I’m diabetic and I consider myself vulnerable too.
Now, how much can I claim! 
I can well understand that. As most people are aware, Americans can’t spell!
Color, esophagus, etc, etc.
English English is, after all, the language which we gave to the world. 
When we were kids, we turned that superstition around and tried to walk along the cracks.
I remember my mother wasn’t particularly pleased when she was in a rush!
Haha yes JB, I was always getting a clip at the back of the head for dawdling…Swhy I’m so daft now…
Kids, eh? Who’d have 'em?
I know JB, we tried it once and didn’t like it. The one we’ve got is more trouble now than when she was living at home…
God has never granted us the ‘gift’ of children.
After some initial disappointment, we’re now very happy with each other and, importantly, not having kids has saved us a hell of a lot of money…
yes, and worry!
Well done Australia - you seem to have handled this plague very well.
And my favorite (;-)) diarrhea, instead of the correct spelling of diarrhoea. 
For the 1st time since C-19 started, my local laundromat has FINALLY re-opened. I was getting pretty desperate. Down to my last pair of old jeans and they were quite holey. Feels good to wear clean clothes again.
talking a load o’ chit again our Judd :twisted:
There’s another one, Bakerman, over here that would be ‘Launderette’. I know what you mean about clean things though - I especially love sliding into clean sheets!:-D:-D:-D
We can spell, buddy. It’s just that we have our own culture.
Tires, not tyres.
Elevator, not lift. A lift is used to lift autos in the air.
Flashlight, not torch. A torch is a flaming stick.
Cookies, not biscuits.
1st floor is the ground floor, not the 2nd story up.
Drug store, not chemist.
etc etc
Following the War of Independence, and the War of 1812, we removed as much of the British culture as possible. We, of course, already had English as our primary language, so we were not able to change languages. But we COULD remove unnecessary vowels, like the unnecessary “O” in many words.
No insult intended but we have our own culture, most especially when it comes to the foods we love. For example, if I wanted to cook lamb, I’d have to go to a butcher shop and special order it. I’ve only seen lamb in supermarkets just before Easter, and then it disappears for another year.
But most importantly, we outlawed any concept of royalty.
Peace, brother. 
Well it’s French, German and Norse with perhaps a bit of Gaelic, but alles gut mon ami!
Yes, exactly.
I am often struck by how many German words are in American English. No doubt it has to do with the fact that we began our country with many, many German immigrants.
Sorry. Did not mean to hijack this thread.
Of course.
Our language is a product of our long history which, as Annie points out, includes influences from Germany, Denmark, Norway, France (spit!) and even the Romans.
Personally, I’m very much in favour of keeping as much of the traditional as possible and renouncing any of those inferior Americanisms which seem to be becoming popular among the uneducated as a result of their avid interest in American films (not ‘movies’, I stress) and TV programmes.
I suppose that having no history earlier than around the 16th century, the Americans are desperate to invent for themselves a culture differentiated as much as possible from ‘the old country’.
I should mention now that I have American relatives. Please don’t tell them what I’ve said!
I’d better apologise now for straying into matters quite unrelated to ‘Chinese Coronavirus’!
Apparently German is still the highest ethnicity in the US. Hot dogs hamburgers, apple pie (or is it apple strudel?). All very German influences. Folks = volken?
It is early days yet. We still have to try relaxing restrictions and watching for the second wave. Schools are the first step but most of the lockdown will remain for another month
The attempts by Japan and Singapore show how fraught with danger it is when restrictions are relaxed.
Having said that I am glad that I have our health system rather than NHS or the USA’s because they have prepared well and tripled the number of ICU beds and nurses. Whether that is enough remains to be seen.
The ABC program, Foreign Correspondent last night dealt with the New York health system basically being over run. It was so sad and one of the health workers (a nurse from interstate who volunteered to help out) was asked if there was anything positive about his day said, nearly in tears, “At least none of my patients died today”. ICU nurses are looking after 40 patients rather than 1 to 1, the system is so stretched.
It was a very disturbing program. I am not sure if you will be able to watch it but it is here: