Coronavirus and public pools 26 February 2020 at 10:26AM in Health & beauty MoneySaving 8 replies 1.9K views

Concerned75

Generic advice on prevention but none on cure or the most vulnerable places. 
As I've heard in the news the Coronavirus virus has reached some schools and holidays just finished and another one round the corner, would like to know if this virus can seriously effect public swimming pools, especially if you do have a compromised health? Just seems to me the health professionals and media only focus on the healthy catching it and not those that aren't.

Toothsmith

It's quite easy to give out generic public health messages for the 'healthy' - and if the 'healthy' adopt good protocols like hand washing & binning tissues after single use - then that will protect the 'unhealthy' people they come into contact with. The result being the population as a whole will be better placed to restrict the spread of a disease.
'Unhealthy' people need much more specific advice, ss it would depend on their level of risk. For example someone with mild asthma will be 'at risk' from a new respiratory disease - but the advice to such a person would be completely different to someone on immunosuppressant medication for whom such a contact could be fatal very quickly.

So yes, public health messages are designed to do the greater good for the greatest number of people, and the healthier the general population will be kept, the better it is for those more vulnerable too. for those who are more vulnerable - more specific advice is needed, and this can be sought at either a regular appointment at the GPs, or ring them up.

As for swimming pools - if someone was very 'at risk' they may well be told to avoid them anyway. But it's surprising what things are actually the biggest cross infection control risks. One of the highest risks are communal touchpads!!! Be it cash machines, supermarket self-serve checkouts or even the check-in screens now found in Dr's waiting rooms!! Having some hand sanitiser in your pocket for use before & after using such screen would be a very good idea!

QuackQuackOops

Stop worrying and just go about your business as normal.
Its all blown up out of all proportion.

Toothsmith

QuackQuackOops said:

Stop worrying and just go about your business as normal.
Its all blown up out of all proportion.

Fair comment, but bringing quick, easy, sensible precautions into your day to day life is never a bad thing, both for yourself and others. 

This is a pretty good, sensible article explaining risks & busting myths. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/29/worse-than-flu-busting-coronavirus-myths

pickledonionspaceraider

I think it is very concerning.  At some point the Government are going to have to make some very tough decisions;- be it the economy or let the corona-virus ravage.

If we continue as business as usual, there is a very good chance this is going to get out of hand really quickly. 

I think people should not underestimate this

Undervalued

pickledonionspaceraider said:

I think it is very concerning.  At some point the Government are going to have to make some very tough decisions;- be it the economy or let the corona-virus ravage.

If we continue as business as usual, there is a very good chance this is going to get out of hand really quickly. 

I think people should not underestimate this

You may be right or we may just be creating completely unnecessary wild hysteria. I simply don't know.

As I read it, currently in the UK there are c. 30 confirmed cases out of a population of c. 60 million? Are there not normally about 8000 deaths in the UK from "normal" seasonal flu? 

If anything like the level of shutdown, that some are advocating because of this corona-virus, was applied each year the number of flu deaths would drop dramatically. However so too would productivity and the economy.

There are between 3000 and 5000 deaths on the roads each year. If the same level of maintenance standards, driver training and regular testing was applied to road users as exists in aviation, that figure would drop dramatically. However we don't do it for economic reasons. There is no more unforgiving environment than being in the air (apart from space travel) yet it has a safety record second to none. 

Sea_Shell

Personally, I think of swimming pools like a giant "sheep dip"  You come out cleaner than when you went in!!  (chlorine).

So I'm still going swimming, unless I'm told specifically not to.



And before anyone comments, yes, I do also shower before entering the pool!

BananaRepublic

Undervalued said:

pickledonionspaceraider said:

I think it is very concerning.  At some point the Government are going to have to make some very tough decisions;- be it the economy or let the corona-virus ravage.

If we continue as business as usual, there is a very good chance this is going to get out of hand really quickly. 

I think people should not underestimate this

You may be right or we may just be creating completely unnecessary wild hysteria. I simply don't know.

As I read it, currently in the UK there are c. 30 confirmed cases out of a population of c. 60 million? Are there not normally about 8000 deaths in the UK from "normal" seasonal flu? 

If anything like the level of shutdown, that some are advocating because of this corona-virus, was applied each year the number of flu deaths would drop dramatically. However so too would productivity and the economy.

There are between 3000 and 5000 deaths on the roads each year. If the same level of maintenance standards, driver training and regular testing was applied to road users as exists in aviation, that figure would drop dramatically. However we don't do it for economic reasons. There is no more unforgiving environment than being in the air (apart from space travel) yet it has a safety record second to none. 

If you look at the graphs, you see that the number of deaths is growing exponentially. Corona virus spreads quicker than flu. In Iran and Italy 3% of Covid19 victims die. Assume 30 million Brits catch it. That means almost one million dead. That might be an overestimate, or a worst case scenario. This is worse than flu, far worse. 

Pollycat

BananaRepublic said:

Undervalued said:

pickledonionspaceraider said:

I think it is very concerning.  At some point the Government are going to have to make some very tough decisions;- be it the economy or let the corona-virus ravage.

If we continue as business as usual, there is a very good chance this is going to get out of hand really quickly. 

I think people should not underestimate this

You may be right or we may just be creating completely unnecessary wild hysteria. I simply don't know.

As I read it, currently in the UK there are c. 30 confirmed cases out of a population of c. 60 million? Are there not normally about 8000 deaths in the UK from "normal" seasonal flu? 

If anything like the level of shutdown, that some are advocating because of this corona-virus, was applied each year the number of flu deaths would drop dramatically. However so too would productivity and the economy.

There are between 3000 and 5000 deaths on the roads each year. If the same level of maintenance standards, driver training and regular testing was applied to road users as exists in aviation, that figure would drop dramatically. However we don't do it for economic reasons. There is no more unforgiving environment than being in the air (apart from space travel) yet it has a safety record second to none. 

If you look at the graphs, you see that the number of deaths is growing exponentially. Corona virus spreads quicker than flu. In Iran and Italy 3% of Covid19 victims die. Assume 30 million Brits catch it. That means almost one million dead. That might be an overestimate, or a worst case scenario. This is worse than flu, far worse. 

In fairness to the poster you quoted, things have moved incredibly fast between 3rd March (when Undervalued posted) when we had 30 confirmed cases and now have almost twice as many deaths.

Change course or a quarter of a million people will die in a "catastrophic epidemic" of coronavirus - warnings do not come much starker than that.

The message came from researchers modelling how the disease will spread, how the NHS would be overwhelmed and how many would die.

The science has shifted dramatically and as a result we are now facing the most profound changes to our daily lives in peacetime.

This realisation has happened only in the past few days.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51915302