If you neck all that glutinous pasta there will be no long-term needs for toilet rolls, Stella. I predict weeks of solid blockage in the nation’s colons. And a run on rubber plungers 
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Ha ha… that’s not my shopping trolley… 
but, I do have to eat a certain amount of pasta on doctor’s orders… something to do with slow-release of sugar… 
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Good on you to cock a snook at Covid 19 @Mike_Kearney, we need more of this Spirit of the Blitz to cheer us up.
For those who remember 1940s Measles Parties for five-year-olds, there’s reassurance in the rash of intimate kitchen-table Coronavirus-themed belote parties for 60-90-year-olds breaking out all over La Manche and Calvados, the latter Département revelling in its high status in the long-distance éternuement tables, and stopwatch-defying nez qui coulent.
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Although this is aimed at children… I find it explains things very clearly… for adults too 
Or maybe Covid 19 will just be blamed, rather than
long-standing neglect.
I came across a very good resource for info on Covid19 and a host of other topics. Very interesting. https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus
Edit - I see this site was mentioned previously. For those who missed it here it is again.
Well, yes - it does put the current situation in perspective - the problem is that the coronavirus situation is dynamic and we are still very much at the early stages whereas the numbers for other conditions are much more stable over time.
Most people have seen the “two curve” graph - but just a reminder of where we are on that graph
There is a long way to go to the other side of the peak.
What we hope is that the figures actually end up looking line the data currently coming out of China - which look like this (EDIT - if they are accurate, making no claim on this):
The number of new cases has dropped off to very low levels but it has taken draconian restrictions on movement - which are not sustainable in the long term even in China and have not been replicated on Europe (or the US) except Italy. In contrast to the Chinese figures new cases are increasing at roughly 33% per day in the UK.
The reality could be very different from the graph Sue shared - if we assume that all of the world’s 7.5 billion population are vulnerable, a 20% infection rate (quite likely conservative) and a 1% mortality (plausible) then we’re looking at 15 million deaths, if they all happen within 12 months that makes Sue’s graph look like this:
Our best hope is to keep the peak low until a vaccine is developed - but there is no guarantee that it will be possible to do so, or that natural infection will provide protection if an effective vaccine cannot be manufactured - coronaviruses that cause the common cold, for instance, produce an immune response that protects from re-infection with the same strain for only about three months.
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@anon88169868 Thanks for the analysis Paul (I think!) Here’s hoping you’re wrong!!! Mind you, if you are right it would seriously help slow our population growth and also among the parts of the world where all the fat cats live, so very helpful for managing over-consumption / pollution / global warming correction etc. James Lovelock said many, many years ago that Gaia would protect herself if we do nothing.
I felt the graph was a salutary reminder that there are thousands of deaths very day from diseases about which we hear little or nothing. No hysteria in the media, no closing borders. I suspect because they are not where the money is and the drug companies are much more interested in developing vaccines for the rich “First World” than the third world.
Also, and this sounds brutal perhaps - for me, a bout of pneumonia at the end that takes me quickly does not sound so terrible. I could not bear to finish up in some nursing home, barely alive, propped up in a bed being fed by a carer.
I don’t worry about being dead, I do worry about spending 3 weeks slowly drowning in my own lung secretions.
ÉPIDÉMIE - La prise de médicaments anti-inflammatoires pourrait être un facteur d’aggravation de l’infection, alerte Olivier Véran. Pour lutter contre la fièvre, le ministre de la Santé recommande d’utiliser du paracétamol.
14 mars 12:45 - La rédaction de LCI
C’est une information à prendre très au sérieux. L’administration de médicaments anti-inflammatoires pourrait avoir des effets indésirables chez les malades du coronavirus, a fait savoir samedi 14 mars le ministre de la Santé, Olivier Véran. “La prise d’anti-inflammatoires (ibuprofène, cortisone…) pourrait être un facteur d’aggravation de l’infection. En cas de fièvre, prenez du paracétamol. Si vous êtes déjà sous anti-inflammatoires ou en cas de doute, demandez conseil à votre médecin”, a écrit le ministre sur son compte Twitter.
