Coronavirus Super Thread ( merged )

[Hugh Phamism]

From STV News page

 

The number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in Scotland has risen to 11.

Three are in Grampian, two in Fife and Forth Valley, with one in each of Tayside, Ayrshire, Glasgow and Lothian, the Scottish Government said.

The increase from six on Thursday is the largest daily rise since the first positive test in Scotland was confirmed on Sunday.

A total of 1525 tests have been carried out in Scotland since the virus began to spread globally.

[I P Knightley]

15 hours ago, J.T.F.Robertson said:

 

Now this fool knows more than medical science. What's the point of all those charlatan scientists when all we really need is a Donald "hunch"?

Feck me sideways.

 

As he always does, he's talked to "some people... a lot of people" so I think we're alright. 

[Costanza]

1 hour ago, kingantti1874 said:

Of course but people are saying it’s being blown out of proportion, maybe given it’s more contagious than flu, the warnings are absolutely in proportion in an effort to make sure that does not happen.. 

 

it is more serious than flu, hopefully it does not get to that and I don’t think it will..

 

but to play it down is moronic imo

Correct. 

There is the potential for it to have very significant impacts so appropriate measures and advice are being utilised. 

If at the end of this, the impact is minimal,  you will get folk saying it was all overhyped, forgetting the actions that were taken to minimise the impacts!

 

[DarthVodka]

COVID-19 Live Q&A with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

 

Got this from an Epidemiologist I have worked with in the past.  Not watched as at work but good source

[vegas-voss]

163 confirmed cases now

[OBE]

Middle Eastern towns and cities cancel Friday prayers due to Cv-19. Wouldn't it be wonderful if just one of the Big-Yins acknowledged the worlds plight and used their pent-up wrath to smite this wee micro **cker.

 

[Gizmo]

2 minutes ago, Old Blue Eyes said:

Middle Eastern towns and cities cancel Friday prayers due to Cv-19. Wouldn't it be wonderful if just one of the Big-Yins acknowledged the worlds plight and used their pent-up wrath to smite this wee micro **cker.

 

 

You'd think they would pray more, really... 

[OBE]

4 minutes ago, Gizmo said:

 

You'd think they would pray more, really... 

 

Never listened to, what's the point?

[I P Knightley]

25 minutes ago, Old Blue Eyes said:

Middle Eastern towns and cities cancel Friday prayers due to Cv-19. Wouldn't it be wonderful if just one of the Big-Yins acknowledged the worlds plight and used their pent-up wrath to smite this wee micro **cker.

 

Maybe this wee micro **cker is exactly how the Big Yin has been planning to strike down upon the bad guys with great vengeance and furious anger.

[OBE]

1 minute ago, I P Knightley said:

Maybe this wee micro **cker is exactly how the Big Yin has been planning to strike down upon the bad guys with great vengeance and furious anger.

 

I gave that some thought also...🤔

[Boab]

1 hour ago, Taffin said:

 

It is a risk and we do need to take action but the authorities will be trying to contain and delay it and we should follow their instructions.

 

Folk spouting off that the end is nigh online, buy a years worth of baked beans etc is just idiotic.

 

There's a big gap between not getting sand in your knickers over something that's unlikely to cause you much if an issue and playing it down. 

 

 

The supermarket madness is getting annoyingly daft now.

If only the virus attacked low IQs, I could maybe shop with no shortages.

Morons.

[Mac_fae_Gillie]

Twitter top trending subject is "toiletpaperpanic" glad I lived to see the day...

[Jambo-Jimbo]

6 hours ago, AlphonseCapone said:

 

I've explained this before. The flu has an average death rate of 0.1%. 10 times that is 1%. No one is claiming it's less than that. 

 

I've been away all day, so please excuse my delay in replying.

 

Yes there has, on here today on this very page (previous page now), someone claimed that the flu was worse, and they are not the only person to do so on this thread.

 

The chief scentific officer said the death rate is between 5-10 times that of the flu, you have confirmed that figure above; 0.1% x 10 is 1%, yet you say it's unhelpful for people to band about 5-10 times death rate worse than the flu, however that figure is correct, which you confirmed yourself, albeit in a different way.

Edited March 6, 2020 by Jambo-Jimbo

[Jeff]

47 minutes ago, Lord BJ said:

Does anyone know if they make the modelling on the outbreak available? Would be interested to see it. 
 

