Jeff Hopkins
Just another...observer
According to The Guardian, quite possibly it's due to earlier and more extensive testing.
At least the people making the decisions will earn their money and thankfully thats not me. I have no job now, my girlfriend has no job now, my x wife has had to close her business. Things ain't going to be easy....
There was a comment in passing in the Q+A about ultraviolet and the virus that was interesting but they did their best to make it clear simply being outdoors was not enough to remove risk and social distancing protocols had to be followed.
Good luck everyone.
The ornitho sighting portals have also started an action #StayHomeAndWatchOut where you can enter sightings from the confines of your home. For those that are locked down (in Italy, France and the Basque Country, for example), or just not going out.For those in lockdown or isolation in Italy, Spain and further afield, or effectively self-isolating elsewhere (eg UK) I've started a Joint Birdforum listing thread in the appropriate subforum -
https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=387738
Please feel free to share your sightings, photos etc, your common balcony bird may be someone else's mega. Will try and keep a running total for all, hopefully will help a tad with motivation and something positive in these strange and trying times.
Sorry to hear this, I feel for you, what are the French government doing to help you.
I'm no BoJo fan at all but I have been surprised by the genersosity of this government in doing what they are to support people and small businesses. I think we're lucky to live in the UK at a time like this.
I know if we'd still been in Russia, anyone losing their job would be totally on their own and I suspect some of the less wealthy nations e.g Greece, will not be able to support their people in the same way.
The ornitho sighting portals have also started an action #StayHomeAndWatchOut where you can enter sightings from the confines of your home. For those that are locked down (in Italy, France and the Basque Country, for example), or just not going out.
I have no time to watch birds when I'm working at home! Only added Large Tortoiseshell to the balcony list.
According to The Guardian, quite possibly it's due to earlier and more extensive testing.
There is a theory now (Guardian newspaper) that the Italian figure may be so high due to differences in recording methods.
Germany doesn't do post-mortem coronavirus testing so if you die at home of respiratory failure in Germany it will be logged as natural causes while in Italy they test you and log it. It has been suggested that many people who have died in Italy, succumbed to pre-existing conditions and simply had the virus as a double whammy. Bottom line, it may not have been the actual virus that killed many of these people?
This late afternoon I went to look for a local pair of Little Owls that I found last year and have on and off visited over the past X months or so. This is not far from a public footpath but in a generally its out of the way of a main town and is very much an under visited location for JP.
This evening there was a ten fold increase in the amount of people out here that I usually encounter, where in eight previous recent visits I have seen only one dog walker and the most on any one visit, ever, has probably been no more than four. Over the years visiting this particalur location I rarely come across anyone.
If this is anything to go by lots of people are going to flood into the countryside to do 'Social Distancing' as the usual places most of these people would go to (The Pub, The Cafe, The Cinema, The Shops) will be closed .
I think for a time it's going to get pretty crowded in great outdoors
I've seen 3 factors invoked to explain the low German morbidity rate - higher reported infections due to higher rates of testing, significantly lower average age of those infected compared to Italy, and lack of post-mortem testing, as you describe.
I've seen 3 factors invoked to explain the low German morbidity rate - higher reported infections due to higher rates of testing, significantly lower average age of those infected compared to Italy, and lack of post-mortem testing, as you describe.
Anecdotally I have heard that parks near NYC and Seattle both having been having crowding issues, and a lot of folks who would otherwise NEVER step onto a hiking trail are going out. Beyond the fact that this will result in lack of social distancing and probably increase call to shut parks down to any use, I would imagine in some areas you might get increases in injuries for people going out and not being properly prepared.
Dutch beaches and forests were also full. It was "normal" where I went in Germany. But with not much else to do, people will go walking. I chose not to go to places where I knew keeping distance was impossible - such as various places with boardwalks.Snowdonia National Park had its busiest day EVER on Saturday.
As mentioned (upthread I think?) they also have c5 times the number of ICUs (Intensive care units) than eg the Netherlands per head of population, and a pretty good and efficient health care system overall.
Dutch beaches and forests were also full. It was "normal" where I went in Germany. But with not much else to do, people will go walking. I chose not to go to places where I knew keeping distance was impossible - such as various places with boardwalks.
For people like us at BF, who "always" go out, staying home while/because others go out is difficult to swallow!
well, our governor today issue a stay at home "order" (mostly a request). All non essential businesses closed, and people should only be leaving there home for groceries and doctors appointments. Walking your dog or getting an exercise walk is fine, but my assumption is that this means no longer distance travel to birding sites, which due to my location is most of my birding. I guess I will have to hope I get lucky on my drive for groceries, or content myself with house sparrows and the occasional gull flyby from my 4th floor apartment
OK, "rubbish" was a bit strong but I was trying to make a point about the need to trust reputable sources in a crisis. Not everything in that blog post is entirely false, but he's no expert on either viruses or public policy, and it's not worth my time (and I don't want to give it another click) to go back and dissect.You obviously don't like it then?
Is there anything correct, interesting or relevant in there in your opinion, or would it be safe to say that it is all rubbish.
Absolutely right. Or cannot keep stopping again and again for the next year and a half, as the medical experts have recommended. One round is going to be destructive enough; few will tolerate more.I have said previously that the World cannot just stop, indefinitely. There may have to come a time when politicians have to make the brutal choice of restarting the World economy and coming to terms with 'acceptable losses'?