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OBSOLETE COVID THREAD COVID-19: Corona virus discussion (ROUND 5)

OBSOLETE COVID THREAD
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grayland

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Time of past OR future Camino
Yes
This is a continuation of the CoronaVirus discussion

PLEASE...Please stick with the forum rules against Politics...it is always a problem. Please do not offer medical advice or pass on unsubstantiated rumors or unofficial sources.

It is okay to discuss what’s happening with you here. People are a bit scared and some here are alone. Maybe we can share and comfort one another.

Rudeness or attacks on others will simply be deleted without comment
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I learned from Facebook that a friend in the US is on the mend, having tested positive for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. As an under-40, physically fit person, my friend was fortunate to experience relatively mild symptoms - "Felt really bad for 5-6 days but able to self-quarantine at home. Experienced headache, cough, sore throat, sore lower back, sneezing, chills, mild respiratory issues, fatigue."

Testing was approved after a week of calling the doctors office, because two other people who had been skiing with my friend also tested positive. (They were in Aspen and Vail, Colorado, in the first week of March).

It's the first time I'm hearing about COVID-19 in a person that I actually know. I feel a sense of dread that this is going to become commonplace and not all of the stories will have happy endings.
 
Here is what happened in A Coruña after the lockdown happened:
❤ ❤❤

We all have a choice: give in to inner darkness or feed light. Therse two sure found a way forward to the light...and cheered up everyone in the process.
 
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Here is what happened in A Coruña after the lockdown happened:
❤ ❤❤

We all have a choice: give in to inner darkness or feed light. Therse two sure found a way forward to the light...and cheered up everyone in the process.
Wonderful story
Two sensible people who know that it's not all about the "big day," the dress, the flowers etc but their commitment to each other
I suspect that this marriage will last a long time!
 
Wonderful story
Two sensible people who know that it's not all about the "big day," the dress, the flowers etc but their commitment to each other
I suspect that this marriage will last a long time!

It certainly augurs well: a marriage between a professional wedding-planner who ditched her own elaborate plans for the big day, and a groom with the felicitous name Camino. Buen camino to the happy couple!
 
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I am a retired veteran from the USAF and live in Spain year round. My plans, (and I still have the Train tickets), were to start the Northern trail this year on 6 April during semana santa, however, Corona changed all that. The whole country is in Red-Alert lock down. Plan your trip for next year...things will be more conducive then. I finished the Camino Frances 2 years ago walking from RSV to Santiago-best experience of my life and believe me when I say I've done some stuff. Hope to continue next year after the world finishes the reset. Best of luck to everyone and hopefully, I will see you next year on the Trail to Santiago.
 
I am a retired veteran from the USAF and live in Spain year round. My plans, (and I still have the Train tickets), were to start the Northern trail this year on 6 April during semana santa, however, Corona changed all that. The whole country is in Red-Alert lock down. Plan your trip for next year...things will be more conducive then. I finished the Camino Frances 2 years ago walking from RSV to Santiago-best experience of my life and believe me when I say I've done some stuff. Hope to continue next year after the world finishes the reset. Best of luck to everyone and hopefully, I will see you next year on the Trail to Santiago.
I full well believe you have done some stuff in that particular career and it interests me that walking a camino has been the best experience of your life. I Think the long walks i have done have been among the best days of my life too, but it is all the life that has gone before that makes it so, because thats how i have become the person who values the teachings of walking daily among different landscapes and people and cultures. I wish you much happiness in your life in spain, something many of us walkers might fantasise about due to the emotional connection. Having now given up on another camino in may i am trying to still my restless spirit and be glad for being where i am. At a time of social distancing it feels good to be connected worldwide to a walking community. I read lots of posts and am venturing into more posts myself. Stay well. The hills on the horizon locally seem clearer to me, the air pollution less now we are all restricted. nature carries on and i find comfort in its renewal and endurance.
 
Many French cities and towns have instituted a curfew, making it illegal to be outdoors (whether on foot or in a vehicle) between 11PM and 4AM (precise times may vary locally). These are mostly in the southern part of the country, including Nice and several towns near where I live, and some others located along the Provençal Way/French coastal Francigena and the coastal Camino through Provence, Languedoc, and French Catalonia, such as Roquebrune-sur-Argens, Menton, Cannes, Béziers, Perpignan, all of which I walked through last year. EDIT : and in Monaco from 10PM to 5AM.

