Coronavirus (Covid19) Corner

[Marilyn]

Look on the bright side?

Love you all, but you are living with blinkers on. ( this is soooo bloody sad)
I am signing out again. ( shaking my head in disbelief)

[PanBiker]

Look on the bright side?

Love you all, but you are living with blinkers on. ( this is soooo bloody sad)
I am signing out again. ( shaking my head in disbelief)

Hang on Maz, you forgot to include Stanley's response to the quote:

"England's deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries, meanwhile, said the UK remained an "international exemplar" of pandemic preparedness, adding there had been challenges but the government was "always looking ahead".". Really? What evidence does she have for saying this?

We are fully aware that the government has screwed up big style and that's an understatement. There will have to be a reckoning at some point.

[Big Kev]

I'm glad you clarified Ian, not sure what point the 'Cultural Attache for Australia' was trying to make, I'm sure that 'only 71 deaths' is accurate for those that were tested.

There have only been 12 in New Zealand, does that make it a better place than Australia?

I would imagine population density has a lot to do with it, 2019 figures show over 1000 people per square mile in the UK and 7 per square mile in Australia. If these figures were the other way around would we be having a different conversation?

[plaques]

I am signing out again. ( shaking my head in disbelief)

I think if we all took any notice of the government we would all be signing out.
When did they ever do anything right? in Tony Blairs days he introduced a quick fix that saw £13billion go into state buildings, hospitals etc; this quick fix will cost the UK economy £82 billion by 2045. Then the Conservative nibbled away by introducing privatisation cherry picking the lucrative bits and leaving the open ended costly bits. Then they ignored warnings about potential pandemics while still running stocks down. Now saying that they are looking ahead, ahead to what.
The Doctors, Nurses and ancillary staff within the NHS are working their socks off under impossible conditions. Its they that deserve all the praise.

On number of deaths between countries. I can only quote Kenny Rogers 'The Gambler'

You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealing's done

Sadly we are where we are.

[Stanley]

So true P. Did you hear the care home owner complaining this morning because his workers have a 140 mile round trip to a testing station when there is one in their own town. What about the people I know that work in care at Cravenside who are on low wage, have no transport and for whom travelling to Leeds is a major consideration. What's the answer for them? Has anybody really thought this through?

[PanBiker]

Like I said previously what is wrong with Skipton General, Nelson Community or Burnley General Hospitals? All have qualified staff who I am sure are perfectly capable of taking swabs and correctly handling them for test.

[Stanley]

Dead right Ian. Someone isn't really thinking about this.
I think the big shock is going to come when the truth emerges about the virus and those in care, not only in dedicated care homes but at home in their own homes. The carers are short of PPE and if what I have been told is correct, some still have none.
I have heard several care home owners on the radio saying that the figures available at the moment are the tip of the iceberg and that the reason why so few are being designated as Covid19 is that the tests have not been done.

[chinatyke]

What? Your government lying to you? Or just feeding you falsehoods or withholding data? Never! Not in Britain!

[PanBiker]

Two parcels of scrubs, surgical hats and laundry bags to go in the post today. Our friend Jean will be calling to collect them and take them to the post office.

Sally looked at doing the theatre gowns but apparently they have to be waterproof or impervious to moisture so not just a straight light cotton weave.

I see the government are recommending not wearing masks the excuse being that to do so would impact the supply to the NHS. What about the home sewn non surgical class masks that are being produced by the thousand by the army of motivated machinists working from home? We know that they will not stop you from getting the virus but they do help to stop you spreading it if you yourself are a carrier. You would be hard pressed anyway to get your hands on the surgical quality masks even if you wanted one.

All the countries that are now recovering or showing a slow down in transmission have used masks, strict lockdown and the most successful ones rigorous testing regimes. Our government has not not used any of these methods which clearly shows in our results. So not an advert for best practice regardless of the daily rhetoric and excuses.

[Big Kev]

Like I said previously what is wrong with Skipton General, Nelson Community or Burnley General Hospitals? All have qualified staff who I am sure are perfectly capable of taking swabs and correctly handling them for test.

The testing programme is expanding, looks like there'll be mobile centres popping up in quite a few places.
https://www.pendletoday.co.uk/health/co ... -JUSz7fVNc

[chinatyke]

A report from my eldest daughter in Cumbria:
"All's well here... so far so good, we’ve all kept safe. The hospitals in Cumbria are very quiet now and there Is talk of de-escalating some of the Covid. Wards as there are more staff than patients. This is even though we had one of the highest rates. There seems to be finally more PPE around, but we haven’t taken any as we are still not doing home visits or clinics. We might have to look at it again in a few weeks. Still. Preparations being made for recovery centres etc and our service remains in demand. We are succeeding in titrating and weaning Covid patients off oxygen in their own homes with self monitoring and three telephone assessments per day."

