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If you don’t know how to wash your or hands, or how long to do it for, please sing the following in your head:

What’s upset me most about this whole Corona Virus episode has been the dismissal of older people and those more vulnerable by lots of younger people. Don’t they have older relatives ? Don’t they know anybody who has diabetes, heart disease, etc ? For me it’s really confirmed what I had feared about society , that it’s become selfish in a way that it’s never been before.

The mortality rate in Italy is about 5% so nobody should play down the risks. Even if you don't care because you are young and fit, you don't want to be giving it to your older friends and relatives (or anyone else for that matter).

Everyone keeps focussing on these 2 stats: - 80% get it mildly - 1-3% are killed by it... we don't really know yet. But a major concern is the people in the middle: -15% get severe symptoms (some of whom may need to be hospitalised) - 5% get critically ill and WILL need hospital (some of whom then die) For many people this will be FAR worse than the flu and it's because of this group - the whole 20% who have severe symptoms or worse - that we're talking about social distancing etc. Only 10,000 people have got Covid-19 in Italy and the hospitals are already creaking - as you'd expect - 2,000 extra people in a relatively small area needing hospitalisation and respirators - no health service has that much spare capacity. Ours certainly doesn't. We're not thinking about cancelling all major sporting events and closing schools just because of a few thousand or tens of thousands of extra deaths which from a whole population perspective isn't that serious (although for the people and families involved, it clearly is and it's flippant and calous to say otherwise). We're thinking of these uniquely serious steps because there's no way our infrastructre could cope if very large numbers of us got the disease at the same time - which is certainly possible without these steps. We MUST delay how fast it travels through the population to improve our capacity to handle it as as a society. The good news - and there is some! - is that the number of new cases has declined for two days in a row. Far, far too early to say this is a trend. But it's better than the alternatives.

Was chatting to two Liverpool fans in the pub last night and managed to convince them that if they cancel the remaining fixtures this season, Man City will be awarded the title as 'existing holders'. Evidently, my argument was convincing enough to ruin their night out.

I think most of us will get it, but the key thing is for 80% of people, its only a mild illness. And around 3% of people die - mostly people with underlying illnesses Certainly no need for this hysteria. Edit: to people disliking this comment, these facts come from the World Health Organisation. Stop believing the hype!

I’ve got an 11 year old son and I’d like him to have a long and happy life. If that means taking precautions now to protect him from a potentially dangerous virus then so be it. I fear that the more people there are who ‘couldn’t give a crap about the virus’, the more chance there is of him being affected by it. The notion that ‘we’re all going to die anyway’ strikes me as facile. Yes we are, but how many are happy to die when a few simple precautions could help them to live longer, in some cases very considerably longer?

Guys, I’ve clicked on the link so you don’t have to give the Daily Mail clicks. The woman is 29 and has had specialised hospital treatment. Therefore, in the COVID Venn diagram, she fits in the rare middle group - lowest risk, highest treatment. Most people of her age won’t get hospital treatment due to priority Most of us who are fit and healthy normally will be fine, the point is the risk of carrying and passing onto someone who is in the high risk group. And as more people get it, it’s less likely they can get the medical attention they need

It is worth bearing in mind the average person with it infects 2 or 3 people. That is worse than flu but still suggests most infections will come from close personal contact with friends, colleagues or family rather than one person at a public event passing it onto hundreds of people. That is not to play down a need for concern as an infection that doubles or triplicates will still quite quickly infect large numbers but it is unlikely any single person or event will create hundreds of cases all in one go. However two or three taking it home to new parts of the country would still be a problem. If the figure is correct that 60% of people would get it if no action was taken, it should be possible to get that number down with action. But, if even a third of us got it and 1% died, that would still be 230 000 additional deaths. There were 616 000 deaths in the UK in 2018 total so that is a lot of extra deaths. (If it was 3% and over 50% of the population were infected, we are talking over a million deaths. Much over 50% and 3% and you get more deaths from coronavirus than all other causes combined) You are talking about massive, massive numbers of deaths whilst telling people they are overreacting. And anyone minimalising this because it will mostly hit elderly and disabled people ignores how many people have got elderly or disabled people in their lives they care about. The fact it mostly hits certain population segments does not make it any way okay, nor reassure anyone except the most self interested of people.

I'm in full agreement with you, and I say that as a "younger" person. From the media to the man/woman on the street there seems to be this horrible attitude that old people are simply "expendable" in a pandemic. Even sadder, the same people that are so dismissive of the older generation will certainly start to care a whole lot more about the virus when the global economy inevitably tanks and they can't afford their mortgage repayments/rent because they can't go to work. We are in a new "me" generation, unfortunately. A lot of people don't know the true value of what's really important.

Tory MP Nadine Dorries has been diagnosed with covid-19, been in contact with 100s of people over the past three days including the PM - strap yourselves in everyone...