Meanwhile in Italy, all businesses that aren't essential (such as food, medical, transport) or aren't part of certain State-run construction projects have now been put into mandatary lockdown. (I'm a little surprised that this wasn't already the case TBH)
 
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Spain is very likely to extend the State of Alarm 'til 11th April.

The UK is asking those in the "vulnerable" category to self-quarantine for three months.

Germany has forbidden public gatherings of more than two people.
 
Spain is very likely to extend the State of Alarm 'til 11th April.

The UK is asking those in the "vulnerable" category to self-quarantine for three months.

Germany has forbidden public gatherings of more than two people.
Greece has banned all unnecessary travel from 6am this morning.
 
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Sadly, Spain seems to be following the path of Italy and I think the U.S. is not far behind.
 
Sadly, Spain seems to be following the path of Italy and I think the U.S. is not far behind.
Please bear in mind that it is impossible to say which trajectory any country will follow.

It will take some time before the official figures, whether tests taken, confirmed infections, seriously ill, or fatalities, will show an effect of the measures that have been taken. And what is crucial is not only the kind of measures that are taken but also the moment when they are put in place. At least that is what I understand from those who are in charge in the various countries. Also, again quoting those who are either in charge or who provide them with their knowledge and best advice as experts, an epidemic does not cover any country or region in a uniform way.

Dr Fernando Simón said this morning that it will be around the middle of the week before any cautious prognosis can be made (that's what I understood; my Spanish is shaky). All that is known for certain is what will happen if nothing is done. I think one can discuss the paths taken afterwards when it is over.

What is important now for every single one of us is to know what to do in the place where each of us currently lives. And not only know it but do it !!!
 
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This morning the U.S. Surgeon General came on the news and said; "This week it is going to get bad", and "people need to take this seriously".

I agree with the statements above. That said, things will get worse before they get better. Our behavior and Countries responses will determine just how soon we turn the corner.
 
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The UK is now in lockdown too.
 
Update from UAE - everything closed except supermarkets and pharmacies. No flights (including transits) in or out of country for 48 hours. 'Stay at home' orders in place with heavy fines/penalties for anyone contravening these directions. 198 cases.
 
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Yes NZ too, from midnight tomorrow, to all but essential services. There is huge debate at the moment as to what that looks like and supermarkets here as in the rest of the world are swamped with hoarders and are mayhem. They are so overloaded that online orders are impossible too at the moment, so hopefully things settle.
And with everyone working from home our cell networks are being tested.
We have an online check-in each morning with our team, which we all enjoy. Starting to recognise our workmates houses.
 
France has been placed in a State of Medical Emergency for a period of two months.

And whilst the following seems to not really affect me personally, given the nature of the very weird Borderland where I live, plus the fact that far too many local Police officers (both French and Monégasque) seem to respect me quite strangely as a pilgrim ; nevertheless, sports and other activity in France outdoors has been restricted to one hour and within a 1K radius from home. Technically, the permitted activities related to food purchases, medical visits, administrative requirements, etc. are also restricted within those hard limits, though of course the local police and gendarmerie will hardly prosecute those out completely in the sticks for whom a simple shopping trip might be a 2 to 4 hour expedition.
 
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I am glad for this worldly perspective of how things are for the moment. My state in the US is pretty much on lock down as of yesterday, mainly spurred on because for some reason there are still people who refuse to keep even a 3 foot distance, let alone self-isolate. As mentioned by others, essential shops, such as pharmacies and grocery stores, remain open. And for some reason hardware stores are included as essential, but repair shops are not. Apparently we all are expected to know how to repair our washing machines after purchasing the appropriate parts at the hardware store. I have heard on the news of stores having special hours for seniors, but I haven't gone to the shops for the last 10 days, so have no idea if we are doing this here in my tiny town. The number of people who may gather went from 100 to 50 to 10, and as of yesterday it is down to 5. I didn't know other locations had a restriction on how far one may go for exercise or to the shops. Here we are so rural, normally we need to drive awhile to get to somewhere. I walk in the hills every day, and when I run out of lettuce I will venture out to the grocery again.
 
