Leaderboard

Refreshingly honest if you ask me. And I'm no big fan of Boris! Regardless of what they do people will die who may not have done if they didn't have a the virus. Just like many things, people pick up all sorts which finish them off that ultimately could be prevented if people didn't come into contact with each other or extreme measures were out in place to stop them. You could ban alcohol, processed foods, tobacco, cars etc etc and wipe out incredible amounts of 'untimely' death, but it's generally accepted the loss of enjoyment, freedom and economic activity would be too bigger cost for the result. The same thing is happening here but within a shorter timeframe. Playing state activity off against risk to life might be an unsavoury thought but it is happening constantly, and has to. Even in my lowly position in it all in my training, for terrorist response especially but a lot of major incident response, you have to make some dreadful decisions that will ultimately condemn people where you use your resources in the most effective way. Not everyone can be saved from everything, you have to do what's best with a much wider outlook. The decisions that are being made are made on the advice of medical experts, and with a hell of a lot more information than will be available to the rest of us, they're not just pulling the decisions out of their arses. Even if in some aspects with hindsight we get it wrong I think they are making the right decisions for the right reasons.

I never feel like political discussions go down well on the internet, no less a theme park forum, but oh well... I'm completely anti-conservative, and anti-Boris. But I have to say that when watching the press conference yesterday where Boris and the experts discussed what they were doing and why, I completely got it. Impossible to know, of course, if they're the right decisions, and there's still - in my mind - questions that should be asked about the legitimacy of the research done (as far as I know, the research they quote isn't publicly available, which leaves some doubt in mind as to whether they actually are just plucking things out of thin air). If we take things at face value, though, it's hard for me to reasonably say what they're doing is wrong. Some of Boris' wording wasn't great (further still since it can be taken out of context), but there's not much that can be done. I really hope we don't live to regret the action take so far though, of course. I personally never feel that making comparisons to other countries is a good idea. Especially since we're on an island, which drastically alters how this could spread. And also, just because other countries are doing things in a certain way, it still doesn't mean it's the right way. Death rates might be tiny, but there's likely still a number of children catching the virus. They just might not be showing symptoms, or recovering very quickly. The greater issue is that children can catch it and pass it on to others (especially since children are less well adept to cleaning their hands thoroughly, or catching sprays from coughs and sneezes), increasing the spread to adults and, in particular, those at greater risks. Drastic and melodramatic? No. This is a severe situation. And the media are just responding to what the public want - as much information as possible. The bigger issue is that social media is spreading false information, people are panicking, etc. That's where all of the major issues stem from. If, as modelled, there are 10,000 people in the UK who have / have had coronavirus currently, that's about 1 in 700 people at the moment. On average, about 1 in 2500 people get seriously injured in a car crash in the UK every year. In other words, you are MUCH more likely to catch coronavirus than you are to be seriously injured in a car crash. That's not to scare anyone, but it's the truth. As I say, I never think political discussions go down well, and this is probably steering the conversation in the wrong direction. It's impossible to know if what any country has done is right or wrong. But what is obvious is that we're in this for the long haul. A vaccine realistically won't be ready till next year. The virus spreads very easily. It's not clear if you're immune after catching it, or how long for. The worst is yet to come. As the general public, all we can do is do out best to look after ourselves, follow the advice and apply common sense. No one wants to be isolated any longer than necessary, and no one wants to see the country crumble. Hopefully we won't see that, and whatever happens in the days and weeks ahead will help reduce the impact for everyone.

From Monday all six Disney resorts will be closed. Universal Florida has also announced it will close from the end of this Sunday till the end of March. Every country needs to do this to stop this spread frankly. There's no point Europe closing every border and we just carry on saying 'some of you may die'. It's completely irresponsible and risks the spread carrying on for far longer.

Children have been said to be at the absolute lowest risk though.. Not many young folks have died from the virus, actually the current number for the age range 0-9 is 0. And 10-19 is a very low death rate. Young people are not the worry here. Honestly I like the UK approach, I find the current media coverage to be somewhat drastic and melodramatic. People mass buying crap and self isolating themselves are just perhaps a little too easily influenced by the current media brainwashing them. It is a nasty virus and some people are going to die, but there is many other things such as cancer, heart problems, or even the Flu itself which kills tons of people a year but I don't see anyone locking themselves in a room crying over it? There is more chance of crashing your car on the way to the parks that catching the corona virus.. But you still drive cars don't you?

Hi All, thought I'd better pop in as it's been a while. You are mostly in the age groups that will be fine, if you get it, it'll be like a lousy flu. Think about those around you, especially your older friends and family, and help them prepare. Standing in a queue to buy those extra loo rolls will be just as dangerous. Just look forward to those shorter queues. Stay safe, stay clean, and be aware of those around you, and that applies everywhere.

It doesn't matter how (un)clean everyone else is, if you touch things like restraints and wash your own hands after riding before touching your mouth or face you'll be fine. How long before Merlin start offering fastrack to the sinks? 😂😂

I can' tell you how much enjoyment I get from people moaning at Chessington for not having enough rides open or being really busy when the February half term event is called Animal Adventures.

That is exactly why the Corona Virus is so out of our hands. There is minimal ways to minimise it, those who try to contain it have only spread it more. I'd rather get on with my life and not lock myself away for a month after raiding the loo roll isle at Lidl. The only thing you can do really is keep away from people when you're ill, obvious. Even when it was less serious the news and papers have hammered on and on about the virus, it is no surprise some people are stockpiling pasta and bog roll. You literally turn the news on and 80% is about the virus, its literally a drinking game at this point every time they mention it. I hate Boris with passion and honestly I like the way he has handled it, just keep calm and carry on. Its a nasty virus, not the apocalypse.

And Efteling have now announced that, as of tomorrow, the park will be closed, and the entire resort will be closed from Monday: The resort is usually open 365 days a year. Legoland opened fully today and have encouraged guests to keep their distance between groups in queue lines, similar to Efteling's previous advice.