Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Odd anomalies popping up with the government's flat rate $1500/fortnight wage subsidy, some workers will be better off.

For example apprentices, second year apprentices get about $1000 a fortnight pay but now will receive $1500 because employers have to pass the subsidy on in full.

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Always look on the bright side of life
di dum, di dum, didum didum didum

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

LQ - I posted this article last week but in case you missed it, I'm reposting it for you as I really helped me to understand:

. A couple of days ago, I threw out an off-the-cuff post on aid worker tips for surviving lockdown and quarantine. Today I’ve woken up to find it’s been reshared thousands of times. I’m getting comments from strangers around the world, messages of thanks, even requests to translate it. If you’ll forgive the expression, it appears to have… gone viral. The overwhelming reason it seems to have a struck a chord is that it talked about how we’re all feeling a bit wobbly. It sounds like there are an awful lot of people having reactions they don’t really understand. So today I thought I’d write a short follow up with my mental health first aider/therapist hat on. Ladies and Gents, this is Pandemic Anxiety 101. (NB for those asked for more lockdown tales, I’ll get to those in coming days).
IN CRISES, WE START DOING WEIRD STUFF: Over the last week I have struggled to sleep, stayed up late into the night reading endless news articles, bought pasta I don’t even like very much, got angry with my mum for not staying home. My spelling is a disaster and I’m definitely drinking more. I’ve been a bit teary, and all I really want to eat is cake, cake and more cake. From what I got back from my post yesterday, I’m not alone.
If you’re having a wobble, you may also have noticed all sorts of weird stuff going on. Are you arguing more, talking faster, struggling to sleep, restless, desperate for information? Or are you teary and overwhelmed, perhaps feeling a bit sick? Struggling to make decisions? Just want to stay in bed? Tummy upsets? Having palpitations, butterflies, headaches? Ranting, picking fights or getting into arguments? Laughing unexpectedly or saying random, inappropriate things? Developing Very Strong Opinions on epidemiology overnight? Or have you just completely gone to ground?
If you are feeling any of these things: good news! You are not going mad. And you are 100% not alone. You are, in fact completely normal: a fully emotionally functional human being. Congratulations! Why? I’ll explain: take a seat and put the kettle on.
WE ARE LIVING IN TURBO-ANXIOUS TIMES. Well, no kidding. We’re in the middle of an unprecedented crisis that has showed up unexpectedly (they do that) and which presents a mortal threat to ourselves, our loved ones and our way of life. It’s terrifying and it's getting worse and it makes us feel totally out of control. And this is on top of anything else we have going on.
HERE’S THE SCIENCE BIT. When we are exposed to threats and need to deal with them, our brain springs into action. Specifically a tiny, innocent-looking thing buried behind your ear called the amygdala (fun fact: it's the size and shape of an almond). It’s the bit in charge when we are frightened and right now, it’s in full tin-hat klaxon mode. Unfortunately, it’s also very ancient bit of kit. It came into being when threats basically consisted of being eaten by large scary animals like bears. You know that thing about when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail? Well, to the amygdala, everything looks like a bear. It’s also pretty basic, so it really only has two settings. They are no bear and BEAR!!!.
SETTING: BEAR!!!. Because all threats look like a bear to the amygdala, it preps you accordingly. There are really only two reactions to a bear about to eat you: fight it, or run away really fast. So this is what the body gets you ready to do. It’s called the Fight or Flight response (there’s also freeze, meaning you just get paralysed). It does this by flooding your body with chemicals like cortisol, and adrenaline. Your heart rate goes up, you feel super alert, your breathing goes shallow, your muscles are ready for action. These chemicals are also largely responsible for the huge range of other cognitive/physical/emotional reactions in my intro. In group fear situation like a pandemic, this tends to happen whether you think you're scared or not - anxiety is even more infectious than COVID. Your body reacts even if your conscious mind doesn't.
BEAR V VIRUS: Obviously this is all great if you really are running away from a bear. But we’re now in a situation where we’re being asked to do the EXACT OPPOSITE of running away. We are being told to sit tight. Literally stay still. Process large amounts of information, make complicated and life changing decisions, and stay calm. All while a bit of your brain is running around yelling BEAR!!! BEAR!!! BEAR!!! This isn’t easy. The result is an awful lot of stress and anxiety. And if you’re anything like me, you end up feeling really overwhelmed and having all sorts of reactions.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS: Anxiety isn’t just mental – it’s also physical, cognitive and behavioural. You will notice all kinds of things: stomach upsets, headaches, insomnia, changes to eating, changes to the way you talk. It’s also cognitive: it’s very difficult to think straight when you’ve got the BEAR!!! BEAR!!! BEAR!!! thing going on – so we also become very bad at making decisions, absorbing information and generally thinking rationally. Which is EXACTLY what we need to do.
SO WHAT TO DO: well, the good news is it is possible to calm down. We can turn the amygdala from BEAR!!! to NO BEAR 😊, and not just by distracting it with cake and tea. Her are some solid, scientifically proven things you can do.
BREATHE. It’s so basic, but breathing exercises are basically magic. They work in minutes and you can do them anywhere. They work because of all the physical reactions the amygdala triggers, rapid breathing is the only one over which we have conscious control. Control your breathing and you are basically telling your body: it’s OK. There is no bear. Your body will then start to dial down the adrenaline and cortisol and all the other reactions will slow to a halt. How to control your breathing? It’s easy – and if you want help just put "two minute breathe bubble" in into Youtube. The golden rules are these:
• In through the nose, out through the mouth. SLOWLY
• Make the outbreath longer than the inbreath – imagine there’s a candle in front of you and it mustn’t go out
• Breathe from the tummy not chest – really make your tummy go out when breathing in.
• Do it for two minutes - time yourself - and see how you feel
Seriously, try it – this technique is used by everyone from top athletes to the US military to help stay in control while under stress. There are all sorts of versions – from yogic breathing to box breathing to 4-7-8. Google them, mess around, figure out what works for you.
CALL A FRIEND: Don’t suffer alone. Call a mate - someone who’ll listen while you have a bit of a rant, or a cry, or a general wobble. Someone you can trust not to judge you and who’ll just sympathise. And if you get one of those calls, just be nice to them. You only need to be kind. You can’t fix what’s going on so just give them a bit of space to rant and tell them they're normal and doing great. And if you’re OK, call your friends and check in on them. Especially if they’ve gone silent.
LAUGH: it doesn’t matter what is funny – laughter is a huge releaser of endorphins. Silly memes, silly jokes, stand-up, rolling around with your kids – videos on youtube. The sillier the better. Also v good for bonding with friends, which will also help you feel less alone.
DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR HANDS. Yes you can meditate if this is your bag, it’s amazing. But if it’s not, and personally I’m rubbish, then trying to start when you’re already anxious is really hard. So do something instead with your hands, that you have to focus on to get right. Cook. Tidy. Knit.
Also - look at some of the humour which is emerging from this crisis: https://www.facebook.com/MuseumsNews...rBUt8VAODzqrv4

