Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[DiegoDiego]

The FCO frequently advises all but essential travel to the USA. It’s a meaningless phrase which travellers know fine well. But once that changed to sentences with adverbs stronger than ‘should’, they start meaning business.

That they are in the process of arranging repatriation flights means nobody has any excuse.

My contract runs out in a couple of months. Things *should* be okay by then and if not it's just the difference between unemployment in Italy or Scotland. So I'm not that worried.

Regardless, as their general advice was of no use to me, I contacted the embassy a few days ago to see what they had to say about my situation. They replied with a template email copy and pasted from the FCO site, irrelevant to my particular case, obviously not having bothered to read my short email properly.

Obviously P&B is doing sterling work keeping me up to date, but if this is the level of effort embassies around the globe are putting into one of their core duties then it wouldn't surprise me if others in more precarious situations are pretty confused and frustrated by the lack of guidance.

[Thereisalight..]

25 minutes ago, WATTOO said:

At least me might have Andy Murdoch back !!

Every cloud! 

[carpetmonster]

3 minutes ago, DiegoDiego said:

My contract runs out in a couple of months. Things *should* be okay by then and if not it's just the difference between unemployment in Italy or Scotland. So I'm not that worried.

Regardless, as their general advice was of no use to me, I contacted the embassy a few days ago to see what they had to say about my situation. They replied with a template email copy and pasted from the FCO site, irrelevant to my particular case, obviously not having bothered to read my short email properly.

Obviously P&B is doing sterling work keeping me up to date, but if this is the level of effort embassies around the globe are putting into one of their core duties then it wouldn't surprise me if others in more precarious situations are pretty confused and frustrated by the lack of guidance.

I have a mate works in the British consulate here; she was meant to be going back to England for her birthday last week but obvs that got kyboshed. The basic advice for the US is if you're on holiday here, piss off back home; if you're working and here for a longer haul, stay where you are. 

Edited March 27, 2020 by carpetmonster

[Savage Henry]

My contract runs out in a couple of months. Things *should* be okay by then and if not it's just the difference between unemployment in Italy or Scotland. So I'm not that worried.

Regardless, as their general advice was of no use to me, I contacted the embassy a few days ago to see what they had to say about my situation. They replied with a template email copy and pasted from the FCO site, irrelevant to my particular case, obviously not having bothered to read my short email properly.

Obviously P&B is doing sterling work keeping me up to date, but if this is the level of effort embassies around the globe are putting into one of their core duties then it wouldn't surprise me if others in more precarious situations are pretty confused and frustrated by the lack of guidance.

They’re very hands off compared with the US consulates. Travel advice is usually worthless as you say.

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

4 minutes ago, Stellaboz said:

Just watched a news article from here about a mental-health home. I can't imagine how hard it is for the people who work there and those who don't understand what is going on. 

There are some that don't know how to wash their own hands, some that have short memories and then forget that they should be washing them more often and some that just don't understand what's going on at all, meaning many are not confiding themselves to their rooms and the fucking virus has spread throughout the whole place, killing one already. 

I've been pretty emotionally-unattached to the whole thing for the most part until I saw this, was utterly heart breaking. 

They've only just received a small package of basic safety equipment too and many of the staff have already been tested positive. 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/as-if-a-storm-hit-33-italian-health-workers-have-died-since-crisis-began

I read this earlier. The amount of staff in Italy, it's horrible. 

[johnnydun]

40 minutes ago, PauloPerth said:

@Miguel Sanchez

I'd like to nominate all those c***s who get a smug feeling of superiority at slagging off families etc for showing support to the NHS staff.

I get that it does f**k all, and it's not really my kind of thing, but at a time when a lot of families are probably scared and feeling a bit helpless, some moment of feeling like they're doing something positive with the rest of their street does no harm whatsoever. And if it keeps the work of nhs staff to the forefront of the public attention, hopefully it's remembered when all this is done and the government next try to shaft them.