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The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
1. PANDEMIC LATEST
LATEST NUMBERS: With more than 100 deaths reported, Monday was the single deadliest day in the United States yet. New York is now the country’s epicenter for confirmed cases with more than 20,000. Florida Governor Rick DeSantis says anyone flying into his state from New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut will have to self-quarantine for at least two weeks. More states are beginning to issue stay-at-home orders as the Surgeon General warns, “This week, it’s going to get bad.” The National Guard has been deployed to Washington, New York, and California -- states that make up more than half of the country’s total number of cases. CNN

UNITED KINGDOM:
As the pandemic worsens overseas, government officials in the UK have enacted a full lockdown while the nation attempts to curb the spread. The lockdown is police enforced and will last three weeks before it is reassessed. Police there will look to “guide” people back home that are not following lockdown orders but will take more extensive measures on people refusing to comply. NBC

It was the worst of times, it was the end of times.
6. VERIZON EXTENDS DATA
In the wake of the FCC’s Keep Americans Connected Pledge, Verizon is giving all mobile customers 15GB of extra data. Starting March 25th, customers with limited data plans will see an added 15GB on their accounts and unlimited users will get 15GB of 4G LTE hotspot data. The company is also waiving overage charges and late fees but customers will still have data caps. THE VERGE


some links have been removed by moderators
 
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The increase in the number of active cases in Italy has diminished for the third day in a row -- numbers are still going up, the curve is still upward, but not as badly as before.
 
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While in Italy (and probably in towns in other countries as well) people are singing on their balconies for medical workers, in Spain (Algaida, Mallorca) it's different:
:)
I thought I was coping quite well with closing shop, physical distancing and keeping busy at home and also managing the worry for my 90 year old mom in preventative lockdown in her retirement home. When I saw this, it touched me so...that I started to cry. Kindness is all around us...all over the world and close to home. ❤️ Thank you so much for posting.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
While in Italy (and probably in towns in other countries as well) people are singing on their balconies for medical workers, in Spain (Algaida, Mallorca) it's different:
:)
I'm thinking of the incalculable good will the police created in one minute and thirty seconds. Do you think ANYONE in that neighborhood will have anything but respect and good will towards the police in the foreseeable future?
 
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Some historical parallel -- during the Spanish Flu in 1918-1919, measures were implemented to close schools, cinemas and bars, ban public events, and impose social distancing.

So there are a small number of people who are living through this a second time ; though it's doubtful many of them were old enough to remember it.


"In response, states and cities across the country told people to do what we now know as social distancing. Schools, restaurants, and businesses were closed. Public gatherings were banned. People were told to isolate and quarantine. In some places, this lasted for months.

It worked. Things didn’t go perfectly — far from it, as some cities fared much worse than others, and people didn’t always obey what experts and officials were telling them. But studies show that the social distancing efforts helped slow the spread of the 1918 flu and reduce the mortality rate overall.
"

634307c42c2841ec749bcd0f1decb1db
 
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Some historical parallel -- during the Spanish Flu in 1918-1919, measures were implemented to close schools, cinemas and bars, ban public events, and impose social distancing.

So there are a small number of people who are living through this a second time ; though it's doubtful many of them were old enough to remember it.


"In response, states and cities across the country told people to do what we now know as social distancing. Schools, restaurants, and businesses were closed. Public gatherings were banned. People were told to isolate and quarantine. In some places, this lasted for months.

It worked. Things didn’t go perfectly — far from it, as some cities fared much worse than others, and people didn’t always obey what experts and officials were telling them. But studies show that the social distancing efforts helped slow the spread of the 1918 flu and reduce the mortality rate overall.
"

634307c42c2841ec749bcd0f1decb1db

I know this has been posted on other threads, but for me it is the most compelling evidence to support social distancing. When I look at this chart, I find that my own cabin fever and wishing that we could just get done with this fade into the background in light of the huge difference my social isolation may make.

 
From this:
A sobering message. This may be a very long haul.
And we may need to keep our distance from others for some time to come. New computer modelling research from Harvard University, which has yet to be published in an academic journal, warns that it may be necessary for intermittent social distancing measures to be maintained into 2022 in the US unless other interventions such as vaccines, drug therapies and aggressive quarantine measures can be put into place. This is because while a one-off period of social distancing might delay the peak of the outbreak until later this year, there is likely to be a resurgence in cases towards the end of the year if the virus shows some seasonal variation.
 
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Spain has extended the State of Alarm to April 12th.
 
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We know that people need comic relief to break the stress and anxiety. Laughter is the best medicine Is one of the first maxims my mother taught me.

But at the same time, several forum members were finding that the funny threads were interfering with the flow of the serious threads. So, we have combined all of the funny threads that we were able to locate into one repository of humor here. It is very long, so we have closed it and given instructions how to move on to the new thread.