I had a quick google but couldn’t see anything. I assume they don’t make it available for a variety of reasons. 

 

Best I have

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

[Jambo-Jimbo]

38 minutes ago, Boab said:

The supermarket madness is getting annoyingly daft now.

If only the virus attacked low IQs, I could maybe shop with no shortages.

Morons.

 

The pant wetters are so thick that they don't realise that the warehouses are full, they were stockpiled for a 'no deal brexit' in January, so there is absolutely no need for this panic buying.

 

[BlackJAC?]

For anyone saying this is just the flu, please give me a single example of any flu outbreak, in our lifetime, that has achieved the following:

 

1) Closed down major Cities. 

2) Closed down entire educational systems in entire countries

3) Threatened to put the global market into recession

4) Cancelled sporting, cultural, social etc gatherings in different continents at the same time

 

I'm all ears (or eyes as the case may be).

 

The naysayers are every bit as bad as the doom merchants. The media hysteria didn't close down Wuhan, it didn't make the Italians close down every school and so on.  Italy have closed all schools because if the hospital numbers get replicated the country over, the Italian HC system will collapse. It's mainly the reason they did what they did. Once it hits the South, which is poorer than the North by some distance, it would be catastrophic. Unable to draw HC workers from elsewhere, because it would be all over the place, yeah, the HC system would collapse.

 

Don't get too hung up on the current fatal percentages. They mean relatively nothing when HC is available.  What really matters is that 18-20% serious/critical percentage. They all require hospital treatment.  No hospital treatment, that 20% figure will soon drip into that 1% or whatever the fatality percentage currently stands at. In other words, good luck to anyone staying at home with raging pneumonia that is slowly but surely suffocating you.

 

No HC system the world over is capable of sustaining a 20% increase in hospital admissions when it's happening all over the country. More so when HC workers become ill themselves.

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by BlackJAC?

[gjcc]

4 minutes ago, BlackJAC? said:

For anyone saying this is just the flu, please give me a single example of any flu outbreak, in our lifetime, that has achieved the following:

 

1) Closed down major Cities. 

2) Closed down entire educational systems in entire countries

3) Threatened to put the global market into recession

4) Cancelled sporting, cultural, social etc gatherings in different continents at the same time

 

I'm all ears (or eyes as the case may be).

 

The naysayers are every bit as bad as the doom merchants. The media hysteria didn't close down Wuhan, it didn't make the Italians close down every school and so on.  Italy have closed all schools because if the hospital numbers get replicated the country over, the Italian HC system will collapse. It's mainly the reason they did what they did. Once it hits the South, which is poorer than the North by some distance, it would be catastrophic. Unable to draw HC workers from elsewhere, because it would be all over the place, yeah, the HC system would collapse.

 

Don't get too hung up on the current fatal percentages. They mean relatively nothing when HC is available.  What really matters is that 18-20% serious/critical percentage. They all require hospital treatment.  No hospital treatment, that 20% figure will soon drip into that 1% or whatever it is fatality number. In other words, good luck to anyone staying at home with raging pneumonia that is slowly but surely suffocating you.

 

No HC system the world over is capable of sustaining a 20% increase in hospital admissions when it's happening all over the country. More so when HC workers become ill themselves.

 

To be fair, flu probably would do that if there wasn’t a vaccine. 
 

Im in neither camp, really. Don’t get the hype pushed by the media, but also don’t think it should be downplayed the way some are. 
 

What’s particularly aggravating is the effect it’s obviously having on the UK’s Asian community. My Chinese came in half an hour last night. Usually I’m waiting well over an hour, worse at the weekend.  
 

[BlackJAC?]

18 hours ago, J.T.F.Robertson said:

 

Now this fool knows more than medical science. What's the point of all those charlatan scientists when all we really need is a Donald "hunch"?

Feck me sideways.

 

 

As much as the guy is a complete and utter tool,  He is factually correct. More people will be riding this out at home than we will ever know.  Because people like to make flu comparisons on here, I can safely say the majority of us who get flu never so much as step foot in a doctors never mind a hospital. So even the annual flu figures are skewed somewhat.

Edited March 6, 2020 by BlackJAC?

[BlackJAC?]

10 minutes ago, gjcc said:

To be fair, flu probably would do that if there wasn’t a vaccine. 
 

Im in neither camp, really. Don’t get the hype pushed by the media, but also don’t think it should be downplayed the way some are. 
 

