Coronavirus Pandemic

[merman]

Monday: text to say I should self-isolate as I am high-risk (on two immunosuppressive medications)
Tuesday: register on the emergency help website
Wednesday: letter from local NHS trust saying I am medium-risk due to one medication
Thursday: multiple offers of help with shopping, Mum gets me a supermarket delivery slot - for the 15th of April
Friday: official NHS letter telling me I am high-risk and should self-isolate from the date of the letter (21st March), told to re-register on the emergency help website as "circumstances have changed"
Saturday: sister-in-law drops off some milk & bread
Sunday: phone call from the county council, volunteers manning the phones. I have a "food parcel" arriving at some point in the next week, date and contents unknown. Repeat my concerns that I have dietary requirements due to Crohns and they have no helpful information.

Tomorrow someone from my local church has volunteered to go supermarket shopping for me, and I don't what they will be able to get me.

[F-ZeroOne]

What are you, some sort of homeopath?

Haha!

Whats got me thinking about this, really, is I have a relative who has to take various medications and one of those does is tiny - 0.25mg; the others have higher doses up to 150mg IIRC but they also have to be taken over a period of time, not all in one lump. 1500mg all in one go feels like a lot in comparison, but then I have no yardstick by which to measure it. Maybe thats not unusual for IV feeds.

Edit: just seen that apparently the maximum recommended daily dose is 2000mg. Its notable that it is possible to overdose on vitamins - Vitamin A is the most famous example - though apparently thats very rare with Vitamin C.

[Whiteball]

But another point about Vitamin C - whenever its mentioned being used as a treatment in this way, its almost always "massive doses". I'm in no way a medical expert but if Vitamin C is that effective than don't you need lower doses?

That's hard to quantify without a number. I'd expect a massive dose to be 2000mg a day. Your body doesn't create or store vitamin C and will dump the excess in your urine. It can't hurt to try. Having too much is going to be more optimal than not enough.

Vitamin C has very little, if any beneficial effect for colds, flu etc.
Wh0n people ay "get some Vit C inside yer" the're just repeating an age old saying which is basically grounded in, well nothing really. No proof or evidence to support Vitamin C helping in these cases.

Vitamin D on the other hand is actually beneficial in such situations and wouild be a better bet to take.
While we are on the subject, Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin anyway but actuially a hormone.

edit:
Before people point out all the Vitamin C blurb regarding how great it is.
Most of that info has the caveat of starting each sentence with 'May help', 'May do' etc etc.
May being the operative word, as it may also not do them things.
Secondly, absolutely there is big evidence that a LACK of Vitamin C can be very detremental to health. However, that does not mean taking extra has benefits.

[skab]

Sanitise any touch points using the 99% alcohol spray and a wipe.

Just in case some of you aren't aware:

99% alcohol is not better than 70%, it's not they dilute it to save money, 70% alcohol with 30% water is actually way more effective at killing bacteria and virus.

So if you need a desinfectant or hand sanitizer and have some alcohol left in your workshop, just make it yourself. All you need is 70% alcohol, 30% water, that's it. If you want to keep your hands from drying up, add a shot of glycerine, maybe 5%, and voila, you got your hand sanitizer.

[PFVA]

US CDC has a list of things that work. Actually the list is from the EPA and the CDC links it.

https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registrat ... sars-cov-2

Here 5962 and 119 people dead

The military is desinfecting the nursing homes that were evacuated and is using a stuff they already had and that was created to desinfect in case of Anthrax attack. They say it's the most effective. (The source is the interview given by their spokesperson to the TV channels).

They the military are also the ones who are distributing the meals to the homeless of Lisbon. Generally the homeless get free food the restaurants and cafés but the majority of those are closed now.

Road blocks again today to stop people from people travelling around without the need. Drop in temperatures easied the job.

[Little stoned kiwi]

Vitamin C has very little, if any beneficial effect for colds, flu etc.
Wh0n people ay "get some Vit C inside yer" the're just repeating an age old saying which is basically grounded in, well nothing really. No proof or evidence to support Vitamin C helping in these cases.

Vitamin D on the other hand is actually beneficial in such situations and wouild be a better bet to take.
While we are on the subject, Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin anyway but actuially a hormone.

edit:
Before people point out all the Vitamin C blurb regarding how great it is.
Most of that info has the caveat of starting each sentence with 'May help', 'May do' etc etc.
May being the operative word, as it may also not do them things.
Secondly, absolutely there is big evidence that a LACK of Vitamin C can be very detremental to health. However, that does not mean taking extra has benefits.

So what you're saying us, it doesn't hurt to try. Particularly in desperate situations.
It's not like anyone here is claiming it is the be all and end all solution to the exclusion of everything else.

[Cloudane]

Sanitise any touch points using the 99% alcohol spray and a wipe.

Just in case some of you aren't aware:

99% alcohol is not better than 70%, it's not they dilute it to save money, 70% alcohol with 30% water is actually way more effective at killing bacteria and virus.

