 pm »
I didn't realize the 5G theory was a real thing but I've just seen the story about masts being arsoned in Liverpool. Though you've got to wonder to what extent those responsible actually believe it, as opposed to it just being an excuse for arson.


Have you ever wondered what inspired all those people suddenly to go out and buy all the bog rolls they could carry home?

We have yet to need to buy any since well before the hordes of hoarders descended.  So what happened?  What line of reasoning did they pick up on that I missed?  Why haven't I been urged to burn a 5G tower?
Move Faster and Bake Things

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #44 on: 04 April, 2020, 02:10:15 pm »
I didn't realize the 5G theory was a real thing but I've just seen the story about masts being arsoned in Liverpool. Though you've got to wonder to what extent those responsible actually believe it, as opposed to it just being an excuse for arson.


Have you ever wondered what inspired all those people suddenly to go out and buy all the bog rolls they could carry home?

We have yet to need to buy any since well before the hordes of hoarders descended.  So what happened?  What line of reasoning did they pick up on that I missed?  Why haven't I been urged to burn a 5G tower?
You mean you can't hear the voices?
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #45 on: 04 April, 2020, 02:14:30 pm »
Buying bog roll makes sense, in as much that if you're going to have to stay in your house for a couple of weeks you want to stock up so you don't run out.  See enough people doing that, and more people will buy bogroll simply through fear of shortages.

The 5G thing is just a whole other level of stupid.  But we have a long tradition of popular fear around new technologies.  Look at the fuss people made about television.  Or microwave ovens.  Or WiFi.

Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #46 on: 04 April, 2020, 02:34:16 pm »
It's the new anti-vaxxing during a crisis where everybody wants a vaccine.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #47 on: 04 April, 2020, 02:36:03 pm »
Or electric toasters.

The first commercially available dual-sided electric toaster was launched in 1913. Within a year, the whole world was at war. Coincidence? You do the math.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #48 on: 04 April, 2020, 02:39:12 pm »
For obscure reasons I started looking at the webbsite and YouTube channel of a person detached from reality fruit loop banging on about 5G, Corona Virus and LED street lights.

It started off normal(ish) enough. Strings of pseudo scientific babble masquerading as sentences. Then, wham! we learn that LED streetlights use light at a wavelength of 450nm, the frequency of which is 666THz. The number of the the (high frequency) beast. Obvious now it's been pointed out.
There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can
"overhaul" it, or you can ride it.  (Jerome K Jerome)

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Is anybody else worried?
« Reply #49 on: 04 April, 2020, 02:44:10 pm »
And don’t forget barcodes.

https://youtu.be/N90sl94g7PE
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."