What’s particularly aggravating is the effect it’s obviously having on the UK’s Asian community. My Chinese came in half an hour last night. Usually I’m waiting well over an hour, worse at the weekend.  
 

 

But the flu vaccination is a relatively recent thing.  I'm 45 and can't recall a single pre vaccination flu out break that achieved any of this. 

 

Edit:  Seems I was wrong about the flu vaccination.  It's been around for decades

 

Edit after edit: From the NHS website which states it's a recent thing in the UK:

 

This has led to the UK recommendation to offer a newly licensed live attenuated influenza virus (LAIV) vaccine to all children aged 2–16 years. The programme started in 2013–2014 in children aged 2 and 3 years, and is being rolled out to older age cohorts over a number of seasons.

Edited March 6, 2020 by BlackJAC?

[Fire_At_The_Disco]

Going on a cruise on the 29th....stressed out about the full situation when I should be heading towards holiday mode😭

[The Real Maroonblood]

2 minutes ago, Tambo_The_Jambo said:

Going on a cruise on the 29th....stressed out about the full situation when I should be heading towards holiday mode😭

Sounds pretty crap your situation.

[gjcc]

15 minutes ago, BlackJAC? said:

 

But the flu vaccination is a relatively recent thing.  I'm 45 and can't recall a single pre vaccination flu out break that achieved any of this. 

 

Edit:  Seems I was wrong about the flu vaccination.  It's been around for decades

 

Edit after edit: From the NHS website which states it's a recent thing in the UK:

 

This has led to the UK recommendation to offer a newly licensed live attenuated influenza virus (LAIV) vaccine to all children aged 2–16 years. The programme started in 2013–2014 in children aged 2 and 3 years, and is being rolled out to older age cohorts over a number of seasons.

That’s the introduction of a certain type of improved coverage flu vaccine (because there’s many strains and they pretty much have to guess which ones will be most troublesome each year).
Flu vaccines were available well before that, certainly the Gov were pushing for over 65’s getting it in the early 2000’s. It was available before that. 

[kingantti1874]

25 minutes ago, gjcc said:

To be fair, flu probably would do that if there wasn’t a vaccine. 
 

Im in neither camp, really. Don’t get the hype pushed by the media, but also don’t think it should be downplayed the way some are. 
 

What’s particularly aggravating is the effect it’s obviously having on the UK’s Asian community. My Chinese came in half an hour last night. Usually I’m waiting well over an hour, worse at the weekend.  
 

not since the Spanish flu in 1918 has the flu had a death rate close to this.. it was between 2 and 3 % and it is estimated it killed 20-50million world wide..

 

this was at a time when the world population was about 1/3rd of what it is today and international travel was virtually non existent. 

[kingantti1874]

7 minutes ago, Tambo_The_Jambo said:

Going on a cruise on the 29th....stressed out about the full situation when I should be heading towards holiday mode😭

Where is your cruise going? 

[Fire_At_The_Disco]

5 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

Sounds pretty crap your situation.

It is, I saved hard for this break  

[Fire_At_The_Disco]

2 minutes ago, kingantti1874 said:

Where is your cruise going? 

The med mate, Malaga, Toulouse,  Valencia, Barcelona etc

[Morgan]

9 minutes ago, Tambo_The_Jambo said:

Going on a cruise on the 29th....stressed out about the full situation when I should be heading towards holiday mode😭

Not trying to be a doom merchant (sorry to hear that you are stressed about something that should be being greatly anticipated, btw) but, we have American friends who are booked on a cruise in mid-April - starting in Bergen, visiting six other countries and then finishing in Stockholm. They have already been advised to cancel.

 

They were meant to be coming here to stay with us on the 18th of March, and likewise, have been advised to cancel. Which they have duly done. 

[BlackJAC?]

17 minutes ago, gjcc said:

That’s the introduction of a certain type of improved coverage flu vaccine (because there’s many strains and they pretty much have to guess which ones will be most troublesome each year).
Flu vaccines were available well before that, certainly the Gov were pushing for over 65’s getting it in the early 2000’s. It was available before that. 

 

Yeah, I stand corrected on that particular point.  However, no flu virus in our lifetime (unless there are people around 100 on here) has come close to the severity of this virus. Even without the vaccination, most flus still stand around .01%.  This even if it was around 1% would kill around 23m around the current WHO figures being banded around.  That isn't taking into account the piss poor HC systems in most African countries and places like central America.