And we have started a second round of humor threads.

Hope this works for people, and we encourage anyone who is reading all about the current crisis to keep an eye on the silly thread for some good comic release.
 
Norteamericanos and other outsiders look at the coronavirus statistics in Spain and are saddened, in a relatively disconnected way maybe, by the increasing number of deaths there from Covid19. Then they move onto other news. Those of us who have sat on benches with elderly people in town plazas and small villages along the Camino feel this in a little different way than others extranjeros/as do. Not as immediately or painfully as their families do, of course. I can't even imagine what their loss is, matriarchs and patriarchs of their families. Cancelling our camino plans is a microscopic sacrifice compared to what people in Spain are experiencing.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
The lockdown in France has been extended to April 15th.
 
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This is the situation in the hospitals in Madrid. Simply horrifying 😢


I have no doubt that the situation in Madrid is horrible and terrifying. But a little bit of searching found some official denial. The newspapers I usually look at (El País and El Mundo) don’t seem to have responded to this, but one, La Vanguardia, a conservative Catalán newspaper, reports that officials have said it is not true. The head of Madrid Public Health says that there is still respirator capacity. But that of course doesn’t mean it won’t get to that point. And I am not saying the video is untrue, just that the official response is that it is not.


The article also suggests some political motivation, which seems possible but despicable in times like these.

An online search shows that there appear to be many of these similar allegations, relative to specific hospitals, but at this point, so far all the hospitals I have seen assert that they still have respirators.
 
I have no doubt that the situation in Madrid is horrible and terrifying. But a little bit of searching found some official denial. The newspapers I usually look at (El País and El Mundo) don’t seem to have responded to this, but one, La Vanguardia, a conservative Catalán newspaper, reports that officials have said it is not true. The head of Madrid Public Health says that there is still respirator capacity. But that of course doesn’t mean it won’t get to that point. And I am not saying the video is untrue, just that the official response is that it is not.


The article also suggests some political motivation, which seems possible but despicable in times like these.

An online search shows that there appear to be many of these similar allegations, relative to specific hospitals, but at this point, so far all the hospitals I have seen assert that they still have respirators.
Thank you. I should have researched a bit before I posted. I had heard of similar things happening in Italy. If a moderator feels that this video should be removed please take it down.
 
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Apologies if this has been posted somewhere already. It's a very moving article from today's Guardian - a letter from Italy to the UK. It's probably equally relevant to the most of the countries represented here.

The bit about adult children and on how 'elderly people will disobey you like rowdy teenagers: you’ll have to fight with them in order to forbid them from going out' rang very true with me right now.

Wishing everyone well in these sad times. Nuala x
 
We know that people need comic relief to break the stress and anxiety. Laughter is the best medicine Is one of the first maxims my mother taught me.

But at the same time, several forum members were finding that the funny threads were interfering with the flow of the serious threads. So, we have combined all of the funny threads that we were able to locate into one repository of humor here. It is very long, so we have closed it and given instructions how to move on to the new thread.

And we have started a second round of humor threads.

Hope this works for people, and we encourage anyone who is reading all about the current crisis to keep an eye on the silly thread for some good comic release.
Does anyone out there do Laughter Yoga?
 
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People watching me do yoga probably laugh. 😂
Well you got me to laugh, and I wasn't even watching!

Sometimes it is called Laughter Club. Started years ago by a doctor in India who would get together with friends to tell jokes because it had been shown laughing lowered blood pressure. When they ran out of jokes, his wife suggested just laughing, which of course produces the 'good' hormones still. Now round the world are groups who meet. Very healthy for you. Check it out on youtube. Our weekly group here cannot meet until all this is over, so it's been suggested that we laugh on youtube.
 
This is the situation in the hospitals in Madrid. Simply horrifying 😢


Unfortunately, it looks like this video was made just a few days too soon.


Six regions have no more ventilators, and three more are almost out. It boggles the mind to think about how the doctors and nurses will make their decisions.
 