Which i am totally in agreement with you on.. What i won't do though, is spend a single second WORRYING about it, which a lot of the media seems to be wanting us to do. Worrying about ANYTHING is the most useless thing a person can do. Be hygienic YES, take measures YES, bang on about it ALL ******* day long NO.

Alpine. We used to get it delivered in Keynsham.

They should introduce a scheme for those little laughing gas canisters that get left on the floor, might encourage those crazy kids to not chuck them on the floor after their mild 5 second high

I think your simple maths is quite seriously flawed for multiple reasons.

I think I'll be OK as I used to drink loads of this when I was a kid so I'm immune to it:

I thought this was the Just Giving page. And boy do they keep giving.

LLDDLLDWLLLDLLDDLLDWLLL The Mem has now become a Welsh railway station...

The health minister no less. Elite level irony.

6106 Sags 1175 Mackems

@redapple First I made an assumption about your age which was wrong - sorry for that! Second, you may be right that young people are more selfish now, but I think that's really hard to know. And these people may just be reacting carelessly - it's the same point I made above and hardly worth re-saying. Third, good luck with your partner's operation. My wife had an operation a couple of weeks ago (which went well). I think looking at the rate of change in the number of UK cases, it seems unlikely that the situation by next week is going to be so serious as to affect planned operations. But as I say, good luck.

Who said you need to watch it on the TV?

UK Virus ALERT The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent virus threat and have therefore raised their threat level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Soon, though, level may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross.” The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. The virus has been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance.” The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada. The Scots have raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let's Get the Bastard.” They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years. The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its alert level from “Run” to “Hide.” The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender.” The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability. Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing.” Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides.” The Germans have increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs.” They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbour” and “Lose.” Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels. The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy. Australia, meanwhile, has raised its alert level from “No worries” to “She'll be alright, Mate.” Two more escalation levels remain: “Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!” and “The barbie is cancelled.” So far, no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level. The Russians have said “Its not us”

I agree fully with the last sentence however it is worth noting that Italy has the oldest population in Europe and the second oldest in the world. That mortality rate doesn’t represent the wider number

It was the Alpine Lorry. My dad used to drive one. Us kids would always nick a couple of bottles off the back of the lorry when he wasn’t looking. Not the dandelion & burdock though - horrible stuff that! When you made a new purchase you could return your empties and get money back. Great system.

One thing I find frustrating regarding the almost shambolic way ffp hs unfolded in the last 18 months - 2 years, is the almost deafening silence from the majority of clubs that have presumably been working hard, and properly within the rules, to comply even if it has compromised their competitiveness on the pitch. Apart from Steve Gibson sticking his head above the parapet, and getting shot at for so doing, no one has said boo to a goose. when seeing clubs riding roughshod over the spirit of ffp rules, even if they did not actually break the rules - if you know what I mean. Getting their retaliation in first?

Time to close those tent-flaps (as Wally said to Irene)

Northern Ireland. Michael O Neil will find his commute to both jobs considerably easier.

Agree with that, horrible place. I've only been once and picked up a minging stomach bug. Insanity that it's going ahead, though I'd imagine the number of actual attendees will be lower than usual as many work companies cancel their trips. Good news for the people that do make it as they might actually be able to get served a beer in less than 30 minutes.

Some simple Maths lead me to the conclusion that the effect on the health of the UK from Coronavirus will not be anything like as bad as the media suggest. We can probably all agree that China, where it originated , has been hit the hardest with 80,761 people having contracted the Virus and 3,136 deaths, The virus now seems to be under control in China with only 26 new cases yesterday in a population of 1 billion,400 million people. The % of the Chinese population who tested positive for Coronavirus is only 0.006 %. This in the worst affected country. Lets assume worst case , 1 % of UK testing positive,. Almost 200 times higher infection rate than China 1% of the UK 67 million population represents 670,000 people who would get the Virus (currently 321) Assuming current death rate in UK of 1.87% dying from the virus Therefore expected deaths in UK from the Coronavirus could be around 12,529. (currently 5) Highly unlikely we would get 4 times as many deaths as China in a UK population a fraction of the size Using the Chinese Data , the number of UK infections drops to 4,020 and deaths drop to less than 100 ! Bear in mind that 616,014 people die every year in the UK, 11,848 UK deaths every week so you can perhaps see why I believe we are significantly exaggerating the impact of Coronavirus on the UK . The economic damage caused by the panic is in my opinion far more dangerous in the long term to our economy and national prosperity

Thanks, mate . I was really struggling to come up with them.

Alpine! I think it every time Peter Kaye refers to "rola cola"

In a division when anyone can beat anyone, every game is a test! Forest Sqaud vs a GP. A proper 6 pointer.

If he met the team as reported then it is likely they will have to self-isolate for 14 days one assumes so match in doubt

yes, viruses tend to become less lethal as they mutate and adapt through the population, but not quite as linear as the numbers you describe, that will happen over months and years, rather than days.