[Fire_At_The_Disco]

8 minutes ago, Morgan said:

Not trying to be a doom merchant (sorry to hear that you are stressed about something that should be being greatly anticipated, btw) but, we have American friends who are booked on a cruise in mid-April - starting in Bergen, visiting six other countries and then finishing in Stockholm. They have already been advised to cancel.

 

They were meant to be coming here to stay with us on the 18th of March, and likewise, have been advised to cancel. Which they have duly done. 

Yes it’s the do I cancel or not that’s stressing me out, a lot of money to lose if the insurance company follow the cruise companies line of safe until government advice changes.

[Morgan]

1 minute ago, Tambo_The_Jambo said:

Yes it’s the do I cancel or not that’s stressing me out, a lot of money to lose if the insurance company follow the cruise companies line of safe until government advice changes.

Yes, that's a real dilemma.

 

 

[Brighton Jambo]

I can speak from experience as I’m a nurse practitioner working in a very busy district general hospital A&E.

We see around 800 new patients per week with the vast majority being elderly with complex needs often respiratory. We are up against it already with 4 hour waits in the back of ambulances in the car park not uncommon. We have corridors full of sick old people, a full Resuscitation area almost 24/7 and a minors area rammed with people far too sick to be in there but nowhere else to put them. We also have a lot of “worried well”:overdoses, nut cases and drunks/addicts.

The police are in the department all the time with those assaulted or under arrest and, frankly, worn out, overloaded and knackered staff.

We have been advised by our trust board to expect imminently a huge upswell in numbers as, whilst most infected with C19, there will be between 14 and 20% will need a bed and another 5% needing ITU beds. That means that our hospital will see hundreds more very ill people needing urgent care which we simply cannot offer.

The information we have from the senior management is laughable, we have a pod for C19 testing big enough for one patient and two clinicians. We also have 2...yes 2...hazmat suits to share among our doctors, nurses, HCAs and cleaning staff.

We are told to get on with it basically. But I know- and you should too- that if any of you get ill or need hospital care, even for a minor injury you will be waiting for a VERY long time to get it if the trajectory of this virus goes the way it’s predicted to.

Another point is that the Chinese reported that their frontline staff were decimated by Covid when it hit their hospitals with deaths among Young fit clinicians occurring far more frequently than they cared to report. The likely cause? Viral load. Massive exposure to the virus from multiple patients.

I have small kids. I am not worried for myself but them. I will be there tonight and whenever I’m needed because I love the NHS and believe that I’m obligated to help in this crisis.

But stop treating it like a joke or an inconvenience think of your doctors and nurses.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Brighton Jambo

[Brighton Jambo]

Just now, Brighton Jambo said:

I can speak from experience as I’m a nurse practitioner working in a very busy district general hospital A&E.

We see around 800 new patients per week with the vast majority being elderly with complex needs often respiratory. We are up against it already with 4 hour waits in the back of ambulances in the car park not uncommon. We have corridors full of sick old people, a full Resuscitation area almost 24/7 and a minors area rammed with people far too sick to be in there but nowhere else to put them. We also have a lot of “worried well”:overdoses, nut cases and drunks/addicts.

The police are in the department all the time with those assaulted or under arrest and, frankly, worn out, overloaded and knackered staff.

We have been advised by our trust board to expect imminently a huge upswell in numbers as, whilst most infected with C19, there will be between 14 and 20% will need a bed and another 5% needing ITU beds. That means that our hospital will see hundreds more very ill people needing urgent care which we simply cannot offer.

The information we have from the senior management is laughable, we have a pod for C19 testing big enough for one patient and two clinicians. We also have 2...yes 2...hazmat suits to share among our doctors, nurses, HCAs and cleaning staff.

We are told to get on with it basically. But I know- and you should too- that if any of you get ill or need hospital care, even for a minor injury you will be waiting for a VERY long time to get it if the trajectory of this virus goes the way it’s predicted to.

Another point is that the Chinese reported that their frontline staff were decimated by Covid when it hit their hospitals with deaths among Young fit clinicians occurring far more frequently than they cared to report. The likely cause? Viral load. Massive exposure to the virus from multiple patients.

I have small kids. I am not worried for myself but them. I will be there tonight and whenever I’m needed because I love the NHS and believe that I’m obligated to help in this crisis.