This is the situation in the hospitals in Madrid. Simply horrifying 😢

This is so sad....made me immediately try to think of how to help.
I looked to reply to the author but couldn't work out how to so can you please pass this on.
Our love and thoughts from Australia are with you all.
In Australia Resmed, the people who make CPAP machines have approached the government and their offer of quickly converting their production lines to making ventilators has been accepted and they are working on them around the clock.
There must be many other companies who could do this in Spain.
Secondly, paraphrasing from a Sydney Morning Herald article today, a Professor Rod McClure, Dean of Medicine at the Uni of New England has just, with a team of doctors from Armidale Hospital, fast tracked a project and purchased 200 home monitors that are of ICU quality and monitor heart rate, temperature, oxygen saturation, blood pressure and breathing.
These then, from the patient's home, can transmit to a "flight deck" in the hospital where (supported by AI) doctors and nurses who can monitor each one, can pick up that a patient's condition is worsening.
Changes to blood pressure are an early warning sign of sepsis or organ damage and changes to oxygen saturation typically occur before pneumonia sets in...
Thirdly, I think that the European Airbus base manufacturing facilities that produce the in-plane emergency breathing systems for aircraft that can cover hundreds of people at a time, could surely produce the individual beds as per the first and business class seating and the systems that would provide for central monitoring and individual ventilation at each seat.
These could be set up in emergency temporary areas such as Convention centres.
They should have plenty of spare capacity now that the planes have effectively stopped flying.
That would be a solution nearer to home that the EEC can manage - if nothing else Airbus has the tubes, masks and monitoring equipment and they can engineer large scale systems that could be set up in large temporary facilities etc.
Just a thought and love to the Spanish people - we will see you as soon as we can on a Camino!
Blaster
 
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I looked to reply to the author but couldn't work out how to so can you please pass this on.
That is a problem. We do not know the source of this video and therefore we should not rely on it as an accurate source of information. Sometimes fiction is very close to the truth, but I think it is useful to know which we are watching.
 
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There has been a dramatic fall in the new cases number in Italy today -- it's down from 3,815 yesterday to 1,648 today (down 57%) -- that's lower than any daily number since 10th March.

Not sure where you are getting your numbers. Italy had 4000+ new cases yesterday and today. Their big issue is, while new cases have somewhat stabilized, active cases still keep growing. Now 77,000+.
 
Not sure where you are getting your numbers. Italy had 4000+ new cases yesterday and today.


1,648 Monday ; 2,107 Tuesday -- hmmm, I was looking the variation in the numbers, i.e. the number of currently active cases (new cases minus recoveries & deaths) has increased by those numbers (so there was indeed an unintended error in my post, sorry about that) -- you were looking at the raw number of new cases which was indeed at 4000+ for those two days, but those numbers are significantly down too from the peaks of 6,500+ on 21st March, and ~6000 between March 26th and 28th ; and a -33% drop in the past three days from that peak is very significant, should you prefer to look at the number of newly infected rather than the number of currently infected. And the lowest since 17th March.

It's somewhat encouraging whichever way you look at these numbers.

Their big issue is, while new cases have somewhat stabilized, active cases still keep growing. Now 77,000+.

Indeed ... though what does still worry me a lot is that the number of recoveries continues to increment rather slowly.
 
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Spanish State of Alarm extended to April 26th.
 
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I'm not sure what you mean by "down." There are still many deaths every day. There would have to be many fewer daily deaths to recognize a trend, I think.

Sure, but they are reporting that admissions into intensive care have been falling prior to this -- but of course the number of severe cases remains high.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "down." There are still many deaths every day. There would have to be many fewer daily deaths to recognize a trend, I think.
El Pais is reporting that the number of deaths in Spain fell to 637 yesterday, the lowest number since March 24. Though the health officials say it is too early to celebrate, they say the curve is flattening a bit. It is the fourth straight day of decline. The article links to a graph that compares some of the countries with major covid outbreaks.
 

Life in Spain will slowly begin to return to normal after the state of alarm, introduced three weeks ago to slow the coronavirus outbreak, comes to an end on April 26. That’s according to Finance Minister and government spokesperson María Jesús Montero.

Speaking on Spanish TV channel Antena 3 on Wednesday, Montero said that Spain would slowly return to “normal life” but in progressive stages, following the recommendations of health experts in order to avoid a second wave of coronavirus infections.

“We can’t take anything for granted right now, only that the extension of the state of alarm will last until April 26,” she said. “From that moment on, the relaxation [of the confinement orders] will happen progressively so that citizens can begin, in an orderly fashion, to return to normal life, to the streets, to the public squares.” The minister added that the lifting of the lockdown rules must be well planned and organized “so that there are no [new] peaks and infections.”

