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Covid italian mother-in-law

(83 Posts)
Naty Fri 13-Mar-20 03:48:15

Ignore the title. It's just a way for me to get people to read this...

Hi everyone! I posted about my italian in-laws coming over unannounced and asked them to stop kissing my baby.

I was both torn apart and supported on these threads...now I'm back to update you all yet again to implore you all to take things very seriously.

I am now in Canada with our baby for a planned trip, booked before the rampant outbreak. I will not be flying back until things settle.

Please please take heed: the situation in Italy is dire.

Socially isolate as much as possible. Don't mix with people. Wash your hands. Stay inside.

All of our friends and family in Italy are fine, but they cannot go outside or visit people. They cannot travel. They cannot see their grandkids. Grandchildren can be asymptomatic carriers and kill their grandparents. 2 week incubation period. Old people are more susceptible. There arent enough respirators for everyone and the doctors have to choose between who to save and who not to. This is NOT fake news! Please, I implore you to socially distance yourselves.

Canada has announced 3 weeks off of school, but they are saying it's an extension of our march break so that people don't panic.

Please stay safe!

SalsaQueen Fri 13-Mar-20 21:46:00

Naty Thanks, but we cannot escape the information on the Coronavirus here. It's on every tv news programme, the radio, in every newspaper, as well as recorded messages at the GP surgeries and hospitals. Sick of hearing about it.

Callistemon Fri 13-Mar-20 22:12:14

I don't know what you are being told giulia but news from Italy doesn't look good from here; they do not appear to be coping.

Mind you, it's early days here as yet.

GagaJo Fri 13-Mar-20 22:24:25

At least the Chinese threw everything into curbing it. I'd feel much safer there, than the UK.

That 'herd immunity' argument is BS. No one had herd immunity from smallpox or TB, did they? We had vaccines.

Callistemon Fri 13-Mar-20 22:32:43

You wouldn't mind being dragged out of your home then Gagajo?
We've had news from someone in Wuhan and it was not good. Perhaps ex-pat foreigners are treated better though.

Missfoodlove Fri 13-Mar-20 22:33:56

www.altnewsmedia.net/news/corona-virus-exclusive-why-italy/

This is a why.

Callistemon Fri 13-Mar-20 22:35:14

Are you going to stay in Switzerland rather than risk coming back to the UK?

Callistemon Fri 13-Mar-20 22:37:23

Yes, I heard that a little while ago, Missfoodlove

pinkquartz Fri 13-Mar-20 23:27:21

I do not believe the herd immunity BS either.

I felt cold shock at the PM's callousness....."some of you will lose loved ones"

Naty Sat 14-Mar-20 02:58:19

giulia I'm sorry your family won't listen.

I wish you all the very best
(miserable posters included). grin

GagaJo Sat 14-Mar-20 06:19:30

My best friend is from Wuhan. All of her family are there. A couple were ill, tested, found negative. They're VERY happy with the way it has been dealt with. She was worried to start with because her elderly mother had just come out of hospital with heart problems when it hit. But both elderly parents have been fine. The family took the view that drastic intervention was needed. I agree with them.

I'm coming home Callistemon. I know it's a risk but I can't bear to stay here.

Baggs Sat 14-Mar-20 07:04:28

The herd immunity idea is not the Prime Minister’s. He is taking advice from epidemiologists. Other epidemiologists and scientists disagree about the strategy being taken. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It means nobody knows enough to be sure what the best approach is.

I heard yesterday by word-of-mouth that Germany is taking the same approach as the UK. Do we have German posters who could confirm or deny this?

Lucca Sat 14-Mar-20 07:21:22

I’m having daily what’s app chats with an Italian friend and she is frankly very very scared She talks of streets being disinfected,police cars circulating telling people to stay indoors, upwards of 4o cases of pneumonia per day. They find the uk policy hard to understand but I guess there must be a rationale, I know I am in no way qualified to comment.

Shelmiss Sat 14-Mar-20 07:44:40

I don’t think what Boris said about losing loved ones was callous. I think it was factual. People will die, that’s why all these measures are being put into place and maybe his words will be a wake up call.

Hetty58 Sat 14-Mar-20 07:55:53

The WHO isn't happy with the UK (half) measures. Surely they have enough 'experts' yet our own government thinks it knows better.

Summerlove Sat 14-Mar-20 08:07:26

naty, you tried. Thank you.
Stay well.

Maggiemaybe Sat 14-Mar-20 08:15:31

Italy currently has 292 cases per million people, we have 12. Yes, the figure is probably much higher, in both countries, with many cases not officially confirmed, but one undeniable fact is that over 1200 people have died of CV in Italy, and here it’s 11.

Comparing the situation in the two countries is meaningless, and scaremongering is dangerous.

Maggiemaybe Sat 14-Mar-20 08:18:30

The WHO advice is to follow guidance from your local and national authorities, who are best placed to give advice for your area. I agree.

www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

giulia Sat 14-Mar-20 08:38:39

Naty Thank you!

Lucca Sat 14-Mar-20 08:42:56

Maggiemaybe. I hope you didn’t think I was scaremongering. I did say I was not qualified to judge etc

giulia Sat 14-Mar-20 08:44:38

One irony is that while The World Health Organisation is giving the world strong directives on how to behave in the crisis, the people of Geneva (where WHO is based) are living their lives as if nothing has happened, totally ignoring all the recommendations.

Maggiemaybe Sat 14-Mar-20 08:53:59

Maggiemaybe. I hope you didn’t think I was scaremongering.

Not at all, Lucca, I was speaking generally. There’s so much misinformation doing the rounds at the moment. A doctor I know has said he’s very concerned that sick people are missing routine, but necessary, medical appointments, for fear of going to a surgery. To some of them, this is more dangerous than catching the virus.

GagaJo Sat 14-Mar-20 09:18:41

Maggiemaybe, I'm not sure where you get your figures, but the UK has 798 recorded cases.

I have a friend self isolating. She's not been tested but has ALL the symptoms. There will be many like her.

Maggiemaybe Sat 14-Mar-20 09:24:44

Yes, and that equates to less than 12 per million of the population. As I said.

Maggiemaybe Sat 14-Mar-20 09:26:46

The figures are here.

www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Maggiemaybe Sat 14-Mar-20 09:31:41

If you prefer raw figures instead of per head of the population the U.K. now has 798 confirmed cases, Italy has 17,660.