But stop treating it like a joke or an inconvenience think of your doctors and nurses.

 

 

These aren’t my words bIt  saw them on another board.  Rather sobering I thought.  

[Walter Bishop]

56 minutes ago, gjcc said:

To be fair, flu probably would do that if there wasn’t a vaccine. 
 

Im in neither camp, really. Don’t get the hype pushed by the media, but also don’t think it should be downplayed the way some are. 
 

What’s particularly aggravating is the effect it’s obviously having on the UK’s Asian community. My Chinese came in half an hour last night. Usually I’m waiting well over an hour, worse at the weekend.  
 

Exactly been saying this all week! There is a vaccine for flu, if there wasnt can you imagine the chaos, Especially given the number of deaths there is with a vaccine!!!

 

Yes this has a higher death rate than flu but wait until they come up with a vaccine before comparing the two.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

30 minutes ago, kingantti1874 said:

not since the Spanish flu in 1918 has the flu had a death rate close to this.. it was between 2 and 3 % and it is estimated it killed 20-50million world wide..

 

this was at a time when the world population was about 1/3rd of what it is today and international travel was virtually non existent. 

 

This is an article written in 2005  about the '1918 Spanish Flu' outbreak.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/flu-how-britain-coped-in-the-1918-epidemic-5348535.html

 

The similarities of how the World dealt with the 1918 flu pandemic and what is happening all over the World today are disturbingly similar, read it and you'll see just how similar things are that they did in 1918 & what they are doing in 2020 are.

 

I know there is a huge difference in lifestyle's, medical treatment blah blah blah, however there is one thing which the so called Spanish Flu of 1918 and Covid-19 share in common, they were both new virus' which doctors had no cure or treatment for.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Jambo-Jimbo

[The Real Maroonblood]

17 minutes ago, Tambo_The_Jambo said:

Yes it’s the do I cancel or not that’s stressing me out, a lot of money to lose if the insurance company follow the cruise companies line of safe until government advice changes.

Would it not be better if you went through the motions of the cruise itinerary and let them cancel?

[Shanks said no]

4 minutes ago, Walter Bishop said:

What do they see coming?

Without being too specific the 50% being unable to work and forget self isolation as it will very soon be household isolation. 

[Shanks said no]

7 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

Would it not be better if you went through the motions of the cruise itinerary and let them cancel?

 

27 minutes ago, Tambo_The_Jambo said:

Yes it’s the do I cancel or not that’s stressing me out, a lot of money to lose if the insurance company follow the cruise companies line of safe until government advice changes.

I got caught up in the Egyptian revolution, a cruise(Nile) as well. I waited for foreign office but Thomson were very slow to cancel. I eventually got compensation but I agree very stressful 

[kingantti1874]

10% of cases requiring hospital in Italy ,5% requiring intensive care and mechanical ventilation..

 

but it’s not worse than the flu according to some  🤦‍♂️

[Walter Bishop]

19 minutes ago, The Frenchman Returns said:

Without being too specific the 50% being unable to work and forget self isolation as it will very soon be household 

50% of the working population of Scotland? 

[Boab]

Just now, kingantti1874 said:

10% of cases requiring hospital in Italy ,5% requiring intensive care and mechanical ventilation..

 

but it’s not worse than the flu according to some  🤦‍♂️

Italy has a population of 60 million, mate.

While even a single death is someone’s family, let’s see where they are in a month, as they seem to be about that time ahead of us in exposure.

[Walter Bishop]

12 minutes ago, kingantti1874 said:

10% of cases requiring hospital in Italy ,5% requiring intensive care and mechanical ventilation..

 

but it’s not worse than the flu according to some  🤦‍♂️

There is a vaccine for flu and it still kills hundreds of thousands. There is no vaccine for Covid-19, yet. Only when there is can you compare the two. 

 

 

[Ibrahim Tall]

People are extremely naive if they think countries are intentionally ‘overreacting’ and tanking their own economies because of a few reports in The Sun and Daily Express.

 

Its not some apocalyptical plague but it’s  nowhere near a bleeping cold either. 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Ibrahim Tall

[vegas-voss]

35 minutes ago, Brighton Jambo said:

These aren’t my words bIt  saw them on another board.  Rather sobering I thought.  

Said it before far too many **** you jack I'm ok folk in the UK.