That's from the horse's mouth and is far different from the alarming story we were fed on the news last night. She sounds very positive that the worst is over for you. I hope so.

[Stanley]

Kev, that article about testing centres talks well but doesn't detail any real moves to make it easier for carers to get tested. (Or anyone else).
Amazing how China knows more about what is happening here than we do.... Still he might be right, merchants in the Midlands are sending PPE equipment to Europe as the government here have not responded to offers to sell it to them·

[Big Kev]

Kev, that article about testing centres talks well but doesn't detail any real moves to make it easier for carers to get tested. (Or anyone else).

We need a reliable test before they roll it out on a wider scale first. The swab test will only identify if you've got it, at the time of the test. I believe they're still working on a reliable antibody test...

Human vaccine testing starts this Thursday by the Oxford bods.

[PanBiker]

I think it's Wednesday today and I hear that the PPE flown in by the RAF from Turkey has finally arrived in the UK. This is the same order that was promised on Sunday, which didn't happen. The aircraft was sent out on Monday! How many units could have been made by our own domestic garment makers around the country in the time it has taken to process and procure this order? It would help of course if they had been asked rather than paying them 80% of their wages to stay at home. Come the reckoning if this government survives it will be a miracle or a fix.

Apparently the average distance that a care centre worker has to travel to get tested is 62 miles. This is total madness when there are perfectly suitable venues locally in most areas of the country.

[Stanley]

I agree Ian.
Just been listening to Ken Clarke on safeguarding. He reckons that there is no alternative to that in the government's eyes for us crumblies for the next 3 years but the crumblies will of course modify it to suit them! I reckon he's right.
PMQs was interesting, Starmer kept it simple and pressed Raab to answer the simple question, if there are facilities in place for 40,000 tests a day how come only 18,000 a day is being achieved, let alone 100,000 a day. Answer was there none.

[Cathy]

Are there any Working Cotton Mills in West Yorkshire putting their shoulder to the wheel to make PPE?

They would be perfectly positioned and equipped to do do.

What about Fashion Manufactures?

[Stanley]

Cathy of course there are. Governments today don't understand the concepts of responsibility for emergency supplies. In the war and a long time after, the government used to run 'Buffer Depots' all over the country that stored stocks of materials and products essential for everyday life. There was also the Civil Defence system, all gone now. "Send an order to a rag shop in Turkey for El Cheapo operating gowns if we need them".

[Cathy]

OK, OK.

[Stanley]

We really are being let down Cathy. Lots of fine words but short on actual performance. That's why people like Ian's Sally are so much in demand.

[plaques]

Sorry to appear a merchant of doom and gloom. The forecast is for the prevailing conditions to last into the foreseeable future, Not quite sure how long that is. But if we go back to the Cygnus report that predicted that 50% of the population would get the infection then that applies equally, if not more, to the front line workers. But if, as we are seeing we are not protecting these workers then they will suffer a higher rate of attrition and also death rates. Unless they get their act together and protect these workers the NHS will be under pressure for the same foreseeable future along with even more suffering by the general populous. If someone at ground level can see it why is it taking so long for the brains of Britain who are supposedly running the country for the penny to drop?

[PanBiker]

Morning shift is in full production as I post. I will have ironing and cord threading later I reckon.

Government are going to recommend not wearing a facemask today as the fear is that everyone will scoop up all the NHS grade masks. This is rubbish of course as you cant just go out and buy a surgical grade mask. We cant even buy flour or other staples so why would they think us plebs can buy up all the best stuff.

They may say that its OK to use a scarf or other such garment as a substitute. We can do better than that with no government interference or depletion to the emergency sector stocks. Sally and thousands of other home sewers efforts exceed the recommended spec for a rank and file masks for the general public. Two layer plus interface, not surgical grade but perfectly adequate to stop you spreading the virus if you are asymptomatic.

If any members on here want one just ask.

[Big Kev]

Hayfever symptoms are producing some funny looks from people. Just because I'm sneezing doesn't mean I have the plague

[Stanley]

P, I think you are simply being realistic. Ken Clark said exactly the same thing yesterday in an interview. Isolation for people like me is going to be a matter of years not months. Before it can be lifted they have to have a proven vaccine. It's as simple as that!
'They' can see it all right, it's just that it is a politically unattractive message, that's why direct questions are never answered and we are subjected to reams of the bleeding obvious instead. Look at how they skated round the sharp rises in Covid19 deaths in care yesterday. We have only seen the tip of this iceberg as yet.
Kev I sneezed this morning...... We should have a little bell and a sign saying 'unclean!'.

[Big Kev]

I think the orange knob has surpassed himself, injecting yourself with disinfectant. He's a liability...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52407177

[PanBiker]

I honestly believe he needs certifying.