Europe the new Covid-19 epicentre

[Kaz]

The marathon has been postponed Kaz.
I reckon months and months of bad news is also going to cause a spike in mental health issues.

I was thinking that earlier Cromwell. I can't say that I've ever had mental health issues but at the moment I feel so anxious and often on the verge of tears so I hate to think how this is affecting someone who does suffer.

Harry has anxiety issues (part of his condition) and he's struggled this week, quite badly, without going into too much detail. I am worried about him

[saundra]

I have always been strong willed
But I'm no good at the moment time will tell

Hi sending Harry hugs kaz

[Suff]

Kaz, I hope Harry is able to cope with this. There is some hope for his comfort though on a personal level. Young people are the least affected. This doesn't reduce the worry about parents or older relatives though.

The virus has now hit 144 countries. One of the more concerning countries is Venezuela who are not in a position to either halt it or support sufferers.

Spain has hit 2,000 new cases in a day, Italy is heading for 20,000 at over 2,500 per day and world new cases have just gone over 11,000 in a single day. Iran is picking up again.

There is, however, another way of looking at this. The number of cases per 1m people in the country.

Country________Cases__cases per 1m pop
Italy--------------17,660--292.1
Norway--------------996--183.7
S. Korea----------8,086--157.7
Denmark----------- 804--138.8
Iran--------------11,364---135.3
Switzerland------1,139--131.6
Bahrain------------ 210--123.4
Spain--------------5,232--111.9
Qatar--------------- 320--111.1
Sweden------------ 814--80.6
Slovenia------------ 141--67.8
Estonia---------------79--59.6

Hear much about the mess in Switzerland? Or that Denmark, Sweden and Norway all overtook the UK in the last 3 days?

Cases per million population in the UK are currently at 11.8 but hey have risen from under 5 last week.

[cromwell]

The marathon has been postponed Kaz.
I reckon months and months of bad news is also going to cause a spike in mental health issues.

I was thinking that earlier Cromwell. I can't say that I've ever had mental health issues but at the moment I feel so anxious and often on the verge of tears so I hate to think how this is affecting someone who does suffer.

Same Jo. I'm just really down about it all.The 24/7 doom and gloom on the news doesn't help either.
Kaz, I hope Harry is ok. Saundra, chin up, it'll soon be summer!

[TheOstrich]

Mustn't ever forget that behind every statistic there's a human story …..

Thoughts for your Harry, Kaz. Many will be feeling that way and the sensationalizing certainly doesn't help.

Yes, chin up, Saundra, as Crommers says, you'll be skipping down the beach like the Jolly Fisherman before you know it!!

[Suff]

The problem is that people still think of this as an issue which will be resolved in a few weeks and we can just get on with our lives.

The press may be over egging it for sales but the reality is that Italy just recorded 3,497 new cases in one day. China never exceeded 3,000 per day, that I recall.

The UK just experienced 342 new cases in a day and 10 new deaths, almost doubling the deaths to 21.

This is going to be with us for the next 4-6 months and people need to get used to it and start planning for it as something for the longer term.

It is no good good running around panicking as if it is a short term thing like a a hurricane, or moaning that the reality of the pandemic is "getting you down". We have not even begun to see the full impact of the covid-19.

Sorry if it offends but this is reality and we need to move on to making the best of it.