 

17 minutes ago, kingantti1874 said:

10% of cases requiring hospital in Italy ,5% requiring intensive care and mechanical ventilation..

 

but it’s not worse than the flu according to some  🤦‍♂️

So many folk just don't give a shit until it hits them mate.No doubt be bleating like **** about this or that should have happened when it does effect them to.

[kingantti1874]

6 minutes ago, Walter Bishop said:

There is a vaccine for flu and it still kills hundreds of thousands. There is no vaccine for Covid-19, yet. Only when there is can you compare the two. 

 

 

This has the potential to kill millions.. maybe tens of millions.. and a vaccine is a year away unless they decide to skip the clinical trials

[annushorribilis III]

3 minutes ago, Ibrahim Tall said:

People are extremely naive if they think countries are intentionally ‘overreacting’ and tanking their own economies because of a few reports in The Sun and Daily Express.

 

Its not some apocalyptical plague but it’s  nowhere near a bleeping cold either. 

I saw something on Twitter last night about autopsy results from China. 

It's  like a mix of SARs & AIDS.

Even survivors can be faced with horrendous lung damage.

 

Richard Hatchett, the doctor leading efforts to find a vaccine for coronavirus, says it is much more lethal than normal flu.

[Ibrahim Tall]

4 minutes ago, vegas-voss said:

Said it before far too many **** you jack I'm ok folk in the UK.

 

So many folk just don't give a shit until it hits them mate.No doubt be bleating like **** about this or that should have happened when it does effect them to.

 

Correct.

Given I’d imagine there’s not a single a person among us all who doesn’t have atleast one elderly frail relative, someone with an existing illness, or recently under chemo etc, the ‘we’ve got nothing to worry about/it’s only 1%’ attitude is stupid.

[Walter Bishop]

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Walter Bishop

[Shanks said no]

14 minutes ago, Walter Bishop said:

 

And the vaccine will be available next year 

[Don Dan]

‘Dear all bank workers, 
We would like to advise all staff bank workers to ensure they keep updated via the NHS Lothian Intranet site and NHS Inform regarding Coronavirus (Covid-19).
Due to the changing nature of the current status of Covid-19 there is an expectation that staff bank demand may increase as we will be used to support services in NHS Lothian. 
As a reminder we would ask that you be mindful of the consequence of cancelling shifts at short notice. Please only book shifts you can commit to attending.
If this means reducing your normal timescales for booking shifts to ensure attendance this would be beneficial for the services.
Please could you keep a close check on our communication regards the requirement for staff to work at very short notice.
We would appreciate your help and support in providing a flexible and reliable service, especially at short notice.
The following is the latest information on the NHS Lothian Intranet regarding Covid-19: 
We know there is heightened anxiety among staff around Coronavirus (COVID19). We would like to reassure you that NHS Lothian is well prepared and has plans in place to respond to an outbreak and to safeguard patient and staff safety. As ever, hand washing continues to be one of the best defences against COVID 19 and will help protect you, your family and patients against the virus. It will also prevent further spread of the virus.
In simple terms, the organism is spread by droplet transmission. We would ask you to continue to follow our infection prevention and control guidelines at all times when you are going about your normal day, wherever you are in the organisation.
We would also remind staff that patient confidentiality is paramount for good clinical care and practice. This will become especially important over the coming weeks. Staff are urged not to enquire about patients that are not directly under their care because it affects the ability to provide high quality care.

Directly affected departments are already working under increased pressure and we would also ask staff to use the information available on the staff intranet and from the sources of their normal professional guidance, including Health Protection Scotland , NHS Inform and National Infection Prevention and Control Manual, rather than phoning individual departments with general questions that could be answered sooner using other resources.

General and up-to-date advice about the virus, including the introduction of a helpline, high-risk areas around the world and advice on self-isolation is available from NHS Inform and it remains one of the most up to date resources.
Coronavirus can generally cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.
Common symptoms of coronavirus include:
• high temperature or fever
• cough
• shortness of breath
If you or a loved one are considering travelling abroad, more advice can be found on Fit for Travel and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
You can also keep up to date by checking the most up to date test results website, which is updated every day by the Scottish Government.
If you have any concerns or questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Many thanks, the Staff Bank.’ 

[Walter Bishop]

8 minutes ago, The Frenchman Returns said:

And the vaccine will be available next year 

Where does it say that?