We have seen a variety of journalistic styles and approaches over covid-19. We each have our own views.
But when I read this article, I did feel that at least some of them are acutely aware of the impacts of what they say and do. I did watch the inside-an-ICU report and felt it sigificantly.
BBC's Covid-19 reporters: 'I wanted to show the reality but was deeply troubled by what I saw’
Did you see Ross Kemp's documentary? I think he should not have filmed in there but other people disagree with me.
independent.co.uk/arts-ente...
No - I didn't see it.
To a considerable extent, the rightness or wrongness of the filming being done is down the the unit he visited. But that might have been re-assessed when they saw the result.
I'll go as far as to say that totally hiding it all is wrong.
Indeed, nothing should be hidden: why should we be treated like children or stupid adults? Pretending and hidding from the facts/truth is not helping long-term. Being aware and prepared and doing our best is preferable. It's a tough time for us all, it will get better (well, less serious) in time. We need to be patient and cautious and act sensibly. For anyone who cannot cope with thee truth then perhaps avoidance of reading certain papers or watching certain programmes might be best. It's a personal choice. I know which alternative I prefer.
What I find upsetting is that a journalist/actor is allowed in to view what is going on but not the families of the people who are dying ... I wasn't there when my mother died of cancer and the thought of her dying alone still haunts me over 30 years later.
I think it is important that the public are made aware of the reality of the situation. People can make their own choices about what they watch or read, as they always do. It is a hard job to get the balance right for everyone. There are already reports of people coming to harm from not seeking care when they need it, due to fear of contracting covid in hospital if they attend for other serious illnesses such as strokes and heart attacks. But on the other hand if people put themselves and others at risk by underestimating the risks then this sort of reporting might make a difference.
To all those who think that life will, within the next 3 weeks, 3 months or even 3 years ago, return to how it was last year - think again!
To take any holiday outside the UK or perhaps the EU will be extremely difficult after the entire UK has been declared free of this virus. How do you fancy 2 weeks in isolation when you arrive, 2 weeks holiday, then 2 weeks isolation when you return?
It took from 1796 until 1977 for the Smallpox virus to be eliminated worldwide, so book your next foreign holiday in the year 2200?
If the reports from elsewhere are true and it is possible to catch the virus again, what then?
Many other examples for you with an active imagination.
Don’t disagree with you.
The plague started in UK 1349 and visited us 20 times until the late Elizabethan times, but didn’t stop people travelling.
How many per day are still coming through Heathrow?
There’s over 7 billion of us, and it is only a matter of time before something like Covid visits us again in the future.
Stoicism is what we need as well as a vaccine.
Don't honestly care about foreign holidays since I've never had one. I just want to get back to being able to earn a living, go to the cinema or a concert, and sit in a cafe. I'd be quite happy to see international travel banned and no more aeroplanes (sky is so nice without them). It would be nice to ban all wifi too. I could be a professional grumpy old git.
Another heavily burdened area is the West and East Midlands. Yet one Midlands hospital had only 4 Covid patients - two - a couple in their 80's - taking multiple medications and had not been tested. The rest of the hospital was deserted with nothing going on. This was information from someone who works there ... so many differing stories.
Which Midland hospital was that? I live in the East Midlands.
I heard they were testing people by X-ray/CT ? scan now, apparently the lungs show up with extensive white areas. I still don't understand why we haven't got an accurate test for it though....perhaps I don't have a scientific mind😳 the way things are going, we'll have the vaccine before the test!
I think if people saw the reality of it, they would be more careful about going out, and distancing. We have forgotten, with all the modern medicine, what a virus or nasty bacteria can do. We do not see people coughing up their lungs with TB any more, or children with polio, and iron lungs are a thing of the past. We came to believe that there was a drug to fix everything, but there is not in this case. A vaccine is at least 18 months away.
What has shocked me is the widespread condemnation of us older folk with many saying let the elderly die so we can get on with life. I suspect these people do not have elderly relatives, or they are so self centred they have little thought for the older people.
Meanwhile quite a few people on my Facebook are sharing conspiracy theory videos of "whistleblowers" exposing the lie. It's such a weird juxtaposition. I don't know how many stories like this it'll take before they stop trying to deny it's happening 
It's so very hard on medical staff, I hope they're getting lots of support.
I have just read that people over sixty might also be advised to self-isolate which means me and my husband. My daughter and I have noticed from the beginning of all this that not many young children seemed to get it. I wondered if it was something to do with vaccines because older people have not had as many as much younger people have. I just read an article that it might be because of the MMR vaccine and I have no idea if this is true or not but it would make a lot of sense.
express.co.uk/life-style/he...
Thank you, Lora.
Regarding MMR, I think the actual paper is this:
Homologous protein domains in SARS-CoV-2 and measles, mumps and rubella viruses: preliminary evidence that MMR vaccine might provide protection against COVID-19
Robin Franklin, Adam Young, Bjoern Neumann, Rocio Fernandez, Alexis Joannides, Amir Reyahi, Yorgo Modis
doi: doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.10....
This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.
medrxiv.org/content/10.1101...
It is interesting - despite being pre-publication, etc.
There is nothing I could find (I have not read the full paper) which says whether having actually had Rubella (German Measles) counts as much as the vaccine? Or not?
It is also questionable what effect it would have being given the MMR (or just the Rubella part) while already infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. If that would be "a bad thing", for any reason, it would be prudent to test before giving the MMR. But testing itself is a highly fraught issue. And how long from infection to positive test?
I had intended to look up the age banding as many sources have been referring to 65 in other countries. And, for one example, some recent figures showed males 60 to 69 at higher risk of death than females 70 to 79. (These figures are, of course, continually changing.)
The Guardian has a whole article on that specific issue:
Coronavirus: people in their 60s at higher risk too, say scientists
UK has advised over-70s to self-isolate but other countries have opted for lower age thresholds
UK guidance for people aged 70 and over to self-isolate is leaving people aged 60 to 69 at increased risk from coronavirus, say scientists.
Prof Azeem Majeed and colleagues at Imperial College London (ICL) noted that other countries had different policies and the World Health Organization said the highest risk was in over-60s.
According to a paper published by the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University, the death rate among people in their 70s is 8%, and the rate among those in their 60s is 3.6%, which the ICL scientists said was “still substantial”.
They recommend that the 7.3 million people in their 60s in the UK should be more careful about physical distancing and personal hygiene.
Full article freely accessible here:
Thanks I will read those later. I don't actually feel 60 and even my son said that his Dad and I look more like 50 ... unusual for him to say that because he does refer to us as very "old". I never had the MMR but I have had measles, mumps, chickenpox and rubella when I was a child. I also had scarlet fever which you don't hear about much these days. I will continue to follow government guidelines and do my own food shopping and my Dad's until I am told otherwise. I do have some masks and a homemade one that I can use if we are told to wear them in the future.
I am now definitely in the mask-wearing camp - home-made, cotton, but quite well-fitting.
I'd hate to think that I could cause someone else to suffer covid-19. Of course, likely never to know, which also means we can never dismiss the possibility from our thoughts.
Interesting paper on use of iodide against the virus
