Have you considered the possibility that an unproven vaccine could actually make matters worse, for example if it produces unexpected nasty side-effects?

Or simply doesn't work?

People in Lombardy are being treated in hospital corridors. We've seen that happen in the UK during winter months even when there hasn't been an epidemic. The UK government needs to move quickly and provide thousands more "Boris beds". 

Wow, looks like it's going to be a fun day in the economy!

Oil's down 30% (almost a third!), the FTSE's looking at a 7% loss as of now (a bear market)...

One thing's for sure: some people are going to get very rich from Coronavirus! (And those who panic sell will get much poorer).

I expect the PPT will be in action later today. I wonder what Trump will have to say.

I know Justin W was annoyed yesterday by these comments but some of the media are using OTT language.

Last week the Guardian said the number of UK cases had jumped by 60% then you look at the actual figures and it had increased to 85.

I just watched Good Morning Britain live report saying "a huge leap in the number of cases in this country" It has gone up by 69.  

Never knowingly oversold. 

Incredible. Local Tesco's branch, virtually empty shelves for pasta range

Yet box tissues are full.

Isn't coronavirus a respiratory disease?

FTSE futures now showing a 9% drop! Sure is tempting to buy in at these levels (it's the same level as in 1998), but I think it'll fall further today as the herd mentality kicks in.

EDIT: Interesting to see that gold is down by over 1% too.

On another forum I suggested perhaps a 30%+ drop overall before the dust settles down.

The old rule is buy when it gets to a 30% drop from recent highs - it'll usually go down more, than ricochet back up. A lot of it is pure panic, of course - panic isn't just found in the toilet roll aisle of your local supermarket.

The rebound won't happen I suppose until later in the spring or summer as cases of Coronavirus drop off.

I’ve just heard on the radio that the government wants to stop misinformation being spread to the public about the virus. Sensible or an attempt to stop us from knowing the true facts?
interesting times...

I think it’s a real possibility that this virus has been around longer than we thought and has spread so widely due to the mild/asymptomatic cases and possibly the incubation period.  We’re finding cases now because we can trace back to the infected areas and we’re testing for it, but it’s likely to have already been passed on.  

In which case, it was always going to be difficult to contain due to international travel and whatever measures we’ve taken, the virus has always been one step ahead.  There’s been nothing to gain by closing the stable door.

In Italy, their first death wasn’t diagnosed until almost three weeks after the death, at post mortem.  By that time the virus had already been transmitted onwards and outwards.  I wonder why they tested that first death for the virus, no doubt because people he’d been in contact with, were showing symptoms.  So it was traced back but it means the virus was already at least three weeks ahead. 

In this day and age it is impossible to keep us from knowing the true facts but unfortunately there is a lot of 'fake news' out there. Someone on here posted a piece last night that said you could get the virus and die within 24 hours - utter bull.

This is the most prosaic post so far. I have no idea what your point is.

All of the smug self-righteous types deriding those 'morons' doing big shops at the supermarkets obviously didn't notice official advice last week:

Public Health England (PHE) has asked members of the public to consider stocking up on enough supplies and food to last them during a potential two-week quarantine.

Health bosses say people should be prepared to be asked to self-isolate as the Government moves into the 'delay' phase of its four-stage battle plan.

...and in the end, the FTSE only lost 1.8% or so in the first couple of minutes. Unlike the futures to be so far out!

EDIT: And there we go, down 5% now a couple of minutes later. Looks like it's taking ages to find a buyer for the large numbers of shares being dumped!

The point about Lombardy, is that these are ICU beds being set up in corridors - that is of an order of magnitude worse than pre-admissions waiting in corridors as is normally the case in the UK.

Latest from India:

"Indian authorities in the port city of Mangalore have turned away a cruise ship with 1,400 passengers that was due to dock there, an official confirmed to the BBC.

The country's shipping ministry has issued an advisory that says no cruise ships from foreign countries can dock anywhere in India, as part of coronavirus preventive measures.

The ship, identified as the MSC Lirica, is registered in the Republic of Panama."

The Marshall Islands:

"The Marshall Islands in the Pacific has banned all inbound air travellers for two weeks.

Flights can still land, although passengers cannot disembark, said the government's Facebook announcement."

The UK Government should have done more to restrict travel once the situation in Italy became apparent a couple of weeks ago.

And you definitely need 100 rolls of toilet roll for 2 weeks 

Clue: Sneeze, cough

Options of useful stuff to stockpile to control spread

a) Dry pasta

b) Toilet roll

c) Boxes of tissues

Additional clue, NHS advice: put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards

Question: out of a, b and c  which do you think is going to be most useful to control the spread of virus?

Wow, what a drop 

Like our hedge fund millionaire Chancellor, married to a billionaire's daughter

But he drinks Yorkshire Tea, so he must be a man of the people

Didn't know tea could grow in Yorkshire

Bizarre post - utterly bizarre. Do you know that the tissues section hadn't just been restocked? And when people are asked to stock up for two weeks of quarantine by PHE, do you think they should just live on tissues?