So if you need a desinfectant or hand sanitizer and have some alcohol left in your workshop, just make it yourself. All you need is 70% alcohol, 30% water, that's it. If you want to keep your hands from drying up, add a shot of glycerine, maybe 5%, and voila, you got your hand sanitizer.

99% is what we happened to have but it's the first I've heard of it being a negative

We've been doing that hand sanitiser - you can get glycerine from vape shops FWIW

[snaff]

Many of the bloggers etc who write on the subject are among the first to point out that there are issues with what is usually referred to as "Big Pharma" - its one of the reasons I included the Ben Goldacre quote in my post.

But another point about Vitamin C - whenever its mentioned being used as a treatment in this way, its almost always "massive doses". I'm in no way a medical expert but if Vitamin C is that effective than don't you need lower doses?

[Barney]

Sanitise any touch points using the 99% alcohol spray and a wipe.

Just in case some of you aren't aware:

99% alcohol is not better than 70%, it's not they dilute it to save money, 70% alcohol with 30% water is actually way more effective at killing bacteria and virus.

So if you need a desinfectant or hand sanitizer and have some alcohol left in your workshop, just make it yourself. All you need is 70% alcohol, 30% water, that's it. If you want to keep your hands from drying up, add a shot of glycerine, maybe 5%, and voila, you got your hand sanitizer.

Covid-19 has a lipid coat. Actual day to day soap is better than any alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

[Cloudane]

AIUI soap is preferable but when you're out and about hand sanitizer is better than nothing and you should still clean surfaces and touch points.

[KlaxonCow]

Tomorrow someone from my local church has volunteered to go supermarket shopping for me, and I don't what they will be able to get me.

Don't worry, as they should be able to get you most things.

The "panic buying" nonsense has been targeted at specific items. The toilet roll shelves are empty, the hand sanitiser / surface cleaning products are gone and stuff like that, but outside of these particular categories of items, things are mostly stocked (perhaps a bit thin here and there, but not empty). As has been stressed, there's not a problem with supply and restocking things, the problem is just folks stockpiling certain things like mad and trying to keep up with it all to re-stock fast enough.

But, in general, with maybe a few substitutions and compromises, I have been able to fulfil my usual shopping list whenever I've had to venture out.

So, just write out your shopping list for them and include a few "acceptable alternatives" to help with possible substitutions and compromises to match your dietary requirements, and I'm sure they'll be able to get most, if not all, of it for you.

It has been mad out there. But it's a very particular and targeted kind of mad.

(So targeted that, at the shops I visited, the toilet roll was gone but the kitchen roll, typically right next to it, was reasonably well-stocked. So there's always the old trick of pulling off sheets of kitchen roll and then cutting them in half with scissors. It's not graceful, but that's an "acceptable substitute" should this toilet roll stockpiling obsession not die down for a while.)

[Harlequin]

(So targeted that, at the shops I visited, the toilet roll was gone but the kitchen roll, typically right next to it, was reasonably well-stocked. So there's always the old trick of pulling off sheets of kitchen roll and then cutting them in half with scissors. It's not graceful, but that's an "acceptable substitute" should this toilet roll stockpiling obsession not die down for a while.)

Acceptable for some people to use, perhaps. Not so much for the sewer system.

[KlaxonCow]

Acceptable for some people to use, perhaps. Not so much for the sewer system.

Duly noted. So, okay, don't do that.

To be clear, I've not been doing this myself. I already had a 4 pack and managed to snag another 4 pack from the shops early on. I'm more than covered for the time being.

I was just trying to suggest alternatives for others, but didn't consider its potential for making "fatbergs" in the sewers worse. So I retract that suggestion, if it makes matters worse.

Because, after all, even Boris now explicitly acknowledged from his bunker: "There is a society". Shame that he and his fellow Tories have only just noticed this, after a decade of purposefully smashing it up, so the society that is there has been horribly crippled by their actions, when it's needed most right now.

But, hey, at least he's slowly beginning to get it, as he broadcasts from his taxpayer-funded fortress, with its innumerable servants, above No.11.

[F-ZeroOne]

Many of the bloggers etc who write on the subject are among the first to point out that there are issues with what is usually referred to as "Big Pharma" - its one of the reasons I included the Ben Goldacre quote in my post.

But another point about Vitamin C - whenever its mentioned being used as a treatment in this way, its almost always "massive doses". I'm in no way a medical expert but if Vitamin C is that effective than don't you need lower doses?

Well, my first reaction was: "If Vitamin C kills all microbes, why aren't we using it instead of antibiotics?". Also:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-11550075

Note the sentence about the (almost certainly non-existent) link between autism and MMR.

Also, in medicine, there can be harm in trying:

https://www.bbc.com/news/52012242

[Harlequin]

Didn't start running soon enough.

Dominic Cummings self-isolates after experiencing coronavirus symptoms

Never mind. I am sure he will enjoy developing his herd immunity.

Also, in medicine, there can be harm in trying:
https://www.bbc.com/news/52012242

For most things, yes. Large doses of vitamin C appear to be fairly harmless, though (Philip K Dick's experience notwithstanding). As long as that does not interfere with more conventional treatments, of course.