Hope that helps.

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Law in the UK is based on Common Law and as such: "Ignorance of the Law is no defence".............I doubt it's changed since my Law exams.

I think the reason for the letter will be more to do with Boris' image and PR.

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Global Cases 785807
Global Deaths 37820
Mortality Rate 4.8%
(Flu Mortality Rate 0.1%)

Australia
Cases 4514
Deaths 19
Critical 28
Cases per Million 177

U.K.
Cases 22141
Deaths 1408
Critical 163
Cases per Million 326

USA
Cases 164253
Deaths 3167
Critical 3512
Cases per Million 496

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

Sadly Spain has now more deaths than China with the USA and France very close to overtaking the China figure.

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

On my walk this morning it was a bit sad to see all the children's playgrounds closed and roped off as part of the NSW social distancing rules.

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

It's the same here Bruce....on my walk yesterday I saw a mum trying to explain to her little girl why she couldn't go on the swings....the little girl was being less than cooperative .

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Some good news on the horizon in the U.S.

Johnson and Johnson will be producing 50,000 test kits/day by the end of this week. This new test kit delivers results in 5 minutes.

2 anti-malarial drugs have been approved by the F.D.A. for initial testing against covid-19.

Experiments will begin soon on blood transfusions from people who have recovered from C-19. It is thought that the anti-bodies in the blood will protect against C-19.

Using "war-time" powers, President trump has ordered auto-makers to produce ventilators.

A huge pharmaceutical company (I forget the name) is expected to have a vaccine ready by September.

A totally wacko "faith-healing" minister has been arrested in Tampa, Florida, for holding a mass gathering, no social distancing, or masks, in order to have a "laying on of hands". He has been charged with extreme indifference to human life.

As a way of dealing with unruly, housebound children, young mothers have been putting stuffed animals in their windows. Young moms are now taking their little ones out for a walk around the neighborhood, and the kids get to have a game of "find and name the animals".

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

They've been doing something similar here too but just a bear hunt. I have put a couple of bears in my front window.



I might move them to the top of the window as the fly screen makes them darker.

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Hi

You will be pleased to know that here in Shropshire our Council are looking after us.

They still have the Parking Wardens out