Perhaps it was behind a paywall as it could be "slightly conspiracy theory" - empty hospitals, staff not actually being worked to death...? That kind of idea..

Good to raise awareness about the possibility of a sub-epidemic of people not going to hospital until it's too late, or almost too late thus causing complications for them and the staff, due to the DO NOT GO TO THE E.R. mindset. I think this is why we have the 111 phone service in the UK... when you can get through to them that is..

2 minutes ago, HighBypass said:

Good to raise awareness about the possibility of a sub-epidemic of people not going to hospital until it's too late, or almost too late thus causing complications for them and the staff, due to the DO NOT GO TO THE E.R. mindset.

Actually, the hospitals and doctors may have caused this themselves. I know my doctor called to confirm an upcoming appointment and I asked were they actually wanting people to come in and sit around in waiting rooms in the middle of a pandemic. They said "Sure! Don't worry about it."

Just before the appointment, they called to cancel and offered a telemeeting.

Then they called again and moved the appointment back two months.

Meanwhile, even people who worried that they might have Covid were being told that essentially unless they were gasping thier last breath, just go ahead and treat yourself at home, since there was really nothing hospitals could do.

The message I got from that was "Go away! we're busy!"

So.......

Yeah.

1 - My wife has an appointment with our primary healthcare provider this morning.  They called her to change the office call to a telephone call.  How can they thump your back and chest and listen to your heart and lungs and check your lower legs for edema over the telephone?  "Doctor, I feel a small lump in my breast."  "Well, tell me if it's still there on our phone call next month."

2 - Hard choice to make.  A woman we know who lives in South Carolina works in a nursing home.  She was told if she wanted to continue working there her son would have to give up his job as a grounds keeper at a golf course and her husband would have to give up his job and a service tech at a local car dealership because they might catch the virus on the job and transfer it to her.  She chose to quit her job since her husband made more money as a service tech than she did at the nursing home.

I wonder if this applies to all healthcare workers?

3 - Ever since I got out of the Marine Corps in 1956 I have worn my hair short.  Very short.  I go to the barber and tell him to cut it all the way around with a Number 2 blade.  No side burns.  I always assumed it was gray.  But looking at it tis morning it's more of a silver color.  I don't know how I'm going to like wearing my hair long.  When it's short I don't have to mess with it.  Maybe I'll but a pair of clippers and have my wife cut it for me.

Noel

57 minutes ago, birdguy said:

3 - Ever since I got out of the Marine Corps in 1956 I have worn my hair short.  Very short.  I go to the barber and tell him to cut it all the way around with a Number 2 blade.  No side burns.  I always assumed it was gray.  But looking at it tis morning it's more of a silver color.  I don't know how I'm going to like wearing my hair long.  When it's short I don't have to mess with it.  Maybe I'll but a pair of clippers and have my wife cut it for me.

Same here, ever since I got out of the Air Force. 

Bought a good Wahl clipper and just put on the #2 attachment for an easy cut every month or so.

Dave

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

..I don't know how I'm going to like wearing my hair long....

Noel, you were around when the Hippie culture was in full swing.. did you not try it back then? .

I suspect, though I'll never know, not having served, but do you get into a mindset about always having a really short haircut?

Sigh..... 🥺

Wear the masks, folks.

Harsh!.. But fair..

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

Maybe I'll but a pair of clippers and have my wife cut it for me.

If you like your barber, you could try doing what I did and arrange a tele-haircut.  I Face-Timed with my haircutter and she coached me through what to do. There were a couple of scary moments when big chunks went flying, and I had to do some contortions to give her a look at the back, but we got through it.  Worked out pretty well - and it lets her keep some income (though as for that, I would have paid her in any case - I'm trying to support the people who do work for me).  If you want to keep in touch with your barber through all this, might be worth a shot.

On the topic of what air travel will look like post-covid, here's one company's proposal: https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2020/04/20/aviointeriors-proposes-post-covid-19-janus-seats/

2 hours ago, birdguy said:

I don't know how I'm going to like wearing my hair long.  When it's short I don't have to mess with it.  Maybe I'll but a pair of clippers and have my wife cut it for me.

At least you have some hair to cut! A cue ball has more hair than me...

Although if I didn't get my ear hairs trimmed, perhaps I could eventually do a "comb over" to mask my baldness!