Montero said the government is working on “different scenarios” on how the confinement measures could be eased, but refused to go into further details until “the experts decide” on how to proceed. According to the minister, more information on the spread of the outbreak is still needed before any decision can be made.
 
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Netflix is set to launch a weekly Instagram Live series centered on maintaining mental and physical health amid the coronavirus pandemic. The series will kick off tonight at 7pm PT and will feature stars from Netflix features including 13 Reasons Why, Stranger Things, and Cheer. The limited series will run through May 14th on the @Netflix Instagram account. TECHCRUNCH

Who better qualified to talk to us about mental health than actors
 
Whilst both the number of new cases in Italy and the variation number in positive cases have risen over the past two days from previous lows, the number of recoveries from the disease has in the past few days started to rise dramatically.

Not out of the woods yet by far ; but it's quite clear that the peak has been passed.
 
Me :

Life in Spain will slowly begin to return to normal after the state of alarm, introduced three weeks ago to slow the coronavirus outbreak, comes to an end on April 26. That’s according to Finance Minister and government spokesperson María Jesús Montero.

To mitigate this hopeful news, the Spanish PM is warning that another 15 day extension is likely to be requested by the Government, therefore leading to about May 11th.
 
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Whilst both the number of new cases in Italy and the variation number in positive cases have risen over the past two days from previous lows, the number of recoveries from the disease has in the past few days started to rise dramatically.

Not out of the woods yet by far ; but it's quite clear that the peak has been passed.
I believe here in US they are "targeting" April 12 (Easter Sunday of all days) as the peak.

I am a little leery of ANYTHING that 'reports favourably'. This past weekend I saw a lot more cars and people out than previous 2 weeks. I hope the masses in general are not becoming laxed and careless.
Good weather beckons for folks to come out and sooner or later places get crowded ....

Sorry for a bit of a downer on what should indeed be a good news 👋
 
Spain, Austria, and a few other places are announcing limited opening of non-essential businesses next week. I am sure that many will be watching to see what the consequences are.

 
Spain, Austria, and a few other places are announcing limited opening of non-essential businesses next week. I am sure that many will be watching to see what the consequences are.

Down here in the south of France, the lockdown is beginning to fray anyway, as some small shops are opening, I'm guessing to avoid going out of business. One of the local Portuguese restaurants even had its standing-room-only bar counter open !!
 
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Recently I posted here and mistyped 180,000 cases in Spain, when the real number at that time was 18,000. The number now in Spain is 185,000. Second only to the US in cases. So very sad!
 
The situation in France is decidedly shifting towards the better (though I cannot comment locally for Italy or Spain).

First, the French Constitutional Court has ruled against local French mayors, town halls, villages, towns, cities, establishing locally some supplemental confinement rules above and beyond those declared by the central State.

So nearby Nice can no longer force everyone outside to wear a face mask as they had attempted to impose.

Second, the President and Government have declared that on May 11th, when the lockdown ends, no exceptions shall be set in place for more vulnerable persons, but instead these more vulnerable persons are being asked to act responsibly & voluntarily from May 11th onward.

This means, bottom line, that after a week of some doubts since this 11th May date was first announced, the end of the core of the lockdown in France will be effected at one minute past midnight May 10th>11th.

More shops than previously are being allowed to open, and the sense locally down here at this end of the Camino & Francigena is that the confinement is starting to open back up again.

---

Pilgrimage-wise, it may be possible for those starting within France to start hiking again after that date ; although it would be unwise to suppose that one could cross any International borders for such a project ; and one might be well advised to prepare outdoors sleeping kit, as the hostelry might not be permitted until some later date.

---

Bottom line though, France is the first major Western European Pilgrimy Nation to formally establish an end date to the Confinement ; though locally down here, and quite anecdotally, Monaco is ending its own lockdown after May 3rd.
 
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Jabbapappa, do you have a source for that please? Interested minds .......
 