Each to their own I guess, but I hope that if you do get it, or cone into contact with someone who does have it, you do the right thing! As a parent of a vulnerable child, I’m taking advice and precautions. My Programme Manager returned from Italy (skiing) on Friday, was check going in and out of Italy, and HR advice was to stay at home for 2 days isolating. He messaged the team on Sunday saying he was taking our concerns seriously and not gonna come in for 2 weeks (we are able to work remotely). So, with him not being in, i went to the office yesterday. Then yesterday, he said he was coming in today, so I told him I would work at home today and rest of week. We need to test our ability to have large scale remote working, so I was helping that anyway. Today new HR advice is he needs to stay at home for 2 weeks.

These constant attempts by people to dismiss Coronavirus as “just like flu” are getting tiresome. There are good reasons why the world is reacting very differently. “While the viruses that cause both COVID-19 and seasonal influenza are transmitted from person-to-person and may cause similar symptoms, the two viruses are very different and do not behave in the same way. ECDC estimates that between 15 000 and 75 000 people die prematurely due to causes associated with seasonal influenza each year in the EU, the UK, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. This is approximately 1 in every 1 000 people who are infected. By comparison, the current estimated mortality rate for COVID-19 is 20-30 per 1 000 people. Despite the relatively low mortality rate for seasonal influenza, many people die from the disease due to the large number of people who contract it each year. The concern about COVID-19 is that, unlike influenza, there is no vaccine and no specific treatment for the disease. It also appears to be as transmissible as influenza if not more so. As it is a new virus, nobody has prior immunity which in theory means that the entire human population is potentially susceptible to COVID-19 infection.“ https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coronavirus-china/questions-answers

Am I the only person who couldn't give a crap about the virus? Honestly, people live and die, what's the big deal? Saw a guy today wearing a face mask at school to collect his kids, almost laughed my socks off!!

Germany are encouraging people to work from home and minimise travel and are recommending cancellation of any events of 1000 or more. Regardless of your views of the risk, I think it is sensible to brace yourself for the possibility of the same restrictions happening here. I'm massively starting to regret booking a train and hotel in Nottingham and a ticket for Ash at Rock City on the day of the Forest game...

Was listening to Piers Moron this morning, what a complete tool. Scaremongering of the highest order and wanting all the big futile gestures rather that a pragmatic approach. Pity our media can’t get as worked up about the deaths due to DWP reforms and austerity.

Doesn't help when you've got a part-time Prime Minister who isn't exactly renowned for his work ethic or attention to detail. Third world countries like Cambodia and Ghana are already screening people coming back into their respective countries. We're letting thousands of people fly back into the country from infected areas with no checks whatsoever.

They must still be the 6th richest club in the world then... They haven't spent anything.

Maybe not, but you can carry the virus undetected and pass on to someone who might die? I’m not worried at all for my sake, had flu at Xmas and survived just fine after a week of isolation (might even have been this!) but I’ve got vulnerable people in my family that I wouldn’t want to pass on to so sensible precautions are wise. Im fairly with you though, I’m not going full panic mode and locking myself indoors. I’ll still live my life but with a little more attention to hygiene than maybe I would have

My local Tesco Northern Ireland this morning. Press/Media need to come here! Plenty on the shelves should you need any to throw onto the pitch this Saturday!

I was listening to Radio 5 late last night, and there was a call with a couple from Scotland who had that night flown from Milan to Edinburgh, and claimed they had faced no checks on the drive from Lombardy to Milan-Malpensa or on arrival into the UK. It was established that the advice on Public Health England contradicted that on the Scottish equivalent: the former advised all passengers arriving from the region self-isolate, the latter advised only if coming from a level-1 risk area (which they had not). Not a good sign of overall management if even those bodies can't get on the same page.

I suggest you remove your head from your bottom. I also suggest you research the results of the tory imposed austerity on the UK population, particularly Duncan Smiths pet policy of UC. The information is widely available and confirms that the tories are a callous bunch of bastards.

Even third world countries like Ghana and Cambodia are screening people. Absolutely bizarre approach from the government. Almost like they're incompetent

Yep...especially as we are allowing people to fly into the UK from affected areas of Italy and pretty much do as they like ...

The thing I don’t understand is this. Yes, the situation is not as bad here currently. But Italy have taken drastic measures - first shutting down specific towns, and now a whole region. Given our tactics are currently limited to advice on basic hygiene, what reason do we have to believe there won’t be a similar escalation in cases here?

Just Google Hong Kong flu, a pandemic in 1968, very similar to this, minus the panic, press and bog roll hoarding. There have been a few flu strains over the years, Spanish flu in 1918 being the worst. Just seems to be a natural occurrence, but nowadays we have 24/7 media to scare us.