L’ibuprofène, vendu sous ce nom et diverses appellations commerciales (comme l’Advil et le Nurofen), fait partie de la famille dite des anti-inflammatoires non-stéroïdiens. Or ces médicaments peuvent avoir des effets indésirables en cas d’infection, pouvant causer de graves complications. Pour cette raison, ils ne sont d’ailleurs plus vendus en libre service dans les pharmacies françaises depuis le 15 janvier 2020. Il en est de même pour les médicaments contenant du paracétamol (Doliprane, Efferalgan, etc.) et l’aspirine
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That is certainly a point worth making, it is easy to forget in our cosy 1st world existence with easy access to healthcare, food and clean drinking water that these things are not a given for everyone in the world.
I just worry that graph is being used to downplay the potential impact of this new coronavirus, to trivialise it almost and, in doing so, persuade some people that the measures against it are not needed.
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Having watched my brother die over a year from brain cancer and the treatments he received, three weeks suffering isn’t much.
Chris Kite’s posting is an interesting one and for those reluctant to translate, I’ve done it for you…
EPIDEMIC - Taking anti-inflammatory drugs could be a factor in worsening the infection, warns Olivier Véran. To fight fever, the Minister of Health recommends using paracetamol.
March 14 12:45 - The writing of LCI
This is information to be taken very seriously. Administration of anti-inflammatory drugs could have adverse effects in patients with coronavirus, Health Minister Olivier Véran said on Saturday March 14. “Taking anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, cortisone, etc.) could be a factor in worsening the infection. If you have a fever, take paracetamol. If you are already on anti-inflammatory drugs or in doubt, ask your doctor for advice, ”the minister wrote on his Twitter account.
Ibuprofen, sold under this name and under various trade names (such as Advil and Nurofen), is part of the family known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. However, these drugs can have undesirable effects in the event of infection, which can cause serious complications. For this reason, they are no longer sold self-service in French pharmacies since January 15, 2020. It is the same for drugs containing paracetamol (Doliprane, Efferalgan, etc.) and aspirin
Pleased to report that there was no panic buying at our local supermarket… yes, the queue was long and there were only 2 tills open… but everyone kept their distance… smiled and joked… and scrutinized one another’s trolleys…
One chap was right at the back, holding a bag of salad greens… gradually he was waved nearer and nearer to the front of our line…
OH was fed up with waiting and looked rather grimly at me as I smiled sweetly at the chap and waved him ahead of us too… just as it was coming to our turn to move up to the Till…
Made me feel good to do that small act of kindness… and OH has forgiven me. 
@spj
I read somewhere 3 weeks is about how long it takes, which is why I mentioned it.
My uncle with brain cancer chose to shoot himself rather than die over a year - horses for courses.
My mother, who has Pick’s, would probably have liked to do the same thing but she’s at home, in a coma and has been for getting on for 10 years now, tube-fed etc.
I don’t think it is a competition.
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I feel for anyone who has had family/friends/whoever who have suffered or who are suffering… and it is not only the “sick” who suffer…
As you so rightly say… this is not a competition… it is simply ghastly and that is 'nuff said.
Having nearly died from pneumonia around 15 years ago, I’m relatively unworried. At the worst point, I was barely aware of the fact that I was suffering and I was no longer bothered whether I died or not. My brain kind of blocked it out, I knew I was in a dreadful state but I felt very detached. I believe your body releases chemicals that have that effect. Mother Nature is kind that way.
My breathing hasn’t been great since then, so I’m not optimistic.
As I keep saying… and will continue to do so… every day is a gift…so let’s make the most of it…
Keep safe, yes, but keep living and enjoying life in whatever way we can…
Another ten deaths in UK 