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[Doctor Gollum]

Aaron, you have more chance of catching an STI from the taxi on the way to the airport

[Lizzie Zoom]

There is also the matter that the Great Plague was a bacterial infection transmitted by the bites of infected rat fleas ... so a totally different type of pathogen with a totally different transmission vector.

The vast majority of folks with viral infections "self recover" as their systems kick in with antibodies ... those with pre-existing weaknesses are the ones at risk ... so again, totally different to the Great Plague .......

However, never let the truth ...........   

I was just referring to the Black Death, which WAS one of the deadliest pandemics known, to bring things into perspective.  How any such event is transmitted amoungst humans is almost immaterial, it is the bottom line that counts, which in the case of the Black Death was utterly devastating to those who lived, and died, through it. They did not care, or know, it was via the rats, just they were suffering very horribly from it's effects!

The latest event in China, which is where it is being 'controlled' as best as possible by the lock down, is still nothing like those of history, not even close to the influenza pandemic, the "Spanish Flue", outbreak of 1918, that infected 500 million worldwide, and killed up to 50 million people.

[aaronjb]

Aaron, you have more chance of catching an STI from the taxi on the way to the airport

 

I usually drive and park at Heathrow .. the Taxis in Seattle often seem to have plastic seat covers though. Can't imagine why

[Doctor Gollum]

Wipe on, wipe off... 

[Varche]

Regardless of whether it is or isnt something to be worried about, my original question was about the mechanics of a “ lock down”.

If Boris had to order a lock down when Aaron comes back with it, do you get compensated by the government or at the least “ lockdown dole” . Who decides who still works ?  Do you actually have a choice. E.g. ambulance driver .  How do you police the actual lockdown. In our society there would always be folk who felt it didnt apply to them.

If you are away on business or holiday and come back to find your town locked down and you cannot go in, where do you live and on what? Not everyone has savings..

[Sir Tigger KC]

My friend lives in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam, where he is a teacher.  His school has closed for an extra week after the Tet holiday (New Year) so he's gone into self imposed lockdown. 

Doesn't sound too bad really.... sofa, Netflix and beer.  His messages have got a bit random as the day has gone on! 

[Doctor Gollum]

You're unnecessarily worrying about a media hyped over reaction.

If you're genuinely worried, pop down the shops and clear the shelves of tinned goods and bottled water. If you need electricity, get the generator serviced and stock up on fuel as well.

Official contingencies will be broadly similar to war.

And if you work for the emergency services, or military, then you don't get a choice as it's part and parcel of what you signed up for.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Who's worried? 

[Doctor Gollum]

Who's worried? 

Varche apparently 

Scratches chin wondering if the single case in Spain is a Chinese student on a seasonal visa to pick olives...

[Varche]

Who's worried? 

Varche apparently 

Quite wrong. I am not worried. As it happens our lifestyle and location means we would probably be one of the few to survive a black plague type event.

I am interested in the mechanics of a lock down.  Easier to achieve in a country like China. Anyway, no one else is interested which is fair enough.

[Lizzie Zoom]

Who's worried? 

Varche apparently 

Quite wrong. I am not worried. As it happens our lifestyle and location means we would probably be one of the few to survive a black plague type event.

I am interested in the mechanics of a lock down.  Easier to achieve in a country like China. Anyway, no one else is interested which is fair enough.

Sorry Varche, I will try and answer you as best I can.

I really do not believe a complete lock down is possible without the consent, without exception, of all the population. Yes, a state can stop the running of public transport, and most of the private means to get around, but it is not possible to stop ALL movement, even in a state like China. However, the majority of their population appears to be completely controllable by simply the State saying “you will” or “you will not”. But even if a tiny percentage ignore that official line, and want to travel, they will. The country is just too geographically large to stop it entirely.

Not believable?  Well even the totalitarian Nazi Third Reich, with all the ‘instant’ penalties of disobedience  available, could stop the resistance fighters, and Germans who opposed Hitler. Movement was always possible, and never stopped entirely. So, without 100% lock down compliance, the disease, like the rats and their fleas, will never be completely stopped from spreading within China (and beyond?)