This is so sad....made me immediately try to think of how to help.
I looked to reply to the author but couldn't work out how to so can you please pass this on.
Our love and thoughts from Australia are with you all.
In Australia Resmed, the people who make CPAP machines have approached the government and their offer of quickly converting their production lines to making ventilators has been accepted and they are working on them around the clock.
There must be many other companies who could do this in Spain.
Secondly, paraphrasing from a Sydney Morning Herald article today, a Professor Rod McClure, Dean of Medicine at the Uni of New England has just, with a team of doctors from Armidale Hospital, fast tracked a project and purchased 200 home monitors that are of ICU quality and monitor heart rate, temperature, oxygen saturation, blood pressure and breathing.
These then, from the patient's home, can transmit to a "flight deck" in the hospital where (supported by AI) doctors and nurses who can monitor each one, can pick up that a patient's condition is worsening.
Changes to blood pressure are an early warning sign of sepsis or organ damage and changes to oxygen saturation typically occur before pneumonia sets in...
Thirdly, I think that the European Airbus base manufacturing facilities that produce the in-plane emergency breathing systems for aircraft that can cover hundreds of people at a time, could surely produce the individual beds as per the first and business class seating and the systems that would provide for central monitoring and individual ventilation at each seat.
These could be set up in emergency temporary areas such as Convention centres.
They should have plenty of spare capacity now that the planes have effectively stopped flying.
That would be a solution nearer to home that the EEC can manage - if nothing else Airbus has the tubes, masks and monitoring equipment and they can engineer large scale systems that could be set up in large temporary facilities etc.
Just a thought and love to the Spanish people - we will see you as soon as we can on a Camino!
Blaster
Heard something last week about CPAPs being modified in UK to be used for ventilating. I have heard about other creative midifications from various places but then I never hear anything more about what it leads--are governments using these inventions?
 
For the first time, the number of recoveries in Italy is more or less double the number of deceased, or just a small number short of double.

The daily variation in the number of active cases has been getting closer and closer to zero, and it can only be a short while before it descends into negative numbers -- even though the daily number of new cases is still at about +3,000/day ...
 
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Jabbapappa, do you have a source for that please? Interested minds .......

Much of it is anecdotal, from observation of conditions on the ground here at the Italian/French border area of the Provençal Way of the Camino & French side of the coastal Francigena along the old Via Aurelia Roman road.

Other than that, news reports from French TV and newspapers, rather than all of it found in a single linkable report.
 
Thank you. I've been following the press, too, but it's obvious that a lot of it is guesswork. I've seen very little official. Certainly I'm seeing a lot more people out and about here in the Vienne.
 
From what I am reading, every country is aggressively seeking a CONVID -19 vaccine and believe it will be available later this year. Considering how Spain is being ravished and the close proximity of pilgrims in albergues, should pilgrims be required to show proof of vaccinations prior to acceptance into albergues in 2021?25A11247-4822-4B57-ABEF-C22A90A24B21.jpeg
 
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A REMINDER OF THE ORIGINAL POST IN THIS THREAD.....not directed at any current posts, just an attempt to keep the thread civil and courteous. :cool:

PLEASE...Please stick with the forum rules against Politics...it is always a problem. Please do not offer medical advice or pass on unsubstantiated rumors or unofficial sources.

It is okay to discuss what’s happening with you here. People are a bit scared and some here are alone. Maybe we can share and comfort one another.

Rudeness or attacks on others will simply be deleted without comment
 
The number of active cases in Italy (total cases minus recoveries & deaths) changed by +20 between Sunday and Monday ; and is extremely likely to start falling this week -- even though there were 5300 new recorded cases over those two days.

But the daily recovery numbers are now in the thousands and growing, whereas the deceased numbers have been pretty flat for weeks, and indeed seem to be tending somewhat downward.

It's not looking good yet -- there are still over 100,000 active cases -- but there are clear signs that some degree of recovery from the epidemic has started.
 
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My husband and I have been planning on walking the Primitivo in August. I've read in several places that the bell curve on this virus is approximately 8-10 weeks. Given that it started in Spain in early March, are we delusional to continue to hope? Is there anything official stating that all Caminos are out of the question for the rest of 2020?
 
My husband and I have been planning on walking the Primitivo in August. I've read in several places that the bell curve on this virus is approximately 8-10 weeks. Given that it started in Spain in early March, are we delusional to continue to hope? Is there anything official stating that all Caminos are out of the question for the rest of 2020?
No one knows as a fact when things will begin the slow re-opening. And it will be slow.

It is not only Spain’s ‘curve’ that is at issue. That of our home countries are also. Europe is not going to open their borders to countries that do not have this securely under control.
 
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If you are wanting to plan a future pilgrimage, then I highly recommend investing in a travel cancellation policy. My friend just cancelled her trip in June and got a refund. She said the policy gave her piece of mind in planning the trip without the fear of losing her money if she wanted to cancel. Let me know if you want to know the travel ins she purchased.
 
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