Lurker - you and I need to meet up for some beers & a little chat about all sorts of things (including sociology). Seeing as we are both fairly verbose - and I'm at work - it would probably be better not to bore the tits off everyone in here :-)

a4e - sounds like most days to me. Mental health, adults and children, is going to be a big issue over the coming months. We need to look after ourselves and each other.

It was only day ONE of “lockdown” yesterday - two conversations I overheard yesterday whilst out on my daily exercise walk - one mother shouting, as she tried to placate a screaming child being strapped into her car, “Stop your whining, I’ve had just about enough of it today already!”; and then, a mother with her three small children (the eldest being a boy, and two younger sisters), all with scooters - as two teenage lads walked towards them, the boy said “We need to keep away from them, they’ve got Coronavirus”, to which his mother snapped, “Right, if you say that one more time, you’re GROUNDED!” - ironic really. Wonder how day two will be for them......

The cities literally expanded outwards into the countryside to accommodate that increase. Croydon is now the size of many cities from 150 years ago.

TGG not an exaggeration. I'm talking about how we actually live. As in we started moving away from living on top of each other, which is how most disease was being spread, that was ONE of the drivers of people being spread out more. Then as soon as it stopped being living memory, we went back to building housing for as many as possible in as little space as possible.

lurker - don't exaggerate. We only started mass-producing penicillin towards the end of the second world war. I don't really think that we have EVER lived in a way that doesn't encourage the spread of disease. You could postulate that the tipping point was in 1851 when we became the first country in the world to have more people living in towns and cities than in (what the census that year described as) the country-side.

Also just had a run in where had to repeatedly try to explain to someone that their trip to the shops has no value and is not worth someone dying over.

Don't worry I'll be along with my daily update of local death rates shortly.

sorry slow train - that post hasn't helped - I do feel though we need to be noting in the back of the book some of this and thinking long term about living in a way that doesn't encourage the spread of disease, considering we supposedly moved away from that 100+ years ago

OI I'd be surprised if it hasn't already hit Syria and Turkey considering where else has had it heavily. One reason this is spreading and so dangerous is our world currently has a lot more vulnerable people by way of political circumstances in some places and in others we have found ways to keep people alive a lot longer but without necessarily being able (or willing) to solve the health issues that age brings, then you get things like how much our culture/population crowding has changed how people live, so many people now live with their family with them longer for example. We've created societies that are ripe for this kind of event to run riot. At the same time as in many countries we've lost any sense of doing what you're told - noticeable places that have the ability to say do it or else seem to be better able to lockdown.

You're a ray of sunshine in all our lives Lurker :)

The refugee camps in Syria, Turkey, Greece, Gaza and Lebanon are going to be a disaster when the virus gets in there. I suspect some cynical governments may see that as some form of solution.

just seen the DTB statement, those links however aren't good for those with a right wing leaning, should add Fox news and the Sun for balance...

FFS people in this country do just want to fucking moan. People moaning that the measures are too slow. People moaning that the change is coming too fast to respond to. People moaning that the schools weren't closed. People moaning that the schools are now closed. People moaning that there isn't a firm list of essential jobs, then moaning when someone suggests one that their job should be on it. This has shown up the worst in the population of this country.

Maybe all leagues should just work out final positions based on points per game across a full season. We've had enough of the season so far that this is going to be realistic. Do that, declare the season done on that basis, do the relegations, promotions, titles etc. Declare all cups void for this season. And get football done and finished til this is over.

Sav - not necessarily. Most viruses don't like heat but there are some that do - the West Nile Virus, for a start. There was one of the projected pandemics a few years ago (SARS/Swine/Bird I can't remember) that everyone thought was going to disappear when summer came, but didn't. Over to the Good Doctor for elaboration.

Stadium site shut. People outside Lidl maintaining social distancing in queueueueue - apart from one cock lurking near the front of the queueueueueue with a trolley. Someone should give him a slap - except for the fact that they are social di....

The thing I don’t get about the Africa worry is weren’t we told that the warmer summer season is likely to slow/stop the virus. It’s a lot warmer in Africa so if it does take root there the virus must be more resilient. If so we could have got a lot longer period in lockdown than originally thought.

Windy - thanks for that. He’s only in his 60s, but not what I’d call “old”, though generally unfit and has diabetes as well - people need to understand that this thing will simply finish off those who are already compromised in terms of their health. That’s why I’ve been so bloody angry about cavorting stag parties wearing “Covid-19 on Tour” tee shirts and the like - someone else’s loved one dies as a result of this, but hey.

Very sorry to hear that a4e.

Kite - let’s hope so, for the sake of the key workers who are surrounded by non-essential workers on the tube, etc - saying that, something HAS to be done to support the self employed and zero hours workers, as that’s why they’re still heading off to work every day! If it means a slow-down on the stadium build, so be it - protecting the NHS is just a bit more important than that imo.

Thanks GG, very interesting and concerning article. Any sign of work at the stadium? Still no definitive guidance on construction projects.

RK, I'd be fare more worried about sub-saharan africa. Once the virus starts moving through the shanty and squatter towns where people live 8 to a 2 room corrugated iron shack huge numbers of people are going to die. 13.1% of the population in South Africa has aids, 19% in 15 to 49 years olds. Swaziland 37%, Lesotho 25%, Botswana 25%

Re-read my own post from last night - to clarify, my brother-in-law didn’t confirm a case of Coronavirus in Medway yesterday, he IS a confirmed case himself - seems he may have contracted it whilst in hospital, since he has been on a critical care ward for two weeks following a stroke. My sister doesn’t expect him to last much longer :(

Looks like construction work is next [Link]