 

1 hour ago, Alan_A said:

If you like your barber, you could try doing what I did and arrange a tele-haircut.  I Face-Timed with my haircutter and she coached me through what to do. There were a couple of scary moments when big chunks went flying, and I had to do some contortions to give her a look at the back, but we got through it.  Worked out pretty well - and it lets her keep some income (though as for that, I would have paid her in any case - I'm trying to support the people who do work for me).  If you want to keep in touch with your barber through all this, might be worth a shot.

So next week it will be tele-dentistry?

 

1 hour ago, n4gix said:

Although if I didn't get my ear hairs trimmed, perhaps I could eventually do a "comb over"...

Don't forget the eyebrows! As we get older they start to develop a mind of their own. Ask Denis Healey!! (Former UK politician) 

Back to the coronavirus...

Here is paper from the Tony Blair institute considering exit options

https://institute.global/sites/default/files/inline-files/A Sustainable Exit Strategy%2C Managing Uncertainty Minimising Harm.pdf

The graph of Rt by country by intervention is interesting - it overuses blue but the blue points that are low down are actually Greece.

Looking at that and cross referencing with the Imperial data  it seemed that most European countries started with Rt of around 3.8-4.5  experimented with lots of things which got it down to around 2.5- 3.0 and then went for full lockdown which got it  down below 1- typically around 0.7.

But there are some outliers

Belgium started at 6.8 and with full lockdown are above 1 still.  

Greece started at 1.8 and almost got it down to just above 1 without a lockdown and now seem to be at 0.3 with a lockdown.

Why do Greeks pass the virus between themselves at such an astonishingly low rate?  and why is Belgium so different?

 

 

Edited April 20, 20206 yr by SteveFx

Mark, when the Hippie thing was in full force, and before that the Beatnicks, I was in the service and for a time in Vietnam.  No, I never tried it.  My hair has always been short since 1956 except for a short time when my daughters were in high school.  They talked me into letting it grow out and they gave me a permanent.  I went to work and nobody knew who I was so I got with #2 blade again.

Alan, I go to the beauty college for my haircuts.  I get a haircut and a pedicure for less than 20 bucks (not counting the 5 dollar tip to AYL doing the job) I get a good haircut, my toenails clipped and a foot massage under the supervision of an instructor,  The jobs are always done by students in the last stages of school.  Getting it clipped all around with a #2 blade doesn't require any styling.

BTW...my acronym AYL stands for Attractive Young Ladies.  An old man's delight.  I have several adopted granddaughters at The Sprint Store.  After getting my new iPhone a couple years ago I made a pest of myself trying to learn how the damned thing worked (I still don't know).  But they put up with me then and now every two weeks or so I just drop in to say hello and spend a bit of time with them.  Sometimes I bring them a package of Oreos.    

Every old man deserves a few AYLs who will put up him from time to time.  If I new how to post a picture here I'd show you a couple of my AYLs.  Maybe Sue can post it for me.

Noel

 

Edited April 20, 20206 yr by birdguy

38 minutes ago, birdguy said:

Mark, when the Hippie thing was in full force, and before that the Beatnicks, I was in the service and for a time in Vietnam.  No, I never tried it.  My hair has always been short since 1956 except for a short time when my daughters were in high school.  They talked me into letting it grow out and they gave me a permanent.  I went to work and nobody knew who I was so I got with #2 blade again.

Alan, I go to the beauty college for my haircuts.  I get a haircut and a pedicure for less than 20 bucks (not counting the 5 dollar tip to AYL doing the job) I get a good haircut, my toenails clipped and a foot massage under the supervision of an instructor,  The jobs are always done by students in the last stages of school.  Getting it clipped all around with a #2 blade doesn't require any styling.

BTW...my acronym AYL stands for Attractive Young Ladies.  An old man's delight.  I have several adopted granddaughters at The Sprint Store.  After getting my new iPhone a couple years ago I made a pest of myself trying to learn how the damned thing worked (I still don't know).  But they put up with me then and now every two weeks or so I just drop in to say hello and spend a bit of time with them.  Sometimes I bring them a package of Oreos.    

Every old man deserves a few AYLs who will put up him from time to time.  If I new how to post a picture here I'd show you a couple of my AYLs.  Maybe Sue can post it for me.

Noel

 

Dirty old man..........😄