Yes, obviously nhs staff would rather have correct ppe, but the two are hardly fucking related.  It's not as if some family standing at their front door clapping is delaying the local hospital getting a delivery of face masks, gloves and protective suits.

Its far too easy to be cynical about everything as an internet 'commentator', and there's a fair lack of self-awareness from folk slagging off others for the futility of a couple of minutes applause when they're sitting spending all day discussing the whole situation with a bunch of strangers on the internet.

 

They're only doing their jobs.

Spoiler

I understand I may come under some criticism for this.

 

[Guest Moomintroll]

I can only assume that you've never had any dealings with USDAW.

Indeed, incidentally we have c50% of our staff either self isolated for 12 weeks as vulnerable people or self isolating due to displaying symptoms, Retailers are getting decimated at the moment.

[Guest Moomintroll]

Have we done Girls Aloud yet? I vote for Love Machine

Prefer Biology myself.

[Savage Henry]

Reading that New York has increased its testing by over a thousand-fold, so the picture isn’t quite as horrendous as it may seem. A lot of the case based graphs don’t take that into account.

[Guest bernardblack]

The best Girls Aloud song is Biology. No argument

[Granny Danger]

Just now, Savage Henry said:

Reading that New York has increased its testing by over a thousand-fold, so the picture isn’t quite as horrendous as it may seem. A lot of the case based graphs don’t take that into account.

Just been reading on various that the USA is going to be the next epicentre and possibly the worst hit country in both relative and absolute terms.

[The OP]

3 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

Reading that New York has increased its testing by over a thousand-fold, so the picture isn’t quite as horrendous as it may seem. A lot of the case based graphs don’t take that into account.

I spose with death rate it’s less easy to be fooled by statistics.

”You can’t hide the bodies” - Lt Daniels, The Wire*

* Probably, not sure but it sounds about right**

**Although Chris and Snoop did

Edited March 27, 2020 by The OP

[pandarilla]

They're only doing their jobs.
Spoiler

I understand I may come under some criticism for this.

 

Each to their own but have you ever needed the nhs - like really needed them?

I've (unfortunately) got frequent flyer miles at ninewells and every now and then i realise how ridiculously lucky i am. My care has been in their hands so many times, on a few occasions the type of care that keeps me alive.

But i remember having the same feeling when my daughter was born in an emergency section through the night. At one point i just looked around at all the staff and all the equipment and it just made me feel small.

Yes they're doing their jobs. But they're part of something (a state run healthcare system) that i think is truly extraordinary.

If i lived in the United States i could not continue to have the career and life i have. Simple as that.

The national health service is something that most people in this country deeply appreciate, and rightly so. But it's made up of hundreds of thousands of individuals going about their job day in day out. Fucking right i took a wee minute to applaud.

[woolf]

13 minutes ago, johnnydun said:

They're only doing their jobs.

  Reveal hidden contents

I understand I may come under some criticism for this.

 

GTF

[Savage Henry]

Just been reading on various that the USA is going to be the next epicentre and possibly the worst hit country in both relative and absolute terms.

It was more a general point. What you are saying may well be true, and none of it is good, but it’s worth keeping in mind if you find the graphs a bit frightening.

[Forest_Fifer]

Have we done Girls Aloud yet? I vote for Love Machine

Thought we were doing "C" tonight?

[Todd_is_God]

7 minutes ago, bernardblack said:

The best Girls Aloud song is Biology. No argument

Sound of the Underground for me

[throbber]

Avril Lavigne - Complicated was the best song of the 00’s.

[D.A.F.C]

2 minutes ago, Forest_Fifer said:

1 hour ago, Gaz said:

Have we done Girls Aloud yet? I vote for Love Machine

Thought we were doing "C" tonight?

Cheryl?  Way eye mon

 

[KillieCon]

Mrs KillieCon works in a specialised department in the NHS. As of next week she is being moved departments to help out and will be taking on the role of a general nurse.

She has already been told that there is not enough PPE for the staff crossing over and there are doctors and anaesthetists who are still waiting to be fitted for the proper equipment. I'm now shitting myself about the potential consequences of this.